Its impossible not to have heard about the infamous Chip Wilson, Lululemon’s former CEO and chairman of the board. Many men/women may praise Wilson for inventing a way to make it “okay” for ladies to throw away the jeans and shift towards a version of pants that resemble no pants at all (especially when the see through leggings fiasco went down). Yet, it was probably best for the company that he stepped down this year after repeatedly being hounded in the press for his demeaning and racist comments. His most recent and one of the most controversial comments arose after he was asked by customers why their pants kept pilling, to which he responded that their thighs must be too big and that Lululemon pants won’t work for all body types. In my opinion the comments weren’t hard to see coming, after all, he pointed out in an interview that he named his company Lululemon because people from Asia would often have a hard time pronouncing the name.
In walks Laurent Potdevin, the man who has had dream job after dream job: CEO of Burton Snowboards (15yrs), president of TOMS ( 2yrs 10months), and now CEO of Lululemon. Talk about a business connection I’d like to have in my back pocket. The way Lululemon introduced its new CEO expressed the turning of a leaf for the company, not only because Potdevin first appeared to Lululemon’s publics through a video, but because even in the video it showed Potdevin turning a page in his own life by leaving Burton, LA, and TOMS behind. Without having done some research before watching the video, I may not have realized the true significance of the items placed as props in Potdevin’s early morning routine. The LA mug signifies his transition from Los Angelos to Canada, and when he kicked off his TOMS and goes into a meditative pose he demonstrates his change from president of TOMS to CEO of Lululemon. My favorite part of the entire video was when his whole face finally appears and he gives the viewer a crooked little smile. It showed how personable he was and made him relatable. A far cry from the controversial Chip Wilson.
Here are three ways I believe Lululemon can use Laurent Potdevin’s successful image to help itself recover as a company:
- Due to Potdevin’s vast connections with outdoor companies, I believe Lululemon could market to a new demographic of adventurous consumers who love snowboarding, hiking, biking, climbing, etc. in extreme conditions.
- Lululemon could use Potdevin’s personable introduction to rebrand the company and put to bed the backlash from Wilson’s comments. One way it could do this is to launch a campaign that tells women to embrace their bodies and unique attributes in order to love themselves for who they are.
- Finally, the company can continue to post videos in a similar silent movie fashion in order to convey its message through body movement and expressions. This would be a positive approach since it is a company who’s core is centered around physical health and mental wellbeing.
tinytips 