What is Prada’s business profile?
Prada Group, which is the fashion industry, was founded in 1913 by Mario Prada (Prada Group, 2016). The first store was located in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It was founded as a stylish store that focused on luxury goods, accessories, and high-end, sophisticated workmanship. The store gained popularity among Italian aristocrats and the European elite. Consequently, in 1919 the Milan store was granted a contract to supply the royal household of Italy with fashion. The granddaughter of the founder, Miuccia Prada, together with Patrizio Bertelli developed a strategy to expand the firm globally in the 1970s (Prada Group, 2016). Since then the company has grown to become a powerhouse in the fashion industry internationally. To date, it owns as well as manages a portfolio of the most renowned prestigious luxury brands globally. The company operates in 70 countries with a network 594 stores. It also has 35 franchised stores (Prada Group, 2015, p. 25). The firm specializes in both men and women fashion. It produces and sells footwear and clothing and leather goods. It has also recently diversified into eyewear, mobile phone, and fragrance. Prada products are produced in the twelve sites owned by the company: eleven of them are Italy while one is in Britain. The purpose of locating the sites in proximity is to allow close monitoring each stage of the production process from procurement of raw material up to the point the final product is ready for delivery to its stores. The company prides its self on being highly innovative. The firm was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange as Prada Spa. The company is valued at 9.2 billion Euros (Prada Group, 2016). It is currently ranked number 69 in top 100 most valuable international brands (Prada Group, 2016).
How did these marketing strategies contribute to PRADA’s success?
Prada adopted various marketing strategies that have contributed to its success. Firstly, Prada selects retail spaces in stylish locations in major cities and sells directly to its target clients through those stores. The company argues that the reason for applying the strategy is that the retail stores allow them to showcase its newly designed fashion and other merchandise (Prada Group, 2014, p. 16). It also allows the company to obtain direct feedback from its clients. The information is incorporated in subsequent fashion by the firm. Prada also believes that the stores relay the image of the company to the public. Locating in high-end location allows the company to reach out to its targeted customers. Customers and potential customers interact with the company through those stores. Therefore, the stores are stylish and ultra-modern. Prada launched a new type of magnificent stores dubbed “Prada Epicentres”. They were designed by global-acclaimed architects including Herzog and de Meuron, who are Nobel Prize winners (Prada Group, 2014, p. 7). Consequently, other fashion brands imitated Prada and created similar stores. Prada has also adopted modern technologies in those stores. For instance, Prada provides its customers with a convenience card so that they can shop anonymously. It has also adopted technologies which make it convenient for customers to try out new clothes in their fitting rooms. Lastly, Prada has merged online and offline platforms. Besides the physical stores, customers can shop online. Through their online shop websites, customers can views the products on sale and obtain information on various aspects of those items. They can even place and order and pay without visiting a physical store (Roberti, 2002, p. 3).
Bibliography
Prada Group, 2014. Prada Group Company Profile, s.l.: Prada Group.
Prada Group, 2015. Prada Group Annual Report 2014, s.l.: Prada Group.
Prada Group, 2016. Prada Group. [Online] Available at: http://www.pradagroup.com/en/group/group-profile[Accessed 8 May 2016].
Roberti , M., 2002. What Other Retailers Can Learn from Prada. RFID Journal.
