Rufus Denne: I see marketing as an art, and at a basic level that means I follow my instincts
Konstantin Vulkov: When many companies in Iceland, Ireland and Portugal went bust, many economists observed a suprising shift that has seen people reconnect with traditional businesses like craft industries, fishing, glass making, furniture making, etc. Do you think this digital craze is coming to an end instead of focus on durable and steady skills?
Konstantin: How did you build your brand - following few steps or just following your instincts?
The way we communicate the timeless approach is through the way we engage with our customers, and package the goods when we send them. Spending time writing letters to our customers, packaging the underwear by hand and the way speak to people at events - the traditional / timeless nature of our brand and products comes out in the appropriate circumstances.
Konstantin: What are the key components for a new brand to get recognised?
Rufus Denne: I think the digital craze will continue to grow, but there will always be room for craft industries. Like anything, things move in cycles and it's up to us as craft brands selling more traditional products to embrace that and leverage it to benefit our businesses.
Digital will never completely take over from traditional skills and products, but I do think that only the best will survive. The movement that we've seen is increasing the competition, which means we have to be better at our skills, branding and play to our strengths. Use digital, don't moan about it!
Konstantin: How did you build your brand - following few steps or just following your instincts?
Rufus: I see marketing as an art, and at a basic level that means I follow my instincts. I read a lot around the subject of marketing so my instincts happen to be a lot better informed than some peoples.
I'm still working out how to build V & Sons myself, but a key concept we've used is "don't launch to crickets". I.e. Build a brand before you build your product. Don't get me wrong, we're almost there with both the product and the launch, but along the way we've used our followers to qualify ideas, and provide feedback. It's really helpful to have people engaged before you have a product that's selling.
Konstantin: A brand like yours that is trying to make timeless designs, how it will exist in the digital world? I mean - what kind on an online shop you might have?
Konstantin: A brand like yours that is trying to make timeless designs, how it will exist in the digital world? I mean - what kind on an online shop you might have?
Rufus: Good question. I think if you're existing in a digital world, you have to remain consistent with what visitors expect to see and your online store must act in a way that consumers would expect. Trying to create a selling point out of the website is a backwards way of working. The digital side of our business is purely functional and allows us to connect with more customers and dodge the middleman.
The way we communicate the timeless approach is through the way we engage with our customers, and package the goods when we send them. Spending time writing letters to our customers, packaging the underwear by hand and the way speak to people at events - the traditional / timeless nature of our brand and products comes out in the appropriate circumstances.
Konstantin: What are the key components for a new brand to get recognised?
Rufus: In my experience, you need to be talking to people consistently with your brand message (that hopefully resonates with them). When I say talking, I mean posting pictures on instagram 3 times a week, scheduling tweets, writing blog posts, distributing newsletters and telling people what's happening. Keep shouting, eventually some of the right people will hear you and start shouting on your behalf. Before you know it, you'll have 10 people shouting.
Konstantin: We are a small family business, for example, from Bulgaria, do you think if we continue to invest in good quality products with provenance this would pay off?
Konstantin: We are a small family business, for example, from Bulgaria, do you think if we continue to invest in good quality products with provenance this would pay off?
Rufus: People will always pay for quality, it's why brands like yamabahari and V & Sons can exist. The only problem you need to be aware of is the need to keep everything consistent. If your brand is about quality then you need to ensure people know that's what makes you different from the others. Positioning is key.
Konstantin: How important is provenance these days?
Konstantin: How important is provenance these days?
Rufus: I feel provenance is important, if you look at the classic British brands like Burberry and Barbour, they've survived 2 recessions because of it. More than provenance though - it's marketing.
Konstantin: What was your career before launching V & Sons?
Konstantin: What was your career before launching V & Sons?
Rufus: I have a long background in marketing for B2B software companies which makes my experience incredibly unusual for someone trying to jump into the fashion industry. Starting a business that is more B2C with a tangible product has been a completely new challenge but ones that's been really educational and fun.
Konstantin: Do you believe in social media advertising or more in the traditional social media - word of mouth?
Konstantin: Do you believe in social media advertising or more in the traditional social media - word of mouth?
Rufus: I believe in it all, and I don't see that there should be a separation there. All social media has done is given more traditional 'word of mouth' advertising a megaphone. There's a lot more noise in the social media landscape, but a lot more opportunity too.
Konstantin: What are your travel summer plans?
Konstantin: What are your travel summer plans?
Rufus: I'm going to take V & Sons stateside in September and explore the west coast of the U.S. I'm very excited!
Konstantin: Finally, choose a summer tune that you would play on repeat this holiday season.
Rufus: I have quite a strange music taste, but recently in the office we've been loving Poolside.fm. I'm not sure it'll make it all the way to the end of summer though.
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Rufus Denne is the creator if V & Sons, an independent brand of men's underwear raised in London. He believes in provenance and all of V & Sons underwear has been designed, sourced and manufactured in the UK, using the finest British tradesmen and the cooles British brands.
***
Rufus Denne is the creator if V & Sons, an independent brand of men's underwear raised in London. He believes in provenance and all of V & Sons underwear has been designed, sourced and manufactured in the UK, using the finest British tradesmen and the cooles British brands.