What Tapestry Can Teach Us About The Way Customers Connect to Brand Identity

​Over time, customers connect on a deeply emotional level to the branding of the products they love. Crafting that connection is at the core of why we take the time to develop our brand identity and carefully present it to our audience. This week, we’ve been given a fantastic example of the way that customers connect to brand identity with the announcement that Coach is changing its corporate name to Tapestry. 

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If this is the first time you’re hearing the news, there’s no need to get upset. Coach is not changing its product line, only the corporate identity which now includes Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman brands. Tapestry will be the parent company housing all three brands and Coach will still offer the same iconic elements that customers love. 

But all it takes is a headline for customers to feel betrayed by the brands they love. “Coach Inc is Dead! Long Live Tapestry!” shouted the New York Times. Despite a range of more accurate headlines, the news quickly became the reaction from the crowd instead. Many loyal fans of the brand were mortified when they mistakenly thought Coach’s new line would feature the name Tapestry. CNBC featured commentary on how “musty” and “old” the name Tapestry sounded. 

Tapestry’s vision for rebranding focuses on "creativity, craftsmanship, authenticity, and inclusivity on a shared platform and values," according to CNBC. The Tapestry homepage banner reads “Individual Expression. Collective Beauty.” The combined force of three well-known and highly respected luxury brands is plenty of source material for Tapestry to make this dip in customer opinion a temporary phenomenon. 

Why Rebrand?

When you’ve got the luxury brand clout of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman, why would it seem like a good idea to make the risky jump to a new corporate name? Changing a corporate name gives companies more flexibility to expand their brand story. Coach has had a successful brand story since 1941 and it would not be a great idea for them to suddenly shift in a new direction. Kate Spade has cultivated its own story since 1993. Even though the company is nearly fifty years younger than Coach, they’ve still been presenting a different experience. Stuart Weitzman was founded in 1986, again with it’s unique brand story and following. 

By bringing together the similarities in these brands (luxury, New York style, quality workmanship) and marrying them into the brand Tapestry, the company will have more flexibility to consider adding more brands to their portfolio or moving in directions that might not have made sense to the brand story we know and love behind Coach. This allows the brands themselves to keep their differences and their customer base. 

What Can We Learn?

It’s precisely because people know and love Coach that the news of their rebranding was upsetting to some. Building an emotional connection between your customers and your brand story takes you beyond the role of producer and consumer. It makes you a part of life to the customer, a part of where they draw their meaning and how they define their experience. This is as true for a luxury leather bag as it is for a cup of yogurt or a bottle of toilet cleaner. 

Once you’ve built that emotional connection, remember that it only takes a headline to get people worked up because they feel so strongly about your brand identity. Take care to keep your message simple and be prepared. Tapestry.com is live and anyone concerned about the direction of the company can feel assured by the easy and inviting design of the layout, which makes it easy to click back and forth between brands.

As a corporate identity, Tapestry will always come behind the brand they are marketing. Coach bags will still be Coach bags telling a Coach bag story. Stuart Weitzman shoes will still tell a Stuart Weitzman story. Tapestry will be there, but it won’t need to be felt in the same way as the brands we are emotionally connected to. 

In the future, we may see Tapestry expanding their brand collection with some new identities. Whether they are completely new luxury brands or whether the company continues to acquire other names, they can connect the now-established Tapestry name in their early marketing efforts. Customers will bring a piece of the emotional connection that they already feel for Coach or Kate Spade with them to experience the new brand. 

Brand Identity 

Understanding how and why other companies establish their brand identity is a great exercise for discovering holes in your own company’s marketing strategy. Have you created an emotional connection with your customers? What strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and limitations does your brand identity bring? 

I work with small business owners who have read down to this point on the page and are deciding that they aren’t really even sure what their brand identity is. If that’s you, let's talk! Please reach out at kathrynfassett@gmail.com.

If that's not you, you might be interested in this article I wrote in April: "What's Your Content Marketing Strategy and Why Does It Matter?"