The turnaround at VF Corporation’s Vans brand has yet to come to fruition. But chief executive officer Bracken Darrell says he can “see the turn ahead through the tunnel.”
In a call with analysts discussing the company’s fourth quarter results, Darrell said the company was witnessing early green shoots — such as strong direct-to-consumer sales in Europe and positive Google search trends — within the Vans business, despite overall weak financial results. Vans revenue dropped 27 percent in Q4.
“I feel good about the steps we’re taking, but there’s so much more ahead of us and so much more we can do,” Darrell said. “I can see the turn ahead through the tunnel. I’m not going to sit here and predict a quarter for you, but I can see it coming.”
VF last year laid out a plan to reinvigorate its struggling Vans brand and identified several missteps, including not innovating enough, becoming dependent on classics and becoming less strategic about where the brand shows up in the marketplace.
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On the product side, Vans is working on a simplifying its product range, elevating its designs and improving its storytelling behind the products. Darrell highlighted styles like the UltraRange Neo, which is doing well in the U.S. and the Knu Skool, which is now the brand’s second biggest style across the world.
“This is part of our icon management strategy, which will also reduce reliance on core outcomes,” Darrell said.
Looking ahead, Vans will continue to launch new products via a marketing plan that emphasizes fewer, more powerful stories. Vans is also aiming to build its brand equity and profitability with a focus on its new OTW line, which officially launched in February, and is improving the way it executes story-telling in its stores.
“We used to have 274 stories in one season,” Darrell said. “When you have 274 stories in 6 months, you’re probably not telling any of them well. We’ve simplified it to a handful of powerful key stories, concentrating our investment.”
Darrell also indicated that the company will soon announce a new hire in the Vans president role, which has been vacant since Kevin Bailey stepped down in October. Vans also had to deal with the loss of its chief product and merchandising officer Marissa Pardini in March.
