Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

DuPont Lycra shifts emphasis to global brand management

Document Cited in Related
Pages27-37
Date01 August 1995
Published date01 August 1995
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/10610429510097627
AuthorKaye Crippen,Pauline Tng,Patricia Mulready
Introduction
There have been some changes in consumer product companies’ moving
away from brand management as retailers gain more influence and as
companies target specialized consumer groups. In addition, some companies
have regionalized brand or product management thus giving regional
managers the power to determine whether advertising and promotional
allowances are given to retailers and/or to consumer programs. Some firms
have reduced their national television or print media advertising in favor of
more retail support or for direct mail or coupons sent to specific target
groups.
Many industrial product companies have operated somewhat differently
from consumer-products companies in relation to brand management. This
article reviews the background for managing products, categories and brands
at DuPont’s Fibers Department and discusses the current shift in emphasis to
global brand management in Lycra spandex product category .
Historical background – DuPont fiber
The fibers department at E.I. DuPont, a large international chemical
company with headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware in the USA, has
historically had a technological focus. It synthesized many of the new
synthetic fiber generic groups as defined by the Federal Trade Commission’s
chemical structure system for naming generic fiber groups, starting with
Wallace Carrother’s man-made synthesis of nylon, the first organic chemical
fiber. Originally, nylon was DuPont’s early brand name for the new fiber;
however DuPont lost the brand name and it became the generic group name.
This early introduction to brand management established the need for
DuPont to protect its fiber brand names.
DuPont found that since commercialization of a new synthetic fiber or even
a fiber variant was extremely capital intensive, it needed to promote its
brand name throughout the fiber and end-product chain in order to create
brand awareness purchase and preference throughout the chain. This of
course also helped in selling its fibers to its customers, especially as other
companies developed synthetic fibers. Well known early DuPont fiber brand
names included Dacron polyester, Antron nylon, and “Lycra” spandex. The
DuPont brand is in quotation marks and the generic group follows it. The
fibers were used in making fabrics that went into apparel, interior textiles
and industrial textiles such as tire cord or bullet-proof vests. DuPont’s direct
customer could be a mill, a yarn spinner or texturizer; however it promoted
its brand name to the end user. A wide variety of advertising and
promotional tools were used to project its name to the target users including
JOURNAL OF PRODUCT & BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 4 NO. 3 1995 pp. 27-37 © MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1061-0421 27
DuPont Lycra shifts emphasis to
global brand management
Kaye Crippen, Pauline Tng and Patricia Mulready
Brand awareness
The authors thank DuPont for their assistance in the preparation of this article.

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT