Sydney-based fashion-tech start-up, Theodore, has found success by striking a balance between traditional sales etiquette and cutting-edge technologies.
The company managed to generate an outstanding $1.74 million in revenue in their first year of operation. The company’s annualized revenue for the last six months is at an impressive $4.5 million.
In a recent interview with Dynamic Business, its founder, Timothy Aquino spoke about how his brand Theodore achieved boundary-less growth opportunities globally by leveraging a sophisticated digital marketing mix.
Timothy attributes this success to two key values – the ability to create genuine connections with people through careful and curious relationships with their customers and the readiness to evolve with the times by harnessing the capacity for innovation in the digital realm.
“In the ever-changing digital world, customers and businesses are driven by the latest tech and innovative shopping methods and, ultimately, are rewriting our old ways of doing life. For businesses in the fashion world, the impact of new technology has been astronomical.
“Whilst the need to stay one step ahead of modern-day customer desires was undoubtedly one of the key influences behind founding my AI-driven menswear fashion brand Theodore, our belief in the value of traditional marketing techniques has remained in powerful contrast,” Timothy said.
Timothy noted that the initial business period taught him about networking and building relationships. “It began with the early roots of the brand. Straight out of high school, I dove headfirst into the wild world of fashion, working in styling and suiting for brands across Australia, Singapore and New York.
“Whilst this is where I learnt the hands-on skills of styling, the real lesson this work taught me was the power of building relationships.”
He added: “From the minute a customer walked through the door to browse, through to the fun and creativity of styling and the innate intimacy of fitting sessions, each interaction gave me another opportunity to build trusted relationships with my customers. These early grass root experiences influenced where the brand Theodore is today and the importance we place on in-person experiences for customer satisfaction and growth.
“Over more than a decade in the styling and fashion industry, the core mission of our brand was slowly developed. I’d always valued finding little moments of curiosity in fashion. Whether it was through learning more about my clients’ lives or ever-evolving trends and styles, I was driven by the need to do things differently. No matter which brand I was styling for or the talent I was dressing, I quickly discovered that traditional styling techniques have a clear hard ceiling.
“Frustration with this process and the need to do something different culminated in a crystal-clear vision to find a better solution for acquiring measurements, sourcing outfits and tailoring the perfect fit – precisely what Theodore does today.”
“I believe that technology is at the core of our business,” said Timothy. “Our AI technology Pocket Tailor App is an industry-leading integration that facilitates contactless measurements with the same guaranteed level of accuracy as a traditional in-person experience. It links directly to our online shop, ensuring the user experience is streamlined and simple.”
He explained that they use organic social and paid amplification across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, as well as a robust EDM strategy and thorough SEO to create new connections and nurture target customers.
“When supported by our sophisticated digital marketing mix, this has given us boundary-less growth opportunities globally. We leverage organic social and paid amplification across Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, a robust EDM strategy, and thorough SEO to both create new connections, particularly with audiences in new geographic regions we may not be able to reach regularly, as well as nurture target customers across the board and keep them up to date with the latest Theodore offerings.”
However, despite the importance of digital marketing, Timothy emphasised the crucial role of creating and nurturing genuine in-person connections.
“In contrast to this, creating and nurturing genuine in-person connections is the crucial ingredient of traditional marketing in the brand’s modern recipe mix. Our team of stylists travel all year round across Australia to connect face-to-face with our customers through pop-up experiences – which at the same time provide real-time data and learnings to support continuous advancements to our Pocket Tailor technology.
“An important extension of these face-to-face experiences is creator marketing which, with the right focus on working with creators who fit the bill of our target customers, we firmly believe has the same ethos of person-to-person engagement. We focus on finding names who have real connections with their local communities across Australia, which have supported us in campaigns and nurtured the limitless power of word-of-mouth.”
“The results of this delicate mix of traditional and modern marketing tactics are hard to argue – $7 million in annualised sales revenue. While the fundamentals of a fashion business don’t change, the scope of what is achievable does through modern technology. I can’t encourage other business owners enough to look backwards and forward for solutions.”
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