This story is part of Glossy’s Return to Analog series, focused on the fashion and beauty brands embracing all things analog and retro, including those eschewing social media marketing or AI and those embracing traditional crafts or print media.
In an era where a brand’s message is often lost on noisy digital channels, a group of fashion brands is shifting toward analog marketing methods and reversing old notions about effective marketing. Brands targeting niche audiences are seeing the most success with this strategy.
To resonate with its audience, Belgian-based Jan-Jan Van Essche focuses on the “silent” nature of garments, said the brand’s namesake founder. Jan-Jan Van Essche’s focus is unisex clothing with fine craftsmanship and minimal seams that retail for $400-$1,200. Perhaps its greatest differentiator is that it does zero digital marketing.
“We don’t have a marketing strategy or department — it’s a ‘no-marketing’ way of doing things,” said Van Essche. The brand doesn’t post content on Instagram, and isn’t interested in chasing performance marketing metrics. The 14-year-old brand instead focuses on building close connections with private clients through intimate events in Japan, home to one of its largest customer groups. In addition, it’s hosted one runway show in its 14-year history, and it’s only invested in production-related technologies.
“We usually take things slowly,” said Van Essche. “Technology and customer behavior tend to move and change extremely fast, but there are always alternative ways to connect and enhance experiences.”
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The rise of anti-marketing isn’t just about rejecting modern technology, but by a desire for authenticity and deeper connections in a fast-paced world. Phoebe Philo and Bottega Veneta have tapped into the trend with their minimal marketing strategies.
“At a very fundamental level, there is a yearning toward analog experiences or analog items because everything ends up being flattened in digital,” said Paul Simmons, senior strategy director at creative studio M+A Group. Simmons pointed to the rise of AI and algorithms making content and clothing from different brands look similar.
Meanwhile. eschewing conventional digital marketing can set a brand apart, offering an increasingly rare narrative of exclusivity and authenticity. During her time at Celine and now at her namesake brand, Phoebe Philo has used marketing opportunities to emphasize the craftsmanship, quality and intrinsic value of her creations. And her brand’s Instagram account mostly posts pictures of art inspiration and architecture.
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“A great way to set your brand apart as a bold innovator is doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing,” said Simmons. “But it only really works if your brand is the singular exception to the rule.”
Indeed, less is often more — and broad digital marketing can easily spread a brand’s focus too thin.
“Social media alone is such a fractured market,” said Simmons. “Brands have been burnt numerous times by [worrying about], ‘Where’s our Clubhouse strategy?’ and ‘What are we doing on Threads?’”
Often, brands’ marketing and social teams are responsible for posting on multiple platforms, and devising strategies that span both local and global markets. As such, outputs often don’t fully meet their potential, which is slowly leading to more considered and, therefore, more valuable marketing strategies.
“Think of Dua Lipa having a book club via WhatsApp, or Charlie XCX having a private Instagram for superfans that acts as a waitlist for a private conversation — these are [marketing] models brands should emulate,” Simmons said.
