Manhattan Commercial Real Estate, in a few words.

How clothing retailers turn public attention to their brands, in a highly competitive and saturated market?

Having the lowest prices is the easiest option and not necessarily the best one. Any brand can lower its prices to get attention, or do promotional offers and then what? You sell products at a loss and clients come back when you have promotions only, because they are ultimately looking for the cheapest prices. But would they remember you? On top of everything else it’s a vicious game. Some U.S. clothing retailers are offering 60% in store discounts, might as well give everything away…

I like recession markets because they spark creativity, price cannot be the only selling point, you have to give more, you have to have a proposition. Then price does not really matter.

Desigual is trying to act differently and strike people’s minds with memorable acts of talented marketing. But who are these guys?

Desigual (translation: It’s not the same, or more literally It’s not equal (i.e. to the rest)) is the colorful Barcelona-based apparel brand that has prided itself on being atypical since its origins on Ibiza in 1984. Today, it is entrenched throughout Europe, has a presence in Asia and the Middle East, and is rapidly expanding in the U.S. This year it has opened four U.S. retail stores, in Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, and New York City (where it has two stores). The company sells men’s, women’s and kid’s lines, and accessories. It has a growing wholesale division with more than 1,000 accounts in the U.S., such as Kidson, Julien Gold, Fred Seagal and Barneys. The brand is also carried at 25 Macy’s stores throughout the U.S. Worldwide, it has 180 retail stores, 650 store-in-store corners, and 7,000 wholesale accounts, in 72 countries. Desigual sells 9 million garments annually.

So you would think: what can they possibly do to get more attention? They want to be remembered and a slight provocation is sometimes a good thing to do, because whether people like it or not, they will anyway talk about it. And since Desigual is selling underwear, why not do Undie Parties all over the place. Rather than doing a typical in store promotional sale, they are organizing two Undie Parties in September, here in NYC.

Desigual, the fun-loving Spanish apparel brand that’s rapidly expanding in the U.S., announced today an in-store promotion for the bold: Undie Party! The first 100 people who arrive at Desigual’s two New York City stores wearing just their underwear, will walk out in a free two-piece Desigual outfit; any one top and any one bottom (their choice).

When the doors open and the first 100 are admitted, this shopping spree will take on a festive atmosphere. Contestants will have the store to themselves for 1 hour to snap up their Desigual goodies. All apparel on the racks will be up for grabs! And, everything in the stores will be from the newly arrived autumn/winter “Happy” collection. Undie Party is open to male and female adults at least 18 years old.

And, all people in line after the first 100 will receive a 50% discount on same-day purchases. Because we’re good like that.

So what could possibly happen when you do things like that? You make hundreds of people happy, because they got free clothes in the middle of a recession. And then you could be going to the closest Desigual store just to check it out and see what this brand is all about. Ultimately, isn’t that the point?

Desigual, I really like your approach and would like to help you open more stores in the US. Why? Because a little fun in our everyday lives just makes them better. And what’s better than having fun in the midst of a global recession.

Working hard behind the scenes to make the Undie parties a success is a team of devoted professionals: Eric Vidal from i-cube New York, Man-Lai Liang from Man-Lai events and Ronald Alan from Spin Control.

Peter Videv is a Commercial Real Estate Advisor with Sperry Van Ness in Manhattan.