Following the announcement by Ralph Lauren to close 50 stores and lay off 1000 staff, media analyst company, MediaRadar, has speculated the company is shifting away from luxury sales.
In the past year, Ralph Lauren has cut its marketing support for Purple Label and Ralph Lauren Collection by more than half. The labels, which are the two most expensive in the Ralph Lauren stable, have gone from being allocated 55 percent of the advertising spend in the first five months of 2015 to only receiving 26 percent in the same period for 2016.
However, the marketing investment level has not dropped, with the lower-priced Polo and Ralph Lauren lines now representing 64 percent of all ads.
The shift in focus is not a new move for the company's current chief executive officer, Stefan Larsson, who is well versed in targeting the middle market, having spent time working for both Old Navy and H&M.
