Supreme's Secrets to Success
Supreme that highly coveted streetwear brand with an insane cult-like following that other brand envies. It’s products exclusive and supplies always limited. But yet even with that people are willing to stand in line for endless hours when new products ‘drop.’ With over 6 million followers and products fetching 1200% resell value what exactly is the secret sauce to this kind of wild success that seems effortless.
When it comes to marketing they don’t invest in paid search and do very little when it comes to advertising. Here are Supreme’s super secret strategies uncovered:
LIMITED SUPPLY
In true Supreme style, they stick to this strategy hell or high water. By controlling the supply it increases the hype. Once the product is sold out you will never be able to purchase it again. This entices customers to be tapped into the brand. Supreme has one retail distributor called Dover Street Market and they sell products through their online store and limited retail locations globally:
USA: New York City, Brooklyn, Los Angeles
Europe: London, Paris
Japan: Tokyo (Shibuya), Tokyo (Harajuku), Tokyo (Daikanyama), Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka
New products are dropped weekly, every Thursday both online and through international retail locations. Japan gets the new products on Saturdays and here’s the kicker they never announce what products are coming.
MODERATE WEBSITE
If you really study Supreme’s website you’ll see it’s pretty stripped down to the bare basics which align perfectly with the brand’s value of limited supply. You’ll find zero calls to action buttons and only one graphic, their logo. The message they want customers to know is that you will need to chase them, they will never chase you.
THE EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY
On Supreme’s website, there’s only two places that you’ll find the signup to emails alerts.
The bottom of their homepage
Their ‘shop’ page for a few months before their next collection releases
The only two reasons that Supreme use’s email marketing is:
To update customers on weekly ‘drops’
To send exclusive insider email to certain customers
SUPREME COLLABS
Influencer marketing is part of their strategy but they also are quite choosy as to which celebs/influencers they partner up with. In the past Supreme has worked with the likes of Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Drake, and Kate Moss, to name a few. The key is to create authentic relationships by following these few tips:
Helping with things that influencers are involved with (attending events where they are, connecting via social media, etc.)
Allow your collabs to actively participate in the collab with you by creating a product together.
Outlining the benefits of working with you (massive exposure, tapping into a new market, etc)
Make sure that the celebs/influencer you’re reaching out to have values that align with your brand.
POSTER CAMPAIGNS
Most brands will use PPC to help build brand awareness, but Supreme hits up the occasional poster campaign to further build upon the hype. If you remember they worked with a few well-known celebs in the past for these poster campaigns.
Raekwon & Elmo, 2005
Dipset’s Jim Jones & Juelz Santana, 2006
Mike Tyson, 2007
Kermit the Frog, 2008
Lou Reed, 2009
Lady Gaga, 2011
Prodigy of Mobb Deep, 2011
Three 6 Mafia, 2012
Kate Moss, 2012
Neil Young, 2015
Morrissey, 2016
The two biggest takeaway from Supreme’s strategies is scarcity and consistency. If you’re looking to launch a luxury product in the future, I’d say it’s worth studying up on how Supreme does it.
