BRAND MESSAGE
BRAND TOUCH POINTS
Before it's widespread presence, Palace has augmented from a small group of creatives and skateboarders who have a rebellious attitude which breaks ‘social norms' of a typical brand. The brand message can be seen through the treat-'em-mean, keep-'em-keen" attitude, which is evident across product descriptions being described as "I'm craving deep-fried fucking cheese". "I sit in front the TV with a takeaway and type on my iPhone absolute nonsense in bullet points and people find it funny," Tanju- the man behind the brand says. (Cochrane, 2017)
Before entering the store, customers queue outside the store from 9 am to be allocated with a numbered wristband from security which permits them entry to the store at an allocated time slot that day. The store in Soho is minimalist with a monochrome marble floor and a limited number of rails displaying only one of each item available. The interior of their store is gaudy, ostentatious and over-the-top (Leach, 2017). Staff retrieve stock from the back room after asking the customer "what can I get you?". When serving a customer the sales person reminds the customer of the returns policy of which is 7 days. Observations from the researcher found that the average time a customer spent in the store was 20 minutes and the busiest times were after 3 pm both weekdays and weekends (Johnstone,2017).
The items sell out online within minutes, this creates a desire to purchase from the consumer and increases their willingness to buy an item no matter the price. Once the item has sold out it can only be purchased through second-hand selling at an increased price point. During an interview with a consumer, they said: "I like how when an item is sold out they (Palace) fill the product description with an arrogant statement, it makes me want to buy so I can see what they to some next hypebeast" (Johnstone, 2017). Observation from the researcher found that consumers are willing to camp outside the shop overnight to ensure they are the first to get their hands on this limited stock.
The website is easy to navigate with large product images displayed neatly on the page and clear add to cart buttons. Data collected showed that 82.5% of Palace consumers shop directly from the e-commerce website and it most favoured to purchase from Palace directly (Johnstone,2017). This may be due to not all consumers have access or time to travel to London for retail drops.
Purchases from Palace Skateboards' website come in a plastic FedEx bag, clothing comes in in a clear sealed polystyrene bag of which has the white Triferg logo on. Hats and other accessories come in a brown box with no branding. Shipping is a standard rate of £5 no matter how much has been ordered. When purchasing from the London store, items come in a sealed plastic bag and are placed into a standard grade plastic bag which varies in size depending on how much purchased. The bag is eye catching and memorable due to the reflective metallic coating and famous triferg logo placed strategically in the centre of the block bottom bag
