MANOLO BLAHNIK SINCE 1971 Manolo Blahnik is one of the most famous shoe designers and the company was founded by the man with the same name, Manolo Blahnik who still runes the company. Manolo’s carrier began in the 70‘s on a trip to New York where he showed his design work to the Vogue editor Diane Vreeland. She loved the designs and encouraged Manolo to be a professional shoe maker and designer. The first shoe that was designed for the bigger public was made in 1971 for a runway show by Ossie Clark. In 1973 Blahnik opened the first store in London which today is the flagship store.
THE MAKING OF THE SHOE Blahnik is alone responsible for all of the designs and the shoes is sculptured by hand, from the first sketch to the wooden lasts that are used as the shoe model. The manufactory is situated in Italy and has a limited production of 100 pairs of shoes per day which ensures the quality. Manolo shoes are mainly made out of leather and silk and the distinctive features are the high heels, the decoration in form of beads, ribbons and other sophisticated details. The designs is inspired by the designers favorite film and other designers such as Balenciaga, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent. Each pair of designs are named after a female star or a specific places and all together Blahnik has individually designed over 1,000 pairs of shoes. The selection of shoes are, stilettos, flats, pumps, boots and wedding shoes.
PRODUCT AND SERVICE Manolo Blahnik's flagship store is in Old Church Street, Chelsea , London and the shoes can also be find in the Manolo boutiques in New York, Las Vegas, Dublin, Athens, Madrid, Istanbul, Dubai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore. Manolo’s are also distributed by different retailers such as Bloomingdales and Barney’s
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY Manolo Blahnik has never worked with advertisement trough traditional ads , instead the brand lives on its reputation and brand name. To build up a brand name Manolo Blahnik has lent out it’s name to other companies such as Coca Cola that uses Manolo and the design sketch of a shoe on their bottle. Furthermore Manolo has had collaborations with other designers and fashion houses, such as Christian Dior, Yves St. Laurent, Ellis and Calvin Klein. The most successful communication strategy is one that the brand was’t involved and it’s the brands role in the TV show Sex and the city where the characters often refers to the brand name Manolo Blahnik. The show made Manolo famous all over the world and among everyday people. It partly change the brand identity from being a brand for the upper class, to be a brand that represents expensive and beautiful shoe that everyday people wants to purchase just to be able to wear their own pair of Manolo’s.
TARGET MARKET WHO BUYS MANOLO’S Manolo has since the start appealed to woman in the middle upper and upper class. The brand is today very popular among actresses, it-girls and socialites. After the brand became more popular through Sex and the city it has reach out to a bigger target market and is today also popular among fashionable younger and middle age woman that wants to be identified with the city lifestyle, the it-girl and the celebrities. The buyer values quality, unique design and image. WHY BUY MANOLO’S The main target buys Manolo’s partly because the shoe can be identified by others. The spending is therefore made to impress others and make sure that others are aware of their status. The target buys the product because someone have bought it before them. For example have the designs that appeared in sex and the city become very popular in the market. In other words the purchasing is based on a psychological satisfaction and a use satisfaction
BRAND POSITIONING BRAND IMAGE Manolo Blahnik can be seen as a luxury brand that is sophisticated , chic , vibrant, classic and elegant with a high fashion design. The brand is seen as something every fashionable woman should have, because if you wear a pair of Manolo you convey that you no fashion, it gives a fashion status. COMPETITORS Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo and Farragamo. The three competitors has the same fashion status, a high design and can all be seen as luxury brand. The difference that Manolo has from its competitors is that the brand has a stronger and more direct brand name.
“Manolo Blahnik is one of a few brand that directly express a particular style or lifestyle just by using it’s name”
MARKETING PROJECT What: Create a limited edition with earlier designs from 1972 to today. Every year there are going to be 2 recreated models. Why: The purpose is to recreate the history of the brand and the designs to put more value to the brand history. Who: For a younger target When: The recreated models of shoes are going to be available for a shorter period of time in a limited edition. The project is a long project that is going to last over several years. The purpose with a longer project is to create a collecting value over time.
COLLECTION OBJECT WHY Manolo Blahnik is a shoe that the latest year has created a collection value and there are today a whole market that trades vintage Manolo shoes. The particular difference in collecting Manolo’s from other shoes is that every design has a specific and characteristic name which makes the shoe easy to collect .There are for example many fashionistas that collects Manolo’s to have every name in their shoe closet. VALUE The name of every single design make the shoe interesting to collect because every name have a connection with a history of a famous woman or a place. This gives an extra dimension and some personal touch and collected item
TARGET FOR THE NEW PRODUCT A YOUNGER CLIENT The aim of the project is to reach out to a younger target, that didn't have the opportunity to purchase the shoe in the 70’s ,80’s and 90’s . The client is some one who has a deeper interest in fashion and puts a value in fashion history and icons. THE LOYAL MANOLO CUSTOMER The second main segment is the client who already knows about the brand and that has had a longer relation ship to it. The client is often a middle age woman that lives in the city and has a higher income. The client has Manolo as a daily part in the wardrobe and uses them in every day life.
MARKET STRATEGY Limited edition: The strategy is to create a limited edition to make the project more attractive. For the project 10 different design will be chosen where one design will be launched every season for the five upcoming year. The aim is to build a history legend around the10 designs like the legend of Mary Jane. “Mary Jane, the legend of New York “ The legendary feeling will make the designs and the collecting concept more desirable
PRODUCT LOOK The shoe will be purchased in a specially designed shoebox for the limited edition. The box will be designed after the original Manolo Blahnik shoebox with the difference that it has a more vintage look and comes with a little printed story about the specific shoe. The shoe is designed exactly as the original one with de difference that the name and the original year is printed on the sole t as an signature.
Piaggi 1974 Is a op art shoe designed for Ms, anna Piaggi, that was a close friend and collaborator. The shoe is Cutout boot in black and white leather chequered flag motif, with spotted lining and striped 105mm heel