Anne-Christine Ayed
Leveraging on-line consumer clubs to
identify innovation white spaces
January 26, 2009
Copyright DBA Apparel – All rights reserved
DBApparel : The company
 Global Designer, Marketer and
Manufacturer of Branded Women's and
Men's Apparel Products.
 International group created from the
acquisition of Sara Lee Branded
Apparel Europe by Sun Capital
Partners (2006).
 3 categories including:



Intimates (50%)
Underwear (20%)
Hosiery/Socks (29%).
 The 14 brands are:
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DBApparel : The company
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
DBApparel is and wants to stay the
European leader
–
- With strong brands
–
- Focusing on customers and consumers
–
- Known for its ability to Innovate.
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DBApparel : Innovation
When related to lingerie and hosiery technical products,
the criteria for innovative offerings are:
- new materials/processes
- new product construction
- new presentation/packaging
that
- do not exist in competitive products
- bring added value to consumers
- could be protected by intellectual property
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DBApparel : Innovation Board
IDEA MANAGEMENT
SHAPING / PROPOTYPING
TOOL BOX
EXECUTION
TECHNICAL PROJECTS
PORTFOLIO
PRODUCTS CONCEPTS
PORTFOLIO
Screening
Gate 0
Brainstormi
ng
Incubate ideas
Development
Ship
Products
1. Trends
2. Market needs studies
Outsourced if no IP
Autun or Manila if IP
Product Concept Projects Portfolio
Glued edges
Comfort
Flexible wires
Removable cups
Silicone to
replace elastic
trimming
Up new generation
“PUD coating”
Pantograph
back/back with
folds
 Undertakes R&I product
Market need
portfolio management and sets
new product development
strategy
Silicone for
dynamic support
Shaping
Elastomer for
flexible shaping
Elastomer to provide
better long lasting
fabric properties
Aesthetic
Low
Medium
exchange of innovative ideas
innovative ideas across the BU’s
Flexible support
Support
 Provides a forum for firmwide
 Tracks and cultivates
Disposable
Underwear
Crinoline
cup/Corolla and
spiral cups
Silicone for stay
in place
Sponsored by the CEO
and composed of business
VP’s, Operations VP, R&D
and Brands Directors
High
Complexity
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DBApparel : Consumer Board
“The Consumer Board is a company wide forum that integrates
consumer insight and understanding into the heart of what we do”
 Key cross business ‘players’
primarily but not exclusively
from marketing or retail
Hugues de Talhouet
DBA
Véronique J acquat
DBA
Antoine de la Celle
DIM
Sandra Keller
NUR DIE
 All have a passion for the
consumer and are open,
collaborative and willing to
embrace change
Fabienne Morvan
DIM
Cris tina Polini
Lovable
Sharon Harris on
DBA UK Limited
Sonia Migallon
DBA
Olivier Leroy
DBA
Anna Ricotti
Lovable
J ane Richards on
DBA UK Limited
Frances co Durante
DBA
 Look also at external inputs
Manon Turlan
DIM
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Veronique Lombard
DIM
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DBApparel : Consumer Board
Its role:
 Develop a learning culture by providing a forum
for sharing commercial successes and failures
through the company
 Drive deeper insights and intelligence
across the Brands and optimise total
company spending
 Develop new ways to raise consumer
observation and listening skills
 Benchmark our consumer research
process and keep us up-to-date with
new methodologies and segmentations
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
Online community of women who log on weekly to a
dedicated site to complete “Activities”
 Semi Structured questionnaires
and open forum discussions
 Activities are planned and
directed by us
 Around 500 women registered
 Actual participation 75-150
members a week
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
Bras & Women Who wear them
Our Goals:
 Increase our understanding of what women want
their bras to do for them
 Engage in a dialogue with consumers to
•
•
- Explore unmet needs and pain
points
•
- Generate universal insights
 Uncover innovation white spaces for DBA brands
- New Product ideas
- Marketing and communication messages
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
Bras & Women Who wear them
The kind of women have been we talked to:
 Age 20 – 60
Keen to share
preferences and
pain points
 Full range of bra sizes
 Mix of shoppers
Comments are
frank,
uninhibited and
full of humour!
 Department stores
 Marks and Spencer
 Online
 Grocery
 Multiples & Chains #
Duration : 6 months
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Analysis and implementation
Club set up and
recruitment
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Club is live for 5 months
Final report from
BIG
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
“Le Club des Collants”
Our Goals:
– Understand women’s hosiery use, preferences, and priorities
– Find and explore pain points and possible white spaces
The kind of women we talked to:







Women from France
Ages 15-59
1-6 pantyhose size
35-41 shoe size
1.5-1.85 meters height
40-95 kg weight
Purchased hosiery in last 12 months
Duration: 3 months
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Your Club Stats
Activities
Completed
3. Have you discovered knickers that are so fabulous, you want to tell the world
(or at least your friends)? Tell us what they are and why you like them.
* Description (brand, cut, fabric, and any other feature important to you):
Current BIG
Bucks Total
View My Club Profile
Review Your Activity
History
More Information
About the Club
How to win prizes
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* Why
I like them:
7. Tell us everything that influences what knickers you choose to wear for the day.
For example, are there habits or outfit coordination rules that you generally stick
to? Do you wear different types/styles knickers during the week and at weekends?
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
Bras & Women Who wear them
They told us…
 On bras in general, their emotional and psycological
connections with their underwear, basics things that
are still a problem
 On bras of the future
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
Bras & Women Who wear them
Topics we have explored…
 Bra choices ( drawer inventory, favourites and
regrets, priorities, bra diary, fashion)
 Comfort and Support (general issues, comfort and
adjustment, forum discussion on price)
 Shaping and enhancing, (physical, psychological and
emotional dimensions)
 New ideas, disposable underwear, sleepwear …
 Health
 Eco-bras
 Shopping
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
“Le Club des Collants”
They told us…
 On their basic hosiery habits and
preferences
 Their Weekly Wardrobe: weekday vs.
weekend outfit choices
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DBApparel : Consumer Club
“Le Club des Collants”
Topics we have explored…
 My Shape and My Pantyhose (Likes/dislikes
about their lower bodies and what they hope
pantyhose will do for their shapes)
 Control pantyhose and shapewear
 Assessing hosiery fabric and features
 Shoes (Discomforts wearing different types of hosiery)
 The Right Size: Usefulness of current hosiery sizing
system
 Special Effects
 Change of Season
 Laundry Basket
 Recycling Hosiery
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DBApparel : Consumer Clubs
Results:
Major areas of opportunities identified
including white spaces and several
opportunities for product and packaging
improvement
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DBApparel : Consumer Clubs
Encouraging loyalty – engaging with and influencing consumers online
 Set up a DBA online community for
customers
– Women are passionate about their bras and
keen to engage in dialogue
 Register and win
 2 way information exchange
– Email alerts on new intros and updates to
their favourite style
– Real information: “Did you know all our bras
have…”
– Consumer feedback on purchases
– Questions to the Experts
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DBApparel : Consumer Clubs
Next Steps
Turn these insights into new
products, services and capabilities
as quickly and efficiently as
possible
Criteria used for measuring the opportunities:
- Speed
- Resource investment needed
- Impact (market, revenues, competitive advantage)
- Importance to DBA’s strategy and constituents
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DBApparel : Open Innovation
 We define what internal/external resources we need
to meet our objective
 We leverage design firms, network of inventors,
suppliers, universities, non competing companies
(co-branding, JDA), communication agencies ….
 We assign dedicated project teams in charge of the
partnership (s)
 We are currently managing at least 5 projects emerging
from the clubs and involving external partners
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DBApparel : Innovation
The key is to sustain momentum on
opportunities uncovered and build on
our success in employing new technology
and open source to identify whitespaces
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Thank you
ACA
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