Fashion Assignment - Armani - Essay Example

? Giorgio Armani INTRODUCTION Giorgio Armani is a very famous fashion house (founded1975) by an Italian designer Giorgio Armani (Steele, 2003). It has always communicated value, luxury and quality with an intricate design to match the needs of its target market. To date, Armani designs, manufactures and distributes many fashion apparel and accessories including haute couture, leather goods, watches, shoes, ready to wear cosmetics, jewelry, eye wear and home interiors. They also have a variety of brands which cater to high class niches as well as upper middle class segments. Along with products, they have entered the services sector too, having cafe’s and hotels worldwide (Fernie et al, 1997; Gindt & Potvin, J. 2013). To best understand the brand design architecture of Giorgio Armani, we fist need to create an understanding of the environment in which it operates. The organizational Map of Armani Armani has diversified into many brand facets, adding more levels to its brands pyramid, with the original Giorgio Armani still at the apex. This shows the pride which it wishes to create for its parent brand, while forwarding its legacy down to the following brands (Funding universe, 2002). The setting up of standards is very crucial for Armani, as whenever, a new brand is launched, it is overseen to be aligned with the set standards of the parent brand itself (Giorgioarmani.com, 2012). Giorgio Armani (at the top of the grid) is a very successful and elite corporate brand with a sole proprietorship; being the first in line showcasing the exquisite collection of couture gowns and suits to match the new fashion trends, targeting the segment of the elite class groups between the age of 35 – 50 with a high range of prices and superior quality (Funding universe, 2002). While targeting the elite class, the line of Armani brands has made sure to target the upper middle class as well. The Armani Collizioni, caters to the segment of customers who love Armani as a brand but cannot afford the originally luxurious Armani and so Collizioni incorporates lower prices than that of its parent brand with a little simpler designs in order to sell to this segment of population (Bruce & Kratz, 2007). Similarly, Armani exchange caters to a very different and casual market grouping with realistic prices, unlike their couture lines. It is for the general public to take pride in wearing Armani and to create an association with the parent brand. Armani exchange is the most affordable and accessible brand in the Armani chain of stores. To be noted here, is Armani’s way of targeting each and every segment in the market while also not decreasing the perceived value and luxurious image of the brand. Each and every segment is targeted with a new name along with the originally created legacy of its parent Brand (Magnoni & Roux, 2011). Going totally diverse from its initial offerings, Armani features a furniture line named as Armani Casa which entails the alluring Armani pride while offering high-end home decor; magnificently designed furniture, lamps, linens and fine dining essentials. In contrast to its other brands, Casa has only 40 stores worldwide which shows their lack of focus towards their range of furnishings. However, to make its furniture line more exclusive, all Armani hotels and Cafe’s are furnished with its own brand Casa (Giorgioarmani.com, 2012). Armani emphasizes greatly on its logo and towards creating its brand image, this is exceptionally evident through its efforts of framing the brand luxury and stressing on the brand name in all its sub brands. For clothing Armani has made sure to cover all market segments with naming its stores differently, however, the parent brand still has been associated with the new store names (Tungate, 2008). Brand Architecture The brand architecture of Armani communicates its marketing philosophy. The way Armani caters to all market segments is by highlighting the uniqueness of the brand itself and through appealing to different population segments based on their personalities (Magnoni & Roux, 2011). Each product class adheres to a different market segment having different personality traits, which Armani tends to serve. Brand Architecture and extension Further examining the brand architecture of Armani, it becomes evident that Armani has not been very keen about its furniture line. There is much scope for Armani to extend its furniture stores and also to enter into further market segments like it did in the case of its clothing line. Marketing even more segments and catering to them will make the brand more appealing and will also be fruitful for the organization itself. An extension in the lifestyle brand will mean that they are able to earn from the neglected population segments as well, which will in turn increase their revenue. This Brand extension should be directed towards two segments; first towards the upper middle class, who are inspired by the brand but cannot afford Armani Casa and second, towards the general public as a whole. Both of these segments have not been catered to by Casa as it has targeted the elite class having superior quality, an unmatched design and high price. They already have followed this strategy in their apparel and so can further inject it within their life style brand as well. They can come up with new names to open new chains of stores targeting new markets all over the world, which will differentiate these two types of stores from the original Armani Casa. These two chains will be able to generate more sales and be more easily acceptable by the people in general as they will be catering to the general public with a variety of products having the luxurious finish of Armani at affordable rates. Not only will this help in boosting sales but will be the next step of Armani in the line of furnishings which can go a long way for the brand. The competition in life style is also relatively low than in the industry of clothing and accessories as there are not many players in the market having furniture stores catering to all market segments. Thus, this will provide Armani a distinct market of its own and will in turn generate abundant amount of revenue. References Bruce, M., & Kratz, C. (2007). Competitive marketing strategies of luxury fashion companies. Fashion Marketing, 130. Fernie, J., Moore, C., Lawrie, A., & Hallsworth, A. (1997). The internationalization of the high fashion brand: the case of central London.Journal of Product & Brand Management, 6(3), 151-162. Fundinguniverse.com (n.d.) History of Giorgio Armani S.p.A. – FundingUniverse. [online] Available at: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/giorgio-armani-s-p-a-history/ [Accessed: 27 Mar 2013]. Gindt, D., & Potvin, J. (2013). Creativity, corporeality and collaboration: Staging fashion with Giorgio Armani and Robert Wilson. Studies in Theatre & Performance, 33(1), 3-28. Giorgioarmani.com (2012) Armani Press [online] Available at: http://www.giorgioarmani.com/pressRelease/pressDetail?prid=1&year=0000&language=EN [Accessed: 27 Mar 2013]. Magnoni, F., & Roux, E. (2011). The Impact Of Brand Familiarity, Branding And Distribution Strategy On Luxury Brand Dilution. Steele, V. (2003). Fashion, Italian Style. Yale University Press. Tungate, M. (2008). Fashion brands: branding style from Armani to Zara. Kogan Page. Read More