Why have a brand when you can have two?
Marketing Strategies Karine Hawawini – S00703881
INTRODUCTION: The hypothetic collaboration that we have chosen would be Uniqlo X Moncler. Uniqlo is a Japanese brand founded in 1949 with over a thousand stores in the world. The brand focuses on quality basics and thrives on innovation. In 2007, the brand launched its first collaboration project but did it more quietly than its competitor H&M.
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On the other hand, Moncler is originally a French brand created in 1952 by two entrepreneurs who created down sleeping bags. Nowadays, Moncler is known for its down puffer jacket and its unique logo. The French brand is all about merging fashion and high performance (Moncler.com) The collaboration Uniqlo X Moncler will focus on skiwear using Uniqlo’s heatteach advanced technology in thermals and accessories. In the collection, we will find the famous Moncler puffer jacket revisited with a Uniqlo polished touch. The price range will start from £9.99 for a beanie to £129.99 for a puffer jacket.
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Looking at the two brands, you wouldn’t think that they have similar values. With its straightforward slogan Made for All, Uniqlo welcomes everyone into its shop. Same with Moncler, its CEO declared “[..] we don’t have a target – we have a philosophy to make jackets for everybody, hence ‘product across’. […].” (luxurysociety.com)
WHY THE COLLAB -
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This collaboration makes sense due to its similar views on sustainability, target market and their involvement in the sport’s world. Uniqlo sponsors athletes such as Kei Nishikori and Adam Scott. Moncler has its own skiwear range from hats to ski trousers. The collaboration Uniqlo X Moncler’s essence is a mix of Moncler’s established heritage with Uniqlo’s innovative technology. The collection will be luxurious yet affordable and convey a sportchic feel perfect for fashionable sportswear enthusiasts. The Unique Selling Point (USP) is the creation of an intriguing yet natural collaboration that offers an affordable price point with luxurious and innovative designs.
PRICE CHART: ITEM Sleeveless Ski Jacket Ski Trousers Helmet Fleece Zip hoodie Fleece hoodie Puffer jacket Fleece jumper Long sleeve heattech thermal Sleeveless heattech thermal Fleece beanie Ski googles Fleece ski mask
PRICE £109.99 £59.99 £49.99 £24.99 £24.99 £129.99 £29.99 £9.99 £8.99 £9.99 £14.99 £12.99
SWOT of UNIQLO X MONCLER STRENGTHS - Worldwide presence - Low price point - Accessible - Technology and innovation (heatteach) - Good quality fabric OPPORTUNITIES - Social media exposure - Another collaboration
WEAKNESSES - Low online exposure - Limited collection skiwear focused - Not present constantly since it is a collaboration THREATS - Competitors - Increase in raw material - Political and economic climate - Global warming
COMPETITORS -
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Uniqlo is considered to be a high street fast fashion brand due to the low price point and the important production. However, the Japanese company detach itself from its competitors such as H&M and Gap due to its high value for money with higher quality fabric. On the other hand, Moncler is positioned in the luxury market alongside competitors such as Canada Goose, Mackage and Woolrich. However, what differentiate itself from its competitors is its heritage as the brand is over 60 years old.
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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES -
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Creating a third brand through Uniqlo and Moncler has couple of aims and objectives: the first one is a new point of market entry for both brands as they are both from two different markets. A new customer will hopefully emerge after the collaboration. It will also make both brands more known than they already are and the customer who normally shops at Uniqlo might not have heard of Moncler or hardly. Moncler’s heritage will bring prestige to Uniqlo and also the cool factor: this might change Uniqlo’s brand image which isn’t exciting and current. Another objective has to be the income because if the collaboration is a success financially, it means that the brands may collaborate in the future again.
PUBLICS -
As previously mentioned, both brands don’t have a specific customer. However, their main customers are based in Asia and Europe. With this collaboration, we can find some possible pen portraits as it is a collection focused on skiwear with a touch of luxury due to Moncler.
• Pen portrait 1: Sport enthusiast
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Name: Haruto Ito Nationality: Japanese Age: 27 Residency: Nagoya Profession: Trader at Nagoya Stock Exchange Marital status: In a relationship and lives with his girlfriend of three years Social class: AB Hobbies: Goes to the Japanese Alps during the weekend and is a ski enthusiast, goes to the gym regularly and enjoys discovering new countries Role Model: Elon Musk for his sense of business and innovation His relationship with both brands: Goes regularly to Uniqlo to buy heattech products to use when he skies. He doesn’t have anything from Moncler but heard of the brand as it is known in Asia especially in Japan and China. However, he isn’t ready to invest into buying a jacket from there as he can find a cheaper alternative with the same style. Shopping habits: He buys when it is a necessity and always prefers to buy something if there is a deal or can find it cheaper somewhere else. He prefers to buy in store however he likes to go online beforehand so when he arrives in store he knows what he wants and doesn’t have to walk around.
• Pen portrait 2: Fashion Enthusiast
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Name: Louise Duchamp Nationality: French Age: 35 Residency: London Profession: Stay-at-home mum Marital status: Married to an investment banker and has two little girls, Estee 5 and Lily 3. Social class: AB Hobbies: Loves to shop the latest trend and anything related to fashion, has hot yoga classes in her local gym in Notting Hill, she goes every Winter to Megeve where she has a chalet and loves to relax with a glass of rose with her friends. Role Model: Olivia Palermo for her elegant yet timeless style Her relationship with both brands: She is a loyal customer for both brands: she regularly gets her thermals and basic staples from Uniqlo. On the other hand, every year she gets a new Moncler jacket to update her look and show off to her friends that she has the latest pieces Shopping habits: She is an impulse buyer; since she has the funds to get whatever she wants, she will get it without thinking twice. She wants to look
good at all time so there is always a reason to shop and buy something. She buys online while taking care of her girls and when she has time to herself she goes and hit the shops on Westbourne Grove and at Harvey Nichols.
STRATEGY AND TACTICS PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES • Celebrity endorsement The first promotional strategy is the celebrity endorsement: Lindsey Vonn will be the face of the collaboration. She is a professional Olympian ski racer and is perfect for the brand as she is involved in the ski world and the brand is focused on skiwear. She is also a fashion and fitness icon on Instagram. This celebrity endorsement will also be part of a social media promotional strategy as she will promote the collaboration throughout the promotional period: She has Fig.7 1.1million followers which is perfect to advertise the collection and the photoshoot which is the second promotional strategy. During the event which is the third promotional strategy, she will be present and will host the event. She will also do a live stream on her Instagram to engage her followers. • Photoshoot with Lindsey Vonn The photoshoot with Lindsey Vonn will take place in The Vail in the US where the racer lives as it will limit costs but most importantly because it is the perfect scenery to shoot a skiwear line: we will rent a cabin for couple of days in the mountains where the shoot will take place. The crew will also sleep there to once again limit the costs. The adverts will show Lindsey modelling the clothes in the cabin to show that the clothing can be worn for leisure but also while skiing to show the collection’s dual functionality. We chose Gilles Bensimon as the photographer as he is good with taking fashion motion photography. Fig.8
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• Event/exhibition The final strategy is an event/exhibition and will be taking place at the Moncler global shop in Milan on the 4th of December 2018 which has just been renovated in October 2017. The shop has four floors and two of them will be used for the event/exhibition. The event will have around two hundred and fifty guests including important people from the industry such as Anna Dell Russo, the editor in chief of Vogue Japan and Jim Nelson, the editor in chief of GQ.
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Over thirty guests (Journalists and fashion influencers) will be flown in from their respective countries and will stay at the Montenapoleone Suites hotel which is a four-minute walk from the event. A transfer will be booked for the guests to arrive at the hotel safely and go back to the airport without any hassle. On the fourth floor, a retrospective of Moncler’s heritage will be shown including their first item created which is the sleeping sack. At the end of the exhibition, twelves mannequins will display the new collaboration with Uniqlo to show their latest achievement yet. The exhibition will be open for everyone the day after the event for two months to promote the collaboration and to bring awareness to Moncler’s specific DNA. At the entrance of the shop, a step and repeat board with sponsors including Canti, the prosecco used for the event will be displayed where guests will have their photo taken by our hired photographers. On the third floor where the party will be held, a photobooth will be present so the guests can take home with them a souvenir. Also, an upcoming DJ and resident at Burning Man, Yokoo will be playing all night long. Prosecco and canapes will be served on Canti labelled trays by our waiters as they are our main sponsor. The face of collaboration, Lindsey Vonn will be hosting the party and present the collaboration on the Fig.15/16 th 4 floor.
TIMESCALES To have a clear view of the timescale of the collaboration, we made a weekly Gantt chart. The organisation of the event/exhibition will start on the first week of August as the event will be held on the first week of October and we need time to organise the venue, the people involved and contact the face of the collaboration, Lindsey Vonn. On week 4 of August, we will shoot the photoshoot with Lindsey Vonn so we have time to release the images to promote the collaboration and send the invitations on week 1 of September. We choose to send the invitation a month before the event so the guests won’t forget about it and it isn’t too late so they will hopefully attend. The exhibition will start the day after the event and will last for two more months to promote Moncler event after the collaboration is sold out. To
summarize the whole organisation of the collaboration will last from the first week of August to the second week of December.
RESOURCES AND BUDGET The given budget is £250k: Description Venue
Cost Free
Accommodation for guests
14,688€
Flights for guests Transfers from/to airport
£14,414 = 16217€ 685€
Photobooth
1500€
Photographers
5400€
Step and repeat
£2000 = 2250€
Champagne Canapes
FREE £2175 = 2447€
12 mannequins DJ guest Yokoo Dj accomodation
£1200 = 1350€ 3500€ 244.80€ for one night
Security
2400€
Insurance
200€
Face of the brand
£80k = 90.k€
Hire cabin for photoshoot Photographer
£626 = 704€ £90k = 100k€
Props
500€
Food and beverage for crew
2000€
Comment Held in the Moncler global shop in Milan We are inviting 30 guests from abroad so we booked 30 rooms for two nights Private transfer door to door for the 30 guests Photobooth pictures with name of collab on them We will have 6 during 6 hours (they take 150€ an hour) With champagne sponsor on it Main sponsor for event £1.45/canape 6/person 250 guests £100 each For the night Stays at the same hotel as the guests 50€ per hour per security guard. We will have 8 security guards, two on each floor and we will hire them for 6 hours.
As we only have 250 guests Lindsey Vonn Two nights Gilles Bensimon is one of the most important fashion photographer and used to be the former international creative director for Elle Magazine Including makeup, lighting, etc…
Flights to location Accomodation for crew TOTAL
10k € FREE 254,085.80€= £223k
2k€/person 5 personnel Will sleep at the cabin
Since the collaboration will be released worldwide, it was important to invite foreign journalists which is why it is a big part of the budget. Moreover, the choice of photographer may cost more than other photographers but it was important for the shoot to have someone who is experienced in motion photography.
EVALUATION OF SUCCESS -
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The release of the collection will be a success as it will be sold out in a day. Moreover, the website will have an extremely high traffic which will cause it to crash couple of times during the day of the release. The exhibition will be visited by connoisseur of both or one of the brands or even just tourists wandering around the city of Milan which may bring new potential customers. Both brands will become more known and they will have a new point of market in different markets which will bring a new customer for the two respective brands. After the success of this collaboration we can think about keeping it as permanent line that will release only two collection a year to keep the consumer excited. An Instagram page for the brand will be created which reinforce the cool factor for Uniqlo already given by Moncler. Uniqlo will be more present online which will make the brand more current and on trend. An important turnover for both brands will be seen which will reinforce the idea of continuing this collaboration in the future.
CONCLUSION After creating a third brand: Uniqlo X Moncler, I think the two initial brands will have gain brand awareness but also their third brand. This collaboration makes sense due to the two brands’ similar approach on their target market and ski world. In fact, it is evident that Uniqlo X Moncler is destined to success and make it Uniqlo’s most successful and lucrative collaboration yet.
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