The Ask
Introduce, summarize, discuss, and provide recommendations after reading the Harvard Business Case Study on Ambercrombie & Fitch, and watching the Netflix Documentary: "White Hot - The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch" .
THE PROCESS 🔥 🎥
THE PROCESS 🔥 🎥
The Downfall
While reading the case study and watching the documentary, I made sure to take notes throughout my research on their brand management. Keeping in mind what we learned throughout the semester about leadership, I identified that the cause of Ambercrombie & Fitch was due to the toxic behavior created by CEO Mike Jeffries and photographer, Bruce Webber, in the company and workplace. They perpetuated a demographic with unrealistic standards, as well as discriminating other races, leading to their downfall after nearly two decades being on top.
What Needs to Change
Ambercrombie & Fitch had built a brand on close knit exclusivity, closing themselves off to one specific demographic. I recommended that they continue to rebrand themselves to the mass market by encompassing positivity, inclusivity, and diversity. While targeting the teens from their height of success that are now adults, they should emphasize their new principles and continue to promote their new customer centric ideology.
The Outcome
Through this exercise, I gained valuable insight into how destructive leadership can create a harmful environment for both employees and customers. I was able to pinpoint the main causes, and how to rebuild the company perception. Abercrombie's marketing tactics of extreme exclusivity severely damaged its brand image, particularly as the company failed to adapt to evolving societal values. The toxic culture within the organization, marked by sexual misconduct, a lack of diversity and inclusion, and discriminatory practices, led to numerous employee lawsuits. Such inappropriate behaviors are unacceptable in any company, especially one of this scale, ultimately resulting in the need for a complete rebrand.
