The iconic American workwear and apparel brand has unveiled its latest campaign that pays homage to Mexican-American lowrider car culture. Global Brand Director Kyle He spoke to Martin about how Dickies balances his two distinct audiences.
Dickies has a 100-year history of making durable workwear for the American market, but it also has a huge following for streetwear, especially in international markets where the company is only known for its lifestyle apparel.
A year ago, the company began a major project to “reposition” its brand to reconnect with its core workwear customers. It's Kyle Martin's job as global brand management director to ensure that the marketing strategy is exactly what it says.
“The biggest hurdle we tackle as a brand is breaking down the time, effort, budget, resources, all of those elements and developing a marketing strategy that speaks well to both sides,” he says.
While both customers are “hugely” important to Dickies, Martin said the top-down business strategy is to prioritize workwear. “After all, our roots have always been in workwear. We have built that tradition on durable, reliable, high-quality apparel for the working community. For providers, artisans, hobbyists, and artists.”
This is a similar story to Carhartt. The company also makes apparel for merchants, but it currently makes a lot of money from lifestyle. Susan Hennicke, the company's chief brand officer, previously told The Drum that the company does not have a marketing budget in the lifestyle category.
Dickies' most important marketing strategy is to establish connections with its core customer base and the key communities that have supported the brand throughout its history. “Ultimately, we have a duty to shine a light on the spirit of the people who helped build our brand,” Martin says.
Martin is behind Dickies' new brand platform, “Respect the Classic,” which debuted on February 6th. This documentary His Style campaign pays homage to his community of lowriders who are part of Mexican-American automotive culture. Lowriders were one of the earliest communities to adopt Dickies in the 1940s.
“The idea was to create a campaign rooted in artistry, craftsmanship and the work of our key customers,” he says. Distinctive features of Dickies products are evident throughout, which Martin describes as a “strategic emphasis on iconic work core products while expressing the brand's foundations spanning more than a century.”
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Automobiles are just one of the customers Dickies pursues in its marketing. Martin said Dickies can't speak to every community all year round, so it markets in “cycles.” For example, one season might be devoted to cars, the next season to construction, and the next to farms and ranches. “You’ll see us riding our bikes all the time and shining a light on different communities.”
Today, Dickies is experiencing “tremendous success and growth” through its organic channels. “They continue to be a key driver of incremental growth and also give us the ability to create branded storytelling pieces without significant media spend.” They are two of the most successful platforms along with YouTube for shaku content.
@dickies Jeans that last forever. These durable work-he jeans flex with your body and are built to last through the toughest shifts. #DickiesWorkwear #truestory #fall #autumn #fallfashion ♬ Original song – Dickies
“The approach is to reach out to Dickies' ambassador network, people who have truly supported the brand over the years, and find people with stories to tell. That's how we've done every campaign shoot to date. Once the team identifies these people, it uses a documentary-style approach to “showcase their lives and how they make a living,” weaving them into the Dickies brand narrative.
Marketing departments are spending time “scrutinizing and optimizing” affiliate channels, and Martin's team is looking at influencers during key commercial periods to “assess the true drivers behind performance.” states that they have performed a series of tests on the placement of . Martin is cautious about the learnings from the test, but says the effort has led to fine-tuning of the affiliate strategy.
Partnerships are also an important part of Dickies' marketing, such as Ford's recent partnership with American actor Sidney Sweeney. “This has helped us attract a large audience, reach new audiences, and bring new customers to our brand.” Most importantly, it has helped the communities Dickies serves. It was incredibly authentic.” “It's deeply connected to car culture and Sydney was very passionate about it and it was a big part of her life.”
He added that Dickies' first overhaul of its brand guidelines in six years had played a big role in “uplifting” its tone. “As we sought to build global consistency and gain synergies across these regions, we needed a globally aligned set of tools.
“Developing these brand guidelines was a huge step forward for us in terms of getting all of our different regions on the same page when it comes to how we communicate our marketing to the world.”
According to parent company VF's year-end announcement, Dickies' revenue in 2023 is down 16%, and the company will continue to face difficult times. Despite the downturn, VF President and CEO Bracken Darrell said, “The underlying business remains strong and the Asia-Pacific market continues to reset.”
Martin declined to comment on the decline in revenue, but said, “When it comes to marketing, our strategy hasn't changed at all. Our performance marketing efforts not only provide elements of brand storytelling, but also include the organic and home channels.'' We see a balanced approach that balances growth while also striving to deliver revenue.”
