For Business Success, Your Strategy Should Support Your Loyal Customers

New Lands' End current CEO, Jerome Griffith, is cleaning up after the previous CEO, Federica Marchionni, who was ousted in 2016.

Before Lands' End, Marchionni was a former Ferrari and Dolce & Gabbana executive.  She tried to remake Lands' End to compete with trendy chains such as Zara.  Instead, she alienated the chain's loyal customers and employees—who objected that she stayed in Manhattan, rather than locating to headquarters in Dodgeville, WI.

The new CEO, Griffith, grew up on a dairy farm and now lives near headquarters.  He discontinued the flashy clothes lines that were higher priced and smaller sized than traditional Land's End products, and he returned to the chain's roots: outdoor clothes with elastic waistbands.

The lesson for businesses: don't try to copy others.  Instead, remember the reason for your initial success.  Embrace your unique advantages and become an improved version of yourself.