Lululemon uses eavesdropping strategy

Lululemon Athletica, high-end yoga attire, strays from the traditional branding techniques that drive businesses today. While many companies rely on their websites or social media to receive complaints and feedback, Lulu has a different way of doing things... eavesdropping.

With a market value of $10.4 billion and sales of $712 million last year, Lulu is doing something right. The company doesn't rely on collecting costumer data, driving sales through discounts or building new stores around the country to increase sales. Instead, it stays in close contact with its customers and uses a sense of scarcity.

That's right... whether you think it's creepy or not, the staff of Lululemon are told to stand outside of dressing rooms and fold clothes in the store, rather than in the back, to eavesdrop and hear complaints first hand. They then create customer-employee relationships and use complaints to tweak the store.

Lululemon also focuses on the scarcity of its items. New colors and seasonal items usually get three, six or 12-week life cycles to encourage customers not to wait. For example, "Paris Pink" clothing items were supposed to have a two month cycle, but sold out after the first week.

Lulu's branding tactics of creating in-store relationships with the customers, along with short life cycles of clothing items are what has driven the success of the company. I think that society is relying too much on social media and not enough on personal relationships. Although I think social media is beneficial to branding, businesses should not forget the importance of in-person interactions.

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