Alec Ranford is head of SEO at Lounge, a UK fashion retail brand.
Launched by co-founders Daniel and Melanie Marsden in 2015, the brand recently reported sales of almost £68m and is currently expanding into the retail space with its first stores open in the UK in London, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol.
Here, Ranford gives a glimpse behind the scenes and takes us behind the brand…
What does your brand do in a nutshell?
Lounge is a modern British fashion-house that combines a decade-long mastery of British contour design, with the natural art of the female form to create fashion that empowers its wearer, inspired by the world of women. Whilst more traditionally known for lingerie, they use this expertise to craft a range of garments in the female fashion sector.
Can you bring us up to date with the company’s latest performance and headcount numbers?
Most recently, Lounge have reported sales of £67.9m, with growth of 6% versus the previous year. In this period, Lounge looked to longer-term investments in retail, opening six new retail stores across the UK and Germany that will build a brand presence in carefully selected locations. Further to this, the business has diversified product lines, with investment in new innovative products and ventures into areas of the fashion sector that Lounge has not previously played.
What key factors have contributed to your recent growth?
In the last year, a key contributor to Lounge’s continued growth has been their expansion into retail, bringing to life five stores in the UK and more recently, opening their first store in Oberhausen, Germany.
This has enabled the business to build a more tangible relationship with their customers, where Lounge’s retail stores aim to be as much about providing a brand experience as they are about revenue. The transition into retail has allowed Lounge to implement an omnichannel marketing strategy and provide a cohesive customer experience across all channels.
Lounge has also invested in product expansion – diversifying their product offering with garments of the moment, such as tennis dresses and premium knitwear. By offering customers products that can be worn to be seen more easily, Lounge products have become more front of mind.
In addition to this, Lounge has looked to channel expansion to further its digital marketing efforts, with investments in digital PR, SEO and affiliates.
How do you differentiate your brand from competitors in the market?
Lounge’s expertise in the lingerie industry has enabled them to take their knowledge of the female form and apply this to contouring and shape within the wider fashion industry – creating a product that is totally different to their competitors.
Their all-female team of designers are producing products that are by women, for women – taking inspiration from the world around them to create garments that flatter the female form, without ever compromising comfort.
How do you cultivate a positive and productive company culture?
There is a saying at Lounge that “the day to day might not always be sexy, but the end result will be, everybody pulls together when it feels like we’re up against it – and we make sure to celebrate our successes together too”.
Loungers have a real hands-on and resilient approach to overcoming the everyday obstacles that they’re used to seeing in a fast growing business – and there’s a genuine care for contributing towards the company’s growth.
What’s the most important part of the company’s marketing mix?
Of the marketing mix, product and promotion – in the vein of marketing communication and community building – are essential to Lounge and the businesses continued growth.
Product is especially important to Lounge, as the business has strived to offer high-quality garments that build trust with the consumer, and has ultimately allowed Lounge thrive and to venture further than its initial product offering within the Lingerie sector. In addition to this, Lounge takes a considered approach to how they market their product, using a mixture of influencer, PR, digital marketing channels and an organic social community to reach their target audience and remain front of mind.
To what extent does the company use the support of external agencies?
Lounge recently partnered with Journey Further to implement a successful digital PR strategy, leveraging their expertise to close the link gap between Lounge and their competitors.
Their approach focuses on attention-worthy moments and achieving authoritative, relevant coverage through a unique mix of PR tactics.
This strategy, supported by their proprietary technology, Salient, has significantly improved Lounge’s keyword relevancy scores, with an average uplift of 223% for lingerie target keywords from March to July.
Where do you hope the brand will be in two years’ time?
As Lounge continues to evolve from being perceived solely as a ‘social lead’ underwear brand, the business is excited to establish itself as a ‘modern fashion house’ that offers a diverse and premium array of products.
