• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, November 30, 2016

American Giant, the San Francisco-based apparel start-up best known for its cult-favorite hoodie, is out to expand its audience, launching a new marketing campaign and stepping up its outreach to veterans.

And it says its mission — selling high-quality, made-in-the-U.S.A. apparel at reasonable prices — is resonating as never before. CMO Beth Gumm tells Marketing Daily more about the effort to nudge the niche brand more mainstream.

Q. First, how about a little history for people not familiar with the brand?

A. Sure. This is our fourth holiday season, and the company was started by Bayard Winthrop, who had spent years in manufacturing and investment banking. 

He saw that consumers were increasingly rejecting big brands, as well as apparel that was constantly being discounted. So he set about making high-quality clothes out of cotton grown here and pricing it fairly, in part by avoiding brick-and-mortar stores. The company launched in 2012, and got its big break with an article in Slate called “The greatest hoodie ever made.”

Q. The company’s “Don’t get comfortable” tagline is odd. Athleisure is the very definition of comfort. How did that start?

A. It goes back to the manifesto that Chuck McBride, founder of Cutwater, our ad agency, created. This idea of not getting too comfortable, of always pushing yourself, is the heart of the company. All of us go through some failures, but that mindset of learning from failure — that optimistic sense of pushing through -- matters to so many people. Our clothes are comfortable. But they’re for people who keep pushing.

Q. And the new ads?

A. The campaign is called “Thank the Struggle,” and it amplifies how important those failures are. It’s running on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Marketing is a vehicle for getting the word out, and we still don't have much awareness.

Q. Your positioning is similar to brands like Under Armour and Reebok. Are you pursuing the same audience?

A. No. We are very careful not to just represent our audience as athletes. We are streetwear. So — even though athletics are a very easy visual way to show people bouncing back from failure — we’re also talking about the ways people respond to breakups, to business setbacks, to getting fired. Life struggles are bigger than athletics.

Q. How are sales? Is the company profitable yet?

A. I can’t say since we’re private. But I can say we had two record sales days this past weekend. And we’re a completely relevant brand. 

Q. Tell us more about the power of “Made in the U.S.A.” It was a big topic in the recent elections, what with crowds chanting “U.S.A.” But it also appeals to the left-leaning locavores. 

A. Made in the U.S.A. matters to our audience, as does product quality and affordability. We strike a common chord, which resonates with people’s values of resilience, and the bigger theme of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S., of doing things that are hard.

Q. American Apparel, also entirely made in the U.S., just filed for bankruptcy for the second time in a year. Might that signal some fatigue about American-made clothes?

A. We don’t feel like Made-in-America is fading. I just think the business model really matters. We are private, and our investors are very patient and strategic. We’re investing in product quality first, followed by a great shopping experience on our website.

Q. Why did you change your policy of not discounting for the recent Veteran’s Day offer?

A. We don’t discount the brand very often. This was a way to generate more awareness and give all military personnel a lifetime discount. And we also offered our flagship product, the Classic Full Zip, for 30% off. We’re also reaching out to the military community through a Facebook program. Made in the U.S.A. resonates with them.