Explore how Tommy Hilfiger and Kaiser Hospitality used customer insights, brand positioning, experiential marketing and retail experiences to build stronger customer preferences.
Looking for a Shorter Overview?
AI Summary
Key Moments
Seasonal Insight
Tommy Hilfiger builds seasonal collections by analyzing trends and anticipated customer preferences to stay relevant.Strategic Collaborations
Celebrity partnerships like Gigi Hadid are balanced to enhance brand identity without the influencer overshadowing it.Store as Marketing Touchpoint
Tommy Hilfiger uses curated store design and product placement to create an elevated experience and drive cross‑selling.Community-Driven Marketing
Kaiser Hospitality builds loyalty by focusing on niche Bengali food lovers, cultural festivals, and local connections.Marketing is often associated with advertising campaigns, promotions and customer acquisition. However, some of the most interesting marketing lessons come from looking beyond these activities and understanding how brands connect with their customers.
My experiences with Tommy Hilfiger and Kaiser Hospitality introduced me to two very different sides of marketing. One was rooted in fashion retail, where consumer preferences, visual merchandising and brand identity influenced the shopping experience. The other was in the food and beverage industry, where identifying a niche audience and building relationships with a community became central to business growth.
Although the industries were different, both experiences reinforced an important idea: effective marketing begins with understanding what customers value and finding meaningful ways to connect with them.
Understanding Customer Preferences Before Building a Collection
During my time with Tommy Hilfiger, I realised how much thought went into developing a seasonal collection. Fashion merchandising was not simply about deciding which colours or designs would look appealing. It involved understanding emerging trends, anticipating customer preferences and translating those insights into products that aligned with the brand’s identity.
I remember a Summer 2016–17 collection theme called Island Hopping. Inspired by beach holidays, it brought together peaches, greens, leafy motifs and sporty influences. The collection also featured distinctive nocturnal designs, alongside commercially important categories such as women’s crochet pieces and maxi dresses.
Seasonal collections followed a similar rhythm. Spring introduced lighter pastels, summer brought brighter colours, autumn leaned towards richer tones, and winter focused on deeper shades such as burgundy, maroon, black and grey. These choices reflected how customers dressed, travelled and socialised at different times of the year.
Looking back, this was an interesting example of how consumer insights and trend forecasting influence product positioning. A collection needs to feel relevant to the season while remaining recognisable as part of the brand.
Collaborations Need to Balance Influence and Brand Identity
Celebrity collaborations offered another interesting perspective on marketing. One example was Tommy Hilfiger’s collaboration with Gigi Hadid, associated with an Autumn/Winter collection featuring merchandise such as hoodies and jumpers.
What I found interesting was the process of translating a celebrity’s personal style into products that could work commercially. The collaborator contributed inspiration and selected certain designs, while the brand’s in-house design team developed and curated the final merchandise.
Such collaborations offer brands an opportunity to connect with an audience through an individual whose personality and style resonate with consumers. However, the association needs to feel natural. The celebrity’s identity must complement the brand rather than overshadow it.
It is ultimately about finding the right balance between creative expression, audience appeal and the brand’s established positioning.
Turning Store Design Into a Marketing Tool
One of the things that stood out about Tommy Hilfiger was the consistency of its store experience. Woody interiors, leather couches and carefully selected fixtures created a recognisable environment across different outlets.
The intention was to offer an elevated shopping experience while retaining the brand’s premium casualwear positioning. The products, store interiors and overall presentation worked together to communicate what Tommy Hilfiger stood for.
Store layouts also influenced how customers interacted with the merchandise. The arrangement of categories was designed to make navigation easier while creating opportunities for product discovery.
For instance, smaller accessory sections featuring belts, bags and wallets were positioned between larger merchandise categories. This meant that someone visiting the store for a shirt or a pair of jeans could also discover complementary products along the way.
These decisions had a commercial purpose. Strategic product placement could encourage cross-selling, improve merchandise visibility and influence additional purchases.
It made me realise that the physical store is more than a sales channel. It is a marketing touchpoint where brand identity, customer experience and purchase behaviour come together.
Finding Your Audience Instead of Trying to Reach Everyone
My experience with Kaiser Hospitality introduced me to a very different marketing challenge.
We operated an outlet in Oshiwara specialising in authentic Bengali cuisine. This was before food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy had transformed the industry, and Bengali cuisine was still a relatively niche offering in the local restaurant market.
One of our biggest challenges was a limited marketing budget. Having already invested in establishing the outlet, there was little room for conventional advertising or aggressive expansion.
We had to be selective about where we invested our efforts.
Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, we focused on people who genuinely appreciated Bengali food. We recognised that this was a specific audience with an existing cultural and emotional connection to the cuisine.
This became the foundation of our positioning. Rather than competing with established restaurants on their terms, we concentrated on building a brand around an offering that had a distinct audience.
We also realised that expanding the dine-in experience would require significant capital. So, we shifted our attention towards delivery while retaining a small dine-in facility.
It was a practical decision, but it also demonstrated the importance of aligning marketing priorities with business realities.
Using Cultural and Experiential Marketing to Build Connections
Understanding the audience also helped us identify more meaningful ways to reach them.
Bengali cuisine has a strong cultural association, particularly during Durga Puja. Participating in Durga Utsav celebrations and local pandals became an important part of our outreach strategy.
These events allowed us to connect directly with people who already had an affinity for our food. Instead of spending heavily on conventional advertising, we were engaging with potential customers in environments where our offering was naturally relevant.
As the business gained traction, we also looked at opportunities to reach a younger audience. Our association with Sunburn was one such initiative. With quick-service offerings such as fish fry and rolls on the menu, we saw an opportunity to introduce our food to event audiences. The association worked particularly well in building awareness and demand for our rolls.
We also experimented with seasonal Bengali delicacies, introducing authentic dishes that were not commonly available throughout the year. This gave customers something different to look forward to and created additional reasons for them to return.
Over time, our participation in cultural events and the relationships we built within the community generated organic visibility. Recommendations and social media exposure from celebrities who appreciated our offerings further contributed to the brand’s credibility.
These experiences showed me how community engagement, event associations and product differentiation can work together to build awareness and encourage customer loyalty.
Also read: India’s HRTech Future Will Be Built on Ecosystems, Not Just Technology
The Bigger Lesson: Marketing Begins With the Customer
Looking back, my experiences with Tommy Hilfiger and Kaiser Hospitality may seem quite different, but they share a common principle.
At Tommy Hilfiger, understanding consumer preferences influenced everything from seasonal collections and celebrity collaborations to store design and merchandise placement. At Kaiser Hospitality, understanding the cultural and culinary preferences of a specific audience helped us identify an underserved market and build a business around it.
Both experiences reinforced the importance of making marketing decisions with the customer in mind.
They also taught me that building a brand does not always require a large marketing budget or an elaborate campaign. Sometimes, it is about identifying the right audience, understanding what matters to them and finding creative ways to engage with them.
A well-designed store, a relevant cultural association or a product that customers cannot easily find elsewhere can make a meaningful difference.
Ultimately, marketing is not just about getting people to notice a brand. It is about giving them a reason to connect with it, choose it and come back. And that connection is built through every experience a brand creates.
– Written by Sidra Siddique, an experienced marketing professional with experience across the fashion retail and hospitality industries. She has previously worked as a Marketing Operations Manager at Tommy Hilfiger and Kaiser Hospitalities Private Limited, where she gained experience in brand positioning, retail marketing, customer engagement and marketing operations. Her professional experiences have shaped her understanding of consumer behaviour and the role of customer experience in building successful brands.
