Introduction
Retail branding has gained prominence over the last few years as a unique branding concept, meant to differentiate a business from another in (besides explaining the visions and values of an organization) (Canadian Marketing Association 2011, p. 1).
Retail branding is perceived to be different from other types of branding because a high sense of branding support must be matched with the performance of the organization; moreover, retail branding has to be forthcoming in terms of tangible and intangible benefits (Business Resources 2011, p. 1).
Retail branding is also unique to other types of branding because it is broad in depth and provides a wider field for organizations to develop a positive relationship with their products (Floor 2006; Bhatia, 2008). Considering retail branding is important in most organizations of a retail nature, this study attempts to explain if retail branding was a contributing factor to the expansion of Marks and Spencer chain of retail stores (O’Rourke 2007).
Marks and Spencer is a British retail store which has expansive operations in Europe and in several countries across the globe (Guardian News and Media Limited 2008, p. 1). It specifically specializes in selling luxury goods and clothing items; whereby, in the past decades, it has been able to transcend geographical boundaries to sell its goods and services in several locations around the world (Seth 2001, p. 136).
In the United Kingdom (UK) for example, it is estimated that, Marks and Spencer has over 700 outlets, while across the globe, the company is estimated to run about 300 outlets, in more than 40 countries (Drucker 1999). This rapid growth of the company’s services can be attributed to several factors, but since the company has a well established brand, it would be worthwhile to establish if the company’s brand played a strategic role in the company’s successful expansion.
Literature Review
Marks and Spencer has in the recent decade engaged several brand realignment strategies to strategically place the company above its competitors, as well as, communicate its new business processes (Bilton 2007, p. 122). For instance, in the early 2000s, the company engaged in several brand improvement strategies by changing most of its conventional brands (MacRury 2009, p. 77).
Most of the rebranding efforts were directed at changing the company’s children and women brands (Plunkett 2007). This does not however mean that the men’s brand failed to change in the same regard, because it did (Mathur 2010). In fact, the men’s autograph brand was one such brand improvement strategy undertaken by the company in the early 2000s (Fernie 2003, p. 303).
In the recent years (around 2008/2009), the company discountinued some of the poorly performing brands. Marks and Spencer has in the recent past been able to expand its international outlets through an ambitious strategy to open up a new store every week, for the next three years (Stone 2004, p. 31). Since the company has opened up three hundred new outlets already, there are plans to expand its international outlets to more than three hundred and fifty (Gupta 2008, p. 79).
The company’s expansion strategy is based on the franchise contracts issued to independent businessmen across the globe (and who rely on the strong branding power of the company to succeed) (Bookbinder 1989). This fact is affirmed by Finch who says that: “But in recent years an increasing number of retailers have turned to franchises to extend their brand without risking shareholders’ cash. Among those using franchises (for Marks and Spencer) are Debenhams and Mothercare, which have both opened stores in India with local partners” (Finch 2008, p. 3).
Marks and Spencer’s expansion and brand dominance in the European and American markets can be attributed to the long existence of the company in the retail sector (Parker-Pope 1996). For instance, the company’s existence spans centuries and many people have known the brand for long. Moreover, in the company’s existence, the company has never collapsed (Various 2007).
Michael (2011) notes that, in 1974, Marks and Spencer ran about 17 overseas stores (in Canada and Europe). In the 1990s, the company further expanded its overseas operations, based on a strategy of acquisitions where it turned around the performance of retail stores around the world, such as the turnaround of Brooks and Brothers Company, which was experiencing severe losses, preceding the acquisition by Marks and Spencer (Buckley 1994, p. 20; Maye 2007).
Marks and Spencer’s growth was not only being evidenced globally, its growth was also envisioned domestically with most of its operations either owned through franchises or through company-owned enterprises (Cox 1993, p. 131). Several expansions were witnessed in Greece, Portugal, Germany, France, Spain and such like places, in the early 90s (Ward 2003).
The same trend was also evidenced in its expansionary venture into Asia when the company issued several franchise agreements in many Asian economies such as Malaysia and Thailand, but the same strategy was also used to open up outlets in other world destinations such as Austria, Hungary, Turkey, Czech Republic and such like places (Rialp 2006, p. 202; Fair 1990).
Domestically, the company embarked on a strategy to acquire small stores and turn them into Marks and Spencer outlets – a strategy which saw it acquire over seventeen stores in the UK alone (Fernie 2003, p. 333). At the same time, the company also continued to expand its overseas outlets in countries such as Australia, Dubai and Poland, through franchise agreements (Sinkovics 2009).
During the same time, the company embarked on an effort to expand its business core areas, where it ventured into insurance business, introducing new products such as critical illness policies, protection policies and similar financial products. In 1998, the company fought legal battles with media companies, which ran negative documentaries that dented the company’s image.
Such allegations were aimed at smearing the company’s image with child labor practices implying that, the company produced clothes from overseas labor and instead, labeled their products as, “made in UK” (Saren 2006). Negative brand perception is known to affect a company’s profitability, and in the same regard, if a company’s profitability reduces, it is highly unlikely that it will be able to effectively expand (Moeller 2007, p. 137).
From the same understanding, it is important to note that, when a company has a positive brand image, it is bound to attract more franchise holders than when it has a negative brand image (Kardes 2005). Brand association is an important strategy in the expansion of a company’s products and services because a positive brand perception is bound to attract several brand sponsors from across several locations across the globe and through this association, a company’s operations is likely to significantly increase (Yastrow 2003, p. 85).
The opposite is also true, in the sense that, when a brand receives negative publicity (Botha 2008, p. 171). It would be difficult for a brand to perform in stores running under the brand name. Obviously, this would hamper the company’s expansionary efforts.
Data Collection
This study will incorporate mail questionnaires and personal interviews as the major sources of data to be used in this study. Mail questionnaires will be used to obtain information from respondents who are not easily available while personal interviews will be used to obtain information from respondents who are available for interviews (Peterson 2000; Pradhan, 2009).
Respondents who are not easily available will most likely be the top executives of Marks and Spencer, while those who all be interviewed through personal interviews will most likely be middle-level and low-level managers. A sample size of 20 top-level managers and 10 middle-level and lower level managers will be appropriate.
The use of mail questionnaires as a complementary method of data collection is important in this case because it will be a cost-effective method of data collection when compared to other forms of data collection (Pitler 2007, p. 210). The fact that, the questionnaires will be structured by the interviewer makes the data collection tool more cost-effective because one can ask the most relevant questions relating to the topic, and the numbers of questions are not as limited as other data collection tools (Sapsford 2006, p. 93).
Personal interviews will also be of use in this sample study because it is flexible for researchers who need to interview respondents who are illiterate (Joint Commission Resources, Inc. 2008). Moreover, personal interviews will go a long way in untangling sophisticated issues which may be of high importance to the formulation or determination of the research’s hypothesis (Assembly of Life Sciences (U.S) 1987).
Moreover, personal interviews will be complementary to research questionnaires because they will be used to probe deeper information regarding Marks and Spencer’s expansion strategy, viz-a-viz its branding strategy (Aday 2006, p. 100). Ultimately, personal interviews are expected to exhibit a high response rate when compared to the mail interviews (Lyman 2008, p. 29). This stands out as a complementary attribute to the research’s data collection process.
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