January 20, 2024
Pic Credit: @triangl via Instagram
Today lets talk about the swimwear which everyone wants right down to the likes of Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner : Triangl. Their meteoric rise to success is nothing short of STUNNING! But how did it become so successful? Lets dive right in!
Origins
The brainchild of Ellis and Erin Deering, Triangl was formed due to a lack of availability of swimwear which was FASHIONABLE and AFFORDABLE at the same time. The couple founded it when a swimwear shopping spree in Melbourne ended in frustration due to lack of high fashion swimwear at affordable price point. Starting in Hong Kong from a small apartment selling one bikini a day to currently on track to sell over a MILLION, this is a MASTERCLASS in behavioural science! How, you may ask? Lets dive right in!
Stats
Starting in 2012, with over $25 million sales in 2014, the brand has been profitable ever since its launch and is now valued at a staggering $45 million. Its huge success meant that it could comfortably expand its reach into the beach clothing market as well. Its ability to churn profits year after year in the cutthroat swimwear industry has proved that this brand is here to stay. Today the brand has made its PRESENCE FELT in over 100 countries with a huge Instagram following of 2.4 million followers.
Product Design
The swimsuits come in a SIGNATURE neoprene fabric which no one was doing at that time with a vivid selection of hues. It is designed to STAND OUT in the crowd! The vibrant, colour saturated bikinis are expertly incorporated with seasonal trends like crochet, shimmer etc. and come in various styles like bandeaus, balconettes etc. thus cementing the position of the brand as a TRENDSETTER in the swimwear industry.
Business Model
Working Lean is a key mantra of the brand. Right from the start, they kept their supply chain operations very lean and focussed on having a small team of just six employees who could deliver results. Their hands-on approach meant they could have a good control over the product's supply chain, social media content and even customer feedbacks. By not even taking a salary they put all the money back into the business and focussed on getting the product better by listening to their customers. This approach allowed them to stay cash flow positive right from the start. They aimed to compete with luxury brands like Zimmermann by offering similar quality, trendy swimwear but below the $100 price point thus making it accessible and popular among people even though the company offers no discounts. Also by misspelling the name triangle they have ensured that even the name generates interest among people.
Customer Experience
They were one of the first fashion brands to recognize that in the intimate product category people want to feel like their queries about sizing are answered right away. So they launched live chat sessions on their website so that the customers could clarify their size queries right away thereby speeding up the sales. Thus they could effectively deal with the problem of swimwear which normally plague the swimwear industry in terms of returns and thus could improve their profit margin by keeping the return rate low.
Marketing
The story of Triangl is a MASTERCLASS in behavioural science. They were one of the first ones to successfully incorporate WORD OF MOUTH marketing over paid ads. They were also one of the first brands to realize the power of influencer marketing and the power of FOMO ( fear of missing out) by priming their customers to not miss out this trend wagon. They wanted to capture the viral instagram market but there was one catch, they DID NOT have enough budget to ACTUALLY PAY for a celeb or and influencer to endorse their brand. Being ambitious they wanted Kendall Jenner but they knew they couldn't afford her. So the way they went about was that they didn't force their products on the celebs by asking them to post on social media. Instead they did their research very well and sent the swimwear out as gifts to celebs by telling them to enjoy their swimwear and not to worry about posting it on social media. They very cleverly sent the gift sets to the close friend circle of Kendall Jenner excepting her. This ensured in Kendall personally reaching out to the brand and asking the brand if she too could have some of the swimwear which her friends have to which they very happily obliged. Thus what followed was a slew of posts on instagram by Kendall wearing their swimwear and soon Triangl was spotted on Miley Cyrus and even Beyonce and the REST IS HISTORY! Therefore by incorporating some of the key tenets of behavioural science like making a strong FIRST IMPRESSION, aiming for the BULL'S EYE, accounting for ATTENTION CONTEXT and by TRIGGERING A FEELING ( in this case FOMO) they could successfully dominate the cutthroat swimwear industry.
Last but not the least here are a few of our FAVOURITE Triangl swim pieces!
Pic Credit: Triangl
Pic Credit: Triangl
Pic Credit: Triangl
Pic Credit: Triangl
Pic Credit: Triangl
Through this post we wanted to highlight the importance of psychology of customers and the power of behavioural science in market strategies. We hope we did some justice!
xoxo