Why Is Coolmate Not For Coolgal?

Coolmate has launched its Coolmate Active for Women product line under the “Better with us” campaign just four months after securing US$6 million in Series B funding. Is this expansion a strategic move or a gamble like its trials with subscription box and personal care? In my opinion, the brand stretching from menswear to activewear for women is a risky move because Coolmate is not for cool girls.

Growing incomes and heightened consciousness of wellbeing have spurred a significant increase in women's embrace of exercise and sports in Vietnam. The female performance apparel market, heavily dominated by international brands such as Adidas, Nike, presents a promising opportunity for domestic businesses. Yet expanding a brand to new customer segments to drive sustainable growth, in Coolmate’s case, necessitates not only market opportunity capture but also rigorous analysis of brand elasticity.

When a brand crosses the gender divide, moving from menswear to womenswear (and vice versa), the brand's core foundation must be examined through two key aspects:

Translatability of the brand’s design style/aesthetic (Is there a demand for the brand's design style/aesthetic in the new market?)
Adaptability of brand essence (Can the brand maintain who it is while appealing to a new customer segment?)

An evaluation of these two critical aspects will clarify my perspective on Coolmate's case.

Translatability of Coolmate’s menswear design style/aesthetic into women’s activewear

Coolmate's focus on high-quality, functional, and minimal menswear at affordable prices has resonated with modern men. While applying this to formal or casual womenswear presents a highly saturated landscape, I am convinced that demand for similar designs exists within the women's activewear market.

The Vietnam market of women’s running, training and yoga apparel can be divided into four potential spaces based on customer’s preference for style or performance, image or affordability. The competitive landscape of this market includes a diverse range of players: international sportswear giants, global fashion brands, Vietnamese brands, and unbranded sellers. Coolmate's design philosophy can effectively cater to price-conscious beginners or regular exercisers, who prioritize functional, affordable apparel from a reliable brand. The new product line’s functional minimalist style and price points presented on the website demonstrate a connection to its menswear style.

Although the menswear’s design concept can be translated into women’s activewear, Coolmate’s brand stretch from cool guys to cool girls demonstrated a lack of rigorous calculation in maintaining brand essence.

Adaptability of Coolmate’s brand essence into Coolmate Active for Women

The brand launched its women's performance apparel line on Coolmate’s existing social media with the emotion-driven campaign "Better with us" which champions self-discovery and improvement through daily exercise, empowering women to become the best versions of themselves.

Featuring thematic video and personal stories from female athletes, the inspiration-evoking approach targeting female audiences is a departure from Coolmate's established brand persona. While Coolmate for men is originally portrayed as a straightforward, humorous, “cool mate” embodying the Jester archetype, Coolmate for women represents a persistent, mindful hero. This situation may stem from the brand team’s awareness of male and female audience differences. But building different brand personas to lure different customer segments poses threats to Coolmate's consistency in brand image and customer’s perception in the long term.

While Coolmate Active for Women may yield immediate product-market alignment, disorder of brand essence will dilute its brand image, limiting long-term growth across all product lines.

Can Coolmate scale to new markets?

Coolmate was intentionally coded for men from its origin. Expanding the brand name Coolmate to any product line for women is beyond its inherent DNA elasticity. However, foray into women's or children's markets is possible for Coolmate through appropriate brand architecture.

Gillette Venus illustrates how effective hybrid brand architecture enabled a men's razor brand to successfully expand into women's razor. Leveraging the parent brand Gillette's legacy in razor, Venus was developed as an independent with a distinct brand identity: comfort-focused, soft, caring, empowering and separate platforms. This both provides Venus space to establish a strongly resonant connection with women and preserves Gillette's brand essence, ensuring its continued appeal to male customers, who value performance, ruggedness, and ambitiousness.

Treating women's activewear as mere product line under the Coolmate name poses excessive risk to the brand. To secure strategic win in the new market, Coolmate needs an appropriate brand architecture, because Coolmate is not for Coolgal.

© 2020-2024 Narrativ.Design. All rights reserved. The author is the Brand Partner at Narrativ.Design. She has understanding of branding and creative aspects of fashion with a great passion for fast-changing industries. You can reach her at connect@narrativ.design