INTERVIEWS
A workout with BAM’s Product & Brand Director
Reframing BAM’s target customer as the Power Age woman opened up new opportunities for the activewear brand after 18 years. Product and brand director, Helen White, discusses the rebrand with our editor-in-chief, as part of our WITH… series.
We chat:
- Rebranding after 18 years
- Reframing Gen X
- Sustainability without lecturing
- Being challenged by your agency
- The future of activewear
- And what Helen can’t live without
Listen or read the full interview below.
Without: BAM has a rich, 18-year history. Why rebrand now?
Helen White: Not only has the activewear market become more crowded, but we’ve also been transitioning from a bamboo brand into a true activewear brand. We needed BAM, with all its richness, to stand out.
The jumping off point for the rebrand was the reframing of the target customer as the Power Age Woman. Who is she?
We’re targeting someone who is in midlife. You could frame that as Generation X – a counterpoint to Millennials and Gen Z – but what’s been great about framing our customer as a Power Ager is that we hone in on the energy of that woman. Women in midlife are asking brands, “why have you been ignoring us for so long?” We have the opportunity to create something for women who are celebrating the fact that they have all of this experience behind them, but they still have an awful lot of energy that they bring to everything they do.
What do brands still get wrong when marketing to women?
Generally – and not just with women, but mostly – there is an obsession with youth, which leaves open a lovely, wide gap for brands like us that are interested in someone who isn’t necessarily in their 20s and 30s. There’s a whole bunch of consumers who are still interested in style but are currently being underserved – and that’s where we see a huge opportunity.
How does the rebrand reflect the energy of the Power Age woman?
The danger when part of your USP is a low impact, environmentally-conscious brand is that you can start getting heavy and worthy. But the energy in the rebrand is a real antidote to that. When the new logo was revealed, the movement created in those three little letters was a stroke of genius. Then there’s the art direction: when it comes to activewear, you have brands that focus on a hardcore, personal-best approach or you have the lifestyle brands focusing on the influencer coffee culture – but there’s nothing in the middle. It all comes together to create something that looks completely different to anything else out there on the market.
A key challenge was to speak to customers about sustainability without lecturing…
This is something we have grappled with for a long time. We frame “sustainability” as “impact” because we’re focusing on the people who make our clothes as much as the environment – it’s the absolute cornerstone of everything we do. With the rebrand, we’ve found a tone of voice that celebrates it rather than gets all heavy about it. And it comes down to acknowledging the different levels of interest from consumers. We need to be able to show, with a light touch, that we take things very seriously without being a serious brand. But equally, you take that on a sliding scale right up to anyone who wants to geek out on where every single product within our range is made, and where the fabric, fibre and yarn come from, right back to source. People can look at a QR code and see that level of detail. Or read our Impact Report, which holds us to account across all of our sustainability goals.
Favourite bits of the reband?
One of my favourite phrases is “responsible activewear for people who play” because it captures the seriousness of what we’re trying to do, but gives us a license to explore being playful and unexpected in the art direction. It’s the essence of BAM and so different to everybody else.
The rebrand has had internal benefits, too…?
Yes. Historically, we have always played things quite safe, but cautiousness isn’t going to serve us in a market with lots of amazing brands. Focusing on the Power Age woman has been a great unlock for the whole team; it has given us freedom and a lot of joy to be playing with some of those ideas and bringing them to life in a way no-one would have expected.
What was it like to be challenged by Without?
Without brought a combination of cultural resonance and enormous creativity – and no ego. No-one could have predicted what we were going to come up with. I had a very strong sense that we had to do something completely different but part of what made it possible to be challenged was the way that Without took us on the journey. One of the key things was the check-in after a few weeks where Without shared a number of different routes and gave us the opportunity to discuss them before getting too far down the journey. By getting all key stakeholders in the business – and there are people who have different levels of wanting to be challenged – and making sure that we’re all in agreement made it a lot easier to break through. With lots of other agencies, there’s a big gap while they’re working towards a great “ta-da” moment and there’s no chance to actually work collaboratively.
Which are the key trends you expect to see in activewear over the next few years?
First, the continuing casualization of what we wear and, as such, the increasing integration of activewear and daywear. Second – having been immersed in the activewear industry for the last 15 years I know how completely founded on synthetics it is – a move towards a much wider variety of fabrics. We’ve been at the forefront of nature-based fabrics and created a number of them. At the moment, circularity is largely talked about as a means of extending the life of clothes, but I think we will actually move towards textile-to-textile recycling. With legislation coming, consumers will expect to be able to trace their clothes right back to source – not just the garment, but the fibre itself. Interestingly, the other thing that’s going to be a key driver is competition driving genuine change. A brand will look at a competitor and say “if they can do it, we’re going to have to do it”, which is great.
Final question, Helen… What couldn’t you live without?
My garden. It’s my place, where I can be as creative as I want on my terms. I’m outdoors, in fresh air. It calms me down from all the craziness that goes on in the rest of my life.
Without is a strategic design agency that builds brands for living. If you’d like to discuss how your brand can connect with today’s consumers, get in touch on 0207 0999 080 or hello@without.studio.