Branding the Man

Book excerpt: Men are purchasing more clothes, shoes, health and beauty products, and personal care services than ever before. The world of men’s retail has remained a kind of bug in amber, frozen in time, with the same century-old style of merchandising and selling. A store must not simply provide, but educate the male customer, who is growing hungry for something more than the usual Blue Plate Special of khakis and polo shirts. To better attract this new wave of interested consumers, products in the U.S. must be merchandised and sold in a completely different manner. The design and branding of a man’s store ought to make men want to go shopping. Branding the Man offers retailers, buyers, and marketers strategic solutions to revolutionize men’s retail via some relatively simple conceptual strategies. Author Bertrand Pellegrin utilizes his years as a retail strategist to help retailers understand classic men’s environments–ones where men are most naturally inclined to spend time–and leverage the opportunities which arise from these “comfort zones” to engage and sell to the male customer. Branding the Man immerses the reader in a discussion of men’s retail environments spanning every level: store design, buying/sourcing, merchandising, marketing and advertising, and promotion and lays out a blueprint for how men can be developed as the “next frontier” in retail. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.