Executive summary of the marketing strategy
In order for any business to survive in the market, a market strategy andplanare vital. The preliminary knowledge that any investor needs to keep in mind is the nature of his/her target audience. For a fashion business, marketing strategies would put the investor in the best position to assess his/her audience and potential market. The name of this company being All-round fashions means that the first impression it would create to the potential customers is the fact that, the business is competent in whatever it does(Paley, 2005).
In many cases, independent or small fashion companies require strong marketing strategies and plans to survive in the looming competition, in the industry. The saturation in the industry calls for an extra mile in every marketing strategy. The marketing strategies and plans in the fashion industry must have clearly outlined timelines, audiences, and strategic goals. The marketer should involve as many marketing channels that work synonymously as possible (Paley, 2005). This would enable the different brands to realize their strategic goals. Some of the strategies that this company can incorporate in its marketing plan include the following:
Using the digital media marketing plan
This would enable the company to interact with its audience online. This would involve the use of social media to reach people in the target audience.The social media enables a market strategist to choose particular demographic and psychographic data and information on the audience that he/she intends to reach. Therefore, it is important for a fashion company to determine its audience beforehand. It is also vital to predict the preferences of the audience, which would enable the company to carry out effective advertising.
Using the publishing market plan
The company would need to develop publishing marketing plans that combine marketing and public relations. This would enable the company to gain sufficient exposure in newspapers, magazines and other different types of publications. This would increase the chances of the message reaching the target audiences and, therefore, putting the company in the best position to convince its potential customers. Fashion companies target different people in the society; some companies target children others target women, and men. However, most of the companies target as many categories of the society as possible.
Use of live event marketing plan
This involves creating of opportunities for the company to showcase its products to the general public.The use of live effects can have significant impacts on the company’s publicity, in the sense that the company will be able to reach a variety of audiences in one public show. Fashion show, trade shows, in-home demonstrations among others are some of the live events that a company can adopt as a marketing strategy. The fashion brand gets exposed at these live shows and might get positive publicity in the process. The company can reach a broad coverage by collaborating with the media.
Brand ambassador marketing plan
This can be done by developing market plans that focus on acquiring brand ambassadors to utilize as market elements. Brand ambassadors are simply those personalities of influence promote, wear and spread information about the company’s brand on the company’s behalf. These personalities could be local or international, and they include celebrities and public figures.
The differentiation strategy in relation to the closest competitor
Product differentiation involves the whole process of distinguishing the product from the competitors. This can be done by making the product more attractive and appealing that the competitors. The differences that exist amongst companies enable them to create different competitive advantages and, therefore, the most successful firm would be one that employs innovation and technology in its products.
The two major questions that a market strategist needs to answer is how he/she would be able to differentiate himself/herself from competitors and how he/she would differentiate himself/herself in the minds of his/her customers. The answer to these questions is simply for the company to find a profitable niche that would best allow the company to serve the market. The major point of focus under this strategy is the product design and positioning. Customer differentiation depends more on the company’s marketing communication strategy (Van & Horan, 1998).
For a close competitor, the notion of us vs.them does not work well. Instead, the company needs to find its own niche. Instead of going head to head with its competitor, a company needs to identify what it does best and better and different its products can be, as a result. It is important to identify the core competencies of the company and concentrate on strengthening them. The company should focus on innovation, creativity, and not competition. This means that the company does not need to concentrate on outdoing its competitor, but focus on the areas it serves best. Focusing on the customer and identifying what they want from the company can go a long way in creating competitive advantage for the company.
Is the company a Leader or follower within the industry?
A company that allows other companies with huge market shares (dominant companies) to lead the way and dictate terms on the market that it (the company) does business in is referred to as a market follower. Market followers are companies that are dependent or small. These small or dependent companies would keep close tabs on the business activities of the leaders of the industry, otherwise known as major market leaders. The reason why these small companies would keep close tabs with the major market leaders is to copy and improve on the products released by their leaders. Basically, these companies do not strive to be the best. This is probably because they intend to play it safe (evade potential risks as much as possible). This is so because these companies would try to use tactics that work best for their competitors (Van & Horan, 1998).
Market leaders are companies that are dominant on the market. They have the largest proportion of totals sales revenue. These market leaders dominate their respective competitors in terms of customer loyalty, image, perceived value, distribution coverage, and profits. They make the major decisions on the market, and their competitors have little say in terms of controlling the market (Majumdar, 1996).The fashion company, in this case, would be a market leader since the company would come up with its own marketing plans and strategies that would enable it grab a substantive size of the market on its own.
The macro-environmental issues
Legal issues
Every business operates with a given legal framework. The operations of the business should conform to within the requirements of the law in the area in which the business operates. Most of the companies have a legal entity; this means they can sue or be sued in a court of law. The company has a legal responsibility to comply with the laws of the local government (the city council or the county council). As long as the business complies with these laws and pays the taxes, its operations would be uninterrupted.
Technological trends
The advancement of technology is the major contributor of innovation. Companies that employ modern and advanced technology stand a better chance on the competitive market. Improved technology has reduced costs of production and increased revenues. However, it is important to determine the technology trends that fit every business. The impacts of technology could be devastating if wrong technological trends are chosen (Majumdar, 1996).
Economic trends
The ever changing ICT, globalization of the marketplace, the changing f the purchasing habits of consumers, the inflation rates are some of the economic trends that affect businesses directly. Improved technology has eased trade and shortened the chain of distribution. The use of information communication and technology has also lowered the production costs significantly. However, the application of technology has to fit the business (Majumdar, 1996).
Trends that impact the business significantly
Technological trends are some of the trends that impact businesses directly. For example, the fashion company would adopt better technology that would enable it come up with more attractive and quality products. The fact the adoption of a technological trend is a double-edged sword prompts companies to put into consideration all the factors and goals of the business before adopting such trends.
With proper decision-making, the company uses technological advancements to its advantage since improved technology is key to innovation besides reducing the overall costs of production. The overall impact of adoption of new and better technology is reduced costs of production due to the efficiency of the whole production and distribution processes (Solomon, 2003).
References
Solomon, M. R. (2003). Conquering consumerspace: Marketing strategies for a branded world. New York: AMACOM.
American Dental Association. (1996). Marketing strategies. Chicago, Ill: American Dental Association.
Majumdar, R. (1996). Marketing strategies. New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
Paley, N. (2005). The manager's guide to competitive marketing strategies. London: Thorogood.
Van,. W. B., & Horan, L. (1998). Marketing strategies. Observatory: Future Managers.
