The Company We Keep: A Glimpse into Kelton’s Client Wishlist

At Kelton, we pride ourselves in having a diverse client base. From retailers such as Target and Bloomingdales to beverage brands like Mike’s and Coca-Cola, hospitality brands like Marriott and Wynn to electronics brands Sonos and Logitech, Keltonites (as we fondly call ourselves internally) are constantly flexing our mental muscle as we immerse ourselves in our clients’ worlds to help them navigate change.

Our interests outside the workplace are just as varied as our clientele, so I was curious what brands individual Keltonites would most want to work with (outside of our current client base, of course). Whether it’s a brand they enjoy using or one whose business model fascinates them, the choices reveal a lot about what makes the Kelton DNA so unique.

This first edition of “The Company We Keep: A Glimpse into Kelton’s Client Wishlist” covers Keltonites’ wishlist in the retail and apparel industry. Don’t forget to check back in the coming weeks to see our dream clients in other industries.

“Warby Parker is exciting because they are disrupting the eyeglass market –otherwise dominated by a monopoly – with innovative business strategies, and great design sensibility.”

–        AARON SHOON, Associate Director, Design

“I’d love to work with some outdoor equipment brands that I’m passionate about – Ice Breakers makes a superior merino wool product and is making a really interesting move in the outdoor apparel space.  It’s trying to keep one foot in the athletic category (keeping its street cred) but also increasingly in the fashion category (the NYC stores are located in Soho and in the Meatpacking district).”

–        AMANDA MILLER, Senior Director, Qualitative Research

“J.C. Penney – I don’t actually have a lot of experience with this brand, but JCP has recently tried to completely re-brand itself. They changed their pricing regime. They re-designed their logo. They tried adding cafes to some of their stores to give customers an all-around experience. They tried changing many things, but it doesn’t seem to be working. I would love to understand why the initiative isn’t working. Is the problem that JCP isn’t targeting the right people? Or is there something missing from JCP that is being provided by competitors?

–        KATRINA TARMIDI, Analyst, Quantitative Research

“Nike!  Rationale served up to you via a quote from Steve Jobs during a town hall meeting before unveiling the ‘Think Different’ campaign in 1997: ‘Nike sells a commodity, they sell shoes. And yet when you think of Nike you feel something different than a shoe company. In their ads, as you know, they don’t ever talk about the product, they don’t ever talk about their air soles, how they’re better than Reebok’s air soles. What’s Nike do in their advertising? They honor great athletes and they honor great athletics. That’s who they are. That is what they are about.’”

–        SOPHIE MEHARENNA, Senior Associate, Marketing & Brand Development

“J.Crew – I really love this brand and the clothes it produces every year. Under Jenna Lyons, the creative director, the brand’s image has become more “fashion-forward” and has moved away from its classic styling. Recently, in response to a customer’s critique, CEO Mickey Drexler admitted that the brand has “strayed too far.” How does a brand push itself to change without losing its core values?”

–        KATRINA TARMIDI, Analyst, Quantitative Research

“Birchbox is a relatively new company (launched in 2010) and it has an interesting business model where they have both a subscription service where they send clients an assortment of sample size products every month and an online retail service. They’re also now jumping into a bunch of other markets, like men’s products and home goods. I’m really interested in how they can juggle all these new things and also intrigued by the prospect of men’s products and how popular it will be.”

–        BAILEY HANSEN, Intern, Quantitative Research