Market research
Josefine Ackermann Student no.: 8243 Sensations (Captivated being) Course no.: E19CA/CB BA Fashion/ Year 3 West London College
Table of content • • • • • • • • • • • •
Company profile SWOT-Analysis Market Positioning Demographics Customer profile Psychographics Messages & strategies Competitors Timeline Budget Environmental/Social responsibility Statistics
Company profile •
Josefine A. is a start-up designer brand based in London and Zurich founded in 2015.
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We specialise in women’s wear with high quality standards. The establishment focuses on high quality materials and exclusive contemporary styles mixed with a twist of tradition.
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Assortment: Trousers, skirts, dresses, tops, sweaters, jackets and coats
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Up to four collections a year are going to be brought to the market.
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The target audience are fashion-conscious, ambitious, self-confident women with a high standard of quality.
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Josefine A. is going to be present in the worldwide web with its own online shop where the apparel is available internationally, as online sales have become an important sales channel.
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We aim to be soon available in high-class department stores in London and Zurich. A further target is to open a flagship store in London.
Swot-Analysis Strengths: • • • • •
Strong online and social media presence Through the online shop, with the products available worldwide, a wider range of customers can be reached High quality standards and exclusive designs The brand carries a unique signature style Build strong, long-lasting customer relationships
Weaknesses: • • • •
Brand awareness has to be increased Limited funding Through limited funding, the sustainability level can’t yet be as achieved High-end fashion not a priority for people in low economy
Swot-Analysis Opportunities: • • • • • • • •
Becoming a leading trendsetter in the fashion market Expansion into accessories and jewellery lines Create a menswear line Expansion into the global market to create larger brand recognition Expanding into the Asian market, as European brands are popular there Creating a long lasting fashion brand Open a flagship store/Open stores internationally Creating items by incorporating waste from regular manufacturing that contribute to the environment
Threats: • • • •
A huge amount of competitors are around, and thousands of fashion students graduate every year, which are potential competitors Fashion trends change very quickly; the ability to keep up with them is needed Fashion brands and designers can quickly change from unknown to well recognised and also vice versa, therefore a stable position in the fashion market is aimed. Price sensitivity of customers, especially since the economy is still recovering from the crisis, which links to a changing buying behaviour of customers
Market Positioning  Positioning map Â
Market Positioning Characteristics Age
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Adult
Gender
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Female
Price category
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Bridge Designer
Lifestyle
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Contemporary Innovative
Occasion
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Leisure, weekends, work
Market Positioning Our target is to gain vigorous growth and thus increase our profitability. To achieve this we rely on effective market positioning. We aim to position our brand in the high-end market. Our product range, geared towards a fashion-forward audience, is rather broad and deep, enabling customers to procure from one source. We also present our brand though seasonally adjusted collections with a clear fashion statement. Although the market positioning is long-term oriented, the rapid change of consumer behaviour and other dynamic market developments make it mandatory to continuously inspect our market appearance to be flexible to respond to changes and take action where applicable. Starting off launching primarily in the UK and Switzerland through high-end department stores, we await developments that enable us to open flagship stores in London and Zurich, which will be followed by more openings in major European cities. Â Â Â
Demographics Characteristics Age group Gender
• Adults • Female
Education
• University • College
Occupation
• Executive employees • All kind of industries
Income level
• £35,000-£80,000
Geographic location
• Urban (Cities)
Housing situation
• Rented /Owned
Marital status
• Single • In a relationship/Married • With (Children 0-2)
Ethnicity and religion
• Diverse
Demographics •
Josefine A. is targeted at professional and fashion-conscious female adults that are situated in an urban environment.
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The customers are predominantly executive professionals from all types of industries.
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Our brand is positioned in the high-end market, therefore our customers salaries vary, from average salaries to high level income, whereas the customer with higher income are expected to be more regular buyers.
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Geographically, we choose to start trading in the London and in Zurich. Generally, we intend to open our future stores in cities with a higher population and a good per capita income.
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Demographic research shows that cities grow rapidly and therefore the population constantly increases, which results with a rising amount of potential customers.
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With this cities being highly multicultural we targeting all different kind of ethnicities whereas we still consider each countries cultural habits.
Customer profile
Customer profile The customer Name: Age: Marital status: Profession: Income: Interests:
Kristina Wing 37 (25-50) Married Senior fashion editor at Harper’s bazaar £70,000 (£50,000-£80,000) Fashion, Travelling, Cooking, Sculpting, Painting, Reading, Yoga, Kayaking Chinese, Thai, English, Italian, Japanese,Indian
Food: Kristina is an ambitious, active and positive woman. As fashion is one of her big ardencies, she loves her job and gets carried away in her function. Beside that she has quite a few other creative and sportive leisure-time activities that keep her occupied. She adores innovation in fashion. For herself she likes patterns and designs that accentuate her curves yet provide enough latitude.
Psychographics Characteristics Personality
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Ambitious Business orientated Gregarious Innovator
Values
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Honesty Family
Attitudes
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Quality-conscious Environmentally aware Sensitive to latest fashion trends Experiencer
Interests
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Gym/ Food/ Fashion
Lifestyle
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Active Business woman Fashion conscious
Buying attitude
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Spends more for quality Shops regularly
Psychographics •
Our customers are innovators and trendsetters. Although they like tradition as well, they are open to explore new trends and enjoy to play with colours and patterns.
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They have high morals and value honesty.
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They are quality conscious, appreciate quality and are willing to spend more for a better quality standard.
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Whilst being sensitive to the latest fashion trends, they are happy to support sustainability and would rather support a brand that is aware of their environmental and social responsibility than the opposite.
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They live a active and busy lifestyle but on the weekends they love to lounge around and read fashion magazines, cook or do yoga. They are experiencers, this expression describes people that spent a lot of their income on fashion, entertainment and socialising.
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These customers are regular shoppers, it often happens that they pop into a store after work, without any intention to make a purchase, but leave the store with full hands.
Purchase behaviours Price consideration • This group buys based on their income. They spend in accordance with what they earn and are more careful on what their money is spent on. Therefore our brand is perfect for them as Josefine A. is an accessible luxurious brand. Quality consideration • Customers of this group buy on quality factor. They are looking for long-lasting highquality timeless goods and this is exactly what our company offers them. Channel consideration The importance of online sales is increasing exceedingly. There is a whole group of customers out there that prefer to purchase items online due to the comfort of shopping at home. Therefore we are aiming to keep a strong relationship with our online customers as well as our shop visitors. Ego consideration • This customer group are people that are buying high-‐end to achieve a certain status. For them it is about the looks as well as how it makes them feel.
Competitors
Competitors Label/Stores Zara
Market
Customer
• Mass market
• Children • Teens • Adults
Michael Kors Marc by Marc Jacobs
• Bridge
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Marc Jacobs
• Designer
• Professional • Adults
Balmain Elie Saab Valentino Rodarte Givenchy
• Designer/ Contemporary
• Professional • Executive professional • Adults
Professional Student Adults Young adults
Competitors •
We are aware that in the fashion market we are facing a huge, continuously growing amount of competition.
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To our direct competitors belong brands from the bridge sector like Marc by Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors as the resemble the same price range and target the same customers.
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In the more exclusive segment we are facing competitors like Rodarte, Balmain and Valentino. We oppose these designer brands with also creating contemporary styles with immaculate detailing in a lower price range.
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Despite our direct competitors, also company's like Zara, which target the mass market, belong to our competitors as they offer a wide and deep assortment of apparel and accessories, to affordable prices. To counter this our brand secures the customer more exclusivity and quality and an impeccable customer service.
Messages & Strategies Whether it’s women or men, people want to look and feel young. Therefore, no matter what age our customers are, whether they are young or young at heart, we want to make our customers feel hip, trendy and young ,make them gain greater confidence by wearing our apparel and give them an experience of being able to walk into a room and shine. •
That is the message we want to communicate, a principle the brand is established on. We aspire to reach this with great effort in our marketing strategies, which include extraordinary advertisement placed in magazines, public spaces and online, giving Josefine A. more exposure as well as being active in social media.
We are a trustworthy brand that provides high-quality, excellent service and contemporary classy apparel, that is committed to build a lasting valuable relationship with the customer. •
Impeccable customer service is just as important to us as providing high quality . There will be regular events, which are exclusively for our core customers, where we intend to build a stronger bond with our existing customers. To keep our brand valuable, our products won’t be discounted. By keeping the items at its original price , the customers will view it as a top tier brand and see the value rather than finding on the discounted rails.
Tactical programs Consumers: Women • Be highly present on social media platforms • Online contests to win an outfit • Launch party for potential customers after the launching event • Provide apparel to celebrities, to wear • Write a blog on the company website that is updated constantly Media • Organise a flamboyant launching event, with a red carpet, prominence, aperitif, refreshments and goodie bags • The blog and the website can also be used to give information to the media • Distribute press kits • Create press releases for every new collection • Collaborate with magazines and newspaper Industry • Participate in fashion weeks • Participate at fairs
Environmental/Social responsibilities As a company that is aware about its environmental and social responsibility, it’s our concern to engage and support in humanitarian projects as well as environmental protec@on.Therefore we look forward to take part in charity events and support aid organisations. We want to take on our environmental responsibility and we will do what we can do to be as sustainable as possible and minimize our waste to the minimum. We hope to have an opportunity in the future, to contribute even more to our environment, by being innovators of new ways to become more sustainable.
Statistics: Fashion market UK Fashion industry • The direct value of the UK fashion industry to the UK economy is £26 billion to the UK fashion industry is estimated to support 797’000 jobs •
Fashion’s total contribution to the economy via both indirect support for supply chain industries and induced spending of employees’ wage income is estimated to have risen to over £46 billion.
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The branding of fashion products has a value in itself. Products with strong brands are more highly valued by consumers and investors. It is estimated that the brand equity of the UK fashion industry is worth about £202 million per annum or 1% of total investment in 2009.
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The UK fashion industry and its designer showcasing events also project an image of the nation as a global centre for fashion – an image which enhances the international brand equity of the UK as a country. The UK is relatively highly rated by foreigners as a global fashion leader.
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As a result people are inspired to come to the UK to shop for fashion, to visit London Fashion Week or the country’s fashion museums and exhibitions which, in turn, provides benefits to the UK’s tourism industry. A minimum estimate of these tourism impacts is some £98 million in 2009, or some 0.5% of total tourism spending.
Statistics: Fashion market Consumer expenditure/Earnings • 5.6% (£59.0 billion) of the UK consumption expenditure goes towards clothing and footwear •
British consumer spend about EUR900 p.a. on fashion (EU average EUR700 p.a.)
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Average weekly earnings £517
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Average hourly earnings difference between genders: Men £13.60/Women £12.24
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According to covetique.com, women between 30 and 45 spend in average £ 1‘200 per month on clothes, shoes and accessories
Statistics: Fashion market Online sales • Since 2013 sales of online fashion have increased by 14.5% to reach £10.7 billion • Approximately 17% of all online sales are spent on clothing and footwear. • Forecasters expect the online sales to reach £19 billion by 2019. • Today seven in ten (70%) internet users buy clothing and footwear online, making clothing and footwear the most purchased item online.
Sources •
http://de.slideshare.net/zrasheed/pr-campaign-launching-tiffanys-in-portugalglobal-public-relations-emerson-college
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http://de.slideshare.net/jplopan/michael-kors-strategic-marketing-plan
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http://www.prenhall.com/divisions/ect/app/Diamond_temp/source_files/ dia76827_ch04.pdf
• http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/the-average-britishwoman-spends-500000-on-fashion-over-a-lifetime-9785746.html • http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/facts-and-figures-in-the-uk-fashion-industry