Caste study: bally shoes..re-launch

Bally is renowned for its unique luxury products, representing style, value and quality to a demanding clientele. From its beginning, Bally has emerged as the first truly global luxury goods company. Bally was founded in the Swiss hamlet of Schönenwerd in 1851 by Carl Franz Bally. The original family business was making ribbons, but Carl decided to shift production to shoes following a trip to Paris where he was seduced by a pair of subtly decorated slippers. Snapping up several styles for his wife, he returned to Switzerland, called in local cobblers and began pioneering the techniques of early shoe manufacturing. From those beginnings, Bally developed its aesthetic: strong silhouettes rendered unique by personal details. Spiral edge brogueing, a brass boot closure, a blood red edge. Enhanced by bold color blocking, straight from the Swiss graphic tradition, the look is bold, timelessly modern and always appropriate.

The Meaning Transfer Model

McCracken (1989) explains the effectiveness of celebrity spokespersons by assessing the meanings consumers associate with the endorser and eventually transfer to the brand.

Carmen Kass und Schachspieler Eric Lobron

English: Carl Franz Bally monument at Schönenwerd...

English: Louis Vuitton official store in Stasikrat...

This perspective is shared by Kambitsis et al. (2002, p. 160), who found the celebrities personality as being an important factor in influencing "specific target groups, to which such personalities are easily recognisable and much admired." McCracken suggests a meaning transfer model that is composed of three subsequent stages. First, the meaning associated with the famous person moves from the endorser to the product or brand.

Thus, meanings attributed to the celebrity become associated with the brand in the consumer's mind. Finally, in the consumption process, the brand's meaning is acquired by the customer. The third stage of the model explicitly shows the importance of the consumer's role in the process of endorsing brands with famous persons. The meaning transfer process is shown below

Bally could...