Co-branding: The Techno Hoodie - Essay Example

? CO-BRANDING: THE TECHNO HOODIE Introduction Co-branding refers to the combination of two or more brands to make a new product. It is a concept that has in recent times gained much attention and significance owing to the fact that it has a role in creating synergy. Different companies are trying to integrate their brands with the aim of fostering synergy. The main advantages of co-branding include the achievement of increased sales alongside the gain of a wider market and customer base. It provides an instrumental tool in handling every marketing issue from building preliminary customer awareness and to fostering customer loyalty for the new product (Doshi 2006). Beem (2010) reckons that if carefully prepared and properly executed, co-branding is one of the best strategies that can be used to penetrate markets, survive financial down times and even grow. Taking the strongest elements of one brand and combining these with the best complementary brands to create a new product can in fact lead to the potential worth of the new product being greater than that of the sum of the two products (synergy). Gap Clothing and Apple I-pod The two brands chosen for co-branding in this case are GAP - a popular brand from the apparel industry, and Apple - one of the most popular brands in the music/technology industry. To make the new product, GAP’s hoodies and Apple’s iPod will be combined to create clothing from GAP that encompasses Apple’s slogan and promotes the values that Apple stands for. The new product is to take advantage of the position of the two in their specific markets and further strengthen their image of being trendy and cool. Visual of the New Product: The Techno Hoodie The form of presentation of the co-branded product will be a techno hoodie. A hoodie is a sweatshirt characteristic of a hood and is regarded as the most important cultural product of the Western world in the 20th Century. McCartney (2008) contends that hoodies are the only commodity the current generation will be remembered with, and given the popularity of the hoodie; it is difficult to argue against this. It is urban apparel, often made of cotton or poly-blend and is usually in the form of a zipper-front or pullover (Kayne 2011). Hoodies are regarded as unique urban clothes, forming the fashion statements of many people. The new product will be a representative of a one-of–a-kind style and will bear screen-printed designs on its back as are popular with many people. The techno hoodie will come in two types: 1. A pullover hoodie, which will have one single, large pocket in the front 2. A zipped hoodie: which will have a zipper dividing the front and the pocket into two Instead of the usual material or poly-blend material strings, the drawstrings of the hoodies are going to be high-quality iPod headphones, a design that will be unique and trendy. The pockets will be designed to be holding the iPods among other things. The hoodies will be designed in different colors to match with the range of colors the iPod comes in. The designs on the hoodies will include the two logos; GAP and Apple written either as graffiti or just plain, alongside decorations regarded as cool including elements of anime and pop culture. Creation of a Brand Image Techno hoodies are the next-best-thing in the apparel market with a promise to be fashionable into the future. A combination of the high level of comfort, capacity to hold the iPod and an image of being cool and trendy and subscribing to pop culture results in a scenario in which techno hoodies are going to be massively popular into the future. “The market for this item should be huge as anyone who likes taking walks, working out, or most young adults will love these” (TEP 2011). Such reviews indicate that techno hoodies are not only a hit now but also what can be termed as “futuristic clothing”. Therefore the two brands will collaborate to make clothing that accommodates the vast music collection of the youth. GAP will provide the trendiest, top-notch clothes complemented by iPods, a sure way to make the youth stand out from the crowd. With hip attire and an iPod dangling from the pocket, people are going to create the ultimate fashion statement. Hence, a product that is in love with one’s iPod as much as the person is and showcases this by its “gadget grabbing pockets galore” (Crislip 2011) will be created Reasons for choosing Apple and GAP To create a product that would not only be cool and trendy but also popular in the target market, equally fashionable and popular brands had to be selected. Apple is regarded as a very prestigious brand in the youth. In one survey, 60.9% of the participants agreed that it had more respect than other brands. The reasons for Apple being considered as a top brand by the youth as shown by the statistics is mainly due to its simplicity. This simplicity, as projected by Apple, entails convenience and design, and as Hall (2007) puts it, Apple “actually delivers hipness to a brand”. Respondents of the survey said that Apple’s products do not have any excess and that they are easy to use, clean and simple (Hall 2007), citing these as some of the factors that make the brand so popular. Further testimony to Apple’s popularity is given by Evans (2007), showing that Apple’s US website traffic grew by 42% in April 2007, making Apple the thirteenth biggest US web property. On the other hand, GAP has a brand image that promotes casual sportswear. In a near similar fashion to Apple, convenience and comfort were cited as the two driving components behind the brand. GAP’s products are exciting and fun (Michman & Mazze 2001). According to Famous Logos (2011), GAP is one of the famous clothing and accessories retailers in the world, owning classic brand names including Athleta, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Piperlime. Paying heed to customer opinions is one of the reasons GAP’s popularity has increased considerably. Target Market The two parent brands; Apple and GAP, know that the youth cannot be detached from their music when travelling. The main target market therefore is the youth, especially from ages 13 years to 25 years. The youth market though a lucrative area is hard to infiltrate from outside, requiring prospective brands to speak the language of the young people, which involves understanding the subculture of the youth. It is for this reason that the techno hoodies will bear elements of graffiti, anime and pop culture. The group of hoodies is a much-maligned group and acquires its energy from rebellion (Stokes & Lomax 2008). Young people are particularly adventurous, interested in new products and ready to experiment with different brands which makes them a lucrative market (Lange 2010). They are always looking out for new, up-to-date and improved products (explains the popularity of the parent products GAP and Apple). Lange (2010) further states that the key to cracking the youth market is to understand what resonates with them. The techno hoodie takes all these considerations in its design and packaging and as a result is expected to have no problems in penetrating the target market. Subsidiary markets will include individuals above that age bracket who are young at heart. To target such markets, a line of techno hoodies which is less rebellious will be created. Plainer versions of the hoodies (lacking pop culture decorations) are expected to be acceptable in the older generation. Competitors Competition is expected to be from SeV Ultimate Hoodie - iPod-Friendly Sweatshirt made by Sun Valley’s ScottEvest apparel designers (Crislip 2011) which is aimed at enabling young people to take stuff to school. Its main strengths lie in a scuba style hood, strong stitching and multiple pockets while its main let down is the bulky head phone tabs in the neck. This competition is expected to be off-set due to several reasons, one of them being that GAP is arguably a bigger brand than ScottEvest hence the proposed techno hoodie has a large base market to start with. The simpler design and lack of over-emphasis is also expected to win over a larger share of the market. Besides, a massive advertising campaign for the techno hoodie especially through social media will also make it much popular. There are several other minor cases of competition to be expected including HoodieBuddie, who specialize in replacing the strings on the hoodie with earbuds. The front right pocket of their hoodies contains a 3.5mm jack for connecting to an iPod. Its main selling point is centred on enabling one to listen to music without the wires getting entangled hence convenience (Hannaford, 2010). Another expected source of lost market share involves individuals making their own techno hoodies instead of purchasing one. The former competition can be managed since the hoodie is not packaged as a co-branding product- it does not draw gains from popular brands as compared to the GAP and iPod techno hoodie. The self-made ones on the other hand will also lack the synergy of co-branding and the professionalism put into the manufacturing process of the techno hoodie. National Events to be Associated with the Techno Hoodie The hoodies can be worn on a National level Charity drives. For example, charity drives to raise money for the victims of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, where musicians from different parts of the country are invited. A campaign to associate the hoodies with charity activities will be undertaken especially through being one of the main sponsors of such events. Youths can be encouraged to wear these hoodies on such occasions. Benefit concerts have been organized by the music industry for Hurricane Katrina e.g. Aaron Neville, Harry Connick, Faith Hill performed in the Aaron Neville, Harry Connick and Faith Hill ‘A Concert for Hurricane Relief’. A number of smaller concerts were organized for raising funds for the victims such as those organized by Gospel Angels, New Yorker Benefit, One Country among others. A special line of hoodies can be made with decorations bearing messages of climate change and adopting green technologies. Such can be worn in events such as national tree planting days and environmental conservation functions and conferences. Since “going green” is an issue dear to most people, green technologies, sustainable production and conservation measures will be adopted in the production of the hoodies including adoption of the 3R system where possible and reduction of wastes. This is expected to win over public goodwill and give value and satisfaction to those wearing the hoodies. Conclusion Co-branding has recently gained much attention because it has the capacity to take advantage of the popularity of two popular brands and result in creation of synergy in the co-branded product, enabling firms to gain new markets and more sales. GAP and Apple were selected to create a co-product owing to their huge popularity and market base. The two are also regarded as cool and trendy which is in line with the type of product that is be created. The techno hoodie will be a fashionable sweat-shirt made by GAP, with the strings replaced by iPod headphones and the pockets designed to conveniently contain the iPod. The hoodies will come in two designs; a zipper-front and a pullover hoodie and the decorations on them will have elements of pop culture, anime and graffiti. The main target market for the hoodie will be the young generation between 13-25 years, with the reasoning being their love for trendy things. Although competition does exist, it will be offset by the superior design of the proposed techno hoodie and the popularity of both the parent brands. To further strengthen the brand, the techno hoodie will be associated with national charity activities and environmental conservation functions for which special editions will be designed and the youths will be encouraged to wear these to such events. Hence, the techno hoodie is going to be popular in the market. References Beem, D, 2010, The Case for Co-branding, Forbes.com, retrieved 11 August, 2011, . Crislip, K, 2011, SeV Ultimate Hoodie - iPod-Friendly Sweatshirt, About.com, retrieved 8 March, 2011, . Doshi, G 2006, Co-Branding, Ezine Articles, retrieved 8 March, 2011, . Evans, J 2007. Apple’s Popularity Surged in April: Traffic to iPod maker’s site grows 43%, Macworld, retrieved 11 August, 2011, . Famous Logos, 2011, GAP Logo, retrieved from http://famouslogos.us/gap-logos/ Hall, C 2007, Trendsetting Brands, retrieved 8 March, 2011, . Hannaford, K 2010, Apparel: Hoodie with Earbuds instead of Strings is the greatestipod Accessory of all, retrieved 12 August, 2011, . Lange, K 2010. Cracking the Youth Market Online, retrieved 11 August, 2011, . McCartney, A 2008, The end of the World book: a novel, Terrace Books, Wisconsin. Michman, RD & Mazze, EM 2001, Specialty retailers: marketing triumphs and blunders, Greenwood Publishing Group. Kayne, R 2011, What is a hoodie, Wise Geek, retrieved 8 March, 2011, Stokes, D & Lomax, W 2008, Marketing: a brief introduction, Cengage Learning EMEA, London. TEP, Jon 2011, Techno Hoodies, HubPages, retrieved 8 March, 2011, . Read More