Kiehl’s’ positioning

Let’s study now the Khiel’s’ positioning in order to make you better understand the brand and its brand image.

Kiehl’s is a family company created by a pharmacist 160 years ago. Over 160 years, it always perpetuates its value trough generations. It’s been successful because the quality of the products exists from a long history of research and innovation. Their products are made with natural ingredients without any chemical additive.

One of their philosophy is the respect: respect of the science, of the product quality and of the customer’s expectations. It’s thanks to these 3 key words that Kiehl’s is long-lasting.

Kiehl’s is a brand that is close to its consumers. What differentiates Kiehl’s from other brands is the service it provides to every customer. Indeed, it’s an upscale brand, and it also brings an upscale service. The service is customized depending on each customer. The goal is to listen to consumer’s needs, to inform, to make him discover the product, the brand and to advise in order to create a relationship of trust on the long-term. The goal is to not just selling a product like every other brand (see my article on my first experience on a Kiehl’s store) but it’s more like”try before buy it” which is also one of their slogan because they offer a lot of samples. This shows also a confidence in their product and in their brand.

On top of that, Kiehl’s is an unconditional brand that is being “in”.

This brand doesn’t invest many resources in communication to talk about itself but the word of mouth works. People who know this brand talk about it (I heard about it a few weeks ago and I’ve already talked to my friends). It doesn’t need any communication campaign because it works without it.

Through its 160 years of existence, Kiehl’s succeeds in putting in place a relationship of trust and I think it’s the most important key factors of their success today.

Let’s see the Kapferer’s Identity Prism for the Kiehl’s case. But before, a bit of history: Kapferer represented brand identity as a six-sided prism as you can see below. This graph will help you for a better understanding of the brand identity.

Click to enlarge

 

Could you tell us if our point of view of the Kiehl’s’ positioning correspond to how you see the brand? Be free to tell us if there’s a gap between Kiehl’s identity and what you think about the brand… we want to know your own opinion about this brand!