CHARLOTTE CUFF - FASHION MANAGEMENT REPORT STUDENT ID 26021557
CONTENTS PAGE 3. EXCUTIVE SUMMARY 4-5. CHOSEN BRAND 6-7. BRAND IDENTITY 8-9. BRAND CONSUMER 10-11. BRAND POSITIONING 12. COMMUNICATION MIX 13. ADVERTISING + PR 14. PERSONAL SELLING 15. SALES PROMOTION 16. DIRECT MARKETING 17. SOCIAL MEDIA 18-19. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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KENZO X H&M Images from Google Images
“We
want Kenzo to not just be a fashion brand, but a lifestyle brand as well.� Carol Lim co-creative director at Kenzo
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To summarize,Kenzo as a brand aims to produce and release products which are of a luxury quality at an affordable price. Throughout the years the brand has experienced highpoints and low points but through new direction the brand has refocused their vison and has returned back to its roots creating the Kenzo we know today.
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CHOSEN BRAND
I
n 1970 Kenzo Takada opened his first boutique in Paris, Jungle Jap was where his designs and sketches were brought to life inside Gallerie Vivienne. Here Takada sold loose fitted clothes, oversized dungarees and smock tent dresses. You could start to see the development of Kenzo as a brand and the direction he was heading towards. The official Kenzo brand started after Jungle Jap took off, Takada started with just women’s clothing but then progressed onto menswear in 1983 and then onto childrenswear by 1987.
away. It is subtle, never obvious.” (Dreyfus and Gabet, 2015) Kenzo was in its prime from the seventies to the nineties, this was when brand was under the management of the founder Kenzo Takada. Pricilla Wiegandt said his work set the standard for clothing in the ’70s (Wiegandt, 2016) During the nineties the iconic oversized Kenzo trademark clothing started to be cut out of collections and was replaced with fitted, cropped and close fitting garments this in some peoples eyes became the decline of Kenzo. In 1999 brand founder Kenzo Takada decided to retire from the company and it was reported that he handed over leadership of the company to his assistants at the time (Wiegandt, 2016) In 2012 Kenzo appointed new co-creative directors of the company Humberto Leon and Carol Lim.
Both Leon and Lim saw the legacy Takada left at the brand and how his designs and creation were innovative as well as inclusive. They wanted to bring back that playful, fresh side which had made Kenzo infamous. Leon and Lim understood that coming to a PRIMARY IMAGES company following such an influential high-powered creator, they needed Creating a brand which combined to take aspects of what originally West and East was at the forefront made Kenzo the brand it is today. of Takada’s mind creating a blend of culture through clothing. In the words of Dreyfus and Gabet there is no “Japanesey influences. No Oriental bazaar- style folklore. No Saint-Germain-des Pres exotic chic. Its inspiration comes from far, far
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BRAND IDENTITY B
rand identity is the image of how a company wants to be seen by potential customers, how it wishes to be perceived. This includes the colour schemes, logo, representation by celebrities, fonts etc. All these aspects are vital for a brand as this is what a possible client, customer or competitor sees first. “The Kenzo design project is about Parisian easy chic meeting Californian laid back spirit. It’s about a lifestyle and a way to seize the world, rather than a question of age, sex or geographic origin.” (AYS Website - AYS insider: KENZO CMO Sophie Metzker, no date). Kenzo as a brand believe in communicating a message to their customers, a message which translates a certain lifestyle and approach to fashion.
They want their garments to be fun, express personality and encapsulates a relaxed spirt whilst being a fresh credible brand. Kenzo as a brand do this by producing garments that would attract a younger customer online and instore, for many years the brand has created flamboyant, colorful clothing. In addition to this the clothing under the Kenzo brand has always included certain characteristics, the extra-large features and oversized nature of the sleek, polished style. The original logo for the Kenzo Paris is usually black and white with the lettering being made up of three black lines in each section. It’s simple, clean and effective much like the brand itself. The logo represents the sleek yet fresh brand and truly sums Kenzo up. The Paris element of the logo is sometimes written beneath the
Kenzo lettering in a thin black font but it also sometimes written inside the O of Kenzo and positioned on a slight angle. It goes back to community.) Kenzo believes in building a community, a broad group of individuals who are all brought together through style. Anyone who loves Kenzo, from celebrities, fashion models, sports athletes, bloggers, journalists, students, artists, family, friends, to you and me! Kenzo is an inclusive brand. (AYS Website - AYS insider: KENZO CMO Sophie Metzker, no date)
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BRAND CONSUMER A
consumer is person who buys products or a service from a company for their own needs. A consumer is also susceptible to advertising by said company and then consequently go out and purchases said product or service. According to Business of Fashion there are 149 Kenzo stores around the world, with their headquarters located in Paris, France (Business of Fashion, no date) this worldwide spread of stores means the brand is accessible globally and to a large market mainly the younger generation. Kenzo describe themselves as a brand worn by real people due to its accessibility, price and practicality. Women, men and children are all catered for within the brand so no consumer is dismissed, as a brand for ‘real people’ they price their products for real people this is one of Kenzo’s main attractions for consumers. You receive a high quality product for an unextreme price, this relationship between the brand and the customer has been established for many years and as a brand they realise that price and budget is an important part of everyone’s lives.
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BRAND POSITIONING
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A
brands positioning can imply a number of definitions for example, a brands positioning maybe the positon the brand is in the current market so how it looks positioned next to its competitors in the similar field. Brand positioning may also relate back to the customer and what place this certain brand means to them and what they think of it. Kenzo aims for a hip, demographic luxury positioning so its price level is between high-street level and luxury brands level (Khan, 2014) Kenzo aims to produce and sell a luxury product for an in-between price. On a business perspective Kenzo knows this strategy will build a connection with the consumer and will allow the customer to truly understand Kenzo and what they stand for and unify. Kenzo have identified that their target market is the younger generation. In the words of Dillon; successful branding must be based on a forward looking strategy that takes into account the brand, competition and entire sector. (Dillon, 2011) You have to look at your competitor and analyse what has worked well for them, then take that on board as a brand and develop and progress. On the other hand, you have to investigate what hasn’t worked and determine where fault lies to be able to avoid the errors your competitor has run into, in addition to this it will then allow a brand to stand out from the rest. Kenzo’s main unique selling point is the price, the price makes it popular to the public. You can purchase high quality goods for a significantly different price in comparison to the leading luxury brands.
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P
COMMUNICATION MIX
romotion in the merchandising environment describes the marketing mix as being made up of four P’s: product, promotion, price and place (Swanson and Everett, 2015) these elements all contribute to the overall success of a brand. The product is what initially brings the consumer to the brand perhaps after they have seen a recent fashion show or been aware of the release of a new collection due to social media.
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ADVERTISING A
dvertising comes in a number of forms; online sources, TV, radio, film, magazine and billboard. These methods of advertising are very direct and reach the consumer instantly as soon as they are released. Over the years Kenzo has created a number of short films, these movies often display the latest collect from the brand and is used a way to reach a larger audience with their fashion without it being too directed and insistent. The brand enlisted a number of art directors, musicians, film directors and film makers to bring their visons to life through the media of film.
PR P
ublic relations shapes public opinion about fashion brand or retailer through unpaid media exposure opportunities. (Swanson and Everett, 2015) Through communication a brand build relationships creating a good brand image for a company. Recently Kenzo has collaborated with H&M on a range to enter the high street stores in November, the range titled KENZO X H&M has included clothing for men and women along with accessories. Humberto Leon one of the creative directors at Kenzo stated We wanted to really tell the story of the brand and of us (WORLD and INSPIRATION, no date). As soon as you access the Kenzo official website this campaign in bright, bold and the first thing you see. Colour, print, pattern and shape are the words which would summarize this fresh collection. Through celebrity involvement of major influencers such as Iman, Chance the rapper, Chloe Sevigny, Rosario Dawson and many more this varied group of individuals have brought new and different eyes to the brand generating more popularity.
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PERSONAL SELLING P
ersonal selling is the technique of creating a relationship between the customer and the salesperson, the salesperson in this situation can use a number of techniques to convince the customer to consider the product or buy it. Kenzo joined forced with the Blue Marine Foundation, this collaboration came about because of the current creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim wanted to use the popularity of the brand and turn that attention to a more important matter which affected them both Leon and Lim were raised in California so when choosing an issue which both of them could relate to they decided on the ocean and environment (AYS Website AYS insider: Kenzo CMO Sophie Metzker, no date). The statement “NO FISH NO NOTHING” was the driving point for the collection, S/S 2014 at Paris Fashion Week were the collection was shown. It included bold ocean prints, cool toned garments, coiled finishing’s all with a bigger message behind it. Kenzo and the Blue Marine Foundation created a website to really involve the viewer, this interactive website takes you step by step what a fish in an ocean would have to go through, what they see and life through their eyes. Moving graphics and illustrations including facts and statistics were included on this website which then forwarded the customer onto the Kenzo website. Due to the important motive behind this collection, Kenzo created a digital pop up store in Paris to directly sell the collection to their customers, here customers got to experience virtual aquarium and be involved in an issue which is effecting the environment.
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SALES PROMOTION T
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hrough sales promotion a brand uses methods to increase sales, although these promotion techniques may be short term and discrete they grab the customer’s attention whether they notice it or not. After purchasing a Kenzo item from a store, the shop assistants usually package the items bought within a simple black and white gift bag branded with the original Kenzo Paris logo, as well as a sheet of white card within the bag which is also embossed with the Kenzo logo. When ordering a Kenzo item offline which would require shipping, the garments are packaged within shipping pouches with a zip-lock seal also patented with the Kenzo Paris logo. Fani MoriÊres a print graphic designer in the Kenzo art department stated her job was working on designing all the packaging from shopping bags to shipping purses, her aim was to keep with the minimalist design but for high quality materials. (Behance, no date)
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DIRECT MARKETING
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hrough emails, face to face selling and telephone, direct marketing eliminates the middle man the retailers, it allows brands to directly connect with their customers. When you enter the Kenzo website there is the option to sign up to the Kenzo club which will send you information oun the latest collections, track your orders, receive stock alerts and enable you to save favourite products you’ve seen on the website.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
enzo use all social media platforms but are mainly on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. ‘Mostly because we are a very “talkative” and “visual” brand and those platforms are perfectly suited for our communication purposes’ (Khan, 2014) On these platforms it allows you to directly communicate with your followers and communicate with then and there, Kenzo has 1.3 million followers on Instagram, 284 thousand followers on Twitter and 841 thousand likes on Facebook. As a business these platforms are perfect for releasing a product to your consumers and receiving feedback instantly, as well as the instant interactions between the brand and the consumer, the brand can get direct inspiration and information about their customers which they can take on and develop. This type of information for a business is key as it can inform them on the age of their consumer, the consumers interests, cultures/background as well as what inspires them. These small yet crucial details of information can be put together and move the brand forward. Due to its popularity and status Kenzo as well as being on all social media platforms the brand is also communicated through TV, films and print, this type of attention is vital when releasing new information about the brand. A press release is fundamental to reach all levels of the media for example when the company wins an award or they present a new collection at a fashion show, this release of information allows the consumer to be up to date with the company.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY AYS Website - AYS insider: KENZO CMO Sophie Metzker (no date) Available at: http://blog.adjustyourset.com/ays-insider-kenzo-cmo-sophie-metzker/ (Accessed: 6 November 2016). Behance (no date) Available at: https://www.behance.net/gallery/33516395/Kenzo-Shipping-Pouches (Accessed: 14 November 2016). Business of Fashion (no date) Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/companies/Kenzo. Dillon, S. (2011) The fundamentals of fashion management. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA. Dreyfus, A. and Gabet, O. (2015) Dress of the year: 101 Iconic fashions from the Musee des arts Decoratifs. France: Flammarion. Fashion (2016) Kenzo | discover Kenzo’s company page | the business of fashion. Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/companies/kenzo (Accessed: 6 November 2016). Kawamura, Y. (2004) The Japanese revolution in Paris Fashion: V. 34. OXFORD: Berg Publishers. Kenzo - no fish no nothing (no date) Available at: http://okfoc.us/ kenzo/ (Accessed: 6 November 2016). KENZO x H&M (2016) Available at: https://www.kenzo.com (Accessed: 6 November 2016). Khan, Y. (2014) Kenzo market mix. Available at: http://splay.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2014/02/13/kenzo-market-mix/ (Accessed: 6 November 2016). Ponzi, E. (2002) Environment - LVMH commitment. Available at: https://www.lvmh.com/group/lvmh-commitments/environment/ (Accessed: 6 November 2016). Reserved, wearona A.R. (2016) Designer brand profile for Kenzo. Available at: http://www.wearona.com/dbi/kenzo (Accessed: 6 November 2016).
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Steele, V., Mears, P. and Kawamura, Y. (2010) Japan fashion now. New Haven: Yale University Press. Swanson, K.K. and Everett, J.C. (2015) Promotion in the merchandising environment. United States: Bloomsbury Academic USA. Terms, P.I. (2016) Brand comparison - KENZO & Marc Jacobs. Available at: https://prezi.com/hkedbwoiytr-/brand-comparison-kenzo-marc-jacobs/ (Accessed: 6 November 2016). Wiegandt, P. (2016) ‘Back to the origins - an analysis on the relaunching and rebranding of Kenzo’, . WORLD, A. and INSPIRATION (no date) Kenzo x H&M designer collaboration 2016 | H&M. Available at: http://www.hm.com/nl/magazine/culture/h-m-inside/2016/05/kenzo-x-hm-designer-collaboration-2016 (Accessed: 6 November 2016
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