Introduction
FENDI is an Italian Luxury brand offering fashion accessories for men and women. FENDI’s official website http://www.fendi.com is an example of sheer luxury emanating all over the web site. The complete black background that presents the animated FENDI logo in gold colour itself is a complete mention of luxury. The site automatically navigates to the English site, background of which is the 2014-15 backstage video with the title “Pure! Brutal! Global!” and it is almost unreal in terms of the luxury it emanates. No wonder FENDI showcases its backstage very often to tell us, the ordinary mortals, that it too is mortal and not Godly as its products seem to be!
Marketing and Communication Strategies
FENDI has mastered the art of communicating sheer luxury in all aspects of its communication with the customers be it the website, the print advertisements, the videos or even the television advertisements they all literally ooze luxury, and this is exactly what FENDI wants to be to its customers. That is brand promise of FENDI – pure luxury.
FENDI’s fashion week is an event renowned not simply for the fashion itself (Hameide, 2011). Every year, this immense event guarantees high-octane charm plus the strange diva outburst along the way.
The FENDI’s fashion week is a unique event that serves as a platform for both established and new designers to showcase their new collections before the media and the enthusiastic fashion. The fashion company specially pays attention to their style and merchandise model choice.
FENDI wants to be creative that makes perfect for every customer. Merchandiser is known as a window dresser, and they use their design skills to help promote the image in retail, business and other organization (Hyde, 2013).
FENDI follows the venue for the designers and brand labels to display their collection. It is up to each one of the participants to decide themselves how and where they want the show. Fashion week collects information, co-ordinates and presents the various events in the fashion week schedule (Hung, 2010).
Music can speak to any number of audiences (Hyde, 2013). FENDI’s music artists excellently portray their music penchant in front of the largest audience possible. Fashion meets and music festivals, if positioned and executed strategically and properly, can stake central claim as a fashion brand launching platform and provide ground.
Sponsorship is the process to an organization with some sort of responsibility for another organization (Tungate, 2010). FENDI works closely with all the sponsors whose content, products and services will be of interest to their community. They provide sponsorship opportunity on the some website on a monthly basis and sponsorship opportunities built around LIVE events.
The important people who are in highlight in promoting FENDI include the famous fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who has had a very long association with FENDI. Among others, the British model Cara Delvingne, Shu-qi, Daniel Chen, are a few famous people associated with FENDI. One important strategy that FENDI adopts wherever they go is to use local talents and acknowledged fashion icons in the respective cultural settings, to create a greater impact locally.
Among the major FENDI events, the show that was created on the Great Wall of China in 2007 is still spoken about. As a point of fact, almost all FENDI events invariably are spoken about, and are events to remember. FAN DI FENDI is an event in London. They have regular events like ADFRANCE every year, along with Fall/Winter Fashion shows, Men’s Spring Summer Fashion shows, and a variety of launch shows.
A designer’s publicist plans FENDI’s front row audience, and it is as hierarchical as the most feudal of medieval courts (Cibber, 2009). The row, which the audience are placed is a public statement to fashion brand, as well as to FENDI’s colleague of how important the designer thinks about the fashion and it’s branding.
FENDI’s specially follow on celebrity advertisement for their product, celebrity attending PR events, creating for their own line for a product (Okonkwo, 2009). The marketing team of Fendi has so many years of experience, and the team easily manages to make the customers realize their goals (Okonkwo, 2009).
The fashion elements will create a service package modified to the specific needs and budget. The fashion brand of the company takes on projects combined with the employees’ efficient workflow, and ensures to get the support the customer need when they need it. The company is famous for its capacity to adopt innovative strategies to make Fendi lighter, modem and more fun.
Fendi maintains online presence, and for the brand recognition the company uses social media like Maps, Face book, Twitter, Flicker, YouTube very extensively, as well as cultivates a brand presence on the mobile apps and other online databases.
A man is known by the company he keeps, is what is said, and brands are known by the personalities that endorse them. In complete alignment with this, FENDI is known to use top-notch fashion divas, actors, actresses, musicians, and singers, all known for their exquisite fashion sense. At any FENDI event, the front row is occupied by the who’s who of the fashion world. This again is part of the cleverly crafted brand message of FENDI.
Consumers tend to identify FENDI with these famous and fashion conscious personalities, so that FENDI borrows some of their fashion sense, and at times the reverse is also possibly true. FENDI is known for its fashionable set of people that endorse the brand. FENDI is known for the exquisiteness of the people that endorse the brand. For example, Jennifer Lopez is possibly the most well-known celebrity who endorses FENDI.
FENDI exudes that unique character about it in every product that it offers, and it is the same sense of fashion and high levels of culture that the brand communicates to its consumers. This itself is the brand promise of FENDI.
FENDI’s PR is also very careful to choose where and whom FNEDI is associated with, and this deliberate fashion crafting creates that rich and luxurious fashion identity for the brand. Amazingly, FENDI is one of the most accepted Italian brands globally.
FENDI also maintains its unique identity, and continues its sense of fashion, luxury, and exquisiteness not only in online and video presence, but also in offline print media, in the PR that it creates for itself. The 2014 theme of marketing for FENDI strikes a very emotional chord with the bored rich who can afford FENDI.
In the contemporary world, people at one point of time, seem to be getting tired of the machine-made goods and technology-driven goods. This is the chord upon which FENDI is striking through its 2014 marketing strategy and communication strategy using the FATTO A MANO strategy..
The concept of the above strategy is very simple. FENDI is using the medieval time artisans, who try and use material lying around, to carefully craft things of art. The underlying message is very endearing. It is focusing on the lost or the losing hand skills of human beings, and minimizing waste and possibly even recycling at some point of time. This strategy is bound to strike an emotional chord in the 21st century Y generation, who seem to have lost touch with hand skills.
Conclusion
FENDI is an exquisite brand offering wonderful products for both men and women, and has across different media and different engagement opportunities, consistently communicated the message of luxury and exquisiteness. This is uniform and consistent across the complete media mix that FENDI uses for promoting its products, so much so that the company deliberately showcases its backstage activities to further communicate the message that it is a luxury brand, but for mortals.
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