Carhartt is laser focused on its core consumer: the skilled worker. And everything it does — from product creation to messaging — is designed to speak to that person.
In a presentation at WWD x FN x Beauty Inc 2025 Women in Power event, Susan Hennike, chief brand officer for Carhartt, said building consumer connections and elevating stories that mean something to that target customer creates an impact “far beyond just the bottom line.”
Hennike said that today’s fashion executives are faced with a wide range of challenges and there’s always “the pressure to produce that next sale. But we can’t lose focus on our existing core consumers.”
She said that for the past decade, she has been saying that by “trying to be everything to everyone, you’ll be nothing to [anyone]. That is why, over the past couple of years at Carhartt, we have strengthened our focus on our target consumers — skilled tradespeople who want durable, quality gear that they can trust. We’ve listened to them to better understand their needs with such intent and intensity.”
When Carhartt is doing market research for its upcoming seasonal collections, she said, “we don’t go trend shopping in the streets in New York, we actually go and visit the job sites. We visit welders, electricians, farmers. Our target consumers are the salt of the earth. They’re mostly blue collar. They have pride in their work, a love for the outdoors, and deep connections with their family and friends. They stick to what they know and the brand that they trust.”
And this strategy is working. Hennike said over the past four years, the company has seen an uptick of 14 points in its overall awareness number and an 8 percent increase in the number of people considering trying Carhartt.
“This shows that we are engaging potential new consumers, building their interest in positioning Carhartt as a leading solution for when they are ready to buy,” she said.
This was also the impetus of the company’s new marketing campaign: Made Possible.
“Many jobs today use traditional hands-on skills with technology. You can be a robotics technician in the skilled trades, or solar powered systems installer,” she said. “Demand for skilled tradespeople is truly growing, and we want to make people aware of it. Their jobs are vital to our economy and society, and career opportunities are expanding, but yet we face a labor gap of up to 1 million jobs in the skilled trades, and that gap would exceed 2 million by 2030.”
So the Made Possible campaign “celebrates” these careers and the people who aspire to them, she said. “It’s a reminder that great brands don’t just sell products, they honor the peoples’ values and the stories behind the work — always keeping the consumer top of mind.”
Communicating this message internally requires leadership skills, she said. Being a successful leader, Hennike said, requires “courage and vision. It’s about rising up to challenges head on and building trust around you for those who follow.” Building teams with a collaborative spirit and “valuing every voice” can create solutions that inspire change.
Hennike quoted Jack Welch, the former chief executive officer of GE, where she had her first job out of college, who said: “Before you’re a leader, success is about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. That experience at GE taught me lessons about adaptability, navigating change and finding opportunity.”
She summed it up this way: “The world demands leaders who can unlock potential in themselves, in the people that they work for, and these great brands that they build. It’s not by playing it safe, but by embracing bold possibilities in the face of uncertainty.”
