Prada Perfume Marketing Analysis - Essay Example

Pro-forma A - of Company: Prada - of Promoted Product: Prada Perfume - New or existing The brand was launched in 2004 - Key product attributes: The brand celebrates emancipation of the modern woman. It is presented in a highly sensuous manner, which plays to the assumed sub-conscious fantasies of this demographic segment. The pack design and product color are unusual. The package of promotional communication promises a host of virtual benefits, principally related to equal opportunities for women, and their equal place in the world of the future. The product has a composition of extracts from many exotic herbs and flowers, but this concrete attribute has not been used by the company directly. - Marketing communication tools: Prada has focused on traditional tools of film advertisement, print and electronic media. It has also followed conventions of point of purchase promotion used by its predecessors. Internet presence is relatively low-key, though consumer response to the brand on the medium has been unusually heavy. - Key message of promotion: The brand promises to transport women to a fantasy world of elegance and high technology. It takes the position of a fragrance for the modern woman (Thunder Perfect Mind, 2006). The brand promise goes well beyond the physical attributes of the product, and focuses on intangible benefits. It connotes an exaggerated sense of power for liberated women, and takes a seemingly liberal view on aspects of personal preferences. One of the distinguishing features of advertising for the perfume, unlike for other Prada product lines, is that there is no attempt to show women in a seductive light for the apparent pleasure of men. This is a significant departure for Prada, encouraging women to spend money on the perfume for their own pleasure, rather than to attract attention from the opposite sex. Prada Perfume promotion makes no effort to suggest that it is something for men to buy as a gift for women. The entire promotion seems designed to bring in a completely new demographic segment in to Prada's basket of existing customers. - Media chosen: Prada has chosen film, print media and point of purchase promotion, with a modicum of web presence as well. Store displays and sampling is aggressive at premium outlets, following conventions for this product category. - Assumed customer segment: Prada seems to have chosen young working women (The Prada Perfume Ad, 2006). Advertisements show women in a most glamorous but independent light, which shows synergy with the unusual pack design and product color as well. The style of advertising and the language and tone used in the cited advertisement and the company website, all show a focus for the mainstream white Caucasian market. The brand, as with other perfumes, is priced for women with considerable disposable income, as the unit purchase price is well over $50. - Assumed required Marketing outcome: It is normal for perfumes to offer values far beyond their physical attributes, and Prada has copied this approach. The brand has a futuristic appeal for the modern woman (Prada Company Website, 2006). Prada has traditionally catered to an older segment of women than it appears to have selected for the perfume. Perfume itself is a new line for this fashion company with 19th century roots. The Marketing outcome seems to be for Prada to leverage its goodwill for new market segment entry. (Prada, 2006) Proforma B Required Marketing Outcome: To enable Prada to cater to a younger demographic group than its traditional base, with an entry in to a new product line, related to traditional textile and leather lines of fashion products. Secondly, the brand should make best use of the existing goodwill for the Prada name. The promotion efforts should result in a significant market presence for the Prada brand in the perfume segment. There is no access to actual sales and contribution targets set by Prada for the perfume, but it is safe to assume that the company would affect significant revenues from this brand which is now over a year old. Research undertaken: The references cited cover print and film advertising, internet perfume shopping sites and over five thousand consumer responses from forums, product reviews and web logs. Since modern and young women are the primary target assumed for the brand, the focus of research has been the Internet as a medium. This applies both to how Prada has used the medium, and to the views expressed by Prada Perfume customers in forums and web logs. This research approach has the advantage of genuine, recorded and unprompted feedback from thousand of customers. Purpose of research: The first objective is to decipher the marketing objectives of Prada for its perfume, and secondly, to gauge consumer response to the brand. It is also necessary to make inferences on the Process Management capability of Prada. The research aims to uncover consistency and effectiveness of Prada's communication effort, and its success in building synergy for the perfume brand through various promotion and logistic channels. Conclusions from research: Prada perfume users feel sophisticated and enjoy attention from both sexes (Comments for Prada, 2006). The communication objectives seem to have been met in large measure. However, the company has focused on conventional channels and media, and has not shown the foresight to use the Internet fully, though this medium is extensively used by its apparently chosen consumer segment. The pack design, floral composition and color of the product are features that customers seem to appreciate though none of them have been highlighted in the company's advertising and promotion. The perfume has taken Prada to a younger band of women than the ones which have traditionally supported the company with their custom for other products. Post research review: The Internet converts many entities outside the company's control, to promoters of brands such as Prada perfume. Such 'outsiders' may sabotage positioning by making contradictory claims about a brand. Prada perfume has been promoted as a floral product for daytime use (Prada Perfume for Women by Prada, 2006), which is not in line with the company's own promotion of the brand as an ultra-modern product for evening use. Prada should include online sources in product promotion for the perfume. It should provide inputs so that sites do not dilute the brand positioning. Though the company website chooses to focus on an idealized characterization of a modern woman, many sites insist on showing the pack and extolling its virtues. This results in considerable dissonance as Prada seems intent on conveying benefits that are well beyond the physical attributes of the product. Though there are quite a few areas in which Prada can improve its perfume business, the brand succeeds in evoking both customer delight and unusual loyalty. This is a significant advertising and communication success since the brand appeal is not entirely related to physical characteristics or to tangible benefits. Prada Perfume has made quick inroads in a highly competitive business with many established brands to fight for a share of the market. It seems to have done this with a relatively modest investment by the company, though lending the umbrella brand must have been a major help. Many of the web logs cited show that customers are more attached to Prada Perfume than they are to other product lines of the company, which actually receive more resources from the company! Prada Perfume is more than a year old, which is a long time for a perfume. Though thee hypothetical woman in Prada Perfume advertisements has been a success, it is time for the company to find a young star from the world of entertainment or one of the popular sports to endorse the brand. Certainly, Prada Perfume could quickly lose ground if an aggressive competitor were to take this route! Proforma C Accounts, billing and receivables: Specialist perfumers have become new Prada customers, and the company can look forward to a continuing stream of new accounts which have to be incorporated in to the accounting and related systems. The forums and web blogs cited show that there is an opportunity for Prada to bypass traditional channels and to deal directly with customers on the Internet. The perfume could lead the way for many other fashion product lines of the company. Customer and information processing: Online wholesalers need systems different to their counterparts from the conventional world of stores (Prada, 2006). This new channel could prove to be decisive in the battle for brand loyalty from young working women, who spend considerable time and money on the Internet. The company should also try to reduce price competition between online wholesalers, as discount deals can harm the premium positioning of the brand. A scan of the cited Internet purchase sites shows that Prada perfume has been clubbed with other generic products, with a number of competing offers for the product. There is no evidence to support a view that Prada takes notice of the views of its customers as expressed on the Internet. Procurement and distribution: Collaboration between the somewhat tangential perfume business managers and the mainline and established business lines of Prada, will determine sustained success in the relatively new business area (Ayers, 2003, 35). Procurement presents a significant challenge for Prada, since the number of ingredients in the perfume is both high and exotic. It is not easy to set detailed specifications for the specialized chemicals that go in to the manufacture of a fragrance, and Prada has to find the expertise to ensure batch to batch uniformity. The addition of exclusive outlets for perfumes to the client list for other fashion products, is less taxing and will not be an issue for a concern of the size of Prada. Retail stock and stores management: Prada has the influence on the retail chain to manage the relatively new perfume business without any significant issues. It may consider leveraging its goodwill to garner more shelf-space and better displays in top retail stores. Flagship stores can play a greater role in promoting the perfume. Since the response to the perfume has been enthusiastic, there are potential benefits for other Prada products as well. Additional and temporary resources: Web logs are important for the segment Prada seems to have chosen. It should consider temporary collaboration with leading perfumery experts to counter some negative coverage that it has received from the Internet (Web logs on Prada Perfume on google's blogspot, 2006). Criticism, though muted, from these sources can hurt the branding for young women who may highly influenced by some of the comments on forums and web logs. Most retail stores have specialized personnel for perfume promotion, and the approach is more interactive than with bigger ticket items such as hand-bags. Young customers also expect a slightly different approach to their older counterparts, so Prada should consider recruiting temporary sales people at leading outlets. - Design aspects: Since perfume brands have relatively short life-cycles, Prada needs a project management approach to develop new extensions of its perfume (Dinsmore, 1999, 6). Prada's traditional strength in textiles and leather now require extension to fragrances and to pack design as well. The company will have to acquire expertise in fields such as organic chemistry, for which it had little use earlier. Most of the established perfume manufacturers have a practice of new introductions at regular intervals. Customers tend to tire of established brands quickly in this product category, and there is always the urge to try a new fragrance. - Order fulfillment: The perfume business, especially the online component, calls for new skills. Inventory cycles, for example will be more important than inventory size. The latter could be a traditional Prada strength relevant for other lines of fashion products, but not of the same utility as it moves to perfume (Aguilar, Rautert, and Pater, 1999, 2). Rapid deliveries will prove to be more significant in the perfume business, and require skill sets different from those required for clothing and durable goods. Prada may seek an alliance with companies in lines of business similar to the small volumes and high values of perfumes, to achieve parity with the best service providers in this category of goods. Customer service support: Prada probably has older customers for its traditional products, and should think of music events, celebrity icons, contests and other forums that will appeal to a younger audience that it seems to target for the perfume line. It should consider advertising more intensively on the Internet, and finding ways to interact with young women who are the people with the most potential for Prada perfume. The company website, while it certainly makes an impression with a great multi-media effort, can be used to service and support customers for all Prada brands. The company should also consider a payment gateway and shopping cart option at its site. References Ayers, JB, 2003, Supply Chain Project Management, CRC Press Dinsmore, PC, 1999, Winning in Business with Enterprise Project Management, AMACOM Div American Management Association Aguilar, M, Rautert, T and Pater, AJG, 1999, 'Business Process Simulation: A Fundamental Step Supporting Process Centered Management', Proceedings of the 1999 Winter Simulation Conference', edited by Farrington, PA, Nembhard, HB, Sturrock, DT and Evans GW, retrieved February 2006 from < http://www.informs-cs.org/wsc99papers/202.PDF> 'Comments for Prada', Online Perfume Shopping Site, retrieved February 2006 from http://www.perfumeemporium.com/BulletinBoard/index.cfmfragrance=Prada&gender=W&ID=8196 Prada Company Website, retrieved February 2006 from < http://parfums.prada.com/prada-perfume-fragrance.htm> 'Prada', Online Perfume Shopping Site, retrieved February 2006 from < http://www.fragrancex.com/products/_bid_Prada-am-lid_P__brands.html> 'Prada Perfume for Women by Prada', Online Perfume Shopping Site, retrieved February 2006 from < http://www.myperfumesource.com/WPRADAPAGE.htm> 'The Prada Perfume Ad', Customer Forum, retrieved February 2006 from < http://search.blogger.com/ui=blg&q=prada+perfume> 'Thunder Perfect Mind', Customer Forum, retrieved February 2006 from < http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f79/thunder-perfect-mind-prada-perfume-commercial-23054.html> Web logs on Prada Perfume on google's blogspot, 2006, retrieved February 2006 from < http://search.blogger.com/ui=blg&q=prada+perfume> Read More