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Polly in Cambodia. In 2018, we decided to rebrand; we revamped our logo and defined who we are as a company. We focused on the personas of the customers we were targeting: the socialites, the hustlers, the go-getters. We professionalized the company, established our tone of voice and brand colors, and we started to attract a lot of attention, with big names like Hailey Bieber and the Kardashians wearing our product.”
Identifiable style
Off the back of its philanthropic roots, Oh Polly rose to fame, engaging with and understanding its audience. By adopting an innovative, yet personable social media approach, fans quickly fell in love with Oh Polly’ s distinctive branding, elegant designs and excellent value for money. Instagram, in particular, was a key tool in this strategy, allowing the company to connect with its customers and cultivate a community around the‘ Oh Polly’ name.
“ One of the things that differentiated us quite early on in the industry was our social media strategy. From day one, we were active on Instagram, sending products to microinfluencers with around 50,000 to 100,000 thousand followers. They’ d send us images of them wearing our clothes and we would repost them on our Instagram and, in some cases, on our website. Using influencer and lifestyle imagery really set us apart from other companies at the time who were still doing a lot of traditional model photography set against white backgrounds,” Michael explains.“ We chose an area of fashion that didn’ t have a huge amount of competition. We saw a space that Top Shop had vacated with this £ 40-to- £ 60 price mark where the items were neither cheap nor fast fashion. Although the model may have followed fast fashion cycles in terms of quick development, the products
If you want to be the center of attention you wear an Oh Polly dress
were not the cheapest possible. We were keen to make a good quality product. We make sure that the products are going to last through the wash so that our customers can get multiple wear out of them. It’ s really good value for money and our customers appreciate that; we get that word-of-mouth effect where people will go out of their way to express their love for the brand.
“ Our clothes get you noticed; that’ s our tagline. If you want to be the center of attention you wear an Oh Polly dress. Our style is very identifiable, and I think that shines through.” Oh Polly’ s journey, however, hasn’ t been without its challenges. In the early days, the business suffered a major setback that nearly threw the whole operation into turmoil.“ We ran into a problem with one of our manufacturers in Bangladesh. They stole around £ 30,000 from us, which was pretty much all the money we had at that point,” Michael reveals.“ We managed to claw back around £ 10,000 of it, which was enough for us to start again. Over the course of three years, I flew back and forth to Bangladesh every two weeks to set up and grow the factory. It’ s now got around 800 full-time staff members and is managed and operated, under our control, by a local partner.”
Thoughtful strategy
Powered by passion and perseverance, the brand was able to overcome obstacles, from the Covid pandemic to wider economic challenges. Fast forward to the present, and Oh Polly has a following of over eight million across its brands, with offices in Glasgow, Liverpool, Los Angeles, Guangzhou, and Dhaka. From its inception, Michael and Claire have been committed to growing Oh Polly in a sustainable and ethical manner, implementing a number of welfare
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