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Abstract and Introduction
ABSTRACT
The objective of this report is to explore how two retailers that operate at different levels of the fashion market deploy differing methods of the marketing mix on a similar garment. To do so, I examined a leather jacket from a high street and one of from a Iuxury retailer. Through the use of both primary and secondary research, with qualitative and quantitative data, I was able to understand how the application of the four components of the marketing mix: product, price, place and promotion differed in accordance to the position of the retailer within the fashion market.
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INTRODUCTION
The following report offers a comparative analysis of the application of the four components of the marketing mix; product, price, place and promotion to two visually similar garments that are being retailed at different levels of the fashion market. To carry out this investigation, I have focused on a biker style jacket designed by the high street retailer Topshop and one by luxury retailer Acne Studios, to explore how both brands utilise their marketing mix strategy to engage with their target market.
Figure 5. Acne Studios S/S17 campaign (Sleek, 2017)
LITERATURE REVIEW
The marketing mix is a “set of controllable marketing variables” that a company uses to “produce the response it wants in the target market” (Armstrong G and Kotler P, 1989, p45). The marketing mix is a tool kit “used to influence customers” (M Rafiq and P Ahmed, 1995). The four components of the marketing mix were rationalised into the 4Ps- product, price, place and promotion by Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s. These components are all interrelated so significantly impact upon the effectiveness of one another. The marketing mix employed “will be unique to each company or situation” (Posner H, 2015, p41). However, the aim of the marketing mix remains the same, to generate “profitable customer relationships” (Armstrong G and Kotler P, 2011, p45), that will enable to company to gain a competitive edge in the industry. This therefore will ultimately ensure optimum profit levels annually.
