‘A long-game move’: Why Coach is entering Roblox to win over younger shoppers

The fashion house and parent company Tapestry announced partnerships in July as part of a campaign called “Find Your Courage,” which brings Coach items and themes based on the brand’s spring collection to the online game platform Roblox and social avatar app Zepeto.

Both experiences launched in July. Through August 19, Roblox’s Fashion Klossette and Fashion Famous 2 games will offer runway backdrops inspired by different worlds featured in the marketing campaign, which is centered around a story that follows a virtual human, Imma, on a journey of self-discovery. Coach-inspired fashion items will appear in the games for players to purchase or use to create an outfit for competitions. The Zepeto experience offers an exclusive video booth allowing users to style avatars with Coach collections and a virtual store of Coach items.

The partnerships potentially open Coach up to millions more people. In May, Roblox reported 77.7 million average daily active users for the first quarter of 2024, up 17% year over year, according to financial filings. Within Roblox, Fashion Klossette has had more than 30 million visits and Fashion Famous 2, a new game, is a sequel to a game with more than 2.2 billion visits.

“We’ve been looking to connect with the gaming industry but wanted to make sure that our entry into the space was done with intention and research,” Kimberly Wallengren, Coach’s vp of marketing for North America, said in an email to Modern Retail. “We know that we’re newcomers to the space, and so we wanted to meet gamers in the spaces they already occupy. We identified Roblox and Zepeto as major virtual gathering points for Gen Z gamers with an interest in fashion and in digital self-expression.”

Building relationships with younger people is a key priority for Coach and Tapestry as luxury brands face a decline in sales as even wealthier shoppers become more price-conscious. Tapestry’s revenue was down about 2% year over year for its fiscal third quarter that ended in May. But Tapestry executives say they are still reaching new audiences; in its last earnings report, the company said it acquired about 1.2 million new customers just in North America during the quarter and more than half of them were Gen Z and Millennials.

Roblox’s revenue in the first quarter was $801.3 million, up 22% year over year. Many brands have flocked to the platform, largely because it relies on user-generated content and does not have a barrier to entry.

Coach has been pushing toward the younger generation for several years, also through celebrity endorsements, reportedly leading to growth in sales among people under 25 years old. In 2022, the brand launched a “Courage To Be Real” campaign using user-generated video content and appointed Lil Nas X as a global brand ambassador to build reach on TikTok and YouTube.

“It’s just really attracting that younger consumer and being in every single channel where you can speak to them,” said Jessica Ramirez, a senior research analyst for Jane Hall & Associates who tracks Coach and other brands and retailers.

The metaverse was once a hot area for brands to invest in. But recently, some interest has cooled. Last year, Walmart and Disney pulled out of their metaverse plans, raising questions about the ability of platforms like Roblox to yield returns beyond creating brand experiences and marketing.

Still, other brands have started connecting the metaverse to real-life products or services. In October, Claire’s unveiled a collection of 11 physical items based on its “Shimmerville” Roblox game, which it launched the year before, hoping to expand its Roblox experiences to the real world.

“While we’ve previously explored fashion in the metaverse, we view this as a different ecosystem and audience entirely,” Wallengren said, adding that the brand has spent the past year working with the teams at Zepeto, Fashion Famous and Fashion Klossette to integrate the brand into the gaming community and build relationships with younger gamers. “We wanted to do right by the gaming community and ensure that we approached their wants and needs appropriately.”

In addition to building rapport, Wallengren said there’s also a lot of value in seeing what resonates with digital natives and that the company continues to explore similar initiatives. “We hope to build on the success of our current collaborations and seek out other opportunities to engage with digital-native audiences in creative and meaningful ways.”

It is possible digital initiatives could lead to real-world sales. A Roblox fashion and beauty survey last year found that 84% of Gen Z users said once they try a popular brand’s item on their avatars, they’re at least somewhat likely to try the brand in real life, and 50% said they’re very or extremely likely to do so.

Other luxury brands have pursued metaverse partnerships to reach more digital-centric audiences. Last year, LVMH announced a partnership with Epic Games on digital and physical product creation as well as NFT projects for Louis Vuitton and Dior. Last June, LVMH and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty launched a one-month Roblox partnership highlighting products such as its Gloss Bomb, which players could create their own version of in the game.

Melissa Minkow, director of retail strategy at digital consultancy firm CI&T, said Coach’s metaverse initiatives, seemingly more focused on engagement with the younger audience than immediate sales, contrast with the other companies who have tried Roblox and similar platforms.

“This is definitely a long-game move, which I think is fascinating and certainly a better outlook on Roblox than I think other previous brands have had,” Minkow said.