Eileen Fisher: World-Class Innovator, Essay Example

 Business come and go all the time. The reason as to why the Eileen Fisher brand has been around for such an extensive period of time is because of the fact the Ms. Fisher believes in her company more than ever. Despite the fact that her company was initiated from a rough invested amount $350, her company has evolved and grown into what it is today. It goes without saying that the reason that Ms. Fisher’s company has been able to stay in business for so long is due to the fact that the company is invariably looking for ways to innovate and do things in a different manner. The Eileen Fisher brand would have become extinct many years ago, but because of the grand passion that Ms. Fisher has in her company, it is close to impossible for the company to cease to exist. One of the imperative reasons as to why Eileen Fisher has stayed in business for years now is due to the fact the Ms. Fisher understand when she needs to cut back on demand or supply and when she needs to increase it. The Eileen Fisher brand is unique in that it is able to embody its core principles and values into all of its products, stores, employees, and even marketing and advertising. This is said in such manner because Ms. Fisher believes in keeping her brand simple, therefore making it unique. She believes in spending little time in having to pick out what clothing to wear and instead spending this time with things that really matter to the individual.

The story behind the Eileen Fisher brand is phenomenal. The fact that a young woman was able to transform a $350 business to a multimillion dollar business is nearly unheard of. The case study states that the reason for Ms. Fisher success is the fact that she genuinely cares about her business. Unlike many other entrepreneurs, Ms. Fisher seeks out to please the customer. Ms. Fisher’s customers are described as middle aged, Baby Boomer woman, and she has no problem with that at the beginning. Of course, controversy arises later on in the case study, but that will be discussed later on. What is important to note is that Ms. Fisher was successful due to her inability to quit. It must not have been easy at first trying to start her own clothing line business, but with time, dedication, and drive, she was able to do it. In addition to believing in her brand, Ms. Fisher has a certain quality that many other entrepreneurs lack: consistency. Time and again, the case study states that the Eileen Fisher brand thrives due to its consistency and staying true to its customers. Clearly, this is a remarkable quality to have in one’s business, as it shows an owner is not in it for the money aspect of it, but is in it in order to provide a benefit or service to society.

 In my opinion, the Eileen Fisher brand should consider the idea of repositioning its brand to target the emerging and/or the nascent segments, but with caution. This is stated as such because if the Eileen Fisher brand goes all out and decides to change the clothing line as a whole, they will inevitably fail just like other clothing brands. For Eileen Fisher, the best recommendation would be to stick loyal to its customers like it always has. This is not to say that it would be a bad thing for the company to innovate, however, if innovation does take place, the company must take many precautions to ensure that loyal customers do not get lost in the idea that the Eileen Fisher brand is not what it used to be. By becoming more appealing to younger generations, the Eileen Fisher brand would be taking a much needed risk. The fact that the company is just as old as Ms. Fisher poses a threat to the Eileen Fisher brand because that means that once that once Ms. Fisher’s generation dies off, the company will die with it.

An advantage that could and would come from repositioning the Eileen Brand’s target customers would be that there could be an increase in the amount of customers. This would be due to the fact that there would be younger generations buying more and more clothing. The case study even goes as far as to justify this claim by stating that younger generations have a tendency to make much more purchases the older generations. However, a disadvantage that would come from the Eileen Fisher brand repositioning its target customers would be the fact that older generations would probably lose interest in the brand because they would feel betrayed by it. This is justified by the reactions that the Stitch project brought about; women started to ask themselves if the brand was even for them anymore.           

 Targeting the brand to target the emerging generations would be completely biased. What the company must be able to do it decide an effective way in which it can appeal to both young generations and older generations. This might be a big problem for them at first, seeing as how young generations considered the clothing to be outdated while the company considered that certain clothing to be the most modern clothing line available. In addition to that, the Eileen Fisher brand must make it clear to their first loyal customers that they are not being abandoned, they are simply expanding their horizons. By doing so, the Eileen Fisher brand will be attracting all kinds of new customers. This would be advantageous for everyone and no specific group of people would feel left out, or more importantly, forgotten. Although changing the brand’s styles would be a drastic change at best, it is a necessary change that must be undertaken. If this change is not embraced by Ms. Fisher, then the business could ultimately crumble into pieces. In the same manner, if the change is embraced by Ms. Fisher, the outcome could be a negative one. However, it is best to attempt to apply this change, because if no action is taken, then the result will probably be as predicted.

 In my opinion, the Eileen Fisher brand has stayed true to its brand thus far. However, due to the STITCH project, the company could have been torn apart. It is good that these ideas were abandoned at a right time, because it they had not, then the business would probably cease to exist by now. Because of the manner in which Ms. Fisher has always stayed true to her brand, the company will most probably prevail. Although the case study suggests that that Baby Boomers are aging at the same pace that Ms. Fisher is aging, therefore causing a decline in the demand of the clothing line, there will always be middle aged women looking for something simply and elegant to wear. I do not believe that staying true to the true company’s brand would prove completely detrimental. This is not to say that if no action is taken that nothing will happen to the company, however, the company should not attempt to change for its customers.

 The process of a company changing for its customers is a very difficult one because of the fact that the company must learn to understand from scratch what the customer’s requests and expectations are. Not only that, but changing a whole company’s core principles just to appeal to a certain group of individuals is not worth it. The Eileen Fisher brand should stick to what has worked in the past because it has worked for a reason. If this reason is abandoned and Ms. Fisher decides to make change the company’s core principles and values, costumers could see this as insecurity coming form the company and they would stop purchasing products from the company altogether. Ever since the beginning of the case study, the success of the Eileen Fisher brand is attributed to the fact that the company has a unique ability to stay consistent with its product. If the company were to change the majority, if not all, of its products at once, then the company would be willing entering into its own doom. The company should stick to what it knows and should be considerate of the customer’s it currently has, after all, it is these customers that made the business very successful in the first place.