Building a Strong Brand within the Fashion Industry - Essay Example

?Conclusion 6 Introduction The conclusion chapter presents the finding of the research conducted and discusses each of the research objectives along with implications of the research and future research which needs to be conducted on the subject. 6.2 Summary of the Findings The summary of the findings regarding the 4 research objectives are presented below: 6.2.1 Research Objective 1: To discuss the significance of constructing powerful brand within the fashion industry. The research on this objective started with a hypothesis that creating powerful brands is absolutely necessary in this age of globalization and internationalization .Secondary research by reviewing the current academic literature was then used in order to test this hypothesis. Today the fashion industry is littered with many brands and the volume of competition is immense. Thus if a powerful brand is not created then the only point of differentiation is price and price wars can make the company bankrupt in the long run (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008). Creating a brand helps the consumers connect with the product, it creates product recall, and it associates certain qualities with the product and helps the company to escape price wars. Brand also links certain intangible qualities with the product such as trust which are difficult to replicate for the competition. The customers are willing to pay even a premium price for the brands which they recall and trust (Holt, 2004). Brands help the consumers to differentiate products of one company from other. Zara is seen by customers as a company which comes up with new designs every 2 weeks (Jansen, 2008). Zara provides the customers with the latest fashion at an affordable price. Thus they visit the store of Zara if they are constantly looking for new fashion and design; they visit a Top shop store in order to shop for British clothes and design; D&G is the preferred store if you are rich and looking for a luxury brand that sets you apart and Armani will be your brand of your choice if you are young and looking for luxury. The five case studies which have been analyzed in the research showed that brand building is extremely important in differentiating your products, creating a niche market and having a dedicated set of loyal customers. Thus we can easily come to the conclusion that creating powerful brands is extremely important in the fashion industry which has cut throat competition and new companies entering the fray every day. 6.2.2 Research Objective 2: To explain brand management practices currently used in the fashion industry with reference to relevant theories and opinions from literature. Brand management practices refers to the various actions, decisions and even omissions which are done by the fashion companies in order to create value and identity of the brand . A brand has values, identity and emotion attached with it just like a human being. Just as human actions make or mar the human personality, the actions which are taken by the company decide what kind of image the brand receives. Companies use both strategic as well as emotional techniques in order to manage their brand (Juggessu & Cohen, 2009). For effective Brand management the brand of the company should have a unique personality which differentiates it from others. Zara gives a message of democratizing fashion which means that it has to provide customers with latest design and trends at the minimum price. Thus all the activities of Zara are geared in order to ensure that this brand personality of ‘latest fashion at affordable prices’ is maintained (Torun, 2007). In order to ensure low prices, the company has to pay immense attention to its supply chain which needs to be quick and effective. On the other hand Armani as a brand has a personality which is an extension of its founder. The personality of the founder has been shown as youthful by the company, so the strategy of Armani is to target youths make sense. Brand management is also about effective story telling through proper channels of communication. This story telling should be emotional and connect with the customers. Thus the decision of Zara not to outsource its production to China was seen as emotional one by the customers (Torun, 2007). This decision has won even more loyal followers for Zara in this time of severe economic crisis. Zara told a story about how it is giving quality products to the customers at affordable prices but without outsourcing European jobs to China. This is effective and emotional story telling. Top Shop has decided to market the British pride and proudly declares itself as a British brand which creates an emotional connection with the customers. H&G tries to connect with the urban well informed customer who wants good quality products but is not willing to harm the environment for his lifestyle needs. Another important brand management practice which is used in the fashion industry is the practice of brand extension. Once a successful brand name has been established , companies try to extend their reach to target every segment of the population under the umbrella brand. H&M , D&G – each of these fashion brands have not only restricted themselves to adults but have also launched kid’s products under their brand. Their clothes cater to the needs of women , youth , men as well as kids. Celebrity endorsements is another way of brand management but the type of celebrities change depending on the brand characteristics for e.g. Top Shop which focuses on the ‘British’ aspect of the brand ; prefers to have British celebrities endorse the brand. Thus store location, the decision whether to outsource production or not, controversial advertisements, celebrity advertisements, brand extension are all means of brand management. Every brand has a unique identity and it is necessary not only to create it but also to maintain it in the long run for the brand to be successful. 6.2.3 Research Objective 3: To demonstrate about how strong brand is constructed in the fashion industry by focusing upon multiple case study approach Creation of a strong brand in the fashion industry is a painstaking process. There is no one best of doing it. Different fashion companies have used different methods; however there are certain things which are common. The first step for every brand is to identify the target market clearly (Manlow, 2007). There should be no ambiguity on which you are targeting. Top Shop targets people with strong association with the British culture and D&G is obviously a brand for the super rich. After identifying the target market in unambiguous terms, the next thing which fashion companies usually do is to create a story around the brand. This story usually conveys some personality of the brand. The personality of the brand needs to provide some tangible or intangible benefits to the customers. Zara gives the tangible benefits of low cost latest fashion products whereas D&G gives the intangible benefit of snob value. Once the fashion brand has been established the common theme which can be seen across the fashion industry is to maintain this brand image in the eyes of the target market or to re-innovate it according to the changing needs of the target market. This is done with whatever ways suits best – through controversial advertisements, concern about the environment or through celebrity advertisements. The methods utilized may be different but the aim in all the cases is to ensure that image or the personality of the brand is maintained in the eyes of the target market. The world of clothes is a crowded world. In order to stand out in this world, the brand needs to constantly innovate and connect with its target audience (Nadeau, 2007). It needs to connect both at the physical as well as the emotional level in order to ensure that it becomes the preferred brand for the consumers. 6.2.4 Research Objective 4: To discuss the future development of constructing strong brand within the fashion industry by using the aspect of branding The world is changing rapidly. Two major trends are emerging all across the globe. One is the focus on saving the environment and prevents waste, and the other is the rapidly increasing phenomenon of internet (Okonkwo, 2007). Green campaigners have almost succeeded in turning people to their sides. People are now demanding products which do not harm the nature even if they have to pay a bit more. The fashion industry cannot escape these trends. They will have to focus on making clothes which are environmentally sustainable and still fitting in to the core values of the brand. Top shop has already made a start in this direction. Internet and the related social media outbreak of Facebook, twitter, micro blogs etc are perhaps the biggest invention of this century. People no longer trust advertisements shown in television but turn towards the internet in order to read review of other buyers (Park et al, 2008). The internet also enables them to compare products at leisure before making a purchase. This entire means that fashion brands have now got to deal with a more learned and researched customer. Thus online marketing and social media network marketing is the next big challenge for fashion companies. They will have to increase their presence on the internet and make advertisements which specifically target the netizens as internet is going to be the future which will replace many old forms of advertisement and brand building. 6.3 Implications The implications of the research that we have conducted are obvious. One of the most important implications is that it is almost impossible to survive in the fashion world without creating a strong brand. There are simply too many products out there which are competing solely on the basis of price. Many of these products die daily due to price wars. The sure-fire way of escaping the price war in the fashion world is to create a brand. The brand created should be able to differentiate your products from others. This differentiation need not be tangible but can also be an intangible or an emotional differentiation. Once the brand is created, it is all the more important to manage the brand effectively. This can be done by identifying the target market, communicating with it regularly and by using innovative means and making your brand connect to the public. The brand needs to have characteristics that it needs to have a personality just like a human being. However, much more important than this is the fact that this personality of the brand should be conveyed properly to the audience. One more implication of this research is the effect of social media marketing on the image of the brand. It has now become imperative in the age of the internet for the companies to have an online presence and market their goods through the social media in order to reach the new generation. 6.4 Further Research The research conducted has helped us to come to interesting conclusions and also raises certain interesting questions which can be the focus of further research. The main question which comes to the mind after this research as follows: Ways of creating brand image online and how it is different from offline methods? We have come to the conclusion at the end of our research that internet is the future and fashion companies need to carry on brand building exercise online. However how will this brand building exercise take place on the internet? Will branding on the net means simply placing television advertisements on the web pages which are frequently visited or does it means something else? Does making micro blogs about your product help or does it make the customer go away or become detached from your product? The internet can be highly personal and browsing habits of no two people are identical. It presents a challenge as to the means of advertisements which needs to be followed online. Thus exploration of the internet as the future of brand building exercise for the fashion industry is a very important research question which needs to be examined at the earliest in order to ensure that fashion companies are able to sell their products effectively to the target customers. 6.5 Summary The research conducted has helped to gain knowledge about branding in the fashion industry. It has helped to understand the importance of branding for fashion companies, the methods of brand management used, the ways in which a strong brand is created and the future challenges for branding in the fashion industry. Although it does not cover all the aspects of fashion branding but does create a lot of awareness about fashion branding. References Chevalier, M., & Mazzalovo, G. (2008). Luxury brand management: a world of privilege. Singapore, Wiley. Holt, D. B. (2004). How brands become icons: the principles of cultural branding. Boston, Mass, Harvard Business School Press. Jansen, M. A. (2008). Brand fashioning: what brand managers can learn from fashion designers? S.l, s.n.]. Juggessu, J. and Cohen, G. (2009) Is fashion promoting counterfeit brands?. Journal of Brand Management , 16 (1), p.383-394. Manlow, V. (2007). Designing clothes culture and organization of the fashion industry. New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=395602. Nadeau (2007) Living Brands. London: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Okonkwo, U. (2007). Luxury fashion branding trends, tactics, techniques. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=252533. Park, H. et al. (2013) Purchasing global luxury brands among young Korean consumers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 12 (2), p.244 - 259. Plunkett, J. W. (2008). Plunkett's apparel & textiles industry almanac 2008: the only comprehensive guide to apparel companies and trends. Houston, Tex, Plunkett Research. Torun, F. (2007). Zara - A European fashion brand. Mu?nchen, Grin Verlag GmbH. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-201008228852. Tungate, M. (2012). Fashion brands: branding style from Armani to Zara. London, Kogan Page. Read More