Evolution of the Brand of Jasper Conran Company - Coursework Example

? I. INTRODUCTION Evolution of the brand company: i.e. background: when the company first began; how long it has been in existence, country from where it originated, scope of operations e.g. use of sub brands. Jasper Conran designed his first collection for Henri Bendel in New York and came up with designs under his own brand name in 1979 when he was just 19 years of age. At this time he commenced selling his own brand in London. In 1982 and 1983 he was consecutively awarded with the Fil d'Or International Linen awards after which he became a designer with an international reputation and clientele. His brand became globally recognized after he was awarded with the British Designer of the Year Award in 1986. Jasper Conran is considered to be amongst the greatest contemporary artists and in recognition of his contribution to the fashion industry was honored with the Order of the British Crown in 2008. After Jasper Conran became associated with the Debenhams Store that stocked and marketed his J Line women’s wear that was launched in 1996, several of his other range of products began to be accepted through the store. In fact, his most successful venture has been his association with Debenams, after which the sale of his line of accessories, men’s wear, women’s wear, hosiery, children wear and home ware grew exponentially. Jasper Conran has the distinction of being recognized with credibility in the world of costume designing. He has designed dresses for more than 15 theatre, opera and ballet productions (Ewing and Mackrell, 2006). Presently, his line of products has vastly expanded and includes lingerie, children’s wear, bridal wear, home ware, hosiery, jeans and men’s wear. In 1999, Jasper Conran had started designing his signature brands of crystal following his partnership with Waterfold. This effort led to the introduction of four exclusive lines for Waterford and other table ware collections of bone china, which were also supplied to Wedgewood. The Wedgewood Collection by Jasper Conran is now the top selling porcelain table ware in the U.K. Jasper Conran launched his signature fragrance in 2003 and in 2005 he launched his most successful colorful fragrances; Jasper Conran II Man and Woman. In 2004, Jasper Conran designed a series of wallpapers and fabrics for the Designers’ Guild in London. At this time, Jasper Conran also designed an exclusive collection of fashionable fire places for Chesney’s in London. Jasper Conran is credited with having a unique British receptivity and his signature is exclusive because of his cuts and ensuing silhouette that remain unparalleled by other designers. Jasper Conran has often been said to be the Calvin Klein of London. He created collections for men and women that represented sophisticated and classic lines. In 1986, he was declared as the Fashion Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council, after which he struck a balance between British culture and international fashion. Jasper Conran was inspired by earlier Coco Chanel designs and American looks of Claire McCardell. His designs have been applauded for his outcomes generated from his retro styles and modern sophistication that were brought forth with pop over and monastic dresses. He is well recognized for his elegant adaptations of conventional British tweed formals. Conran’s ability and recognition was given a boost primarily because of his use of color combinations that were introduced in his 1992 collection. His evening wear is characteristic of a clean line in each garment that is brightened with cobalt and fuchsia. Founder’s Philosophy Capture any statements made by the designer or brand company about their philosophy e.g. attitudes to the environment. Jasper Conran is recognized as an authority in British styles, tailoring and designs that are characterized by a simple philosophy. His pieces are created so that they are used and enjoyed and are a pleasure to hold and to watch. Conran was much impacted by Jean Muir and still considers him as his mentor in fashion styles. Geographical spread Indicate the regions where the brand company sells its products. The first Jasper Conran flagship store began operations in 2005 and is a located in Mayfair, London. The flagship store stocks all high end collections under one roof along with made to order furniture. In 2006 Jasper Conran had launched five new ranges to be stocked at Wedgewood. One of them was Chinoisere that secured the Object of Desire Award. The Jasper Conran flagship store also sells several ranges of the designer’s furniture and accessories such as bags and shoes. Jasper Conran sells mostly through his flagship store in Mayfair although online orders are also accepted. Jasper Conran clothing and accessories are sold through all Debenhams Stores across the UK. The company sells its signature brands of crystal, bone china and table ware through Waterfold stores. Jasper Coran has designed his Wedgewood Collection to be specifically sold through Wedgewood stores across the UK. Jasper Conran designed wallpapers and fabrics are sold by the Designers’ Guild in London. II. SITUATION ANALYSIS 1. SWOT Undertake a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats assessment of the brand company. Jasper Conran’s biggest strength lies in having made a strong place in the dynamic demand cycle that characterizes the UK fashion industry. Jasper Conran is amongst the distinguished fashion designers that drive industry wide activities, particularly the retail sector. A major strength for Jasper Conran is his creativity in terms of fashion and textile designs. His products are characterized with an edge in terms of his own individual style that assists in differentiating his designs. A major weakness for Jasper Conran is the inadequate linkage amongst scientific and design disciplines whereby there is not enough talent coming forth to fill the need for creative designers. Another weakness is the large number of science graduates who are increasingly entering the fashion industry and weakening the creative structure of the industry. Moreover, Jasper Conran sells most of his products from its flagship store in Mayfair, while other companies and fashion houses are increasingly adding new stores in new locations, thus enhancing their market presence and share. The biggest opportunity for Jasper Conran is the increasing size of emerging markets such as China, India, Russia, Mexico, Turkey and Brazil, where the purchasing power of consumers is growing rapidly, because of which there is immense potential for Jasper Conran to enhance his market presence. Jasper Conran can make use of this opportunity to open new stores and to increase sales and growth. A major threat for Jasper Conran is economic stagnation as consumers across the developed world face a reduction in their purchasing power. There are increasing concerns about the impact of the economic weakness that will lead to more unemployment and slow economic growth, which obviously means lower levels of spending. Unless consumers get enhanced real income and money in hand they will not tend to spend on fashion brands and if this pattern continues for long the future of fashion brands will suffer tremendously. Global issues of sustainability and ecology have raised threats of global warming that have the potential to reduce demand for fashion products. 2. Marketing Strategy using ANSOFF GROWTH matrix Assess whether brand company is following a market penetration, product development, market development or product/market diversification marketing strategy. The ANSOFF Growth Matrix is a means to assist businesses in deciding their market and product growth strategies. The tool is a market growth matrix that holds that businesses’ objectives related to growth are greatly dependent upon whether the company markets new or existing products in markets that are new or old. The outcome of the ANSOFF product or market matrix relates to suggestions for growth strategy that creates directions for framing the business plans, in terms of adopting market penetration, product development, market development or product/market diversification marketing strategy. In the context of the ANSOFF Growth Matrix, Jasper Conran is essentially following a product diversification marketing strategy because product lines in fashion have to keep evolving and changing over time in meeting consumer aspirations pertaining to changing fashion and the need to keep up with the times so as not to be labeled traditional, especially amongst the younger generation. 3. Consumer Segmentation: Identify who the brand company’s target market(s) are. Jasper Conran has a clientele that varies with his range of products that comprise of jewelry, fragrances, eye wear, bridal wear, groom wear, women’s wear, men’s wear and luggage collections. Because Jasper Conran caters to the aspirations of high end customers that have an eye for uniqueness and the latest patterns in fashion, his prices are on the higher side. His J line of products sold through Debenham address the needs of customers looking for a unique and different blend in design and fashion that is not available elsewhere. Jasper Conran’s partnership with Wedgwood has allowed the fashion house to cater to the needs of middle class customers in providing mid range designs in fine bone china ranges that focus on unique shapes in keeping with British tradition, designs and culture. Jasper Conran also has an exclusive high end clientele, which is apparent from the fact that his first design was created for Henri Bendel in New York. The designer continues to discreetly accept offers of designing clothes as well as interiors of houses for his rich clients. The accessories offered by him include bags and shoes that are patronized by young and old customers belonging to the middle and high class strata of society. Nevertheless, customers view ownership of Jasper Conran products as a status symbol and privilege that can be flaunted amongst peers and friends. 4. Product Analysis: Use Boston Consulting Group matrix (revise all product lines) Select one of the company’s product lines e.g. Jasper Conran jewellery and asses whether, in your view, the product line is, what the Boston Box Matrix Group, identify as a dog, question mark, cash cow or a star. The Boston Consulting Group Matrix was created as a simple process to assist companies in deciding the functions of their business that should be allocated the present cash flows. The Matrix has assumed greater importance particularly after the onset of the current global recession. The Boston Matrix is a helpful means to ascertain where to deploy scarce resources such as equipments, time and people. The Matrix is best used after understanding how market shares and growth in markets are inter-related. The Matrix assumes that if a company has high market share it can profit a great deal by allocating resources in the most appropriate direction. The basic question arising in this context is whether a company should invest further in a given product line for the sole reason that it is giving profits. As per the Boston Matrix the answer is, not necessarily, because market growth is a factor of the attractiveness of the market. This implies that companies operating in these markets will grow irrespective of whether their market share is increasing or not. The Boston Matrix is represented by the following diagram in which the opportunities are categorized into four parts that are depicted across axes of market share and market growth: Upon examining Jasper Conran jewelry in the context of the Boston Matrix, it is evident that the product line falls under the category of Cash Cows that implies a high market share with low market growth. There is low market growth in the sector because of slow economic activities resulting from the global economic recession. It is evident that Jasper Conran has an excellent reputation and his jewelry brand is very well established, especially in the UK market. Thus it is easy for Jasper Conran to get attention and to exploit new opportunities. But it pays for Jasper Conran to presently restrain on expenses in view of the stagnant market that has resulted from the economic downturn. 5. Market Positioning Selecting 10 competitor brands, produce a perceptual map of the company’s brand. If the company has more sub brands, select one brand. Firms use perceptual maps in order to establish market positioning strategies for any product. While preparing a perceptual map the firm has to be conscious of the fact that perceptual maps are plotted on the basis of people’s perceptions, which means that a product may be liked by one individual and disliked by another. The following perceptual map pertains to Jasper Conran clothing in relation to the perceptions towards and performance its competitors such as Pringle, Reiss, Paul Smith, Nicole Farhi, Mulberry, Jonathan Saunders, Jaeger, J. W. Anderson and Kim Jones: High Quality / / Paul Smith Jasper Conran / Jonathan Saunders, Pringle / Jaeger / Mulberry Low Price / High Price ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ / / Reiss / Nicole Farhi, Kim Jones / J. W. Anderson / / Low Quality 6. Distribution Strategy Identify where the brand company distributes its product within the UK i.e. does it have its own Flagship store? Does it distribute via department stores such as Selfridges? Does the company have its own chain of stores? Jasper Conran sells all its line of products from its flagship store at 36 Sackville Street, Mayfair, London. Jasper Conran tied up with Debenhams in 1996 after which his J Line women’s wear was marketed and sold by the store. Later, Debenhams started marketing other Jasper Conran product lines such as lingerie, children’s wear, bridal wear, home ware, hosiery, jeans and men’s wear. Jasper Conran does not have its own well defined chain of stores but his products are sold in arrangement with other stores such as Debenhams, Waterfold and Wedgewood. His association with Waterfold relates to selling table ware and bone china collections. Jasper Conran introduced a specific product line for Wedgewood that continues to be popular as his Wedgewood Collection. In fact, the Wedgewood Collection is now the top selling bone china collection in the UK. Jasper Conran sells a large quantity of his product range during the London Fashion Week. The Designers’ Guild in London is actively marketing and selling his wallpapers and fabrics. Jasper Conran signed an agreement with Stuart Crystal, which is a premium portfolio of ceramic and crystal brands. Jasper Conran creates new collections of crystal and gift items for Stuart Crystal. The new collection has been so designed that all customers are afforded opportunities of owning high end gift items that are reflective of the designer’s intrinsic imagination and design. Bibliography Ewing, E., and Mackrell, A. (2006). History of 20th Century Fashion, Batsford Ltd. Read More