Comparitive shop report Phoebe Sellwood
Contents The mission...............................................3 Competitors.............................................4 About the brands....................................... • Ralph Lauren...........................................5 • Tommy Hilfiger..........................................6 • Lacoste...................................................7 • Burberry..................................................8 Comp shop................................................ • Tommy Hilfiger..........................................9 • Lacoste.................................................10 • Burberry................................................11 Consumer Matrix....................................12 Ralph Lauren Marketing Mix..................13 Online Comp shop..................................... • Tommy Hilfiger........................................14 • Lacoste.................................................15 • Burberry................................................16 Website comparison...............................17 Consumer profile....................................18 SWOT analysis........................................20 Conclusion.............................................22 References.............................................23
The Mission “TO INSPIRE THE DREAM OF A BETTER LIFE THROUGH AUTHENTICITY AND TIMELESS STYLE”
Competitors
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About the Brands Ralph Lauren launched his 1st menswear collection in 1968 and the brand has continued to grow over the years, selling not just clothing but a lifestyle. American heritage runs throughout the veins of the brand and is a key part of the brands iconic identity. Ralph Lauren corporation is made up of 17 different sub-brands, meaning that the brand covers a wide variety of consumers needs. From high end luxury to 90’s inspired sports wear Ralph Lauren has something that would suit everyones style.
About the Brands Tommy Hilfiger has been delivering premium style, quality and value since 1985 and is “One of the worlds leading designer lifestyle brands and is intentionally recognized for celebrating the essence of classic American, cool style� (global.tommy.com 2018). The global apparel and retail company has more than 2000 stores throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia Pacific region. Tommy is made up of 5 different sub brands all targeted at a dfifferent target market, making the brand popular amongst a wide variety of consumer.
About the Brands Lacoste was founded in 1933 by the French tennis player, Rene lacoste in 1933. The brand was created when Rene started to make his own tennis shirts for personal use but has since developed into a premium brand embodying elegance and his French culture. Lacoste pride themselves in having a high level of quality, style and professionalism, with 1200 stores over 120 countries, Lacoste achieve a turn over of 2 billion euros, The brand also became the worlds first known garment to have the logo on the outside.
About the Brands Burberry was founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry at just 21 years old. The brand was built on the principle that clothing should be designed to protect people from the British weather. The Burberry trench coat was created during the first world war and during the 1920s, the iconic Burberry check pattern was added to the lining on the coats. With Burberry opening its first store on Bond Street in 2000 they now have over 470 stores worldwide and is one of the biggest luxury fashion brands worldwide.
Comp Shop Ralph Lauren Hat
£35 Cotton Chino Baseball Cap About this item: • Signature embroidered pony at the front • ”Polo” embroidery and a buckled strap at the back • Sweatband • Cotton sourced through the better cotton initiative • Machine washable
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Tommy Hilfiger Hat
There isn’t really much difference between the prices of these two hats and they are both best sellers for the brands but Ralph Laurens cap is slightly more popular perhaps because it comes in 12 different colours where as Tommy Hilfigers only comes in 4.
£30 Classic Logo baseball cap About this item: • Pure cotton • Adjustable fastening with • Tommy Hilfiger logo • Button and eyelet detail on top • Tommy Hilfiger Logo on the back • Tommy Hilfiger flag embroidery on front
Comp Shop Ralph Lauren Polo
£99
Even though the Ralph Lauren Polo is more expensive, it is more popular especially amongst a younger consumer. The lacoste polo has a smaller target market and popular amongst the older generation or sportsmen
Slim Fit Soft-Touch Polo Shirt About this item: • 100% cotton • Ribbed polo collar • Three button placket • Even vented hem • Multicoloured signature pony
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Lacoste Polo
£80
Men’s Slim fit Lacoste Polo Shirt About this item: • 2 button Placket • 2 ply cotton • Ribbed collar and armbands • Green embroidered crocodile • 100% cotton
Comp Shop Ralph Lauren Coat
£229
VS
Burberry Coat
There is a huge difference in the price of these two coats however this is Burberrys iconic product. Whilst there is a massive difference in price there is also a difference in material and care so I think the popularity of these two products depends on the consumers wants and needs.
£1780
Faux Leather-trim trench coat
Piped cotton Gabardine trench coat
About this item: • Straight fit • Shell 57% cotton, 43% polyester • Machine washable • Long sleeves with adjustable buckled cuffs
About this item: • 100% cotton • Sleeve lining 100% viscose • Buckles 100% leather • Specialist dry clean
I decided that I would look at competitors which sell a similar vibe to Ralph Lauren, both the smart side and the American preppy style, and look at their place on the market from being function able or fashionable to being a luxury brand or a highstreet brand.
Consumer Matrix Luxury Brands
Fashionable
Functionable
High street brands
Marketing Mix
Ralph Lauren Billboard ad Summer 2018
Ralph Lauren Bus ad Fall 2018
Ralph Lauren Magazine ad Spring 2020
Marketing Mix Product Ralph Lauren offers a wide range of products as it is built up of 17 sub-brands, each aimed at a different consumer. They offer smart products and home-wear, to 90s inspired clothing and children’s clothes. They cover pretty much every aspect of the market within there 17 brands making them very competitive with lots of different brands. Even though there prices are more than some of its competitors they have the reputation and the trust of the consumer that they will still sell.
Price Ralph Lauren has a wide variety of price ranges which is fitting to the product and its quality. The luxury items considerably more than the sports/casual items which may be why the more casual garments, such as jumpers and tee shirts are seen more and are more popular amongst the younger generation
Marketing Mix Place
Promotion
Ralph Lauren has a really good advertising system. Not only are there advertisements and campaigns visually pleasing, they also have alot of meaning and usually a message. A Ralph Lauren ad stands out amongst others and is easy to recognise. They have alot of brands to advertise and use a wide variety of ways to promote there products but don’t use as many as other brands, as they are already well known and have a good reputation.
Ralph Lauren can be found in alot of different places. From high end , luxury shopping malls, to department stores and outlets. This shows how they reach such a wide variety of consumer. The prices of the products and the collections vary throughout stores, as its typically sale items and last season collections found in outlets, and less luxury brands (polo sport) that feature in department stores. This works well for Ralph Lauren though as it allows lots of different consumers experience the brand in the way that suits them.
Online Comp Shop Ralph Lauren Instagram
VS I have looked at both of the brands instagram pages and whilst they are both popular brands, Ralph Lauren’s presence seems to be significantly better than Lacoste. With 11.9 millions followers on Ralph Lauren’s page, they post not only advertisements and products but also about current issues within the world, making them more than just a clothing brand. They also have three seperate accounts, each suited to the consumer of there subbrands which shows how they are spot on with there marketing.
Lacoste Instagram
Online Comp Shop Ralph Lauren Harpers Bazaar
VS I wanted to look at the difference between advertisements from Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger but I struggled to find Tommy Hilfiger ads. Ralph Lauren features in Vogue, Elle and Harpers bazaar frequently and even on the first pull out page but looking through my collection of magazines, Tommy Hilfiger was not advertised. The fact the only advert I could find is for their perfume and in teenvogue tells us that maybe there audience is different to Ralph Lauren and maybe not as prestige.
Tommy Hilfiger Teen Vogue
Online Comp Shop Ralph Lauren Website
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Looking at Ralph Laurens and Burberrys websites, you get a very different feel from the sites. Burberrys is very cold, from its minimalistic feel to the images whereas Ralph Laurens website is homely and welcoming and is also really easy to navigate. There is a lot more content on Ralph Laurens site too and even though both brands have a page dedicated to the history of the brand, Ralph’s is a lot clearer, more enticing and visually pleasing than Burberrys.
Burberry Website
Consumer Profile
Ralph Lauren’s core customer Age: 35+ Gender: Male Life style: Business Man Location: America/City Occupation: Office job/high class Hobbies: Golf and sailing
Consumer Profile Polo Sport core customer Age: 18-30 Gender: Male Life style: Student/junior intern Location: England/American cities Occupation: Student/ junior position Hobbies: Skate boarding/sports
SWOT Analysis • A strong brand name and reputation • A strong brand image and easily recognisable • Consumer trust • A strong heritage
• 17 sub-brands so they can expand there target market • A strong name so can do lots of collaborations • Consumer trust so can spread important messages and raise awareness
Strengths
Opportunities
Weaknesses
Threats
• A signature style that consumers could potentially get bored of • Have been known to edit there models previously so this could influence there audience. • Very expensive, even the cheaper ranges.
• There are lots of brands that offer similar products at a cheaper price • They need to ensure that they are keeping their traditional style but keeping it fresh and new to keep consumers interested
References
“Ralph Lauren Corporations”(2019) Available at https://corporate.ralphlauren.com/ logos Accessed 22nd May 2020
“Polo Ralph Lauren takes to malibu for relaxed Spring’17” (09/04/2017) Available at https://www.thefashionisto.com/polo-ralph-lauren-2017-spring-summer-campaign/ Accessed 22nd May 2020 “Jason Morgan dons all American style Polo Ralph Lauren Fall’19 campaign” (04/08/2019) Available at https://www.thefashionisto.com/polo-ralph-lauren-fall-2019mens-campaign/ Accessed 22nd May 2020 Savage,C (30/04/2018) “New Ralph Lauren Campaign celebrates iconic polo shirt” Available at https://moderncultureoftomorrow.com/new-ralph-lauren-campaigncelebrates-iconic-polo-shirt/ Accessed 22nd May 2020 Tommy Hilfiger (2018) “About us,” Available at https://global.tommy.com/en_int/about-us-brands Accessed 23rd May 2020 Ralph Lauren (2020) “The time line” Available at https://www.ralphlauren.com/rl-50-timeline-feat Accessed 23rd May 2020 Lacoste (2019)”About the Lacoste group” Available at https://www.lacoste.com/gb/corporate-group.html Accessed 24th May 2020