Morphsuits

Morphsuits
Morphsuits
Type Private
Industry Fancy dress/costume
Founder(s) Ali Smeaton, Fraser Smeaton, Gregor Lawson
Headquarters Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Key people Smeaton, Smeaton, Lawson
Products Morphsuits, Morphsuits Kids
Revenue £4.5m[1]
Owner(s) Smeaton, Smeaton, Lawson
Employees 3 direct
Website morphsuits.com

Morphsuits is a company based in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2] It distributes branded spandex costumes, based on the existing zentai concept. As of May 2011, it claims to be the world's largest fancy dress brand.[3] The company offers at least 50 different designs.

The company was founded by brothers Ali and Fraser Smeaton, and their flatmate Gregor Lawson.[1] The trio had jobs at Barclays, Procter & Gamble, and BT, which they left after the first year.[2]

Expansion plans include children's sizes,[4][1] and female-targeted accessories.[1]

Contents

History

Three people wear Morphsuit costumes. These cover their entire bodies in one colour each: orange, red, and purple. Essentially rendered as a silhouette, they are jumping in front of a white backdrop.
Three people in Morphsuits jump for a photoshoot.

According to the founders' account, they were inspired to create the company after either a stag weekend[2] or a one-color costume party in Dublin, to which a friend was wearing a zentai bodysuit. At the event, the friend became somewhat of a celebrity, being bought drinks and posing for hundreds of pictures.[4] Researching the fancy dress market, the friends invested £3,000 each, redesigning the suit for better vision.[2] The original corporate website cost $300.[4] A variety of materials, thicknesses of material, and stitchings were tried.[5] The moniker of "Morphsuits" stemmed from the fact that "we noticed that everyone who wore them morphed into a more fun version of themselves", says Fraser Smeaton.[2]

Initially, shipping of the first batch of 200 costumes was done from their flat. Balancing their day jobs and the company meant "a lot of 2 a.m. finishes". Since then outsourcing has raised their indirect staffing to 200 as of August 2011.[4]

One early boost to their sales was eight red Morphsuit wearers on the 2009 British Lions tour of South Africa. Their pictures in the sports news boosted awareness.[6] Ironically, many early mainstream appearances of similar suits in North America in fact weren't their brand: The Green Men, two fans of the Vancouver Canucks NHL team, used Super Fan Suits,[7] as do hip-hop group The Body Poets,[8][9] while appearances on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia[10] predate either brand's founding.

As of August 2011, there were 40 varieties,[4] and 50 as of September 2011.[6]

Corporate

UK-based Remix Monkeys is a dance clan which uses Morphsuits in their street dance routines.

As of 2011, Gregor Lawson had worked in brand management for eight years. Trained with "FMCG marketing" at Gillette and later Proctor and Gamble, leading marketing on Pantene, Pringles, and Gillette. He left P&G in July 2010.[3] Lawson is brother of Rory Lawson, son of Alan Lawson, and grandson of Bill McLaren.[6]

In their first year, the company sold 20,000 costumes, bringing in £1.2 million.[1] Between January and October 2010, the company shipped 10,000 units to Canada.[11] As of Halloween 2010, they expected £6 million of business in the second year.[2] In the 2010-2011 financial year, they did £4.5m in sales.[1] They expect £10.5m in revenue in the 2011-2012 fiscal year.[1] In October 2010, Morphsuits gave 2011 estimates of £6 million; by July 2011, they told the BBC of a year end estimate of £10 million.[1] The company sold an initial order of 100,000 Morphsuits to retail chain Party City.[1][6]

Fiscal year Units sold Revenue
2009-10 50,000[1] £1.2m[1]
2010-11 250,000[1] £4.5m[1] or £4.2m[12]

The partners have no direct employees, all jobs are outsourced. As of summer 2011, that included a Chinese manufacturer, warehouses in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, and a customer contact centre in Fife.[1]

The founding entrepreneurs have spoken publicly about their dislike for UK tax rules, which make "company owners pay 40 per cent on any sum taken out in dividends above £35,000, against only 10 per cent if they were to sell their business." They have suggested incentives to expand operations would be more beneficial than "inducements" to sell up.[6] The company has had overtures from private equity investors in mid-to-late-2011, since their Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards nomination in Scotland; the company suggests that they're too busy to pay much attention to these offers.[6]

As of October 2010, Fraser looks after the business' commercial side, Gregor runs marketing, while Ali runs finance and logistics.[5]

They have a return rate of just 1%, which they credit to the limited SKU, allowing them to ensure consistent quality of the product.[4]

Marketing

Three people in spandex costumes, covering their bodies head-to-toe, pose with their torsos turned upside-down, hands through their legs. Along their buttocks, the costume clearly reads the "Morphsuits" name brand.
The Morphsuits branding is on each costume, providing real-world viral marketing for the company.

The company's Facebook page has been a key element in their marketing, with 250,000 fans as of Halloween 2010,[2] 760,000 fans as of September 2011.[6] The company uses the page to run photo sharing, competitions, events, and "flash morph meetings". One competition included a design competition for Halloween suits.[2] Within photos, "firsts" are a common occurence.[5] Gregor Lawson has spoken at seminars about technology and business, about their use of Facebook and e-commerce.[12] In reference to rugby, they have described their technique as "scrum marketing".[6]

There are regional sales differences: in the United Kingdom, the product is considered year-round, with a small jump in sales near Halloween. In the United States, sales are much more highly focused at the Halloween season.[4] The company runs 13 localized e-commerce websites.[12]

Black is the company's most popular colour.[4] The majority of customers are men, however there are women purchasers. The company hopes that a new morphsuit model with a built-on tutu will expand female sales.[4]

The company had a booth at the Halloween & Party Expo in Houston, Texas.[4]

The brand has tried to distance itself from the term "zentai", and the concept of fetish usage.[11] Being one of the earliest brands to court a general market, the terms "Morphsuits" and "morphs" regularly are applied to events related to any sort of zentai suit.[13] Their term risks becoming generic in the process; one New Zealand-based newspaper refers to competing brand, Jaskins, as a "one of the main online morphsuit brands."[10] Says Gregor: "We now offer 23 different Lycra suits and we have lots of copycat competitors, but because we bought the name Morphsuits no one can trade under that name but us."[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Edinburgh firm Morphsuits stretches global reach". BBC.co.uk (London UK). 23 July 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-14252711. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Loveless, Helen (31 October 2010). "Friends morph into potential tycoons". Financial Mail Women's Forum (Kensington, London, UK). http://www.fmwf.com/media-type/news/2010/10/friends-morph-into-potential-tycoons/. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  3. ^ a b "Meet the Scholars 2011". The Marketing Academy. 11 May 2011. http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/Journals/2011/05/11/Meet-the-Scholars-2011---Final.pdf. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Heugel, Abby (23 August 2011). "Morphsuit Mania". Party and Paper (Sparta MI). http://partypaper.com/index.php/magazine/article/morphsuit-mania. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  5. ^ a b c Morphsuits interview, YouTube
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Kristy Dorsey; Terry Murden (18 September 2011). "Morphsuits trio urge tax changes to help growth". Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh UK). http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business/Morphsuits-trio-urge-tax-changes.6838087.jp. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
  7. ^ Jory, Derek (January 11, 2010). "Force & Sully". Vancouver Canucks and the National Hockey League. http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=513183. Retrieved May 25, 2010. 
  8. ^ Dluzen, Robin (25 July 2011). "SuperFanSuits.com: The Lucrative Business of Full Body Spandex". TINC Magazine (Chicago IL). http://tincmag.com/2011/07/25/superfansuits-com-the-lucrative-business-of-full-body-spandex/. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
  9. ^ Kristen Perez, editor (10 October 2010). The Body Poets- Demo Reel 2010 (streaming video). Event occurs at 2:15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMKmA-CAs8U. Retrieved 15 July 2011. 
  10. ^ a b "Second skin, secret life". Taranaki Daily News (New Plymouth NZ). 21 September 2010. http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/4148334/Second-skin-secret-life. Retrieved 15 July 2011. 
  11. ^ a b Bascaramurty, Dakshana (28 October 2010). "Zentai suits – not just fetish wear any more". The Globe and Mail (Toronto ON). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/halloween/zentai-suits-not-just-fetish-wear-any-more/article1776757/. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
  12. ^ a b c Terra Incognita Programme, Harper McLeod LLP, 5 October 2011
  13. ^ Cusack, Ben (7 May 2011). "A mighty morphin' record flop". The Sun (London UK). http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3568572/Mighty-morphin-record-flop.html. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 

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