TED BAKER L O N D O N
“THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME”
“No Ordinary Designer Label” Ted Baker
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In The Beginning Mood Board Great Grandfather Perceptual Map Product Page Harry Middleton Place Mr Ted Baker Mrs Ted Baker Promotion Product Page Price People Product Page At Home With Ted New Product Range Collaboration Print Choices Liberty of London Jane Austin Launch Competitors Product Page Interview- Ray Kelvin
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In the beginning there was Ted. Ted Baker was launched as a shirt specialist in 1987. With it’s unique approach to marketing, it quickly got a name for being the best place to get your hands on clean cut, modern shirting. The fact that Ted Baker was originally just a shirt brand, allowed them to perfect that specific element and become known as “the place to go”, if you wanted a quality shirt. This helped to elevate them as they gradually introduced additional lines as people already had a really positive connotation with the brand. When speaking to the founder of the companyRay Kelvin, about his choice to use the name Ted Baker for his brand he said, “ I decided not to use my name for a host of reasons, a couple of which are that the brand is about a team of people not just me. I don’t seek to be celebrity, as it doesn’t suit my personality. Lastly, it removes the personal element from the success or even alas could be failure” he went on to say: “I never thought the business would be successful – that’s why I didn’t name it after myself. I wanted to make sure that when it went bust, nobody associated it with me.”
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Ted Baker has made itself known as “No Ordinary Designer Label�. This is a very bold statement and one to which the brand lives up to. The company has a clear focus on delivering excellent quality with a smile- a sense of humour. This is something that I feel differentiates it from competitors. Looking at recent collections, it is clear that Ted choses to use colour pallets that reflect affluence and warmth. The colour pallets have rich deep tones such as burgundy and forest green, accompanied by delicate, lighter tones such as sky blue and baby pink. This harmony of colour enables the collections to feel complete yet varied. The very first Ted Baker shops used to provide a laundry service for all of the shirts bought. At Christmas, Ted gave away Paxo stuffing and at Easter chocolate bunny hotpot for Easter, it was acts such as these and their incredible attention to detail, which is woven into everything that is produced by Ted Baker.
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As in many other aspects of the brand, Ted approaches marketing in an unusual way- word of mouth. It helped to build a loyal relationship and provides reassurance within the consumer, as it is honest opinions from people they know as opposed to manufactured images and information that people are bombarded with everyday. There are no adverts in magazines, no TV commercials. Ted Baker is one of the remains one of the only brands to be built into an international designer label without any advertising campaigns. When I asked Ray Kelvin about why he decided to work in this way he said: “Initially the brand could not afford to advertise. It has been a benefit, today we use social and digital media to communicate our brand which can be more interesting than glossy magazines. I wanted to find a way to develop the brand that didn’t have to over-hype it, that just let people discover it for themselves. And it worked.� 7
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“The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.� John Buchan
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“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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The Ted Baker product is a British clothing retail company. Its britishness is something that sells it. Ted has a lot on offer with a wide range of collections including: menswear, womenswear, Accessories, Fragrance, skinwear, watches, footwear and eyewear. The brand is high end and even higher quality, paying attention to the smallest details. They have original prints, designed in house and are filled with nostalgia, old-fashioned glamour and vibrant colours that make the products fun and appealing. Despite the fact that Ted Baker isn’t overly exclusive as it is available worldwide, the premium price and quality reassures the customer that they are buying into something worthwhile. There is a very high level of consideration that helps to form each of the collections. An example of this would be things that were found in Ted’s attic or finishing school. It’s these interesting points of inspiration that enable contemporary yet novel products to be released onto the market and into wardrobes. 15
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“Fly fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it.�
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Harry Middleton 2
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The first place a Ted Baker store opened, was in Glasgow, quickly followed by King Street, Manchester and Nottingham Exchange Arcade. When speaking about the stores Ray Kelvin said: “We wanted to create shops that weren’t just stores, but rather completely comfortable environments. We wanted our customers to walk into them and want to stay.” This is a success and there are now Ted Baker stores in the UK and USA. In addition to the stand-alone stores, you can find Ted concessions in leading department stores. In 2006, stores opened in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. The brand expanded in 2007, opening of a further store in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, three in Kuala Lumpur and two each in Dubai and Jakarta. Each Ted Baker store is unique, and has a welcoming and fun feel to it. Everything from the music to the shop fit is on brand and reflects the jovial persona of Ted. They are all very well considered filled with original wallpapers, hard furnishings such as cabinets and shelves and soft furnishings. They create a comfortable and yet exciting place to shop with vibrant colours that compliment the collections.
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Mr Ted Baker is suave, charming, confident and debonair. He is well refined and partakes in intelligent conversation. He has a high-powered job with disposable income and enjoys nothing more than a spot of fishing at the weekend. He takes great pride in his appearance and is well groomed and very well mannered. He likes to look smart and sophisticated, but not boring. Mr Baker pays attention to detail and is a true gent.
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Mrs Ted Baker is a delight to behold. She is elegant, graceful and stylish in both appearance and manner. She is fashion forward and enjoys keeping up with the latest trends online and through the glossy pages of magazines over coffee (or a cosmo) with her closest girl friends. She is artistic and loves an occasion. She works hard and feels it is important to treat ones self- “You can never have too many shoes, hats, bags, dresses…Right?” is her famous catch phrase.
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As previously stated Ted Baker does not do promotion in the traditional way used by other brands. Instead they use social media and the traditional “word of mouth” method. They have a really on brand and interactive website that enables customers to make purchases from the current collections and the sale items. In addition to this the website includes videos of the collections, look-books and links to the brands blog, “Fashion, Fables & Fish”. The Blog includes categories including: places, food/drink, events, music, style, fish and culture. It is a plethora of information that would be of interest to the target audience. It is modern and a really good way to keep people in the know on the things that make up the Ted lifestyle. Even if people don’t buy from Ted Baker they can be involved with the brand through their frequent social media updates. In addition to the blog, the brand also has an Instagram, Pintrest, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and a YouTube channel. Each of these has an extensive fan base. 25
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The price of the products sold at Ted Baker reflect the brand. It classes itself as a designer brand. It connotes wealth, prestige and individuality. The prices of the products reflect this and they sit at the high end of the high street along with other brands such as Fred Perry, Paul Smith, Jack Wills, Hobbs and Ralf Lauren. There are products that are of lower priced, such as phone cases and cosmetics that allow a wider demographic to be a part of the brand.
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The people who Ted Baker see as it’s target audience is about attitude rather than a particular demographic. However, the brand has become famous for its exclusive prints and detail and the consumer is an early adopter of clothing. Kelvin didn’t start the company with a particular demographic in mind or by defining a target market or even a typical customer, he said “I wanted to create a range of shirts better than anyone. That’s all the market positioning we had – ‘better than anyone”. A consumer would however have confidence in the quality, classic yet quirky product. They would be looking for something alternative to the “bog standard”, the “Joe Blogs” style. The Ted Baker staff reflects the personality of the brand. They wear uniform that comes from the new collections so they are walking mannequins, head to toe Ted. They are friendly and helpful, creating a pleasant shopping experience encouraging customers to return. They all have a “Ted-ucation” that ensures they are equipped with the information on the current collections and are able to pass this on to consumers. 31
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At home with Ted. My new proposed concept builds on an existing Ted Baker product. Homeware. Ted Baker currently only has a very limited range of homeware available exclusively in John Lewis. It is contemporary, fun and still oozes the britishness that Ted is known and loved for. I am looking to expand this and after my interview with the managing director of the brand I am confident that this is an area that is currently being considered. Kelvin said: “ Ted’s John Lewis range is growing and we continue to nurture this relationship as they have a considerable share of this market. We want to develop this in future as it is an area of the market that we have not exploited fully.” In addition to this I also spoke with a visual merchandiser in the outlet store in Portsmouth who said: “I would love to see homeware in Ted Baker stores, I think that it would be appealing to our consumers. There have been a couple of exclusive ranges available at John Lewis, but I definitely think it is something that should be widely available in Ted Baker stores.”
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In order to create hype and a media buzz around the new division of the brand, the initial collection will be collaboration with Liberty London. In a similar way to other collaborations, the world-renowned Liberty Art Fabrics team will collaborate with Ted Baker to create innovative and unique prints, which will then be applied to both hard and soft furnishings within the new collections. Liberty imported the Mysore silk from India and dyed it in England it is then were hand-printed with wooden blocks. Liberty’s imported oriental silks were dyed, printed or woven in Britain and France. These cottons were later printed in Scotland, Cumbria and Lancashire. In 1904 Liberty took over a print works that specialised in block-printed silks, it is because of this print works that the company still has such a large textile archive.
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The prints that are being considered for the collaboration include :
Chive E Tana Lawn from the Liberty Art Fabrics collection. Chive was based on a design in the Liberty archive and has been on classic Tana since 1979.
Named after the Greek goddess, whose scared animal was the peacock, Liberty’s Hera print was designed in 1887 and it features an iconic peacock feather pattern. It is now part of the Classic Tana Lawn collection.
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Melly A Tana Lawn from the Classic Tana Lawn collection by Liberty Art Fabrics. It is a hand painted abstract design inspired by Liberty’s Pepper print. Pollock-esque, with very clever repeat work creating a stylish splatter texture, the Melly fabric design was first created in 2010. It joined the classic Tana Lawn collection in 2012. 42
Past collaborations that Liberty have been involved in include Barbour, Nike and Dr Martens. I think that due to the fact that both brands have British heritage they will work really well together. After viewing the channel 4 documentary detailing the happenings at the Liberty of London stores. I do not think that the collaboration would be something that will be sold in the Liberty store as they have a very premium collection of brands within store and the furnishings that they stock usually are imported from abroad. However on the show it explained how Liberty wanted to introduce the younger generation shoppers to the brand so that as they develop into older consumers with more disposable income they would be aware of the brand and shop in store as they will already respect the brand values.
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“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.�
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They collection will be initially trialed within the flagship stores in the UK. If it is a success then more stores, including concessions will be included. The future collaborations will not include Liberty prints, but the prints that are designed by the in house Ted Baker team. The launch of the new collaborated collection will take place in Covent Garden with a launch party and covered by not only the press, but on all of the Ted Bakers social media touch points. This will raise awareness of the new product. The homewear will be aimed at young professionals who already buy into the Ted Baker lifestyle, they like the classic and elegant yet fun and quirky style that Ted has to offer. The collection will be made of the finest materials to the highest quality. The versatility of the collection will allow people to simply accent a room or use the product throughout a room or even a house.
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Competitors to this new line will include Zara Home, Laura Ashley, The White Company, Cath Kidston, Next Home and Oliver Bonas. The collection will sit at the high end of the high-street/low end designer homewear market. It will be desirable due to the quality and the collaboration with Liberty will justify the premium price of the products. The London, Birmingham and Manchester Selfridge stores stock Orla Kiely, Jigsaw (bed linen and bath products) and Missoni, which shows that there is a market for “fashionable furniture”. Ted Baker is such a trusted company and Liberty is an infamous textile brand, and it’s known as high fashion; customers love it.
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Q. Why Ted Baker as opposed to any other name? A. I decided not to use my name for a host of reasons, a couple of which are that the brand is about a team of people not just me. I didn’t seek to be celebrity as it doesn’t suit my personality. Lastly, it removes the personal element from the success or even alas could be failure. I never thought the business would be successful – that’s why I didn’t name it after myself. I wanted to make sure that when it went bust, nobody associated it with me. Q. Who do you see as your target market? Why did you decide to approach that audience? A. Teds target audience is about attitude rather than a particular demographic. However, the Ted Baker brand has become famous for its exclusive prints and detail and we would say the consumer is an early adopter of clothing. Q. Where do you see the brand going over the coming years? A.Ted Baker is a developing business. We are not about change, but by trying to do everything better and increasing our international exposure as a global brand. Q. Who are your biggest competitors? Why? A. We do not categorise the markets into particular segments of competing brands. We focus internally on our developments and not worry about the competition.
My Interview with Ray Kelvin, Founder and Managing Diarector of Ted Baker. 51
Q. How do you feel about a Ted Baker Homeware range? A. Ted’s JL range is growing and we continue to nurture this relationship as they have a considerable share of this market and we won’t spread our offer too thin. We want to develop this in future as it is an area of the market that we have not exploited fully. 52
Q.Ted Baker has collaborated with a number of people/ brands including Nina Campbell, AOI and Moss Bros. Why do you do the collaborations and how do you think they benefit the brand? A. We don’t often collaborate with other designers, the rare occasions we have is because we recognise their talents ie; the beautiful designs that Nina Campbell created in wallpaper & fabrics translated beautifully into clothing. The other companies you mention are supplied Ted Baker products through our wholesale channel. Q. Who designs the unique Ted Baker prints that are featured on everything from the dresses to the phone covers? A. All our designs are done in house by Teds talented design team Q. Ted Baker describes itself as a ‘lifestyle brand’. What defines the ‘Ted Baker lifestyle’? A. Fun, adventurous and certainly not ordinary is what best describes Ted Q. Ted Baker is one of the only international brands without an advertising campaign. Why did you decide to work in this way? How do you think it has impacted the brand? A. Initially the brand could not afford to advertise it has been a benefit, today we use social and digital media to communicate our brand which can be more interesting than glossy magazines. . I wanted to find a way to develop the brand that didn’t have to overhype it, that just let people discover it for themselves. And it worked! 53
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Bibliography. • Paul Smith | No. 9 Albemarle Street. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=MmgmkP8p-PQ edn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmgmkP8pPQ: Paul Smith. • Tendencies Moss Bross & Ted Baker Collaboration London 2013. 2013. You Tube: . • 2012. <iframe allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0” height=”270” src=”// www.youtube.com/embed/H0BSWp9BnTE” width=”480”></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0” height=”270” src=”//www.youtube.com/ embed/H0BSWp9BnTE” width=”480”></iframe>: Liberty. • TED BAKER NOW OPEN IN YORKDALE!. 2012. http://styledemocracy. com/ted-baker-now-open-in-yorkdale/: . • BRINKMANN, R., 2009. The Gaiman Library. http://digitalcomposting. wordpress.com/2009/09/03/the-gaiman-library/: . • CARDINER, B., 2013. The 10 Best Liberty Collaborations In Recent Years. http://www.highsnobiety.com/2013/03/18/the-10-best-liberty-collaborationssince-2010/: Highsnobiety. • CHUBB, K., 2014. Interview with Ted Baker’s Managing Diarector Ray Kelvin CBE. Interview edn. Katie Chubb. • COUTTIGANE, A., 2012. RAY KELVIN- Ted Baker. http://www.mychiccity. com/index.php/people/ray-kelvin-ted-baker edn. My Chic City: . • DL PR, 2010-last update, Ted Baker & Nina Campbell. Available: http:// www.tedbakerpromotions.co.uk/nina_campbell/ [11 Dec, 2013]. • FASHION RETAIL, S.A., 2013-last update, Zara Home. Available: http:// www.zarahome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/home/zarahomegb/en/ zarahomegb [11 Dec, 2013]. • FRANCE, K., 2009. Vintage Alarm Clock. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/ photo/ehvHINq9JeFGzn-61FxJoQ: . • HOLLAND, T., 2013. Ted Baker comes top of the social networking class. http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview. do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T18889682233&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&st artDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T18889682217&cisb=22_T18889682240&treeMax =true&treeWidth=0&selRCNodeID=17&nodeStateId=411en_GB,1&docs: Retail Week. • JEFFORD, K., 2013, November 15. Ted Baker’s autumn range is a hit as it continues overseas push
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.City A.M.(Edition 1; National Edition). • LIBERTY, 2013-last update, Liberty London. Available: http://www.liberty. co.uk/ [19 December 2013, 2013]. • MEISEL, S., 2008. Making Headlines. Vogue: . • OLIVER BONAS, 2013-last update, oliverbonas.com. Available: http://www. oliverbonas.com/ [11 December, 2013]. • RALPH, A., Friday November 15, 2013-last update, Ted Baker casts its net east in search of a bigger haul [Homepage of The Times (London)], [Online]. Available: Edition 1; National Edition. • ROUX, C., 2010. Are you sitting fashionably?: Fashion brands are turning to the lucrative homewares market. http://www.independent.co.uk/property/houseand-home/are-you-sitting-fashionably-fashion-brands-are-turning-to-the-lucrativehomewares-market-2069096.html edn. Independent Website: The Independant. • SELFRIDGES, 2011. When Selfridges Met Ted Baker. http://style.selfridges. com/self-expression/when-selfridges-met-ted-baker edn. Selfridges Website: Selfridges. • SHERMAN, L., 2010. Why is Liberty of London So Collaboration Crazy?. http://fashionista.com/2010/02/why-is-liberty-of-london-so-collaboration-crazy/: Fashionista.com. • TED BAKER, 2013. http://www.cruisefashion.co.uk/images/blog/TBaccess. jpg: . • TED BAKER AD CAMPAIGN, 2013. Erin Fee For Ted Baker. http:// celebsvenue.in/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Erin-Fee-for-Ted-Baker-Ad-campaignSpring-Summer-2013-photo-shoot-001-769x1024.jpg: . • TED BAKER PROMOTIONS, 2013-last update, Lookbook AW13. Available: http://www.tedbakerpromotions.co.uk/lookbooks/uk/aw13_web/ [18.1.14, 2014]. • TREGGIDEN, K., November 13th, 2012, 2012-last update, Industry Focus: Contemporary British Furniture. Available: http://www.theartofbespoke.com/ inspiration/industry-focus-contemporary-british-furniture/ [Jan 7 2014, 2014]. • UNKNOWN, 2009. Red Door in the Cotswolds_O . http://www.wallcoo.net/nature/garden_house/html/wallpaper30.html: .
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