Most streetwear brands struggle to communicate their purpose and genuinely connect with their target demographic. Los Angeles based PLEASURES is the perfect example of how streetwear brands can tap subculture and nostalgia for stronger positioning in a saturated market.
1. Objective,
This case study aims to examine how popular streetwear brand PLEASURES successfully implements the psychology of nostalgia and collaboration to gain stronger positioning and perceived value within a saturated market.
2. Brand Introduction & Context,
PLEASURES is a Los Angeles based streetwear brand inspired by memories of good music and pop culture references. The concept came to life in 2015, after a shared sense of nostalgia and desire for streetwear focused on something dope other than sex and drugs. The brand aims to be rebellious and fun while paying homage to the music that influenced the lives of co-founders Alex James and Vlad Elkin. As a team they appreciate a variety of genres from punk rock to grunge to hip hop.
The self proclaimed, huge Three Six Mafia fans take inspiration from underground music and nostalgic pop culture references to attract a core audience made up of die hard music lovers and rebellious youth engaged in the lifestyles that permeate LA’s distinct culture.
The biggest challenges faced by streetwear brands like PLEASURES, are positioning, standing out from other brands, and creating demand via content on relevant social media platforms.
3. Strategic Approach,
The brand’s primary focus is organic growth and discovery on social media, with paid advertising to amplify current collaborations, promotions and/or collections. The brand’s strongest social presence is Instagram, followed by TikTok with with significantly less activity on Facebook and Twitter.
Visually, the brand takes a psychological approach, appealing to emotion by incorporating feelings from the past into their concept, ad creative, and online shopping experience. Collaborations or homage drops help to expose the brand to new audiences and continuously build on perceived value.
4. Tactics & Execution,
After examining PLEASURES digital footprint, there are some observations worthy of discussion. Let’s examine the brand’s primary touch-points, a customized Shopify experience and 4 main social media accounts with various levels of engagement to understand how nostalgia and emotional connection effect audience growth.
Consistency on Social Media,
Outside of pleasuresnow.com the brand enjoys high visibility on Instagram with potential to grow further on TikTok. The Facebook page is not active and the X (Twitter) profile has been silent for 4 years.
Instagram is PLEASURES most active channel. Their account has grown to over 552,000 followers by consistently posting multiple times daily with a healthy mix of stories, reels, carousels and photos that show everything from product imagery to behind the scenes style clips of live raves.
Activity on other platforms is less impressive, reflecting the apparent lack of effort to remain active. TikTok was last active October 2023 and fails in comparison to Instagram with just 2000 followers. The lack of activity is likely responsible for the lower follower and view counts but you can see clear indication of potential reach when comparing the most recent videos to older posts.
Nostalgia via Music & Pop Culture,
The PLEASURES concept of “feelings from the past” relies on a customer’s pre-existing emotional attachment to music or other 1980s-1990s pop culture moments. When the feeling of nostalgia is shared with a brand, a deeper association is made between the customer and the brand or it’s products.
For example, a somewhat controversial decision was made to put Kurt Cobain’s suicide note on one of their tee shirts. Nirvana fans had mixed reactions but it got a lot of attention for the brand. Being fans of the music first, it’s common to see homage drops dedicated to hip-hop history or 1970s, post-punk, gothic, British rock bands like Joy Division.
The most recent collection hits different for anyone that was smoking a lot of weed in 1990s. A homage drop featuring imagery and references from the classic movie, Half Baked. A cannabis comedy that introduce the world to Comedian Dave Chappelle. These visuals immediately bring on a sense of nostalgia for anyone impacted by the movie, and boost the brand’s perceived value by adding a collectable element to the items.
Homage drops differ from collaborations in that they are done out of respect for a particular reference instead of being a collaborative project between the brand and any particular reference.
Collaboration,
As a brand, PLEASURES finds success in collaboration with others. “Collaboration will help you raise awareness”, mentions co-founder Vlad Elkin, in reference to reaching new audiences. Personally, I was drawn to the Sony Records drop paying tribute to late and legendary, Bronx bomber and recording artist, Big Punisher.
The strongest example of effective collaboration I would argue is the ongoing relationship between PLEASURES and hip-hop/punk rock band N.E.R.D. The genre blending sound of the group comes from the same emotional connection to music as the brand’s core concept. Not to mention N.E.R.D. members, Pharell, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley have ties to the streetwear industry, solidifying their spot among top brands like Billionaire Boys Club and BAPE.
Online Shopping Experience,
If you land on the pleasuresnow.com website you’ll find a retro inspired home page designed to resemble popular operating systems of the past. If you’ve ever used an old Windows computer and Napster to burn a CD, it’ll feel familiar.
This is another example of PLEASURES commitment to consistency. The nostalgic design weaves perfectly into the storyline, providing context to the ethos (RIP VIRGIL) of the brand instead of leaning on a current design trends.
Social Injustice Initiatives,
Another way emotional connections are established is through unity around a common cause or social justice initiatives. A recent collaborative project with Reebok aims to tackle the consequences of our collective history, helping to fix what’s wrong with the criminal justice system since the legalization of cannabis.
It’s worth mentioning that collaborating with a brand like Reebox enforces the concept of shared nostalgia, given the history of the sneaker company. In this particular instance, the brand is connecting with people emotionally involved in the cause. Some may have family members or friends in the system, labeled criminals for a plant recognized for health benefits and legally taxed.
Paid Advertising,
Currently, there are 4 live product focused ad sets running across Meta’s entire platform with an offer of 10% off for any first-time purchases. The ads use real life images of the product in action and lifestyle shots of people wearing the spring collection.
In terms of paid advertising, their strategy utilizes retargeting to effectively show ads to people that recently visited the site or clicked over from an Instagram or Facebook post. After researching for this report, I have been shown multiples of their ads on both my personal and business Instagram accounts.
5. Celebrity Associations,
The hardest thing for a streetwear brand to establish is a genuine association with celebrities or influencers. Researchers at the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative believe the ability of celebrities to persuade is rooted in evolution and biology. For brands like PLEASURES a co-sign from a hot rapper can increase demand tremendously.
In interviews, the co-founders attribute periods of growth to events like a 2017 hybrid concert and runway show with Wiz Khalifa or appearing in Playboi Carti’s music video for Magnolia. Other big co-signs come from A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd who’ve both been seen wearing PLEASURES.
6. Key Takeaways,
After looking into the strategies implemented by PLEASURES there are a few valuable lessons that can be learned, built upon and implemented by other brands fighting for the attention of busy consumers.
Clarity of Brand Concept,
Before customers begin to get attached to a brand, they need to understand and relate to it’s concept. If the concept is not easy to understand people won’t make it part of their individual identities. Once the concept is defined, it’s easier to develop messaging that speaks to the specific cultures and lifestyles of a target audience.
Consistency of Efforts,
Success is related to consistency. Consistency in branding, messaging, marketing, customer service, social media, product design, manufacturing or any other aspect of a streetwear brand. PLEASURES benefits from a clearly defined concept that is consistently reinforced through messaging, imagery, collaborations and homage drops.
After comparing the brand’s social growth and activity on Instagram to all other visible platforms it’s extremely evident that consistency matters to the algorithm and potential audiences.
Emotional Connections,
To establish a loyal following, a brand needs to connect with it’s customers on an emotional level. This could be the feeling of nostalgia, a shared problem, an obsession with a rock band or a controversial subject. For PLEASURES, the emotional connection is worked into the concept, online store and marketing strategies of the brand.
7. Conclusion,
This case study demonstrates how LA based PLEASURES successfully uses principals of psychology to invoke the the feeling of nostalgia via cultural references and collaborations to help establish the brand’s position in the crowded streetwear market.
Given the success and core concept of the brand, it only makes sense that PLEASURES continues to use emotional appeals to influence potential buying decisions and grow their following.
8. Recommendations,
After a deep analysis of pleasuresnow.com and the brand’s marketing strategies I would recommend three minor adjustments,
- Include an official brand story or about section with accurate information.
- Force social links to open in a new tab.
- More effort to grow on TikTok.
FAQs
What is PLEASURES clothing?
PLEASURES is an LA based streetwear brand best described as “Feelings from the past interpreted into visual, cerebral, and wearable expressions”.