Balancing your company brand and personal identity

A great company brand can be influenced by your personal identity -- but how do you maintain a balance between the two? Chloe Dao, women’s apparel designer and entrepreneur extraordinaire speaks to Robin Tooms about making her brand reflect her.

Robin: Hello and welcome to this edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies. I’m Robin Tooms, Vice President of Strategy at Savage and my guest today is Chloe Dao, fashion designer and entrepreneur. Chloe, welcome to the show.

Chloe: Well thank you for inviting me, Robin.

Robin: Well, wonderful. I’m glad to meet you because you are not only a person who I admire —

Chloe: Oh, thank you —

Robin: — you’re a brand and I wanna know how do you strike the balance between the two. What does it mean to have this personal brand and a fashion that you have to really strike the right balance with.

Chloe: Ya’ know, I just became Chloe Dao the brand and it took me awhile to realize if I wanted to do that or not ’cause I am a person. So it’s hard to really separate it, but I like who I am so I hope people like what my brand represents, which is a trusted girlfriend experience. I’m warm. I’m welcoming and that’s what I really try to reflect in my collection, in my store, in my sales staff. It’s really about having a great experience in the store because you are shopping in a place that you trust.

Robin: Well tell us more. What does it mean when you say the Chloe Dao brand stands for this trusted girlfriend experience?

Chloe: Well, I’m a very honest designer and when I help customers at the store and I think what’s special about the Chloe Dao experience, you actually get me. I actually do work at the boutique. All my collection is made by my team and my staff. It’s all locally made so it’s really hands-on. So you get everything that’s my blood and so my whole aesthetic with it and you get that really expert designer experience that you really don’t get anywhere else in Houston, Texas ’cause where else can you actually go shop and the designer is there to help you?

Robin: Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you for sharing what your brand means, Chloe.

Chloe: Thank you.

Robin: Thank you. This has been another edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies.

 

Chloe Dao boutique, formerly LOT 8, is one of Houston’s premiere shops located in the Rice Village shopping district. The philosophy is service with openness, warmth and charm to make every customer feel as if they are shopping with a trusted “girlfriend.” The boutique offers exclusive Chloe Dao’s ready to wear and bridal collections, as well as up-and-coming local designers. https://chloedao.com/