B R A N D A N A LY S I S VISUAL MERCHANDISING
Life is Fashion
CONTENT About Timeline Brand Identity Prism Target Audience Vision Brand Study - Brand Identity - Brand Strategy - Brand Position Stories from WGSN Visual Merchandising - Theme Board - Refrence Board - Sketch - Alternative VM Options
ABOUT
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. The red colored brand logo H&M is a very strong image and also simple, easy, and memorable. The H&M red logo appears on the shopping bag and black logo is inside of clothes tags. H&M is an apparel retailer which focuses on high fashion and low price strategy. They pioneer ‘fast fashion’ and quickly adopt new trend for their apparel. The collections include everything from dazzling party collections to quintessential basics and functional sportswear for women, men, teenagers and children, for every season or occasion. Fashionable designs, high quality, sustainability, affordable prices and its distribution system are keys to its success and rapid expansion worldwide.
The H&M group – the first 70 years
1947 The first store opens in Vasteras, Sweden, selling women’s clothing. The store is called Hennes
1964 The first store outside Sweden opens in Norway
1980s Store opens in Germany and Netherlands. H&M acquires the mail order company Rowells
1968 The name is changed to Hennes & Mauritz when Erling Persson buys the hunting and fishing store Mauritz Widforss in Stockholm, including a stock of men’s clothing
1970s H&M is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The first store opens outside Scandinavia, London, UK
1990s First store opened in France and online shopping begins in 1998. Newspaper and magazine advertising is complemented by outdoor advertising
2007 - 2009 The first Asian stores opens in Hong Kong & Shanghai. New brand COS is launched in 2007. In 2008, H&M acquires fashion company fabric Scandinavien AB. H&M Home is launched in 2009
2000 The first H&M stores open in the US and Spain
2004 Collaborations start with Karl Lagerfeld, to be followed by collaborations with some of the world’s biggest designers and fashion icons
2017
2014 - 2016 Launch of the first denim garments made using recycled fibres from H&M’s Garment Collecting. Launch of the new H&M Beauty concept in 2016
2006 Major expansion of online shopping at hm.com begins in Europe. The first franchise stores open, in the Middle East.
New brand ARKET is launched. It sets new sustainability goals: to be sustainable by 2030 and climate positive throughout the value chain by 2040
P I C T U R E OF SEN
PHYSI Q UE
E XT E R NA LI Z AT I O N
High quality, Fashion, Traditional
R ELATI O NSHI P Good quality, Affordable prices
R E FLECTI O N Suitable for everyone, Style
P I C T U R E OF REC
N D ER
Trendy, Fashionable, Young, Up-to-date
C U LT U R E European (Norwegian), International, Exoticism, Exclusion
Stylish, Absolute, Unique
BR AN D ID ENT ITY PRISM
S E L F - I MA G E
I NT E R NA LI Z AT I O N
C E I V ER
PERSONALITY
WOMEN H&M includes from daywear to amazing part dresses, via relaxed leisure separates and contemporary maternity apparel
ME N The collection offers smart suits and shirts for work and festive occasions, easy everyday favourites, sports clothing, shoes and accessories
K I DS Offers children fashions that is soft on the skin, yet designed to withstand lively play and rigorous washing
DIV IDE D Covering the spectrum from relaxed basics with sporty influences to eye-ctaching party outfits that will please fashionistas of every age
D E NI M Denim trends and ever-popular classics are available in a variety of colours, designs and washes
A CC E SS ORIE S H&M offers diverse fashion from scarves, belts, hats and jewellery to fashion footwear and bags for women, men, teenagers and children
U ND E RW E A R Great outfits begin closest to the skin. H&M always has soft cotton underwear basics on offer, as well as the hottest trends and glamorous lingerie
H&M H OME The collection offers towels, bed linen, curtains and other home textiles in trendy colours and prints, as well as home decor items in glass, metal and wood
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target market for H&M is for younger people. The target customers of H&M belong to the group of fashionable and trendy consumers who see shopping as a social activity provide pleasure in their daily life, who wants to follow the trends without investing a lot of money. It attracts that target audience because it attracts budget minded customers.
VISION
The vision is to lead the change towards a circular and renewable fashion industry while being a fair and equal company. Using the size and scale, the brand is working to catalyse systemic changes across its own operations, entire value chain and the wider industry. In this way, the brand can continue to engage their customers and provide great fashion and design choices — today, and into the future.
BRAND STUDY
H&M is a ‘leading global retailer’ which provides clothes, bags, accessories, shoes, jewellery, makeup, underwear and H&M home to the high street. The brand wants to be perceived as generating fashion at the ‘best price’ in a sustainable way. The brand wants to make sustainable fashion more democratic by making higher quality clothing more accessible.
BRAND IDENTITY
BRAND STRATEGY
H&M combines status, luxury and affordability into one – creating a new kind of concept that breaks the paradigm of celebrity wealth and expensive fashion so that anyone can have a status without needing the wealth because the clothes are attainable. H&M’s advertisements are modern, constantly up to date with the latest celebrities and trends trying to shape a ‘cool’ identity with their community. There is a sense of motion in their ads – with a congruity and integration of the prices. They are creating a new reality where one can wear a designer brand at an affordable price. H&M constantly uses branding strategies to further build up their brand image and promote themselves. Firstly, they are constantly pushing their business concept “Fashion and quality at the best price”. This idea is found almost everywhere, from websites to stores. The message itself is attractive for consumers as well, because it guarantees low prices that are quiet appealing. They stay true to this concept and this is important for brand messaging. The celebrity association that the brand uses is not just in their ads, but who actually voluntarily wear their Conscious line makes a huge statement about affordability and status.
The competitive landscape H&M operates in is highly fragmented and there are a high number of international brands that H&M has to compete with around the world as well as in Singapore. These brands include - Gap, Zara, Mango etc. H&M not only faces competition from these major brands, but also from smaller private label brands as well.
This positioning map outlines the relative positions of competitors like Zara, Gap etc in comparison to the position to H&M. The basis of comparison includes the price of the apparel and the quality (or durability) of the apparel. H&M stands almost in the middle of the graph. It shows that the clothes offered by the brand are affordable and of low price with high quality. Its main competitors are Zara, Topshop, Gap, Uniqulo etc which are offering good value for money as well as being reliable in terms of quality which can be seen as a unique selling point for these brands. So, H&M is able to attract budget minded audience and fails to attract the section of people who prefer quality over money.
BRAND POSITIONING
The story picked up is from WGSN and is names as ‘Considered Comfort’ from the Mens Style Trends Autumn/Winter 20/21 which describes flexible lifestyles which drive a push towards versatile and comfortable pieces that blur the lines between work, rest and play.
STORIES FROM WGSN
Considered Comfort explores how fashion will respond to our changing relationship with the homes, as it shifts to become a multifunctional system for living. Taking inspiration from homes and technology this story is applied on the apparel as this will alter what we want from our clothes, and what we expect from them. Multipurpose pieces will become more common, like slippers that look smart enough to wear outside, or robes that can double as coats, and comfort is also looked upon and it will be an obvious beneficiary. It pushes towards soft, natural and tactile materials, and cocooning shapes that cuddle. Where there is structure, it will work with the body, to enable easier movement, whether inside or outside the home. The focus will be on items that can move seamlessly between private and public, between lounging and living, supporting work, rest and play. In 2021, our homes will be multi-tasking, as well as our clothes will be following suit.
ACTION POINTS
• COMFORT is king: Whether brands are making suits more casual or streetwear smarter, the success of the combined results shows how to redefine ‘smart-casual’. • SUSTAINABILITY is not a choice: As consumers become ever more conscious, it’s time for the brand to look to how to produce its designs, manage its waste, and sources sustainably. • Work/life BALANCE made easy: With the rise of flexible working, what to wear at home has never been so appealing. The brand need to make sure to consider ‘WFH’ as an end-use when range building. • Simple PLEASURES mean a lot: There is a clear appetite for well-executed, familiar key items in great fabrics and colours with interesting trims. • Make garments into works of ART: Expect a fresh focus on placement prints that turn items into ‘art’. Consider them for spin-offs of established key items.
There has been a growing shift in consumer expectations over the past few years, this story ‘Considered Comfort’ is driven by this factor and has been focused on taking the effort out of dressing. As per customer demands nowadays, comfort has been linked in all the apparles from home to work to socialising at night. Hence, nothing matters more than comfortably welldressed all the times.
With the world progressing and changing at a fast pace, the future fashion wadrobe is expected to have a mix of inspirations taken from the past, acquiring the modern technology and creative visions of tomorrow.
• The different shades of one colour on the fabric and a single colour outfit gives a futuristic feel especially when it is combined with difference in lengths, layers and proportion • The sportswear is given an extremely modern look with high quality work to give era-less look • A single tone of colour generates great interest when combined with different types of textures, effects that of matte and sheer or even simple repeated patterns
URBAN MINIMALIST
Various communication techniques are used for the purpose of promoting products, which then motivate the consumer to make the purchase, and keep them aware of company’s product. One such technique is the Visual Merchandising of H&M brand.
The layout of the front entrance of the H&M store has a big window display that changes almost every week to keep up with ‘fast fashion’ the demnad for new current trends. The display focuses on a young target market with an interest into upcoming trends. The advertising campaign are designed to clearly show the seasons design and price of the clothing pictured. Each season they feature models with different looks, styles and cultural background linking back to the customer by showcasing different sized models and style. The idea proposed is of making the Visual Merchandising of H&M brand according to the story ( Urban minimalist from Considered Comfort ) selected. The concept is minimalism along with winter transitional. Minimalism in fashion is still alive and many brands follow this. Minimalist fashion is also referred to as classic fashion which was a part of an artistic movement in late 1950’s.
VISUAL MERCHANDISING
THEME BOARD
REFERENCES
BA CKDR O P S
LAMPS
W O O DE N L O G S
BR A N C H E S
LI G HTNI NG
VIS UAL M ERCH AN DISING SKETCH
ALTERNATIVE VM OPTIONS