Satisfying Customers Needs - Essay Example

Analytical Report s Analytical Report Brand management is a diverse yet a crucial phase of marketing campaigns, especially for large scale companies or organization. Given the information explosion and the diversity of products available in the market, every brand is often found struggling with telling its own unique story to the world as part of its brand management strategy. Therefore, in this advanced world, brand management is more than just devising a campaign or strategy to spread the word, instead, it is more of an interactive mode of communication where interconnectivity with the potential consumers is crucial. As a plus point, this aspect of marketing broadens the scope of brand management allowing more experimentation of the professionals, however, on the negative side, any wrong turn can lead to a disastrous situation affecting the brand badly. To prove the point, Lululemon Athletica can be taken as a case study, since erroneous communication on part of the company`s chairman cost a huge deal of revenues to the company. In addition to pointing out the flaws in the communication strategy of the company, various suggestions would also be included in the paper. These suggestions include devising a consolidated communication strategy, developing a concrete customer service representation forum, complaint handling cell and developing a positive sentiment for the brand by utilizing various strategies. Therefore, after an extensive analysis of Lululemon brand, the significance of communication management and brand management will very well be stated. Prior to commenting on the company`s brand management policies, it is crucial to give an introduction to Lululemon. Lululemon Athletica is a brand which offers yoga inspired apparel with a promise to give one of its kind experiences via purchasing the products. The store is located in Vancouver, Canada where the customers often purchase the apparel advertised elsewhere. The brainchild of the brand is Dennis Wilson who founded the company back in 1998 as a reaction to an increased ratio of women participating in sports (EBSCO Publishing Firm 2000). Thus, Wilson aimed at redefined yoga and sports apparel and thus offer a product line to attain athletic excellence in this modern age with varying needs. Therefore, he opened up his first store in a Vancouver neighborhood at a design studio which was his retail store. Currently, the brand possesses around 201 stores with major stores being operational from North America. However, a few stores are also operational in New Zealand and Australia. In addition, show rooms are also found in Great Britain and Hong Kong. Moreover, Lululemon apparel and products are also being sold at various fitness studios in various countries. Therefore, though the original factory lies in Canada, the production capacities further expanded in 2004 to factories in China, Taiwan. USA and other similar states. (Lululemon Athletica 2005) In the past, Lululemon has relied on exceptional corporate philosophy as part of its brand management strategy which also led to enhanced profits and increased customer loyalty. For instance, back in 2011, the brand started printing lines like ‘Who is John Galt?’ on a few of its shopping bags with the intent to feature the author i.e. Ayn Rand and pay tribute to one of her novels i.e. Atlas Shrugged via their online mediums. In addition, Wilson who is the chairman of the brand, originally aimed at elevating the world to greatness from the world of mediocrity which has been the sole selling point of the products since a long time (Gabriel 2014). In addition, Lululemon has promised to create products which ensure that people live not only long and healthy, but also fun lives. Also, Lululemon has been strictly particular about the seven core values which it aims at instilling in its employees to product a culture highly desired by Wilson as part of its brand strategy. That is, the principles of quality, integrity, product, entrepreneurship. Balance, fun and greatness must all be ensured; alongside instilling the truth checking devices as key to inspiration i.e. the employees and the staff must be inspired on a routine basis to produce one of its kind products. Also, another interesting feature is that the artists of the company don`t acquire copyrights of Lululemon, rather of themselves which further enhances their interest in the work. In addition, the company offers a vibrant workplace and also various health benefits and also growth opportunities for its employees and various customers at their store locations. However, while all was going too well for the company and the stock prices were reaching new heights with every new product line, the last year proved to be detrimental to the success of the company. Though Chips Wilson, the founder and chairman of the company, was originally being seen as an interesting person and innovator, yet the recent course of events prove that the reality is contrary to what was originally being expected of him. In the context, an analysis of brand failure after the launch of new pants range indicates that the errors or flaws in the strategy were two fold. That is, firstly, the brand places a high price tag on athletic products for promise a quality and design unparalleled by other ordinary brands. Therefore, the promise of offering a unique yet a satisfying product for its loyal customers must be kept at any cost, and in the present scenario where the customers are better aware of reality than they were at any point of time in the past, deceiving strategies will only cost the company in terms of image and also its profits. Secondly, even if there is a flaw in the products line or any of the products in the range, it would always be counterproductive to put the blame of any other party, let alone the customers. That is exactly what can be pointed out in this case study where a massive failure to communicate effectively on part of Wilson proved to be a big blow to the Lululemon profits. In other words, Lululemon had brought out its new range of yoga pants which promised not only a unique high end design but also comfort and quality. Therefore, the loyal customers who trusted the company`s claim bought the pants for $94 solely to seek comfort and quality. However, soon after, the products started gathering criticisms from the customers as the yoga pants had many internal defects in terms of design and also quality. The women complained of poor quality of fabric due to which the pants got ripped, also the design was quite uncomfortable for most women as it proved to be quite revealing. Furthermore, the fabric of the black yoga pants which was supposed to be of high quality was see-through which caused major embarrassment for many women. In addition, there were complaints that the fabric also shed color after sweating (Lewis & Dart 2014). Therefore, there was an immense outcry amongst the public with a huge number of complains registered at their office. However, compromising on quality was only one aspect of failure, which could have been controlled, yet another bigger blunder on part of Wilson led towards further deterioration of the society. Any company owner understands how the customers are the primary actors of any dealing and how their satisfaction is critical to any brand. Therefore, Wilson ignore the marketing plea i.e. ‘customer is always right’, and instead ended up pointing fingers at his own loyal customers. That is, Wilson demonstrated poor judgment and leadership on his part by putting the entire blame of his products on the customers which proved to be a blow to the profits of the company. Wilson straight forwardly stated that if the yoga pants ripped apart, there was nothing the company could have done to avoid it since the products are not meant for ‘bulky’ women. Therefore, not only did he shy away from responsibility, he also failed to communicate the central issue and instead ended up annoying many women. His comments were taken as quite sexist and biased, also his products were now viewed with a biased eye, which caused massive outcry and thus, the customers ended up further cursing Lululemon for its failed strategy. Also, many influential women affected by the ‘rude’ comment of Wilson were now lobbying against the company. In addition, Wilson further annoyed his own CEO to such an extent that she ended up submitting a resignation. Therefore, the newer image of the brand came off as being anti-women which was anti-thesis to the original brand philosophy. In other words, the damaged could very easily have been avoided by replacing the product with better quality and offering incentives to customers, or merely by giving a public apology. Thus, the basic damage was done not via faulty products, instead via failure to communicate. So much so that the stockholders got irritated enough to file a case against Lululemon of hiding the defects in the products, since once the customers lose confidence in a product, the shareholders do as well. As a result, the stocks saw an immense decline most drastic in history. (Coine, Babbit & Pabon 2014) However, brand management is not a static process rather a dynamic one which oversees immense change in mood and strategy as the course of events unfold. Therefore, Lululemon can also undergo a strategy change and mitigate the losses by applying an effective communication strategy to redefine its brand. This would have to begin with a public apology by clearly stating that the statement was implied to state that the bulky women weren’t the center of attention for Lululemon products. To counter the situation, women can be given additional discounts, and a campaign can be coordinated to celebrate women of all sizes to demonstrate how all women are equal for the brand. Also, a new quota to higher women can be incorporated to win back the loyalty of these women customers. In addition, efforts must be made to retain the CEO and if not possible, the new CEO must also be a woman of high stature to give a strong message. These communication strategies must be utilized via social media and mainstream media, also news media must be utilized to send a strong message. The strategy can be coupled with offering huge discounts and additional points to those who had bought the faulty pants to prove that the company takes the complaints seriously. Also, a revamped complaint cell must be established online with more transparency and an apt response system to demonstrate how Lululemon is the people`s brand. In addition, the company must never again submit to lower quality standards since the company`s high point lies in the quality and not otherwise. More than anything else, Wilson himself will have to make a change in his attitude to show how he has a positive outlook on life and a respect for women, as effective communication is the key to success. Therefore conclusively, a strong brand management is the measure of success of the company. However, brand management is not a static process and rather a dynamic one, which implies that the company must invest in its branding strategy critically. Also, communication is the key to success and the case study of failures from Lululemon brand says volumes about how the company responds to complaints and voice of the customers. In other words, the decline in stock prices of Lululemon doesn’t as much relate to the customer complaints as it does to miscommunication and wrongful handling of situation, where Wilson ended up blaming the customers for the declined quality. Yet, all is not gone, and if Lululemon still learns the lessons and gets professional help from brand managers where a revamped strategy will lead towards building trust of the customers towards the brand. Therefore, enhanced and effective communication is one of the most relevant tools of brand management which must never be understated since the needs of the customers can only be gauged and satisfied by employing effective strategies. References Coine, T., Babbitt, M., & Pabon, A. (2014). A world gone social: How companies must adapt to survive. EBSCO Publishing (Firm). (2000). Lululemon Athletica Inc. Gabriel, J. V. (2014). Case studies in sustainability management. Lululemon Athletica Inc. (2005) SWOT Analysis. (n.d.). MarketLine, a Datamonitor business. Read More