Quinssa Events

Merchandise Forum 2009

Notes from Bill Ford-Smith

Some notes on the areas that were discussed at the Merchandise Forum, in no particular order.

In general, the feeling overall appears to be that the range has improved considerably, but there are still plenty of opportunities we have yet to explore fully. More specific topics follow:

Player Issue Kit:

A range of the kit actually issued to the players was requested (including all branding).

We already do this, only without sponsors’ branding; the latter is omitted on grounds of cost and performance (it would add significantly to the selling price of the products and, in some cases, can degrade the performance of the products).

These lines often don’t appear on the webpage as we tend to carry lower stock levels than on many of our own lines and wish to avoid trying to sell things where there is a risk of running out of stock (the teamwear stocks can be stripped bare in one busy matchday); this might explain why the requester hadn’t seen them.

Shorted-Sleeved Retro:

A version of the Retro with short sleeves was requested.

This will happen for AW2009.

Retro version of CRUK shirt:

Either a polo or the heavier cotton fabric of the existing Retro.

The CRUK Replicas was a limited edition and so won’t be repeated in any form.

Seasonal Highlights DVD:

This is a recurring request.

We will do one if it possible to negotiate all the copyright and production issues (and if we can do so in a sensible timescale). This particular product is vulnerable to taking a disproportionate amount of time to produce, compared to other lines, which makes it less likely to happen.

Layered Quartered Hoody:

A version of this but in a more ‘Retro’ aesthetic was requested i.e. the current one, but with the black stripes on the body deleted.

Watch this space…

Products to permit Harlequins fans to look like Harlequins fans when it gets wet or the temperature drops:

The issue here is that there isn’t a great deal in the full Quarters palette that is designed to be worn as an outer garment in inclement weather. Some fans also drew attention to the view that people might be reluctant to wear the ‘full’ Quarters for everyday use.

There are a number of elements to this one; colours first: the Harlequins palette is quite difficult to produce in the correct colours as we use relatively few ‘standard’ colours. One result of this is that something in the full Quarters palette has to be ordered in large quantities, which represents a significant financial risk.

This season, there were already supposed to be two (three, if you count a women’s version of one) lines which are an intermediate step to solving this issue (‘test of concept’): an inexpensive three-tone (Black/Lt Blue/Magenta) waterproof jacket and a shelled fleece in the same palette. These are currently very late, due to serious issues with a supplier. When these show up, and if they sell, they should provide us with some data on which to base a decision on whether to take the risk of full Quarters palette versions.

With regard to the ‘everyday’ wear question, the shelled fleece is reversible: the shell side is quartered for matchday and the fleece side is a much more subdued colourway that is intended to not be out of place for everyday wear around town.

‘Minikit’ for car windows etc:

Small versions of the playing shirts, to put in car windows etc.

The intention is to do a number of products along these lines for AW2009 (we have a new concept from one of our suppliers that would allow us suitable order minimums to trial this idea).

Ladies range:

There were several elements to the feedback on the ladies range; to deal with them in turn:

Sizes were an issue from one supplier in particular; several garments were an awful lot smaller than they were supposed to be for each size i.e. a UK12 might have been close to being a UK8, say. Most of our suppliers are very good at producing product for us that either matches ‘high street’ or ‘rugby’ sizing; in this case we were let down. Needless to say, future ranges of ladies wear will be much more tightly policed to avoid a recurrence of this problem.

It has been suggested that the ladies range is ‘too girly’ (other feedback was the complete opposite, unsurprisingly); there was also a request to do women’s versions of some of the men’s lines. This is a perennial issue and often goes in cycles (and isn’t confined to just rugby): when the range is more girly, feedback requests the opposite and vice versa. To further cloud the matter, in the past when we have done women’s versions of mens lines, women have often still bought the men’s one (the classic recent example being the 07-08 Replica: we stocked women’s ones and the women mostly bought the men’s, or kid’s!).

Devising the ladies range is actually one of the hardest buying jobs at Harlequins: the amount of stock you can buy is directly proportional to the levels of sales that the product area achieves; we sell substantially less women’s product than other product groups at the moment: a result of this is that the range has to be very focused and considered to be commercially viable. We are in a period of experimentation with the women’s range (to establish a good data-set of sales figures on which to base future ranges); one implication of this is that where we have a men’s line that women buy happily, it would often not be wise to tie up stock-holding doing a women’s version of the same thing, as that would preclude spending the money on something more interesting and perhaps more desirable than the (apparently) ‘safe’ bet.

The ladies range will continue to be developed and evolve over the coming seasons, with better and better products in the range as the data available to us continues to improve.

“remind [Bill] that we are not a brand and the correct 6 pantones are not negotiable”:

The above is a quote from the feedback received.

Harlequins are most certainly a brand; this is definitely a good thing however: a brand is a clear identity that needs to be preserved and protected. The term ‘brand’ has acquired some pejorative associations in the past, but that is no reason to assume that thinking about our identity in such terms is a bad thing.

As an example, consider the Home Shirt: it would be far easier (see comments earlier about non-standard colours) and create an arguably greater visual impact if we changed the colours to more ‘primary’ ones (to get an idea of what it would look like, use the ‘auto levels’ function in Photoshop on an image of the shirt); that won’t happen however, as it would be contrary to one element of what our ‘brand’ is about.

I agree with the statement about the pantones: I spend an awful lot of my time making sure that we are using the correct pantones, when we use colours that appear on the shirt (the suppliers hate me for it too, I suspect!). We are actually a lot more particular about correct pantone usage now than at pretty much any time in the past; look at the portraits in the entrance to the LV Stand to see how far the colours on the shirt have ‘crept’ over time without proper supervision!

Business casual:

With the passing of Eden Park as a sponsor, there is no longer a range of ‘business casual’ shirts etc.

This is being addressed for AW2009.

Quartered Fleece:

Don’t even go there! Actual straight fleece has been largely superseded by superior fabrics or fabrications. Normal fleece isn’t windproof and therefore has almost no utility as an outer garment (the fabric type was originally designed as a mid-layer for outdoor types).

Also, see comments earlier about quartered outerwear and warmwear.

The aim is to get to a place where we can produce commercially viable full-Quarters clothing for nasty weather, but it won’t be a standard fleece!

Car stickers:

There is already one in the range (plus an adhesive badge) and other new designs are likely to be introduced for AW2009.

Quarter colours as band/frieze on jackets etc:

The idea here is where we can’t produce something in full-on Quarters, or it wouldn’t be suitable to do so (more non-matchday wear), we develop some sort of visual theme based on the Quarters and the full palette of colours.

This idea is something we’re already pursuing, although it’s harder than it sounds to get something that’s universally applicable, but still says ‘Quins’ unequivocally! The first examples of this direction of thought should be in the range for AW2009 and not just on jackets.

Pockets on the Quartered Hoody:

The current one doesn’t have any.

This is because the design language doesn’t lend itself terribly well to putting pockets in, plus it would have put the price up. I’ll see if anything can be done with the AW2009 version.

‘Loud’ scarves in the full six colours:

Hopefully, there will be more along these lines in AW2009 – there is already one ‘college’ pattern one that is heading in the right direction.

Too much ‘low-key’ leisurewear:

Our sales figures dispute this assertion (ranges are largely stocked in proportion to sales figures – the more we sell of something, the more tends to be bought in). The ranges that are produced with more understated aesthetics are there for people who want clothing to wear away from the match which is still Quins branded, but is a bit more subtle. There are occasions where the full-colour Quarters are a bit over the top!

More ‘low ticket’ items:

The accessory range is due for a bit more attention and there should be quite a few new interesting things at ‘pocket money’ price points (with regular updates) in the range for AW2009.

Bring back the women’s Navy/Pink quarters:

The men’s one sold better (to women), so we rested the women’s version this season. That doesn’t preclude its return at some point in the future in some form.

Christmas Cards/Calendars:

These haven’t been done so far as they require quite a lot of time to get right in relation to their lifespan as a product and the return they’re likely to generate.

It’s something being kept on the radar however.

Lions product:

Are we going to stock any product relating to the upcoming Lions tour?

No. We stick to pure Harlequins product at the moment and do it better than anyone else; we leave the Lions product to more generalist outlets.

Women’s Vest Tops:

These were requested a la the Quinssa product.

We did do a more understated vest top this season; whether this is an area we repeat/expand on will depend on what our sales analysis tells us in the next few weeks. We probably wouldn’t step on Quinssa’s toes though, so you won’t see a clone of their product!

Silver jewellery:

The Wear Your Colours range (the higher-end sterling silver jewellery) has been quite successful and is likely to continue. The market is relatively small so far, however, so we have yet to have too many products that we can repeat year in year out; that results in the range changing quite a lot each year, to maintain interest.

‘Cheap’ Player Standard Replicas:

Lower cost ‘player standard’ shirts have been noticed this season.

Whilst not able to comment definitively, I suspect these may be Liquid Pro Replicas: those clubs that have adopted this new shirt technology from KooGa have the option of producing two forms of Replica; one is the equivalent of the Replica we do currently and the other is more of an ‘Uber-Replica’ which is closer in spec to the Liquid Pro shirts used by the players (although still not the same) and rather more expensive.

If Harlequins adopts Liquid Pro too at some point, it is likely we would stock an ‘Uber-Replica’ too, although in rather smaller volumes than the usual one, which would also be run as in previous seasons.

Big sizes:

Bigger sizes have been requested and confusion expressed re: different fits of notionally the same size.

We have been trialling larger sizes in shirts this season in particular; they have been moderately successful and will most likely continue into other areas of the range.

Different suppliers use different ‘blocks’ (size sets), depending on target consumer. As an example, KooGa tend to produce larger garments for a given size than many others as their product is ‘made for rugby’ i.e. targeted at larger frames. Most other manufacturers use something approaching a standard ‘high street’ fit, which is smaller.

The intention is to improve our online size charts for next season (if not sooner), but (as ever) the ideal is to try things on in the Stoop shop.

For information, our sales curves are very similar in shape to what you would expect to see in a high street retailer; the difference is that the peak (and everything else) is about one complete size larger.

Range KooGa’s Tongan Jacket:

We do and have done since last season (also see comments earlier about teamwear).

Range the ‘Trews’:

This is extremely unlikely to ever happen: the ‘Trews’ are a standard chef’s trouser and we couldn’t match the price of the big retailers who get huge economies of scale for ordering large quantities of the things.

Independent suggestion of Hawaiian print product:

This suggestion was nothing to do with me! The idea mooted was to do something in the Quarters, but with a white Hawaiian style print over the top, similar to things being produced recently by boardwear companies et al.

The idea is being looked at…

Program-sized pockets:

It was mentioned that jacket pockets should be large enough to fit a program.

I agree; this is a replay of an ‘outdoor’ discussion of a few years ago (only then it was ‘maps’). Now this has been flagged, we’ll look into it a bit more. The pocket needs to be larger than just the dimensions of a program though, to allow the program to fit comfortably and avoid straining the closure/seams etc.

Squad record a cover of ‘Quinn the Eskimo’:

It was suggested that we might produce a cover of our adopted theme song, performed by members of the playing squad.

Seriously…?!

Other specific product ideas:

We also got a list of other specific product ideas, all of which have been noted and will be kept on the radar during the buy-in for AW2009.

Further feedback:

As ever, all feedback is very much appreciated – keep it coming, even when there isn’t an imminent forum! I can be reached on billfs@quins.co.uk if you have anything (good or bad) to tell me about the range.

BFS