Digital fashion marketing Assignment

DIGITAL FASHION MARKETING

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................1
TASK – 1..............................................................................................................................................1
Existing online presence of Gucci.....................................................................................................1
Digital fashion marketing activity of Gucci.......................................................................................2
TASK – 2..............................................................................................................................................2
Identifying and justifying selection of one product and one country.................................................2
TASK – 3 (DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN).......................................................................................3
Situation analysis...............................................................................................................................3
Target market profile.........................................................................................................................6
Objectives..........................................................................................................................................8
Digital marketing communication activities......................................................................................8
Marketing communication schedule..................................................................................................9
Implementation and Measurement.....................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................11

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Media preference of Chinese Youngsters...................................................................7
Figure 2: Media preference of Chinese Adults..........................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Customers in this era of advanced media and technology are flooded with numerous
marketing messages all the time and thus, in this situation it is really very difficult for the
corporations to achieve growth efficiently without marketing and importantly online
marketing because of prevalent and quick of internet on computer and mobile devices.
Companies can attract lots of new market as well as customers with a nominal investment on
the website and web based marketing techniques (Harrell, 2008). In the present research
report, digital fashion marketing and its related issues and trends will be evaluated
significantly. In this regards, Gucci a global luxury brand is being taken under consideration.
The retail industry if also very vigorous and ever changing. It is in fact highly competitive
and sophisticated industry. Since Gucci has global presence in different nations it is important
for them to adopt digital marketing strategy in order to compete effectively with the
competitors and to retail larger market share. The report will analyse the existing online
presence of the brand and will develop digital marketing plan for Gucci’s product in new
country market.
TASK – 1
Existing online presence of Gucci
Gucci is an Italian luxury brand of fashion as well as leather goods. It was founded in
the year 1921 and operates around 278 stores presently. The company has successfully
expanded their operations in many parts of the world with their achievement in the home
market as one of the best luxury fashion brand. At present, Gucci has its operations in many
locations whereby they carry out their own high end retail outlet and also sell their products
through high end franchisees in varied nations (Chadha and Husband, 2006). They have their
websites where they provide numerous range of products such as luggage bags, leather shoes,
belt, skin care product, luxury clothing, watches, jewellery and wallets. The company is
making use of social media for the purpose of appealing millennial customers to great effect.
Gucci is using digital marketing strategy for attracting younger customers. The main key in
this regard is Instagram. The company has around 20.3 million followers on the picture
sharing network which significantly supports them in having higher sales and buyers. In
addition to this, the firm is also making use of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+, Snap
chat and Pinterest for attracting large pool of buyers.
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Digital fashion marketing activity of Gucci
Irrespective of the exclusivity of brand and inaccessibility for most of the customers,
it is always been a favourite and popular brand for all. The fame of Gucci can be related to its
appeal to rich public figures. Celebrities and elite people are fond of this brand and because
of this it is always been included in the talk of the fashion industry. In the year 2016,
company earned a massive revenue of $ 4.4 billion. In addition to this, the company was
quite successful in combining old world tradition with a thoughtful comprehension of modern
technology as well as marketing techniques (Kotler and Armstrong, 2001). Concerning the
digital ability of Gucci in the luxury market, it was number one and was labelled as fashion
genius. The company was in the advantageous position because of the development of their
online presence by making use of social media, digital marketing and e-commerce. When
talking in respect of building an experience and delivering the same to the customers and
taking them to another world, Gucci has indispensably proved as a master. They are
continuously innovating their content marketing and involving mass audience all around the
globe. Recently in the year 2017, the firm has curated a series of outwardly images in
collaboration with the artists Ignasi Monreal. These images depicts the clothes and fashion
accessories in wholly different way by their interactive websites where the users can lose
track of time, scrolling and clicking away.
TASK – 2
Identifying and justifying selection of one product and one country
The company is offering range of products in many parts of the world. By seeking
help from varied marketing strategies, Gucci is successfully becoming a part of talk of
fashion industry all around the world. The product being chosen for the current research
report is Women wear being offered by the company. This product is being chosen as women
are generally obsessed about their looks and appearance and pertaining to this, they tend to
buy more clothes (Vescovi, 2016). Talking about the first three quarters of the year 2017,
almost 55 percent of the sales of the company were being made by younger generation below
35 as per the report by a consultancy firm known as Bain & Company. Further, numerous
research analysts also concluded that around 6000 teens all across the world stated Gucci as
their favourite apparel brands. Thus, targeting younger and mid age women will be beneficial
for the company.
In regards with the country market, China is being chosen for the current research
study. Throwing light in regards with the fashion landscape in China, it is quite diverse from
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other nations of the globe. This is because of the fact that the forces within the nation have
shaped the Chinese market from the past several years. Fashion being intended as an
expression of individuality was possible in the late 1990s. Further, the younger generation in
China has started spending more towards clothes and apparel and mostly young women
living in the first tier cities. In recent years, the fashion industry of China has grown
tremendously and was successful enough in achieving the market size of about 185million
Dollars in the year 2013. This development of local identity is not only shaped by the big
players in the market such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton but because of the digital revolution of
the present years. It has influenced the whole luxury industry and has modified the behaviour
of the customers completely (Pontiggia and Vescovi, 2014). Thus, the inevitable adaptation
to Chinese social media, changing attitude of consumers in regards with the internet and other
channels of communications are the main reasons behind the expansion of Gucci in the
markets of China.
TASK – 3 (DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN)
Situation analysis
PEST analysis
 Political – The fashion industry can be influenced by the political culture of the
nation. The political representatives impacts the fashion trends within the country
positively or negatively. For example, the case of first lady of Melania Trump was
discriminated by different designers because of their contrasts ideologies with Donald
Trump to refuse to see their clothes on the wife of president feared a bad publicity.
Even the political movements within the nation affects the fashion industry a lot
(Ryan, 2012). China is a country having ancient as well as sophisticated tradition in
relation with clothing. The abrupt policy of Mao Zedong has introduced his popular
jackets with settle colours acted as a mark of public.
 Economic – The consumers all throughout the world are now became more cautious
towards purchasing products pertaining to the economic conditions of the world.
People now prefer to have quality rather than quantity. Furthermore, the propensity to
spend money in relation with the fashion goods is largely dependent on the perception
of people for the product. In case of China, the economy can significantly influence
the business of corporations related to fashion items. The domestic spending was
declined drastically in the year 2015 as the government of China has cut the tariffs on
clothing and beauty products for encouraging domestic purchase. Because of this,
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there was positive result shown in the domestic fashion market and it began to
increase (Barton, Chen and Jin, 2013).
 Social – In this element, aspects such as demographics and culture needs to be
considered by the companies when they try to predict the trend in fashion. For
understanding the needs of the customers, age, status, gender and profession are quite
relevant. It is very vital for the firms to comprehend that fashion industry is not about
only clothes and appealing rather it is also about the social commitment. In relation
with China, the gap between the poor and rich is very deep and traditional thoughts of
people are influencing the culture of China. In addition to this, face holds an
important meaning in the Chinese culture.
 Technological – Technology is significantly affecting many aspects of the societies
such as lifestyle of people and the ways of carrying out business by the organizations.
As far as fashion industry is being concerned, technology is impacting the business of
the firms in two ways i.e. utilization of 3D printing technology and association of
internet in marketing the products. In China, there are around 500 million internet
users and the technology is also becoming cheaper. Even the transport system of the
nation is also sufficient (Diamond and Lift, 2003).
SWOT analysis
Strength
 Gucci has strong brand image and band
equity
 The product portfolio of the brand is also
very wide and vast
 The supply chain of the firm is quite
strong with the retailers and suppliers
 Advertising and marketing strategies of
Gucci is excellent which has made them
the top brand in the fashion industry
 They have more than 250 stores all
across the globe
Weakness
 For maintaining and protecting the brand
image of the company, they have to
invest more money
 Further, they also need to face huge
losses due to imitation by cheap brands
all throughout the world (Gucci, 2010)
Opportunities
 The firm can expand their reach and
share in the emerging economies of the
Threats
 High level of competition in the market
 Global fluctuation in prices and
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world i.e. China and India
 Gucci can also target young segment by
offering designers and stylish designs
(Gucci, 2010)
 Company can avail the opportunity by
creating competitive edge in varied
business segments
recession can influence the global brand
 Easy availability of product substitution
Justification of the choice of country and market
The fashion landscape in China is quite diverse from other nations of the globe. The
younger generation in China has started spending more towards clothes and apparel and
mostly young women living in the first tier cities. In recent years, the fashion industry of
China has grown tremendously and was successful enough in achieving the market size of
about 185million Dollars in the year 2013 (Chiu and Silverman, 2012). Thus, the inevitable
adaptation to Chinese social media, changing attitude of consumers in regards with the
internet and other channels of communications are the main reasons behind the expansion of
Gucci in the markets of China
Porter’s five force analysis for analysing level of competition
 Bargaining power of the suppliers – Since the customers are regarded as the centre of
the whole process and the number of suppliers in the fashion industry of China is
quite large, Gucci is required to follow and consider the wishes of the buyers. Thus,
the bargaining power of suppliers is quite low in fashion industry of China.
 Bargaining power of the buyers – Bargaining power of the buyer is quite high due the
fact that numerous substitute are available for them in the market and they are the
centre of all decisions. It is the choice of the customers that whether they purchase the
clothes or not. Irrespective of what the competitors are offering to the customers, they
are the whole and sole to decide about the type of products to be purchased (Wright,
Harrington and Kizer, 2010).
 Threats from substitute goods – Talking about the threat of substitute good, it is
medium to high. There are numerous competitors in the market like, Prada and
Chanel which are some way or the other offering similar kind of style to youth in
China. However, those customers who does not want a specific style of clothes can
represent a threat of substitution for Gucci.
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 Threats of new entrants – The threat of new entrants is medium because of high level
of cost and investment being involved. But the fashion industry is also very attractive
due to performance of the well-known brands in the market. Further, the loyalty of the
customers towards a particular established brand act as a restrictive barrier to potential
new entrants in the fashion market of China (Lu, Karpova, Fiore, 2009).
 Competitive rivalry – The competitive rivalry in the fashion industry is medium. This
is because of the presence of wide range of competitors in the market. To achieve
competitive advantage, the firm is required to invest huge on advertising.
Target market profile
Market segmentation
Throwing light in relation with the segmentation, it is very essential as it enable the
firm to determine and evaluate their target customers. To have successful segmentation in
place, Gucci is required to have knowledge about the needs and preference of the customers.
The market segmentation being used by the company for their current product that is women
apparel and clothes is demographic and geographic (Baker and Foy, 2003). They are being
explained in the below paragraph:
 Demographic segmentation – Under this segmentation approach, the market is
divided as per the level of income, gender, age etc. This is quite important for Gucci
in the markets of China when they are targeting people by their income level.
 Geographic segmentation – It means dividing the population on the basis of
geographic areas. The Chinese market can be categorized into three major areas i.e.
cities, coastal areas and other areas. These markets should be selected depending upon
the products being offered by the firm (Jackson and Shaw, 2006). Gucci is an apparel
retailer engaged into selling of luxury brands so that target area will definitely the
population of city.
Targeting
After carrying out market segmentation, it is quite vital to decide the target market for
the product of Gucci in the Chinese market. The main target market of Gucci is the women
and teen between the age group 15 to 35 years. Further, medium and higher income group are
being targeted by the firm as they deals in luxury brand and these target groups have higher
purchasing power. In addition to this, women and teens living in cities i.e. Tier 1 and Tier 2
are the main focused group of Gucci.
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Media consumption habits
As the people in China are becoming more affluent, families in the nation are
choosing higher and luxury brands for them and their kids. Meanwhile, companies related to
fashion industry are actively involving in marketing themselves in China (Florès, 2014). They
are creating their websites in Chinese language and investing heavily towards social
marketing.
Figure 1: Media preference of Chinese Youngsters
(Digipanda, 2017).
As per the consumer survey, Chinese Youngsters falling in the age group of 15 to 25
years prefers internet over other Medias. The second option for them is television. According
to the study, 40.9 percent of the Chinese youngsters make use of internet every day and only
around 8.7 percent has never used internet.
Figure 2: Media preference of Chinese Adults
(eMarketer Editors, 2018).
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In addition to this, as per the forecast being made by the eMarketers 47.1 percent of
adults in China spend nearly half of their daily media time on internet activities and the
mobile remains the centre of the internet usage.
Objectives
The objectives being set by the firm should be challenging but achievable within the
next three years. Because of the overall condition of the economy of China, which is not so
good, the results in the first year will be quite difficult and slow to achieve. Some of the
marketing objectives of Gucci for their women clothing and apparel in the Chinese market
are as follows:
 The main objective is to maximize the brand awareness and availability of the product
 To capture around 20 percent of the smartphones and IPad crowd through
encouraging them to download the Gucci application in their phones and computers
 To introduce innovative web based technology to attract the visitors by 10 percent
 To capture the market of China by 25 percent
Digital marketing communication activities
Positioning
Gucci is offering apparel for woman and teenagers aged 15 to 35 years in the Tier 1
and Tier 2 cities of China. The stores of Gucci is offering a unique blend of fashion, high
quality and price in attractive stores in prime locations of the nation. They will be positioning
itself as a brand that remains classy, modern and stylish. They are positioning as a high end
brand for higher level income groups and offering a touch of class for every women in China.
Marketing communication
In regards with the digital marketing communication, the very step is to update the
website of the company and its relative contents at the back of the website such as Key
phrases, key words, tags so that the search engines can trace out the website of the firm
quickly and effortlessly when it is being searched by anyone. In the current marketing
condition, designing an attractive website is being regarded as the most suited idea. Seeking
help from the cookies company can accumulate numerous information about the need and
demands of the customers. Even email marketing will support Gucci in order to attract more
and more users to their website (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Further, varied social
networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Flicker will be used as
the major source of communication and interaction with the clients. Moreover, blogs will be
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set up for communicating with the existing and potential clients through the website of Gucci.
Lastly, paid advertisement on most famous search engines such as Yahoo, Google, Bing etc.
will be used.
Marketing communication schedule
Phase When Time being required Additional
information
Development of
pop-up banner for
subscription of email Week 2 1 hour
This is being done to
encourage the site
visitors to subscribe
for emails.
Addition of social
media emblems to
the specific target
area page
Week 3 2 hour
It will include all
social media such as
Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and
YouTube.
Addition of banner
showing tweets of
the target market
region WeLive
Week 3 1 hour
Implementation and Measurement
Gucci is one of the most popular and leader luxury fashion brand that focused mainly
on quality of products and good customer service. They have numerous employees are keen
to make improvement in their system and execute new strategies over a period of time.
Seeking help from the external as well as internal controls, the top management of the firm
will be able to analyse the performance of their online channels and will upgrade the same
based on the feedback being acquired (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). The performance of
the company is being compared with the objectives being set earlier so that if any deviation
being found can be corrected at the earliest possible means.
CONCLUSION
Thus, to conclude it can be said that the evolution of digital fashion marketing is
evolving and ongoing all over the world. Since Gucci is planning to enter in the digital
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market of China, it is important to consider the behaviour of the consumers, political
restrictions and varied channels of communication. The implementation of social media
strategy and adaptation approach will make the firm iconic in China.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Arens, W.F., Weigold, M.F. and Arens, C., 2011. Contemporary Advertising & Integrated
Marketing Communications. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Baker, M. and Foy, A., 2003. Business and Management Research. United Kingdom:
Westburn Publishers Ltd.
Barton, D., Chen, Y. and Jin, A., 2013. Mapping China’s middle class. McKinsey &
Company.
Chadha, R. and Husband, P., 2006. The cult of the Luxury Brand-Inside Asia’s Love Affair
with Luxury. London: Nicolas Brealey International.
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012. Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and
Practice. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Chiu, C. and Silverman, A., 2012. Understanding social media in China. McKinsey &
Company.
Diamond, J. and Lift, S., 2003. Retailing in the new millennium. New York: Fairchild
Publications.
Florès, L., 2014. How to Measure Digital Marketing. Metrics for assessing impact and
designing success. Hampshire & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Harrell, G.D., 2008. Marketing: Connecting with Customers. Chicago: Chicago Education
Press.
Jackson, T. and Shaw, D., 2006. The Fashion Handbook. London: Routledge.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2001. Principles of Marketing. 13thed. New Jersy: Person
Education, Inc.
Lu, Y., Karpova, E., Fiore, A.M., 2009. Factors influencing international fashion retailers’
entry mode choice. Journal of fashion marketing and management: an international
journal, 15(1).
Pontiggia, A. and Vescovi, T., 2014. Internationalization of middle size multinational
enterprises in Chinese market: mirroring back effects. Working Paper.
Ryan, D.J.C., 2012. Understanding Digital Marketing. Marketing strategies for engaging the
digital generation. 2nded. London: Kogan Page Limited.
Vescovi, T., 2016. Marketing to China. McGraw-Hill Create.
Wright, E.N.M., Harrington, C. and Kizer, L.E., 2010. The lasting effects of social media
trends on advertising. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 8(11).
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Online references
Digipanda. 2017. An Analysis of Media Consumption Habit of Chinese Youngsters. [Online].
Available through: <http://www.digipanda.co.uk/an-analysis-of-media-consumption-habit-
of-chinese-youngsters/>. [Accessed on 3rdJanuary 2018].
eMarketer Editors.2018. eMarketer Releases New Estimates for Time Spent with Media in
China. [Online]. Available through: < https://www.emarketer.com/content/emarketer-
releases-new-estimates-for-time-spent-with-media-in-china >. [Accessed on 3rdJanuary
2018].
Gucci. 2010. Gucci news. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.keynote.co.uk/market-
intelligence/view/product/10322/clothing-retailing>. [Accessed on 3rdJanuary 2018].
Gucci. 2010. Gucci philanthrophy. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10322/clothing-retailing>.
[Accessed on 3rdJanuary 2018].
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