Media Impressions: Children's Apparel Market

Delivered July 16th, 2019. Contributors: Kevin D. and

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Digital Media Impressions: Children's Apparel Market

After an extensive search of company materials such as press releases and annual reports, third-party organizations and companies, and relevant market reports, we could not determine the number of earned print media impressions for the top children's apparel companies identified in the previous research (Carter's Inc., Hanesbrands Inc., Fruit of the Loom Inc., Gap Inc., and The Children's Place). However, we have provided a rough triangulation of the number of earned digital media placements for each company below, based on the approximate number of digital articles and Twitter posts made about each company within the last year. Our findings are below, followed by an explanation of our methodology.

Carter's Inc.Approximately 109 digital articles about Carter's Inc. were published within the last year.
Approximately 45 Twitter posts regarding Carter's Inc. were made within the last year.

Hanesbrands Inc.Approximately 169 digital articles about Hanesbrands were published within the last year.
Approximately 160 Twitter posts regarding Hanesbrands were made within the last year.

Fruit of the LoomApproximately 158 digital articles about Fruit of the Loom were published within the last year.
Approximately 330 Twitter posts regarding Fruit of the Loom were made within the last year.

Gap Inc.Approximately 144 digital articles about Gap Inc. were published within the last year.
Approximately 150 Twitter posts about Gap Inc. were made within the last year.

The Children's PlaceApproximately 135 digital articles about The Children's Place were published within the last year.
Approximately 150 Twitter posts about The Children's Place were published with the last year.

Your research team employed the following strategy:To determine the average number of digital media impressions and placements of earned media in the children's apparel vertical, we researched five top companies in the children's apparel vertical identified in previous research: Carter's Inc, Hanesbrands, Fruit of the Loom, Gap and The Children's Place. We first conducted a search of each of these companies' press releases, annual reports, and other investor relations materials. However, none provided data regarding the number of earned media placements they obtained in any given year, nor the number of impressions on earned media in any year. While companies may aggregate this data, it is possible that they have chosen to keep it private.

As a second approach, we conducted a search of relevant organizations and media outlets for data regarding these companies' earned media in digital media. This included companies and organizations that may conduct such research themselves, such as Deloitte and Nielsen, as well as advertising-focused media outlets that could report on such data, like AdAge. Again, no data was found, suggesting that no relevant research has been conducted; or, if it has, it has not been released to the public.

As a third approach, we attempted to triangulate an approximate number of earned media placements in digital media for each of these companies. First, we sought preexisting data, such as monthly impressions and placements for these companies, or industry averages, from relevant market reports. Again, no useful data was found. 

Our next triangulation approach consisted of attempting to find all examples of earned digital media for each company within the last year. Upon beginning our research, we quickly realized that attempting to count all examples of digital media produced within the last year for each company would be outside the scope of a single Wonder brief, given that, in total across all forms of digital media (i.e., articles, videos, social media interactions, etc.), the amount of individual earned media pieces for each company likely totals in the hundreds or even in the thousands. 

Nonetheless, we utilized the news database Google News to determine the approximate number of digital articles written about each company within the last month. While this site does not provide the total number of results, we simply multiplied the number of full result pages by 10 (the number of results per full page) and added the number of articles on the last page, which generally is not a full page. For example, a search of The Children's Place features 13 full results pages and 5 results on the final page; thus, the search produced 135 total results. 

Additionally, to provide a social media analysis with our triangulation, we utilized Twitter's advanced search function, selecting only posts within the past year. We utilized Twitter because more comprehensive social media databases, such as Social Searcher, do not allow for a specific date range, nor do other individual social media sites, like Instagram. As such, we simply provided the number of Twitter posts within the past year.

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Print Media Impressions: Children's Apparel Market

After an extensive search of company materials such as press releases and annual reports, third-party organizations and companies, and relevant market reports, we could not determine the number of earned print media impressions for the top children's apparel companies identified in the previous research (Carter's Inc., Hanesbrands Inc., Fruit of the Loom Inc., Gap Inc., and The Children's Place). However, we were able to triangulate an approximate number of earned print media placements within the last year for each of these companies by finding any articles published about them in the last year by outlets with a print media component. Below are our findings on this subject, followed by an explanation of our methodology.

Carter's Inc.Our research did not reveal any print media articles written about Carter's Inc. within the past year. While several online articles have been written about the company (mostly concerning its stock prices and investment opportunities), none of these articles were published by an outlet that also has a print media component, such as a newspaper or a magazine.

Hanesbrands Inc.Our research located three articles about Hanesbrands published within the last year by outlets with a print media component, including the following:
"Hanesbrands expands National Park apparel to select Walmart stores" by the Winston-Salem Journal
"Are Hanes Underwear Shoppers Tossing Away Free $1K+ Michael Jordan Cards Inserted In Packages?" by Forbes
"Michael Jordan and HANES mark 30 years together — and consumers get the trading cards" by the Chicago Tribune

Fruit of the Loom Inc.Our research did not reveal any print media articles written specifically about Fruit of the Loom Inc. within the past year, although some articles (such as one by Vogue) mentioned the brand circumstantially.

Gap Inc.Our research revealed four articles about Gap Inc. published in the last year by outlets with a print media component (excluding articles in which the company was only briefly mentioned, such as one by The Washington Post):
"Gap's Remaining Brands Will Offer Little To Investors After The Proposed Old Navy Spin-Off" by Forbes
"Gap Inc., Long A Tale of Two Brands, Will Now Become Two Companies" by Forbes
"Gap closing roughly 230 stores and spinning Old Navy into its own company" by USA Today
"Gap Inc. Rises On Store Rationalization Plans" by Forbes

The Children's PlaceOur research revealed one article about The Children's Place published in the last year by outlets with a print media component:
"Eileen Fisher opens at Houston Premium Outlet, The Children’s Place coming soon"

Your research team employed the following strategy:To determine the average number of print media impressions and placements of earned media in the children's apparel vertical, we researched the five companies identified in previous research: Carter's Inc., Hanesbrands Inc., Fruit of the Loom Inc., Gap Inc., and The Children's Place. We first conducted a search of each of these companies' press releases, annual reports, and other investor relations materials. However, none provided data regarding the number of earned media placements they obtained in any given year, nor the number of impressions on earned media in any year. While companies may aggregate this data, it is possible that they have chosen to keep it private.

As a second approach, we conducted a search of relevant organizations and media outlets for data regarding these companies' earned media in printed publications. This included companies and organizations that may conduct such research themselves, such as Deloitte and Nielsen, as well as advertising-focused media outlets that could report on such data, like AdAge. Again, no data was found, suggesting that no relevant research has been conducted; or, if it has, it has not been released to the public.

As a third approach, we attempted to triangulate an approximate number of earned media placements in print media for each of these companies. First, we sought preexisting data, such as monthly impressions and placements for these companies, or industry averages, from relevant market reports. Again, no useful data was found. Next, we sought to triangulate the average number of earned media placements in print media by conducting a generalized press search of articles released within the last year. Since, by definition, earned media "is always published by a third party," isolating all print media articles written about these three companies would allow us to determine the number of print media placements for each. 

While this search was conducted online, we ensured that we only isolated articles published by outlets that have print media components (such as a newspaper that also publishes articles online). This approach has some shortcomings: for one, the number of impressions cannot be determined; for another, there may be print media articles that have not been published online, potentially under-representing the number of earned media placements for a given company. In any case, given the unavailability of other data in the public domain, we utilized this approach to provide an approximate view of the number of earned print media placements for the five previously identified companies.

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Broadcast Media Impressions: Children's Apparel Market

After an extensive search of company press releases, annual reports and other materials, as well as relevant third-party organizations and market reports, we could not find any data regarding earned broadcast media impressions of the top children's apparel companies identified in previous research (Carter's Inc., Hanesbrands Inc., Fruit of the Loom, Gap Inc., and The Children's Place). However, we conducted a search to find broadcast media pieces about these companies released in the last year, the results of which suggest that companies in this vertical generally get few earned media opportunities on broadcast media. Our findings can be found below, followed by an explanation of our methodology.

Carter's Inc.Our research did not reveal any earned broadcast media pieces focused solely on Carter's Inc. released within the last year, although Jim Cramer of CNBC did mention the company in passing on a broadcast last February.

Hanesbrands Inc.Our research did not reveal any earned broadcast media pieces regarding Hanesbrands Inc. released within the last year.

Fruit of the LoomOur research did not reveal any earned broadcast media pieces regarding Fruit of the Loom released within the last year.

Gap Inc.Our research revealed numerous broadcast media pieces focused on Gap within the last year, primarily regarding its economic condition and changes in its business (in the linked articles are embedded videos of broadcast media pieces):
A CNBC report discussed Gap's first fiscal quarter earnings.
Another CNBC report discussed Gap's spin-off of Old Navy.
 CNBC's Jeff Cramer said on a broadcast piece that Gap's spin off of Old Navy was overdue.
Another CNBC report discussed a bullish projection for Gap's stock future.
CNBC contributor Stacey Widlitz discussed Gap in a broadcast.

The Children's PlaceWe found only one broadcast media piece that focused on The Children's Place within the past year: a report by a local ABC affiliate detailing a Children's Place recall of infant snow suits due to a choking hazard, which admittedly is not likely to be the kind of earned media the company is seeking.

Your research team employed the following strategy:To determine the average number of broadcast media impressions and placements of earned media in the children's apparel vertical, we researched five top companies in the children's apparel vertical identified in previous research: Carter's Inc, Hanesbrands, Fruit of the Loom, Gap and The Children's Place. We first conducted a search of each of these companies' press releases, annual reports, and other investor relations materials. However, none provided data regarding the number of earned media placements they obtained in any given year, nor the number of impressions on earned media in any year. While companies may aggregate this data, it is possible that they have chosen to keep it private.

As a second approach, we conducted a search of relevant organizations and media outlets for data regarding these companies' earned media in broadcast media. This included companies and organizations that may conduct such research themselves, such as Deloitte and Nielsen, as well as advertising-focused media outlets that could report on such data, like AdAge. Again, no data was found, suggesting that no relevant research has been conducted; or, if it has, it has not been released to the public.

As a third approach, we attempted to triangulate an approximate number of earned media placements in broadcast media for each of these companies. First, we sought preexisting data, such as monthly impressions and placements for these companies, or industry averages, from relevant market reports. Again, no useful data was found. Next, we sought to triangulate the average number of earned media placements in broadcast media by conducting a search for television or radio pieces about these companies released within the last year. Since, by definition, earned media "is always published by a third party," isolating all broadcast media pieces about these five companies would allow us to determine the number of broadcast media placements for each. 

To ensure that we only found earned media and not paid media, we eschewed all paid advertising and product placement on broadcast media, searching only for broadcast media that was not paid for by the companies themselves. We conducted this search by searching broadcast media outlets, as well as a general press search to find reports of broadcast programming focused on these companies. We also searched video sites, like YouTube, for clips of broadcast media relating to these companies.

This approach has some weaknesses. First, since it was conducted online, some broadcast media that was not transferred to the Internet (or reported on by an online source) would be missed. Second, there is no way to determine the number of impressions on a given piece of media. Nonetheless, given the absence of relevant data in the public domain, we utilized this approach to provide an approximate view of the average number of earned broadcast media placements that companies in the children's apparel vertical receive annually.