Generation Tux
The tuxedo rental business gets a head-to-toe make-over.
While at Cibo I led the strategy, naming, identity, brand and digital experience for the startup Generation Tux.
When former Men’s Wearhouse founder George Zimmer came to us, he had an idea — transform the tux rental experience by removing the stress from start to finish. Like most startups, George had a tight timeline and a tighter budget. With a hands-on approach to design, a hybrid background in brand and UX/IxD, and a small but talented team, I helped take Generation Tux from idea to thriving business.
With Generation Tux the customer experience is paramount, and their entire platform is geared to simplify every step of the process from visualizing styles and color choices to managing large groups and events. When a groom wants to coordinate his groomsmen’s tuxedo rental, he simply creates an event and invites his friends to be a part of it. From there, the groom can select a “look,” or basic tuxedo design, either from scratch or from a series of curated designs and everyone in the party can input their individual choices for a customized look. They can mix and match components from shoes to cufflinks and everything in between, visualizing their wardrobe as it comes together. Once they have the perfect outfit, they can rent it for $150 or less. Group reminders, alerts and payment options means less stress for the bride and groom. Although the user experience feels simple on the front-end, it's possibly the most sophisticated and complex shopping cart experience ever created.
Most tux rentals require multiple store visits, and are plagued by ill-fitting and outdated products. Thanks to our ridiculously simple online video tutorials (by Heist) and measurement app, getting fit for a tuxedo rental has never been easier or more accurate. I guarantee it!
Guaranteed fit, exclusive designs, simplicity in ordering, price, measurements and shipping – these things had to be flawless. These "brilliant basics" combined with the "magic touches" are what put Generation Tux in a class of it's own. To make customers feel special we created surprise and delight moments like dropping a note in the pocket of the jacket with toast ideas or a best man checklist, adding a small batch whiskey, or a shaving kit to the tux delivery.
We created a comprehensive brand guideline book to help Generation Tux live the brand everyday and deliver on their brand promise.
In the brand strategy and naming workshop I led for Generation Tux, we aimed to bring all stakeholders, especially founder George Zimmer, together around a unified vision. Although I’m not a brand strategist by default, my experience with industry leaders has equipped me well for facilitating these important discussions. The goal was to actively involve everyone in the decision-making process, ensuring they felt they were part of building the solution, not just recipients of it. We also shared insights from consumer research on evolving Zimmer’s role from an old school pitchman to an innovative thought leader through collaborations aimed at building social cachet, like redesigning the tux shoe on Rent the Runway, turning challenges into opportunities.
