A Brand New Bag for Samsonite

Warren, R.I. -- A quick look at Samsonite Corp.'s stylish new backpack line for the college/teen market provides a glimpse of the brand rejuvenation and product line diversification underway at the company. Hit disproportionately hard by a downturn in luggage sales following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the company is trying to regain its footing by strengthening its other product categories, including casual and sport bags."Every month is a little bit better than the month before," says Todd Desrosiers, marketing manager. The downturn in hard luggage sales has given Samsonite more reason to diversify, adds Susan Simkins, director of marketing communications. "It protects us versus our competition, by really setting us apart. We're now more than just luggage and we're less dependent on one particular product category," she says.The casual bag category, which includes totes, duffle bags and backpacks, is a larger market than luggage and business cases, according to Samsonite's annual report. The category is estimated at $2 billion, Simkins says.Designed with pockets for cell phones, laptop computers and water bottles, the line of 11 new backpacks and messenger bags attempts to build Samsonite's brand awareness with today's teens and college students. The line is being introduced in time for the back-to-school season. By capturing younger consumers, Samsonite hopes to retain them as they mature into business travelers. "A lot of kids don't have a long history with the Samsonite brand, and it was very important for us to really begin to set a tone with them in terms of understanding what the Samsonite brand stands for," says Simkins.A marketing campaign kicking off this month includes a two-sided floorstand made with brushed metal, which Simkins says has an "industrial" look to promote the durability of the backpacks. The plastic header has a simulated diamond-plate steel-look. The Samsonite blue logo is printed on a piece of clear plexi and mounted with bolts to sit slightly above it. "It's a fabricated diamond plate to help with shipping costs," says Desrosiers. "It's actually more expensive than diamond plate itself, but due to shipping the fixtures and the weight, we decided to go with this alternative that has the same look."A 1-foot sample of padding was added to the side panels to simulate the padding on the back of the backpacks. "This is very important because this is one of the main features that sets us apart from our competition. The only way you can see this is if you pick up the bag and turn it around. If the bag's on the display, you can't see the padding so we wanted to incorporate that onto the display," Desrosiers says. Hang tags on the bags tout the "max comfort" of the bag straps, and an EMI Capitol Records CD is packaged with the backpacks as a gift-with-purchase item.The display is rolling out nationally to Samsonite, CompUSA and major department stores and will be placed with luggage in department stores and in back-to-school sections at office stores. Holding 32 bags, it measures 36 inches wide, 63 inches high and 30 inches deep.Accent Display Corp., Cranston, R.I., designed and produced more than 600 displays in an initial run, and Desrosiers says the company is prepared to order more. He says the marketing team had a little more fun with the display because the backpacks are geared for a younger audience. "It's different in that it has a more youthful appeal. But we were very careful about making sure it fit within the Samsonite brand identity," Simkins says. "The use of steels, the silvers, the blues, those are consistent elements that we're using in our traditional brand as well."

A Brand New Bag for Samsonite

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