H&M Brand Report

BRAND REPORT H&M

BECKY MAJOR

CONTENTS NOVEMBER 2015

LOOK OPPOSITE 2 Executive summary Revealing true findings from the research conducted over the years 3 Timeline The historical development of the brand overthe years.

How it became H&M

about h&M 5 Introduction Quick overview of the chosen brand and how it operates

Where are they Placed?

9 Brand Positioning How the brand compares with its competitors USP and ESP

Getting noticed 11 Communication Mix What media platforms are being used? How they advertise. PR, Personal selling, Promo, Direct marketing.

Bibiliography

i.D 7 Brand Identity How the brand is percieved by the consumer through the logo and style.

13 Where the secondary research came from

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OvErViEw AnD fInDiNgS The research collated on H&M in this report highlights the fact the company is one of the dominating retailers on the UK high street. Not only does H&M provide clothing for the public, the availability of their home, beauty, and lingerie range proves to be highly popular and successful. The findings reveal H&M target the younger generation by taking the latest trends, altering and tweaking them to appeal to the H&M target audience. The pricing and sustainability of the brand appeals to many and they create brand equity and repeat custom through their compilations with many designers. The combination of primary and secondary research allowed all areas of the brand to be covered, from its advertising techniques to their target audience. The report covers the brands development over the years as well as its position within the UK market and the brands identity.

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HOW IT ALL BEGAN...

[HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF H&M] (A brief timeline highlighting the key years during the expansion and development of H&M from 1947 to the current day) 1947Hennes is opened

by Erling Persson in Sweden. It begins selling womenswear only.

1990- Famous models appear in the companies adverts.

1998- Online shopping begins in limited locations.

1990

1976

1947 1968

1968-Menswear and Childrens join the range as Erling Persson http://hennesmauritz. buys Mauritz blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/chp1- Wildforss. brief-history-hennes-to-h.

The compahtml ny is named Hennes and Mauritz.

1977

2000

http://fashoverture. com/2014/06/12/jeff-koonsx-hm/

1977-H&M begin sales of cosmetics.

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2004

2008-Weekday, Cheap Monday and Monki are introduced into the Hennes and Mauritz brand.

http://styleblazer.com/172829/ hm-finally-launches-u-s-ecommerce-site-take-advantage-of-free-shipping/

2008 2007

2010 2009

2013- A store is opened in Chile- the first in the https://new.soldsie.

Southern hemisphere. com/blog/5-collaboraOnline shop- tive-brand-marketing-camping begins paigns-we-love/ in US. The 6 independent brands expand into other countries

2013 2011

H&M launch their HOME range.

H&M opens their first store in Beijing

http://www.liberty-int. com/hongkong/

http://www.scoopthelake. com/2013/11/12/hm-northlakemall-hiring/

2015 H&M now has approximately 3,649 stores in 55 countries and is currently a leading global clothing retailer.

5/11/15H&M reveals its collabortatin with Balmain.

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Leading Fashion RETAILER

Chosen Brand

HENNES AND MAURITZ With H&M being one of the leading retailers, This report researches who they are, and where they are based. the brands Historical Development, how many stores they have, and what type of product they sell

This report examines the brand H&M (Hennes and Mauritz), the Swedish multichannel retail clothing company, acknowledged for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. The information will be collated used primary and secondary sources both online and offline. The primary sources will include those through observation, enhanced by an academic trip to London; taking photos, taking note of the brands consumer. Secondary sources will consist of books, journals, academic reports and company websites.

According to a Mintel Report, in 1947, ‘the first Hennes womenswear store was opened in Sweden by Erling Persson, as he attempted to develop a clothing store with a combination of high sales volumes with low prices. In later years, the company entered other countries such as Norway and Denmark. In 1968, menswear and childrenswear were both introduced into the brand, following the purchase of Mauritz Wildforss, followed by entry into the UK in 1976.’ The dominant brand H&M employs 132,000 people in total, and as of 31st May 2015, they had 3,649 stores, including those in 61 markets worldwide. H&M became a multichannel company in 1998, with the launch of a transactional website in the domestic market and currently allows online purchases in 21 different countries. H&M conducts six independent clothing retail brands: H&M, COS, Other Stories, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday.

The brand H&M is their flagship brand and aims to be affordable and focuses on more sustainable fashions and trends. H&M provides an assorted range of collections from party, to basics, sportswear and a recently expanded department for their beauty range.

Hennes and Mauritz are perceived as an affordable high street brand linked with their six secondary brand associations. H&M Life reveals “A world of fashion & latest trends,” which portrays the idea the company produce a lower priced equivalent of the catwalk and cutting edge designs. ‘Quality is key for the brand, from their initial idea to the final product.’ Collaborating with numerous and influential designers, H&M has built brand equity, heightened publicity and created anticipation for the consumers waiting for their release.

Previous collections include those with Alexander Wang, Robert Cavalli, Jimmy Choo and the ultimate collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld in 2004. ‘Marketing Fashion, A Global Perspective’ reveals branding is important for both the consumer and the marketer. Particularly for H&M, with their periodic contracts with designers. Due to these partnerships, H&M has strengthened their ties with the consumer and generated repeat custom. ‘The brand name enables the company’s promotion programme to be more successful.’ The brand Weekday also collaborates with designers and individual labels to produce numerous collections, such as the Denim Capsule Collection with Matthew Ames.

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Brand i.d

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BRAND IDENTITY How the brand is perceived by the consumer? What is their style and logo?

In reference to J.Sloman, K.Hinde and Dean Garratt (2013), it discusses the relationship between how far corporate social responsibility enhances the brands image and reputation. Not only does this link increase consumer loyalty, but also affects the brands finance and any related trading partners. H&M is a ‘leading global retailer’, which provides clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, make-up, underwear and H&M home to the high street. The brand wants to be perceived as generating fashion at the ‘best price in a sustainable way.’ According to Helen Helmersson, H&M’s head of sustainability, they ‘want to make sustainable fashion more democratic’ by making higher quality clothing more accessible. However Joachim Schoepfer feels, ‘the assumption that H&M must be exploiting their workers to produce such low priced garments must be hurting H&M.’ Although, the brand did admit, their guarantee to pay higher wages could lead to higher prices and may dissuade loyal customers from supporting the brand.

An increase in aspirational consumers, approximately 2.5 billion worldwide whom consider style, sustainability and social status was shown in a recent study, highlighting the fact consumers are now interested in the ethics of fashion and garments. Ethical consumerism is where the consumers decide on what to purchase considering any ethical concerns, such as human rights and spoke about above, along with environmental issues. H&M can be seen with its short and uncomplicated name and logo; the bright red H&M is commonly placed on a transparent surface when at the front on a store. The simplicity foreshadows the brands image as many of their garments can be seen as practical and well priced.

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http://torontolife.com/tag/ topshop/

NEW LOOK

TOPSHOP

COMPETITORS

Brand Positioning

(How the brand compares with it’s competitors. How the brand uses USP and ESP. Where the brand sits in the market)

FOREVER 21

BRAND POSITIONING According to P.Mink-Rath in Marketing Fashion, ‘Marketers have a choice of three levels in which they chose to position their brand, these include, product attribute, benefits or consumer beliefs and values.’ By targeting a certain market, companies can maximise their effectiveness. H&M is seen as a dominant brand within young fashion retailers, along with its similar competitors, Topshop/Topman, ASOS and New Look. The brands main competitor is New Look, as they both have the highest usage levels compared to various other brands in the category. Both companies have similar attributes, and this is demonstrated by the close positions on the brand personality maps. Although the companies are commonly referred to as being basic in comparison to Topshop or ASOS, they’re seen as both offering good value for money as well as being reliable and easily accessible which can be seen as a unique selling point for the brand. In terms of emotional sensual perception, the brand is seen as quite fashionable as it mirrors those trends seen on the catwalk mixed with their own take on it. The product sold attracts a large market and therefore can be seen to be likeable and versatile. Referring to a company profile on passport, it declares that ‘China is becoming the most important market in terms of retail expansion.’ Although, H&M is currently the only brand from the group located in China, 76 new stores opened in 2014 and they planned to open more stores in 2015. Growing demand for international brands in China allows big companies such as H&M to expand into smaller cities in the country as consumers in urban markets, not only in Beijing and Shanghai, are becoming increasingly important to the company as a whole.

The way H&M is perceived by the consumer may differ due to opinions, however the main values of H&M include the garments are renewed to keep up with the latest trends, cost is consciously decided to give the consumers the best value for money, the staff are always helpful and customer orientated and the stores provide good showcases.

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COMMUNICATING

The

BRAND

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Various communication techniques are used for the purpose of promoting products, which then motivate the consumer to make the purchase, and keep them aware of company’s products. Previously, mass communication or impersonal messages are released to the general public and address a broad audience. Indicated in ‘A Global Perspective in Marketing Fashion’, the numerous channels in which information is communicated to a large population all at one time is known as mass media. Examples of this include, Television, newspapers, radio and search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Advertising;

On the other hand, marketers can use statistics to target a specific audience, or can choose certain times in which their advert will be aired. A company such as H&M ideally want to communicate their marketing strategies with an audience, aged 18-34, therefore they may chose to release advertisements between programmes for the similar age group. Within Youth Fashion, H&M spent £7.2 million on fashion advertising in 2013, even though this saw a decrease of 30% from 2012. In recent years, H&M has been listed in the top three biggest spenders on television advertising.

During America’s Super Bowl, H&M publicized its body wear campaign, featuring David Beckham. The brand also made a deal with ‘The Debrief,’ this was a new online magazine which would target 20year old females. H&M’s brand Divided was promoted on the site through the use of editorials.

PR;

According to S.Dillon (2012), public relations along with advertising and promotional strategies are the main components of the communication mix. Public relations covers the forms of communication, which are not directly paid for. These include, press releases, trade fairs and any events held by the brand. Due to the fact publicity or media coverage are not paid for, the company’s PR team must find ways to attract their targeted consumer and keep the brand in the public eye. H&M have various teams within their departments whom work together to ensure that their external and internal communications are done to a high standard. The Fashion PR creates global public relation activities and develops strategies to enhance their designs and fashions.

H&M uses celebrities to advertise their affordable fashions; these have included David Beckham, Madonna and Kylie Minogue, who launched her clothing line in 2007 in Shanghai. Not only does the company use celebrity endorsements, but they also support the Designers Against Aids; campaigning for the use of organic cottons, reduce chemical use and increase the use of energy efficient transportation.

Personal Selling;

Following the refurb of a store in Liverpool, H&M hosted a shopping party. It involved champagne along with Queens of Noise on the decks. With shoppers queuing from early afternoon, they received complementary hospitality and reasonable discounts.

In previous years, H&M have opted to open pop-up stores in numerous cities where stores had recently closed. In 2013, the brand began their new marketing campaign in Hong Kong to launch their collaboration with Isabel Marant; they based the event around a vintage carnival theme.

"THE COMBO OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMMUNICATION TO SUPPORT MARKETING GOALS"

COMMUNICATIONS MIX;

The campaign also involved a building wrap, in which the CITIC tower revealed “H&M Loves Hong Kong”. In 2011, H&M produced a pop-up store in a large cargo box ,on the beach in the Netherlands.. The store consisted of beach essentials such as sun hats, shorts, espadrilles and other beachwear. Another technique of personal selling includes trade fairs. The Fundamentals of Fashion, 2012, reveals ‘international trade fairs are an essential part of the retail calendar.’ At such events, retailers or designers get to view collections and appointments can be made following the show to order items from the shown collection. At some trade fairs, retailers or designers may place orders for the fabric or yarn samples.

Sales Promotion;

Although the brand of H&M is well known for its service and well selling products within the fashion industry, this is not enough for the company to excel alone. Sales promotion is used to target the chosen market and therefore the company has to work with set goals that can be achieved through their marketing efforts.

S.Dillon states, ‘A good marketing strategy will help define the target audience and how best to reach them through the brand name, packaging design, marketing materials.’ In the December 2015 issue of Vogue, inside was a small magazine based on a ‘Christmas Countdown,’ this was in association with H&M. Inside, the pages consisted of a promotional piece for the brand. It revealed a glimpse of this season’s party collection with a ‘vintage inspired shimmer.’ Along with the small piece featured in a fashion magazine, the Oxford Street store, London offers a magazine based on the beauty range. ‘Introducing the beauty department’ publishes H&M’s new venture into beauty products.

Direct Marketing;

The brand offers a Newsletter which is accessible through the website and offers a one off offer of 25% off one item upon signing up. By signing up to the newsletter, the consumers are the first to know about the latest fashion news and receive exclusive offers. The subscription to the newsletter allows the brand to communicate directly with prospective purchasers.

Social Media;

The availability of the Internet and mobile communication widens the avenues of which marketers can communicate with their chosen consumers. The use of this media allows the brands to produce a more personal message for their narrowly targeted groups- such as brand pages on Facebook. According to an article in Marketing Communications by PR Smith and Ze Zook, “Social Media is the biggest change since the industry revolution” This quote came from Business Week, as far back as 2005. H&M currently occupies numerous social media pages. These include, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Google+ and a pinterest account. On these pages, the brand shows recent advertisements including those of the new Balmain collection, linked with the campaign run by Kendall Jenner and following appearance of the collection at the Billboard awards, along with Jourdan Dunn.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Economics For Business 6th Edition, by John Sloman, Kevin Hinde and Dean Garrat, 2013 Everything you need to know about Balmain, by Caroline Leaper (05/11/15) http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/fashion/550623/balmain-x-h-m-the-balmain-h-andm-collaboration-in-pictures. html#index=1 The Fundamentals of Fashion Managements, by Susan Dillon, 2012 H&M Trying to Prove ‘Ethical Fast Fashion’ is not an oxymoron. By Jennifer Elks, (February, 2014) http://www.sustainablebrands. com/news_and_views/stakeholder_trends_insights/jennifer_elks/ethical_fast_fashion_hm_trying_prove_its_no Marketing Communications fifth edition- Integrating offline and online with social media. By, PR Smith and Ze Zook- Page 9 (2011) Marketing Fashion , A Global Perspective, By Patricia Mink Rath, Richard Petrizzi and Penny Gill, Page 213- Brand Positioning (2012) Vogue, Christmas Countdown, December, 2015 http://academic.mintel.com/display/752268/?highlight#hit1 (October 2015) http://academic.mintel.com/display/752268/?highlight#hit1 (No Date) http://academic.mintel.com/display/725123/?highlight#hit1 (No Date) http://academic.mintel.com/display/752260/?highlight#hit1 (No Date) https://www.hm.com/gb/newsletter (16/11/15) https://www.hm.com/gb/life (16/11/15) http://innovationleaders.org/hm_company_profile.html (No Date) http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/portal/analysis/tab (No Date) http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/portal/analysis/tab (No Date) http://www.slideshare.net/Zeynepkn/hm-brand-audit-35398982 (June, 2014) http://www.slideshare.net/Zeynepkn/hm-brand-audit-35398982 (June 2014) http://www.thinkpublicity.co.uk/work/fashion/hm-shopping-party.html - 01/03/07 http://www.wgsn.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/content/board_viewer/#/135482/page/1 (12/06/13) http://www.wgsn.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/content/search/#/h%2526M%2520pop%2520up 21/11/13

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