Executive Summary
Marketing communication in the fashion clothing industry is a critically important aspect of the business and it represents the network of relationships that is established between the manufacturer, retailer, and the customer. The essential objective of communicating in the field of fashion marketing is to influence the customers so that their purchasing pattern is directed towards the products of the company that is extending the communication. This marketing plan attempts to present a marketing communication for launching a new range of fashion articles targeted at younger consumers by Ede and Ravenscroft. The report covers different marketing aspects related to fashion marketing proposed to be undertaken by Ede and Ravenscroft.
Context Analysis
In order to be able to communicate effectively with the consumers about the organization, it is useful to understand the current market standing of Ede and Ravenscroft. To present a comprehensive marketing plan it is essential to understand how the products of the firm are perceived in the market.
Ede and Ravenscroft – an Overview
Founded in the year 1689 Ede and Ravenscroft offers classic and contemporary menswear, ready-to-wear personal tailoring and bespoke tailoring footwear, gentlemen’s accessories, and academic apparel. The firm has 6 outlets (Gracechurch Street, Chancery Lane, Savile Row in London, Cambridge, Edinburg, and Oxford in the UK. The firm intends to enter menswear products targeting the younger generation and this market plan envisages the strategies that the company needs to follow in this respect.
4P’s of Fashion Marketing
The concept of the four P’s of marketing was first introduced by McCarthy (1960) which includes the product, pricing, place, and promotion. The analysis of the product should ideally consider all the aspects related to products like quality, features, options, style, brand name, packing, sizes, returns, etc. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2004), the pricing strategy to be adopted by the firm depends on the product position in the market. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2004) placement encompasses all the activities of the company undertaken to make the product accessible by the customer. The analysis of placement with respect to a particular product needs a thorough knowledge of the available channels of distribution including the involvement of middlemen. Kotler and Armstrong (2004) identify the objective of the promotional activity of a company is to communicate the benefits and values of the products to the customers and convince the targeted customers to make their purchasing decisions in favor of the products of the firm. This is precisely the aim of this report in promoting the new men’s wear line of Ede and Ravenscroft.
External Analysis
The fashion garment business, in general, is subjected to the influence of a wide range of factors like the growth of direct selling and sales through the internet, increasing craze for luxury brands and logos, international and domestic terrorism, economic slowdown, and globalization. In the UK context factors like personal debt and easy access to credit, a rise of retailing, supermarket fashion, and current recessionary trends.
PEST Analysis
PEST analysis covers the macro-environment encompassing the business. The political and legal environment that governs the fashion garment business is more conducive with no recent changes in policies or legislation affecting the business being evolved. The economic situation at the moment is showing a recessionary tendency with a squeeze in the credits available which may affect the business. Social factors have a positive influence on the garment business with the changes in the outlook of the people going in for more fashionable garments which are available at quite competitive prices. Technological advancements have resulted in the manufacture of newer fabrics and significant improvements in the processing of the fabrics which adds to the quality of the garments.
Market Segmentation
The market segment for the fashion garments in the UK consists of several segments like high street fashion stores, value retailers, discount stores, supermarkets, luxury stores, and niche garment boutiques. Ede and Ravenscroft falling high street fashion segment want to enter that segment for younger men’s apparel.
Consumer
The launching of the new product in the men’s wear line is targeted the younger male population of the UK which consists of college-going adults and those who have just gone into employment in the age group of 16 to 27 years. A review of the statistics on the men’s population in this age group presents a better outlook for the launch.
Internal Analysis
The internal analysis in the form of a SWOT brings the relative strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Ede and Ravencroft.
Strengths
- A good reputation of the brand in the market
- Strong financial strength
Weaknesses
- New product lines
- Difficulty in fabric sourcing
Opportunities
- Consistent customers for high street items will sustain the market
- Number of firms offering exclusive men’s wear is very less
Threats
- A general trend of the industry is gloomy offering no room for any new introduction of products or firms.
- Worldwide recession will reflect on the buying habits of customers
Objectives
The objectives of Ede and Ravenscroft are:
- To attain a sales turnover of £ 3million in 2009 for the new product range being the year of launching with a planned sales growth of 20% each year
- To obtain a market share of 5% in the Men’s wear market over the next 3 years period in the younger male segment
- To introduce 12 new labels in men’s fashion and leisure wear
Marketing Communication Strategies
Strategies and Tactics facilitate achieving the objectives set out earlier. Strategies summarize “how a firm gets there” (Smith & Taylor, 2004)
A good strategy for Ede and Ravenscroft is to position itself as specialized high-quality men’s ware fashion garments. The marketing communication strategies include:
- Create awareness among the targeted customers about the range of fashion garments available to men
- Build up a database of the potential repeat customers to advise them of the new arrivals
- Increase the visibility of the product range through the internet, television, and other print media
- Position Ede and Ravencroft as a specialized retail outlet meeting the needs of the younger male population
Tactics
Tactics are the details of Strategy (Smith & Taylor, 2004) Communication tactics are the communication tools like advertising, PR, direct mail, and other means of communication.
Public Relations
Sponsorships of sports events, taking part in exhibitions, trade shows, and textile fares are some of the PR activities that can be thought of. Events can be considered as a good opportunity to develop a good customer base. (Mc Donald 2007).
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing through emails sent to customers email ids obtained from a database created by different professional service organizations is an ideal way of direct marketing. The email should convey the features and descriptions of the products proposed to be launched with attractive introductory offers. ‘Banner ads’ is another way of promoting the sales on launch. The use of different search engines like Google and Yahoo! will provide wider coverage for the product through the internet media.
Personal Contact
Meeting students on the campus during off-college hours and distribution of fliers and pamphlets will be another way to look at increasing the awareness among prospective consumers.
Media Advertising
Effective advertisement and sales promotion can be attempted by advertising through Television and radio. Advertising in newspapers, fashion magazines, and other print media can also be thought of.
Control
Control is necessary to identify how actions are to be monitored, measured, and controlled. As a prelude to control it is essential to establish a cost budget. The proposed budget takes the following form:
A weekly report from all the 6 retail outlets on the quantitative information on the number of garments sold and the value is to be obtained and analyzed for assessing the impact of the new product launch. Customer feedback sheets to be placed in all the retail outlets to obtain feedback on the qualitative aspects are another recommended way of controlling.
Alignment of Marketing Communication with Corporate Objectives
The objective of integrated marketing communication is to integrate the marketing objectives with the overall corporate objectives. In the case of Ede and Ravenscroft since the company already enjoys a considerable market reputation, there can be a better alignment of the marketing objectives with the corporate objectives in respect of overall sales growth and profitability objectives.
Key factors of Retail Environment in Fashion Marketing
Since fashion marketing in the UK context is highly competitive it is important for Ede and Ravenscroft to assess the strength of the competitors in fashion marketing. It is to be understood that since the clothing market is highly fragmented at the retail level, the influence of small retailers is also to be considered while deciding on the market. The following issues are of relevance:
- Identification of market drivers that bring changes in the clothing market
- Discovering the actions of other retailers as to how they react to market changes
- Understanding the growth strategies of other successful retailers
- Formulating strategies for meeting the challenges
Gap Analysis
Creating a comprehensive website that gives complete details about the proposed launch of the products and special quality and other features is one of the marketing strategies Ede and Ravenscroft should think of to make a successful launch. This website should be advertised through attractive banners appearing on all major search engines is also very important. Gap analysis involves identifying the keyword phrases in the website of the company and making an anchor test analysis by visiting the Yahoo! search engine to ensure that the company’s visibility is more on the internet. An ‘allinanchor ranking analysis’ made in the Google search engine site will also help to identify the relative positioning of the company’s website.
Internal Marketing
The principal function of internal marketing is to ensure that every organizational member understands the purpose for which the organization exists as well as the key outputs and metrics of the company. Another important objective of internal marketing is to enable the people in the organization understand the role of every person and department in contributing to the delivery of the proposition. (Chartered Institute of Marketing) As an internal marketing initiative, the management of Ede and Ravenscroft should make an internal memorandum communicating to all members of the organization the intended operations of the company is introducing the new product line and how it is going to improve the company’s position in the fashion marketing. This memorandum should also make every one of the employees know the products, labels, qualities, customer range and all other main features of the launch.
Relationship Marketing
Building constructive relationship with the key customers is vitally important for the future growth of Ede and Ravenscroft in the new product line the company proposes to launch. In this connection, the concept of relationship marketing may be of help to the company. Relationship marketing is the process of attracting, maintaining, and enhancing the relationship with key customers. By using the approach of relationship marketing the company would be able to customize programs for individual consumer groups. The concept works on the basis of assessing the needs of the consumers over various stages in the life cycle instead of making sales promotions on the basis of a customer database. (Drilling Down) With the existing customer database, Ede and Ravenscroft are well placed to target different consumer groups with different types of fashion articles and this is the essence of relationship marketing.
By adopting the various marketing strategies discussed herein in this report Ede and Ravenscroft can aim at a successful launching of the new men’s wear fashion articles and with the existing market reputation the company can easily achieve the targeted market share and growth in the near future.
References
Chartered Institute of Marketing ‘Internal Marketing’. 2008. Web.
Drilling Down ‘Relationship Marketing’ 2008. Web.
Kotler, P & Armstrong, G (2004), ‘Principles of Marketing’, Tenth Edition, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
McCarthy, E J (1960), ‘Basic Marketing – A Managerial Approach’, Illinois: Irwin.
McDonald, M. (2007) Marketing Plans – How to prepare them, How to use them (6th edition) London: Elvier Lld.
Smith, P.R., Taylor, J. (2004). Marketing Communications – An Integrated Approach (4th Edition) London: Kogan Page.