January / February 2007

Uniforms communicate your brand message. What story do yours tell?

By Jay Gordon
Photography: Mark Pricskett

Once upon a time ... there was a company that became an $80 billion retailer – the third-largest in the world – by helping people build, fix or renovate their homes.

… there was a restaurant chain committed to providing every guest a unique, entertaining dining experience in a fun atmosphere delivered by attractive, vivacious women.

… there was an ice cream shop that delighted customers with irresistible treats. It grew into the world’s largest specialty ice cream chain, with more than 5,600 retail shops in 40 countries.

To build a successful brand, says marketing consultant Adrienne Weiss, you first have to understand what a brand is. “A brand is an opportunity to differentiate your business from others that do the same thing. It’s a story that needs to come alive in every aspect of the business,” says Weiss, who has helped build her share of legendary brands, from Coca-Cola to McDonalds to Target and Disney. “Every customer touch-point is an opportunity to differentiate yourself. The store design and environment, packaging, menus – it all has to help tell the story. Uniforms are another opportunity to tell your story.”

Yes, uniforms can be a significant expense, but Weiss says it’s important to maintain the proper perspective about this investment. “It’s fabric and thread,” Weiss says. “If you don’t take advantage of the opportunity uniforms afford to advance the cause of differentiating yourself, it’s a huge missed opportunity.”

Many of the world’s best brands are instantly recognizable, at least in part because of their uniforms. The orange apron of Home Depot. The ubiquitous brown of UPS. The sexy shorts and tank tops of Hooters Girls. These uniforms instantly conjure up an image or create an awareness or association when we see them. They tell a story.

The Home Depot’s signature orange apron immediately calls to mind the company that pioneered the concept of offering all your home improvement needs under one roof – a one-stop shop for the do-it-yourselfer. “Initially, we had to earn the public’s confidence that our knowledge and expertise about their home improvement need was sound,” says Roger Adams, senior vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer. “Until then, the apron had little significance. However, once people connected The Home Depot with getting good home improvement advice, the orange apron became the symbol to look for on the sales floor. Find someone wearing that apron and you find somebody who can help you accomplish your home improvement projects.”

Since customers assume the person wearing the orange apron is a home improvement expert – even if they aren’t yet – newer associates have to wear buttons on their aprons that say “In Training” to explain why they don’t have all the answers. But the aprons accomplish more than just helping customers find help. It also keeps the associate’s clothes clean (The Home Depot allows associates to wear what they want underneath the apron), and more important, Adams says, “it provides a sense of family, a sense of belonging to a ‘club’ of home improvement ad experts, of belonging to an organization with a winning tradition.” A team uniform in the truest sense.

The Home Depot’s signature orange color came from Don Watt & Associates, a Canadian retail consultant hired to help develop The Home Depot brand. Watt suggested painting the logo white on orange circus tent canvas because Home Depot’s founders couldn’t afford lighted signs and the orange would be eye-catching from the highway. That’s how the canvas apron was born, too, and the earliest versions had white trim. All Home Depot associates, from store managers on down, wear the same orange apron.

But the chain also allows associates to personalize the aprons to an extent – which can also serve as a subtle form of promotion itself. In addition to providing a space for associates to write in their names in black marker, The Home Depot also has a series of patches that associates can earn, either for anniversaries or for a specific home improvement training course they may have taken. The patches can either be sewn onto the apron, or attached to it with a metal ring.

The patches make a statement to both customers and other associates about that employee’s experience and home improvement know-how.

Hooters is another organization with a winning tradition – whose team uniform also happens to be orange, and also happens to be one of the most recognizable branding elements in the world. While The Home Depot’s orange aprons have come to symbolize the brand, the orange running shorts and white tank tops worn by the Hooters Girls are the brand.

“Most companies have a separation between the company and the brand and the employees. At Hooters there is no separation,” says Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for the restaurant chain, which now has 435 units open in 46 states and 20 foreign countries. “The Hooter Girls are what makes Hooters. They are the concept.”

Hooters makes no apologies that the heart of that concept is female sex appeal. The uniform, and the Hooters Girl that wears it, literally embody sex appeal. “It is the essence of the brand,” McNeil says. And like sex appeal, the Hooters Girl uniform – orange running shorts, white tank top, white sneakers, white socks and tan panty hose – has changed very little in the 23 years since the first Hooters opened in Clearwater, FL. (see p. 36).

“The image of the Hooters Girl is the all-American cheerleader – sexy and vivacious,” says McNeil. “So the founders wanted an athletic, flattering uniform.” And because the chain was launched in the Tampa area, they also wanted an association with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose colors at the time were orange and white. They had no idea they were creating a cultural icon. The rest, as they say, is sartorial history.

“We hire candidates who look good in the uniform,” McNeil adds, “and we expect them to maintain the appearance. The young women who gravitate to Hooters believe they fit that image and want to be appreciated for those qualities. Generally, people are not going to apply for the job if they don’t feel they will look good in the uniform.”

Just as Hooters makes no apologies for flaunting its sex appeal, it also recognizes the polarizing effect that can have on consumers. “It’s something people either really like a lot, or they don’t like it at all. They’re not neutral about it,” says McNeil. “Our attitude is, the worst mistake you can make in business is to try and be all things to all people. There is a segment of the population that doesn’t want to eat at Hooters, and we’re prepared to live with that.”

Variations on a Theme

For practical reasons – and OK, sometimes for the merchandising opportunities – Hooters will occasionally design a variation on the Hooters Girl uniform:

Camo: Several years ago a group of Hooters Girls toured Afghanistan to support U.S. troops serving there. The company designed special uniforms for the trip, including camo shorts and logos for the tank tops, which also had screen printing on the back that read, "Weapons of Mass Distraction." The uniforms still make the occasional appearance, such as a calendar signing at a military base.

Black: It's not the little black dress, but it's close. The Hooters Girls have a black version of the uniform to wear for those occasions that call for a more "formal" look. Some restaurants, for example, have "Formal Fridays" where the girls wear the black outfits. If nothing else, it allows for some fun and variety.

The warm-up suit: Hooters recognized there were limitations to the Hooters Girl uniform at outdoor events, so it developed a brushed nylon warm-up suit for the women to wear if they're attending charity events or other outdoor appearances. The warm-up suit was also worn by flight crews on Hooters Air, the airline that ended a three-year run last March. The warm-ups are not part of the standard uniform; instead, each restaurant keeps a supply on hand for occasions when they're needed.

Once a Hooters Girl, Always a Hooters Girl

If the Hooters Girls are the essence of the Hooters brand, then their uniform is the essence of the Hooters Girls. Aside from a few subtle changes in fabric or style, the uniform has remained amazingly consistent from the time the original Hooters Girl, Lynne Austin (below, right) donned the "orange and white" in 1983. Here's a quick look at how the Hooters Girl uniform has evolved:

The new Baskin-Robbins uniform line-up

Every brand has a genetic make-up, a DNA, that is uniquely its own. For The Home Depot, it’s solid advice on home improvement projects. For UPS, it’s dependable reliability (see “Why Brown is Beautiful”) and for Hooters, it’s sex appeal.

For Baskin-Robbins, it’s all about fun. The 60-year-old chain whose pink tasting spoon has become synonymous with ice cream innovation recently experienced a makeover designed to make the ice cream buying experience more fun. New menu items include frozen custard and signature sundaes such as Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. Revamped store layouts lower the ice cream case to make it more visible to kids, and feature a crescent- shaped bar where customers can watch their treats being made. Even the décor is more dynamic, with a funky new logo and brighter colors, including a pink crown to remind customers of the signature pink spoon.

Dunkin Donuts and Baskin-Robbins. So the Baskin-Robbins uniform went from all-white, to colorful tees and royal blue aprons and hats. But the most significant change in the new uniform is that employees are now allowed to wear jeans. “When we announced that change, the employees stood up and clapped,” FitzGerald says. “It was a very popular move.”

The new Baskin-Robbins concept, including uniforms, was developed internally with significant input from employees and franchisees. Giving employees choices “communicates to everyone that we addressed their concerns,” FitzGerald says. “We’ve found that giving people options is the best option.”

Before launching the new concept, Baskin-Robbins put the uniforms into test stores and researched consumer perceptions. The new uniforms scored dramatically higher than the old ones. “Guests thought they were colorful and gave the store energy,” FitzGerald says. “If the employees are comfortable, guests pick up on that.”

The key elements of the new Baskin-Robbins uniform include:

Men's and Ladie's Manager Shirts: A 5.5-oz, 65/35 short-sleeve button-down shirt is wrinkle resistant and has stain release. Men's shirts feature double back yoke, two side back pleats and a patch pocket embroidered with a Baskin-Robbins logo and patch. Ladies shirts feature a spread collar and fitted style. Crew and managers are also differentiated by their name badge styles. "It's not over-branded," says Jimmy FitzGerald, director of concept development for Baskin-Robbins parent Dunkin' Brands. "It doesn't look like a NASCAR shirt. We wanted to make the manager and crew uniforms blend, but still get the punch of the brand recognition."

Crew Tee Shirt: A Hanes heavyweight 50/50 tee is screened with the Baskin-Robbins logo on the left chest and a stylized skateboarder and "Time to re-treat!" text on the back. "We wanted a T-shirt they'd be proud to wear to school - one that guests would come in and see and say, 'That's fun,'" says FitzGerald.

Royal Cap or Visor: A 100% cotton six panel royal blue cap or visor embroidered with the Baskin Robbins logo, with adjustable hook and loop closure.

Royal Bib or Waist Apron: Employees also have a choice between a royal blue bib or waist apron with neck adjustment, 29-inch ties, bar-tacked at all stress points and a Baskin-Robbins patch on the lower left hip.