{"id":4390,"date":"2017-03-19T12:48:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-19T16:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/brandnewhats-proposing-a-crowdsourced-hat-brand\/"},"modified":"2017-03-19T13:18:31","modified_gmt":"2017-03-19T17:18:31","slug":"brandnewhats-proposing-a-crowdsourced-hat-brand","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/brandnewhats-proposing-a-crowdsourced-hat-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"BrandNewHats: Proposing a Crowdsourced Hat Brand"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When I was in elementary school, my friends and I each had our favorite baseball cap. In first grade, we all had basically the same Ohio State Block-O hat, since that was the local college football team. Once we were old enough to go to the shopping mall though, we discovered Lids \u2013 a store where you could buy hats repping teams from all over or, better still, make a customized cap to express yourself. The custom designs were simple but popular \u2013 if you made a cool design, your friends might want the same hat and come back from their next visit to the mall sporting your design.<\/p>\n<p>Extending this concept to today\u2019s crowd-sourced world, I propose a direct-to-consumer hat design company unifying artists and influencers with hat consumers and aficionados. BrandNewHats would be a business for those who not only want their fashion sense to be part of who they are but want to participate in the writing of their outfit\u2019s story as well.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4389\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4389\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Beyonce-Hat-Repping-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4389 \" src=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Beyonce-Hat-Repping-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Beyonce-Hat-Repping-1.jpg 479w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Beyonce-Hat-Repping-1-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4389\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Obligatory Bey Looking Fresh Shot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><u>Value Creation<\/u><\/p>\n<p>BrandNewHats would create value in two ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unifying artists and customers so that creators and fans could collaborate and create magical new designs in a vibrant fashion community.<\/li>\n<li>Streamlining the product design and delivery process to realize economies of scale and allow artists and customers to easily realize their product vision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>Value Capture and Sharing<\/u><\/p>\n<p>BrandNewHats would capture value by capturing and sharing gross margin with hat designers \u2013 sharing value up front and on an ongoing basis would create shared benefits leading to a sustainable business and community.<\/p>\n<p>Specific elements of the model would include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Crowd-source elements\n<ul>\n<li>An artist design submission portal<\/li>\n<li>Monthly community vote contests to determine which styles would be manufactured (with no obligation to buy)<\/li>\n<li>Design requests and challenges proposed by the company and the community<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Operational elements\n<ul>\n<li>Internally managed inventory buys based on input from voting customers and understanding of design trends and retail partner demands<\/li>\n<li>Flexible supply chain, likely in partnership with sourcing agent<\/li>\n<li>Strong community management focused on telling stories of artists and passionate customers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>Reasons to Believe<\/u><\/p>\n<p>RTB #1: Successful Product-as-Canvas Businesses Exist<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chicago-based style shops BucketFeet and Threadless are two successful businesses that have employed this product-as-canvas business model. Threadless at one time earned over $30mm in revenue and BucketFeet has raised over $19mm in financing through multiple rounds since its founding in 2011.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>RTB #2: Successful Hat Retailers and Manufacturers<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hat retail is a big business \u2013 Lids had revenue of $846 million and earnings before tax of $42 million in 2017.<\/li>\n<li>Hat making, even based on simply showcasing team logos and mascots on a licensed-basis is huge. Major League Baseball cap manufacturer New Era earns around $700mm in revenue each year (*they also sell knit hats and other headwear) and did not have a down year during the recession.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>RTB #3: Flexible Supply Chain Partners Could Help Source<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Informational interviews I\u2019ve conducted with BucketFeet team members described how their early partnership with Li &amp; Fung allowed them to create a flexible supply chain from day 1. Li &amp; Fung and other sourcing agents will take a design and work with their factory partners to create and deliver the product allowing BrandNewHats to focus on building and maintaining the community and marketing the product.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>RTB #4: Hat Culture is Huge and Expressive Hats Are Underserved<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There\u2019s always a hat\/headwear trend. From the brand (Von Dutch Trucker Hats to Flat Brim New Era Snapback Sticker Caps), to how you wear it (backwards, forwards, or rally style) there\u2019s a hat people want to own.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s more than just baseball caps of your favorite sports teams \u2013 celebrities have been seen wearing everything from plain denim hats to tropical print styles in recent years. A single platform where you could find unique hat designs would lower search costs for unique products and unite passionate artists and customers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Interview with BucketFeet (March 2017 and July 2015)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagobusiness.com\/article\/20140111\/BLOGS11\/140119969\/t-shirt-maker-threadless-cuts-jobs\">http:\/\/www.chicagobusiness.com\/article\/20140111\/BLOGS11\/140119969\/t-shirt-maker-threadless-cuts-jobs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/bucketfeet#\/entity\">https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/bucketfeet#\/entity<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2013\/01\/25\/helmets-off-hats-on\/\">http:\/\/fortune.com\/2013\/01\/25\/helmets-off-hats-on\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>http:\/\/www.harpersbazaar.com\/fashion\/trends\/g5881\/celebrity-baseball-caps\/<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hats should be designed by the crowd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":4391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[672,1285,1284],"class_list":["post-4390","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crowd-sourcing","category-direct-to-consumer","category-hats"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/managing-digital-crowds\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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