Situation Analysis - UnME Brand of Jeans - Essay Example

? UnME Jeans Contents Introduction 3 Situation Analysis 3 SWOT Analysis 7 Analysis of Main Issues 8 Recommendation 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Bibliography 12 Introduction The case deals with UnME brand of Jeans (You and Me) and aimed to promote the women through its range of clothing. With the introduction of Web 2.0, the brand manager of UnME Jeans, Margaret Foley, was trying to justify the amount spent by her on traditional advertisements and not on Web 2.0 (Avery and Steenburgh, 2011). The case study on UnME Jeans introduces the concept of Web 2.0 which is regarded as one of the emerging social media on social networking sites and encourages the marketers to explore the opportunities and risks which the social media present for the brands. The brand manager of UnME Jeans is faced with complex media in which the traditional media such as television, radio and print advertising have become less effective over the time because of the declining number of audience, increase in the advertising clutter and turning out of the consumers. In this case Foley is set to explore the options provided by Web 2.0 social media and determine ways to better handle advertising and branding objectives. Therefore, the major challenge for Foley is to ignore all the hype made by Web 2.0, and analyze the social media for UnME Jeans by delving into the needs of the consumers and their behaviours underpinning the technologies of Web 2.0. Situation Analysis The case study describes a situation where Margaret Foley, the brand manager of UnME, carries out an investigation with respect to emerging media Web 2.0. The brand manager had been allocating a huge amount of budget in the traditional means of communication and only about $250 towards social media which were not sufficient in the new era of competitive environment to survive, attract and retain the loyal customers. It has been analysed that with a change in the consumer’s demands and mindset, consumers are spending much of their time by staying online rather than watching television. The percentage rate of television viewers has dropped drastically and it had become essential for UnME to implement the new form of media. The firm did not spend much on online marketing and as a result, the brand manger was not satisfied with the response from the target consumers. In the era of new technologies and various media options, the target customers, the teenagers, prefer visiting online sites and staying online for most of the time. As per a survey, it has been seen that the social media are a highly acceptable form of media. The below figures compare the use of various forms of promotional tools. Figure 1: Media Trends (Source: McGee, 2011) The above figures compare the media trends from 2010 to 2011. It has been seen that the use of social media is predicted to increase by about 63.6% in 2011 year-on-year, as compared to the use of television. As per the Internet World Stats (2012), about 78.3% of the US population uses the Internet, and the amount of time spent rose to 20% and the youngsters tend to spend about 40 hours per week. Change has taken place in the Internet population in US and it was predicted that about 71% of the population would be online in 2010 and it would continue to grow and would reach about 250 milion people in 2014 (European Travel Commission, 2012). The following table shows the future prediction of Internet usage by the consumers in the present and future. Table 1: Internet users (ETC, 2012) With the growth of social media among the customers, the youth sector still dominates the social media market and UnME, which targets the teenagers, is lagging behind in positioning the brands effectively through the use of social media. Teens and young adults showed the greatest penetration. According to eMarketer, out of five Internet users four of them belong to the age group of 12 to 34 (eMarketer, 2011). The figure below shows the trend of social network users, which is estimated to rise each year. Figure 2: Social Network Users (Source: eMarketer, 2011) The above paragraphs indicated that there exists a growth of social media particularly in teenagers and it is necessary for the brand UnME to adapt to the tools of Web 2.0. After analysing the current situation, the brand indulged itself with three forms of social media tools: Facebook, YouTube and Zwinktopia. By implementing either of the forms, UnME is sure to earn double the revenue as compared to the traditional means of communication. Figure 3: Revenue (Source: IAB, 2011) As per the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the advertising revenue in 2012 has set a new record of $8.4billion as compared to previous year. Figure 3 shows the growth trend experienced with the use of the Internet. In 2012, the revenue is expected to grow by more than $8 billion, predicting huge opportunities for brands to explore the Web 2.0. A SWOT analysis has also been performed to analyse the current situation of UnME Jeans. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is conducted to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats through which the firms are able to overcome the weaknesses by applying the strengths, and threats by means of opportunities. It is one of the most important tools used to formulate strategy. SWOT analysis is mainly used by managers in order to assess the internal strengths and also external strengths comprising opportunities and threats. The goal is to develop strategies to exploit the strengths and opportunities and, at the same time, neutralize the threats and avoid the weaknesses (Griffin, 2011, p. 69). Strengths: UnME Jeans bears a strong brand name in the clothing sector which has targeted the women, particularly the teenage girls. UnME promotional activities were highly praised and it used the traditional mode of communication through television, radio and print. The brand manager of UnME Jeans, Margaret Foley, also adds on to the strength of the brand. The brand’s strong positioning and marketing helped to remain one of the most desired brands among the women. Weaknesses: UnME in the era of Web 2.0 still makes use of the traditional promotional strategies rather than Web 2.0, resulting in less brand awareness. With a change in the consumer’s mindset and changing habits, customers have turned out from the traditional media to new media options. The Generation Y tends to spend more time online rather than watching television, proving great weakness for the brand UnME as more than half of the advertising budget was allocated to the traditional means. Opportunities: Web 2.0 is one of the most common means of communication in today’s complex environment and the options provided by the social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others are important tools used by marketers to influence the customers. Thus, seeing the growth of Web 2.0 is a huge opportunity for UnME to explore the Web 2.0 and utilize it as one of the most effective promotional means of communication. Brand needs to match up with consumers’ changing mindset, demands and needs and so, UnME has the opportunity to explore and implement the new social media options providing consumers with better and detailed information. Threats: Threat comes from the competitors who have already started to make use of the Web 2.0 as compared to UnME. And delaying the adoption of Web 2.0 might result in fall in the brand name and brand image, letting the competitors to acquire the top slot. Analysis of Main Issues The main issue of the brand was the implementation of social media and to use it effectively to advertise its product. The brand manager was not confident enough to implement the tools of Web 2.0 as an emerging new media in the retail sector. The late adoption of the social media might hamper the brand image, its profit and revenue. As stated above, Internet advertising tends to accumulate a huge amount of revenue in the coming years. The main issue was the implementation and through which form of social media. A fundamental issue would be how to achieve and also sustain a competitive advantage. Before creating the competitive advantage, the brand has to identify and establish values and brand positioning. The main issue would lie in creating the core brand values and brand mantra. Next would be to developing and implementing the brand programs where the firm needs to decide upon the type of social media, the budget, target market and integrating the marketing activities. In addition, leveraging the opportunity of Web 2.0 would be the main issue for the brand manager as social media can not only improve the brand value but also has the power to decline it. Therefore, careful selection of media tools would be the major issues faced by UnME Jeans. Tools of new media are emerging and capturing the minds of the customers, so choosing the right tools would be a major challenge for the brand and the organisation. It has three options to choose from: Facebook, YouTube or Zwinktopia – online media outlets which are equally famous and used by the target customers. In addition, the sudden shift from traditional media to social media would also pose a challenge for the brand: How well it implements the social media to generate traffic on its sites and create competitive advantage. Recommendation Therefore, based on the above analysis of the case study it can be recommended to UnME Jeans to adapt to the social media tools and increase the awareness among the target customers and, at the same time, increase the revenue through Internet advertising. Facebook is the most common form of tool in the social networking, which is used by customers of all ages, mainly the teenagers. It has been said that the usage of the Internet is likely to grow even more in the near future, so it is recommended that Foley should explore the growth opportunity available to the social networking site Facebook. It needs to develop a page under its own brand name where it can post comments, pictures of the latest collection attracting the teenagers, along with the latest news and offers. Most importantly, the firm would need to interact with its customers and not just post information about the brand. The revenue generated from the traditional media can be further utilised to enhance the site and attract more customers, increasing the traffic rate and resulting in more revenue for the firm. Along with implementation of Facebook, UnME can also make use of YouTube to advertise its products and features. YouTube is also among the most used social media tools by the teenagers and thus, implementing YouTube in its promotional activities would result in greater profit and generate greater brand awareness. In doing so, the brand should allocate the maximum amount of its budget to social media tools rather than to the traditional mode of advertising. Conclusion Therefore, it can be concluded that Web 2.0 is a new medium in the competitive world, and organisations have adopted it and implemented the tools of Web 2.0 to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage over the competitors. With social change in customers’ needs and preferences, the social world has emerged as one of the topmost elements preferred by the consumers, mainly the teenagers, and therefore, implementing the tools of Web 2.0 UnME Jeans are ready to step into the new virtual world where the needs and demands of the consumers would be given the first priority. Since the brand deals with the young teenage girls, social media sites are perfect to target them and provide information about the brand so that brand image is maintained along with the brand value. The future of social media is bright and the rate of adoption of social media has increased at a high rate and is predicted to increase in the near future. References Avery, J. and Steenburgh, T., 2011. UnME Jeans: branding in Web 2.0. [Online] Available at: < http://hbr.org/product/unme-jeans-branding-in-web-2-0/an/509035-PDF-ENG > [Accessed 13 August 2012]. eMarketer, 2011. US social network usage: 2011 demographic and behavioral trends. [Pdf] Available at: < http://www.emarketer.com/docs/eMarketer_US_Social_Network_Usage-2011_Demographic_and_Behavioral_Trends.pdf> [Accessed 13 Aug. 12]. European Travel Commission, 2012. Markets by country. [Online] Available at: < http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets-by-country/17-usa/123-demographics> [Accessed 13 Aug. 12]. Griffin, R. W., 2011. Fundamentals of management. USA: Cengage Learning. IAB, 2012. Internet advertising revenues set first quarter record at $8.4 billion. [Online] Available at: < http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-061112> [Accessed 13 August 2012]. McGee, T., 2011. Media usage forecast 2011. 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