Ralph Lauren Brand Report by Mackenna Stratford

R alph L auren

Mackenna Stratford

Contents Page

Executive Summary

Introduction

8 Brand Identity

11 Brand Consumers

12 Brand Positioning

Competitors

14-15

Communications Mix

Conclusion

Bibliography

Executive Summary Executive Summary This report is based around the brand Ralph Lauren and Its brand identity. It also goes onto explain the position of the brand within the market and the use of Its communications mix. The research collated is both primary and secondary, from a trip to London to one of their flagship stores and a variety of secondary sources, such as books and the use of the internet.

Introduction Ralph Lauren was born in New York, October 14th 1939. Originally Ralph Lauren was named Ralph Lifshitz, but it was his elder brother Jerry who decided to ‘adopt the classless, American sounding Lauren, in the place of their parent’s surname’ (Baird-Murray, 2013). He was known for ‘his sense of dress and even designing warm-up jackets for his baseball team when he was 15’ (Baird-Murray, 2013). Once Ralph had graduated he would study business at night and worked as an assistant buyer by day (Baird-Murray, 2013). Ralph Lauren’s brand was founded in the USA in the late 1960s, when Ralph Lauren was originally turned down by Bloomingdales but then asked back on his terms as they were intrigued by his ties, which was his first professional, revolutionary product and then a full line of menswear was launched in 1968, which included soft shouldered jackets with wide lapels, which wasn’t seen as the look but was Lauren’s style. There are 144 Ralph Lauren stores, 8 flagship stores in New York, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, London, Greenwich, Moscow and Chicago, 77 Club Monaco stores and 272 Polo factory and 583 concession shop locations worldwide. Ralph Lauren sell a range of products such as, clothing for men, women and children from ages 0-8 months through to the age of 5. Homeware, bedding, paint, home furnishing and fragrances. There are also a number of in-store cafes and bars which include exclusive Ralph Lauren Coffees. Ralph Lauren also sell exclusive recipe books, which are created by Ricky Lauren (Ralph’s wife). Ralph Lauren is currently the 7th biggest fashion house within the global market. The methodology used was both primary and secondary research. The primary research was gathered from a London trip to the flagship store and the secondary research was gathered from a variety of books and magazines.

Brand Identity Brand Identity is how a brand is perceived by its consumers, such as its labels and a logo. Ralph Lauren aim to sell appreciation within their brand and sell desire to their consumers, to increase and maintain their social standing. Ralph are known for their logo, which is the polo horse. This was because, Ralph saw Polo (the sport) as the social elite and aspired to be a part of it, hence a polo player as his symbol. When a Ralph Lauren customer purchases a product, they are buying into the brand and Ralph’s aspirations. Ralph Lauren has a luxury collection as well as polo for both men and women. These collections are known as the Black Label, Purple Label and the Blue Label. These labels are “inspired by a spirit of adventure, our latest collection melds a modern palette of black and olive with unparalleled luxury” (ralphlauren.com, 2016). As well as catering for high end, luxury consumers, Polo added in extras such as accessories for the younger audiences that aspire to Ralph Lauren. For example, Polo Ralph Lauren caps have been very popular in last year to the younger generation as well as the polo shirts, which come in two different fits. There is the slim fit which is more tailored around the waist and arms and is shorter on the back and there is the custom fit, which is wider around the waist, longer at the back and is less tight around the arms.

Brand Consumers Every brand in the retail industry will have a target consumer. As for Ralph Lauren being a lifestyle brand, they tailor all aspects. This includes, children’s, women’s and men’s in both social aspects and active wear. This is beneficial for Ralph Lauren because, they sell both a luxury label, which is aimed at higher class, middle aged consumers and Polo which is more casualwear for the younger generation. Ralph also do Polo sport which is fit for purpose and is mainly made out of Pima cotton which is a more lightweight, stretchy fabric (Visual Merchandising, 2014). These collections would also include, RLX and Polo Golf.

Brand Positioning Brand positioning is the position at which a brand is in, within the market and consumers mind. Currently, Ralph Lauren is the 7th biggest fashion house in the world. As of May 2016, Ralph’s sales were at a plummeting $7.42billion (Forbes.com, 2016), which has been proven consistent from 2012 where they netted 7 billion dollars alone. Ralph’s brand is seen as high end casual wear. Ralphs Unique Selling Point (USP) is that they ‘sell and have perfected the varsity and preppy chic’. As for their Emotional Selling Point, it is aspiration. This is because, the brand’s consumers aspire to be Ralph Lauren due to the clothing that he wears, for example, when Ralph Lauren turns up to Black Tie events he would usually wear a western-style tie with a formal dinner jacket. This shows to his consumers, that it’s not about dressing formally all the time, that you can mix up style.

Competitors Ralph is very unique compared to its competitors such as, Abercrombie & Fitch and Calvin Klein. This is because, it offers more than just a brand, it offers a lifestyle, meaning that the brand’s consumers are buying into the brand and aspire to Ralph Lauren. There aren’t many other high end brands like Ralph Lauren don’t tend to offer other collections at a cheaper price for different consumers. Ralph Lauren stands for “quality, realness and specialness” (Kathleen Baird-Murray, 2013). Ralph Lauren clothing has its own image altogether, with a western and authentic style.

Communications Mix Ralph Lauren use many different types of communication methods to reach out to their consumers: Advertising- Is the way a retailer promotes their merchandise (Wright, 1942-2000). Ralph Lauren has 40 store windows which advertise their merchandise within the stores. Also Ralph Lauren created the US team’s Ryder Cup uniforms, which was beneficial to the brand as they could advertise their brand through a huge sporting event. As for television advertisements, Ralph only tend to do these for their fragrances. In the past years, social media has grown massively and Ralph Lauren used this to their advantage by advertising their merchandise over Instagram, Facebook and their website. Ralph regularly have pages in the Vogue issues dedicated to their brand. The brand also did a 4D show in London and New York’s flagship stores in 2010. It was a ‘Collaboration between architecture, animation and projection (yatzer.com, 2016). This global event marked a first for the fashion world and strongly reinforced Ralph Lauren’s commitment to design and innovation by combining art, fashion, music and fragrance into a 4D experience never seen before (yatzer.com, 2016). This was all once again re-establish the values of the brand (yatzer.com, 2016). PR- Is the profession of creating goodwill towards customers and investors through publicity/ nonpaid forms of communication, such as charitable work (businessdictonary.com, 2016). Ralph Lauren sponsored the USA teams in the RIO 2016 Olympics, this year. When it comes to celebrity endorsement, Ralph don’t tend to use specific celebrities to promote their products, instead they post Instagram photos of certain celebrities wearing their merchandise. Some of these celebrities include, Kendal Jenner, Jessica Chastain and Rosie Huntington- Whiteley. Personal Selling- Is the direct communication with any customer or business prospect in effort to make a sale (Wright, 1942-2000). All employees that work within Ralph Lauren stores, outlets or concessions are highly trained to know all aspects about the brand and its different type of products on offer to consumers. This is important for Ralph because, it is vital that all potential customers are spoken to and informed about the brand when requested. For example, if a potential consumer is requiring a specific Polo Shirt, it is the employee’s job to sell this product well and recommend other Ralph products that may go with this such as a pair of chinos. There are many Ralph Lauren outlet stores including the one at York Outlet and many concessions such as Polo Ralph Lauren within House of Fraser. The outlet stores are dedicated to old season Ralph stock to sell at a cheaper price to the public.

Sales Promotion- Is the process of encouraging a potential customer to buy the product/service (Wright, 1942-2000). When it comes to the visual merchandise of Polo Ralph Lauren, they fold their polo shirts and polo tops in a certain way. This is because, it is vital that potential consumers are able to see the Polo horse logo. Ralph Lauren concessions within House of Fraser have seasonal promotions on their Polo collections, these include the promotions within the stores such as Brand Events and 50% events twice a year for staff. Direct Marketing- This happens in both the business and consumer world. It’s about knowing the right target market and directing them to the brand’s merchandise (Wright, 1942-2000). Ralph Lauren demonstrate this well by having a range of different collections, it means they cater for all consumers. For customers that have signed up to the Ralph Lauren website or in store, they will receive regular emails informing them about upcoming promotions or new collections about to be launched. By Ralph Lauren doing this they are informing their potential/ existing customers about this therefore, they will remain loyal as they will be the first to know about these events. Also Ralph Lauren have an app now which is available on the App Store. This is so their consumers can shop their merchandise in the comfort of their mobile phones. This also means if a consumer is on-thego, they are able to purchase Ralph Lauren products wherever they may be. Social Media- Is a variety of different websites that enable users to create and share relevant content, which contributes in social networking. Social media has grown massively in the past years. When it comes to Ralph Lauren, they have an Instagram page which they post regular updates of images of their products, new collections and most importantly celebrities wearing their clothing. They also have a Facebook page for many of their different collections, such as their fragrances and Polo Ralph Lauren. The Ralph Lauren page is quite similar to their Instagram page as they post many photos of their collections and merchandise, but they also post videos of their new collections. For example, they introduced “Iconic Pieces, worn by iconic women” in October this year (ralphlauren.com, 2016). Ralph also has a Twitter page to post updates about their stores around the world too. This is a good way for Ralph Lauren to promote their brand because, the 21st century is all about social media and every one of their target customers will be on either of these types of social media, therefore they will be aware of upcoming and current trends within Ralph Lauren.

Conclusion

In conclusion Ralph Lauren is a very strong brand that succeed well. For Ralph Lauren to excel further in the retail industry, they could release a new collection which is between the Black/ Purple label and polo, where they offer a variety of occasion wear but for a more affordable price. On a whole Ralph Lauren is an excellent brand. This is because, of the quality and quantity of products they have to offer. Whether it be high end clothing for special occasions, a new sofa for the lounge or a fragrance to smell your best. Ralph Lauren have it covered. Also, from the amount of money Ralph Lauren are producing, it shows that they are doing extremely well compared to its competitors, such as Calvin Klein.

Bibliography

-. (2016, - -). Forbes. Retrieved from Forbes: Forbes.com Baird-Murray, K. (2013). Vogue on Ralph Lauren . New York: New York, NY : Abrams Image . Dictonary, B. (2016, - -). -. Retrieved from Business Dictionary: businessdictionary.com Lauren, R. (2007). Ralph Lauren . New York: New York : Rizzoli . Lauren, R. (2014). Visual Merchandising 2014. UK: -. Lauren, R. (2016, - -). Ralph Lauren. Retrieved from ralphlauren: ralphlauren.com Wright, R. (2000). Advertising . Harlow : Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Ha. Yatzer. (2007, - -). Yatzer. Retrieved from Yatzer: yatzer.com

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