Gun Trade World - January 2023

FEATURE
GAINING
global
RELEVANCE
Dupree International’s Managing Director,
Martin Dupree, looks at how strategic branding
management can break down borders.
A
few years ago, Dupree had
the experience of taking
on the marketing for an
International hunting
clothing client, with the
brief of increasing sales in the UK. This
company had already been marketing
to the UK but without considering the
cultural differences in that territory.
When we embarked on generating
some localised insight into the current
position of this brand, we discovered
that many British hunters wouldn’t
wear it because they couldn’t relate to it.
It had an unusual name, used the term
‘hunting’ (in the UK recreational hunting
is termed ‘shooting’ or ‘stalking’) and the
advertising used photographic images
that were not taken in the UK. Even
the dog breeds in the photos looked
unfamiliar and the quarry was sometimes
displayed as trophies when the British
hunter would feel uncomfortable with
this.
All things considered, even an early
adopter of new brands would have
thought twice under these circumstances
for fear of losing credibility within
their peer group. When we asked an
editor of a leading hunting magazine
in the UK what his view was on this
clothing brand, he said he had been sent
a jacket and trousers for review but had
not conducted a product test because
he felt the brand was not suitable for
his readership. These items were left
hanging on a rail in the office, collecting
dust. In a word, the brand was lacking
‘relevance’.
After a process of reviewing the core
values and identifying the relevance of
this brand and running an advertising
campaign that identified with the UK
market, things changed very quickly.
Photographic shoots were arranged
in the UK using familiar backdrops,
models and dogs and Dupree created a
narrative that resonated with the British
hunter. A brand personality and tone of
voice were rolled out through various
marketing channels and within a matter
of months there was a dramatic increase
in UK sales. Within a couple of years,
the UK was leading sales in Europe. I
spoke to the same editor at that time
when I spotted him wearing this brand
from head to toe, and he said it was the
best hunting clothing he’d ever had. His
perception had clearly changed, while
the product line remained the same
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