Carhartt is Holding Out on U.S.

Few brands have what Carhartt has- it is synonymous with quality, it is based out of Detroit, it is utilitarian and it somehow doesn't go out of style. Why can't I just be happy?

photo via Carhartt Europe

Brandweek is reporting that Carhartt is set to launch it's first nationwide intregrated marketing campaign complete with- television spend, a microsite, p.o.s. elements and facebook bells and whistles. It's targeting at young males between 18-34 and as you might expect, television ads will be on ESPN, Discovery and The History Channel. 

A couple of things come to mind here-

First- Part of Carhartt's charm is that the product speaks for itself. Not having a real marketing push has provided credibility to the brand. It's sort of amazing how disparate Carhartt's market reach is. Anyone from red necks to aspiring hip hop stars wear Carhartt. It also seems to be immune from the boom and bust cycles that apparel brands face in trendy youth market. I always figured it was because they weren't actually trying to be trendy as much as they were making durable clothes at good price points. And I figured this was by design. Carhartt didn't want to appear to be concerned about projecting an image because it was so busy creating clothes. 

Second- Did you know that Carhartt also has a streetwear label in Europe? For the longest time I just thought that Europeans viewed Carhartt differently than we did in the States whenever I saw websites advertising Carharttt gear. It's actually a completely different line and it's really cool. I imagine the brand didn't want to sell these products in the states because it's afraid to soil the good thing it has going by appearing to bowing to trends. I say this because I refuse to believe that Carhartt doesn't see the market for streetwear in the states. 

So what gives? The brand wants facebook gimmicks but doesn't want to look too trendy? That doesn't work for me. However, Carhartt can make this right by sending over it's A.P.C collaboration. We will look the other way about your "built Ford tough" television campaign.