How Coach Went From Outlet Mall to a $10 Billion Brand

A few years ago Coach was the bag brand people bought at the outlet mall. Last quarter it grew 29%, added around 11 million new customers in a year (most of them Gen Z), raised its forecast three times and set its sights on becoming a $10 billion brand. Most people put that down to a bag going viral. The real reason is a decision most companies are too scared to make. Coach kept its logo and changed what the brand means, moving from “accessible luxury” to “expressive luxury,” and then it had the discipline to repeat that message for years. In this video I break down how Lew Frankfort built Coach on accessibility, how the 2010s turned that idea into constant discounting, and what the current team did to make the brand desirable again. I finish with three things any premium brand can take from it, whatever its budget. Chapters 0:00 From outlet mall to +29% 0:54 How Coach invented accessible luxury 2:05 When accessible became cheap 2:53 From accessible to expressive luxury 3:27 Selling a feeling to Gen Z 4:13 Consistency and reading the customer 5:04 The Tabby bag is the payoff 5:22 How to steal this for your brand 6:31 The hard part DEUS is a founder-led marketing agency for luxury and premium brands in fashion, watches, hospitality and lifestyle. We work on brand positioning, strategy and performance marketing, and the person who builds your strategy is the same person who runs it. Our experience comes from years in-house at Hugo Boss, Grand Seiko, Seiko, Tommy Hilfiger and Maurice Lacroix. If you’re building a premium brand and aren’t sure what it really means to the people buying it, that’s the conversation we have with clients every week. www.deusmarketing.io alex@deusmarketing.io