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Alex Abramowitz
April 8, 2019
Places Selling: Shinola and Detroit
In 2011, the same year that Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” campaign
debuted, the Dallas-based Bedrock Manufacturing Company opened a facility in Detroit
to assemble watches.1 That same year, Bedrock also bought the naming rights for
“Shinola” from the long-closed shoe polish company.2 The newly existing Shinola began selling watches that are “built in Detroit,” which is to say that they are assembled in
Detroit using parts manufactured in Switzerland and Thailand.3 4 Relying on its Detroit
cred, the company been enormously successful and now sells other luxury goods,
including handbags, bicycles, and turntables. In many respects, Shinola’s use of its
“hometown” to imbue its products with certain characteristics is not all that different
than Jack Daniel’s use of Tennessee or BMW’s use of Germany. Place branding scholars
Mihalis Kavaratzis and Gregory Ashworth call this “place-product co-marketing.”
However, the unique relationship between Shinola and Detroit goes further; here, both
place and product use one another to sell themselves.
In their 2008 publication “Place Marketing: How did we get here and where are
we going?” Kavaratzis and Ashworth provide a history of place marketing and describe both what it is and is not. For example, they argue that products like champagne and
Serrano ham do not constitute place marketing “because [in these examples] it is the physical product and not the place that is being marketed.”5 The authors note that other products draw on places’ reputations “by branding the product using known attributes
about [that] place.”6 For example, they note that a Swiss watch that is marketed as such
gains added value by claiming the Swiss reputation for reliability, fastidiousness, and 2
meticulousness.7 Shinola does something akin to this by associating itself with Detroit’s reputation as a black, authentic, and gritty manufacturing hub. On its own, this does not meet the Kavaratzis and Ashworth conception of place marketing, because the association is still designed to sell just “the physical product and not the place.”8
However, we will see that Detroit also uses Shinola to sell itself.
Before establishing Shinola, Bedrock Manufacturing undertook research to
determine the relationship between a product’s origins and its value to consumers.9 One
of their conclusions was that “consumers would pay three times as much for a pen
manufactured in Detroit as in New York or China.”10 Given the brand’s success, they appear to have been onto something.11 Marketing products as being high-quality,
American-made, and timeless is certainly common, but Shinola goes much further.
Critical Studies professor Rebecca Kinney argues that Shinola engages in what she calls
“neolocal branding,” which she describes as a “larger trend of selling products by
claiming place” [emphasis added].12 This phenomenon specifically refers to outside,
hypermobile firms moving into marketable places, “where they establish themselves as
‘local’ in order position their services and products as part of an authentic local
economy.”13 Using the façade of localness, neolocal capital deceives consumers by
equating itself with the truly local and authentic. These firms effectively draw on the
widely held and problematically simple idea that local businesses are inherently
authentic and “undisputedly ‘good.’”14
Kinney also argues that Shinola tries to market itself as a benevolent company by
showing consumers how it puts black Detroiters back to work.15 In an interview with the
New York Times, Shinola Founder Tom Kartsotis claimed that Shinola is “not a watch
company,” and that “[the] company really started as a job-creation vehicle.”16 3
Remarkably, the public has bought Shinola’s argument that its primary reason for
existing, and existing specifically in Detroit, is to provide jobs to a city that needs them.17
In “Rethinking Shinola,” Professor Rebekah Modrak critiques a presentation
made by Shinola’s then-president Jacques Panis. She argues that Shinola “creates
representations of whiteness to reinforce its ‘leadership’ [in Detroit], and creates and
markets images of Black workers being grateful [for it].”18 Such marketing is abundant
on Shinola’s website: Its blog, JOBS, is devoted to highlighting “the people that make
Shinola tick.”19 The most prominent feature is an interview with a black woman named
Lakishka McCoy, whom the blog describes as one of the “OG’s” on Shinola’s assembly team.20 McCoy says that she has lived in Detroit since 2009 and that “there wasn’t a lot
of good jobs available in the city back in the day.”21 The piece illustrates her appreciation for Shinola and the opportunities that it has provided her with. This example and others support Kinney’s argument that Shinola presents itself to consumers explicitly as an
outlet for ethical and antiracist consumption.22 23
Having examined how Shinola uses Detroit and its people in its marketing, we
can consider how others use Shinola and its story. On a state visit in 2016, President
Obama gave British Prime Minister David Cameron a custom Shinola watch.24 The gift
served as an illustration of the idea that America still manufactured, and that it
manufactured high-quality goods in cities that many had previously written off. At a
2014 rally in Flint, Bill Clinton gave the company a shout-out, saying, "we need more
American success stories like Shinola in Detroit.”25 While accepting the 2019 Academy
Award for Best Original Screenplay, “Green Book” director Peter Farrelly exclaimed,
“Shinola watches! Unbelievable—they’re saving Detroit!”26 Seeing the press that these
and other shout-outs have generated, Kinney claims that “Shinola’s impact on crafting a 4
global narrative of Detroit as a resurgent city is undisputable.”27 Even if Shinola’s actual
history is not the romantic “American success story” that Clinton alludes to, the
“bringing manufacturing back” trope is certainly in vogue. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
is a proponent of such initiatives. Attempting to tap into the same vein of
“manufacturing” as Shinola, he contacted an investment firm that focuses on apparel
and luxury goods to explore the possibility creating a “garment district” in Detroit.28 He
also supports the revival of more “conventional” manufacturing: At the 2018 opening of
a new steel processing facility in the city he announced, “we are getting back in the city
of Detroit to our roots; a place where we made things.”29 It is clear the idea of
manufacturing is salient and captivating to consumers and politicians alike.
At the same time, Shinola is reshaping what Detroit actually looks like. It has
installed large clocks all over Detroit’s redeveloped neighborhoods, bolstering the notion
that Shinola is (new) Detroit, and (new) Detroit is Shinola. At the beginning of 2019, the
Shinola Hotel opened for business. It joins the plethora of downtown businesses that
attract consumers by recycling the city’s “industrial leftovers” and creating an
“atmosphere of new quasi-artisanal sectors.”30 Additionally, the Shinola Hotel is a
development project that civic leaders can use as an example of a resurgent city that is ripe for further investment. It serves as yet another signal “to developers that there are facilities that will cater for the new middle class.”31 Both the myth of Shinola and its
physical presence are used to sell Detroit.
Detroit and Shinola present new kind of place-product co-marketing in which
both places and products use each other to sell themselves; as much Shinola sells the
idea of Detroit, Detroit too is selling the idea of Shinola. Though Shinola’s true history is
one inauthenticity, calculation, and venture capital, it is nonetheless successful because 5
the public sees it is an authentic, benevolent, and local enterprise. Consumers, investors, and politicians alike embrace Shinola’s concept of what “local” manufacturing is and what that can do for communities. At the same time, Detroit’s boosters are trying to write more “Shinola stories” and shape the city in its image. Policymakers should be careful not to conflate brand’s narratives of our cities with their actual economic health.
1 Rebecca Kinney, “Detroit Is Closer than you Think,” Radical History Review 129, (2010): 164. 2 Kinney, “Closer Than You Think,” 165. 3 Dustin Walsh, “Shinola case begs question: What is ‘American made’?” Crain’s Detroit Business, June 26, 2016, 4 After getting in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission, Shinola amended the copy embossed on the back of its watches to read “Built in Detroit with Swiss and Imported Parts.” 5 Mihalis Kavaratzis, Gregory Ashworth, “Place marketing: how did we get here and where are we going?” Journal of Place Management and Development 1, no. 2 (2008): 152. 6 Kavaratzis and Ashworth, “How did we get here are where are we going?” 152. 7 Kavaratzis and Ashworth, “How did we get here are where are we going 153. 8 Kavaratzis and Ashworth, “How did we get here are where are we going 153. 9 Bedrock Manufacturing, which also owns Seattle-based Filson, is now owned by Revolution, another venture capital firm. 10 Rebekah Modrak, “Rethink Shinola,” 2017. 11 Shinola has flagship stores across the US, from Honolulu to Boston, and its products are sold in boutiques across Europe. 12 Kinney, “Closer Than You Think,” 172. 13 Kinney, “Closer Than You Think,” 172. 14 Kinney, “Closer Than You Think,” 173. 15 Kinney, “Closer Than You Think,” 171-2. 16 Williams, “Shinola Takes Its ‘Detroit Cool’ Message on the Road.” 17 Williams, “Shinola Takes Its ‘Detroit Cool’ Message on the Road.” 18 Rebekah Modrak, “Rethink Shinola,” 2017. 19 Shinola, “Running the movement line: Lakishka McCoy talks about her role as team leader,” Jan 11, 2016. 20 Shinola, “Running the movement line: Lakishka McCoy talks about her role.” 21 Shinola, “Running the movement line: Lakishka McCoy talks about her role.” 22 Kinney, “Closer Than You Think,” 172. 23 For more on Shinola’s problematic history and marketing efforts, refer to both Modrak and Kinney’s works. 24 Todd Spangler, “Obama gives Shinola watch to British prime minister,” Detroit Free Press, April 22, 2016. 25 Sarah Schuch, “Bill Clinton stump speech: Shinola watches, Koch brothers & Democrat shout-outs in Flint,” M Live, October 23, 2014. 26 Julie Hinds, “Shinola Watches are ‘Saving Detroit,’ Oscar winner says in speech,” Detroit Free Press, Feb. 25, 2019. 27 Kinney, “Closer Than You Think,” 173. 28 Micheline Maynard, “Can Fashion Help Detroit Make a Comeback?” New York Times, March 2, 2018. 29 Nicquel Terry, “Mining and steel company opens facility in Detroit,” Detroit News, Feb 26, 2018. 30 Aram Eisenschitz, “Neo-liberalism and the future of place marketing,” Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 6, no. 2 (2010): 81. 31 Eisenschitz, “Neo-liberalism and the future of place marketing,” 82.
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Works Cited
Aram Eisenschitz, “Neo-liberalism and the future of place marketing,” Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 6, no. 2 (2010): 79 – 86.
Hinds, Julie. “Shinola Watches are ‘Saving Detroit,’ Oscar winner says in speech,” Detroit Free Press, Feb. 25, 2019. https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment /movies/ julie-hinds/2019/02/24/shinola-watches-detroit-oscars-farrelly- academy/2976505002
Kinney, Rebecca. “Detroit Is Closer than you Think,” Radical History Review 129, (2010): 164 – 176.
Maynard, Micheline. “Can Fashion Help Detroit Make a Comeback?” New York Times, March 2, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/business/can- fashion-help-detroit-make-a-comeback.html
Modrak, Rebekah. “Rethink Shinola,” 2017, http://rethinkshinola.com/#/resources
Sarah Schuch, “Bill Clinton stump speech: Shinola watches, Koch brothers & Democrat shout-outs in Flint,” M Live, October 23, 2014, https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/10/bill_clinton_by_the_ numbers_sh.html
Spangler, Todd. “Obama gives Shinola watch to British prime minister,” Detroit Free Press, April 22, 2016, https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/22/barack-obama- shinola-watch-british/83403402/
Shinola, “Jobs | Shinola Detroit,” accessed February 17, 2018, https://www.shinola.com/jobs
Shinola, “Lifelong Detroiter and leather artisan Valisa McTaw tells it like it is,” Feb 12, 2016. https://www.shinola.com/thejournal/people/craftspeople/lifelong- detroiter-and-leather-artisan-valisa-mctaw-tells-it-it
Shinola, “Running the movement line: Lakishka McCoy talks about her role as team leader,” Jan 11, 2016, https://www.shinola.com/thejournal/people/craftspeople/q-lakishka- mccoy-team-leader-shinola
Terry, Nicquel. “Mining and steel company opens facility in Detroit,” Detroit News, Feb 26, 2018, https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2018/02/26/arcelormittal- tailored-banks-detroit/110865082/
United States Federal Trade Commission, “Memo to Bedrock Manufacturing Company, 7
LLC,” June 16, 2016, https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/closing_letters/nid/160616mu sabedrockletter.pdf
Walsh, Dustin. “Shinola case begs question: What is ‘American made’?” Crain’s Detroit Business, June 26, 2016, https://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160626/NEWS/160629800/shino la-case-begs-question-what-is-american-made
Williams, Alex. “Shinola Takes Its ‘Detroit Cool’ Message on the Road,” New York Times, Jan 6, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/fashion/shinola- watches-bicycles-leather-goods-expansion.html