A deeper look at this BoF article - hint: it’s on target!
“How to Launch New Categories Without Losing Your Way” was THE article I rushed (I'm serious) to read from The Business of Fashion by Cathaleen Chen.
Category expansion is something I've talked about pretty regularly throughout my career, first working in-house at brands, and now constantly with founders and brands at Form Space.
And it's such a nuanced conversation. Why this product? Why this category? Why now?
Are customers already asking for it? Does it solve a problem for them? Is there an opportunity they haven't asked for yet, but that the brand can help lead them toward?
And maybe most importantly, how do you expand into something new while making sure it still unmistakably belongs to your brand?
A new category shouldn't feel like you took your logo and just dropped it onto a new product - and also not so far out of left field that your customer doesn't understand why you're making it.
This article does a much better job exploring all of that than I could do in one post, with some great examples of brands getting it right, getting the timing wrong, and knowing when to wait.
Here’s a link to the original article . I also pulled out a few of my favorite excerpts below.
This is one of my favorite parts of the work we do at Form Space - helping brands translate what already makes them THEM into bags and accessories - while figuring out what the next thing should be. Worth a read!
-Jessica Lee, Form Space Cofounder, Product Designer
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