Already a subscriber?In May 2023, Lululemon invited customers to do something a little different. Say they owned a pair of leggings that were – how to put this delicately –by Lululemon’s famed Align pants, they could come to a pop-up space in Los Angeles and swap them for the real thing. No catches, no questions asked, no terms or conditions: a straight swap.
A lot of companies sell leggings and hoodies. Lululemon sells more than most. In 2022, the latest year for which reports are available, the company posted revenue of $US8.1 billion . Profit increased 24 per cent year-on-year to $US4.5 billion. Neuburger says it’s because the company is not afraid to be different. To wit: at Lululemon, customers are “guests”. Events are “moments of truth”. Employees are “educators”. And it’s not about selling leggings. It’s not even about yoga.
Nikki Neuburger, chief brand officer: “Athletes hold a lot of influence but they’re not always super-relatable. Lululemon is more about taking space for yourself.” The company scaled quickly, the first stores in Vancouver and Santa Monica followed by Melbourne . In 2005, it raised money via private equity and was valued at $US225 million. Two years later it went public, listing on the Nasdaq at $US18 a share, swiftly raisingAnd the world came along with Wilson and Lululemon.
“Lululemon lets you show off your midriff,” she says, “and this generation feels good about itself.” Neuburger says it’s more about the brand’s authenticity, a buzzword so synonymous with Gen Z it feels almost lazy to mention it here. No matter, she says: it’s true. He is a shareholder – in fact, the biggest individual shareholder, with an 8.75 per cent stake – “but anyone can be a shareholder”. “He has no idea what is going on in the organisation,” Neuburger goes on. “And he certainly has no control over it. He holds no seat on the board, he does not make decisions.
It would be remiss, in a feature on Lululemon, to not talk about the leggings. Everyone I speak to – even seasoned marketing professionals whose job is to understand the brand engineering that goes on behind the scenes of major global companies like Lululemon – says that one thing this company excels at is actually delivering on its products. The leggings are “buttery”. They fit “like a second skin”., “is meet unmet needs, even in a crowded marketplace.
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