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CONTENT 1. LUXURY MARKET Pg.3 2. BRAND INTRODUCTION 2.1 Brand History Pg.5
2.2 Joseph Altuzarra Pg.5 2.3 Customer Profile Pg.7 2.4 Signature Style Pg.7
3. MARKETING MIX 3.1 Product Pg.8
3.2 Price Pg.8 3.3.Place Pg.9 3.4 Promotional Strategy Pg.10
4. SWOT ANALYSIS 4.1 Strenght Pg.12
4.2 Weakness Pg.12 4.3 Opportunities Pg.12 4.4 Threats Pg.12
5. POSITIONING 5.1 Brand Positioning Pg.13
5.2 Competition and Perceptual Map Pg.13
6. PESTEL ANALYSIS 6.1 Political Pg.14
6.2 Sociocultural Pg.14 6.3 Technological Pg.15
7. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY 7.1 Website Pg.16
7.2 Social Media Pg.16 7.2.1 Instagram Pg.17 7.2.2 Facebook Pg.18 7.2.3 Twitter Pg.20 7.3 Social Media SWOT Analysis Pg.21
8. SUMMERY Pg.22 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY Pg.22
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1. LUXURY MARKET Luxury fashion goods market as we know it dated all the way back to 12th century. Luxury market described as a market for expensive goods that are bought for pleasure not necessity. The product or services provided by luxury market are superior in terms of quality and the demand for such goods exceeds the supply capacity. Fashion goods play a big role in the luxury market and the growth of the industry has been watched closely by many. The long list of players with strong presence and heritage grows everyday with new rising young talents. In addition, presence and support of companies like LVMH and Kiering both financially and in providing resources help the industry grow in the past decades. In the market research conducted by Bain & Company, whose industry outlook is authoritative because of its extensive coverage of the sector in the past two decades, personal luxury goods market grow to be more than $285 billion market in 2015. This statistics represents sales growth of around 1% at constant exchange rate for 2016, which is less than 1.5% growth in 2015. The luxury goods sector has been suffered this year from several factors, from reduced number of tourists coming to Europe due to terrorist attacks, to exchange rate fluctuation and weaker demands both in Europe and China. 1 The slow growth of the market in the U.S. Market in 2016 was due to the strength of dollar which was a holding back tourist shoppers and wait-and-see attitude in the market because of presidential election. However demand has been expected to revive in both U.S. and China in the upcoming year. Experts predicted that narrow price difference strategy will boost the sale in China. Bain & Company also predicted annual growth in the personal luxury goods industry of between 2 and 3 percent through the next five years.2
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2. BRAND INTRODUCTION 2.1 Brand History Altuzarra is a luxury women’s ready-to-wear brand launched in New York by Joseph Altuzarra in 2008. As a young brand competing with long standing luxury giants like Louise Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, and many more in the Luxury goods category, Altuzarra managed to succeed and gain consumers attention worldwide. Altuzarra was born out of the desire to make the sophisticated, modern woman feel seductive, strong and confident. The Altuzarra brand exudes a seductive femininity with artisanal detailing, and is infused with both French and American influences, the result of which is collections catering to the modern woman who is sexy, strong and fearless.
2.2 JOSEPH ALTUZARRA The creative mind behind a brand, Joseph Altuzarra, is a multicultural, internationally-educated designer whose background and experience have given him a fresh perspective and refined vision for his New York-based luxury womenswear brand. Born and raised in Paris, Joseph headed to the US after high school and graduated from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Art and Art History. With no official training and great passion for fashion, Joseph honed his design skills by focusing on tailoring and draping in various design houses, before launching his brand.
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2.3 CUSTOMER PROFILE Altuzarra launched his brand with a very specific vision and women in mind.
“I had become interested in the discrepancy between what I was seeing
on the market and who was actually buying clothing, [It was] a customer who
wasn’t a girl, who was really a woman.” 3
As the brand describes, The Altuzarra woman is independent, confident and provocative. She is sexy and seductive in a sophisticated way, but always with a sense of ease. Altuzarra woman is chic and makes every piece her own. She has a high appreciation for quality tailoring and considered design. With described image in mind the target market of Altuzarra are women aged 30-50 with above average disposable income, who live in urban areas. They appreciate art and love to travel.
2.4 SIGNATURE STYLE • Button Down Shirt • Slit Skirt • Tailoring • Parka • Ethnic/Global Influence • Undone Ties • Workwear • Gold Crest Buttons
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3. MARKETING MIX 3.1 PRODUCT The brand produces two ready-to-wear collections a year, Spring/ Summer and Fall/ Winter consisting of an average of 35 looks with a pre-collection of 15 looks for each collection. Their product range is composed of women’s RTW and shoes. Recently, they also introduced their handbag collection. Concerning their RTW collections the majority of product offerings translate into outerwear, dresses and tailoring with an open mind on what sells better.
“The bulk of my work is very creative, but there’s also a side to it that’s just making sure I’m doing something that can actually sell and translate to a retail floor.”4 Joseph Altuzarra
3.2 PRICE As a luxury brand, pricing strategy is based on the perceived value, quality and exclusivity of the brand and products. It also follows the norm of the luxury market and ranges from $600 for a top to $25,000 for a fully embroidered dress.
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3.3 PLACE Altuzarra manufactures all its clothing, handbags, and shoes in Italy. The brand uses many noble fabrics such as leather, satin, silk, wool that are modified and/or colored with a great attention to detail. The items are sold in over 60 of the most exclusive retail outlets worldwide such as Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Harvey Nichols or Colette with a very sophisticated and high-end retail environment. The products also available in the high-end e-commerce outlets such as Net-A-Porter and MyTheresa.com internationally. The brand also has its own website that directs customers to the retailers. But critically, the site lacks e-commerce functionality. On the other hand, Altuzarra has not yet own a flagship or physical retail store. That to be said, the brand is rely solely on their wholesale sales and retail connection as a source of income.
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3.4 PROMOTONAL STRATEGY Altuzarra is a young brand, however have not embraced the digital tool and social media as a way to promote its products and build awareness. The brand still rely on the traditional ways to promote their product and believe in creating a strong emotional bond with clients through private fashion shows and brunch parties with exclusive clients and personal shoppers. However, the brand benefits from their partnerships with High-end retail outlets and appears regularly in their advertising campaigns. Altuzarra also has few collaboration campaigns in its resume. It was one of the first brand who partners with Target group and J-crew to curate an exclusive collection for them. Both partnerships were very successful for both parties as it generated awareness for the young brand. The brands also participated in the “Clinton’s made for history� campaign back in 2015. The extensive social media analysis is attached to this paper. The brand also have a great celebrity endorsement and spokespersons, who tend to be older in age and have a reputable position in the society.
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High quality products Good customer service Clear vision ( who their customers is and who they are) Recognizable signature style
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Traditional business model Brand association with mass market retailer ZARA Limited social media presence
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Attract younger customers Open e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail Expand current clientele (geographically) Expand the business in terms of products (scents, life-style segment, …)
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Economy (Market fluctuations based on politics, terrorism attacks, …) Dependent on retailers Low awareness among younger generation Competitors (similar products with competitive prices)
5. POSITONING 5.1 BRAND POSITIONING Altuzarra positioned itself as a high-end luxury brand who caters to the women who want to look sophisticated and polished and at the same time sexy with the sense of ease. Aesthetically the products are very close in design with above competitors, who offer same categories with almost same price point. However in product level, Altuzarra’s unique and recognizable style and silhouette with high quality standards gives the brand an advantage. In the brand level, brand attributes are simple, tailored, upscale and aspirational.
5.2 COMPETITON AND PERCEPTUAL MAP
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6. PESTEL ANALYSIS
6.1 POLITICAL Created and sold mainly in the United States, Altuzarra is a young brand that was born less than ten years ago and quickly became important on the fashion scene. In its country of origin, the political environment hasn’t changed for decades and never impact its business negatively. The United States are a liberal and capitalist country, therefore, laws and regulations for fashion are not hard. Fashion is seen as a very lucrative business and designers who succeed are admired and become celebrities themselves. Politicians even give awards to designers and wear their designs for official ceremonies. Concerning new changes in politics, as they are only sold in the USA and Europe for now, the political environment is likely to impact their business negatively. As the new president elect, made changes in the trading regulations with other countries, and since the company produce its products in Italy.
6.2 SOCIOCULTURAL In 2008, the financial crisis hit the USA and Europe pretty hard. Following this recession, a new fashion movement emerged, the ‘recessionistas’, as opposed to the ‘fashionistas’. The recessionistas are those girls who found new ways of dressing fashionably without spending much, using new means of shopping (thrift shops, exchanges, DIY...) and often customising their own clothes to make them unique. The word also defines celebritities who wear their clothes more than once and several years in a row, even buying designer clothes for red carpet events (Keira Knightley, Hayden Panettiere, Sienna Miller...). 14
On a cultural level, New York has also become the ‘hipster city’, with people creating innovative businesses, healthy food spots and restaurants. The city is also very artistic and some neighborhoods function as communities (Brooklyn, Williamsburg...), helping each other’s and trying to be as green and eco-friendly as possible. This ‘healthy and arty’ movement, coupled with environmental concerns and the influence of PETA in the US, can have a huge impact on Altuzarra’s business, specifically on manufacture and use of fabrics, reputation and image and the purchase decision process.
6.4 TECHNOLOGICAL The first major technological trend of this past decade is of course the rise of social media and social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest...). All of these new platforms influence the promotional strategies of fashion brands. The rise of online retailers such as ASOS or Net-a-porter who sell luxury brands at a better price might impact the prices and sales of the brand. Indeed, the target audience of Altuzarra is always looking for useful websites to shop their favorite brands. Finally, bloggers, the new generation of fashion influencers with their tablets and smartphones, can have a huge impact on the brand. They can document the runway shows instantly and post their opinion online, impacting the reputation and image of the brand. Today, more than fashion editors of print magazines, they probably are the ones who have the biggest influence on a brand’s success, alongside celebrities. Lack of active presence in the past affected the awareness level of the brand, hence going Forward Altuzarra should embrace the new technologies and their influences.
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7. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY 7.1 WEBSITE Altuzarra’s website is mostly an online showroom for their product and the events happening around the brand. The brand doesn’t have e-commerce presence and only directs customers to its retail partner e-commerce web pages through it’s website.
7.2 SOCIAL MEDIA The brand has following social media accounts: • • •
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Instagram Facebook Twitter
Altuzarra doesn’t have a Snapchat account. Since their target market is in their 30s and 40s it makes more sense to have a more active presence on other platform, but eventually the brand should consider Snapchat as a channel to create awareness among millennials and generation Z. All social media posts are based on the U.S. time zone, because the main distribution channel is in the U.S. and Europe.
7.2.1 Instagram It can be said that Altuzarra’s Instagram account is their most updated account. Since the brand doesn’t have its own e-commerce or retail store, there is a link in the description place that directs customers to the retailers. However, there is no directory link on each post allow customer to shop the looks directly. The use of # is very minimal the most common # that has been used is #Altuzarra and the average number of # for each post is one. As a young brand building awareness is a key and it can be achieved through social media. The use of # can help Altuzarra achieve more awareness online. On the other hand their Instagram account is very product driven. The brand based their Instagram on inspiration, celebrity indorsement and products. The imagery also has a good quality. The brand joined Instagram over 3 years ago. Other statistics can be found below:
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7.2.2 Facebook Altuzarra’s Facebook page is their least successful social media account among the three. The brand is failing to attract attention and create engagement through its Facebook page. Since their target market, independent professional women in their mid-thirty’s and above, is more likely to have an active Facebook account, having an active Facebook page is crucial. As well as their Instagram account the number of # used on each post is very low. The number of likes and shares of each post is heavily dependent on the content of the post. If there is a celebrity involved the number is around 300-500 otherwise it’s very low. However, the content of their Facebook account is a little bit different from their Instagram. It can be clearly seen that they try to tell a cohesive but a little bit different story. The imagery has good quality.
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7.2.3 Twitter The brand’s Twitter account comparatively is more active than their Facebook account, however the number of tweets and retweets are very low. Due to Twitters fast pace nature and lower attention rate of its audience the number of brands tweets is not even close to enough to keep the audience engaged and grab their attention. On the other hand content similarity and lack of content that engages customers lead to a poor Tweeter performance. Same as other platforms the use of # is very minimal the most common # that has been used is #Altuzarra and the average number of # for each post is one. The imagery also has a good quality. The brand joined Tweeter on April 2011. Other statistics can be found below:
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High quality imagery High quality products Presence in major social media networks Frequent posting (there is a potential to increase the posting rate) Clear vision (the massage is cohesive throughout social media channels) Recognizable signature style Positive comments
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Poor social media conversation rate Poor fan engagement Few likes in all social media platforms (Instagram is better than the others) Few shares Low number of retweets Incapability to keep the audience engaged and entertain Incapability to create enough content Not using retweets to their benefit Dependent on the traditional form of advertising No link between social media platforms and brands website
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Increase the Number of followers Increase the number of likes Increase the rate of engagement Add more video driven posts Add more behind the scene imagery and videos Increase in the use of hashtags Creating lifestyle related content Using snapchat to create awareness among future costumers Diversify current posts and contents Engaging international customers by considering their time zones and cultural events Driving sales through each social media post Encourage partner retailers to promote product through their social media platforms
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Many competitors Aggressive campaign by competitors low involvement with current customers (at the moment the brand doesn’t have and e-commerce platform, hence social media is a great place for Altuzarra to connect with their customer) Low awareness among younger generation Loss of current followers Focus only on the U.S. time-zone to post new stories and imagery
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8. Summery
As a young Brand, Altuzarra is very successful in terms of creating a signature style and having a clear vision about who their customer is and positioning themselves as a luxury brand with high standards and tailored, sexy looks. However, going forward the brand should increase the awareness and looking to attract younger generations as their customer base are getting older.
9. Bibliography 1. Pascal Denis and Astrid Wendlandt, Luxury market growth will hit low point in 2016, forecasts Bain, www.businessoffashion.com, April 6th, 2016, https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/luxury-marketgrowth-will-hit-low-point-in-2016-forecasts-bain 2. http://www.bain.com/Images/BAIN_REPORT_Global_Luxury_2015.pdf 3. Tommy Fitzpatrick, Turning point| how Joseph Altuzarra found his signature silhouette, www.businessoffashion.com, Aug 20th, 2013, https:// www.businessoffashion.com/articles/turning-point/turning-point-how-joseph-altuzarra-found-his-signature-silhouette 4. Popsugar fashion news, Joseph Altuzarra on the similarities between his and Alexander Wang’s fall 2011 collections and having his mom for a boss, www.popsugar.com, March 18th, 2011, http://www.popsugar.com/fashion/Joseph-Altuzarra-Similarities-Between-His-Alexander-Wang-Fall-2011Collections-Having-His-Mom-Boss-15017790
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