Inclusive British brand Simply Be relaunches and rebrands for US consumer

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Mar 15, 2018

Size-inclusive brand Simply Be has relaunched and unveiled a rebranding that is specifically targeted at US consumers. The brand will depart from the catalog model in favor of bringing its story to life through digital.

UK-based Simply Be's global relaunch involves a new digital strategy, the addition of a New York-based team, and exclusive collections designed for the US consumer, including athleisure and festival lines.

The brand will run American campaigns that feature plus-size models Natalie Nootenboom, who is the niece of DJ Steve Aoki, and Sarina Nowak, who was recently the face of Khloe Kardashian's Good American denim brand.

Richard Clark, International Director at N Brown Group, the parent company of Simply Be said in a release, "We saw in our sales data the huge market opportunity for Simply Be in the US that required new design and marketing approaches that can better engage with our consumer in a language she responds to and through territory-specific content created for her that will inspire her."

Rich Storer, U.S. Vice President of Marketing, Americas, at N Brown Group said this is the first time Simply Be has created territory-specific product.

"We have seen a shift in age demographics for Simply Be US and the relaunch will help to target existing and new younger age demographics", he explained. "These women are millennial's and Gen Z shoppers and they consume brand communications differently than women did in the past, and most certainly differently from a catalogue customer."

Storer added that the consumer wants "a constant but authentic dialogue; and they don't want to feel 'sold to' so we need to respond to their appetite in a language they understand and relate to." 

Simply Be's athleisure collection launches this month in the US and its curated festival collection will debut in April of this year. The relaunch will be supported by a number of pop-up stores this summer beginning in New York.

Simply Be was founded in 1999 and caters to women ages 18-35 wearing sizes 6 through 32. It ships in the UK, Ireland, and the US, and is stocked by ASOS and Zalando.

The brand will be adding Australia and South Africa to its territories later this year.