Ivanka Trump's brand draws Twitter wrath, but struts on

Shannon Coulter was browsing Nordstrom.com when a pair of black, over-the-knee boots popped up on screen.

The label? Ivanka Trump.

That was about all Coulter could take. Angry that Trump continued to support her father’s presidential bid in the wake of his lewd comments about groping women, Coulter took to Twitter, co-creating the #grabyourwallet hashtag.   Aimed at pressuring retailers to stop carrying any items bearing the name Trump, the tag has now shown up in Twitter feeds over 119 million times, Coulter says.

“I definitely had respect for her as a business person,’’ Coulter, who has a brand marketing firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, said of Trump. “ But when she chose to make herself such a passionate and prominent part of the Donald Trump campaign, that’s when the disconnect became too large.’’

Macy’s — along with TV networks NBC and Univision — cut commercial ties with Donald Trump months ago after his controversial comments about Mexican immigrants. But now there’s a clamor on social media for major retailers like Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor and others to do the same to clothing and accessory brands helmed by Trump’s daughter and loyal supporter Ivanka.

Along with #grabyourwallet, Ivanka Trump has attracted other protest hashtags, including  #fashionnotfacism and #BoycottIvanka. Ecommerce shopping tool ShopRunner says it has seen a 40% drop in interest in the Ivanka Trump brand since the online boycott began in early October.  

Still, retailers do not appear to be budging. “Some customers have reached out to share their thoughts on this brand,’’ Nordstrom said in a statement. “We appreciate their feedback and at this time don’t have any plans to stop offering it.’’

Others, like Hudson’s Bay Company, which owns Lord & Taylor, and online retailing giant Amazon would not comment.

Despite the social media backlash, Ivanka Trump’s brand appears to be thriving. Brand Keys, a brand loyalty consultancy, found that 83% of Millennial women polled in mid-October said they were at least somewhat likely to consider buying Ivanka Trump products despite her role in her father’s presidential campaign.  

While the Ivanka Trump brand is privately held and is not required to disclose sales figures to the public, the company says that it saw 37% growth in sales and revenue last year compared with 2014. It says monthly visitation to its website is expected to rise 120% this year. 

“When it comes to Ivanka, I think people make the distinction between the political and the paternal,’’ says Brand Keys President Robert Passikoff.

Trump did criticize her father’s comments in which he spoke of grabbing and kissing women without their consent during an exchange with Billy Bush aboard a bus as part of a 2005 shoot with Access Hollywood. In a statement to Fast Company,Trump said that those "comments were clearly inappropriate and offensive"  

But Trump has at times blurred politics and business. In July, she encouraged her Twitter followers to shop for the outfit she'd worn just a few hours earlier when she introduced her father at the GOP convention in Cleveland. 

Many did. Interest in Trump’s outfit jumped 19 times the night of the convention, according to ShopRunner. And clicks on Ivanka Trump products overall tripled by August. 

Her father's presidential campaign has "raised awareness of her fashion brand,'' says Angela Song, ShopRunner's chief marketing officer.

While her family name has become controversial, it has also attracted many fans. 

"There will be some people who won’t buy anything that she sells, but that's OK,'' says Larry Chiagouris, a marketing professor at Pace University. "What she’s left with is a sizable enough group of people that would make for a very attractive pool of customers or prospects, and she can grow it from there if she wants to.''