3 minute read
BRAND AUDIT
Boden is a fashion apparel retailer that promises to cater quality and ethical clothing to the modern day family in the most convenient way possible to adhere to their busy life-styles.
Brand Essence
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BOLD. CONVENIENT. QUALITY.
Brand Positioning Statement
Table 1.
Boden:
For busy families seeking convenience and quality, we offer well-made clothes that reflect quintessential Britishness alongside bright and quirky patterns. We make a promise to cater to the entire family to ensure everyone is looking smart whilst cutting out the hassle of traipsing round multiple shops. We have delivered to our quality conscious yet time constrained consumers for over 25 years and it is our promise to continue to do so.
Brand Health Check
In September Boden reported that their profits increased by 9.6 per cent to £26.2m for the year to December 31 2016 (Sullivan, 2017). An increase in customers and gross margins rising, enabled sales to climb by 9 per cent to £308m (Sullivan, 2017). Two fifths of Boden’s sales come from the US and this has enabled them to keep prices down in the UK despite the pound becoming increasingly weaker (Sullivan, 2017).
SWOT STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
-Successful foreign revenues have diminished the need to raise UK prices even with the weakening pound. -Paid £9.3m to nine directors last year due to success overseas. -Profits rose nearly 10pc to £26.2m in 2017 -Sales hit £308m on the back of a 9pc growth in its womenswear division. -Improved efficiencies in the product teams with the implementation of a new product lifecycle management system. -Opened 5 concessions with John Lewis
-Undiffrentiated product -Negative brand perception of people trying to look middle class and ‘yummy mummy’ -Small physical presence in comparison to competitors
OPPURTUNITIES
-Open more physical stores in the UK -Venture into the asian market as growth moves towards the east
-personalisation -Circular fashion -Omni-Channel (explained in macro trends) Table 3.
THREATS
-Boden’s category could become saturated as their competition increases -If Boden do not attempt to digitally transform their business model they could be at risk of losing business to competitors adhering to the new trends that are developing the customer journey
Key Issues facing brand
- A saturated market indicates that they could lose part of their customer base. - Lack of physical stores compared to competitors means some consumers could be more likely to shop elsewhere in order to try on garments before purchasing.
Strategic Challenge
- Differentiate themselves from competitors - Rebrand themselves to diminish negative brand perception - Update their multi-channel approach to conform to the new omni-channel approach aiding consumers path to purchase in a seamless convention and prmoting growth -Create a circular fashion strategy as explained in ‘trends that will shape Boden’s future’.
Table 4.
Existing Products New Products ANSOFF’S MATRIX
- Integrate each of their existing channels to create an omni channel -Increase number of customers -Increase average spend -Increase profit margins Market Penetration Existing Market
Product Development
- Open physical store in the US - as already proven to increase sales when US website launched - two fifths of sales come from the US - Enter the asian market - in 2018 more than half of apparel category sales will exist outside of the western market - It has been found asian people appreciate British style
Market Development
- Introduce an an activewear range - include iconic bold print - give it brand identity - Health and wellbeing is a growing macro trend - brands with a similar target market already specifically sell just this type of product (sweat Betty) -However Boden has a loyal customer base, so likely to choose them over competitors
New Market
Diversification
- Introduce activewear range to the asian market - Asia Pacific is accounted for 38% of global sportswear absolute value growth from 2011 to 2016. - Include iconic heritage Boden print - British style proven to be popular in Asia
