Myer's youth offer a branding first

MELBOURNE: An innovative marketing and branding strategy has been named as the reason behind the rapid success of Myer's recently launched youth fashion precinct.
Foot traffic and sales at The Basement - which opened in December last year at Myer's Melbourne CBD store - had exceeded the store's expectations, confirmed Myer national public relations and events manager Tracy Baker.
"It's been far more successful than we imagined. We've found that people are coming to the store just to hang out and that it's extended to much more than just shopping," Baker said.
"We've marketed The Basement in a very non-traditional way as the target demographic is not really influenced by traditional marketing. We used the same advertising agency [Singleton Ogilvy & Mather] as Myer usually uses but took a very different direction, using non-conventional media including street press. We're also planning a number of music events."
The Basement includes lounge areas, an in-house DJ and over 120 local and international youth brands, including; True Religion, Paper Denim Cloth, Vicious Threads, Roy, Industrie, Bardot, Mossimo, Ezekiel, Dangerfield, Pilgrim and Maybelline.
Myer general manager, marketing and creative design, Paul Bonnici, developed the space following extensive research into global youth retail trends.
"There is a growing youth culture in this country and we had an exciting retail space that was perfect for all the great ideas and things we saw around the world. That's how The Basement came about."
The Basement would build on the success of Myer's youth businesses - including Miss Shop and young menswear, both of which ranked among the store's fastest growing businesses, Bonnici said.
While its core customer was the 18 to 25 market, older shoppers were also flocking to the store.
"Fashion is now for every age; I'm 41 and already wear some of the brands we will stock in the Basement, cool stuff like Fred Perry, Paul Frank and Vicious Threads.
"There's nothing like The Basement in this country. Everything about it is so different, from the way the merchandise is displayed to the fact that all the coolest brands are in the one spot."