Gregory Goes There

Consumer perception – and what your customers give you permission to do as a brand – is an interesting thing. Last week, Gregory was called out on HighSnobiety, a popular site that follows the trends in street fashion and lifestyle culture news.

For what, those of you in North America ask? Isn’t Gregory a technical pack company?

Yep. But in Japan, Gregory’s customers years ago saw that the quality in Gregory backpacks could parlay into other arenas. And they gave the brand permission to make the leap into products that they use in everyday life – everything from more general-use packs to urban shoulder bags, accessory bags, and a variety of other items that help people keep their lives in order. To some extent, in Asia, there’s a part of the fashion world that’s driven by the outdoors, and it’s that that Gregory’s tapped into.

That’s led to a product line mix that’s totally different than what Gregory’s known for in North America. Sure, Gregory sells Denali Pros and Z55s in Asia – technical packs are still the company’s roots and a big part of its DNA. But a lot of the Asian product line, in a world of overbuilt products with every conceivable bell and whistle, is about elegant simplicity – functional, well-built (but relatively clean and basic) products that people can rely on day-in and day-out.

In Asia, Gregory’s widely known as the brand for any situation when you want to carry something, whether that’s in the mountains, on the commute, around town or wherever else. A couple folks from the design team recently went to Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival, where 120,000 people attended. They estimated somewhere between 7,000 to 10,000 attendees were carrying Gregory gear. That’s up to 10 percent of the population at rock festival. Huge.

So, jump back to present, it’s interesting that a site like HighSnobiety – which is about exclusive and unique stuff – picked up on Gregory’s more lifestyle-driven popularity in the Asian market.

They did say one thing that wasn’t quite on the mark – that Japan gets the better product. Different colors and designs, sure. But Gregory uses the same materials and construction in its products worldwide. It’s just that they make an array of more lifestyle-driven gear for Asia that they don’t sell in North America. And that’s more dictated by culture and how the brand is perceived than anything else.

But what’s been interesting for Gregory of late is that awareness about what the brand is in Asia is seeping out in Europe and North America. Witness another fashion-based internet shop in the UK, Oki-Ni, which is selling some of the Japan product, and the place where HighSnobiety sends its traffic.

And in North America, that’s been creating more awareness of – and requests from dealers and consumers about – what’s been happening for Gregory on the Asian front.

So there ya go. One brand, one philosophy, and different products applied to different markets using the same aforementioned philosophy. But the question is, is there more room for crossover? Do North American consumers see/value/appreciate the attention to detail as applied to more day-to-day/lifestyle products, the way Asian consumers do? Thoughts?