Fashion marketing research - Essay Example

Fashion Marketing of the of the Introduction Consequences and trends in fashion industry are being considered as dynamic and short-lived in nature. Easey (2009) defined fashion as collective summation of periodic succession of fads and short term trends. In simple words, it can be said that longevity of particular fashion trend is being directed by its popularity, its impact on value system of social members and value proposition of fashion brands (Clamp & Bohdanowicz, 1994). According to Easey (2009), fashion industry mainly consist three segments like apparel (clothing), textile and footwear. Due to short-lived nature of particular fashion trend, fashion marketers feel the pressure of continuously upgrading inventory and product offering to customers. Otherwise, it will be difficult for fashion marketers to ensure sustainable relevance to the customer based value proposition being offered by them (Kotler et al., 2001). In order to understand dynamics of fashion market, the study has selected two UK based fashion retailers as case organizations such as French connection and jigsaw. Objective of this study will be to analyze UK fashion market by comparing these two brands. In the last part, based on the analysis, suitable suggestions will be made for improving value proposition for French connection and jigsaw. Section A: Primary Research In order to conduct primary research, author of this essay has visited Jigsaw store located in Duke Street, London and French Connection store located in oxford street, London. Objective of this study had been discussed with incoming customers in both the store. Convenience sampling (non probabilistic sampling) was used for selecting five respondents in each store. Open ended questions regarding perceptions of customers regarding profile/image of these two brands were asked to customers (McGivern, 2009). In case of Jigsaw store located in Duke Street, London; marketer has integrated with juice bar, juke box and coffee shop inside the store while such types of additional amenities were absent in case of French Connection store located in oxford street, London. Strength- according to customers, products offered under “FCUK” of French Connection are quirky and edgy in terms of fashion sense while such shock factor is absent in case of product offering of Jigsaw. French Connection has comparatively grater global presence in comparison to Jigsaw. On the other hand, Jigsaw stores have strong local presence in UK and the company uses lucrative inside store artefacts to engage customers. Customer in the located in Duke Street preferred the vintage brick shaded walls inside the store and classy look of the shop. The entire Jigsaw store ambience is being adjusted in accordance with traditional British culture and idea of relaxed conversation between customers in coffee shop located inside the store. Weakness- according to male customers, French Connection’s offerings is mainly targeted for females. Due to such gender biased perception, sales revenue of the company is growing at a stagnant pace. Customers have pointed out that Jigsaw does not upgrade its inventory on regularly basis. As a result, customers preferring to have latest fashion apparels, look for other retailers instead of Jigsaw. Opportunity- according to customers, French Connection should stress more on “FCUK” and FC72 sub brands for engaging young customer base in the country. Even, the French Connection has the opportunity to use juice bar, juke box and coffee shop inside the store for increasing staying of customers. According to customers, Jigsaw has the opportunity to attract young customer segment by regularly updating fashion inventories and increase range of product portfolio. Threat- all the 5 respondents pointed out that they perceive French Connection and Jigsaw as mere alternatives other large scale retailers like (NXT.L), M&S, Zara and others. French Connection and Jigsaw both face competitive threat from mentioned large players. Profile or images of these two brands are not prominent among brand switchers and young customers in the country. Figure 1: Inside Store Look On the basis primary research data, it has been found that consumers perceive French Connection as a brand that offers quirky and modern fashion merchandises while Jigsaw is being perceived as a brand that offers classy and traditional fashion merchandises. Secondary Research In this paper, qualitative market research approach has been used for analyzing fashion marketing activities of French connection and jigsaw. Primary research is being conducted by doing open ended interview and collected primary data are being analyzed on the basis of their qualitative merit. As part of qualitative market research approach, secondary data sources like academic peer reviewed journals, books, company websites, business report, online articles and data mining reports are being used in order to analyze UK fashion market by comparing these two brands (McGivern, 2009). British Fashion Council (2013) calculated Gross Value Added (GVA) for UK fashion industry. Figure 2: Gross Value Added (GVA) (Source: British Fashion Council, 2013) GVA for UK fashion industry is calculated over £35billions. Actual market value of UK industry is being calculated over £20,000 million (British Fashion Council, 2013). Market proportion of the fashion industry can be illustrated in the following manner. Figure 3: Market Segmentation (Source: British Fashion Council, 2013) Clothing & Footwear is the largest segment (more than 73% of market share) in the fashion industry of UK. According to report published by Mintel (2013), people in the age group of 25-34years are the primary target market for fashion retailers while demand for fashion merchandises is decreasing among people in the age group of 16 -24years. Marks & Spencer is the top player in the industry (having almost 16.0% of market share) while other major players are Next UK (almost 11% market share, Arcadia Group (close to 10% of market share), New Look (2% market share) and Primark Stores (close to 5% market share) (Mintel, 2013). British Fashion Council (2013) reported that demand for fashion apparel is growing at staggered pace due to two reasons, 1- high price of fashion merchandises while disposable income of target segment is decreasing and 2- low brand awareness of customers towards fashion brands. In future, fashion marketers need to stress on competitive pricing strategy in order to attract customers who cannot afford to spend huge amount of money on purchasing fashion merchandises. Current Marketing Position and Competitive Advantage French Connection is renowned global retailer of fashion clothing, homeware and accessories. The company is being headquartered at London, UK (French Connection, 2014). The company was established in the year 1972 and recently, the company has been branded as FCUK (French Connection, 2014). As of 31st December, 2011, the London based fashion retailer has earned revenue of more than £210 million from its business operation. Jigsaw is fashion clothing retailer which mainly focuses on UK market and the company was also established in the year 1972. Target market for the both the company includes four segments. Target Segment 1- women, who prefer to purchase fashionable accessories, bags, beauty items and gift items. Target Segment 2- men, who prefer to purchase accessories and apparels. Target Segment 3- home owners, who prefer to purchase fashionable furniture, bed sheets, rugs, blankets, lighting equipments. Target Segment 4- parents, who prefer to purchase apparels for their children. Marketing segmentation is being done by these two companies on the basis of parameters like gender of respondents, economic status and age of customers (Kotler et al., 2001). On the other hand, in case of French Connection, positioning of the fashion brand is being done on the basis of factors like affordable prices of product offering, quirky design of apparels, fashion-forward clothing solution and superior quality of the products. In case of Jigsaw, positioning of the brand is being done on the basis of factors like eclectic feeling associated with vintage looks of the retail stores, classy fashion merchandise designing and British styled designing of merchandises. Product: recently, French Connection has upgraded as well as segmented its product portfolio into four segments like French Connection regular offerings, French Connection formal offers, FCUK and FC72 (Anton Dell, 2013). Under French Connection regular offerings, core products are being featured such as Womens, Mens & kids collections. Concepts like individual ‘statement pieces’, sophisticated design and clean fabrics are being used for designing regular offerings under French Connection brand (Anton Dell, 2013). Under French Connection formal offers; collections of tailored and refined smart shirts, fine knits and suits are being offered to customers. Concept of “detail quality clothing” (at competitive price) is being used for formal offerings under French Connection brand. Under FCUK offerings, edgier fabrication and designs are being used as basal theme for fashion merchandises. For example, casual wear and authentic denims are being offered under FCUK (Anton Dell, 2013). Under FC72 brand, vintage sportswear and collegiate favourites are being offered. Such level of sub branding and product variation is not present in case of Jigsaw. Product offering of Jigsaw includes fashionable accessories, bags, beauty items, bed sheets, cardigans, cashmere, home accessories, holiday special apparels and gift items. In future context, French Connection and Jigsaw can both upgrade their product strategy on the basis Ansoff Matrix. Figure 4: Ansoff Matrix (Source: Ansoff, 1987) Considering the above matrix, it can be said that both French Connection and Jigsaw can chose the strategy of diversifying product portfolio in accordance to demand pattern in home market. By using this step, these two fashion players can remain relevant among customers instead of getting obsolete due to arrival of new fashion trends. As part of product strategy, French Connection and Jigsaw can also even use “Fast Fashion” concept to keep fresh and designer merchandises stock in the inventory. Other 3P’s of marketing can be adjusted in accordance to the product strategy. Price: most of the products of French Connection are being priced at the range of £9.50 to £200 while products of Jigsaw are being priced at premium level (Anton Dell, 2013). In future, both the company needs to select competitive pricing strategy for its product range in order to compete with players like Marks & Spencer, Next UK, Arcadia Group and others. Distribution: globally, French Connection use licensed, owned and franchised stores for distributing its products but in UK, owned store distribution model is being used by the company (Anton Dell, 2013). Jigsaw also follows centralized owned store distribution channel to sell its fashion merchandises. In future, both the company needs to use decentralized hybrid (licensed, owned and franchised) distribution channel to sell its products in UK. This approach will help both the company to increase geographic coverage as well as decrease marketing cost. Promotion: at present, both the brands focuses more on offline marketing communication techniques like billboards, POS (point of sales) displays, electronic hoardings, print advertisement and radio commercials to promote products. In future context, French Connection and Jigsaw should focus more on digital marketing strategy (social media marketing, Search Engine Optimization, web blogging and others) to promote the brand in cost effective as well interactive manner. References Ansoff, H. I., 1987. Corporate strategy. (2nd ed.). London: Penguin. Anton Dell. (2013). An introduction to French connection. Retrieved from http://www.antondell.co.uk/agency_offers/content/graphics/french_connection/french_connection.pdf. British Fashion Council. (2013). The Value of UK Fashion Industry. Retrieved from http://www.fashion-manufacturing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BFC-The-Value-of-The-Fashion-Industry.pdf. Clamp, L., & Bohdanowicz, J. (1994). Fashion marketing. London: Routledge. Easey, M. (2009). Fashion marketing. (3rd ed.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. French Connection. (2014). About French Connection. Retrieved from https://www.frenchconnection.com/content/marketing/fashion-is-our-business.htm. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Wong, V., & Saunders, J. (2001). Principles of marketing: European edition. London: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. McGivern, Y. (2009). The practice of market research: An introduction. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall/Financial Times. Mintel. (2013). Clothing Retailing - UK - October 2013. Retrieved from http://store.mintel.com/clothing-retailing-uk-october-2013?cookie_test=true. Read More