Sosandar update points to strong future as fast growth continues

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 23, 2019

Contemporary womenswear brand Sosandar has its annual general meeting on Monday and ahead of this, the company issued an update that said the increased investment it has made into marketing and product “is producing very good results”.

Non-executive chairman Bill Murray said that, after the completion of its “oversubscribed” placing in July, “we have accelerated our growth by carefully deploying funds to strengthen our design capability, widen our product range and trial additional marketing channels. As expected, we've seen these activities result in increased customer acquisition alongside continued growth from our ever-expanding base of loyal existing customers.”

And there was good news too on the new season with Murray adding that while Autumn has only just started, “results for the first half of September have been very strong, and midway through September revenue has already exceeded that achieved in September last year”.

That’s particularly encouraging at the moment given the tough times in the UK fashion retail sector and also because of the warm weather that has suppressed some appetite for autumn fashion country-wide.

This month has also seen the company moving into TV advertising for the first time with a controlled test in the North West via ITV. The firm said “early results are encouraging, which has led to additional testing being undertaken in other TV regions”. 

And it has also started to use out-of-home digital ads for the first time, with Sosandar ads seen alongside station escalators at key London underground stations including Euston and Kings Cross St Pancras. The company didn't say as much but the latter of these station is particularly important given the Eurostar connection and the number of visitors it processes from abroad.

Murray said “we expect the contribution to brand recognition and awareness that this creates, together with our TV advertising, to be significant and, over time, we are confident it will further support our work in new customer acquisition and retention”.

Additionally, “recent brochure activity has also delivered strong results, as has social media activity which remains a crucial strand in pulling together our marketing and communications activity”. And the company has benefited from endorsement by a number of high-profile celebrities such as Amanda Holden and Susanna Reid, “combined with a multitude of social influencers”.

In recent months the firm’s supplier base has been expanded substantially to support the broadening product range and as it has added to its product offer it has seen plenty of third-party platform interest. Sosandar is now trading with Silk Fred and “opportunities are presenting themselves to work with other interested parties”.