Australian fashion retailer Country Road has appointed its first external creative agency since 2014.
Melbourne independent SICKDOGWOLFMAN has been named creative agency of record after a competitive pitch.
Country Road head of marketing Lina Cabai said the retailer was seeking a creative partner ahead of its 50 year milestone in 2024.
“In SICKDOGWOLFMAN, we’ve found a creative partner that knows how to collaborate and truly understands our brand,” she said.
"They’ve already demonstrated an incredible ability to articulate who we are on a grand scale. We’re excited to start what we hope will be an enduring partnership."
Speaking at Ragtrader Live Sydney in May, Cabai confirmed Country Road has increased marketing spend by 70% this year with the rate set to continue into FY24.
The broader investment comes as the brand doubles down on new marketing channels, including the launch of a data-led app in October last year.
"Thanks to an incredible wealth of transactional data from our rewards program, which does account for almost 80% of our total sales, we've been able to quantify that when a customer moves to the Country Road mobile app, they are 22% more valuable to us," Cabai said.
"Their behaviour changes, they shop more often, with half of those incremental purchases being made in our bricks and mortar stores."
Cabai said this has given the brand the confidence to test and invest, with the app expecting more updates ahead.
"Using our wealth of loyalty data, we now know that two-thirds of customers who shop Country Road on the app are completely new to the brand.
"We also know that existing customers who start shopping Country Road on The Iconic become 3% less valuable to our brand. We're OK with that, because ultimately, we're getting the gains in the acquisition space.”
Country Road has increased its sales by 19% on last year, with a record 56% growth in customer acquisition and a 17% increase in its overall customer base.
“And we've achieved significant gains in brand health metrics within our core customer demographic,” Cabai said.
“We first test, we learn, and of course we fail, but we're confident when we've got it right,” Cabai said. “That's where we have the opportunity to really scale.
“And that's not only an approach that we take to our brand, but it's actually also an approach that we take to the business at large as well.”
"You don't just ask the board to more than double your marketing unless you're getting some runs on the board."
In addition to investment in digital channels, Country Road will push into OOH channels for the first time this year.
SICKDOGWOLFMAN design director Jack Turnball welcomed the appointment of an external creative agency to its strategy mix.
"Fashion is a unique space, where emotional storytelling and aesthetic are intertwined. It needs a balanced approach of design and comms, which is right up our alley.
"As one of Australia’s most iconic and influential fashion labels, we’re excited to work together and see where the road leads us.”
SICKDOGWOLFMAN will work with Country Road on developing above the line comms, as well as digital, activation and PR.