Your audience has spoken

[Scot]

And they hate your product.

So I saw this Facebook ad at least 3 times yesterday (I think I got pixeled after I clicked it the first time)



There's an important lesson here that the business hopefully will learn and I hope you'll pick up before it hurts you.

So their copy reads that they sell premium quality gym shorts at 40% below retail. Some copy on their other ad alludes to brands like Rogue and Reebok CrossFit selling $50 shorts. Click on the page and.... $85 for a pair of gym shorts.

I'm not the only one who noticed this.



On both ads I saw from them, 35+ comments with 99% of the comments about the outrageous price point of their shorts. Many of them mentioned how well known premium brands (Under Armour, Reebok, Rogue) sold shorts for $4-50 or how with workout shorts they'd rather get $15 shorts from discount retailers.

The interesting part is, if you read their sales page, if you buy 4 pair, you get 40% off your order, which brings each pair down to $50, which is the usual price of premium workout shorts. But no one seemed to get that far or notice, because every single comment was upset about that initial sticker shock and the paradox of their copy.


Here's the thing, they may be selling 100's of pairs a day, I cannot see their sales numbers, but for social media marketing, that marketing campaign is dead. They are killing any social proof they could have gotten with those ads as 99% of the feedback is negative.

This isn't to say you should never try to prove something in a "luxury" tier, but you should always measure your audiences feedback.

What would you guys do if you were Hylete?

 

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[BlindSide]

And they hate your product.

So I saw this Facebook ad at least 3 times yesterday (I think I got pixeled after I clicked it the first time)

View attachment 15999

There's an important lesson here that the business hopefully will learn and I hope you'll pick up before it hurts you.

So their copy reads that they sell premium quality gym shorts at 40% below retail. Some copy on their other ad alludes to brands like Rogue and Reebok CrossFit selling $50 shorts. Click on the page and.... $85 for a pair of gym shorts.

I'm not the only one who noticed this.

View attachment 16000

On both ads I saw from them, 35+ comments with 99% of the comments about the outrageous price point of their shorts. Many of them mentioned how well known premium brands (Under Armour, Reebok, Rogue) sold shorts for $4-50 or how with workout shorts they'd rather get $15 shorts from discount retailers.

The interesting part is, if you read their sales page, if you buy 4 pair, you get 40% off your order, which brings each pair down to $50, which is the usual price of premium workout shorts. But no one seemed to get that far or notice, because every single comment was upset about that initial sticker shock and the paradox of their copy.


Here's the thing, they may be selling 100's of pairs a day, I cannot see their sales numbers, but for social media marketing, that marketing campaign is dead. They are killing any social proof they could have gotten with those ads as 99% of the feedback is negative.

This isn't to say you should never try to prove something in a "luxury" tier, but you should always measure your audiences feedback.

What would you guys do if you were Hylete?

I always see the importance of actually getting on the phone with your audience and digging deep. So, maybe it would be cool if someone on their team took the time out and called 3-5 buyers AND non-buyers (those people in the comments). And offered some type of incentive for getting on the call.

Then they can ask questions and dig deep to see how/why they think this way, before making any calls. Because you are right, even for all those negative comments, they could have DOUBLE the amount of people who will happily pay for their product. Then the problem could be targeting, copywriting, ideal customer, etc.

Thoughts?

 

[garyjsmith]

..What would you guys do if you were Hylete?

I'd swap the image, further educate the audience, possibly join in by being critical of self, and sharpen the ad so viewers would now get the message at a glance.

 

[Scot]

I always see the importance of actually getting on the phone with your audience and digging deep. So, maybe it would be cool if someone on their team took the time out and called 3-5 buyers AND non-buyers (those people in the comments). And offered some type of incentive for getting on the call.

Then they can ask questions and dig deep to see how/why they think this way, before making any calls. Because you are right, even for all those negative comments, they could have DOUBLE the amount of people who will happily pay for their product. Then the problem could be targeting, copywriting, ideal customer, etc.

Thoughts?

That's definitely an idea. Talking to previous buyers and asking "what made you buy these?" to understand what worked and asking people who were hung up on price "what would you want to see in this product to make it worth $85 in your mind?"

I'd swap the image, further educate the audience, possibly join in by being critical of self, and sharpen the ad so viewers would now get the message at a glance.

With the education part I'd definitely make it more about why the shorts cost that much. Talk about the fabric and what advantages you gain, etc.

 

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[c4n]

Their ad is designed for the wrong audience.

Someone looking for/wiling to pay for premium shorts would be more interested in seeing why and how they are better (design, materials, branding, made in XY, ...), not how much he/she can potentially save on them.

An ad promising 40% savings will attract bargain shoppers, not people interested in premium products.

 

[Scot]

Their ad is designed for the wrong audience.

Someone looking for/wiling to pay for premium shorts would be more interested in seeing why and how they are better (design, materials, branding, made in XY, ...), not how much he/she can potentially save on them.

An ad promising 40% savings will attract bargain shoppers, not people interested in premium products.

Definitely agree there. Their ad copy and product doesn't match up with who they're targeting.

I'm sure there's a market for $85 shorts, they definitely need to figure out how to reach them.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

At that price it NEEDS to be all about the brand, and why the price is suitable.

When you pay $400K for a Lambo, you know why you just paid $400K. These don't look any different than a ten buck pair from Kohls.

 

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[G-Man]

What would you guys do if you were Hylete?

I'd re-write the sales page:

Do you have premium flop sweat?

Do you ever think your swamp a$$ isn't as luxurious as it could be?

Here at Hylete we've got just the product for you!

 

[becks22]

You know what is ironic-- I know lots of women (myself included) who spend lots of money on athletic clothes. One sports bra for me could be $50. I recently bought a really nice pair of running leggings and they were $85 but they fit me really well and I've used them at least twice a week since I bought them. Yoga tops easily retail for $25-$70 and women pay for them. Usually I tend to buy most items on sale since workout clothes never go out of style but I have paid more than I would have liked to on certain items.

They might have picked their audience wrong for this particular product but that doesn't mean their audience doesn't exist somewhere in the marketplace.

 

[Scot]

You know what is ironic-- I know lots of women (myself included) who spend lots of money on athletic clothes. One sports bra for me could be $50. I recently bought a really nice pair of running leggings and they were $85 but they fit me really well and I've used them at least twice a week since I bought them. Yoga tops easily retail for $25-$70 and women pay for them. Usually I tend to buy most items on sale since workout clothes never go out of style but I have paid more than I would have liked to on certain items.

They might have picked their audience wrong for this particular product but that doesn't mean their audience doesn't exist somewhere in the marketplace.

For the female workout clothing market, those prices are pretty normal.

I was an early adopter of CrossFit and have been in the fitness scene for a while, most guys don't want to spend that much of their clothes. I think the potential is out there to have clothing brands like Lululemon for guys, but like MJ pointed out, this brand isn't telling me why it's worth that much.

 

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[GuestUser450]

Luxury brands never get into "speeds and feeds". Specs don't matter, story does.

They need to double that price, laser-target the Veblen crowd and create a story of either hand-crafted, haute couture clothing or ultra high-tech future fabric. Their problem is that it's halfassed, they don't believe their own bs.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

For the female workout clothing market, those prices are pretty normal.

My guess is that women are more concerned about fit and finish as athletic wear is worn differently by the genders -- women's wear is a tough needle to thread due to all of the different body types/shapes.

Men generally don't give a shit -- at least I don't. My foremost concern is FIT.

If the shorts fit, I don't care if the brand says NIKE or UNKNOWN.

 

[BeFound Faithful]

Mixed messages...

Right out of the chute it looks like savings -maybe wholesale pricing- is the selling point.

IMHO it borders on misleading, and who wants to deal with a company like that?

 

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[G-Man]

My guess is that women are more concerned about fit and finish as athletic wear is worn differently by the genders -- women's wear is a tough needle to thread due to all of the different body types/shapes.

Men generally don't give a shit -- at least I don't. My foremost concern is FIT.

If the shorts fit, I don't care if the brand says NIKE or UNKNOWN.

@MJ DeMarco i would agree with you after a half hour of social media research. I've come to the conclusion that women go to the gym for the sole reason of posting pictures of themselves at the gym. $80 britches are probably important.

 

[raddevon]

Definitely seems like they're missing the mark with their copy, but maybe it's just an issue of not properly utilizing Facebook's ad targeting.