Lock Hatters Rebrand

Lock & Co Hatters — Art Direction, Brand Partnership, Brand Strategy, Influencer Marketing, Retail Design, Collaborations, Brand Activation

Lock & Co Hatters, Rebrand

Role: Lead Brand Strategist, Creative Director, Influencer Marketing, Brand Partnership

The Ask

Guide Lock Hatters into the future with a rebrand that helps them connect directly with Millennials and Gen Z while protecting the brand's DNA and heritage.

Strategic Approach

Established in 1676, Lock & Co Hatters are the oldest hat shop in the world and one of the oldest family-owned businesses. Revered for their centuries-honed craftsmanship, their innovative designs have graced the heads of some of the most significant figures in history, like Admiral Lord Nelson and Sir Winston Churchill. Known for being the best, Lock continues to create the best designs, seek the best fabrics, and provide the best service.

As with most heritage brands I have worked with, ensuring that their DNA and heritage are protected is the highest priority. The unique challenge with Lock was that significant change was required internally and externally to achieve immediate impact. So much change at once can be daunting, especially when working with a family business. It's understandable for there to be a bit of hesitation as it pertains to bringing the company into the future. And so I approached this project with empathy, diligence, and compassion finding unique ways to honor aspects of Lock's rich history while championing new ways of working aligned to digital growth. 

Creative Solution

I approached this project with a long-term outlook creating a strategic framework that continues to have an impact today. With digital PR, I could increase Lock's communication efforts by working with influencers as a creative extension of their storytelling. It was amazing to help Lock transition from traditional PR to digital and bring them into the future through culturally relevant brand activations that helped expand their profile and brought awareness to their rebrand among their intended target audience.

I was responsible for building a successful strategy that would be sustainable over time, differentiate Lock from its competitors, and one that would help grow and maintain community engagement with its intended target audience. Through strategic brand engagements that included brand partnerships, curated content, collaborations, influencer campaigns, and branded in-store events. As the lead brand strategist, I worked collaboratively with the board of directors for over eight years. Together, we developed positioning, voice, and identity. I consulted on the naming, website design, product training, seasonal collections, and retail design. During the project, I showed Lock that they could adapt to the times and remain relevant without losing their DNA and heritage. 

Results

As part of a comprehensive rebrand and repositioning for Lock Hatters, I helped re-imagine the brand's identity, positioning, digital presence, and in-store experience. Everything from changing the brand name, where we simplified and stripped back from James Lock & Co Hatters to Lock Hatters, making Locks more marketable among culturally relevant publications like Hypebeast and Nataal magazine. The store's redesign resulted in creating a heritage room that featured historical artifacts in the family since the business was founded. I spearheaded the move from traditional PR to digital, maintaining a dominant digital presence that saw a dramatic increase in sales and foot traffic within the first month. The development of Lock's diffusion collection Lock & Roll allowed us to experiment with new styles and materials, mixing tradition with a modern twist. This increased engagement among a younger demographic, which presented opportunities for future collaborations with culturally relevant brands like Carhartt, and Supreme.