Brand Fashion Shop and Its Marketing Strategies in Bangladesh

Introduction

In the past, many branded fashion shop’s has also carried out research regarding their products before launching into the market. However, no one has implement any sort of research and prepared a report based on the Marketing strategies. Strategies of some of the leading brand fashion shop. That is why, I am interested in doing the research on “Branded Fashion Shop and Its Marketing Strategies in Bangladesh”.

Methodology

The methods used in the preparation of this research paper are described below:i.The first step was to select the topic and the objectives on which I have worked on some leading fashion organization such as Artisti Collection Limited, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye etc.

ii. Secondly, in order to fulfill the needs of my research objectives I have taken interviewfor secondary data collection. So, I have taken interview of the HR Head of Artisti VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World and CATS Eye.

iii. Thirdly, I collected primary data by carrying out market research of a random sample of50 people in the Artisti, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye showroom throughquestionnaires having both close-ended and open-ended questions.

iv. Fourthly, I also collected some secondary data using our text book, Artisti’s VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye page inFacebook, other online resources, and other reliable sources such as Artisti’s, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye staff members, store managers etc.

v. Finally, I analyzed the data and prepared this report and tried to give our readers apractical insight on Artisti’s, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye etc Marketing Mix, market segmentation, product’s position,Competitor’s profile, the changes that took place in the organization, company’s competitive work place, organizational quality assurance, and safeties and securities.

Findings/RecommendationFindings/RecommendationAt the end of any study few recommendations are normally prescribed. In this report somerecommendations are provided which might be helpful for the chosen organization. However, thechosen organizations Artisti Collection Limited, Shoppers World, CATS Eye is the best local clothing company inBangladesh in terms of quality.

It is always considered that the brand would be better andefficient comparing to the other foreign brands like Vasavi, Zara becauseof the price competition, as products of those foreign brands are of same quality as Artisti, Cats Eye brandsbut are of higher price due to import taxes.

I have prepared a report on the organizations based on its marketingstrategies and I have found few recommendation. Some of the recommendations are beingimplemented without much researcher due to limited access to their sensitive data.Following are some of the few recommendations given to Artisti Collection Limited, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye etc.

i. Create brand differentiation by creating exclusive brand segment compare to otherclothing related products.a)To make it difficult for the competitors to diagnose the determinants of successand cannot be easily copiedb)To create exclusive brand segment to create channel of consumer who areexclusive and within sophisticated premium clothing segment(introduce clubconcept )

To make a company more competitive, it has to build difficult to imitate elements in and around its business model. The more multidimensional a firm‟s competitive advantage is, and the moreeach dimension of competitive advantage is based on complex bundles of company’s capabilities, the more difficult it is for a competitor to diagnose the determinants of success.

Brand fashion shops need to pay attention to things that add value to their proposition,because these things accumulate and they cannot be easily copied or challenged by competitors.Brand fashion shop can create exclusive brand segment compare to other clothing relatedProducts.

Like Executive Motors they bring highly expensive BMW cars in Bangladesh; they are creating specific consumer group for selling this Cars. Artisti marketing differentiation strategyshould be like that to create channel of consumer who are exclusive and within sophisticated premium clothing segment. To implement the differentiation the brand fashion shop canintroduce club concept where customers buying Artisti products worth more than a specified amount (say for Artisti merchandise worth more than Tk50,000) will automatically registered inArtisti Club. The Artisti club members can get various kinds of privilege for example: Shopping discount in Shoppers world, various offer in star labeled hotel or big restaurant, exclusivewaiting lounge in Airport, travel discount etc.

ii. Implement research to know about consumer insightsa)To understand consumers’ needs and their perception on brand fashion shopb)To know about consumer insights for targeting new consumers more effectivelyand serve current consumers better.iii.To identify consumers who are influencer’s for spreading the word-of-mouth(WOM) or word of mouse further, and respond quickly and fairly to customercomplains to hinder negative word-of-mouth

Brand fashion shops need to conduct various consumer research programs to help in the understanding of consumers need and their perception on brand. It is suggested that consumer research be also delegated to showroom offices to gain area specific effects and nuances. The headquarter can focus more on generic research such as advertising effectiveness, focus group on new product innovation and development, clothing patterns etc. If available, the

purchase of showroom consumer insight reports from staff members is a useful tool. Artisti should add demographic profiles to the online questionnaire on consumer registration to gain better insight and to help brand fashion shops target new consumers more effectively and serve current

consumers better. In terms of customer relationship management, the system should be able to identify consumers who are influencers or what „influences‟ consumers. An influencer is someone or something able to persuade the target audience to purchase the product and it is assumed that every target audience has an influencer group.

Having good consumer insight fromthis group of consumers will help in the profiling and acquisition of new consumers. Brand fashion shops should put more marketing effort on groups of influencers and give them unexpected rewards tomotivate them to spread the word-of-mouth (WOM) or word of mouse further and respond quickly and fairly to customer complains to hinder negative word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth communication is individual sharing information with other individuals, which are a criticalinfluence on consumer decisions and business success. On the contrary, negative word-of-mouth can offset thousands of brand fashion shops customers in positive media advertising. Unhappy customers tell an average of nine others about their dissatisfaction. So, brand fashion shops mustgive priority on negative word-of-mouth regarding the brand if any.

iii. Focusing on their target marketing:a)For grouping customers with similar needb)For choosing appropriate media for communicating with their target consumersOnce the company knows more about their target consumers, then they can launch more focusedmarketing campaigns to sub groups to achieve higher acquisition rates more cost effectively.

Below are some examples illustrating how brand fashion shop can maximize return of investment throughtarget marketing. If brand fashion shop makes good use of a variety of media, technology, partners andcommunities, they will be able to target their consumers more effectively.a. If brand fashion shops knows that the decision makers or influencers of purchasing an expensiveitems such as Sherwanis, Kurtas, Men‟s Suit,Italiani GoldCollection Shirts etc are mainly corporate executives, rich business person then they can post theadvertisement in appropriate Newspaper, magazines, on IT, orientated web sites.

b. In terms of online advertising, brand fashion shops know that their consumers like Internet and watching advertising, they can place online advertising that target people who search the wordsclothes, accessories, fashion, sport, movie or surf the pages related to these topics.c. Marketing can develop a referral program targeting or exclusive premium clothing segment people, as this group of consumers has more leisure to engage with their friends and family.

iv. Brand Positioning and Brand Building Strategy:

Positioning the brand to match its quality by creating more classy and elegant image.The overall brand essence is indulgence‟. Currently, the marketing communications of

Brand fashion shops project a classy and elegant image. The researcher suggests that the brand or certain

products within the portfolio could be extended to communicate a more lively, joyful and playful and in doing so projects the indulgence image to appeal to a wider group of audience. Brand fashion shop may also want to or need to target a more mature group of consumers, as the more mature segments

of the population have increased per capita income today, people who enjoy the clothing ritual

and are willing to pay a premium price for the experience. They are usually the people who like to have a classy and elegant look.

v. Choose different marketing communication media for their premium products.Marketing Communication is very important for premium products like Men’s Suit, Sherwanis,A Kurtas, women’s Suit, winter Jacket,Italiani Gold Collection Shirts etc. Since its targetconsumer group is exclusive upper class segment that’s why the marketing communication willbe very sensitive. Internet can be used for communicating regarding the premium products because thetarget Consumer frequently used Internet. Major daily Newspaper Specially English (The DailyStar, New Age) can be used for communication with target group.

vi. Should bring more variety in women’s and children’s wears:

To gain market share

Most of the consumers in clothing industry are men,women and children. If the company focuses on

them then they might win more market share. So, these help can the

organization gain market share and brand fashion shops products might eventually become a Star Products

where both market growth as well as market share.For example Cats Eye employed star singer Habib Wahid as there brand ambasador.

Beside all those recommendations mentioned above, I also would like to recommend some

others basic requirements for the organization. They are as follows:

a)Communication skill needs further improvement between corporate office and marketoutlets.b)The man power should be increased for lessen the load of worker in showrooms.c)Should put more details on the company’s web site about Artisti, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye for general consumers.Some recommendations have been made to Artisti, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye for consideration, but these have been by nomeans exhaustive.

In fact, Artisti, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye may well benefit from doing a few key moves very effectivelyand for this they need a high level of consumer, since the clothing brand is basically high end inBangladesh market. The company should seek to be the first to create various difficult to imitatepoints of differentiation to build sustainable competitive advantage and then aim to dominate indifferent exclusive segments/markets. By doing this and then continuing in an iterative process,Artisti, VASAVI,ZARA, Shoppers World, CATS Eye etc can capture market share and lock in consumers for a sustained periods.

ConclusionConclusionIn conclusion, the leading and fastest growing ready-madefashion brands in Bangladesh cannot compromise anything with their quality. According to their 4ps of their Marketing mix, even though they don’t have much product variety, they aresuccessful is offering best quality in the market. Their promotional activities are emphasized to build their quality and reliability attributes on consumers mind with trust and professionalism in their work, price is not their main concern to be focused in their promotional activities. As being both manufacturer and retailer, they have a full control both on their production, distribution andmarket outlet. Their potential consumers are those who acknowledge that brand fashion shop is all about quality and most importantly those who can afford the products.

They develop their products for thetargeted market based on clothing culture as well as from the religious perspective of Bangladesh.Their target market areas are Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet where the population density is high,and per capita income is higher comparatively. The Company fall under the Question Marks inThe Boston Matrix which means their market growth is high and on the other hand their marketshare is low in clothing industry. So, they are growing rapidly and thus consume large amountsof cash, but because they have low market shares they do not generate much cash. Among themajor competitors of brand fashion shop in the market are Vasavi, Zara, and ,Artisti,Shoppers World, CATS Eye etc.

Shoppers World is the strongest competitors in terms of market share. However, Artisti is a

price winner in the market as they have cheapest price for men’s wear comparatively. The

company is welcoming to change and it brings changes both in management and in the product.

Sometimes the changes are good or sometimes the changes are bad. But they didn’t stop the

changing process and taking measured risk for the betterment of customers, employees, and the

organization as a whole. They may not adopt the best marketing strategies but yet comparatively their marketing strategies

are best than the other local companies. Their quality is their primary concern in their

strategies and they are being successful in maintaining it. No wonder the tag line of the brand is

“Quality that you can Trust”.