I remember the feel of the Midas Touch, when I received my coveted invite to the members only Gilt Groupe. With its glossy chic black and gold branding, gorgeous photography, and renowned designers, they opened the kimono of the elusive New York sample sale to the online retail space, while still creating the illusion of exclusivity.

Since that day, I’ve come across several other sites that compete in the space: Hautelook, Ideeli, and RueLaLa just to name a few. As more people join the ranks, it has become a parity to bring exclusive items into the well-oiled retail mechanics of the web, and now they must look for other ways to differentiate themselves. And in a world of fashion, where houses are built upon a name, it comes at no surprise that Branding & Design should be the two big levers for differentiation.

A member of all the aforementioned sites, I was surprised one day to see one of them pull a Forever 21 and rip off of another site’s style. Having taken into account some member feedback, Hautelook announced a brand new look, that also happened to be strikingly similar to Gilt Groupe. Imitation may be flattery, but it’s also the death kiss of originality.

With the likes of Alexis Maybank, one of the founding members of eBay, and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson of Louis Vuitton behind the Gilt helm, the group combined their complementary talents to inundate the competition. Understanding that looks are only skin deep, the duo revisited their underlying brand strategy, and introduced Gilt Groupe’s younger sister – Gilt Fuse – as a new way to offer lower price points to the hipster scene, without alienating their original member base. They also took a look at their communications platform, primarily email based, and established a clearer hierarchy and more easily navigable layout, allowing customers to dive to the sales that mattered to them. With a re-structured brand framework in place that offered more points of differentiation, Gilt Groupe was able to tap into a new market, and tailor their communication system to create a even better designed user experience.

Although we work within the technology industry, and not the fashion industry, KA+A often works with clients who are in similar situations to Gilt Groupe. They face a rash of “me too” competitors, whose imitations water down their unique positioning and brand equity. Pushing aside the surface touch points, KA+A dives deep into the heart of the brand, to uncover its singular truth and shape an untouchable strategy around it. Once this is in place, what the brand looks like, talks like, smells like, and feels like falls into place.

Recently, we worked with FormSpring, a SaaS platform that allows anyone to create webforms and simply and efficiently collect data online. Planted at a point where other single point form services converged, FormSpring needed to appear as more than a mash-up of other services’ offerings. After conducting audits, interviews, and market research, KA+A crafted a compelling brand strategy, re-envisioned their corporate identity, and created an online and offline design system that would clearly cement their industry leading product positioning. Equipped with a new corporate identity, marketing web site, and marketing communications system, FormSpring clearly stands apart in the competitive landscape.

To learn more about KA+A’s brand and positioning work, see our FormSpring case study, and visit our blog posts on branding.