How A Small Batch Denim Company Hiut Became a Global Cult Brand

The power of story, philosophy, and curation

February 23, 2024

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Hiut Denim is a company focused on hand made denim who’ve built a cult following through storytelling, philosophy-as-marketing and curation

Who will love this

  • Denim die-hards

  • Founders pursuing sustainable growth

  • Small business owners with a point of view on how business should be done

  • Cult brand fans

Today

Good morning!

When I work with founders, one of the questions I get a lot is some variation of “What should I talk about?”

Hiut is a brand that is crystal clear on what it wants to talk about: making. Hiut is a brand with a strong point of view. Brands with a strong point of view will beat beautiful identities and witty brand voice every time.

For any brand that wants to transition away from pure product benefits and move towards brand, Hiut is an elegant example of a using brand story as marketing.

We’re going to see how Hiut does it.

In 12 years, Hiut have: 

  • 🛠️ Re-employed grandmasters from the shuttered Marks & Spencer factory

  • 🐢 Made slow fashion cool (it takes 1:10 to make one pair of jeans, compared to 11 minutes at a highly mechanised jeans industry giant)

  • 🎸Counted the Artic Monkeys, world-famous chef Rene Redzepi, and Meghan Markle amongst its customers

Let’s dive in 👖

Three Moves Hiut Make to Build a Cult Brand

1️⃣ Nail a Transformational Narrative

Hiut have a killer story.

For nearly 40 years, Cardigan, Wales was home to a factory that made 35,000 pair of jeans each week for Marks & Spencer. In 2002 the company moved production to Morocco to cut costs, which meant 400 workers, or 10% of the town were out of a job.

David and Clare Hieatt set up Hiut Denim after selling their previous clothing brand, Howies to Timberland. Their mission: get the town of Cardigan making jeans again.

Hiut have woven that story throughout their marketing. It makes you immediately feel intrigued about what they’re building.

In order to catalyze true transformation, stories needs to spell out what is at stake. Transformational narratives need:

  • A transformation point: a pivotal moment (The factory closed)

  • How a person/people would be changed by this decision (400 people would be out of a job)

  • Actions that are different to what’s come before (Jeans made by hand)

  • A sense of forward movement (Our town is making jeans again)

Higher stakes = better stories.

2️⃣ Philosophy as Marketing

Many brands struggle to figure out what to talk about. Not Hiut.

Hiut is a brand built around an philosophy: Hiut is for makers.

TIP: To act as a philosopher, ask: What do people need to believe in order to ‘buy’ what we do?

For Hiut, people need to believe:

  • Making is soulful work

  • Doing one thing well is the key to craft

  • Makers are artisans

  • Demystifying ‘making’

Hiut’s marketing is an expansion on these beliefs:

Educate and expand your audiences by marketing your brand beliefs, not product benefits.

3️⃣ Brand as curator

Hiut acts as a curator.

What’s curation?

Curation is the art of connecting an object with a point of view. Hiut sell more than just their own products under the Hiut umbrella. This gives Hiut flexibility and introduces them to new audiences.

How does Hiut do it?

For example: Hiut produces an annual list of 100 Makers & Mavericks. Imagine 30% of that makers on the list share the list with their followers. Boom 💥 Hiut finds a new audience. 

Curation is a matter of taste, which is tough to replicate. Example: Hiut curate a ‘do one thing well’ section on their website, where products chosen by the Hiut team are featured on the website: a $245 long sleeve tee, a $60 pack of 12 pencils claimed to “the best writing utensil in the world” - they’re all part of Hiut’s universe of well-made items.

Curation requires a point of view. Most brands don’t have this. It requires knowledge of brand values. For Hiut, that’s quality, craftsmanship, sustainability.

Curation done well connects brands to culture, builds relevance, and equity.

Three things to love & learn from 🤔

Tell a story with stakes. If you’re a brand doing things differently, ask yourself: what will be different as a result of your success or failure?

Interrogate your beliefs. What do people need to believe in order to buy your brand? What do you believe that you need to export or educate your customers on?

Play with curation. Hiut curate the products and people that support its proposition and philosophy: for makers. What does your brand value? Make a list of products or people that share your brand’s values. Now think about what you could do with them: Host a pop up, an interview series, an exhibit. The world is your oyster!

✌️Thanks so much for reading - I appreciate your attention!

Amanda

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