Virginia Miracle

At the end of last week, Nau announced that they’re back. They’ve been acquired by another remarkable company – Horny Toad – who has agreed to handle their financing issues and has wisely supported Nau keeping its distinct and remarkable brand personality in tact.

One of the reasons they decided to hunker cited in their “comeback” blog post is the outpouring of both emotion and ideas in their Thought Kitchen blog upon the announcement of the brand and its stores shuttering. I can imagine the mixed emotions with which I would greet the prospect of being saved/consumed by another brand. I think its a testament to the team’s dedication to Nau’s mission and to its customers that they are giving Nau 2.0 a go.

For the flip side of this unique relationship, check out Horny Toad’s “We have a sister!” post which discusses the business deal not as an acquisition, but the adoption of a new family member. Funny how the choice of a few simple words can make such a difference in demonstrating what a brand stands for.

I never pictured announcing that a Brand Worthy of a Weekend has gone out of business, but this post is exactly that. Groundbreaking sustainable clothier Nau announced on Friday that, due to an inability to raise another round of capital, they are closing up shop. Click here to read the note from the Nau team or the Treehugger coverage.

It’s been almost 48 hours since I read the news, but I haven’t yet posted, because I’m not sure what to say. I recently heard that the Evanston, IL location of another WOM favorite, Cereality, should also be referred to in past-tense. What do we learn when brands with great Word of Mouth bone structure fail? Here’s the start of a list:

1. Novelty is enough for me to try you once and to talk about it. If this is what you provide, I hope you are in a place that will constantly expose you to new audiences like tourists. Everyone else needs a strategy for encouraging repeated, valuable engagements with the same set of customers over time.
2. Sustainability is important to customers, but a huge part of the population is not willing to pay “extra” for it – especially when times are tough. One of the reason the Leonardo DiCaprio light bulbs do so well is that they save you money in the process of drawing less energy.
3. Let them see you sweat. If your business needs something – press, referrals, investors, testimonials, etc – let your loyal supporters know so they have the opportunity to rally to your aide. Honestly, if I had know last week that Nau needed help, I would have let my networks know and bought items myself if I thought it would have kept them around to fight the good fight another day.

What are your takeaways?
P.S. Good news for shoppers – remaining stock is 50% off at nau.com

What follows is Part 2 to the Brands Worth of a Weekend look at Beija-Flor jeans. While I am personally a fan of Beija-Flor, I am relatively new to the brand, so I asked one of their longtime fans, Michelle Henderson, to answer a few questions.

How were you first introduced to Beija Flor?

I was first introduced to Beija Flor by my good friend Jennifer Cavanaugh,who invited me to a jeans party at Emile’s (VM note: Emilie is Beija-Flor’s co-founder) house.

What do you like about the jeans?

I like the jeans because they are comfortable, stylish, and flattering to all figures. I have never been able to find all three of these attributes in one pair of jeans before. They make me feel 100% like I’m ready to bring my A game.

What do you like about the brand?

Well, I can not say enough about the brand. It makes me feel special to know that I have been in support of this business since the ground up. From the jeans parties to now a retail store and in the future I expect national recognition. Its make my ego feel good to know I am step above a new trendy jean that not everyone knows about yet. Also, most importantly, the conception of Beija-Flor is inspiring. I was moved and extremely impressed that Emilie and her mom Kathy took their cultural background and their entrepreneurial spirit to create a brand that is synonymous with empowering women to feel beautiful and exude confidence. Also, with each jean being named after a person, it feels as if every pair has a story. That’s extremely special to me because how often do you know a personal background to an item of clothing that you are wearing?

What do you say when you tell people about Beija Flor?

I always tell people that they are flattering, comfortable and stylish, and that they have to try them!

If you were invited to a weekend get together for Beija Flor fanatics, what would you expect to do/learn/see/experience?

I would definitely expect wine!! Seriously though, I would expect to see fabulous new creations with interesting stories told by Emilie of their genesis. I would also expect to learn more about Brazilian culture as well.

What would the ultimate Beija Flor fan experience be?

The ultimate experience would be to go to Brazil with all my girls (including Emilie of course) and to see where the jeans were made and to learn first hand more about Brazilian culture.

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What I love about Michelle’s answers above is that they demonstrate the power of conversational capital – she explicitly calls out the value of knowing and being able to tell a compelling story about what she’s wearing. Beija-Flor has also done an amazing job of building a database and keeping in touch with the women they touch. Everyone who is brought into the fold will feel like a co-owner of their success as the brand continues to grow.

And, for the record, I am ready to sign up for the first Beija believers Brazil trip as well.

I’m excited to share a relatively new brand in the Brands Worthy of a Weekend series. Beija-Flor Jeans is a transcontinental brand born of necessity and unique knowledge. Emilie Whitaker became aware of an opportunity in the women’s designer jeans market when she spent a frustrating day going store to store with a friend looking for the perfect pair of jeans. The friend was willing to spend whatever she needed to get cute jeans – she just didn’t find anything she liked. Emilie’s co-founder (and mother) Kathy had 20 years of retail fashion experience and an intimate knowledge of Brazilian denim – beautiful quality and merciful with a slight stretch.

Emilie and Kathy put their heads together and realized they had a golden opportunity. They formed Beija-Flor (portugues for hummingbird) and began to design and import jeans made with Brazilian denim for the American woman. Beija-Flor started by selling primarily through home shows and direct through their website and word of mouth took off. It’s not everyday you notice a hummingbird logo on your friend’s great fitting jeans.

What makes Beija-Flor a Brand Worthy of a Weekend?

Founding Story – There is a great founding story for Beija-Flor and they tell it well through all of there materials. Even better is the fact that the faces of Beija-Flor are also the masterminds and founders.

Style Variety – While Beija Flor has extremely cute jeans for dressy/fashionable occasions, they also offer more dressy trouser styles, skirts, etc. They aren’t a one trick pony – you can purchase multiple items to weave into your wardrobe.

Size – Beija-Flor jeans are sold in actual true-to-size 0 – 16 (Dear Ralph Lauren Rugby store who only carries 0 – 12 – J’accuse). For anyone who has looked at a $200 pair of women’s jeans that are a size 29 and look like they are made for a malnourished 12 year old – this is for you.

Unique Features – When you fold their bestselling “Jennifer” jean sideways, you’ll notice that the back is higher than the front. This is to help the forgotten woman who is not just standing in a club, but who will sit down at some point and does not want to hang out the back. This jean is guaranteed to prevent you needing to ask for a booth in a restaurant to cover your exposed assets.

Check back tomorrow for What Beija Flor Fans want from a weekend with the brand.

Even for someone who is privileged enough to have some pretty remarkable work weeks, this one stands out. I began the week as a panelist at an event featuring a presentation from Jennifer James of GfK Roper and with fellow panelists Gabby Nelson of Select Comfort and Jennifer Sparks of the Society of American Florists. The Roper presentation centered on the changing trends in attitude and behavior of the American consumer. The Roper presentation contained a lot of great information on the 2008 search for leadership in an increasingly uncertain world and the assembled group had lots of great questions following.

One of Jennifer’s examples of brands allowing consumer to educate each other was new to me. McDonald’s in the UK has an innovative site called Make Up Your Own Mind. From the home page: “The site has been set up for you to find out anything you would like to know about McDonald’s food, business, people and practices“. Customers are invited to submit questions (15,000 to date) and then other customers are invited to serve as reporters/quality scouts to share their findings with the world through the site. They report on everything from the cleanliness of the restaurants to conditions at the farms where ingredients are being raised & grown. The image I included above is from a part of the site that directly addresses the Happy Meal. Charlotte, a teacher and “Mum”, is featured in a video where she investigates how chicken McNuggets are made and confirms they are made with the same quality breast meat as what she could find in the supermarket. The site also frankly discussed the nutrition content as compared to other options for children. The questions appear to be completely uncensored and this transparency certainly makes me think about McDonald’s brand a little differently.

The interesting thing to note is that McDonald’s hasn’t actually changed (or doesn’t claim to have changed) anything about its organization, practices or food. It has just proved that they are willing to share what they are doing and be open to examination. French Fries are still bad for you (if you hadn’t gotten the memo), but if McDonald’s lets you in on how they are made and what the comparative nutritional choices on the menu are, then isn’t it your fault for putting on those extra 10 lbs? By inviting customers to experience the inner workings of the brand, have conversations, and building a platform for them to take place, McDonald’s has diffused our ability to criticize the wizard behind the screen by bringing us face to face with him. Maybe this is the type of effort that Starbucks should be looking into now – reminding the world of their extraordinary business practices – instead of asking us to hatch up the next latte drink or granting us Free WiFi about 3 years too late over at My Starbucks Idea.