Dissertation

Figure 1.

Are there marketing and advertising trends between the fashion sector and one of the best-selling global brands, Coca-Cola?

AMY ARTHUR 17103830

ADM 6005 Major Project BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Promotion Birmingham City University NOVEMBER 2019

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Figure 2.

ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates Coca-Cola’s marketing and advertising strategies, exploring the influence of its marketing model in the fashion sector.

Coca-Cola are one of the world’s smartest brands, inventing some of the greatest innovations over its 100-year existence. The brand is responsible for the iconic image of Santa Claus in its 1915 Christmas campaign (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019). The discussion will also explore variations in fashion retailers marketing models, identifying trends between CocaCola and the fashion industry.

The researcher examines the British high street giant, John Lewis, exploring how it earned a Christmas landmark in the British calendar (Inside: John Lewis, 2019). The dissertation also studies one of the youngest fast fashion brands, In the Style, to understand its success in just 6 years, through technological and social media advancements (Breaking Fashion, 2019).

Finally, a review of a civic brand, Nike, will demonstrate how brands use marketing campaigns as more than selling products.

Nike focusses on changing societal perception and raising awareness of issues. (McGregor and Berdon, 2019).

The dissertation includes an interview with a marketing manager at Diesel. This interview explores the marketing campaign and collaboration between Diesel and CocaCola. The capsule highlights the effectiveness of industry collaborations to portray an important message. In this circumstance, the collection focused on sustainability, incorporating products made from recycled materials, using a simple but professional and informative marketing strategy.

The collection sold out instantly, also suggesting the effectiveness of exclusivity (Researchers own, 2019).

The study also discusses the significance of understanding the consumer. Trends constantly shift, and brands must remain relevant in the market and aware of its target consumer demands. Many consumers lose trust with retailers, and it is important for brands to reattract consumers attention through innovative marketing campaigns (Graham and Anouti, 2018). Finally, the study concludes by identifying future trends being adopted by brands, to recognise consumer desires.

Word Count: 6455

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thoughts and contributions in the business book helped to shape the main discussion in the dissertation. The book provided many marketing and advertising theories and innovations, particularly to the fashion sector.

I would like to thank the module team: Alison Rapsey, Nazli Alimen, Carolyn Raybould, Adam Francis and Beth White.

The academic guidance and help were extremely beneficial.

I would like to personally thank Beth, who as my tutor, has directed me through the project. The team have kept me determined and motivated throughout, providing critical feedback to my research and writing. I would also like to thank Susan O’Sullivan for her advice on appropriate use of library resources. This guidance provided significant structure to my research approach, offering very valuable advice.

In addition, a thank you to the producers of the Channel 5 TV documentary, Inside.

The series provided insight to some of Britain’s best-known institutions, such as Coca-Cola and John Lewis. It introduced me to the historical context of brands, awareness of company beginnings, and its success factors.

I would like to express an appreciation to the authors of ‘Promoting Fashion’, Barbara Graham and Caline Anouti. The

Finally, I would like to thank the marketing manager at Diesel, Lauren, for her time to provide exclusive information of the brand’s collaboration with Coca-Cola. This one-toone conversation excelled my primary research, offering the researcher a unique understanding of the capsule collection and its marketing campaign.

Acknowledgements

The production of this dissertation has been an insightful, in-depth and thorough study. The study could not have completed without the support from my University, academic resources, and industry contact.

CO CA CO LA

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Figure 3.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................ i

Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ...............................................................................................................v Glossary ........................................................................................................................vi Aims & Objectives ........................................................................................................ vii Introduction ................................................................................................................. viii Methodology .................................................................................................................ix Chapter 1. Is Coca-Cola the Willy Wonka of soft drinks? ............................................ 1 1.1. How did it all begin?

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1.2. Coca-Cola steals Christmas

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1.3. Coca-Cola welcomes everyone

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1.4. 100 years old and still many being sold

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1.5. Coca-Cola’s timeline

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Chapter 2: Understanding the consumer ..................................................................... 9 2.1. Market Segments

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2.2. Shaping a consumer’s personality

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2.3. Consumers feedback

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Chapter 3: Are Coca-Cola’s marketing strategies transferable to the fashion industry? ...................................................................................................................... 15 3.1. What is fashion marketing?

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3.2. Can retailers, like Coca-Cola, learn from one of Britain’s youngest fast fashion companies, 18 In the Style?

3.3. Is John Lewis a giant on the British high street?

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3.4. Nike are tackling “forces for good in society”

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3.5. Coca-Cola x Diesel

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3.6. Swot Analysis

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Chapter 4: What is the future of marketing? ............................................................... 27 4.1. Future marketing trends

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4.2. What is the next step for fashion retailers?

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Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 33 Recommendations ........................................................................................................35 References ................................................................................................................... 37 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 39

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/kith-x-coca-cola-brand-and-fashiondesigner-reprise-partnership [Accessed 8 November 2019].

Figure 2. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ pin/429390145716902646/?nic=1a&sender=672443925520190729 [Accessed 9 November 2019].

Figure 3. https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/sebastian-wyss-graphic-designdigital-071119 [Accessed 11 November 2019].

Figure 4. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/press-center/image-library/diet-coke-sleek-can [Accessed 11 November 2019].

Figure 5. https://www.behance.net/gallery/24152413/Coca-Cola-100-years-of-the-iconic-contourbottle [Accessed 15 November 2019].

Figure 6. https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-old-coke-stack-in-black-and-white-jc-findley. html [Accessed 15 November 2019].

Figure 7. https://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/167569.html [Accessed 16 November 2019].

Figure 8. https://trnds.co/2019/07/the-latest-kith-x-coca-cola-collaboration/ [Accessed 20 November 2019].

Figure 9. https://www.cocacola.co.uk/en/truck/ [Accessed 16 November 2019].

Figure 10. https://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/about-us/coca-cola-history/ [Accessed 26 November 2019].

Figure 11. https://www.cokestore.com/personalized-bottle [Accessed 18 November 2019].

Figure 12. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/lets-meet-at-the-crate [Accessed 18 November 2019].

Figure 13. https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/share-a-coke [Accessed 18 November 2019].

Figure 14. https://blog.marketo.com/2014/09/how-coca-cola-and-yoplait-use-customerparticipation-marketing-and-how-you-can-too.html [Accessed 18 November 2019].

Figure 15. https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/teen-take-personality-test-college-prep/ [Accessed 20 November 2019].

Figure 16. https://clhbrandmanagement.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/open-happiness/ [Accessed 21 November 2019].

Figure 17. https://www.creativebloq.com/inspiration/5-ways-to-use-imagery-to-create-betterbranding [Accessed 26 November 2019].

Figure 18. https://stylecaster.com/fashion-trends-2020-runway/ [Accessed 21 November 2019].

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Figure 19. https://www.inthestyle.com [Accessed 24 November 2019].

Figure 20. https://www.johnlewis.com [Accessed 26 November 2019].

Figure 21. https://www.amazon.com/Coca-Cola-Christmas-Tree-T-Shirt/dp/B07H3RYY5B [Accessed 22 November 2019].

Figure 22. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/christmas-ball-ball-decoration-2905753/ [Accessed 22 November 2019].

Figure 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSxOjBIjyhI [Accessed 22 November 2019].

Figure 24. https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-bought-swoosh-logo-for-35-2014-7?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 22 November 2019].

Figure 25. https://www.cocacolastore.fr/diesel-x-coca-cola.html [Accessed 24 November 2019].

Figure 26. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/kith-x-coca-cola-brand-and-fashiondesigner-reprise-partnership [Accessed 26 November 2019].

Figure 27. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/kith-x-coca-cola-brand-and-fashiondesigner-reprise-partnership [Accessed 26 November 2019].

Figure 28. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/kith-x-coca-cola-brand-and-fashiondesigner-reprise-partnership [Accessed 26 November 2019].

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Figure 4.

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Branding – The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in consumers’ minds. It aims to retain consumer loyalty.

B2C (business-to-consumer selling) – When a retailer sells directly to the buying public.

CSR (corporate social responsibility) - A self-regulating business model that helps a company to be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.

Direct marketing – The strategy and tactics by which a company communicates on a regular basis to build a personalised relationship with the consumer.

FCIM - Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Guerrilla marketing – Placing advertising material in unexpected or controversial places with the aim of creating impact and generating additional publicity.

ICM (integrated communications marketing) – A communication tool that creates effective and cohesive campaign messages to its audiences.

Marketing mix - refers to the set of actions or tactics that a company uses to promote its brand or product in the market.

Marketing P’s – Price, product, promotion, place, people and persuasion makes up the marketing mix.

Megatrend – A trend that achieves a long-lasting impact.

Omni-channel – Refers to the multichannel sales approach that provides the customer with an integrated shopping experience. The customer can be shopping online, or in a brick-and-mortar store.

POS (point of sale) – Promotional material used in retail to inform and persuade shoppers; this can include posters, packaging, swing tags and carrier bags.

USP (unique selling point) – A brand’s distinct point of difference from its competitors, and therefore the reason for a store or consumer to buy into it.

GLOSSARY

Brand – A unique design or symbol to create an image that identifies a product.

Over time, this image becomes associated with a level of credibility and quality in the consumer’s mind.

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AIM To investigate the evolution of marketing & advertising for one of the best-selling global brands, Coca-Cola, and understand if its innovations have influenced fashion brands.

“ Marketing is complicated.

And it is transforming rapidly.

Roles are blurring, titles are changing, and responsibilities are expanding. ”

To explore the evolution of Coca-Cola’s advertising and determine the success of becoming a topselling brand.

To assess and evaluate the influence of consumer opinions and assess the advertising and promotional impact.

To analyse Coca-Cola’s marketing strategies and its influence on the advertising campaigns of three different tiers of fashion brands.

To propose future marketing and advertising trends, and how this could influence the fashion sector.

OBJECTIVES

– David White (FCIM)

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INTRODUCTION The purpose of the dissertation is to examine the evolution of CocaCola’s marketing and advertising innovations, analysing case studies from the fashion sector.

This aims to identify promotional trends and similarities between brands and industries. The study will consist of four chapters, discussing relevant areas that have influenced the development of marketing and advertising.

Chapter one will explore how Coca-Cola became one of the best-selling brands, and some of its greatest innovations, such as the iconic image of Santa Claus (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019). The chapter will take the reader through a chronological discussion on the evolution of the brand, highlighting historical context up to the most-recent campaigns. This will explain how Coca-Cola have reached a credible reputation internationally, and what other brands can learn from the soft drink company.

Chapter two will assess the purchasing decisions of consumers, understanding the influence this has on a brand’s marketing strategy. Patterns and trends will be identified between what and why consumers buy from a brand, and whether there is a generational influence.

Chapter three will focus on fashion

promotions, discussing variations in how different fashion brands promote products based on consumer or product category.

This will determine whether the role of marketing is transferable across industries by identifying trends across fashion brands and Coca-Cola’s campaigns.

Chapter four will conclude the main discussion, by proposing future marketing and advertising trends, and how these advancements could be used by brands. This will determine how these developments will maintain consumer attention through the adoption of new marketing trends.

The dissertation topic was influenced by research, drawing attention to the way in which ‘modern marketers’ describe the marketing world to “have changed more in a weekend than the past 30 years” (Ritson, 2019). This portrays the role of marketing and advertising as exciting with a constant shift to explore latest innovations.

Furthermore, the study will broaden trend awareness, gaining better understanding of the job role and determining some of the influencing success factors. This will provide greater insight and recognition to the effectiveness of successful promotions and advertising campaigns in marketing.

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METHODOLOGY This dissertation used multiple methods of primary research including focus groups, online questionnaires and industry interviews. These methods produced both quantitative and qualitative data, ensuring the research was thorough and accurate.

Focus Group To collect concise data, a 45-minute focus group was conducted using 6 participants, varying in gender, age and geographic. The candidates answered questions about marketing and advertising, with no knowledge of the aims or objectives of this dissertation. This was to ensure the knowledge did not act as a lead, influencing any answers.

When recruiting participants, people aged 16 – 70 were approached ensuring fairness and validity. The questions were open and closed, and also used external sources, such as youtube videos. The responses of the participants were recorded via a transcript, allowing the researcher to review the answers afterwards.

Throughout the focus group, the participants behaviour was observed by the researcher to understand which questions started debates and discussion and which had a straightforward answer. Conducting a focus group was beneficial to the dissertation because it gained first-hand consumer responses to advertisement campaigns, and the techniques most appropriate to types of consumers.

Figure 5.

Questionnaire The questionnaire’s goal was to collect first-hand data on the purchasing behaviour of buyers, and the influence marketing has had. Respondents remained anonymous and confidential within the University study. The questionnaire aimed to reach a minimum of 100 responses, finishing with a total of 110.

Questions were open and closed, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data. Responders varied in age, nationalities and gender to ensure universal data was gathered.

The researcher used the data to create graphs and tables, followed by detailed analysis. The results are displayed within the dissertation research to support the discussion.

The questionnaire was beneficial to the study because it provided extended data that supported results from the focus group.

Therefore, this created more reliable data due to its consistency.

Industry Interview The dissertation included a one-to-one conversation with fashion retailer, Diesel, gaining direct understanding on its latest Coca-Cola collaboration and the campaign creation process.

The researcher recorded the interview via a transcript, whilst the interviewee answered open questions. The interview lasted 15 minutes, using flexible and unled questions allowing the respondent to drive the conversation. This technique was used to gather additional and beneficial research that the interviewer may not have considered within prepared questions.

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Secondary Research Secondary research consisted of key sources such as business books, TV documentaries and online articles. Amongst these sources, statistics and analysis within the role of marketing was collected, identifying brand case studies and providing direct evidence to support the discussion.

RESOURCE

business textbook

Channel 5 documentary [TV]

Channel 5 documentary

TITLE

‘PROMOTING FASHION’ - barbara graham & caline anouti

This resource provided an outline to the innovation of marketing, and its development over the years within the fashion industry.

Inside - Secrets of Coca-Cola: Top of the Pops

A source that investigated the evolution of one of the best-selling brands, Coca-Cola, and how it gained this reputation.

Inside - john lewis

An analysis of the brand’s success over the years, and how it reached the company’s reputation that consumers see today.

breaking fashion

The source investigated the youngest fast fashion brand, ‘In the Style’, understanding the marketing strategies it has adopted to reach its success.

MARKETLINE & MINTEL

These sources provided accurate and reliable statistics on brand case studies, analysing the progression of marketing and advertising strategies.

[TV]

bbc documentary [TV]

online articles

JUSTIFICATION

CHAPTER ONE

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Figure 6.

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Is Coca-Cola the Willy Wonka of soft drinks?

This chapter will discuss how Coca-Cola fashioned themselves as a leading global brand through mastering its marketing strategies; in particular, its branding and advertising. A critic describes Coca-Cola as “one of the world’s greatest brands, one of the world’s most famous brands, but it’s also one of the world’s most secret – CocaCoca is simply the Willy Wonka of soft drinks” (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019).

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1.1 How did it all begin?

Coca-Cola was founded by pharmacist, John Pemberton, in the 1880s and was marketed as a temperance drink, intended as a patent medicine. The brand’s name was initially established from the products used in it: Coca leaf and Cola nuts. This fluent and effective use of alliteration led to, ‘Coca-Cola’. However, after only 2 years Pemberton passed away and Coca-Cola was bought out by Asa Candler (Inside: Secrets of CocaCola, 2019).

This is where the real journey of Coca-Cola began. Candler wanted to promote Coca-Cola with “any type of advertising they would engage in”; a main objective in the early days was to place the Coca-Cola logo on everything to ensure instant recognition. Asa Candler saw the brand’s future by using mass advertising investment, spending over $100,000 in 1902.

Strategies included Coca-Cola merchandise, such as calendars, pocket mirrors, wallets and posters. Salesman trucks were produced, and bars were painted with its logo (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019). This aggressive marketing is what led Coca-Cola to achieve its highest annual sales; its first million-gallon mark (CocaCola Company, n/d).

Figure 7.

One of Coca-Cola’s earliest promotions was the introduction of free drink coupons. Soda fountain operators top 50 customers were shared with Coca-Cola, these consumers then received free drink coupons. This strategy introduced the concept we see today, ‘try before you buy’; it allowed customers to try CocaCola, encouraging loyalty to the soft drink. As Coca-Cola continued to grow, other drinks companies began mimicking its products to trick and confuse consumers.

Therefore in 1915, Coca-Cola designed and produced a unique bottle design; the one we still see today. The bottle was trademarked to ensure it was always recognised as a Coca-Cola bottle (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019).

Coca-Cola was one of few brands that used the Second World War as an opportunity to expand internationally. The brand gave troops bottles at a cheap price, and the brand continued to thrive during the war. Many countries requested the soft drink in its soldier’s war packs (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019). This is another example where Coca-Cola continued to establish a powerful reputation in the role of marketing, successfully expanding into Europe and South-East Asia.

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Coca-Cola steals Christmas

Until 1915, Coca-Cola was always associated with heat, sun and sweat; the perfect summer drink that cools you down. However, the brand knew in order to maximise profit, something had to change.

Coca-Cola’s marketers had to find a way to encourage customers to purchase the soft drink all year round, latching onto Christmas with its ‘Coca-Cola decided to steal Christmas’ campaign. This is when the brand introduced the iconic image of Santa Claus with a white beard and red and white suit (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019). This is a distinct example of successful marketing, as this creation of Santa is now the image children visualise. However, the author’s research discovered that many consumers are unaware that Coca-Cola are responsible for this iconic image, assuming Santa was always portrayed this way. Before Coca-Cola’s version of Santa Claus,

1.2

the character was depicted in various ways, with no universally accepted version.

Coca-Cola’s relationship with Christmas did not end with its 1915 campaign, going on to introduce its famous ‘Christmas Caravan’ campaign. This remained on TV for over 20 years, finally being voted the UK’s favourite advert in 2014 (Taylor, 2016).

The advert featured three simple techniques; visually pleasing graphics with recognisable branding, through a long line of trucks lit up with the Coca-Cola logo, and finally including an instantly memorable Christmas jingle whilst this truck drove through a snowy mountain. This association with Christmas helped Coca-Cola become one of the most recognisable brands in the world (Taylor, 2016).

Figure 9.

Figure 8.

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1.3 Coca-Cola welcomes everyone

In the 1960s, Coca-Cola began using statement advertisement, keeping the brand relevant throughout changing macro trends. A poster on race was incorporated into its advertising, mixing nationalities, emphasising to consumers the inclusivity of Coca-Cola; people of all colour, otherwise potentially discriminated against in the 1960s. This campaign place Coca-Cola in the public eye, promoting a powerful message that goes beyond selling a soft drink. In the 1970s, Coca-Cola created a $250,000 campaign, ‘I want to teach the world to sing’, consisting of many nationalities singing with a coke in hand (Inside: Secrets of CocaCola, 2016). The success of this campaign effectively displayed

Figure 10.

Coca-Cola’s ethos and values; a brand everyone wants to be associated with.

Coca-Cola continued these progressive campaigns in the 90s, promoting gender and sexuality in its ‘Diet Coke Break’ advert. Challenging the view that Diet Coke was always meant for women, the campaign used a gay man drinking the soft drink (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2016). This demonstrates the advanced innovations of Coca-Cola marketers over the years, quickly adapting to societal trends and consistently accepting everyone.

This warming nature of the brand is a dominant attribute to its success.

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100 years old and still many being sold

In most recent marketing, CocaCola reused its very first strategy; a free drink promotion. However, because of health concerns circulating in today’s society, the brand was only allowed to give away sugar-free coke, as opposed to full fat Coca-Cola (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019). This highlights Coca-Cola’s adaptability to the changing macro trends within society, and how its talented marketers respond to societal movements.

During the Summer of 2013, CocaCola introduced its ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, swapping its famous logo on its bottles with over a thousand personalised names. The campaign drew great attention globally, reaching 70 different countries. ‘Share a Coke’ was significant as it allowed customers to “share a coke with the people who matter most” (Hepburn, n/d), connecting to consumers on a personal level. Coca-Cola selected the UK’s most popular names, making these bottles available to purchase online as well. It sparked conversation across the nation, quickly becoming one of the soft drinks most successful marketing campaigns, selling over 150 million bottles (Hepburn, n/d).

The first 150 bottles from the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign was sent to celebrities as gifts, whilst the public discovered them instore for the first time. These customers would share the news of the new bottles on social media, leading to the campaign reaching 235,000 tweets from 111,000 fans using the ‘#ShareaCoke’ hashtag (Hepburn, n/d). This is a great example of innovative engagement with its consumers as it is a unique strategy allowing consumers to announce the launch of the new campaign. To further this, CocaCola created a Facebook app in which consumers could share a virtual Coke for those who could not clink bottles with loved ones (Hepburn n/d). This reinforces Coca-Cola’s brand motto; always including everyone, never leaving anyone out.

Coca-Cola believe, “the campaign capitalised on the global trend of self-expression and sharing, but in an emotional way. Coke is big enough to pull off an idea like this, which speak to the iconic nature of the brand. Who would want their name on a brand unless it was as iconic as Coke?” (Hepburn, n/d).

1.4

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AIDA model : ‘shareacoke’ campaign

interest The idea of purchasing a Coke bottle with an individual’s name on created great interest amongst consumers as it became a trend to post the bottle on social media once purchased. It was this personalised innovation that had not been seen before, and therefore everyone wanted to be part of it. This interest grew internationally, involving 70 different countries.

desire A desire to purchase these personalised Coca-Cola bottles grew and became the perfect gift. The soft drink was available to purchase online, and shared virtually via an app. The accessibility to the campaign increased the desire to own one of these unique bottles.

attention Attention was drawn to the campaign by consumers incidentally discovering these personalised Coke bottles in store with no prior campaign announcement made

by Coca-Cola itself. Customers shared the news on social media, reaching mass responses; 235,000 tweets from 111,000 fans using the campaign hashtag.

action Consumers would buy the soft drink for loved ones, as well as for themselves, driving sales for CocaCola. Every time a consumer made a purchase, it would be shared on social media, increasing the engagement and awareness of the campaign further.

share a coke

Figure 11.

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Coca-cola’s timeline

CocaCola was founded by pharmacist, John Pemberton.

Asa Candler takes over CocaCola after the death of John Pemberton.

Coca-Cola merchandise was used as advertising.

Coca-Cola’s first proper promotion: free drink coupon.

Coca-Cola CocaCoca-Cola Coca-Cola created its created and Cola’s 50th began trademarked Anniversary. progressive $250,000 ADVERTISING advertiseits unique campaign, ments : a bottle ‘I want to design. poster on race using teach the Cocapeople of world to Cola stole colour sing’. who were Christmas. discriminated against.

Figure 12.

1.5

CocaCola’s advertising budget surpasses $100,000 for the first time.

Annual sales for Coca-Cola hit the one milliongallon mark.

Coca-Cola created its ‘Share a Coke’ campaign.

Coca-Cola’s ‘Christmas Caravan’ campaign was voted the UK’s favourite advert after being shown on TV for over 20 years.

This chapter has discussed how the innovation of Coca-Cola’s marketing has steered the brand to become one of the world’s greatest. This is particularly demonstrated through its branding and advertising, clearly portraying what Coca-Cola stand for; a brand dedicated on changing perception, whilst including everyone in the process.

Figure 13.

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CHAPTER TWO

Figure 14.

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UNDERSTANDING THE CONSUMER

A clear understanding of the consumer trend environment is critical for brands and retailers to develop innovative ideas for marketing and communications. Therefore, knowledge on consumers lies at the core of any successful promotional campaign.

The role of consumers in the marketing industry has constantly changed since the 1950s. Therefore, retailers are consistently studying consumer trends and behaviour to understand the best marketing strategy (Graham and Anouti, 2018).

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2.1 market segments

It has been recognised that consumers respond differently varying on products and brand messages. This has led to categorising consumers into market segmentations, based on age, location, job and lifestyle etc. (Graham and Anouti, 2018).

This approach enables retailers to market to its consumers most effectively.

Theorists have established a relationship between science and predicting consumer behaviour. In 1962, Everett M. Rogers, an American sociologist, began theorising about consumers adoption of new trends by introducing the diffusion of innovation model.

This model consists of five types of consumers: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This is an effective consumer model as it is a division based on how likely an individual will latch onto a new trend. This is particularly relevant to the fashion sector because brands will decide when and how to market a new trend based on how quickly its consumers

become attached, if at all. This is an effective marketing strategy because it demonstrates that understanding the consumer is the essence of a powerful promotion.

From a marketing perspective, consumer groups can also be segmented by buyer persona, targeted with more relevant or personalised messages.

This is especially significant to online communications, such as newsletters or emails (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This type of segmentation helps fashion promoters realise that to appeal to consumers lifestyles, motivations and behaviour, a more detailed analysis is necessary.

For a consumer to respond to a campaign message, it should speak directly to that individual consumer. Consumer future analysts are suggesting promoters should find ways to appeal across generations to ensure a wider impact to the fashion industry (Graham and Anouti, 2018).

This highlights the swift change marketing communications makes to adapt to trend shifts; marketers must remain versatile to keep at pace with its consumer.

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Shaping a consumer’s personality

2.2

A consumers favourite fashion brand will vary based on needs, wants, taste and preference.

The clothes and brands people choose to wear are a choice of identity based on what someone’s passion. These choices shape and communicate how a consumer choose to be viewed (Graham and Anouti, 2018).

A brand’s message is critical when deciding its target consumer.

It shapes the consumer’s personality, character and attitude. This suggests that the message associated with a brand is extremely important in the fashion industry; it becomes part of a consumer’s own carefully constructed identity. The researcher’s questionnaire provides evidence that 72% of consumers will buy from a brand based on what it stands for. Brands face challenges in differentiating from one another, to satisfy consumer’s needs. Brands marketers have an important responsibility defining the unique identify of a business, emphasising the importance of a brand’s message.

Figure 15.

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2.3 consumers feedback

Another method to profile consumers works on the assumption that people behave in ways that are dictated by the generation in which they were born. Authors of fashion promotions, such as Harriet Posner and Tim Jackson, have acknowledged the effect of generational divides on attitude to fashion consumption, marketing and branding (Graham and Anouti, 2018). The researcher gained direct insight into this assumption through undertaking focus groups and questionnaires, targeting all generations from different demographics and nationalities.

The results from the focus group provided evidence that consumers of all generations believe that fashion promotions best target people through phone alerts, such as social media advertisements or email alerts. This was further supported by the researcher’s questionnaire, with 50% of responses expressing social media as the best advertisement channel to gain consumers attention. The least voted channels included radio

Figure 16.

adverts, brand merchandise and bus advertisement. These methods are more traditional, likely to be used by mature brands. This demonstrates the dominance of e-commerce marketing, encouraging older brands to adapt its products promotions.

The importance of perfecting a marketing promotion has proven to be high from primary research collected in this study.

The researcher’s consumer questionnaire scored an average of 8 out of 10 for the importance of marketing on a company’s success.

The focus group also indicated that to perfect an advertisement, a brand must effectively use imagery and graphics, music and a storyline that pulls on consumers emotions. Several other studies of consumer behaviour have implied that humans generally ‘feel’ before rationalising (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This suggests this pattern applies when engaging with brands. Consequently, brand messages are becoming more emotionally driven.

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Chapter two explains how many brands now understand the importance of consumerwatching and continue to evaluate the theories behind the adoption of trends by society and the relevance to future fashion trends.

Figure 17.

CHAPTER THREE 15

Figure 18.

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Are Coca-Cola’s marketing strategies transferable to the fashion industry?

Fashion marketing is an extremely powerful and persuasive force and includes planning and executing a concept with consideration to the marketing mix.

This is made up of the six P’s: product, price, place, promotion, people and persuasion. This is key to a brand’s success from a marketing perspective, and this chapter will discuss how the six P’s have been effective in the fashion industry. The researcher will analyse the marketing models of John Lewis, In the Style and Nike to support the discussion and identify which techniques are most effective in the industry.

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3.1 WHAT IS FASHION MARKETING?

Fashion marketing can be defined in many ways. This can include a retailer’s branding, narrative and ICM, particularly social media and e-commerce.

John Egan (2015) introduced the brand characteristic model; a visualisation of a brand in three parts: the core, augmented and halo. The core elements include functional characteristics of a brand, such as the basic product/ service, shape and performance.

The augmented aspects include packaging, price and presentation of the brand, whilst the halo of a brand is what consumers see through its marketing communications (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This suggests that consumers only see one of three elements of what contributes to a brand. The halo is the gold coating of a brand, displayed through its marketing and advertising.

This also emphasises that consumers need to dig deeper into other elements of a brand to understand the core, and its wider representation.

Consumers also engage with a fashion retailer because of its narrative. This can include a brands strapline, such as Nike, ‘Just do it’, or can use a storytelling technique. Storytelling opens a connection with consumers to create a sense of loyalty; a technique well known and used by John Lewis. Brand narratives engage the consumer

in a story, people want to identify with the brand (Graham and Anouti, 2018). The effective use of this can pull on consumers heart strings to persuade customers this is the right brand to buy from; a successful technique used within fashion marketing.

Social media is an increasingly dominating form of marketing communication. It is a method that brands use to advertise in a personal way, creating forums that audiences have created. It is a place people are comfortable to like, share and exchange views (Graham and Anouti, 2018). Despite a low rating for management control on social media, such as negative comments on a brands post, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Social media has worked more than any other tool to push the demand for instant access to the latest fashions.

This encourages the growth of social media for promotional use in the fashion industry (Graham and Anouti, 2018). Due to the rise of e-commerce and social media, it is important brands consider consumer’s purchasing journeys when engaging on its shopping sites and app platforms.

Direct marketing is a personal communication that is intended for individual engagement. This began the introduction of customer reward schemes and loyalty cards (Graham and Anouti, 2018).

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Can retailers, like Coca-Cola, learn from one of Britain’s youngest fast fashion companies, In the Style? 3.2 In the Style is up against top leading brands like Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing. A key USP that makes the brand successful is its collaboration model; this type of model in the fashion industry is so unique it catches attention and has built credibility. This is achieved through consideration to the marketing mix; place, people and persuasion. The collaborations include consumers favourite bloggers and influencers; people who consumers follow on Instagram and desire to be like.

During summer 2019, the brand released a new collaboration / collection every two weeks (Breaking Fashion, 2019).

Each collaboration uses a unique marketing and advertisement strategy. Lorna Luxe’s collaboration relied on people from the marketing mix; trusting word of mouth to sell the collection. The influencer stated, “I sell word of mouth. I just have taste, I’m a taste maker if you like. I choose what I like, and if people love it, they might buy it too”. Two days before the launch, influencers posted teaser photos on social media to create conversation (Breaking Fashion, 2019). This demonstrates the social media approach is a massive focus in today’s marketing, particularly

targeting a younger audience and why it is In the Style’s central channel of advertising.

Lottie Tomlinson’s collection provided an early access opportunity, keeping the identity of the influencer secret until launch day. This resulted in Lottie’s collection grossing £210,835 in the first week, selling 13,800 items (Breaking Fashion, 2019).

This demonstrates the results of successful marketing, using innovative and unique strategies by keeping consumers anticipating.

The collaboration was well utilised using marketing mix, place, by targeting Lottie’s followers predominantly on Instagram. This achieved significant interest and online traffic resulting in increased revenue for In the Style.

This displays a contrasting strategy to Coca-Cola’s; In the Style adopt a model that has not been seen before. Its unique marketing strategy uses modern methods such as latching onto the development of technology and social media. It is rare to see the brand using traditional techniques, suggesting this is influenced by In the Style’s target consumer; it is more appropriate to use a digital approach.

Figure 19.

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3.3 Is John Lewis a giant on the British high street?

John Lewis has a retail reputation very few can match. It is a brand that consumers trust.

John Lewis focus on two aspects of the marketing mix; people and persuasion. Its most recent tradition is the association with Christmas, as consumers eagerly wait for the retailer’s annual advertisements. The reveal of the John Lewis Christmas campaigns has become part of the magic of Christmas, the brand has earned a landmark in the British calendar.

John Lewis’ adverts are all about “conveying an empathy with the nation”; its objective to create that Christmas feeling and influence a heart-warming sensation (Inside: John Lewis, 2019). This suggests consumers view John Lewis’ adverts as entertaining and emotional, demonstrating the brand’s subtle use of people and persuasion to gain sales.

Figure 20.

According to The Guardian, John Lewis’ 2014 Christmas campaign, ‘Monty the Penguin’ cost £7 million, this included the ad itself, a custom app, story book, soft toys and a series of teasers. A

hashtag ‘#Montythepenguin’ was also shared across social media (Graham and Anouti, 2018). Similarly, the ‘Man on the Moon’ campaign caused John Lewis’ sales to increase by 5.1%, despite spending £7 million on the campaign (Taylor, 2016). These statistics suggest that marketing budgets may need to surpass before being regained through revenue.

John Lewis have many similarities with Coca-Cola. As a brand, both have been around for many years, surviving World War Two and continuing to excel beyond its competitors. Both brands latched onto Christmas as a marketing strategy, suggesting seasonal celebrations are a perfect promotional opportunity for brands to stand out. Each of the brand’s campaigns, strategies and techniques are adapted in parallel with societal trends. John Lewis and Coca-Cola eased into the digital marketing era, on platforms such as social media, despite both originally advertising via painting walls and posters 100 years ago.

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AIDA MODEL : ‘montythepenguin’ campaign

attention

desire

Consumers wait for the reveal of the John Lewis Christmas advert, and therefore the attention is gained before the campaign is launched. This is a very rare and unique position to be in; as soon as the TV advert is released, consumers immediately begin talking and posting on social media about it.

The TV advert provokes the desire to buy the campaign’s merchandise, such as the storybook and soft toy, potentially as Christmas presents.

This is successful because the advert defines the penguin’s personality. Consumers form a ‘virtual’ familiarity and relationship with the penguin character.

interest

Interest is built through the emotional attachment from the TV campaign; consumers instantly fall in love with the heart-warming character of the penguin. The popular hashtag on social media engages a wider audience also.

action

Action is taken as consumers buy Christmas presents from John Lewis - both promotional merchandise from the campaign and general products / services.

This increases John Lewis’ Christmas sales, exceeding the expected success of the campaign.

Figure 22.

Figure 21.

Figure 23.

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3.4

Nike, are tackling “forces for good in society” Businesses are beginning to step in where governments are perceived to be failing, acting as forces for good in society. This affects how brands market and promote products and are known as Civic brands. These attitudes present an opportunity for brands to use advertisement to educate, inspire and encourage new societal behaviour (McGregor and Berdon, 2019). Nike is an example of one of these brands.

One of Nike’s first civic campaigns was its ‘reuse-a-shoe’ programme, recycling old sneakers to create surface for inner-city sports grounds.

The campaign used an educational video, before promoting the brand’s new programme (Kemp, 2013). This informs consumers that Nike want to be more than just a sportswear and trainer brand; it wants to help communities grow. Over the years, Nike have provided state-of-theart sport facilities to communities, allowing people to exercise and train for free. Nike benefits by encouraging people to be more actively involved in sports and living a healthier lifestyle (Kemp, 2013).

This creates a credible reputation for Nike, as it provides consumers with the chance to identify as star athletes of the future. It also persuades people to purchase products from the brand, therefore increasing sales. The techniques

Figure 24.

used by Nike reinforces the effectiveness of the marketing mix.

Nike target socially deprived communities, providing career and lifestyle opportunities in these areas.

In 2015, Nike opened a community store in Flatbush, Brooklyn, providing consumers with an all-access pass to the world of Nike products and services. Employees working at the store had to live within a five-mile radius. This was to encourage local channels to become involved. Nike’s community stores aim to build and empower a healthy local community through the unifying power of sport, serving as a catalyst for positive change (Nike News, 2015).

Nike’s marketing is similar to Coca-Cola because progressive advertising is used. It attempts to change consumer perceptions through its reputation in the industry and the innovation of its campaigns. The brand persuades loyal consumers to adapt to civic sustainable behaviours to build a different society. This demonstrates Nike’s marketing and advertising ability to go beyond selling products (price and promotion). CSR is a great consideration in Nike’s advertisements, actively nurturing and building stronger communities (people and persuasion).

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Coca-Cola x diesel

Diesel as a brand, have always focused on introducing sustainable fashion. Coca-Cola collaborated with the brand, providing an opportunity for Coca-Cola to promote itself as environmentally conscious.

An interview conducted with Diesel included discussing the campaign’s success, and the process behind it. The interviewee informed the researcher that Diesel believe its passion and care for the planet drives its sales. Diesel’s collections do not mimic any trends, collections by the brand are genuine and “solely to help people understand the issue of sustainability” (Researcher’s own, 2019). Diesel’s products mix materials, often using job denim.

This sustainability consideration was included in the Coca-Cola collection, also using recycled materials, such as recycled PET and cotton (Researcher’s own, 2019). Diesel’s consistent sustainability focus builds a trustworthy relationship with consumers, resulting in instant collection sell outs. The collaboration aimed to raise awareness on the value of recycling. Inspired by the vision of the future, Diesel collaborated with Coca-Cola to explore new methods of creating fabrics, whilst challenging Diesel to incorporate recycled materials in all collections (Staff, 2019).

This represents how marketing

3.5

mix, product, acts as an influential statement as consumers wear the collection to display sustainability beliefs.

Coca-Cola, known for celebrating togetherness and inclusivity, whilst changing perception, and Diesel, known for provoking its audience with irony, boldness and an ability to challenge conformity, have managed to produce an exclusive collection. It celebrates two unique and powerful identities, producing iconic products.

Lauren from Diesel explained, “It is about changing the forefront of how clothing works”, reinforcing the idea of challenging opinions on sustainability (Researcher’s own, 2019). The capsule collection between the retailers expresses both brand messages, demonstrating similarities of values and interests between the companies.

Figure 25.

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3.6 swot analysis

O

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

The technique of storytelling opens a connection with consumers to create a sense of loyalty to a brand – commonly used by John Lewis.

Not all consumers are aware of the power of marketing - many are unaware Coca-Cola are responsible for the image of Santa Claus.

Marketing techniques, with a people and persuasion focus, can be shared across industries.

This is demonstrated through similarities in Coca-Cola’s strategies and fashion retailers.

Many brands face challenges in differentiating from one another in order to satisfy consumer’s needs. This demonstrates how essential it is to create innovative and unique campaigns to thrive in the industry.

The effectiveness of marketing was voted 9 out of 10 as important to a company’s success by consumers, outlining how critical and relevant the role is in today’s society.

Marketing is becoming a tool for changing opinion and perception – consumers pay more attention to issues when displayed in a powerful campaign.

Only 5% of consumers in the UK and US believe brands are honest and open, suggesting a lack of retail equinity portrayed through marketing and branding.

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O OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Brands are stepping in where governments are failing, acting as “forces for good in society� through its marketing campaigns.

E-commerce marketing is overriding traditional marketing methods, acting as a threat.

It is becoming essential for older brands to adopt a digital approach.

Civic brands, such as Nike, present opportunities to use advertisement to educate, inspire and encourage new societal behaviour.

Modern brands, such as In the Style increase opportunities using the development of technology and social media.

This led the brand to become successful in just six years, whilst up against multibillionaire brands.

Research has suggested a brand needs to be able to afford to surpass its marketing budget in order to create a successful campaign, regaining profit through revenue.

Societal movements create challenges for brands, for example Coca-Cola struggle to sell a sugary drink when society attempts to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Brands from different industries can collaborate to reinforce a message, demonstrated through Diesel x Coca-Cola’s sustainable capsule collection.

Figure 26.

25

26

Chapter 3 has explained how marketing strategies and the application of the six P’s have been applied in the fashion industry, using three case studies to support as evidence. The discussion has examined how Coca-Cola’s strategies have been reused by fashion retailers, demonstrating marketing advertising techniques, particularly the focus of ‘people and persuasion’, can be shared across industries.

The is supported by Diesel and Coca-Cola’s collaboration, demonstrating the powerful performance impact two combined industries can have, with the collaboration selling out instantly.

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CHAPTER four

Figure 27.

28

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF MARKETING?

This chapter will identify new trends and its influence on the future of marketing and advertising strategies in the fashion sector. It highlights the shifts in consumer trends, including the impact on brand advertisement, and strategies needed to be adopted to remain competitive and influential.

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4.1 Future marketing trends

New trends are being shaped by the change in consumer behaviour.

‘Post-demographic consumerism’ is a megatrend with four categories: the new normal, heritage heresy, cross-demographic fertilisation and hyper-demographic irony. A trend that is already evident in this discussion is the new normal.

New normal is when brands reduce a negative impact on the well-being of the consumer, for example providing more gender options, such as ‘transgender’ in applications or online profiles (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This suggests that marketers need to be adaptable, it is important to remain close with consumers, and avoid offending anyone as future trends appear.

Another growing trend is the ‘sympathetic pricing’. This is a sub trend of the megatrend, ‘human brands’. It suggests that consumers are tired of brands persuading people it cares, and instead are interested in physical proof through imagination and flexible discounting (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This discussion provides evidence of this; many brands thrive on emotional advertising. Only 5% of consumers in both the US and UK believe

Figure 28.

brands are open and honest (Graham and Anouti, 2018).

This is supported further in the researcher’s primary studies, highlighting 28% of consumers do not buy from a brand based on its tagline, due to a lack of trust. Even though the percentage is below 50%, 28% is substantial. Enough for retailers to pay attention to and consider changing strategies. It is important future companies portray a genuine authenticity in consumer communication and messaging, through pricing, promotion and persuasion techniques.

A new method highlighted in the researcher’s focus group was the concept of multiple 20 second adverts, as opposed to one long, storytelling advertisement. All participants agreed that Amazon’s most recent music campaign, providing seven short adverts rather than one long one, was more effective and versatile than the traditional approach. This suggests storytelling may not be the only most innovative method anymore, indicating retailers such as John Lewis, may need to consider adapting its marketing model.

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what is the next step for fashion retailers?

The future of marketing communications is a challenge for fashion marketers and promoters.

Many brands need to begin by thoroughly understanding its consumer. Profile boards can assist this learning: creating these collages acts as visual building blocks for a brands target consumer, and influences designer’s perception of an ideal product (Graham and Anouti, 2018). Brands will recognise consumers identity, rather than emotional persuasion. If campaigns cast real people who capture the attitude of the brand, consumers will trust retailers.

For example, Nike’s campaign can showcase the versatility of its trainers through a sports and exercise concept, as well as through a fashion vision (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This suggests that adapting strategies in this way will rebuild a relationship with consumers not solely reliant on emotion.

Secondly, the merging of fashion and technology is an interesting future trend for the fashion industry, not just for e-commerce or POS. Gesture technology may become a significant development,

as technology begins to solve problems and create improved and intuitive products. For example, Levi’s latest innovation was the introduction of jeans in which consumers can change the volume of music by moving someone’s hand up and down the fabric of the jeans (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This suggests consumers thrive for convenience and will purchase clothing that can provide this need. Gesture technology provides a USP that brands can optimise in marketing and advertising campaigns.

Finally, fashion brands could benefit from connecting consumers and influencers in marketing campaigns. This may help consumers improve perception, looking through the eye of a fashion insider. For example, F&F have introduced this concept where consumers can book tutorials with beauty bloggers; bloggers discuss the products that suit each consumer (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This provides a marketing service in which consumers can engage with the brand further; active customer engagement, rather than a passive user.

4.2

31

32

The trends identified throughout chapter four suggest that emotional advertising alone may be less effective. Consumers want to shop with brands that are adaptable, authentic and open to new trends, providing personalised and pro-active services. Brand marketing is more than price and promotion selling, people and persuasion is becoming more dominant and effective.

Brands need to grow sales in new and more innovative and engaging ways.

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CONCLUSION This dissertation has identified three clear findings, highlighting marketing and advertising trends between the fashion sector and one of the bestselling brands, Coca-Cola. The first finding was highlighted in chapter two, expressing the importance of the consumer and the influencing impact for retailers when creating successful campaigns. Chapter two highlights the critical role consumer demands have on business performance, and a trend occurs between Coca-Cola and the fashion sector. To drive and increase sales, all industries must deliver consumer demands. The discussion on market segmentations is applicable for all brands and industries to enable companies to market to its consumers most effectively (Graham and Anouti, 2018).

Further findings are evident in chapter 3, using analysed case studies of John Lewis, In the Style and Nike. These discussions demonstrate the transferability of marketing strategies across industries. For example, progressive advertising is used to influence a change of behaviour in society, a technique demonstrated by both Coca-Cola and civic brand, Nike.

It is evident that Nike used this strategy to target socially deprived communities (Nike News, 2015), whilst Coca-Cola used progressive marketing to involve all consumers leaving no room for discrimination of colour or sexuality (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019). These similar approaches display a marketing and advertising trend between the

fashion sector and the company, Coca-Cola.

Despite In the Style establishing a solely digital approach, trends between Coca-Cola and the fashion retailers are evident as both brands use social media to effectively and personally engage with consumers.

Both brands have demonstrated the value of social media as it becomes more accessible to consumers.

Coca-Cola have innovatively used this platform to allow consumers to announce the launch of new campaigns. This is evident in the ‘Shareacoke’ campaign (Hepburn, n/d). In the Style have similarly used social media to keep consumers anticipating such as providing early access to collection launches through sign up forms on social media (Breaking Fashion, 2019).

These technological advancements are a developing trend in the role of marketing, relevant to all industries.

Fashion retailer, John Lewis, holds a very similar position to Coca-Cola, in the fashion industry, demonstrating trends between the fashion sector and the soft drink brand from before World War Two. Whilst Coca-Cola are considered to be one of the “world’s greatest brands” (Inside: Secrets of Coca-Cola, 2019), John Lewis is believed to have a “retail reputation very few can match” (Inside: John Lewis, 2019). This demonstrates the power of marketing across different types of industries, and how important it is to establish a credible brand status.

34

The last finding explained the influence of marketing collaborations across different industries, combining B2C relationships. This is highlighted through Diesel’s capsule collection with Coca-Cola, demonstrating the impact a successful collaboration can have on the industry, with the collection resulting in an instant sell out (Researcher’s own, 2019). A clear relationship can be seen between marketing and advertising trends in the fashion sector and soft drink brand, Coca-Cola, using multiple marketing strategies and business models to provide a positive result.

This discussion has also allowed the researcher to understand the techniques required to successfully exist and perform consistently over many decades, by optimising the role of marketing and advertising.

To conclude, this dissertation has demonstrated “marketing is complicated. And it is transforming rapidly.” Marketers need to stay vigilant and attentive to the wants and needs of consumers. Company’s marketing campaigns, not just in the fashion industry, need innovation and uniqueness to stand out and succeed.

RECOMMENDATIONS

35

Marketing is a rapidly changing function, in which many businesses struggle to adapt and remain relevant when marketing its products or services. The communication technology developments and advancements have raised consumer expectations of a brand. There is no evidence that the role of marketing will become easier or more clearly defined any time soon (The Economist, n/d).

This dissertation suggests that successful retailers are adopting a more digital approach, through e-commerce channels and social media, when interacting with consumers. There is, therefore, a need for brands to prioritise digital advances to remain competitive and increase sales. Moving forward, to enable consumers to understand the style / look before buying, such as ‘see it on’ concept, new retail innovations are important. This could include the adoption of artificial intelligence in retail stores or online applications to offer consumers a personalised experience. Consumers prefer to experience whether the clothing item provides the fashion identity one wishes to construct.

These technological advancements will enhance marketing strategies as well as generating improved sales records for many companies.

Technological marketing strategies are very dynamic, improving consumers access to brand’s product or services.

An example of this is the use of social media, by channeling advertisement campaigns on platforms such as

Facebook, Twitter and Youtube (Henson, 2019). These inventions have also advanced artificial intelligence, allowing marketers to analyse and manage market data (Henson, 2019). These developments may disrupt the dynamic of consumer shopping, as the high street is becoming a less attractive channel, and e-commerce is exciting, accessible and attractive, becoming the primary channel for some consumers. This suggests marketing and advertising future will shift to targeting consumers online, as opposed to on the high street or in store windows. It is critical brands use an omni-channel approach when planning its marketing and advertising strategies with consideration to both retail, highstreet access, and online through e-commerce and social media.

Guerrilla marketing is another innovative technique that will take marketing standards to a new level.

More brands and retailers will adopt this technique in upcoming years, creating a memorable appearance through a stunt or event that has great potential to go viral on digital platforms like social media. This type of technique could also achieve news coverage, potentially reaching consumers beyond the brand’s target or regular customers (Graham and Anouti, 2018). This suggests that radical advertising is necessary as consumers need something extreme or out of the ordinary to be interested in the campaign. This type of marketing has recently been used in Labour’s marketing campaigns in the 2019 General Elections.

36

This included edited footage of the iconic Coca-Cola advertisement, placing Labour slogans on the side of the Coca-Cola truck, removing the soft drink logo, and ending with an image of Jeremy Corbyn as Santa Claus (Tidy, 2019). Coca-Cola issued an unapproving statement, informing the public the footage was produced without permission or endorsement.

Despite the post being removed within half an hour, the controversial video was viewed over 70,000 times and widely shared on Twitter (Tidy, 2019).

The result of this Guerrilla marketing stunt has left everyone talking about the Labour party only weeks before the election.

The evidence and research provided by this study suggests it is important that brands and retailers realise the significance of consumer trendwatching. Trends that consumers choose to identify with are defined through societal changes, such as Nike. Therefore, it is important retailers are aware and versatile to the latest movement to remain relevant. Coca-Cola’s collection of innovations, in which has steered the soft drink company to achieve a credible reputation, is a demonstration of strong marketing and advertising fashion retailers should consider replicating. When a brand follows consumer trends whilst adopting and integrating a more e-commerce approach, constructing a marketing and advertising formula for campaigns is more approachable and accessible.

37

REFERENCES Coca-Cola Company. N.d. 125 Years of sharing Happiness. [PDF] Coca-Cola Company. Available at: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/annual-review/2011/pdf/TCCC_125Years_Booklet_Lo.pdf [Accessed 4 November 2019].

- A report on the evolution and progression of Coca-Cola, providing further insight and understanding into its existing marketing and advertising campaigns.

Breaking Fashion. 2019. [TV programme] BBC. [Accessed 28 October 2019].

- The source investigated the youngest fast fashion brand, ‘In the Style’, understanding the marketing strategies it has adopted to reach its success.

Graham, B. & Anouti, C. 2018. Promoting Fashion. [Book] [Accessed 23 October 2019].

- This resource provided an outline to the innovation of marketing, and its development over the years within the fashion industry.

Henson, M. 2019. What are the Technological Advancements in marketing? Available at: https:// urbancursor.com/technological-advancements-marketing/ [Accessed 26 November 2019].

- This source investigates the impact of technological advancements on the role of marketing, and how these developments will influence the future of the role.

Hepburn, M. N/d. The ‘Share a Coke’ Story. Available at: https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/ share-a-coke [Accessed 23 October 2019].

- This reliable source provided an outline of Coca-Cola’s ‘Shareacoke’ campaign, stating statistics on the success of the campaign.

Inside. 2019. John Lewis. [TV Programme] Channel 5. [Accessed 15 October 2019].

- An analysis of the brand’s success over the years, and how it reached the company’s reputation that consumers see today.

Inside. 2019. Secrets of Coca-Cola. [TV Programme] Channel 5. [Accessed 10 October 2019].

- A source that investigated the evolution of one of the best-selling brands, Coca-Cola, and how it gained this reputation.

Kemp, S. 2013. Social Brands: Civic Marketing. Available at: https://wearesocial.com/ blog/2013/08/social-brands-civic-marketing [Accessed 6 November 2019].

- These sources provided insight into brand case study, Nike, analysing the progression of its civic marketing and advertising campaigns.

McGregor, R. and Berdon, B. 2019. Civic Ads. [PDF] LSN: Global. Available at: https://www. lsnglobal.com/micro-trends/article/24628/civic-ads [Accessed 27 October 2019].

- This reliable source provided a clear explanation on civic brands, analysing the effect this has on society and communities.

Nike News. 2015. Nostrand and Flatbush: Nike Opens First NYC Community Store in the Heart of Brooklyn. Available at: https://news.nike.com/news/nostrand-and-flatbush-nike-opens-first-nyccommunity-store-in-the-heart-of-brooklyn [Accessed 18 November 2019].

- This source explained the introduction of one of its Civic campaigns, and the impact of this development on socially deprived communities.

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Ritson, M. 2019. Marketers praise Burger King but McDonald’s is more deserving. Available at: https://www.marketingweek.com/burger-king-mcdonalds/?nocache=true&adfesuccess=1 [Accessed October 3 2019].

- This source investigated the effects of marketing shifts, explaining the impact this is having on brands and retailers.

Staff, J. 2019. Coca-Cola collaborates with Diesel for Capsule Collection created from recycled materials. Available at: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coca-cola-collaborates-withdiesel-for-a-capsule-collection [Accessed 20 November 2019].

- A source that explores the collaboration between fashion retailer, Diesel, and Coca-Cola, investigating how the campaign was marketed and become so successful.

Taylor, S. 2016. Once Upon A Time At Christmas...The John Lewis Formula. [PDF] MarketLine.

Available at: https://advantage.marketline.com/Analysis/ViewasPDF/once-upon-a-time-atchristmas-41393 [Accessed 18 October 2019].

- This source provided accurate and reliable statistics on brand case study, John Lewis, analysing its association with Christmas through a series of successful advertising campaigns.

The Economist. N/d. Wanted: CMOs with 20/20 Vision. Available at: https://thoughtthatcounts. economist.com/2020-vision?utm_source=Press_release&utm_medium=Press&utm_ campaign=CMO%20Survey&utm_content= [Accessed 19 November 2019].

- Exploring the future of marketing and how this will develop in upcoming years, also investigating the impact this will have on brands marketing models.

Tidy, J. 2019. General election 2019: Row over Momentum use of Coca-Cola advert. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50520783 [Accessed 27 November 2019].

- This source investigated Labour’s recent campaign using the iconic Coca-Cola advert in order to promote its policies in the upcoming election.

APPENDICES

39 Appendix I. Focus Group Transcript The aim of the focus group was to gain first-hand consumer responses to advertisement campaigns, and the marketing techniques most appropriate to types of consumers.

Researcher: Thank you all for volunteering for this focus group. Today we will be discussing marketing and advertising campaigns, and what aspects make an advertisement effective and successful. All your answers will remain confidential within the dissertation study.

Let’s begin.

What is an advertising campaign or brand whose adverts stands out to you? Can be from any industry, recent or old. Please also specify why this advertisement stands out.

Jan: Compare the market definitely stands out to me. The association they have made with the meercat started weird, but now as soon as I see it, I know it’s Compare the market.

Julie: I agree, sometimes it’s the quirky adverts that catch my attention most, despite it being odd to begin with.

Another favourite one of mine is the Lloyds bank advert, with the female black horse and its foal. I admit, it plucks at my emotion and is supported with a heart-warming storyline and the two horses travel to a herd of them.

John: For me, the Amazon adverts stand out to me as they are all consistent using a talking smiley face on their boxes. This has become a clear association as an Amazon advert, which I find entertaining.

Tom: Yes, I agree. It always uses catchy music that you end up singing along to, and soon recognise it as the Amazon advert just by hearing the music from another room.

Eric: An advert that stands out to me is the LV insurances one, they always use their logos in it and I instantly recognise it. The adverts always consist of the companies colour scheme making it consistent with their brand.

Tom: Coca-Cola’s most recent energy drink advert catches my eye because it’s weird and unusual with the dancing bodies and also uses very catchy music. This makes the advert memorable every time I see it on TV. I also didn’t know Coca-Cola did an energy drink before seeing this advert.

Margaret: John Lewis’ Christmas adverts are always a winner for me. The storyline is always very heart-warming, and the choice of music always supports the emotion captured in the advert.

John: I think generally adverts with memorable jingles are most recognisable to me because often there are radio adverts for the same company, using the same jingle and then I recognise it as the same advert.

Researcher: Thank you everyone. Next, how you feel after watching this advertisement?

Researcher shows Whitney Houston Amazon Music advert.

Julie: I feel a bit indifferent; the advert was a bit slow.

Jan: Yes, I got a bit fed up, however I would probably still remember it because I knew the song.

40 Julie nods.

Eric: I am a bit confused as to what the advert was promoting.

Margaret nods.

John: I know, was it promoting the singer or was is promoting Amazon prime?

Tom: I think it was promoting Amazon music and Alexa. I thought it was quite catchy.

Jan: I’d sing along to it as the music would catch my attention.

Jan: Yes, me too.

Margaret: I’d still watch it to the end, so I knew where it ended up going and what it was promoting.

Because it isn’t initially clear.

Researcher: How about it you saw the previous advert one day, and later saw this advert?

Researcher shows Queen Amazon Music advert.

Jan: When the advert builds with the song choice, I think it works better.

All participants nod.

Eric: These advertisements are very dependent on the choice of song.

Margaret: Yes, if you know the song, you will pay more attention to it.

Eric: yes, exactly.

Julie: I agree.

Tom: If you’re not involved in the generation the song belongs to, I think the advert can be a bit meaningless though.

John: You also have to see the ad as well as hear it to have its full effect.

Julie: I do begin to recognise the Amazon association with the moving and singing mouth though. So the brand is recognisable.

Researcher: Would you begin to recognise the retailer or brand of this advert after hearing it for a third time. Please consider why.

Researcher shows Taylor Swift Amazon Music advert.

Eric: If I can’t relate to the music, then I won’t pay attention to the advert.

Tom: I think the Taylor Swift music made it more memorable.

Julie: Yes, definitely. I also think the backdrop influences how you listen to the music. This backdrop was brighter and more colourful.

Jan: Yes! You may associate that more with children maybe. Maybe they would listen and watch this advert more.

Margaret: The background visual definitely made a different. It stood out more and was more eye catching.

APPENDICES

41 Margaret: The background visual definitely made a different. It stood out more and was more eye catching.

John: I’m afraid I couldn’t link the advert to a brand necessarily because I didn’t know the song.

Researcher: I guess that’s when it comes back to how critical the song choice is in how effective the advert can be.

Everyone: Yes! Researcher: If I were to tell you that there were seven versions of these Amazon Music adverts, each playing a different song and use different backdrops.

Do you think this is a more effective method of advertising, versus having only one long advert repeated on TV? John: I definitely agree that using seven separate, small adverts is a good idea.

Eric: Yes, it’s more effective and innovative. Something I haven’t seen before.

All participants nod.

Margaret: I do agree, however in this particular instance, the songs need to cater to all generations to reach all markets.

Julie: Yes, I agree with Margaret – this will mean the advert can be the most effective it can be for the brand.

Jan: If Amazon used songs in the advert that everyone recognised, the campaign would be most effective.

Researcher: I guess you must consider that not everyone will know all songs. So that is difficult for a brand to necessarily do.

Jan: Yes, true. Maybe just pick some well-known artists that many generations know, such as Michael Jackson or Kylie Minogue.

Tom: I’d enjoy seeing multiple different but similar adverts, I enjoy the versatility of them.

Julie: I definitely agree that several adverts keep my attention and I won’t get bored of the adverts as quick than if there was just one long one, I saw over and over on TV. Eric: Like John Lewis.

Tom: These Amazon adverts are snappy and short – very effective.

Researcher: Thank you for watching those series of advertisements and giving your response to them.

Moving on now. Is there a retailer in the fashion sector that consistently creates memorable advertisements?

Jan: I guess John Lewis, but that isn’t just fashion products. That includes furniture and home decorations doesn’t it.

John: I’d probably say Hugo Boss.

42 Julie: Or Chanel perfume advertisements on TV. However, I wouldn’t say TV is how fashion retailers catch my attention most effectively.

Margaret: Yes, I agree. Mostly via phone alerts.

Julie: Yes, like Facebook adverts or email alerts.

Tom: I’d agree with that too. If I hear about a new brand, it will most likely be via a platform on my phone.

Eric: I agree, I pay attention to the fashion industry via phone notifications more than TV advertisements.

Researcher: Ok, thank you. What part of an advert catches your eye the most?

Is it through the visuals and images, the storyline, music, tagline or brand message, use of colour, celebrity endorsement, or something I haven’t specified?

Julie: I would say the visuals of an advertisement is always the first thing I notice. I’ll determine whether I’m drawn in or not. The next thing I’d notice is the storyline.

Tom: I would definitely agree that imagery is important, but also the music. I’ll always notice a catchy song.

John nods.

Eric: It would be the tagline or campaign message for me.

Margaret: I agree. I will always wait to the end of a TV advert to see how it ends, or what the message was.

John: I would have to say if a celebrity is used that I know, the advert will definitely catch my eye. I will want to know what brand the celebrity is associating with and that.

Jan: I agree with the points already made. But also, the quirky-ness of adverts than catch my attention, and then the association that grows with this.

Julie: Yes, like the meercat with Go compare.

Jan: Exactly.

Researcher: How important do you think a company’s marketing is, in the contribution to the success of the company?

John & Jan: 10 Julie: Definitely high, probably 8.

Tom: Yes, I agree. 8.

Eric: I’d have to say 7.

Margaret nods.

Researcher: I’m going to show you an advertisement from a fashion retailer. Please state how you feel after watching, and why.

APPENDICES

43 Researcher shows Civic advertisement: Nike, Dream with us.

John: It was a bit long.

Jan: I started to zone out after a while.

Julie: I felt like it was a bit too much about the image of the brand, and not enough about sports and what Nike’s supposed to represent.

John: I agree.

Tom: I didn’t trust the authenticity behind the brand and campaign. I think they tried too hard.

Eric: Yes, I kept wanted it to get stronger and lead somewhere, but it didn’t. Well, not in a powerful way.

Jan: I think it was clear that its target audience were American’s, and so the same advertisement style just doesn’t work for a different type of culture, like the British.

Margaret: It seemed to be attired to cultural setting and class of the American Dream.

Maybe Nike need to be more versatile.

Tom: I don’t think that advertisement would lead me straight onto the Nike website and so to me, that isn’t an effective advertisement campaign.

All participants nod.

Researcher: That’s great. Thank you all very much for taking part. You’ve all been a wonderful help to this dissertation study.

Appendix II. Diesel Interview Transcript This interview with Diesel provided additional research, offering the researcher a unique and exclusive insight into the capsule collection with Coca-Cola and Diesel and its marketing campaign.

Researcher: Hello Lauren, lovely to meet you. Thank you for giving me the time to interview you today for my dissertation. I have a few questions about your recent collaboration with Coca-Cola, particularly about how it was marketed and advertised and how you drew consumers in.

Lauren: Yes, of course. What was important to Diesel was to keep the brand image consistent, even with collaborations. So a key USP of Diesel’s is our sustainability focus, and so this was important to continue this in our Coca-Cola collaboration.

Researcher: So how did you manage to do this in the capsule collection?

Lauren: We focused on driving home that the collection was sustainable and used recycled materials.

Researcher: Was there a particular marketing method used to inform consumers of this significant element to the collection?

Lauren: In our store advertisements, we produced simple but professional displays using informative stickers in our store windows. This would explain the focus of sustainability, and

44 how each item in the collection is made from recycled materials.

Because it was a collaboration with another brand, the marketing didn’t use a story message like most Diesel campaigns would.

Researcher: Could you explain what recycled materials were used in the collection please?

Lauren: Of course. Diesel often mix materials in its product. We dominantly use jog denim, but we always recycled PET and cotton.

Diesel have a reputation of creating campaigns that are looking to the future. We are a brand that care about the planet, and portray this message through our marketing campaigns, including the Coca-Cola collection.

Researcher: How successful has this Coca-Cola collection been so far?

Lauren: We sold out instantly in many of our stores! We believe this is partly because we are marketing the collaboration so well, as well as both Diesel and Coca-Cola having strong reputations in society.

I think what drove sales as well though, was through Diesel’s passion and care about the planet. Our campaigns are solely to help people understand the issue of sustainability. Consumers trust that we don’t mimic on the trend of sustainability, our campaigns are genuine.

Researcher: That is a very powerful message. Can you please give me an insight into why you chose to collaborate with Coca-Cola?

Lauren: As a brand, Diesel constantly work out changing forefront of how clothing works. Coca-Cola are also a brand who have worked on changing perception through the campaigns over the years and so we believed that creating a collaborated sustainable collection uses the strength of both our brands motto to attempt to change consumers sustainability behaviours. The collaboration is relevant to both brands.

Researcher: Of course, that is very true. This has been a very interesting and helpful conversation.

You informed me on some really useful facts there, thank you so much for you time and support.

Appendix III. Survey Sample The aim of the questionnaire was to collect first-hand data on the purchasing behaviour of buyers, and the influence marketing has had.

Understanding the power of Marketing & Advertising How important do you think a company’s marketing campaigns are, in the contribution to the success of the company? (10 being very important) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 25% 23% 28% 14% 5% 5% 0% 0% 0% 0% What part of an advert catches your eye? (Please only select two answers) Use of Colour 24% Music 49% Celebrity Endorsement 17% Tagline 17% Storyline 41% Images / Graphics 51% Other (Please specify) 5%

APPENDICES

45 What is the best advertisement channel to gain your attention?

Social Media 50% TV Advert 34% Radio Advert 2% Brand Merchandise 3% Bus Advertisement 1% Other (Please specify) 10% Do you buy from a brand / retailer based on what they stand for / their brand message?

Yes 72% No 28% How do you hear about new brands / companies?

Social Media 75% Friends 60% TV Adverts 34% Bloggers / Influencers 28% Other (Please specify) 7% How often do you make purchases on leisurely goods? (Not necessities) Every day 3% 2 – 3 Times a week 10% About once a week 24% A few times a month 34% Once a month 15% Less than once a month 14% Describe an advertisement campaign that stands out to you? Please also state the name of the retailer.

(This doesn’t have to be a TV advertisement; it can be any way in which a brand catches your attention) John Lewis Christmas Advert x7 Specsavers TV Adverts x3 ASOS App Promotions Chanel Perfume Coca-Cola Christmas Van x8 Nike – Just Do It Just Eat Advert Coca-Cola Energy Drink TV Advert Do you shop from your regular retailers via their app or on the internet? Why? Internet – because it is how I started shopping online Internet or In-store – I don’t understand apps App, because it’s a lot easier App because it’s accessible App because I have my personal details saved Gender?

Male 56% Female 44% Prefer not to say 0% Age? Under 18 18 – 24 25 – 34

5% 25% 21%

46 35 – 44 18% 45 – 54 30% 55 – 64 10% 65+ 5%

Appendix IIII. Survey Results 110 Responses Key Findings –