|
The Battle of the
Brands
How powerful is
branding and how does it impact our purchasing choices in
badminton and outside?
We chat to Maggie
Chan about what some of the impact of brands are and to get some
tips on fashion as well. Maggie a former NZ squad member
is well known among the players her fashion sense both on and off court.
 How Influential
Are
Top Brands on Purchasing Habits?
It's interesting
because a lot of the brand impact seems to come from tennis
brands such as Nike and Adidas because of their presence on TV
or the internet so the badminton brands have to battle that. It shows how
important media coverage is for a brand.
However in NZ top
players are sponsored by the leading badminton brands so that
people see them and copy those brands but the media is a major player
there in terms of influencing purchases so getting that exposure
is important.
The top players will
of course be all in the same brand of clothing shirt, shorts /
skirt etc but the public tend to mix and match and will often get
their own individual style.
You often see
members of the public wearing all sorts of brands not all of
them are badminton ones on court. Often also they will mix
up brands e.g. Prince shoes and Yonex shirt or they may have
Nike shirt and Prince shorts etc. But as I said the big
tennis brands come into play so you could have a Nike shirt, Yonex shorts and prince or
Adidas shoes.
What Makes You Take
Notice of A Brand?
Clothing definitely
- you always notice say a Yonex shirt first before you notice
the racket just because it can be harder to see the racket from
the stand. So clothing is the first impact for me anyway
and it really stands out.
 Do You See a
Difference in the Way Guys and Girls Shop?
Definitely!
Although this is a generalisation guys will generally shop
because they need something. They'll figure out what they
want buy it and leave - in and out in as short a time as
possible.
Girls will tend to browse even if they don't
need something at that time and may not even buy anything at
first.
How Powerful is
Branding?
VERY! Especially with
children. More people are buying brands now but children are
more often looking for a brand now.
Some will tend to buy
the brand perhaps based on what they see on TV or from a top
player then their
friends see them wearing it and more kids buy it so it spirals.
How Much More
Expensive is Branded Clothing?
It can be up to 3
times more expensive. So for the brands the marketing
really pays off if people go and buy it.
Do You Have Any
Fashion Tips For People Out There?
Here just some
general ones.
Large hips - wear
longer skirts or shorts
Dark skin - try and
avoid wearing bright colours
Fair skin - try and avoid wearing white or very pale colours
Colour Matching: If you have a shirt
that is mostly blue but with a little white then wear a white
shorts / skirt to match and bring out the minor colour - that
can work really well.
Layering: This is really
fashionable at the moment - e.g. wearing a t shirt under the top
shirt that sticks out at the bottom so you see a range of layers
of colours. E.g. lace tops are quite popular and come in
all sorts of different sizes that can be worn under your top
shirt and stick out at the bottom they look really cool.
There are definitely
more skirts and sexier gear being worn now than say 10 years
ago. And the tops tend to be shorter and skimpier - e.g.
Taufik wears singlets on court.
Cost - How Much Does
it Cost to Look Cool?
For the branded
items you are probably looking at around $60 to $80 for a top, $60
to $80 for skirt, for guys same for top and $30 to $40 for shorts.
Shoes I feel tend to be bought based on functionality more than
brand but I could be wrong there.
|
