Goyard, Luxury Handbags - Assignment Example

Goyard, Luxury Handbags Introduction Goyard Company began operations in 1792 as a family business and maintained its engagement with its customer base to date. The company’s range of products includes trunks, pet accessories, and an assortment of other leather products while its main client base consists of royalty and celebrities (Farameh 2008, pp. 176). Ideally, Goyard products are luxury brands meaning that the production of its products for sale may be through the placement of orders and not on shop sales. Under the guidance of Morel Maison, Goyard mainly dealt in the production of leather trunks for the Duchess of Berry hence making his products to serve royalty. Edmond Goyard was responsible for making the company to establish international clienteles by converting the store into one that sold extremely luxurious brands. The store experienced the hand down of the operations mantle from one generation to the next in which the family moved and settled down in Paris France in 1833. However, the company changed ownership in 1998 from a family owned business to Signoles Jean-Michael who had collected many of the Goyard items over the years. The change influenced the building of new workshops in France and across the world as a way of meeting the ever-growing customer demands for Goyard products (Boogert 2012, pp. 255). Presently, the list of clients that Goyard serves varies from world-renowned celebrities to royalty through the placement of orders that are mostly hand made for these clients. With this, this essay will delve into the customer-buying framework that will include the various stages that consumers use when buying Goyard handbags and the brand’s advertising strategy used and the promotional activities. 1. Segmentation, targeting and positioning for Goyard handbags Ideally, the mode of purchase for Goyard products is through online placing of orders in which the company holds the client information with utmost privacy and discretion. In essence, the Barneys shop located in New York makes use of (SSL) Secure Socket Layering, which is a standard and encrypted technology that protects customer information (Newman 2010, pp. 346). Rather than the conventional ‘http’ denoted on URL addresses, it changes to ‘https’ with the ‘s’ indicating security or the SSL technology. This makes the mode of placing orders to the making of payment to be secure as compared to the use of telephones in performing the transactions. Goyard associates with the aristocrats and elite in society who have more money to spend and do less to continue earning a decent living. This defies the Maslow pyramid in which luxury brands to the wealthy has evolved into a necessity (King 2009, pp. 3). For instance, a high number of those placing orders in Goyard stores such as Barneys New York tend to be celebrities in which the current world and entertainment industry view them as the trendsetters for fashion. Most of these orders are hand-made from the workshops in France making the orders to be as per a clients’ specification. On the other hand, Goyard also manufactures wallets, totes, and handbags that target men, women, that are luxury conscious because of the strictness attached to the making of the products. The trunks also attract specification applications in which a trunk maker may design one by working with the specifications given to them for particular trunks meaning that they tend to be different from each other. Goyard has for a long time made use of the serial number and initial placement of the trunks designs, which makes it easy to trace the specific customer orders. Jean Michal Signoles came up with this tracking system when he took up operations at the helm of Goyard where the trunk makers register the serial numbers in the manufacturing resister that is helpful when there is the need to repair the sold goods. As per the company records, the company has at least twenty trunk makers working in Goyard workshops that specialize in sided luggage and made-to-order trunks. On the contrary, Goyard has also positioned itself in the Japanese market by operating in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka meaning that the business has an international market presence. Further, Goyard has establishments in London, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Sao Paolo and Taipei among a list of other major cities. Goyard’s promotional strategy Remarkably, Goyard uses the original interlaced chevron patterns as compared to other luxury brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton (Chevalier & Mazzalovo 2012, pp. 171). In terms of distribution, Goyard has at least ten stores worldwide with its main show room being in Paris that displays its strong brand to its customer base. Unlike many of the twenty first century businesses, Goyard does not make use of the advancement in technology to advertise its products as this does not seem to draw their competitors to taking their already established market from them (Kazmi & Batra 2008, pp. 83). In essence, the only form of advertising that Goyard has relied on over their ears is that of word of mouth in which their clients put in good words for their products that in turn translate into high sales to their targeted market segment. In 2010, Goyard up scaled its promotional strategy by launching an anniversary book that displayed the history of the Goyard family and the company’s achievements in the 1900 Paris Epo Universelle. The pages reflected the photographs of the techniques that the Goyard family made use of when developing their products in an attempt to meet the demands of the aristocrats in the society. The sale of the anniversary books totaled two hundred and thirty three pieces, fetching the company at least six thousand dollars in sales, and were only available to clients and collectors. According to analysts, Goyard spends zero on advertising from its year of establishment to date and does not have designers employed to generate stylish brands for the company, but its profit percentage goes up to ninety percent. This makes the brand to be among the acknowledged luxury goods brands because of the specialized products that they offer to their market. The idea that propels the swelling sales of Goyard products is the fact that the company offers personalized services to its aristocrat consumers using monograms and in other cases special stripes. Essentially, Goyard uses the monograms for luggage personalization, which is an age-old tradition that began in Europe where the wealthy travelled using identical luggage that had numbering to differentiate the owners. Back then, it was not a fashion sense, but in the twentieth century, Goyard has adopted this practice where they develop unique customs, numbers, or initials that help in differentiating the identical-looking luggage. However, this practice differs across nations, depending on their traditions where in France they monogram luggage with the owner's initials while in the UK Goyard may use the luggage owner’s first and last name as monograms. The other fact that makes the Goyard to have embraced the personalized tradition is the fact that they hand paint all their monogram patterns on Goyardine canvas using naturally made colour pigments hence allowing for elegance and adaptability. In the past, Goyard used dark colours to characterize its brand, but Signoles introduced new and bright colours to suit the diverse personalities. This has in turn attracted a huge aristocrat market but the company has not made any intentions to expand its stores to be a matter that it would undertake in the future. Signoles intimates that the decisions not to expand revolves around the desire to maintain its command and elegance in the market rather than focusing on edging out their competitors. Signoles also reintroduced classic styles for handbags after going through Goyard’s archives making the company to reinvent style when it comes to the manufacture of handbags and wallets (Gerval 2009, pp. 202). Other than making orders online, Goyard also makes free delivery and shipping to the clients that purchase their products across the globe. The marketing mix for Goyard luxury handbags Ideally, Goyard as a brand falls in the category of brands that have limited awareness whose only specialization is for a targeted population in a market. This makes Goyard products to be Connoisseur brands because they do not strive to achieve awareness as their products tend to target to narrow and selected insiders. For instance, Goyard operates an online registration portal that allows its clientele to run accounts that they may use when making orders rather than having to make their orders via phones. In contrast, star brands seek to establish unlimited brand awareness that is beyond their target group. Essentially, Goyard is not a household name and only those that are aware of its existence get to know about the products that they have on the market making it a private sale affair. The beauty of this is that those that cannot afford these products may not know of the existence of such expensive brands as star brands tend to influence those that do not fall under their market reach to associate their brands with success. 2. The buyer process for Goyard products As mentioned above, the only criteria that Goyard customers use in making purchase is via email and not on any other avenue. Over the years, many have reported cases of making purchases of fake Goyard products hence losing a lot of money through unscrupulous businesspersons. Unlike other businesses that make sales online through trading websites, Goyard does its online sales in a discrete manner and allows registered customers to make inquiries regarding the products that they may have for sale. Other details communicated through this medium are the shipping details and the cost for the products hence making any other source of information delivery channel to be unreliable. Goyard also uses a remarkable policy as it makes replies to emails directly from its Paris headquarters through one of its staff members. This means that any information delivered from any other source may not be accurate in terms of the pricing of the products or the charges that may surround the purchase of these products. At this stage, simple changes to the ordered goods may apply such as the adding up of stripes or owner's initials where applicable. The confirmation of the customer specification may take some time and might involve confirmation messages sent by an employee at the Goyard HQ in Paris as their commitment is on delivering as per a customer’s specifications. Once the transaction is complete, the shipping within Europe is less VAT as Goyard makes deliveries at various airports through its official carrier Goldwings Airlines while any claims made outside the airport may attract charges. Most fashion analysts indicate that Goyard attract high prices because of the craftsmanship that goes into hand painting as this is relatively the work of one individual. The hand pointer does this one colour at a time and has to factor in the specifications given by the customer. In some instances, Goyard may make a crown print on the trunks that they manufacture for their clients as long as they can provide proof that they have a lineage of royalty. In the end, the paintings made on each of Goyard’s products are different while the painting job may also be by the same individual because Goyard does not have an individually registered hand carve pattern. 3. Luxury Brand Recommendations Ideally, Goyard does not seem to have applied all the four Ps that are pricing, promotional strategies, place, and product involved in the marketing mix effectively in order to achieve customer satisfaction (Gitman & McDaniel 2009, pp. 295). However, this seems to be working to their advantage as they have managed to retain their customers over the years despite the change of administration from the Goyard family to Signoles. The quality levels have remained the same with the price ranging from one thousand, five hundred dollars to six thousand depending on the product and the specifications required by the customer. However, Goyard has maintained its niche in selling products associated with aristocrat families without capitalizing on the promotional strategies that other luxury brands use when it comes to making the market aware of their products. In many parts of the globe, Goyard products are not known as they only associate with a selected few because of the perception that making it known would decrease its value and its customer base. However, Goyard should also strive to reach out to a wider aristocrat market because the word of mouth may not be as effective in reaching a wider target market. With the advancements in technology, Goyard should also ensure that they make use of social media platforms to address the needs and specification requests made by customers rather than relying on email alone (Miletsky 2009, pp. 82). Further, Goyard should also allow many employees to handle the customer specification requests because this will reduce the time spent in ascertaining the customer needs because only one person from the Paris HQ performs this task. This would be essential in increasing the number of completed transactions made by the company hence translating into higher sales. Further, the company should consider expanding its workshops and stores from the standing number perceived to be twelve and open up in other regions rather than Asia and Europe. In essence, Goyard seems not to have exhausted its market fully because of the assumption that other parts of the world may not afford their luxury brands. Rather than having a selected community of registered clients, the company should also explore other avenues for promoting their products and communicating the prices attached to their various products such as producing catalogues and other publications (Kapferer & Bastien 2008, pp. 24). Further, they might also consider the use of other materials to create their luxury brands rather than remaining faithful to the Goyardine canvas that the company has used since it began operations. This means that Goyard should take up more market risks in order for the company to be a better market player and a reputable brand (Damodaran 2008, pp. 362). They can also produce a line that is less expensive in order to attract a new target market making their products accessible to all and help in the establishment of a strong brand. Evidently, promotional activities tend to influence the consumer behaviour and their emotions towards certain products and Goyard may not be exceptional. For instance, this company has an emotional bond with its client base because it applies craftsmanship and by attending to the individual specifications given by their customers. This creates an element of trust and authorship because this helps the customers to feel as though they are part of the product development process. Conclusion Rather than developing products then taking them to the market, Goyard applies the concept of developing products that would meet consumer needs, which enhances customer satisfaction (Faarup 2010, 24). On the contrary, Goyard also offers after purchase services such as shipping to the clients at no cost, which to them serves as a promotional strategy that builds customer loyalty. This has served as one of the principle reasons that Goyard has maintained its registered customer base for years because of the element of trust the company’s operations influence. The brand associates with royal families and a host of celebrities because of its safe way of availing its products to its market because their products are relatively expensive. Goyard also seems to have capitalized on cash-rich class in society as the word of mouth that their customers put out for them allows the company to attract desirable profit margins. However, Goyard should put up accessible online stores that do not allow access to a few, but to a wider consumer market. Bibliography Boogert, K. 2012. Frommer's Paris 2013. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. Chevalier, M., & Mazzalovo, G. 2012. Luxury brand management a world of privilege. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. Damodaran, A. 2008. Strategic risk taking: a framework for risk management. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Wharton School Pub. Faarup, P. K. 2010. The marketing framework. Aarhus, Academica. Farameh, P. 2008. Luxury for cats. Kempen, Germany, TeNeues. Gerval, O. 2009. Fashion accessories. London, A & C Black. Gitman, L. J., & McDaniel, C. D. 2009. The future of business: the essentials. Mason, OH, South-Western Cenage Learning. Kapferer, J.-N., & Bastien, V. 2012. The luxury strategy: break the rules of marketing to build luxury brands. London, Kogan Page. Kazmi, S. H. H., & Batra, S. K. 2008. Advertising & sales promotion. New Delhi, Excel Books. King, P. W. 2009. Climbing Maslow's pyramid. Leicester, Matador. Miletsky, J. I. 2009. Principles of Internet marketing: new tools and methods for Web developers. Boston, Mass, Cengage Course Technology. Newman, R. C. 2010. Computer security: protecting digital resources. Sudbury, Mass, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Read More