• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 17, 2023

Samsonite's American Tourister wants to coax younger travelers to take road trips in its biggest marketing push in a decade.

The brand refresh, new ads and new collection come as the luggage industry is exploding. American Tourister sales jumped 40% to $151.2 million in the most recent quarter. And parent Samsonite, which also owns Tumi, saw corporate revenues rise 49% to $852.1 million.

And while soaring sales are always good news, the stampede for new suitcases presents its own marketing challenge, says Nicole Adriance, senior director of brand marketing. That includes clear differentiation from competitors, like Away and Monos, as well as from other Samsonite brands.

"We've been very intentional about the positioning and the value proposition across our portfolio," she says, working to eliminate overlap and cannibalization.

The result is a brand refresh designed to boost direct-to-consumer sales and improve wholesale results. And the brand hopes to encourage unseasoned Gen Z travelers to hit the road, discovering the fun of no-fuss road trips.

No one is heading to Paris in these ads or even getting on a plane. "We just want to inspire people to be spontaneous and not overthink travel plans," she tells Marketing Daily. "And American Tourister has a huge opportunity in the approachable luggage space."

Nail Communications created the campaign, which follows a group on a Palm Springs adventure. Ads are scheduled to run throughout the summer travel season on streaming TV, online video, paid social and digital out-of-home in New York, and taxi placements.

The main idea is to let young shoppers know that no one needs a $500 suitcase to have fun. "You can buy one of our bags at Target and have a memorable travel experience."

And while the company hopes the new effort will boost sales at retail partners, which include Kohl's and Macy's, she believes there's a tremendous opportunity to grow our D2C business. To that end, American Tourister has also completely redone its website, updated brand guidelines and overhauled all typography.

It's also investing heavily in digital ads to drive direct sales, working with micro-influencers who post about their road trips on social channels.

While the effort is primarily intended to boost revenues, Adriance is also closely tracking other metrics. "American Tourister is currently No. 2 in market share and brand awareness. We're also looking for an increase in branded search terms," she says. "We have this 90-year legacy, but we want to continue that with a new generation of consumers."