Tension, controversy, technology: How Calvin Klein builds its brand

This event report outlines how Calvin Klein, the fashion brand, follows the contours of the technology adoption cycle in crafting its marketing campaign.

Tension, controversy, technology: How Calvin Klein builds its brand

Stephen WhitesideWarc

Calvin Klein's apparel aims to provide the perfect fit for style-conscious shoppers.

At the same time, the New York-based fashion brand's marketing strategy is hugging a very different kind of curve – namely, the elegant contours of the technology-adoption cycle.

Tracing its origins to 1957, this theory predates Calvin Klein's debut collection by around a decade. And it demonstrates how new goods and services move towards the mainstream by achieving popularity with successive consumer cohorts:

  • Innovators
  • Early adopters
  • Early majority
  • Late majority
  • Laggards

"You have to make the...

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