Rag & Bone Report

Y O R K

Megan Oliver. b6021937.

N E W

1

2

C ONTENT PAGE. Executive Summary - Page 4 Chosen Brand- Page 7 Brand Identity- Page 8 Brand Consumer- Page 11 Brand Positioning - Page 13 Advertising- Page 14 Public Relations- Page 17 Personal Selling- Page 18 Sales Promotion- Page 20 Social Media- Page 23 Bibliography- Page 24

3

EXECUTIVE S U M M A RY.

In this report there will be a short overview of several topics all about Rag & Bone.

The first section will look into the background of the brand discussing it’s origin, where it is sold, and who is involved with Rag & Bone. Then it will follow on to the brand idenitity which will be a collection of research about how Rag & Bone portray their brand to their consumers. Next will be the brand consumers, which is who the core target market is and where else they would shop. The brand position will look into where Rag & Bone stand in the market and compare it to its competitors.

Lastly is the communications mix which looks at advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and social media.

4

5

6

quality by ensuring to use expert craftsman who pay attention to detail (ABOUT).

The passion that goes into the clothing is

CHOSEN

reflected by the higher prices compared to

BRAND.

which sell mainly jeans and casual wear

high street clothing.

There is a Rag & Bone / JEAN however,

that is at a more affordable price, catering for a varied target market. In spring 2011 a D.I.Y project was launched, which was a flip of a traditional fashion shoot, created without the use of lighting, Photoshop and

Two British boarding school boys founded

make-up. The project included models such

Rag & Bone, Marcus Wainwright and

as Miranda Kerr, Poppy Delevinge, Lily

David Neville in 2002. They had no formal

Aldridge and Candice Swanepoel (MailOn-

training yet the brand soon became New York’s coolest fashion label (PRESS, 2013).

line, 2014). Also, Rag & bone make mens clothes and began selling footwear in 2008.

The two believed denim represented

With stores in 19 locations, Rag & Bone’s

history and classic work wear and this is

R a g

success is evident in it’s plans to expand.

A Rag and Bone employee stated that “the

&

B o n e .

why the company began with designing jeans. (Fashionbi). Rag & bone manage to combine British heritage with modern design, (ABOUT) and like to keep within the New York aesthetic by selling classic tailored and wearable clothing yet still using local manufactures at some of the oldest factories in the country (ABOUT). It seems that the founders wanted to focus on

store here in London is currently the only one in Europe but there are plans to open one in Spinning Fields and more.” David Neville recently announced that he is soon to be stepping down from his position in order to pursue other projects, but will continue to be one of the largest shareholders in the business (Garreffa, 2016).

Rag & Bone is doing increasingly well to this day and is adored by celebrities such as Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore (PRESS, 2013).

7

BRAND I D E N T I T Y.

Brand identity means the way the brand portray themselves to their customers. Rag & Bone have had one clear vision since they first started the brand in 2002; to make clothes everyone will love to wear every day. The SS17 show was named ‘Ready To Wear’ showing that their message is still with them several years later.

The combination of the New York and British heritage creates a whole new urban yet smart aesthetic that consumers can’t get enough of.

The interior designs of each store are all the same and undoubtedly match the similar aesthetic of the clothes. A master craftsman in Rag & Bone’s Brooklyn Custom Fabrication shop designs all of the furniture, lighting and piping to display the clothing (Rag&Bone, 2016). A store opened in Tribeca, New York, which features unique graffiti-covered walls of the changing rooms to give a one of a kind experience for the customers (Rag&Bone, 2016). Rag & Bone NY is sophisticated but keeping with the urban edge. Along side the R&B NY line, there is a ‘/ JEANS’ line, consisting primarily of denim and simple plain tees. This line is aimed at a younger audience, at slightly lower prices making the brand accessible to a wider range of consumers.

Wainwright and Neville first began learning how to make jeans before the brand started, displaying their ability to stay true to their roots, continuing to do what they do best.

8

9

WELL TAILORED 10

&

BRAND CONSUMER.

At the heart of all fashion designs is the customer. Their behaviour and their spending patterns are what ultimately control the fashion industry. All garments that are made are to suit the needs of the consumer. (grose,2012). Rag & Bones’ consumers are both male and female due to the brand catering for both. When visiting the London store on 2 occasions, it was clear that the core of their customers were between the ages of 20 and 35, living in urban or city areas. An employee explained that around 30% of their customers are loyal and continue to shop there again and again. There were a couple of visits from older ladies who clearly had an interest in fashion and liked to keep up with current trends. The older consumers tend to only shop on odd occasions. One employee stated that the most common pieces worn by consumers are ankle books, wedged trainers, skinny jeans and biker jackets. Layering was said to be a common theme during the winter, to stay warm yet still look stylish. After interviewing 15 customers, it would appear that most of them, whilst shopping at rag and bone, would also pick up basic items from high street stores like Zara and Top Shop. Consumers said they still like to keep in with the aesthetic of Rag & Bone. For more luxury purchases, consumers would shop at brands like Alexander McQueen, Gucci, and Givenchy for staple pieces like a bag, belt, or jacket. Consumers appreciate the high-quality Rag and Bone has to offer, continuing to stay loyal to the well-tailored yet edgy brand.

ED GY. 11

12

Rag & Bone began as a menswear brand yet later added a women’s wear line, which now makes up 70% of the business (Widdicombe, 2015). The brand also sells bags, shoes, purses, hats, scarfs, belts, and jewellery and as of recently they have introduced a new line of fragrances. Selling a range of products has allowed Rag & Bone to enter new markets for both men and women. The brand are expecting to open more stores internationally in locations like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, UAE, Lebanon and also Thailand, where there are two stores already (Garreffa, 2016).

Opening more stores will broaden the consumer base and create a more diverse target market. Therefore the line will have a strong position in the market due to the rapid consumer growth. Rag & Bone started out by making denim, the /JEAN line is very popular. The niche market of luxury denim brands has expanded over the past few years and has become very competitive. “ The US and global jeans market received positive growth rates of 3% and 2% in 2008 and 209, respectively, 2010-2011 marked a return to the strong growth.

While overall apparel recorded positive value growth throughout the recession, jeans out-performed the wider market segment hanks to being one of the most versatile and consistent items of clothing in the American wardrobe” (Wood.L, 2012) Alongside Rag & Bones success in the new luxury denim market, J Brand and Frame have also seen rapid growth. J Brand are considered one of R&B’s main competitors due to both brands having a ready-to-wear range which target similar consumers. A quote from The Financial Times stated, “Luxury denim is a great market niche, it now represents around 20% of the $13.8bn US jeans industry.” (Paton.E, 2012) An employee gives a vague statistic that the revenue of the business is £10- £25 million per year. From the source (Fashionbi) it’s said that the index score is 2.19 and a -14.12% against last weeks statistics falling -48 on the rank.

RAND POSITIONING

“Around 2005, the business brought on its first investor.

Andrew Rosen is the co-founder of Theory and a stakeholder in, among other labels, fellow fashion darlings Alice + Olivia and Proenza Schouler.” (Widdicombe, 2015). Since starting the business in a small room in 2002, into a global business holding showing a New York fashion week in just 15 years shows how rapid their success has been.

13

ADVERTISING. Effective short film advertisements created by Rag & Bone are something they have successfully achieved for years. The most recent advertising campaign that caught a lot of people’s attention was for the F/W15 campaign with British actress Gabrielle Wilde. A graffiti-strewn concrete barrier falls in slow motion onto a 1979 Porsche 9/11, crushing it to pieces. Gabrielle describes the campaign as “chic with n edge. Which I love.” And follows on to say “rag and bone has an understated coolness”. (Rag & Bone Campaign , 2015). Many of the campaigns are played on TVs in store and can all be found on YouTube. Most campaigns are featured on billboards in major cities such as New York and London.

F i l m s .

The D.I.Y project.

The images to the left and right are from another campaign, the ‘D.I.Y Project’ for the /JEAN line. Here the girls had no stylist, no make-up and no lighting, just the model and a camera.

14

15

16

Public Relatoins.

Fashion public relations is considered one of ”the most glamourous and high profile marketing activities” (Clamp, 1994). Fashion PR should take research from the marketing department and help to support it (Clamp,1994).

The most important concern for public relations is the communications with the consumers and satisfying their needs and wants. (Clamp,1994).

Wiz Khalifa recently worked with Rag & Bone on the Men’s Project. Alongside featuring in this project, he also attended the Costume Institute Gala in May 2016 wearing one of Rag & Bones tuxedos as well as multiple pieces from the Rag & Bone capsule collection on his High Road Summer Tour, which was designed exclusively for the artist. (Rag & Bones Mens Project , 2016). This would give Rag & Bone exposure to many of Khalifas millions of fans. Back in 2012, Rag & Bone was sponsored by AT&T- Samsung for the launch of the Samsung galaxy note in the US. Band of horses performed at the launch party during New York fashion week with the designers of Rag & Bone (Waddell, 2012).

Wiz Khalifa.

17

Personal Selling.

In 2013, Rag & Bone held a pop-up shop in Tokyo selling all of the brands best selection of merchandise for just one week alongside… chocolate bars. Marcus Wainwright and David Neville followed Willy Wonkas footsteps in promoting this event. 50 of the given chocolate bars had a ‘golden ticket’ earning handbags and Symthsons note book. There was also whiskey, backpacks by the Japanese’s brand Porter (which Rag & Bone have currently collaborated with in 2016) and rain boots by Hunter. Wainwright told WWD that Rag and https://footcandyblog.wordpress. com/2012/07/17/footcandys-newest-obsesBone is a company that has a lot of history and sion-rag-bone/ a lot of authenticity. And I think this is a good representation of the things that we think are

cool and some of the other brands that we

love and really admire,” (Wetherille, 2013).

B2C means business to consumer, to sell successfully with this approach the brand needs to have high brand recognition(Bruce,2001).

The brand clearly have high brand recognition due to the rapid growth of the store globally.

This means that more customers are becoming aware around the globe. Rag & Bone also sell to well respect companies like Selfridges, Net-a-Porter, Matches and many others.

http://blogs.nordstrom.com/men/backstage-at-rag-bone-fall2014-by-faith-silva/

18

Winona

Ryder

19

Sales Promotion The packaging for the merchandise is very minimalistic with either off white fabric labels with the logo printed on them or brown paper tags which tie in with the urban, laid back style. When buying shoes, consumers will receive a plain black box.

Also when purchasing a handbag a dust bag is provided. A employee at Rag & Bone explained that the company do have client books who shop at the store on a regular basis and will be notified through emails about up coming sales or new pieces that would be suited to them.

Rag & Bone are a dog friendly store with water and dog treats available inside. This attracts customers who shop there more frequently due to the ease of bringing along your dog. Each customer is treated with special attention as soon as they walk through the door, at the changing rooms and most importantly at the end of the sale where the purchases are wrapped nicely.

20

THE LONDON STORE.

21

E M I LY R ATAJ KOWSK I 22

Social M e d i a . ag & Bone have many social media platforms to communicate with their consumers more frequently. Social media has become an important part for businesses as most people have smartphones where they can access social media sites on a regular basis. Social media sites could also function as a “virtual business card�(Pretl,2011). This is why it’s imporant to ensure that the social media sites look nice and reflect the brand. This means that consumers will see the brands updates regularly which could potentially lead to more sales. If consumers were to see celebrities wearing the brand, this could influence consumers on their purchasesW. Rag & bone have social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pintrest.

https://www.instagram.com/ragandbone/ 23

BIBLIOGRAPHY Websites. (n.d.). Retrieved from Fashionbi: https://fashionbi.com/brands/rag-bone/info (n.d.). Retrieved from Fashionbi: https://fashionbi.com/brands/rag-bone/index (2016). Retrieved from Rag&Bone: https://www.rag-bone.com/blog/tribeca-mens. html ABOUT. (n.d.). Retrieved from Rag & Bone New York: http://www.rag-bone.com/ about.html Garreffa, N. (2016, June). Retrieved from https://hypebeast.com/2016/6/davidneville-steps-down-ceo-of-rag-bone Garreffa, N. (2016). Retrieved from https://hypebeast.com/2016/6/david-nevillesteps-down-ceo-of-rag-bone MailOnline, E. C. (2014, September). Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2759634/No-make-no-lighting-no-Photoshop-ModelsCameron-Russell-Laura-Bailey-Angela-Lindvall-style-Rag-Bone-s-latest-D-I-YProject.html Paton.E. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/2ad368f4-08a9-11e2b57f-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2D4B44JoT[Accessed;22/11/2012] PRESS, A. (2013, August 15).

Rag & Bone Campaign . (2015). Retrieved from http://www.rag-bone.com/campaigns/gabriella-wilde-fw15/ Rag & Bones Mens Project . (2016). Retrieved from http://www.rag-bone.com/ mens/the-mens-project/wiz-khalifa/ Waddell, R. (2012). billboardbiz. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/branding/1098999/att-samsung-sign-sponsorship-deal-with-rag-boneband-of-horses-to Wetherille, K. (2013). WWD. Retrieved from http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/rag-bone-pops-up-at-isetan-7214767/ Widdicombe, B. (2015). Observer . Retrieved from http://observer.com/2015/07/ how-did-fashions-rag-and-bone-take-the-steady-route-to-success/ Wood.L. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.businesswire.com/news/ home/20120703006041/en/research-markets-WeConnectFashion-USA-jeans-market-Research[Accessed:22/11/2012] Books Pretl, R. H. (2011). Launching a Successful Fashion Line . A&C Black .

Grose, V. (2012). Concept to Customer . AVA Publishing SA. Bruce, H. a. (2001). Fashion Marketing contemporary issues .

Clamp, J. B. (1994). Fashion Marketing . London and New York: Routledge.

Photos www.rag-bone.com 24