brand report1

H & M G r o u p

B R A N DR E P O R T

L e v e l 4 F a s t T r a c kG a b r i e l l a H a r r o w

& Other Stories | Antwerp

The brand

& Other stories first launched in 2013 making it the latest addition to theH&M Group, and growing fast with 36 stores and counting world wide.

The collections are created from ateliers in Paris and Stockholm building thedesigns around inspiring fashion stories. & Other is not only focused on the

ready-to-wear aspect, instead this aspect makes up one of the manycomponents, there are also shoes, bags, accessories, jewellery, lingerie and

beauty making each item key for styling and just as important as theclothing.

The brand philosophy is clear throughout the collections, they believe everywoman has the right to create her own personal style or story. This is why

& Other Stories houses everything together under one roof, providingendless choices of style from feminine silhouettes, androgynous minimalist to

masculine tailoring.& Other stories brings together the commercial high street retailer vision

with the exclusiveness of a boutique environment mixing great quality withaffordable prices.

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Price Chart

Fashionability

Price

Hig

hLo

w

FowardBasic

A graph to show where & other stories is in comparison with its high streetcompetitors looking at price from low to high and from basic to forward

fashionability.

Customer Profile

Gender- FemaleAge- 25+

Residential- Living withparents/Renting/Mortgage

Marital status- Single/RelationshipFamily- No children/young family

Occupation- Part-time /full time roleEducation-College/ University educated

Income- £18,000 +Disposable income PM- £250+

"It's for women who are interested in fashion and whofeel differently every day, some days you want a

romantic dress & the next day jeans and a t-shirt, youfeel differently every dayand thats what we are trying

to reflect." Behnaz Aram head of design

Hobbies & InterestsTV- On demand and netflix gives her thefreedom to watch when and what shepleases Music- Apple Music is her go to she can puta playlist on and hear any genre she isfeeling that daySocial life- Brunches and coffee, rooftop barsand dinners with friendsSocial Media- Instagram, Facebook &Twitter maybe sometimes she will glance atsnapchatReading- Vogue, I-D, LOVE, Finfolk

Customer Profile

The & Other stories customer knows her style, and is forward thinking inhow she can curate a whole look. She wants to be able to play with herlooks depending on her mood, the weather or just if she fancies trying

something new.She dreams of Acne and Isabel Marant amongst a variety of other

designer garments hanging in her wardrobe, but for now & other storiesmixed with premium high street brands will have to suffice.

She has a busy work and social life and being able to order online andkeep up to date with newsletters to her email is handy when she is on the

go.She often shops around but now she isn't in her teens buying only fromPrimark or Topshop she can afford to spend that little extra on higher

quality, and enjoys wearing something that will last her a little longer as aclassic item for her ever growing collection.

PestPolitical Economic

Labour has renewed pressureon ministers to set out theirBrexit strategy to MPs beforeformal negotiations begin.Officials believe the UK mayneed to make big payments tothe EU to secure preferentialtrading terms after Brexit, an,but an unnamed cabinetminister has has claimed thatthe UK may end up "payingquite a lot" of that money tosecure access to the singlemarket.Across the country, 2,213inward investment projectswere secured in 2015 to 2016,an 11% increase on theprevious year. This lead toaround 116,000 jobs beingcreated or safeguarded - thesecond highest number onrecord. Almost 1,600 new jobsa week were created byforeign direct investment

The pound has made backsome ground against boththe dollar and euro.Sterling's rise of more than1% on Wednesday (11th)followed a sharp drop to$1.20 the previous day.Bank of England data hassince shown that it isperilously close to a recordlow when measuredagainst a basket of otherinternational currencies.Any changes in theregulatory and taxenvironment are expectedto have a negative impacton businesses rangingfrom the increase in thenational minimum wage(29%) to an increase inthe standard rate of VAT(53%) and an increase inincome tax (51%)

Pest

Technological

MPS on the science and technologycommittee want the government toestablish a commission, that willlook at new skills for humans asartificial intelligence takes over thejob market.60,000 new digital and analyticalroles will be urgently required infashion by 2020, according to anew report, which says that therise of digital shopping channels iscreating demand for these newjobs. The research, which wasconducted by OC&C StrategyConsultants on behalf of theFashion Retail Academy.The UK’s digital industry isbooming; according to the TechNation report published earlier thisyear, it’s growing 32% faster thanthe rest of the UK economy.Although the Brexit vote threatensto stop the progress of the UKsdigital economy in its tracks.

Social

Consumers are considering thesocial impact of the money theyspend. Some are willing to paymore to support retailers whopractice ethical and sustainablemethods. More than everretailers must consider theramifications of their actions. Retailers have to react swiftly toaddress changes brought on withthe domination of the internetand new consumer spendinghabits, as online retailingcompetes headlong with the highstreet.

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SWOTSWOT

Strengths OpportunitiesPart of the H&M group allowing &other stories the resources to expandand secure world wide coverage.Sustainable beauty packaging andtextile recycling- customers areoffered 10% off with a bag filled withtextiles and the same discount whenused & other stories beautypackaging is recycled in store. Stores are generally located in areaswith heavy traffic of potentialcustomersSocial media and web is focused onthe the social media savvy customerwith a blog like content and 539,000Instagram followersA range of price points attract a widecustomer base but the quality andvalues of the brand reach out to anolder audience with a higherdisposable incomeCollaborations keep the & otherstories brand fresh and interestingwhilst making designer priced itemsacessible to a high street shopper.Working with designers, musiciansand other brands such as Rodarte,Lykke Li, and Vans

Branching out in tocollaborations with a varietyof brands, & other storiescould look at the possibility ofworking with beauty brandshelping to build relationshipswithin a variety of differentindustries & Other Stories is set to opena three-storey shop onOxford Street this autumn.The 6,500sq-ft space islocated opposite Selfridges’sflagship store, and is thecompany’s fifth UK location.Stores are set to openin South Korea andthe Middle East in 2017The expansion and growth ofstores and the company couldlead to an interest in amenswear line like that oftheir sister brand COSGrowth of online presenceworking with internationaland UK based bloggers toreach out to new and regularconsumers. Page 7

SWOT

& other stories could beconsidered to marketthemselves to a nicheclientele, with fashion stylesthat do not necessarilymatch substantial trendsthat are seen else where onthe high street per seasonHennes & Mauritz AB andTJX Cos. have the highestU.K. exposure amongretailers and could beimpacted the most by the“Brexit” vote, according toanalysts at Stifel.Additionally, the weakeningof the British pound willnegatively impact H&M’sresults as profits aretranslated into the Swedishkrona

An ever changing marketwith influences fromcelebrities and bloggersmay not see the branddevelop with the high streetor their customer fashionneeds.A competitive market placemeans customers may shopelse where, choosing toeither pay less and nothave the quality or buyluxury or designersproducts. Competitors have astronger social mediapresence, working withbloggers to grow the brandand their image forperspective customers.

Weaknesses Threats

The 5 P'sProduct

Providing consumers can see and feel the quality in its ranges, & OtherStories are able to justify their price points ranging anywhere between £5and £195, these prices are comparable to upper mid-market and premium

brands like Reiss and Whistles.

The collections are created from ateliers in Paris and Stockholm building thedesigns not only inspired by fashion but also with quality in mind. & Otheris not only focused on the clothing element, instead the have branched outin to many other components such as, shoes, bags, accessories, jewellery,

lingere and beauty. & Other stories believe every item is key for styling andcreating the customers own fashion story.

PlaceWith stores so far in Aarhus, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin,Bologna, Brussels, Cologne, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Ghent, Hamburg,London, Madrid, Malaga, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, Rome, and

Stockholm they are expanding quickly. A new store in London is set to openthat is set over three floors, and will be the companies 5th location in the UK.Expansion will also see stores opening in the Middle east and South Korea.

Price

PromotionPromotions like other high street retailers are very rarely seen at & otherstories. They offer- Free shipping over £125 and Free returns, and midseason sales with up to 50% discounts some times during sales 75% is

offered. The biggest promotion & other stories offer is to promote recycling by

offering 10% off vouchers when customers recycle used beauty packagingand bags of textiles, the textiles recycled also do not have to be from &

other stories.Page 9

Brand Summary

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Brand Position-High end brand pushing forward quality

Target Market

Product sectors

female 25 + fashion conscious consumer

ready-to-wearShoes Bags Accessories Lingerie Beauty

Price Positioning High end High street

CompetitorsASOS, Topshop, Zara, Whistles, Riess, Cos, Monki, Cheap Monday, River Island

Fashion Sub BrandsCO-lab

Typical Store Size & LocationStores are found in areas with high traffic of people shoppingA new oxford street store will be opening that is split over three floors and willbecome & Other stories 5th store in the uk

Store Format and ambienceMinimal aesthetic, rails flow with colours, textures and shapesIndustrial feel to the walls with white canvas over plastered areasHomely feel with carpets, curtains and light flooding in to the storeCustomers feel at ease and they have their own space to shop and enjoy theirexperience

Websitewww.stories.com easily navigated webpage, store locator each product sectors isclearly marked. Alternitive information about stores, recyclying, product care and customer serviceseasy to find through the webpageNews letter that is emailed

http://www.cashmerecoffee.com/other-stories-antwerp/http://www.stories.com/http://about.hm.com/content/dam/hm/about/documents/en/Annual%20Report/Annual%20Report%202015_en.pdfhttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/hm-other-stories-a-new-chapter-for-the-british-high-street-8529924.html#galleryhttps://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/retail-recon/retail-recon-hms-new-storyhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37618579http://www.essentialretail.com/in-store-ops/article/57e559bacc325-report-uk-fashion-industry-will-require-60000-new-tech-roles-by-2020http://techcitynews.com/2016/09/26/buying-londons-retail-tech-future/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37622928http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37627308http://news.sky.com/story/pound-nudges-up-to-123-as-investors-eye-brexit-talks-hope-10614241http://www.icaew.com/en/about-icaew/news/press-release-archive/2016-press-releases/uk-economy-biggest-concern-for-businesses-in-2016-says-icaewhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-remains-number-one-investment-destination-in-europehttp://smallbusiness.chron.com/social-factors-affecting-retail-business-71662.htmlhttps://www.wgsn.com/content/board_viewer/#/67972/page/2http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brexit-could-impact-these-retailers-the-most-2016-06-24https://www.wgsn.com/content/board_viewer/#/67972/page/2

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Bibliography

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