Bags to Riches is a company that has become the Netflix of Fifth Avenue in recent years, by making expensive designer handbags accessible to everyone through their monthly rental program. Just sign up, pick out the bag you want and it will arrive on your doorstep in two days. Then return it by the specified date in the postage prepaid return box. Simple as that.
Now it seems that Nintendo is eyeing Bags to Riches’ tech savvy group of fashion fanatics. In an effort to help them plant their portable Nintendo DS system into the world of fashion trends, they are partnering to give customers a free month trial with the gaming system.
On the surface this may seem like an odd alliance, but is it really? It’s no secret that female gamers are the rise as eMarketer, yet again, reveals with a study of female internet users who have visited online gaming sites from August 2007 to August 2008.
The question isn’t whether or not the fashion and gaming pair up makes sense, it’s whether or not it makes sense matching up a $1500 purse with a $150 device. As Brand Strategy Magazine Blog notes,
When these women pull out a Nintendo DS, surely it’ll give the impression that the handheld game is too expensive for normal consumers?
In the same regard, doesn’t carrying around an electronic typically associated with kids and teens cheapen the glamor of carrying a designer handbag a bit?
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What do you think of this match up? Fresh or Foolish?
Chris,
First, handbag renting…very cool idea.
Now admittedly, I have zero expertise in this area but I’ll give it a shot.
Are the handbag and the DS meant to go together (meaning carrying the DS in the handbag) or is it simply trying to pair the psychographics of a segment in the market? I’m not sure.
Also, I know it’s Monday but I don’t follow the logic behind how someone with a designer bag who pulls out a DS makes the DS seem more expensive. A electronic gadget, like the iPhone, costs what it costs. They don’t vary like handbags can (or anything else where you are really paying for the label). I think it would make more of a statement about the user being tech savvy or hip instead of the gadget seeming more expensive.
I think it can be a good idea, but again not my expertise.
Bill,
Great observations. I think you might be right.
The combination of DS and designer handbag may make more of a statement about the just how tech savvy the user is and may even offer some ques to those that take notice as to what the trendy device of the moment is.
If that’s the case then the pairing could be a very effective tactic.
Thanks for weighing in.
it;s great idea and have become the trend also. i have already see many fashion girls carry their bags and put their gamestation in the bags.