Olivia Dennis Portfolio; Mock Brand Analysis For AA

American Apparel Brand Marketing Research

by Olivia Dennis

About The Brand Founded By Dov Charner in 1989 American Apparel is a Los Angeles based brand, starting out as a retail store and is now a reknowed vertically intergrated clothing company, which means all aspects, from design to advertising, happens within the companies factory in Los Angeles.

They begun by creating only t-shirts and have expanded to creating a wide range of menswear, womenswear, childrens clothing and products for pets. They are still one of the biggesy wholesale retailers in the US.

Mission & Vision American Apparel aims to innovate the design industry by introducing ethical method of production and having fair pay and benefits for their garment workers. They also promote the term ‘sweatshop free.’ American Apparel aim to stay enviromentally friendly. they concentrate their production in order to keep a small carbon footprint They also recylce all their manufacturing waste, and use passenger flights and busses to ship their products. They aim to be landfill free in the future.

Their company aims to inform people that the fashion manufacturing is not a trend and ensure ethical treatment of workers throughout the industry

Swot Analysis Strenghts

- Fair treatment for their workers - Ecological production of clothing - ‘Sweatshop free’ -No make up or photoshop in the advertising they produce

Weaknesses

- Numerous allegations of seuxal harrasment - could be seen as oversexualising young women

- controversial ad campaigns

- in a large amount of debt due to their expansion in 2003

Oppurtunites

- Further expansion online and instore - A reformation of the brands identity since the removal of Dov Charner -Bring out more of the positives in the media

Threats

-rise in the cost of raw materials - competition from larger companies

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My Perception In my opinion, I love the style of American Apparels clothing and the style of their adverstising, however i do understand the concerns which surrond it. I believe that the brand could benefit from a more politically motivated process, which would allow them to produe the same style of images, however in a more ‘for myself ’ approach them.

The 4 P’s Product - Basics, tops, dresses, intimates, outwear, accessories and more - general takes on a vintage style - For men, women, infants and animals Prices - American Apparel sits in the middle. averaging at £23 for a mens T-shirt (2014) - maintains reasonable prices whilst keeping up with rising costs of supplies and exchange Placement - 240 stores across the world as of 2014 - has now closed in the UK Promotion -uses digital print to emphasise their image.

My Marketing Ideas In general within the industry there tends to be a stereotype of what models should look like. There has also been a ‘trend’ of ‘white washing’ models . As seen in these images of supermodels from India, Pakistan, Italy and the caribean, the most reknowned models tend to have caucasian features, such as straight hair & pale skin

Media misrepresentation is an issue which I feel very deeply about. Coming from a caribbean and asian background myself, I never really felt that I had a role model to look up within the media and fashion industries.

I believe that it is essential to ensure accurate media representation of all ethncities throughout the media, so that young people of all races have someone to depict them.

As American Apparels target costumer is aimed at a younger demographic, 18-24, I have chosen to construct a marketing campaign which follows their basic ideas, natural faced girls with an ‘innocently sexual’ tone to their style, however using representative models from across the globe.