Establishing Business in Fashion Industry - Case Study Example

Running Head: Strategic Marketing Plan Name Student Number Unit Unit Coordinator Word Count Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 Product description 3 Vision 4 Mission 4 Smart objectives 4 Core values 5 Hierarchy of strategies 5 Growth management 6 Competitive edge 6 Price leadership 7 Human resource 7 Market research 7 Primary research 8 Secondary research 8 The shop design 8 The marketing mix 9 Micro and macro level attractiveness 10 Segmentation and targeting 10 Differentiation and positioning 11 Conclusions 11 References 12 Executive Summary Fashion is changing the way clothing business is done, how people wear and present themselves. Fashion design has systematically changed people’s lifestyle and clothing world. For the purpose of this strategic marketing strategy, Classic Designers will be the name of the business that will use the exploits of the fashion design to deliver valuable, convenient and quality products. Though fashion design business remains to be fully exploited, many entrepreneurs are venturing in to it. There are few players in the market and therefore there are no strong competitors available. Classic designer is a clothing business that will look to bran and sell designed clothing specifically for women. With a collection of different materials from suppliers, it will make clothes and offer them for sale. This marketing plan provides a good way in establishing business in this unexploited industry. Introduction Peoples lifestyle is subject to increased dynamism due to the ever evolving fashion design and innovation in clothe design. In this regard, there is increased demand for comprehensive strategic marketing for clothes. Furthermore, dramatic change in fashion design is happening frequently and therefore marketing strategies have to be effective. The following strategic marketing plan will address the strategies to compete competitively in the market. Product description The product that will be offered for sale will be women clothes. This will be sold by Classic Designers who will stock and sell a variety of recognised women cloths together will flat shoes for women. Going by assertions of Wilson & Gilligan (2005) the business will offer wide range of stocks of cloths which will be manufactured from different fabrics like silk, wool and cotton which are readily available in different colours, prints and designs. These clothes will be designed using the most up to date fashion trends that customers will like. With the absence of established stores which offer specific women wears, Classic Designers will have an extra advantage in that the market is not saturated. In addition, Classic Designers will be run by persons who are well experienced in dealing with designer clothing. With the manager having more than ten years of experience in designer business, Classic Designers is expected to pick up sales at a very high rate. Furthermore, the location of the business will necessitate sales. This business will be located in Canberra city, after which other stores and selling outlets will be opened in other states of Australia. Classic Designers have no doubt in their customer service, uniqueness and designing of quality clothes and shoes for their customers. These will the designer to be the preferred shopping experience among women and the place for quality, affordable and ever present women wears. Classic Designers have chosen women as their customers because they want to specialize in specific customers as this will avoid missing their best customers. Hausman (2005) suggests that dealing with everybody in the market can make the business to miss its best potential customer. Women clothes sell very fast as women prefer to have a number of clothes according to JAKE MOORE survey on women and clothing. This report has laid the foundation for setting this business. Vision The vision of Classic Designers is “To be renowned women wear designer acknowledged globally for our products setting lifestyle, fashion and trend.” Mission Classic designer’s mission is to provide timely clothing solutions for women at any given time. The business objects to make available clients clothing needs in their convenient manner. It will endeavor to make its services and products inclusive and dynamic for its customers. The products targets women and the business will make available all clothing that women need. It will aim to make its products the better options. Its credibility will be guided philosophy, strong ethics and an objective of service beyond expectations. Smart objectives Raise awareness in target consumer markets. Achieve a profit margin of more than seventy percent. To put up a strong customer base and loyalty. To make repeat sales Create a profitable business and create employment opportunities directly and indirectly for many people. To facilitate convenient products that meets customer aspirations and needs in a design and fashion evolving world. To always acquire market share through networking and be the biggest women wear distributor in Australia To facilitate product branding through a continuous introduction of new products and make them more desirable To expand and increase growth in operations and in asset base as well as establish more outlets all over the country. Core values Have a strong and continuous business liaison with customers and the public at large Empower the workforce to provide the best and take initiative To act honestly and with integrity without compromising truth Inspire to be creative to others. To maintain a good work balance and healthy life for all workers Hierarchy of strategies Classic Designers will have a set of strategies that will direct it. These strategic directions will help it to grow as it implements them. It will as well help in making progress as it develops through its growth stages. Growth management The business owners will diversify the products with a variety of women wears and shoes once it is well established in designer business. The present target market of women can be extended to men wears and children. It will endeavor to bring fashionable styles and designs in its range of products. This will help it to maintain customer base while the designer clothes grow as Hausman (2005) states. Competitive edge The competitive edge of Classic Designers is to present for sale products lines that leave a statement but that would not make the customers poor as Katz & Green (2007) advises. Ultimately, major and special brands are costly and not typical enough to fully satisfy the ever changing taste and references of customers, therefore Classic Designers will put forward products that are at the forefront of the curve and thus within the means and so clients will come back again to the outlets frequently to look out what’s new. By this the Classic Designers will fashion loyal client base that will distinguish Classic Designers as part and parcel of their daily lives. Price leadership The business will make a great effort in ensuring that it has a price leadership. Classic Designers believe that with competitive prices and good quality apparels, it will facilitate the business to acquire and encompass a larger grasp of a bigger market share. Katz & Green (2007) continues to say that it will be sensitive for seasons like in December holidays when fashion is on top and every woman wants to look pretty. The management will keep updated about the trend in women wear products so as to have the right mixture of merchandise at all times. Human resource The business shall hire and retain sales assistants who have passion and interest in women wear and in fashion design as a whole. They will achieve the objectives set out for them; they will as well be productive and loyal. Market research Two types of research were conducted in coming up with this business. These researches are primary and secondary research. Primary research This involved preparation of interviews and questionnaires which were distributed to various shop managers dealing with designer wears as described by Wilson & Gilligan (2005). On a negative note, these were not received in the best of manners as the responses were nowhere near satisfactory, they were not willing to give information at all. Survey of customer satisfaction was as well conducted to women. This is where positive responses were given conquering with the Jake Moore survey report on women wears. Secondary research To get more details on designer business the owners used the internet search engines for getting an in depth information. Search engines such as the yahoo and Google search were used. This was so necessary in order to get to know of the different activities related to designer business. For references, journals and academic books were used for that purpose. This marketing research helped very much in deciding which type of clothing wear to stock and the business name. This is very important as it prevented setting up a business that already exists in plenty. The shop design Kara & DeShields (2005) says that shop design is also very important as it must a look to appeal to potential customers. In this regard, bright, attractive and loud colours that appeal to women must be used. The shop colour and decor must be appealing otherwise it will bore customers and will not have the urge to get in to the shop and buy. Classic designer will take in to account three things in designing the shop. First is the colour, to stick with neutral colours on the floor and walls that much with seasons. Second is the clothing and furniture, having chairs and rest places for customers and design books for them to read. The third is art; keeping staffed animals will create a cosy, cute and add interest as doe’s fresh plans. The shop will display all merchandise that is eye catching in an attractive manner. There will be enough space for customers to walk in freely and walk around as they choose their items of choice from a variety of them. There will as be a trial room for customers to try different clothes. The marketing mix This is an integral tool for marketing. Classic Designers will use this tool to build an effective strategy and implement it with tactics. It will use it to convey to customers what the business will offer and explain the reasons why their products are different and better than those in the market as Simpson & Taylor (2006) explain. Classic Designers have used it as well to strategize about who to target. Have helped to identify the primary customers in designing marketing campaign for the business Marketing mix have aided in deciding the messages and formats to use in identifying the right addressees. Finally the marketing mix will help the business owners to understand how to build and at the same time sell value to its customers. Ultimately, customers will buy what they will perceive is the best value for their money. All this will show off great wears for women at fair prices and thereby give an opportunity to succeed and get better return on the business investment. Micro and macro level attractiveness There are some internal and external factors that make Classic Designers to be attractive. The internal (micro) factors that make this business to be attractive are; suppliers, customers, creditors, distributors, the competitors and owners. They will affect the way the business will get inputs and the way it will discharge the outputs. The business will be more proactive in dealing with these factors. The external (macro) factors are those that affect the business from the market wide forces, they are the political and legal, technological and social cultural factors as Dolnicar (2008) notes. The business will have contingency plan to mitigate such factors if they are unfavourable. It will also take advantage of the politically positive environment to market and make more sales. Segmentation and targeting Quinn & Bennison (2007) defines segmentation as identification of a particular type of customer in a large market. For Classic Designers, they will be dealing specifically with designer clothes and flat shoes for women. This is the segment in which it will be focusing on; it will establish selling outlets and shops all over Australia. By this, Classic Designers have identified common needs and will therefore respond marketing strategy as Brown & Dev (2009) asserts. The business will use different methods to reach the market. The target customers (women) are very many and their buying pattern as per the survey is very often. This makes this market to be very attractive as Coiacetto (2007) explains. Differentiation and positioning Teo & Runeson (2012) explains that product positioning is setting the products above those if the competitors. Communicating value in appealing methods to the targeted customers will have a great influence. The business has already developed a marketing mix for reaching the segments. Classic Designers have tailored a marketing program for the market. It will have products with different attributes, prices, images and services to best meet the customers’ needs. On differentiation, as Rode & Le Menestrel (2008) puts it, Classic Designers will focus on the cost value of the products to ensure that it is low compared to those if the competitors. The business will also create a brand loyalty with the customers. Besides this, the business will put more emphasis on customer interaction and customer focus groups to find out what customers like and don’t like about the products. Conclusions The designer business is an opportunity that is not well exploited. It is this reason that Classic Designers find it prudent to venture in to it. All factors are dictating positive for the business to be established. In Canberra specifically, there a lot of women who are capable of purchasing designer clothes and shoes. More than eighty percent of women in Canberra are employed and therefore the purchasing power of is very high. With fashion industry booming and many women preferring designer clothes, Classic Designers is in for a big business. This strategic marketing plan provides a platform for exploiting the fashion industry. References Coiacetto, E (2007) Residential sub-market targeting by developers in Brisbane Urban policy and research Dolnicar, S (2008) Market segmentation in tourism Hausman, A (2005) Innovativeness among small businesses: Theory and propositions for future research Industrial Marketing Management. Kara, A Spillan, J & DeShields, O (2005) The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Performance: A Study of Small‐Sized Service Retailers Using MARKOR Scale Journal of Small Business Management. Katz, J & Green, R (2007) Entrepreneurial small business McGraw-Hill Irwin. Quinn, L Hines, T & Bennison, D (2007) Making sense of market segmentation: a fashion retailing case European Journal of Marketing. Rode, J Hogarth, R M & Le Menestrel, M (2008) Ethical differentiation and market behavior: An experimental approach Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Simpson, M Padmore, J Taylor, N & Frecknall-Hughes, J (2006) Marketing in small and medium sized enterprises International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 12(6), 361-387. Teo, A & Runeson, G (2012) Aspects of market differentiation in the building industry Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building Wilson, R & Gilligan, C (2005) Strategic marketing management Routledge. Zhou, K Brown, J & Dev, C (2009) Market orientation, competitive advantage, and performance: A demand-based perspective Journal of Business Research. Read More