Unifi — Repreve Brand SWOT
Strengths: These include both tangible and intangible attributes that add positive value to a company. Repreve’s biggest strength is its partnerships highly recognized brands. Huge names such as Fossil, The North Face, and Volcom promote credibility in Repreve’s fabric performance attributes and versatility. The name recognition of their partnership has helped make Repreve as a brand become more recognizable in the apparel and textile industry. Partners are trusting in the value that Repreve fabrics bring to their product lines and the sustainable impact they have on the planet. Volcom’s Senior Manager of North American Retail, Jeff Arnold has said that “Repreve has been a great partner to us, the sustainability storytelling is something that we greatly value”. Companies are building off of the story that Repreve is already telling, and able to make it their own to show their individual consumers how they are helping the environment
Another strength of Repreve is their local manufacturing plants throughout the state of North Carolina. This provides Repreve quick production and turnaround times so that they are able to be innovative and collaborative with their partners fabric needs. Additionally their fabrics are certified through a verification process that provides transparency to consumers and businesses. Because Repreve is a recycled fiber, and a more sustainable manufacturing choice transparency is extremely important. Repreve is able to let end consumers know exactly how many bottles go into one product, as well as have been used over the course of the year to create multiple products with different partners. According to Crystal Colbert, Repreve Channel Marketing Manager “(In 2016) Repreve kept over 4 billion bottles out of landfills”. Furthermore, Repreve has been expanding globally, working with manufacturers in Asia, South America, Canada and Europe. This expansion will continue to strengthen brand name awareness and the value of their products.
Weaknesses: For the Repreve brand their low name recognition in consumer purchased goods sector. When speaking with the average consumer most have never heard of the brand and its story. While the partnerships that Repreve has is beneficial to their brand, it can also hurt that Repreve is not interacting directly with end consumers. Repreve has been trying to improve their brand recognition through social media initiatives but following and engagement has been low. Marketing campaigns on social media platform have great content but without the customer engagement there is no way to know if the content has made an impact.
Opportunities: Opportunities for Repreve brand are making their own private label line where they are producing goods of their own to sell to end consumers. This would create a new stream of revenue for the company as well as increase brand awareness. Consumers who use their products will be fully aware that they are consuming goods made from recycled plastic bottles, instead of leaving it up to partner companies to market on their behalf. Additionally Repreve could partner with other non-profit companies that promote sustainability in the apparel industry to get their name more recognized. In B2B it is challenging for a company to become recognized by end consumers but with further steps to expand I think that Repreve will be more powerful than ever.
Threats: With a new president who has taken the United States out of deals that promote sustainability and eco-friendly business practices there is a threat to Repreve in that there will be a downturn on the sustainability trend. Some brands may have to increase the prices of their sustainably made goods and this can hurt the entire sustainable market if consumers associate their goods as expensive. Trade deals have also been compromised which could hurt manufacturing deals with global partners. It is important for Repreve to stay current and be able to act quickly with this fast changing market and trends. Other threats include competitors that use recycled materials from other goods. These brands may be less eco-friendly but because they are cheaper companies may choose to utilize their fabrics as a cost saving measure. This is where Repreve must really highlight the true value their product has and that it is worth it for the consumer, the planet and the partnering company in the long run.
