Contents:
1) Introduction a) The Brand History & Heritage b) Timeline 2) Internal Audit & Brand Positioning a) Porter’s Five Forces b) Brand Positioning 3) Visual Identity 4) Marketing Mix a) The Four P’s 5) External Audit a) PESTEL 6) Competitor Analysis 7) Consumer Analysis 8) SWOT 11) Bibliography 12) Appendices
1) Introduction The Brand History & Heritage Mary Quant was born on the 11th February 1934 and raised in London. She studied Art & Design at Goldsmith’s College of Art, London University. Mary Quant opened her first boutique, Bazaar, on the Kings Road in 1955. It became well known for its loud music, free drinks and witty, eye catching window displays. Her early designs included white plastic collars to brighten up sweaters and dresses, brightly coloured stockings to match her sweaters and long men’s cardigans worn as dresses. She decided to design and make more of the clothes to sell and took evening classes on fabric cutting to enable her to stock new and different designs. The store also had a late closing time to attract her younger customer base which created more of a ‘scene’ for the store and her customers. Many young women travelled to Bazaar to enjoy something different in a much less formal environment. (Victoria & Albert Museum, 2017). For the next few years she was one of only 2 designers based in London selling high end designer clothing to younger customers. She is most famous for her association with the mini skirt which she said was inspired by the girls on the Kings Road who were part of the ‘swinging sixties’ and allowed them to move freely. The thrill was enormous to have an idea and be able to transmit it, to have it sampled, polished and then produced by mass-production methods, and to see this rolling of the machines, shown in shop windows in other countries, photographed, worn and enjoyed, is ecstatic stuff. There is nothing else quite like it.’ (Quant, 2017)
Timeline 1955: Quant Purchased Markham House on the King’s Road in Chelsea. Where Mary Quant opened, a boutique called Bazaar on the ground floor and her husband opened his own restaurant ‘Alexander’s’ in the basement of the new building. 1957: Quant opened her 2nd Bazaar store on the King’s Road. 1962: Quant signed a lucrative design contract with American department store chain JC Penney. 1963: Mary Quant limited expanded into the UK mass market. 1963: Quant created a new diffusion line – Ginger Group. 1963: The Sunday Times gave Quant the ‘International Award for “jolting England out of a conventional attitude towards clothes”’. 1966: Quant created the hot pants. 1966: Quant created the ‘skinny rib’ sweater which was said to be inspired by her trying on an 8year old’s sweater for fun. 1966: Mary Quant was awarded an OBE. 1967: Quant opened her 3rd store on New Bond Street.
1990: Quant was awarded the prestigious Hall of Fame Award by the British Fashion Council. 2015: Mary Quant became a Dame in the New Year’s Honours list
2) Internal Audit & Brand Positioning Statement Porter’s 5 Forces “Porter’s Five Forces is a simple but powerful tool for understanding the competitiveness of your business environment and for identifying your strategy’s potential profitability’. (Mindtools.com, 2017) Threat of Substitute: When selling Mary Quant there could a be a risk of customers going to another brand or high street store for a similar product that could similarly be bought at Mary Quant. Threat of new entrants: ASOS could be a huge threat to the Mary Quant brand as this online store is very well known and popular around the world, plus has an easy order and returns process and quick delivery times. High street stores such as Topshop or New Look could also be threat to Mary Quant selling as they could design similar items of clothing and sell them at a lower cost. Power of Consumer buyers: When selling into a market place the power of their consumers can affect how the business performs. With the market of where Mary Quant is wanting to launch it will be a larger market with more consumers as well as companies competing to sell their products. This will make the brand work harder to meet the demands of all consumers in the market to keep their existing customers coming back to the store. One way of creating repetitive purchasing from a customer is having a consumer loyalty scheme, where somebody signs up for emails to be notified when new lines are launched, promotions are taking place or items that have gone on sale. As well as potentially gaining points when buying items in the store or online and then with a certain amount of points to be rewarded with gift cards of money. Power of Suppliers: Depending on how strong a supplier is can influence the buyer’s ability to achieve profitability because if suppliers can add pressure to the buyers by raising prices, lowering product quality or reducing the products availability can hugely effect how a company runs (Wilkinson, 2017). Mary Quant originally had a great way of working with suppliers to get the best out of her business seen as she designed and created her designs instore herself. There for cutting out one of the supplier powers with the availability of the products as she was creating them herself and only have to use suppliers for the fabric she was using.
‘I went to my favourite store, Harrods, who had the best men’s suiting, Prince Of Wales check and herringbones and also silk linings and silk satins, ribbons and laces to make the shirts and blouses I wanted to go with them’. (Quant, 2012) Rivalry among existing competition: Two example competitors that Mary Quant will have to take into consideration are:
Topshop Screen shot (2017) [Images] Available at: https://www.net-a-porter. com/gb/en/ [Accessed 23 Oct.2017]
Topshop Unique: this Topshop brand will be a threat to Mary Quant as even though it’s a high-street store the pricing for some of the more unique items are close to the pricing market that Mary Quant is going for. The other reason it will be a big competition is because it is such a huge consumer market and high-street brand leader. Marc Jacobs: “After 30 years Marc Jacobs continues to unabashedly shape the boundaries of American fashion. The indefinable characteristics of his namesake label are the result of a certain unique, uncommonly frank and brilliantly outspoken perspective”. (Marcjacobs. com, 2017)
Marc Jacobs Screen shot (2017) [Images] Available at: https://www. net-a-porter.com/gb/en/ [Accessed 23 Oct.2017]
Marc Jacobs will be in competition with the Mary Quant relaunch as its current pricing is around the target pricing for similar high end products to be offered by Mary Quant. Marc Jacobs is also huge competition because they also offer a successful accessories and cosmetic range similar to Mary Quant.
Brand Positioning ‘The essence of positioning is to get the product right in terms of customer needs and expectations and then to tailor the images of the firms marketing offering to meet the aspirations of the chosen market segment.’ (Easey, 2009) Mary Quant’s original consumer target market was the ‘Chelsea Set’ - a group of young artists, film directors and socialites interested in exploring new ways of living and dressing. (Victoria & Albert Museum, 2017) The brands target market consumers, aligning with the brands ethos, would someone who is constantly pushing boundaries in fashion as well as wanting to try new fabrics. Similarly, the original brand community wanted new iconic clothing, different anything that that had be designed in the past which identified them as being part of a new generation of modern women. This ethos will be a key part of the relaunch. Competitive pricing will also be important. When advertising in the future to the target market consumers of the Millennial generation they will spread their focus over three different types of macro trends. All the trends are based on consumers own culture and psychological experiences that have shaped their lives in the past, if brands work upon and understand these pervious beliefs they will successfully keep their consumer bases. (Bina, 2017) 1) Poly Identification - How we move Between Boxes: Millennials now constantly travel between styles instead of committing to one style that they identify with. Then instead of going between boxes of styles or completely changing their look they collect and mix these styles and ideas and making their own unique style or look. 2) Indefinite Optimism - A great future with no plan for getting there: The Millennial generation were brought up in a state of indefinite optimism thus making them believe that the world’s greatest problems had already be solved. Since they believe that the world’s greatest secrets are known they have a natural feeling of sentiment, idealise and sometimes even glamorise the past. This is why many styles such a vintage, glam rock and grunge are becoming mainstream with the comforting feeling of fashion linking to the remixes of the past rather than pushing to change the future. 3) Elevated Baselines; doing ‘good’ is nothing special: the millennial generation have strong beliefs that if a company is being more sustainable that is standard, expected practice and not exceptional. Therefore, any company investing in one such area is not viewed as doing anything ‘special’.
3) Visual Identity The brands main creator is Mary Quant as she was the original designer and CEO of the company. She personally designed and created many of their iconic designs. The brands typographical logo is the Mary Quant logo, the trademark of the brand is her name ‘Mary Quant’. Similarly, the Mary Quant logo also includes the flower which is five leaf flower filled in black. The logo has three different types: writing plus the image of the flower, just the flower image or just the written name. The brand’s main branding colour for its logo and text is preliminary black on a white background. However, the colours for the items change throughout the designs with bright colours as well as colour blocking throughout the ranges with clashing colours. The main fabric Mary Quant used was cotton for their skirts, dresses and coats, she later experimented with different types of fabrics and was also the first designer to use PVC for her skirts. Mary Quants stores were a place where the young people of London went to hang out after work or late into the evening. It was a hub for many with loud music and free drinks. Their current online website is unusable with only information of the brand and some items but no online store or any way of purchasing the items. The only way of purchasing their products would be either on their Japanese website which is also unusable in English or buying from one of their stores in Japan. The Mary Quant signature mini skirt style became one of the most popular styles in the 1960’s and brought much higher hemlines and braver styles into the UK with many of her skirts being either 6 or 7 inches above the knee.
The four Ps
4)
Marketing Mix
Product: Mary Quant’s base line products are her Daisy Cosmetic range; this was the cheaper end of the brand where young women could purchase Mary’s products without breaking the bank. ‘By the end of the 1960’s Quant was the UK’s most high-profile designer and had achieved unprecedented reach in the market: it was estimated that up to seven million women had at least one of her products in their wardrobe, while thousands more sported the supermodern shades of her ‘Daisy’- Badged cosmetics range’. (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2017). Throughout the brand the quality and style has been of a high standard. From the clean-cut miniskirts to the perfectly A-line dresses and range of coats. Price: For the relaunch of Mary Quant, the pricing bracket will be projected towards the top end high street or lower designer stores. This will appeal to the target market of the generation of millennials. Promotion: Mary Quant, the brand and designer are iconic and linked to an important period in
history for both women’s liberation and fashion which included many daring designs which had never been seen before anywhere. She was well known in the UK and many other countries including America where her designs were sold through the JC Penney stores. Place: Mary Quant reached out globally and expanded into Japan in the early 1990s. The brand still has an online presence there as well as a number of stores and concessions. In Japan, there is a much larger product range than in the UK, where only make up and accessories can be purchased.
5) External Audit
PESTEL Political:
Brazil is a South American country which is regarded as one of the most powerful and economically viable leaders. However, because of its own social and economic problems it prevents it from gaining a world power status. Brazil is one of the countries that is Multilateralism as it is in cooperation with other countries to help a cause. It often promotes a peaceful resolution to disputes instead of the alternative of violence. Brazil often remain neutral in other countries political and economic problems. As Brazil continues to improve in its economic status it has been able to create a relation initiative to include the provision of financial aids to others. (Meyer, 2017)
Economical:
One huge economical factor that could affect Mary Quant in the United Kingdom is the recent ruling of Brexit. How the changes of Brexit will affect the fashion industry is still unknown and undecided. It is said that by 2019 the UK government will have stopped free movement within the European Union. However according to the article on the Business of Fashion the EU are likely to push back on the request when negotiating terms involving trade and tax throughout the EU. (The Business of Fashion, 2017) The Performance Economy is a new way of thinking and moving the economy towards sustainability. This shift in the economy is making people think about ‘doing things right’ to ‘doing the right thing’. This movement in the economy will have an impact on the running of businesses and the marketplace to help support the realities of the environment as well as supporting the needs of human development. Some of the concepts that should be brought forward are: • A cleaner production process and bringing on the eco-designs of goods that have a reduced environmental impairment, these could be the release of toxic substances into the environment and volumes of manufacturing wastes. Furthermore, these factors could be the volume of goods transported and the distance of that transport as well as how they are transported around the country or world. • The new standards such as Environmental Management and Audit System and the ISO 14000 internationally to help the way of corporate reporting in the environmental areas along with measuring the progress of the things that are being done right. (Stahel, 2010)
Social & Cultural:
A survey carried out by Mckinsey & Company in June 2016 shows the response of the consumer in Brazil when purchasing. It brought to light 5 main features of the behaviors of the Brazilian consumer market. 1) They are Proactively searching for savings: many people in Brazil are recently paying more attention to the prices of things as well as looking at sales and also delaying purchases so they can get the best offers that are around the market. 2) Some remain brand loyal (but only if the price is right): the survey showed that more than 1/3 of Brazilians said that they still shopped at their preferred brands but they are shopping in different areas or retailers to find their brands at lower prices. 3) Once they ‘trade down’ they might not go back: the survey showed that 21% of Brazilian consumers agreed they would trade down their shopping habits to less expensive brands. 4) There are splurges in select categories: it was said that Brazilians were saving money and cutting cost in many areas but there are still select categories that the percentages are going up, a few of these are; beer, wine, spirits and cosmetics. 5) They shop across channels: the survey shows that the Brazilian consumers shift between spending at discounted chains and the cash and carry at local retail and wholesalers there. (McKinsey & Company, 2017) The pattern in Brazil currently is that many consumers are abandoning the higher end brands in favour of more affordable options or special offers. Nevertheless, more of the well-off consumers still continue to shop in the stores that they enjoy, however, are paying more attention to quality, after sale services from the stores as well as if they brands have a more social commitment take on things such as a protection of the environment or sanitary standards. (En.portal.santandertrade.com, 2017) The 1960s was the decade where consumer goods and services became more availability to consumer’s. This push the decade forward into pushing people to be more preoccupied with self-fulfillment and contemplative self into everyday lives to help consumers buy themselves their own identities and lifestyles. This meant that the social and cultural changes in the 1960s climbed to new heights. Such as Beatlemania, King’s Road boutiques and Pop Art. This was the start of culture industries consumption being one of the highest and strongest areas. The sixties became the decade of – ‘spend, spend, spend’. (Donnelly, 2005) And with the more spending power became growth in industries like pop music, film, fashion, television and publishing. In 1965 the Daily Telegraph they labelling London as ‘the most exciting city in the world’ and they were correct. ‘Swinging London’ was a mythical fusion of design, architecture, boutique fashion and pop culture.’ (Donnelly, 2005).
Technology:
This factor is becoming more and more prominent around the UK and in Brazil with
technology taking over. E-commerce; online shopping is taking over the industry with consumers buying online rather than instore. Today’s consumers are said to be ‘always-on’ whether that to be on social media, online stores/shopping or reading online articles. Their trust in a brand changes and leans towards the availability of information as well as the accessibility of the brands information and their values. Similarly, consumers continue to engage and expand with technology to enhance their shopping behaviour. This means that brands must expand along with times of technology to show that the brands are they need to start having a more global view of their consumers along with what they are wanting to buy; what they like and what they don’t like along with how they are shopping for their items. (Mckinsey, 2017)
Environmental:
There are many factors to be taken into consideration; some of these would be the ethical promise, sustainability and recycling. Depending on how the consumer reacts to the sustainability of the brand and their values will affect whether they purchase from the brand. The millennial generation views are a key factor in how much the brand will project their sustainability to the market consumers, therefore helping unlock the brand efficiencies and boost their profitability. ‘In a recent poll of 10,000 consumers in 11 countries by The Boston Consulting Group, sustainable means of production was the second most important consideration after the exclusivity of a brand.’ (The Business of Fashion, 2017)
Legal:
One factor that could affect how the launch and running of the business takes place is the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade & the Multi-Fibre Agreement. This agreement regulates the imports of textile and clothing products into western industrialized countries from low cost or developing countries. (Easey, 2009) Another legal factor and law that could affect Mary Quant running is the minimum wage act that was introduced in 1995 and affected the majority of the UK. Copyright laws could affect the new relaunch and re-branding. There are two different types of copying: 1) Logo copying of a brand signature or copywriter logo. Copies of this type are infringement of trademark and the perpetrator can be sued. 2) Design copying is when a person copies a garment before it is on general release such as theft of their sketches. The other way that designs can be copywrited is when the designs are copied once they are already instore or online.
6) Competitor Analysis
Mary Quant’s competition when the brand first started was mainly the other boutiques on King’s Road in Chelsea. A designer that was a huge rivalry was Barba Hulanick who at the time was the designer for Biba. The designs that both designers created were similar in the new designs that were being created were new and were different in the styles. The both had up and coming boutiques in London and also went down the same route of creating small instore designers to help the risk of failure in new designs (Victoria and Albert Museum,
2017). Rudi Gernreich was another competitor of Mary Quants as they were a company that took off at the same time and their designs were similar in the colours and patterns matched the style of the era and created a sense of freedom with their clothing lines for the new era of fashion.
7) Consumer analysis Historically Mary Quants consumer market was known as the new ‘Chelsea Girls’ Which were a group of young artist, film directors and socialites interested in exploring new ways of living (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2017). Originally Mary Quant connected with the target consumers by the use of her store creating the space where women wanted to come and hang out after work or during the day. They often had live music in the store as well as drinks on sale to attract their consumers to keep coming back into the store for the friendly environment and creating more of a social environment rather than just a shopping experience. These days Mary Quant target consumers will be girls that are very similar in there ethos of continuingly looking for new up and upcoming designers and styles to add to their wardrobe. Their lives on social media and everyday lives are normally completely different with living in to different style lives. They will be girls wanting to voice their opinions of issues of the world and create a meaning to there everyday lives.
8) SWOT A SWOT analysis will take both the internal and external factors of a certain market place into consideration. The strengths and weaknesses of the SWOT are the assessment of the internal factors and the opportunities and threats is the assessment of the external factors regard the market place (Easey, 2009). Strengths: One of the key strengths in the market of Brazil is that the country is becoming more conscious when spending their money and putting their sales behind a brand. A completely different strength that Brazil holds is that it is a tropical and subtropical climate. Thus, meaning that Brazil is an all year-round destination. The Brazilian winter lasts for only three months from June to August and then from December to February it’s summer. (Anon, 2017) Weaknesses: A slight weakness for the Brazilian market is that they are currently in a recession in their economy. Opportunities: The main opportunity when launching into Brazil will be attracting and appealing to millennial generation who are said to be more brand conscious when buying their products. The affluent consumers in Brazil could potentially buy some of the higher end products in
the brands relaunch. To launch a more sustainable style of clothing to create a meaning behind the brand’s ethos. Threats: A threat for the Brazil launch could be that the consumer market decide to stick to buying clothes from a well known store or brand from their country rather than going for new designers. A similar threat could be that consumers decide to save their money rather than buying clothes from a new brand.
Biblio graphy
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