Product, Product Planning, and Product Development
For 37 years, Esprit has carved a name to become a well-known clothing brand all over the world. It is owned by a company known as Esprit Holdings Limited, which is a retail and wholesale distributor of lifestyle products designed under the Esprit brand name. The company also distributes cosmetic products under the Red Earth brand name.
The group offers 12 product lines that consist of women’s wear, men’s wear, kid’s wear, edc youth (clothes for 18 to 24 years old), as well as shoes and accessories through over 640 directly managed retail stores in more than 40 countries spanning Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. Its headquarters is located in Kowloon, Hong Kong and the company employs about 9,600 people.
Still a profitable company, Esprit recorded revenues of HK$29,640 million (approximately $3,791.8 million) during the fiscal year ended June 2007, an increase of 26.9% over 2006. The operating profit of the company was HK$6,259 million (approximately $800.7 million) during the fiscal year 2007, an increase of 31.4% over 2006. The net profit was HK$5,180 million (approximately $662.7 million) in the fiscal year 2007, an increase of 38.6% over 2006.
Armed with a wide array of products, Esprit is continually developing new product lines and licenses to establish “Esprit world”. In fact, it is in Esprit’s objective to meet needs of their valued customers by offering the broadest possible range of products, consisting of 12 individual divisions according to and depending on local market needs and opportunities:
- Women Casual – This is Esprit’s defines this clothing product line as the “feminine, fashionable styles for indoors and outdoors”.
- Women Collection – In this product line, Esprit produces top-of-the-line and high quality feminine tailored dresses for women, which they can wear in the workplace or in any special occasion.
- Men Casual – Esprit creates this product line for men to be worn on ordinary days, yet with style and a high level of comfort.
- Men Collection – This clothing line is designed to be worn by men who want to have an elegant, trend-orientated work-wear.
- Esprit Kids & edc youth by esprit – With kids as an important market, Esprit delineates their designs from current trends that can be suitably worn by children from Newborn to Minis (0 to 7 years). They also offer clothes in this segment for “Little Rebels” (8 to 14 years).
- Esprit Sports – Another unique segment by Esprit, their designers concoct stylish skiwear, fitness fashions and streetwear for women, men and kids, as they combine fashion and function that still emits that flair and feeling of the brand Esprit.
- edc by esprit – Because of the strengthening of the market in the segment of 18 to 24 year old women, Esprit allotted “edc” as a label for the clothing that has matching accessories and shoes in this particular age group.
- edc men – As they created edc for women ages 18 to 24, Esprit did not hesitate to include their edc men’s line that is described as the “cosmopolitan trend-led clothes for young, fashionable young men”.
- Accessories – As Esprit lends its trusted brand name, these accessories are surely not deprived of style as these produce “trend led bags, leather and textile accessories for men and women”.
- Shoes – For more than 11 years, Esprit had been dishing out these stylish shoes for women, men and children. They have unique styles “ranging from modern to classic, in a variety of fabrics from leather to nylon”.
- Bodywear – Esprit believes that what’s worn outside, should also match what’s inside so they decided to venture in the underwear segment, where they sell lingerie, nightwear and swimwear for men and women.
- Red Earth – To complete their major line of products, Esprit devised another brand name for its cosmetics, skin and body care products. They called it Red Earth and it has become a favourite of all loyal Esprit customers (Faulkner, 2007).
Aside from the 12 individual divisions, Esprit also offers timewear, eyewear, jewellery, bedding and other home products. To add more profit, the company also licences its trademark to third-party licensees that offer non apparel products. Esprit also provides services through Salon Esprit.
In product planning, Esprit is committed to quality. In their website, Esprit prided that they have a team of international designers that translates the Esprit attributes “into regular collections in a self-confident, natural, stylish and sensual way”. Esprit updates twelve collections in their lines for Kids, Shoes and Esprit Sports, which are produced for six order dates per year. While their twelve collections of edc by esprit, Women Casual, Women Collection, edc men, Men Casual, Men Collection and Accessories could be ordered monthly. Their Esprit Bodywear collections are produced in four batches per year. In this regard, when you’re Esprit, you’ll never be out of style because of their constant updates in their clothing collection.
Although the Esprit considers fully the quality of their products and price/performance ratio, the company also invests continuously to improve all their collections and the fit of their garments to level up the high standards. These products are assuredly monitored by experts from the textile itself to manufacture and until it reaches their stores. In their website, Esprit proclaimed that their “various product areas consist of individual divisions that are organised as independent corporate units”, so that each line are high quality, updated and trendy enough to cater the discriminating tastes of all their customers.
As Susie Tompkins, founder of the Esprit, was quoted as saying, “Profits are a means for Esprit to stay socially responsible; my aim is that Esprit inspires good values.” When asked what the aim of Esprit was, Tompkins stated, “To have a solid business with a strong emphasis on humanistic values” (Zinn, 16 March 1992). The commitment reflected in Esprit’s mission statement both to employees and customers is “Be informed. Be involved. Make a difference” (Klensch, 1987). Thus, their products embody what their mission statement proclaims, since its product planning are designed to offer “different” line of clothing that is both trendy and high quality.
In the area of product development, Esprit is always looking for fresh ideas based on what most of their customers want to go with their clothing. In fact, in 1989, Esprit decided to sell optical frames because they deem these are necessary for a lot of people because sunglasses and eyeglasses are important fashion items. Esprit always comes up with fashion solutions because they wanted to give their customer who wears eyeglasses the Esprit look in every aspect of their life (WWD, 28 April 1989).
Thomas Grote, President of Esprit, claimed that their company is “encouraged by strong retail momentum with productivity improvement”. This is why they plan to “accelerate the retail network expansion and plan to open over 400 new stores in the next 3 years”. In fact, Esprit was inspired by the strong demand for their edc lines that Esprit decided “to give edc a unique identity in the market. To achieve this, subject to availability of suitable store locations, the Group will gradually open edc standalone stores internationally”. Esprit also plans to develop a new division which will focus mainly in producing stylish designs in denim (Esprit Press Release, 7 February 2007).
Pricing, Pricing Level and Competition, and Bargaining Power of Supplier
Esprit positions its product in the mid-price market segment, which they view it as an important factor for high turnover and can be affordable for a broad target group. Despite its products are reasonably priced, Esprit assures they produces a “first class brand” that their customers can definitely proud of wearing. This is because Esprit espouses a unique lifestyle that is consistently reflected in all Esprit product lines, advertising, packaging and store design. Thus, the price and quality is the long-running secret for Esprit’s successful marketing concept.
Retail price points for Esprit Casual start at $15 for a T-shirt and go up to $99.50 for pants. Esprit divided the prices into three “bands”, starting with a “firewall” tier and ranging through a middle level to a higher end that matches “the lower end of the higher-end competitors.” However, most of the Esprit’s product prices fall in the middle (WWD, 8 March 2006).
Currently, the largest market of Esprit products is found in Asia, Germany and Australia. Despite great success with its men’s, women’s and children’s lines in Europe and Asia, Esprit is struggling in the United States to overcome its reputation as a junior line. Since its full acquisition by Esprit Holdings Limited in 2002 and subsequent return to U.S. retail in 2004, Esprit has strived to regain market share with freestanding stores and U.S. distribution of accessories, men’s wear and Esprit Collection women’s careerwear, but has had to make drastic changes to its wholesale, retail and marketing efforts. Jerome Griffiths, president of North America mulled that, “You can’t be everything to everyone” (WWD, 8 March 2006).
This is why Esprit is restructuring its operations. Esprit has pulled U.S. distribution of its Collection and men’s wear lines and cut back distribution of its Casual and edc junior line in preparation for a slash-and-burn rebranding effort aimed at Esprit Casual. Between 45 and 50 percent of Esprit’s worldwide business comes from its Casual line, but in the U.S. the brand is largely associated with the junior offerings that enjoyed such success in the 1980s (WWD, 8 March 2006).
In the apparel retail business, Levi Strauss (Levis) is consistently topping the branded apparel companies in the world. The company designs and markets a range of jeans and casual wear for men, women and children. Levis operates through a wide variety of retail formats including chain and department stores, mass channel retailers, franchise stores and specialty retailers. The company’s products are sold through more than 55,000 retail locations in over 110 countries, including 67 company operated stores in 10 countries.
The company sells its products under the Levi’s, Dockers and Levi Strauss Signature brands. The company’s brand, Levi’s, designs and markets a range of denim clothing for men, women and children. The Levi’s brand includes Levi’s Red Tab (these products form the company’s core line, and include a variety of jeans in different fits, fabrics, finishes and details); Levi’s Silvertab (these products target 19 to 29 year olds, offer distinctive jeans wear in North America); Levi’s Premium Red Tab (offers a range of premium denim products, available through department and chain stores); and Levi’s Vintage Clothing (offers a range of premium products, available through high-end specialty stores and independent retailers in Europe, Asia and the US). The company markets a range of casual clothing, under the Dockers brand in more than 50 countries; primarily targeted for men and women aged 25 to 39.
The brand includes Dockers Brand (offers a broad range of cotton and cotton blend casual and dress casual pants, casual business wear for men, variety of tops and seasonal pants products); Docker Premiums (these products include a range of pants constructed from premium fabrics). The company distributes its Levi’s and Dockers products primarily through chain retailers and department stores in the US and primarily through department stores and specialty retailers abroad. When compared to price, Esprit is lesser priced compared to the similar items priced by Levis. Also, the advantage of Esprit is that they have more variety of designs in women’s wear and Esprit offers some products that Levis cannot provide.
On the sportswear segment of Esprit, they found their toughest competitors with Under Armour, Adidas and Nike. One of the pioneers of the sportswear segment is Under Armour Inc. The company, founded in 1996, offers compression apparel that regulates body temperature by wicking away perspiration to keep an exerciser comfortable. Users wear the company’s HeatGear line when it is warm, ColdGear when it is cold, or AllSeasonGear for moderate temperatures. The company’s revenue has doubled in the past two years to $431 million in 2006 as it expanded into apparel for women and footwear.
Other sports apparel competitors are focusing into revolutionizing their products. Adidas AG in 2005 introduced the Adidas_1 running shoe, which uses sensors, a microprocessor, and a small motor to adjust the level of cushioning provided by the shoe. The technology is available in basketball and running shoes. While Nike teamed with computer company Apple Inc. to develop the Nike + iPod Sport Kit, which allows Nike footwear to “communicate” with Apple’s iPod nano portable music player. A user places a sensor into a Nike sneaker, which relays information on speed, distance, and calories burned to the music player, which can then be broadcast through the user’s headphones. Runners using the Nike plus system have logged more than 10 million miles since the product went on sale in July 2006, according to a March 2007 statement from Nike.
On the other hand, in Hong Kong, Esprit enjoys the second top spot in the clothing and footwear sector. Although this sector is highly fragmented, its three leading retailers, G2000 (Apparel) Ltd (G2000), Esprit Holdings Ltd (Esprit), and Giordano International Ltd (Giordano), have managed to become the top retailers in the Hong Kong retail industry. Notably, they are all principally retailers of clothing and footwear and retailers of mid-priced goods. All three also have strong presence in other Asian countries.
In terms of the bargaining power of the supplier, Datamonitor (August 2007) identified that suppliers in this industry are clothing manufacturers and wholesalers, with retailers able to source from both. The non-manufacturer wholesale market is relatively fragmented: the top 3 (Levis, VF Corp and Sara Lee) companies account for around 15% of wholesale revenues, and the top fifty for about 40% of the total. US-based clothing manufacturing has about 20% of the total shipment value accounted for by the top four firms, and about 40% by the top fifty.
Cut-and-sew apparel manufacturing is similarly fragmented, although some product segments show higher concentration, indicating that manufacturers specialize to some extent. However, the ability of major retailers to source from foreign manufacturers means that the effective supplier fragmentation is greater than this. As international trade liberalizes, supplier power in the US industry is decreased through competition from manufacturers in low-wage regions.
Switching costs for retailers are not very high: they include the risk that choosing a low-cost supplier involves a more extended supply chain that may not be able to cope with sudden changes in demand in an industry susceptible to changes in fashion. Suppliers are further weakened by their lack of diversity, which makes the apparel retail industry highly important to their business. Retail is also labor-intensive, and the existence of a minimum wage in the US slightly increases the power of suppliers of labor. Overall, supplier power in the apparel industry remains stable and moderate.
Long Term Objectives
Esprit CEO Heinz Krogner, in his company statement, said that the long term objectives of Esprit will revolve around expanding into new markets, widening their distribution network, and broadening their brand and product portfolio in order to extend our geographical and demographical reach. Fact is that Esprit decided to continue in placing priorities in Germany, Benelux and France where the Esprit brand is already strong. They also saw a considerable effort to put importance in developing high potential markets, such as Spain, Italy, the Middle East and India, where Esprit is gaining market recognition rapidly.
Krogner also mentioned that their strong retail sales growth and margin expansion this year provides reassurance they will need to continue their ongoing retail expansion initiative. With an enhanced merchandising strategy, retail operating margins are expected to further improve along with the right assortments and enhanced operational efficiencies. Another important milestone of this year was their initiatives to diversify Esprit’s brand portfolio. They put emphasis on giving edc its own identity to add a whole new dimension to the Esprit’s future as a business. Over time, edc has been believed to have the potential to expand into new product categories and to grow internationally. Esprit prided its brand management as their core competence; therefore in addition to building their own brands, Esprit will need to maintain an open attitude to explore acquisition opportunities in the future.
In another statement, Krogner said that, at present, product development and distribution network expansion will remain as Esprit’s top priorities that will serve them the drive for a long-term growth. He boasted that “given our proven strategies and good track record in execution, the Group is confident in continuing to generate good return to our shareholders” (Esprit Press Release, 7 February 2007).
Moreover, Esprit also wanted to expand their online sales in the long run. This is because online shopping has steadily grown in popularity in the US. The US online retail sales are expected to have reached $130 billion in 2006, from $104 billion in 2005. The US online retail sales are expected to grow annually by 17% through 2008. The online retail sales in the US are expected to reach $329 billion in 2010. By 2008, online groceries are expected to account for 1% of the estimated total market amounting to an annual growth rate of 42%.
In line with this trend, Esprit continued to renew its commitment to the e-Commerce business. The company markets its products online through its online portal, esprit.com. The company also upgraded its website. Esprit has also reinforced the backend direct-to-consumer operations to fulfill orders more efficiently and provide better customer service. In fact, Esprit is offering fabulous promos in their website, like free shipping and free returns. Thus, Esprit’s commitment towards e-commerce has led to a steady increase in online sales in fiscal 2007 over fiscal 2006.
However, Esprit should also look into the status of counterfeit products. The abundance of counterfeit goods and accessories is adversely affecting the sales of branded accessories. In February 2007, more than 9,614 incidents of counterfeiting and piracy activities worldwide were recorded by Gieschen Consultancy, an organization that tracks counterfeit activity across the globe. In total, authorities seized more than 1.9 billion counterfeit items valued at more than $7.6 trillion. Counterfeiting is more prevalent in fashion accessories such as watches, shoes, and hand bags and these goods are increasingly finding place in various retail shops. For instance, in the French market, demand for counterfeit products nearly doubled from 2005 to 2006.
In addition, the company’s woes have been further exacerbated by increasing internet retailing. This will created an extra challenge for Esprit in the fight against counterfeit goods. For instance, in September 2006, LVMH filed a lawsuit against online retailer eBay in a Paris court for marketing counterfeit goods on the website. LVMH is claiming 20 million Euros while Dior Couture wants a further 17 million Euros in damages for counterfeits sold between 2001 and 2005. The group’s research discovered that 90% of items sold under its labels on the eBay site are counterfeit products.
Tiffany also initiated a civil proceeding against eBay in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging direct and contributory trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising and trademark dilution. It was discovered that 73% of the Tiffany jewelry sold on the auction site were counterfeit. Tiffany sought damages and injunctive relief stemming from eBay’s alleged assistance and contribution to the offering for sale, advertising and promotion of counterfeit Tiffany jewelry and merchandise. Again, in March 2006, counterfeit Tiffany goods such as silver rings, necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry sold on eBay were seized by the UK authority.
Esprit currently has business operations at 640 stores in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Western and Northern Europe, and US. Its retail business accounts for about 40% of total turnover of the company. By contrast, its competitor Gap operates 3,131 stores as of January 2007 in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Ireland, Asia and Japan. Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, another top competitor sells its merchandise internationally in more than 70 countries including Mexico, countries in Central and South America, Japan, Hong Kong and other countries in the Far East, besides the US, Canada and Europe.
Limited geographic presence increases the business risk of the company, so it is recommended that Esprit should put expansion on its priorities. Esprit should continue to looking outside their home market in search of faster growth, with clothing sales rising at low- to mid-single digit rates and retail consolidation. Many of the new overseas markets are attractive due to growing middle class populations and a lack of branded clothing available for sale.
With its US sales slowing down, Esprit should look into considering stronger ad campaigns in the United States in their long term goals. For instance, Steve & Barry’s, a clothing chain known for selling T-shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, and other basics, often for under $10 an item, signed actress Sarah Jessica Parker to help design a line of fashionable women’s clothing.
Called Bitten, every piece in the collection will sell for $19.98 or less. Parker, known for her sense of style, said she picked the chain because she grew up in a family of eight children that faced financial difficulties. The chain is hoping to build upon the success it has enjoyed with its $14.98 Starbury basketball sneakers, endorsed by New York Knicks basketball player Stephon Marbury, who wears them during games. Steve & Barry’s has since expanded its product line from 50 items to 200, including apparel and women’s athletic shoes. Thus, a celebrity endorser in the United States might help Esprit regain their place in the US clothing lines.
It is also advantageous for Esprit to continue its search for good designers for their clothing lines. Esprit Academy is known for its sponsorship of young and creative designers. The ideas of the Esprit Academy winner will be integrated into the global Esprit Store design. Having a brand that is widely recognized by consumers, Esprit should maintain a credible and a distinct image in the market place. The ability of the company to continuously evolve these brands to be in sync with the ever changing trends and customer preferences allows it to sustain competitive advantage. Presence of these strong brands ensures customer loyalty resulting in repeat purchase. Also, the Esprit should focus on leveraging its brand strength to easily expand into new lines for its long term objectives.
Differentiation by Brand Building
Consumers know Esprit by its minimalist, no-frills advertising style featuring “real people” with diverse interests and lifestyles just being themselves. Esprit’s “real people campaign” positioned the brand as joining with viewers in rejecting the usual advertising fictions about commodity selves. Their ads disclaim any link to “pseudo-individuality”-the advertising premise that a woman can truly become herself by owning the mass-produced commodity in question (Goldman, 1992, p. 149).
In building a brand, Esprit has a positive brand image, which is created by marketing programs that link strong, favorable, and unique associations to the brand in memory. Like their “real people” campaign, the definition of customer-based brand equity does not distinguish between the source of brand associations and the manner in which they are formed; all that matters is the resulting favorability, strength, and uniqueness of brand associations. This realization has important implications for building brand equity.
Besides marketer-controlled sources of information, brand associations can also be created in a variety of other ways: by direct experience; from information communicated about the brand from the firm or other commercial or non-partisan sources (e.g., Consumer Reports or other media vehicles) and word of mouth; and by assumptions or inferences from the brand itself (e.g., its name or logo) or from the identification of the brand with a company, country, channel of distribution, or some particular person, place, or event (Keller, 2003). Via positive ad campaigns, Esprit created a strong marketing communication program that created strong brand associations and recalled communication effects through a variety of means, such as using creative communications that cause consumers to elaborate on brand related information and relate it appropriately to existing knowledge, exposing consumers to communications repeatedly over time, and ensuring that many retrieval cues are present as reminders.
According to Keller (2003), a strong brand is built in terms of a sequence of steps, in which each step is contingent on successfully achieving the previous step. All the steps involve accomplishing certain objectives with customers-both existing and potential. The steps are as follows:
- Ensure identification of the brand with customers and an association of the brand in customers’ minds with a specific product class or customer need.
- Firmly establish the totality of brand meaning in the minds of customers by strategically linking a host of tangible and intangible brand associations with certain properties.
- Elicit the proper customer responses to this brand identification and brand meaning.
- Convert brand response to create an intense, active loyalty relationship between customers and the brand.
Esprit has completed steps 1 to 3, what they need to focus on is step 4, which is to convert brand response and active loyalty towards its customers. To do this, Esprit must elicit favorable brand attitudes and perceptions of credibility, which is important but may be insufficient if customers do not actually seriously consider the brand for possible purchase or usage. Since Esprit is a global brand, it takes more than mere awareness, but they should deal with the likelihood that customers will include their products in the set of possible options of brands they might buy or use.
Consideration depends in part on how personally relevant customers find the brand, that is, the extent to which customers view the brand as being appropriate and meaningful to themselves. Thus, customers often make an overall appraisal as to whether they have any personal interest in a brand and whether they would or should ever buy a brand. Brand consideration is a crucial filter in terms of building brand equity. No matter how highly regarded or credible a brand may be, unless the brand also receives serious consideration and is deemed relevant, customers will keep a brand at a distance and never closely embrace it. Brand consideration depends in large part on the extent to which strong and favorable brand associations can be created as part of the brand image.
Another thing that Esprit should work on is to establish brand superiority. Superiority relates to the extent to which customers view the brand as unique and better than other brands. In other words, do customers believe that the brand offers advantages that other brands cannot? Superiority is absolutely critical in terms of building intense and active relationships with customers and depends to a great degree on the number and nature of unique brand associations that make up the brand image.
As Esprit plans to ride on their strong brand equity in Europe, the Esprit should continue focusing on developing high growth potential markets such as France, the UK, Spain and Scandinavia. With brand building being a top priority, these markets will speed up their retail network expansion with a total net increase of over 9,000 square meters of retail selling space. In fact, over 15 new directly managed retail stores are planned in France. In the UK, Esprit will expand their reach outside London to Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
In Spain, they will have flagship stores in Barcelona and Madrid. For Scandinavia, retail stores roll-out are planned in Finland, Norway and Denmark. In Asia Pacific, while Hong Kong remains Esprit’s focus retail market, retail expansion will resume in Taiwan and Australia with a net addition of approximately 5 and 30 new directly managed retail stores in these locations respectively. Last but not least, Esprit will continue to explore growth opportunities with their partners in Spain, Italy, India and the Middle East (Esprit Annual Report, 19 September 2007).
Diversifying Esprit’s brand portfolio is very crucial in building their brand to achieve long-term success. Therefore, Esprit envisions the separation of edc from Esprit a major milestone for their company. As of June 30, 2007, there were around 13 standalone edc stores located in Germany, Benelux and Switzerland and new edc standalone stores are planned in France, Austria, Hong Kong and India in the next financial year. In addition, edc has teamed up with MTV to produce a multi-national promotional campaign that will be launched in Europe and the Asia Pacific region in the first half of the next year.
Esprit is looking forward about this major event as they believe this marketing campaign will help further strengthen edc‘s brand positioning and distinguish its identity to its target customers. While Esprit will continue to enrich edc product portfolio, a new product line under the Esprit family, “de.corp ESPRIT URBAN CASUAL” will be launched in Spring 2008. Furthermore, Esprit has adopted an open attitude to explore acquisition opportunities. Enhancing shareholder value will be Esprit’s key consideration in assessing any potential transaction (Esprit Annual Report, 19 September 2007).
Entering the new financial year, Esprit targets to maintain the growth momentum and a stable operating profit margin. Esprit Annual Report (19 September 2007) revealed that wholesale orders booked to December 2007 showed a mid-teen percentage year-on-year growth. As a consequence of the recent tax reform in Germany, the Esprit’s effective tax rate is expected to be reduced by 2-3% points going forward provided that there is no material change in circumstances. This is why Esprit remains confident in its tried-and-tested business model that enables them to overcome new challenges in the increasingly competitive operating environment and sustain their performance in the years to come.
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