Emerging Markets: High Fashion Fights Recession
People express themselves in many different ways. Simple examples of this consist of a person’s dress and appearance. People make judgments about others using a variety of techniques, many of which are based on a person’s appearance. Clothing and our appearance act as a medium of communication. The way a person dresses can affect perceived social status, project a certain type of self-image or boost a person’s self-esteem. The way a person dresses can affect their acceptance into certain societies or assist in making certain types of impact on a target audience (Holman, 1980).
A person’s sense of style begins during adolescence where young adults begin to differentiate themselves based on appearance. Terms such as the jocks, burnouts, preppies, and gothic are examples of young people being categorized based on appearance. As these young person’s transition into adulthood the branding changes to collegiate, homeless, business man/woman, blue collar, sophisticated, etc. The phrase “looks can be deceiving” illustrates how luxury and fashion can influence perception.
Companies offering luxurious fashions rely on their brand as the primary means of generating customer sales. The strategy of high quality, high price and high margins is considered a differentiation or focused strategy by which the brand carry’s the sale. This branding sends a certain type of message and retailers are relying on this message to generate abnormal profits.
Whether a company’s strategy is a low cost provider, such as Walmart, or a focused high end goods provider such as Gucci, both strategies are attempting to appeal to a target audience. Some branding strategies are predicated on low cost and h...
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...municate a certain message. However as seen in 2008, changes in market conditions affect the psychological needs of the buyers. As their needs change so does their desire to make purchases of luxury goods. This notion of putting off these types of purchases aligns with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Works Cited
Burton, N. (2012, May 24). Our hierarchy of needs why true freedom is a luxury of the mind. Psychology Today, Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/our-hierarchy-needs
Cui, G., & Liu, Q. (2000). Regional market segments of china: opportunities and barriers in a big emerging market. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(1), 55-72.
Holman, R. H. (1980). Clothing as communication: An empirical investigation. Advances in Consumer Research, 7(1), 372-377.
Peng, M. (2014). Global strategy. (3rd ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Fashion Models Social Distance and Social Identification in Third-Person Effects." Communication Research. vol. 29 .no. 3 (2002): p. 270-294. Print. .
Young people need more attention or acceptance from others comparing with people at other stages, as youths are experiencing a process of being adults. The formation of identity can be exemplified through fashion. Young people tend to establish their identities through the way they dress. As Hall,S (1997) stated, visible objects, like clothes may have a simple physical function, that is to cover the body and protect it from weather, however clothes also have a function which can double up as signs, which construct a meaning and carry a message. Fashion can also be a language that makes clothing possible become a self-communicative device at our disposal, plays a...
In society today, the clothing that someone wears is basically a billboard for his or her personal, or family's financial situation. For children in public schools, fitting in with the popular, or most fashionable people is probably the most important thing to them. When children are preoccupied wi...
Six years after deciding to be an independent public company in late 2000, Coach Inc.’s net sales had grown at a compounded annual rate of 26 percent and the stock price had increased by 1,400 percent due to a strategy keyed to a concept called accessible luxury. Coach crafted the accessible luxury category in women’s handbags and leather accessories by differentiating themselves on price, but matching competitors on styling, quality, and customer service. The accessible luxury strategy mirrors a focus (or market niche) strategy based on low costs. Coach concentrates on a narrow buyer segment and outcompetes rivals by having lower costs than rivals and thus being able to serve niche members at a lower price. Management believed that new products should be based on market research rather than on designers’ instincts. Coach utilized extensive consumer surveys and focus groups to gain insight in the market, and ultimately a competitive advantage over competition. Coach’s $200-$500 handbags appealed to both middle class consumers who now were able to afford a taste of luxury, as well as affluent consumers with the means to spend $2,000 on a handbag on a regular basis.
As Miuccia Prada said: "What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language "(Lindig, 2014). People can be judged based on the clothes they wear. Clothes reveal more about us than we think, all our fears that we kept as the secret, our wishes and spending habits. Clinical psychologist, Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner claims that choosing clothes and behavior come from internal motivations such as emotions, experience, and culture. Moreover, there are five different personality types based on people's choices of clothing (Forbes.com, 2016).
Miuccia Prada once said that “What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language”. Miuccia Prada and the Prada brand have grown from humble beginnings making quality leather goods to a public traded company with a current market capitalization of over $26 billion (USD) . With the development of Prada as one of the world’s premier luxury brands it provides an excellent case study to examine how strategy paved the way for the success of the Prada brand. First, an examination of Prada’s strategic positioning against luxury brand rivals Louis Vuitton Hennessey Moet (LVHM) and Kering (Gucci). The acquisition history of Prada will be reviewed, where some preliminary conclusions can be made about what has been contributing factors to both the successes and failures. Then finally, an evaluation of what the future holds for Prada and the sustainability of its competitive advantage.
In exploring how branding affects store design, Eleanor Curtis (2006, p. 9) goes as far to say that “interior display became the critical factor that would encourage the sale of one particular brand over another” within Department Stores. I.e., strong, characteristic interior design which fully reflects a certain brand will make it distinctive among its imitators and competitors. Lynne Mesher (2010, p. 10) supports this idea, claiming that; “The brand is the starting point and the building or site often comes later.” This enforces just how crucial the idea of branding is to both the fashion and interior/architecture industry; highlighting that the concept of retail design centres on the notion of branding before all else. Pierre Martineau (1958, p. 47) further champions this idea; “Economic factors will always be important. But u...
However, when looking to create a luxury brand, one must go beyond what is required of an ordinary brand, to create something of high value and therefore high prices. So instead of just having brand values, it should have brand beliefs, as this will create a stronger emotional connection with its customers. It should aim to go beyond having a logo, but rather a set of distinguishable icons and the brand’s points of sale needs to be somewhere that connects with its customers and becomes something of a pantheon among other retail outlets. Similarly the customer segmentation should have role reversal, so the customers want to buy their products. Luxury brands should instead of actively promoting their advantages over their competitors, never push the customers into buying their products, thereby offering mystique and letting the customers make the value creation. Lastly, a true luxury brand not only offers products but rather a way of life, allowing them to branch out over several product categories, into every aspect of their customer’s
Styles of Dress as Reflections of Social Conditions Something that becomes very apparent when studying the topic of fashion is that clothes and style are related to so much more than merely an individual’s appearance. For thousands of years, fashion and style have been primary indicators of a person’s social status, sexuality, wealth, individuality, and overall personality attributes. Deep rooted in all of us lies an inescapable process of perceiving who an individual is based on what our eyes view. Although this process may be labeled as "superficial," it is no doubt a mechanism that exists, particularly when there is limited additional "information" about someone to go on. In this century alone, each decade has been marked by distinctly different manners of dress for both men and women.
Ever since their invention many centuries ago, clothes have been used as a way of communicating. The message communicated relies on a number of factors including the social background of both the communicator and the receiver, and the context in which the message is communicated. Although at times the exact message or symbolism one is trying to portray may not be clear, it is evident that clothing has long been embraced as one of the best ways to project one’s desired personal image to those around them.
Dubois and Czellar (2002) refer to luxury brands as those goods that can offer comfort, beauty and refinement. On the other hand, a prestige brand is referred to as a brand that has achieved a definitive level of accomplishment, either in the quality or performance. O’Cass a...
Fashion in the 21st century is a big business, as its production employs millions of people and generates billions of dollars in revenue. Fashion has for the past century been, and is still today, used as an indicator of social change and progress, as it changes with the social norms of the society and the political changes of the world (Finkelstein 3). Works Cited Finkelstein, Joanne. A.S.A. & Co. Fashion: An Introduction to Fashion. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Consumers today continue to be fascinated by personal appearance and fashion styles. Fashion, and the way we present ourselves through clothing
Clothing: Speaker's personality, background and financial status conveyed by their dressing style. The way one dress exhibit their culture, mood, level of confidence, interests, age, authority, values and sexual identity. It’s very necessary to dress according to the occasions one attends. One has to address variety
In conclusion, fashion will speak out a person’s social signal, people dress on designs that blend with their social class. Just as population, social activities and fashion are changing with time. Fashion has made clothing to be convinient, everything needs to be done with the least effort and spend the least time.