{ 3i }

Amid all the reports of retailers experiencing lower than ever sales this holiday season, there have been a select few brands experiencing boosts in sales. One of the brands that is up is the teen-focused brand Hot Topic. And while Hot Topic’s clothes and music choices may not be your cup of tea, there are big branding principles at play at Hot Topic that have helped them keep numbers strong when everyone else is hurting.

Pinpoint Focus

Hot Topic describes itself like this:

We are a mall- and web-based specialty retailer operating the Hot Topic and Torrid concepts, as well as the e-space music discovery concept, ShockHound. At Hot Topic, our business strategy is built on the foundation of pop culture and its relevance to our target teen customer. Within pop culture, we believe music plays a primary and integral role in the minds, activities and preferences of our target customers. We sell a selection of music/pop culture-licensed and music/pop culture-influenced apparel, accessories, music and gift items for young men and women principally between the ages of 12 and 22

Now that’s focus

As I said earlier, Hot Topic may not be your particular brand of choice for clothing, but they don’t really care. They know who their market is, and they know that there’s a big chunk of the population that DOES make Hot Topic their choice of clothing. Using pop culture and music references, Hot Topic has created a brand identity that emphasizes a common sense of humor and allows their customers to participate in a community that has elements of rebellion (which every teenager wants), differentiation, and yet common sensibilities expressed through humor and inside jokes. It is a brand that helps it’s client base to feel unique, but also helps them to feel a part of something. Hot Topic accomplishes this unique blend of differentiation-yet-collectivism by knowing exactly what makes it’s customers tick.

What are You Focused On?

So how well do you know your clients? Times like this are great moments to evaluate what kinds of clients you tend to work best with and then do some homework to find out what makes them tick. If you’re finding that sales are down, why not spend some extra time getting in touch with your clients and asking them exactly what they need. They’ll benefit from taking the time to talk about what they’re missing, and you’ll not only glean some very powerful knowledge, they’ll appreciate you taking the time to ask, flat out, what you can do for them.

-Braden