How do you reposition a brand that’s already successful in your home market for customers across the ocean? Take a page from the playbook of British apparel and accessories retailer Smart Turnout.

OTC has long been an admirer of this creative and authentically English brand. Originally built around jumpers (sweaters to us Americans) executed in British regimental colors, The Smart Turnout brand moved on to outstanding enameled cuff links and regimental ties.

Initially, the company continued with the regimental themes but branched out a bit and produced some American Ivy League inspired ties and cuff links. Throw in some very popular nylon canvas watchstraps and Smart Turnout was on a roll.

But rolling where? The brand was expanding at a very healthy pace in its home market but founder Philip Turner had bigger ideas and wanted to capture the American Market as well. How do you re-brand a distinctly British company for American consumption while offering primarily British/inspired products?

Take a look HERE and find out.

The approach? Reestablish Smart Turnout as a sleeker “city” brand without totally abandoning its “country lifestyle” roots. Build up the brand’s storyline by creating an overall brand narrative woven throughout the paper catalog and recently relaunched website (a great one by the way).

Smart Turnout’s new look

The result? Increased sales, better name and brand recognition and deeper American market penetration. This strategy also helped to build stronger association with Smart Turnout’s British heritage via the new “London” tag line in its name that, paradoxically, helps to establish brand value and exclusivity here in the States.

Overall, a great job of holding on to the core values, quality and uniqueness that made the brand initially successful while thoroughly modernizing everything about it. I think the best compliment is one noted by an OTC reader who told me that he could tell the whole brand had been refreshed and rebuilt, but he could not really pinpoint what was different – it just looked better.