Unconventional Partnership: Crispin Porter + Bogusky puts their money where their mouth is and bets on Haggar's brand reinvention

The new owners and management team of the Haggar Clothing Co. have a track record of identifying under-leveraged brands and catapulting them to great success, as they did with The North Face and Converse brands. They're now taking on the Haggar brand, along with Claiborne, Kenneth Cole New York, and Kenneth Cole Reaction.

Haggar is partnering with advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky with an unconventional business relationship designed to help reinvigorate the Haagar brand. The partnership is unique on two levels. 1). CP+B will hold a minority equity stake in the company, so they are putting their agency fees where the mouths are. And 2). The company claims that this relationship will transcend the typical client/agency boundaries, and include aspects of product development, new business development, marketing, experience design, digital marketing, viral marketing, and more.

Stephen Croncota, Haggar's Chief Marketing Officer is the man behind this innovative approach. Croncota recently joined the company after serving as Head of Worldwide Marketing for Versace in Milan.

In commenting on the unconventional partnership, Croncota said, “We plan on returning the Haggar brand to a leadership position in the world of men’s apparel, by developing it as a vibrant lifestyle brand which offers a complete collection for head-to-toe dressing.  Given our ambitions, it made sense to explore a non-traditional approach to brand-building, by leveraging CP+B’s substantial creative talent across our organization”.  Croncota went on to explain that, “The Haggar/CP+B alliance seemed to be the optimal way to facilitate alignment and accelerate change as we move together to bring Haggar back into the modern man’s life.”

Jim Lewis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Haggar, went on to explain that he was drawn to CP+B’s credentials in the area of brand revitalization. “We seek partners who understand how to take the familiar and re-cast it in exciting new light. CP+B’s recent turnaround of Burger King and Volkswagen, and their launch of the MINI, demonstrated a unique capacity to connect brands to pop culture.” 

This will be an interest relationship to watch. Will Haagar live up to its promise to transcend the typical agency/client relationship and use CP+B as a true partner in marketing innovation? Will CP+B be able to step outside the traditional agency role and truly add value at the product, business development and experience design level? And, will the Haagar brand resurrect itself through the process? If all goes well, this could be a breakthrough relationship model that could ignite a new dynamic between agencies and clients.