Brilliant Marketing Strategy!
Copying your own work is a smart marketing strategy. It’s not infringement if it’s your work.
One of the greatest challenges facing fashion designers is that some shrewd, thieving entrepreneur will come along and create a knock-off, cheap version of their high-end product. It happens all the time. Think, the Oscars. How soon after the Oscars do you see the very same designer gowns worn by the stars on the rack of a cheap designer for a fraction of the cost? The next day. And, they proudly advertise their cheap knock-offs on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Extra, and Entertainment Tonight.
Designer Phillip Lim has decided to fight back–without even going to court. He has done what no other famous designer has dared to do—copy his own work! He took his uber expensive handbag Pashli’ bag and converted it to a knockoff. In collaboration with Target Stores, the Phillip Lim For Target collection is now on sale.
His way of competing with the counterfeiters with his own brand was to join them. So Lim has two lines of clothing—the expensive line and the knockoff version of the same line. In duplicating his own work, he not only competes in the big fashion arena, he also meets those pesky thieves where they live on the cheap playing field. Time will tell how successful this marketing ploy will be, at first blush it appears to be born of pure genius.
What do you think? I’m Francine Ward, Intellectual Property Attorney and feel free to join my conversation. Facebook Fan Page, Twitter Page, or in one of my LinkedIn Groups.
