Why Sportsgirl is using its 70-year brand history to take on the international fashion retailers arriving in Australia

Staying true to a “brand personality” that has been developed over 70 years will help Sportsgirl apart from the wave of international fashion retailers that are continuing to set up shop in Australia, according to the brand’s strategic brand manager.

Speaking at the Mumbrella Retail Marketing Summit earlier this month, Anna Stevens, group strategic brand manager at Sportsgirl and Sussan, said rather than attempting to respond to the new players in the market, Sportsgirl is focused on maintaining its “brand personality”.

Sportsgirl’s target market is young women and throughout its history, the brand has featured its now iconic logo with blue, green, yellow, white and red stripes in every campaign since it launched in the 1940s. Today’s shoppers can also buy merchandise adorned with the coloured stripes, including t-shirts and bags.

Stevens said the personality of the brand has been developed by “understanding exactly what we represent to our customer and sticking to it”, even while experimenting with new forms of technology and ways of selling.

“Our marketing strategy really hasn’t changed in 70 years,” she said, reports Mumbrella.

“At Sportsgirl, we believe it’s vitally important to remain true to our core brand values and absolutely consistently stick to our brand personality—that’s why we are clearly differentiated from all the global brands now coming to Australia.

‘We are not solely driven by product or price, we are a brand and personality-driven company and always have been—ever since the company was started, that’s what Sportsgirl has always been about.”

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