How to Turn Any Company Into a 'Lifestyle Brand' Using Branded Products

By Brendan Menapace

Every company needs to be a lifestyle company to some extent it seems. Look at some of the biggest sales verticals for promotional products. The food and drink sector has companies like Sweetgreen and Chipotle selling all sorts of apparel and other branded products. In sports, franchises are going beyond just T-shirts and jerseys, venturing into more high-end streetwear looks and branding initiatives. And automotive manufacturers are using the general vibe of their cars and trucks to influence items like sportswear and other lifestyle products.

In short, companies are looking to do more than just advertise their core offerings, using branded merchandise like apparel and home goods to draw in more customers and create an entire ecosystem surrounding the brand.

The latest example comes from the music world. While artists have already started this to some extent, the companies that make the actual instruments, like guitar companies Fender and Gibson, have been expanding their branded offerings, too.

Fender opened an entire retail store in Tokyo, which not only carries guitars and other musical equipment, but also introduces a full apparel brand called F Is For Fender.

https://twitter.com/YUU__sound/status/1668473400023736326

"We envision Fender Flagship Tokyo to be a key element in Fender's overall marketing," Edward Cole, Fender's president for Asia-Pacific, said, according to the Financial Times.

【購入品】Fenderが本気で出したアパレルブランドで７万円分買ったら大満足すぎた！【F is for Fender】https://t.co/wdxZTs95JR

今日の動画！

ギターも服も興味ある人には特に見て欲しい。。感動します🔥 pic.twitter.com/YV06Njzo8w

— かずき (@NagomiBright) July 8, 2023

Fender's primary competitor, Gibson, has also introduced numerous new products that would fall under the "lifestyle brand" umbrella, like apparel capsules and products made in collaboration with fashion designers.

The company's webstore has a whole tab dedicated to "lifestyle" products, like apparel, home goods, collectibles, signage and other print products, and premium-brand products from brands like Lifton.

Lifton Leathers Revitalised With Gibson https://t.co/smHTPrpHLM pic.twitter.com/0VX58M1P6g

— Hipz Msia (@HipzMy) December 12, 2022

"These are massive companies, it makes sense for them to want to reach their customers in new ways," Ultimate-Guitar.com writer Matt Dunn wrote. "It's just strange watching things like Lexus partnering with Fender to make a custom guitar, or the fact that a $1,400 Billy Reid biker jacket collaboration with Gibson exists. Sometimes it just feels a bit odd! But what it does illustrate is that both companies desperately want to be known as more than just a 'guitar company.'"

From the viewpoint of the promotional products industry, this goes far beyond just guitar companies. Just about every company you could think of would benefit from growing their lifestyle brand to some extent. This can be as simple as offering things like tote bags and T-shirts. It doesn't have to all be premium, high-perceived-value items in Tokyo storefronts.

When working with clients across all sorts of client categories, think beyond the obvious and try to come up with ways to grow the brand, reaching customers in new and previously-overlooked ways.