Branding of Clothing Line - Essay Example

Branding of Clothing Line and Section # of Executive Summary Branding among clotheshas become ever more important due to competition and the desire of the people to be wearing designer outfits that show off their true personalities and self-expressions. This is especially true for the youth ranging between the ages of 14-22. Among this age gap are the teenagers and adolescents in early twenties who have just stepped out of their teens but have not entirely abandoned their teenage thinking and desires. This age group has the greatest desire to impress others with an emphasis on their clothing defining uniquely who they really are and hence distinguishing them from their counterparts in family, friends, schools and colleges. As a result, classy, trendy and fresh branded outfits are the norm for this age bracket of which the importance can be judged by a statement from Branded- a book written by Quart, Alissa (2003) where she writes "Inspired by the commercialization of youth and also by the signs of resistance to it, I decided to write Branded. The term brand suggests both the ubiquity of logos in today's teen dreams and the extreme way these names now define teen identities."It is for this age group that our paper will look into the mechanisms of branding for a medium-sized company in order to ensure the success of the hosting company and its designer line among the growing market of the youths. Introduction One of the most noticeable apparel that a person displays is his or her dressing. This is in fact one of the primary concerns for most of the population especially for females in the ever more fashion and appearance oriented societies that we now live in (John 2009, p12). Moreover, there has been a tremendous leap towards the disposition of branded clothing during the past couple of years which means that companies nowadays are investing more resources towards developing, grooming and maintaining their branded clothes collection which ultimately find preference over the traditional unbranded attires. It is extremely important that companies undertake a well planned and thorough marketing activity to initiate their clothing line in order to be able to compete effectively in the market against other local and international clothing collections. Branding for the youth One of the most important ingredients of marketing that either make or break the designer line's name and his success is branding. The first step in any marketing activity is to identify the target markets which in our case are the youngsters'between the ages of 14-22. It is this age bracket in which the adolescents seem to be standing at an awkward age where neither they are too young to play with the toys nor have they groomed into adults. Understanding the target market, their way of thinking, their activities and the reasons for the true desire to embrace designer outfits with a knowledge of what the teens really want to wear and show off is tremendously important for framing the entire marketing plan and consequently developing the right brand name and image and positioning it in the way youngsters really want it (Knox 2004, p15). What is needed is basically to know exactly what the youth want and delivering according to it. The entire process of branding should focus on the youth and their needs and desires. Understanding the target market For the youth who are lingering somewhere between childhood and adulthood, the craving for dressing and clothing is more than the desire to eat. It is this passion for outfits ranging from classy to gothic to rib-tickling tops, bright primary colors and baggy or tight fitting pants that the medium sized firm needs to capitalize on in an intelligent and creative manner. (Corporate Image Marketing 2009, p1) Once identified with the overall target market, the company now needs to segment this age group on the basis of tastes, preferences and activities. Within the youth age bracket of 14-22, there are the party goers who settle in for the trendiest, fashionable and expensive outfits there are on the rack. Then there may be the gloomy ones adopting a gothic outlook and hence wanting anything in dark shades and styles. School and college goers would want comfortable yet trendy and informal tops and pants within an affordable range as they would make large purchases for their everyday college wear. Personal activities such as a love for sports mean incorporating such designs or labels on shirts. In United States, it has been reported that drinking has also affected teens clothing to a great extent with many boys wearing shirts showcasing drinking labels such as Budweiser or with related pictures or logos. Similarly, a desire for celebrities outfits, cartoon characters, specific looks such as military or army, the medium sized company should have all on offer from the latest looks of rock concerts, movie magazines and gossip tabloids that will attract the youth on all levels with all sorts of tastes and desires. Fashion conscious teens tend to go wild over shirts, caps and jackets emblazoned with their celebrities' initials, their favorite team's logo, rock star's name or appealing graphics (Knox 2004, p13). People within the age group between 14-22 will do anything to stand out from among their peers and hence for them the fantasy of showcasing their designer clothing at an affordable range to set them apart as the 'cool' kids from the 'regular' kids is a great feat they do not want to miss. It is hence this frame of mind of the adolescents and their yearning for fashion fantasies that companies need to capitalize on in an organized effective manner. Developing the strategy When the target market of adolescents under study of the age bracket 14 to 22 has been fully analyzed with their needs, wants and desires, it is now time to frame an organized brand strategy that incorporates all of the findings and caters entirely to the wishes of the target consumers. The beginning step is to set down how to gain the appeal and fondness of this target market. Firstly, a brand name should be chosen that adolescents can easily associate themselves with and feel an attachment towards (Wally 1990, 23). Brand names do not necessarily have to mean anything but they should be catchy enough to be easily restored in people's minds. Short and memorable brand names make the most appeal. However, it would not just be the name; it will be the entire aura around it that will add to the appeal of the youngsters' brand. The aura has to be created with the use of appropriate marketing techniques that give off the required image that the medium sized company really wants its target market to perceive the brand as. E.g. Espirit which is a global company operating in North America, Europe and now has set its foot in Asia especially in India has its own brand of clothing for youngsters for the age group of 14 to 22 by the name of EDC. The brand of EDC has a rugged, grudge and rock look inspired from the EDC rock collections which instantly appeal to the young masses out there. EDC focuses on developing, maintaining and grooming its USP which is to give off a very sporty and causal look to its brand name and image. EDC is highly successful brand worldwide producing about 12% revenue for Espirit. This brand image and brand identity that a company needs to develop in order to successful target and appeal to its consumer segment has to be achieved with the use of effective marketing strategy (Temporal 2002, p1). The marketing department needs to focus on the desires of the youth or tap into those unexplored areas of interests that will suddenly emerge in the youngsters once they become exposed to the marketing practices of the company. Advertisements can play a crucial role here by taking up TV celebrities, young movie stars like Mary Kate and Ashley or Linsey Lohan, young sports players or any other figure that youngsters have a special attachment to in the advertising campaign (Trout 2009, p1). The advertising can be done on TV primarily on channels such as on cartoon channels to target youngsters within 14-17 maybe and for the older segment which tends to be more mature Star World or other drama channels can be more relevant. Apart from TV advertising, there are numerous teenage magazines where cloths branding will be the most effective. Such magazines include Seventeen or Teen Mag. Also, in the daily newspaper a segment that is devoted to youngsters can be used to occupy an ad from this designer company (Wally 1990, p12). All the advertisements need to have a very fresh and trendy look to them and there needs to be the right mix of colors, celebrity usage, font and the right placement of each of these different elements within the ad. On TV shows, programs that are targeted towards the youth and have young artists hosting or taking part in it can also be offered to wear the wardrobe offered by this medium sized firm as this will be a promotional activity because the name of the company will appear in the wardrobe list towards the end or in the middle of the show (John 2009, p1). Flyers being given out inside shopping malls can also be a good way of promoting the company's brand. Also, the company needs to sponsor or create its own program that truly gives off the right impression of the brand and hence creates the brand identity. E.g. a celebrity endorsed reality TV show for adventurer youngsters participating in a three week difficult journey to achieve a specified task will give off the adventurous appeal of the brand for more daring, heroic and brave youth members out there. In the entire process of identifying and developing a branding strategy, focus groups comprising of 8 to 10 youngsters can be extremely helpful in shaping the minds of marketers and taking them towards the right direction. Polls can also be held online on the company's website comprising of the entire catalogs of outfits that are available. Online advertising on websites related to the youth can also prove to be a very successful idea e.g. advertising on sites such as teenmag.com or other magazines or accessories sites. Moreover, the atmosphere and ambiance of the outlet needs to be very appealing to the youth. Funky songs can be played in the background, with fresh and lively pictures all around with a few activities for the youngsters. The youth likes to mix and match different styles of shorts with different pants or skirts and hence it should be left entirely on them to choose an outfit for themselves (Trout 2009, p1). However, in case kids want help there should certainly be some fashion advisors in the outlet and customer service should be superb. Only if the needs and wishes of the customers will be catered to in an effective and efficient manner with all their desires being met will the company be able to earn its own brand image that it wants. Otherwise without the right ambiance, marketing strategies or the right products in place, the market for the designer clothes may shrink or may never grow. The medium sized company should then find the inefficiencies or deficiencies in the existing brand strategy that it pursues and identify those elements that are not in line with the youths' target market needs and wishes. It should alter its current strategy to become consistent with the new branding strategy to target the youth (Temporal 2002, p1). Only if the company is able to deliver to its customers in the way they want it will it receive the brand loyalty and brand commitment that they deserve otherwise the youngsters have an array of choices out there and they can easily switch their purchases from one brand to another. Integrated efforts of all involved Creating or altering a brand strategy and developing the brand image and then delivering it to the target audience with the promise of living up to the corporate brand expectations by the youth involves an integrated, concerted and unified effort from all those involved in the entire process of branding. The entire series of people or groups who are either working in the process of branding or are being affected by it in any way by it need to be taken into consideration throughout the process. This will involve different sets of people which we will now look at. Firstly, it is the customers which in our case are the youngsters in the age group of 14 to 22 who need to be taken into account. The company needs to be customer-centric and focus all its activities in a way that caters to each and every expectation and desires of the target market. Focus groups, surveys, mall interviews, samples through a pilot survey for the clothing and brand name testing and questionnaires can all help towards gaining knowledge on what exactly the youth wants (Wally 1990, p114). Customers play a vital role because they need to be involved, directly or indirectly in every phase of the branding strategy. Customers need to be treated as the kings and then their participation and views are the most important for the organization. Managers or personnel who are directly involved in the branding process are the ones that are responsible for framing into perspective the needs and desires of those customers, developing a blue print and realistically setting the goals of the entire branding process. They are the ones who develop the branding strategy, the brand names and the entire brand image associated with the product. The major chunk of this responsibility lies with the Branding Department with a great deal of continuous communication with the Marketing Department who will then put the whole plan into action. Also, the Finance Department plays a vital role here by allocating resources and budgets and making other numerical judgments such as the prospective revenues or profits to be made and the amount of risk involved (Knox 2004, p2). The Customer Complaint Department and Customer Relations Department also need to take on active roles where they need to ensure that they address the problems of customers in a timely and efficient manner providing customers satisfaction and hence establishing an even better image of them in front of their target market. Suppliers are also an extremely important figure in the entire branding process. They are the ones delivering the necessary supplies of fabrics, embellishments, designs and other accessories. Their deliveries in the required amounts need to be received for further manufacturing. The pre-stated standards and quality measures need to be met in order to ensure that the products or outfits developed meet the expectations of the target market. On-time deliveries is another important aspect of it in to avoid any late manufacturing and hence late delivery of final products to the market leading to lost sales and harming the image of the company (Temporal 2002, p14). Company's other product line managers also need to be aware that this new brand is coming up. This is especially necessary to make up for any back up that may be required in case the brand does not do well initially. It is hence a means of balancing the revenues or profits of the company using different product lines in order to assure that if the new brand incurs initial losses, the other brands or product lines of the same company can be made more profitable. In fact all these brand managers and product managers along with marketing managers need to work in a collaborative manner in order to be alarmed beforehand of any unwanted situation. Competitors are also a major consideration when a new brand is to be launched or an existing brand needs to be altered to target a new market niche. Having a look at the competitor's strategies that are already in the business and analyzing them critically will open up new insights for the medium sized company which can then be used as opportunities to take advantage of. Insights about location of the outlet, the new styles of clothing, the ambiance of the outlet and different product offers and promotional efforts can all be taken from a thorough market research and competitor analysis. The results can be directed towards improving the company's own strategy as there may be certain aspects or niches in which competitor firms may be lacking or may be deficient and which can be fruitfully by taken advantage of by this new emerging brand (Wally 1990, 23). Other business may also be a part of this brand creation and brand promotion. This is especially true of those businesses that can help the business in some way or another. E.g. media companies that can help this company launch the brand and promote it with an interesting and unique style of media coverage. There can be creative designer companies or market research companies that will help the firm in developing and establishing the brand strategy by providing it with the necessary research data it requires about customers and competitors. There are also promotional companies such as advertising firms that the firm can get in touch with if it thinks that its internal marketing department may be insufficient. Conclusion The medium sized firm if truly undertakes an efficient and correct market research taking into account the environment and its target market in mind; it will be able to design a brand name and image that will certainly attract the desired market. The market for clothing is flourishing with a spawning customer base which is an exuberant opportunity for a medium sized firm to seize and make the most of out I (Trout 2009, p2). References Corporate Image Marketing. (2009). Retrieved September 17, 2009, from http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/233/CORPORATE-IMAGE.htmlen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positioning_(marketing) John, B. (2009). Corporate Image. Retrieved September 18, 2009, from Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/corporate-image Knox, S. (2004). Positioning and branding your organisation. Retrieved September 19, 2009, from www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/10610420410529735 Olins, Wally. (1990) Corporate Identity: Making Business Strategy Visible through Design. Harvard Business School Press. Temporal, P. (2002, June). Retrieved September 17, 2009, from BrandingAsia.com: http://www.brandingasia.com/columns/temporal10.htm Trout, J. (2009, May 9). Brand Positioning Basics. Retrieved September 18, 2009, from http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2009/02/brand-positioning-basics.html Read More