Contemporary Marketing Fashion - Report Example

Assignment: Reflective Report Affiliation The Consumer Any business enterprise is centered on satisfaction (Oliver, 2010). Many of the services and products offered by any business are always tailored to meet the needs of the customer and it is for this reason that the customer forms the core of any business unit. In this project, our customers are entirely students. The study done during the inception of the idea focused on several issues outlined below. The defining product category seems an easy task, however, (Varley, 2006) notes that product category may not be an easy task for any products. He further notes that a number of factors come into play when considering specific product category. He notes the following factors when determining product category: How consumers determine one’s category: he points out that a consumer-centered definition would include all product categories that meet the needs of the consumers that are similar. For example, if one opens a snack shop, it would require one to stocks all kinds of snacks rather than a single line of product. How retailers define one’s category: In this case, if one opens a retail shop, it may require one to stock a specific product line rather than a mix of different lines. How the management may determine the category: He points out the influence the internal management of an enterprise may exert in determining the kind and range of products to deal with. The influence of IRI/Nielsen on product category: He notes that IRI/Nielsen category name is a crucial factor that needs to be considered when buying a database. One should check the availability of one’s items and those of the competitors. Taking these factors into consideration, the product category employed exclusively covers the trendy fashion wear for the teens. It however, includes similar products offered under the brand name of Valentino SPA, this would ensure the target customer market will be fully covered and ensure continued growth of the business. Our chosen market group includes teens that comprise of women and men. Therefore, the product category will be customer determined. Most of the visits we made to fashion shops revealed that most of the products are expensive and are tailored to cover a large client base. There was no shop, which tailored their fashion trends and prices to be pocket friendly, especially teen wear. In my market research, it was clear that teens love to fashions (Easey, 2009). Most of the advertisements seen on the internet used teens. This is a revelation that youth, love fashion. For instance, the teens require new clothes to impress their friends or to wear when parting. Many college competitions are a source of glamour for teens (Posner, 2011). These facts were a huge motivation is designing my plan. There exists a great room for expansion in the fashion market (Estelami, 2005). Youths are spendthrifts and this pose a great potential in the market. From my market research study, it was clear that the youths are socialites and love-getting access to websites containing what they feel is appealing to them. This offers a good chance for the business to reach the target market group. The target market, as revealed by my market research, shows that teens love fashion, which are trendy (Hines, 2001). Though the brand name is a factor, teens would love to get what is current and in the market. They like to get associated with their icons (Shankar, 2008). This offered a major area of concern in dealing with specific brand names. Brand Positioning The success of any enterprise is determined by the way the product or service is perceived by the customer. Therefore, it is vital to create a positive perception of the product or service in the eyes of the consumer (Riezebos, 2011). With Valentino for All, a number of factors were taken into consideration. After determination of target market, Valentino for All had to be positioned in the minds of the target market to ensure steady market growth and achieve projected revenue values. Teens are easily influenced by strong brand names (Danesi, 2008); therefore, the choice of Valentino brand name would help cement the market for my product line. My brand name sums up the products available and it conveys functional and emotional satisfactions. It is through these two key factors that Valentino for All was chosen. Brand loyalty as put by Joseph (2010), is an act of emotional response. To help to build on brand loyalty it has to go beyond mere promise that the product is good and offers what the customers need. It has to embrace a number of factors, for example, product promotions that include telemarketing and advertising. Valentino for All draws its loyalty from the Valentino brand name. In my decision of the absolute product market positioning, a number of factors came into consideration. These factors were analyzed to ensure a perfect mix was achieved, which would create brand loyalty and achieve a sizeable market share and growth. The enterprise will draw market positioning through the following ways: Brand Extension: The business enterprise is an extension of Valentino Spa. The Valentino brand name is a powerful and renowned product and its greater presence and strong market position will help my retail enterprise to exert its presence in the market. This brand name will give my enterprise several attributes. First, since this is a worldwide known brand name, it creates a perception of quality and durability. Secondly, the brand name will serve as a promotional tool for my enterprise and this will help to build an even greater market presence in my enterprise. Lastly, brand extension will create a feeling of trust, which will help, in building product and brand loyalty. Co-branding: My enterprise intends to exploit the idea of using the Valentino brand name to co-brand other supplementary products. Co-branding was considered since it provides a viable means of positioning such products in the market. Co- branding is a powerful marketing tool (Blackett, 1999). Brand-agents: Brand agents are embodiments of particular product. College teens are party people and with the fact that they love trendy stuff, my enterprise will use such teens as its brand agents. The powerful apps that will be available will go a long way in building brand loyalty by creating good market positioning of my product. The products will also benefit from the original Valentino brand name in its marketing and brand positioning. SWOT Analysis: Swot analysis formed one of the basis of determining competitors and how well to place the product in the market to create a good perception among the customers (Bertelsen, 2012). Swot analysis involved the analysis of the following: Strengths of my enterprise in the market Analysis of the enterprise weakness Analysis of available market opportunities And threats examination Strengths – In the market analysis, special attention was paid to the widely known brand name of Valentino to position itself in the market niche. As pointed earlier, the enterprise took the opportunity of the brand name to re-brand its supplementary products. Weakness – After analyzing the strength of my enterprise, special note was taken to study competitor strengths and my enterprise weakness. Many of my competitors had powerful brand names, which formed the weakness of my enterprise, and this provided strong market competition. Opportunities – An analysis of the market showed a great room for potential. The increased technology, globalization and innovation lead to emergence of new styles and thus new products. This provides more room for exploitation in the fashion industry. The great competition by different brand names created the opening of new markets and this provides greater room for investment. Threats – The other important element I took into consideration in building my enterprise plan was the threats that my products would face in the market. The main threats were competition from established brands. I decided that my enterprise would employ co-branding as well as investment in powerful apps to position the products in the market. In conclusion, product positioning plays a critical role in the development of product loyalty and market share. Established brand names give a cutting edge in beating off competition from closest market rivals in the same niche (Kaptan, 2010). My enterprise would use the college teens as my brand ambassadors. Similarly, computer applications will be employed to reach to unexploited market since most teens can be reached through the internet. Logo and Packaging Creating market presence is as vital to the uniqueness of the enterprise logo Taute, 2011). The logo and packing of products help in creating brand loyalty and a good perception of the product in the market. A good logo and good packaging are therefore important in creating product awareness in the market (Terstiege, 2009). The following logo design will be employed by my business enterprise. As can be seen from my logo proposal, it displays the idea of approachability, uniqueness. Besides, it is appealing, and exclusively shows the range of products covered by my business enterprise. My proposed logo has a number of functions that are critical to my enterprise. Zhang (2012) suggests that a well designed logo acts as a marketing communication tool. It identifies the product among other competing products in the market. The uniqueness of my product logo makes it attractive and easy to identify in the market. The logo has a collection of products the enterprise deals in and this provides and instant glimpse on what the customer should expect. Wiedemann (2011) defines the qualities of a good logo as the one which is unique, attractive, applicable to all media and it should not be seasonal. My enterprise logo presence my product and company as displaying high moral standards and observes business ethics and can be used in all the media. The uniqueness of my logo makes it a strong brand image for my enterprise (Wiedemann, 2009). My logo design goes a long way in creating my brand building. The importance of packaging in any business cannot be neglected. DuPuis (2008) defines packaging as a form of business communication. Packing for existing products (re-packaging) and packing for newly created products are essential in any business. Pearson (2013) defines packaging as a form of business marketing that helps to create product differentiation. In the design of my product packaging, the following factors were factored in; Attraction Function Promotion Differentiation Appeal The packaging of my products will be attractive since the target market is teen college girls, an attractive packaging would go a long way in invoking purchase. The display of my products in the shelves would be nice. My design of display will be the one that enables the clients to have a look at the products. The display is designed in such a way that it attracts the clients to come, view, and perhaps make a purchase (Henry, 2012). The arrangement is organized one with front clothes being best designer clothes with nice attractive colors with visible trending brand names. To add to that, my product packaging will have my enterprise logo and colors that will differentiate my products in the market. The enterprise logo and unique colors and accompanying information will help in marketing my products and create brand loyalty. My packaging will also help protect the products from damage and help facilitate purchase decision. Marketing Communication Mix Marketing communication mix refers to specific methods or mechanism, which are used to promote specific products (Richter, 2002). The summary of my marketing communication is represented in the table in the appendix section below. The choice of marketing mix will be designed so that it reaches out to the target clients (Varey, 2002). The methods used will include, social media, celebrity sponsorship, use of emails as well as personal selling. References Blackett, T. (1999). Co-branding: the science of alliance. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Business. DuPuis, S., & Silva, J. (2008). Package design workbook the art and science of successful packaging. Beverly, Mass.: Rockport Publishers. Danesi, M. (2008). Why it sells: decoding the meanings of brand names, logos, ads, and other marketing and advertising ploys. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Easey, M. (2009). Fashion marketing (3rd ed.). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Estelami, H. (2005). Demographic change and the fashion market. Bradford, England: Emerald Group Pub.. Hines, T. (2001). Fashion marketing: contemporary issues. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Joseph, J. (2010). The experience effect engage your customers with a consistent and memorable brand experience. New York: AMACOM. Kaptan, S. S., & Pandey, S. (2010). Brand imitation (Rev. ed.). Mumbai [India: Himalaya Pub. House. Oliver, R. L. (2010). Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer (2nd ed.). Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Pearson, D. (2013). 20 Ps of Marketing a Complete Guide to Marketing Strategy.. : Kogan Page. Posner, H. (2011). Marketing fashion. London: Laurence King. Richter, T. (2002). Marketing mix standardisation in international marketing: an empirical investigation of the degree of marketing programme standardisation in German companies and its internal and external correlates. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Shankar, S. (2008). Desi land: teen culture, class, and success in Silicon Valley. Durham: Duke University Press. Taute, M. (2011). Design Matters An Essential Primer - Brochures, Logos, Packaging, Portfolios.. Minneapolis: Quayside. Terstiege, G. (2009). The making of design from the first model to the final product. Basel: Birkhäuser. Varley, R. (2006). Retail product management: buying and merchandising (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. Varey, R. J. (2002). Marketing communication principles and practice. London: Routledge. Wiedemann, J. (2011). Logo design. Köln: Taschen. Wiedemann, J. (2009). Logo design. Köln: Taschen. Zhang, X. (2012). Excellent: international design yearbook 2012. Beijing: Maidixun chu ban ji tuan you xian gong si. Appendix: Table of Communication Mix Choice of Element Description Effectiveness Rating Single or hybrid element Advertising: Magazine My enterprise will use magazines as this would be most preffered method by college teens. Magazines are widely used in the colleges and this would help create branding of my products Ability to deliver a personal message Low The areas covered would be the type of products and possible a display of the various products in store Ability to reach a large audience High Level of interaction Low Credibility given by target audience Low P.R: Celebrity sponsorship Celebrity sponsorship would be ideal since college teens love being associated with celebrities Ability to deliver a personal message Low The celebrities will adorn some of my products and also display them in their functions Ability to reach a large audience Medium Level of interaction Low Credibility given by target audience High Personal selling: Pop up, Party or event Party will be used since most college teens love to go out and party so this will sell the products well Ability to deliver a personal message High The products will be displayed during the events Ability to reach a large audience Low Level of interaction High Credibility given by target audience Meduim Sales Promotion: Website App (If different from your brand proposal) Website with related apps will be used, since most youths access social sites, this presents the best forum to reach them. Similarly the products will reach a large number of students Ability to deliver a personal message Low My products will be positioned so that it is attractive and more visible than those of my competitors Ability to reach a large audience Medium Level of interaction Low Credibility given by target audience Medium Direct Marketing Email contact Email contact will be used, this will provide direct contact with the clients and provide a way to listen to their preferences Ability to deliver a personal message High The email of clients shall be taken from my company’s website and clients contacted Ability to reach a large audience Medium Level of interaction High Credibility given by target audience Medium Social Media Viral films Page on social media Setting up own blog Use of Pinterest Tweets Social media page will be used. Teens are socialites and follow social media events at large and this will provide best opportunity to reach them Ability to deliver a personal message Ability to reach a large audience Level of interaction Credibility given by target audience High Medium High High Read More