Corporate officials
* The following are the top corporate officials of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
* Michael S. Jeffries - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jefferies has held this position since the 1990s. He has renovated the brand and oversees all aspects of the company.
* Diane Chang - Executive Vice President of Sourcing
* Leslee K. Herro - Executive Vice President of Planning and Allocation
* David S. Cupps - Senior Vice President, Sec. and General Counsel
* Thomas D. Lennox - Head of Corporate Communications
* Richard Clarke - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
* Amy Zehr - Vice President of Stores
The company is headquartered at "Home Office". It has a European branch in Milan, Italy.
Stores
[Abercrombie]
The modern Canoe store design features white molding and louvers on the exterior. The main marketing image lies against the front wall facing the entrance.The interiors are highlighted with dim ceiling-lights and spot lighting. Distinguishable aspects are the lingering scent of Fierce, an A&F fragrance, and the blasting electronic dance music. An undercover inspection which measured the noise levels in teen stores in a randomly selected mall, revealed that the noise level in Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Abercrombie kids stores was as loud as 90 decibels, comparable to heavy construction machinery noise and harmful to the ears. However, 80 decibels is the corporate store policy sound level.
There are a few remaining chain store design which feature plaid carpeting and preppy wallpaper. The company operates 1,059 stores across all five brands. The A&F brand holds over 353[20] locations nationwide the United States, three in Canada, and one in London. Three flagship stores are located on Fifth Avenue in New York City, within the The Grove in Los Angeles, and at 7 Burlington Gardens in London.
Advertising
The official logo of Abercrombie & Fitch is the moose. The company markets through its sensual photographs with a beach, architectural, or mountainous backdrop in grayscale. The marketing photographer is Bruce Weber, who is known for his sexual photography for Calvin Klein and Polo Ralph Lauren. Models and the photos pertaining to them were previewed seasonally on "A&F New Faces", a previous feature on the official website. After only featuring select photography, it was renamed "Photo Gallery." "A&F Casting" was introduced in place of "A&F New Faces" to advertise and to give information on being cast for marketing campaigns. The company only casts "brand reps" (store associates) for campaigns. They use especially good-looking models to attract young people to buy their clothes.
Merchandise and brand protection
The company uses trademark Casual Luxury to promote the brand. The brand defines the slogan as using "the finest cashmere, pima cottons, and highest quality leather to create the ultimate in casual, body conscious clothing," and "implementing and/or incorporating time honored machinery ...to produce the most exclusive denim..."
The brand carries Men's fragrances Fierce, Cologne 41, Proof, and Colden. Women's fragrances include Perfume 8, Classic, Perfume 41, and Wakely. Released at the same time, Fierce and 8 and Cologne41 and Perfume 41 are marketed to compliment one another. High-end fragrances Ezra Fitch (cologne) and Ezra parfum were described as the embodiment of "the Abercrombie & Fitch heritage," until they were discontinued. Cologne Proof was released in Christmas 2006 to be removed a year later (though some stores still carry Cologne Proof). Perfumes Ready is also among the retired fragrances. Fierce and 8 are the most heavily marketed fragrances as they are the signature scents of the brand overall.
As the popularity of Abercrombie & Fitch goods increased, so did the counterfeiting of them. In 2006, the company launched the Abercrombie & Fitch Brand Protection Program to combat the issue worldwide (focusing more in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea) by working with legal forces globally.[28] Shane Berry, who joined the company in November 2005, was placed in charge of the program. Berry is a former Supervisory Special Agent from the FBI, and was a part of its Intellectual Property Rights Program. The news release from A&F announcing its initiative stated that the "program will improve current practices and strategies by focusing on eliminating the supply of illicit Abercrombie & Fitch products."
The Brand Protection program covers all A&F brands; mainly A&F, Hollister and RUEHL {shuttered by end of January 2010). Assuring that its consumers are aware of the issue, the Abercrombie & Fitch Brand Protection and abercrombie brand protection features suggest customers to purchase from authentic stores and to report suspected A&F counterfeiting.
The company's Abercrombie and Fitch brand gift cards have been recognized by Consumer Affairs as a "top pick" for not having deceptive features such as expiration dates, dormancy fees, and post-purchase fees.
[Abercrombie]
Other A&F brands
A&F currently has four other concepts apart from its namesake, Abercrombie & Fitch. While referred to as subsidiaries, the brands do not operate separately contrary to the definition; all brands are completely managed under the same Abercrombie & Fitch workforce. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. holds full rights and ownership to every trademark of the following brands.
abercrombie
Prep-school by Abercrombie & Fitch Themed as "classic cool" for preteens 9 through 14, this is the children's version of Abercrombie & Fitch. Uses blue (against the A&F gray), blasts music from young artists, and spells marketing trademarks all-lowercase.
Hollister Co.
Southern California by Abercrombie & Fitch Themed after "SoCal" for teenagers 12 through 24, Hollister is moderately priced compared to its parent brand. The brand's stores resemble surf shacks with dim lighting, and blast rock music. It is the first of these brands to offer a personal body care line.
RUEHL No.925 (shuttered by end of January 2010)
Post-grad by Abercrombie & Fitch Themed after Greenwich Village, this brand aims for post-collegiate 25 through 35 aged consumers. It has the highest price range among the A&F brands. This is the first brand to offer genuine leather purses and bags for women.
Gilly Hicks
The cheeky cousin of
Abercrombie & Fitch Themed after "Down Under" Sydney, Australia. The latest brand from Abercrombie & Fitch, it offers underwear and loungewear for women 18 and up. There is an ongoing movement by parent A&F to advertise all its four children brands as being "...by Abercrombie & Fitch." This is in effort to raise consumer awareness that the four brands abercrombie, HCO, Gilly Hicks, and RUEHL are BY A&F and are not stand-alone companies as some consumers believe. The anticipated result is a reputation-rise for the spin-off brands, by being advertised as being offspring of the successful Abercrombie & Fitch company.
