What makes a Retail Fashion Brand A Brand - Essay Example

What makes a Retail Fashion Brand a Brand One that can be trusted Type here Introduction The field of Marketing and Branding has evolved as the World continues to grow and newer and faster methods of selling emerge. It has been accepted my majority of the businesses all around the world irrespective of their industries that branding plays an inevitable role in the success of the brand and it is a firm’s most valuable intangible asset. The retail industry is highly competitive and hence, the importance of branding in the industry is further elevated. Brands have the power to change consumer perceptions, attract more customers to a particular store and sustain those customers through brand loyalty. The world Fashion is all about changing lifestyles and trends and people following them. The past decade has seen major changes in the world of retailing. It has seen major growth in the marketing and promotion of private labels indicating the increase in the growth and power of retail. However, a number of discounters and warehouse clubs have reintroduced pressure on the conventional retailers and ended up in making the competition even fiercer. The major portion of a retailer’s revenue model relies on selling manufacturer brands, which is a common factor between various other retailers offering the same brand. This factor makes it even more difficult for a retailer to differentiate himself among others. Hence, the problem not only poses a challenge but also an opportunity. If a retailer has the ability to build its own brand equity and create a positive perception and recall in consumer minds, it is bound to reap in healthy profits. It would help the retailer in restoring and maintaining its competitive advantage resulting in increasing the revenue and overall profitability and in turn reducing the costs. Moreover, another advantage that a strong retail brand with high brand equity is that they have more bargaining power with their respective suppliers, which are the manufacturer brands giving them even more advantage over their competitors. The branding of retail brands is pretty similar to conventional branding of other products as most important branding principles are applicable, however, retail brands are essentially different from product brands and hence, the implementation of the branding principles would vary. A retail brand involves engagement with multiple sensors of the consumers as compared to the product brands who rely on the overall consumer experience for creating brand equity. Another difference is brand image, retailers create their brand image in different ways as compared to conventional image creation. Mostly, they connect with their consumers and create a positive image through their service quality, their variety of collections, merchandizing, pricing, credit policy, etc. Another important determinant of retailer brand equity is the brand image and equity of the manufacturer brand the store carries. The manufacturer brands are the major source of creating awareness and interest, and resulting in store loyalty. Manufacturer brands create the pull bringing in customers towards the retailer brand. A manufacturer brand brings in reputation and consumer appeal for the retailer at a very early step helping the retailer in better store positioning (Aiwadi, 2004). We need to find what makes retail branding successful and the changes in the fashion industry that retailers need to take into account. Changes in the Fashion Industry and its selling habits Fashion has always been a part of our lives; some people follow it with a lot of enthusiasm while there are others who move along their own pace. The advent of internet and technological advancements has brought lasting changes on the lifestyles and habits of people along with their preferences. It has revived and revamped the business models of several industries and similar is the case with fashion which has recently been severely impacted by technology and internet (Booth, Colomb, & William, 2003). Another interesting scenario is the advent of online stores, social networking sites, blogs, etc. that have become major derivates of consumer perceptions and demand, hence giving more power to the consumer. Consequently, the brands of today are more consumer centric than they ever were. Competition has also intensified with globalization; a brand today is not only competing with local brands but also with foreign competitors who have access to the market. The situation is specifically more severe in the fashion industry where creativity and innovative designs along with quality are strongest allies of any brand whether a retail brand or a designer’s flagship brand. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the strongest factor driving major changes is the increased involvement of technology especially internet in our daily lives. Initially, brands from the world of fashion had only fashion shows and television for marketing their products. Now, they have multiple choices that provide them with more access to their target market. They can market their creations not only through fashion shows and television; they can use social networking sites, blogs, and online stores to their advantage. In fact, internet gives them access to a larger consumer base, which is not possible through fashion shows as only selected people are a part of it (Jackson & Shaw, 2006). The internet has also contributed in changing consumer behaviors towards fashion. Historically, fashion was followed by elites as they were the ones who could afford it and had awareness. However, consumers have now become aware and have started following the latest trends whether they are in clothes, accessories, shoes, or bags. An average shopper today belonging to a middle income household would want to buy everything that is in fashion rather than buying something cheap but outdated. Another reason behind fashion and designer brands gaining wider acceptability is due to accessibility. Online retail stores allow the consumer to choose what they want to buy from the convenience of their homes and now consumers do not want to wait for six months before the clothing they had seen on the ramp would appear in their favorite store. With multiple buying options available to the consumer, they would buy it from a store that has more instant access to the latest fashionable attires and accessories. Buyers today can compare prices among various retail stores with the click of a mouse making it impossible for retailers to compete on price unless they start a price war, which is harmful for themselves only. The situation has further elevated with mobile technology coming in the picture making browsing even easier than ever. The clothes and looks that models wear on the ramp is fashion that historically, used to be shown six to eight months in advance to their actual launch in stores. However, now highlights and sometimes even the whole show is available on the internet minutes after it has happened. If the designers and retailers follow the same time frame of six to eight months, then the fashion would have been worn out even before it has actually hit stores. This puts immense pressure on both the retailers and the designers to be original, creative, and fast. They need to bring collections to shows and be ready to release them right away to stores if the stores and the designers want to earn profits (Jackson & Shaw, 2006). Consumers today do not follow their favorite designers and models blindly and take their word for what’s in and what’s out. Social networking sites make the interaction of fashion enthusiasts very easy and millions of people can interact and discuss ideas, opinions, and suggestions any time of the day. Hence, they can drive and motivate each other towards or against certain brands making the internet presence of all retail brand essential. Runway shows today are not as crucial to a designer as they used to be. A designer and in turn a retail brand has multiple channels available to them to target and reach their customers. Not only they can reach their target market, they can also sell through those channels. The interconnection of all the multiple channels such as TV, internet, mobiles, social networking sites has brought several changes. Fashion has now changed from being high art couture to pop culture where consumers are driving their fashion sense from Hollywood, fashion shows, internet, and anything that they think is cool and updated (LA Times, 2009). In the light of the above argument and changes that the fashion industry has gone through, we need to identify the essentials that can make a successful retail brand (Easey, 2008). Creating a successful Retail Brand The most important aspect for any brand belonging to any product category is its brand image. Brand image is the thought, perception, or the brand recall that a brand creates when it appears in front of the consumer. Positive brand image is about creating a long lasting and positive brand association with the consumer. A favorable brand association creates a favorable brand recall, which means that not only the consumer is going to think of the brand when that particular need arises but is also going to buy it. We need to identify the measures that retailers can take to create a positive brand image and consequentially driving brand equity. The following are the five most important determinants that can help a fashion retailer becoming identified as a brand: Access – Retailers sell mostly through stores and considering the current trends those stores could be physical stores or online stores. Irrespective of a store’s tangibility, its accessibility is the first criterion in the consumer mind. Although, the location of a store and the distance a consumer had to travel towards were very strong determinants of store choice decisions in the eighties, it is no longer the case. However, consumers still decide on a retail store based on its easy accessibility and now accessibility means presence on all of the multiple selling channels available. A retail brand needs to be present on various platforms for the consumers to have a brand recall. The retail brand needs to capture share-of-mind before it can get share-of-wallet. (Portas, 1999). Store Atmosphere – Store atmosphere is a major driver of experience and in turn drives brand image. A retail store needs to be physically appealing; the ambiance should be in synchronization with the brand identity, which is formed in the initial phases. Moreover, the in-store environment such as the color, music, design, etc. should be visually attractive and engaging. The online store should also have the same characteristics. The atmosphere of the store is a major driver of consumer perception and association of the store and can also bring in consumer loyalty if the consumer has a positive brand association thus bringing in brand equity for the retail store. Pricing & Promotion – Price is the most important aspect and plays an important role in store selection and brand building. Acceptable consumer price depends on consumer’s perception of a store. If a consumer considers a retail brand to be classy and top-notch, they would accept it being expensive. However, price hikes by a brand considered casual and mundane would be difficult for consumers to digest. Price is a major determinant in brand classification, meaning, if a store can price its products higher than its competitors if it has built a perception in the consumer minds of being an elite brand that brings out a superior product. Price discounts and other promotional schemes also help in creating a positive share of mind and building a strong brand image. Promotional schemes help not only in sustaining old customers but also bring in more foot fall, which is essential for fashion related products. Moreover, promotional schemes and pricing are the major differentiating aspect of a retailer’s store offering and can bring in sustainable competitive advantage for the retailer. Cross-Category Assortment – Consumers today want to buy everything from the same store to save time. They want everything present at a single store from clothing to accessories, shoes, bags, as well as cosmetics. Majority of the consumers seek variety in terms of brands, flavors, products, and that is exactly what a successful retail store brand should offer, a mix of various high-end and low-end brands of products belonging to the similar category. However, a retailer need not get carried away by cross-category assortment. All the products and brands that a retailer decides to sell in its store needs to be in synch with its brand image and perception. They should reinforce the brand association rather than leaving the consumer confused. Within-Category Assortments – A retail store needs to go deep into the product once the decide to keep it meaning they need to host all possible favorite brands of the product in their store to have more depth and variety. A store with depth and variety of a particular product is likely to have more foot fall and consumer loyalty than a store without it. (Ailwadi, 2004). References LA Times, (2009). Major Changes Reshaping the Fashion Industry. Impact Lab. Retrieved on December 7, 2011 from Ailwadi, Kusum L. (2004). Understanding Retail Branding: Conceptual Insights and Research Priorities. Retrieved on December 7, 2011 from < http://www.google.com.pk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=Ailwadi%2C+Kusum+L.+(2004).+Understanding+Retail+Branding%3A+Conceptual+Insights+and+Research+Priorities.+&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmba.tuck.dartmouth.edu%2Fpages%2Ffaculty%2Fkusum.ailawadi%2Fresearch_articles%2FJR-Retail%2520Branding.pdf&ei=lqjfTtP_DI3UsgbGpbD-CA&usg=AFQjCNFkWhfLTOyHvBv4C41WSS9IzBJIXg> Cottrell, S (2008). The Study Skills Handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Portas, M. (1999), Windows: The Art of Retail Display, Thames & Hudson, London Booth, W., Colomb, G. and William, J. (2003) The Craft of Research. Chicago: Chicago Press. Retrieved on December 7, 2011 from Easey, M. (2008). Fashion Marketing. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved on December 7, 2011 from Jackson T. and Shaw D. (2006). The Fashion Handbook, Abingdon: Routledge. Retrieved on December 8, 2011 from < http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=4SGdH-e2KrwC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=%28Jackson+T.+and+Shaw+D.+%282006%29,+The+Fashion+Handbook,&source=bl&ots=3oC3UrvIsn&sig=-OJE-Jp_rfcgB8pYgIvEX-k8FRQ&hl=en&ei=3r3fTvjDN4Ok-gbJ3aXJBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false > Read More