Analysis of Ralph Lauren's International Branding and Marketing

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WESTMINSTER BUSINESS SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTERINDIVIDUAL REPORT ON
INTERNATIONAL BRANDING AND MANAGEMENT
ANALYSIS OF “RALPH LAUREN”
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING &
COMMUNICATION
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Brand management is a consortium of different marketing techniques and ethics
came together to form a nurturing trust environment and recognition among
customers and in the market. The market regime is governed by the influence of
brand strategies and brand management. A perception of a product or service of a
company in people’s mind in terms of quality and chic is what a brand refers;
nonetheless, it also reflects the company's internal functions and management.
Marketing strategy formed under influence of brand management is considered
sustainable and self-sufficient at it not only focus on selling the product and market
capture but it also focuses on gaining customer's trust and creating a brand image in
his mind (Heding, et al., 2015). In that light, this report is prepared to run an
assessment on branding strategy and international brand management of Ralph
Lauren’s fashion brand Purple label. Ralph Lauren is a well-recognized name in mid-
range to luxury fashion products throughout the world. It is an American
corporation founded in 1967. The brand has its footprints all over the worlds in a
luxury fashion products and accessories segment. The company has a portfolio of
many popular and renowned brands and has experience in all regimes of fashion
products, such as clothing, fragrance, home decor and other related accessories.
Currently headquartered in Newyork, USA, the company employs more than 18,000
people throughout the world and owns many major brands such as Polo jeans, Ralph
Lauren Purple Label, Ralph Lauren Home Collections, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Ralph
Lauren Watches and Fine Jewelry etc. In the sequence, this report will focus on
different branding strategies has been employed by Ralph Lauren and their
branding management in different countries and how they communicate on their
brand value and marketing tactics.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................2
RALPH LAUREN’S HISTORY & EVOLUTION.....................................................................................4
HISTORY..................................................................................................................................... 4
EVOLUTION................................................................................................................................ 4
INTERNATIONAL BRANDING AND MARKETING.............................................................................6
BRAND VALUES AND STRATEGY.................................................................................................6
MARKETING MIX & STP..............................................................................................................8
BRAND ONION........................................................................................................................... 9
INTERNATIONAL BRAND MANAGEMENT.....................................................................................11
BRAND AWARENESS................................................................................................................ 11
CULTURAL AWARENESS & COMMUNICATION.........................................................................11
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................14
REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................. 15
TABLE OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1 MARKETING MIX: THE 4 P'S OF MARKETING.................................................................7
FIGURE 2 BRAND ONION AND ELEMENTS OF IT...........................................................................8
FIGURE 3 HOFSTEDE 6 DIMENSIONS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCE.................................................9
FIGURE 4 HOFSTEDE'S FRAMEWORK OF CULTURAL DIMENSIONS.............................................10
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RALPH LAUREN’S HISTORY & EVOLUTION
HISTORY
Ralph Lauren as a brand was founded in 1967 by an American fashion designer named
Ralph Lauren. It is an American mega-brand in fashion products and is globally
recognized in the category. It is a publically traded fashion design holding company
headquartered in Newyork. During his tenure, Ralph Lauren was credited with many
popular brand discoveries especially his men’s wear sports line Men's Polo, which still
is recognized globally for its high-end luxury products (Ralph Lauren, 2018). He started
this first full line of menswear “Men’s Polo” in 1968 and in 1969 America’s leading
stores such as Bloomingdale's in Manhattan were selling its product through the
dedicated brand store for Ralph Lauren. In 1971 Ralph Lauren launched his first ever
line of women's shirt in the same polo wear segment and it was the first time the world
saw the Polo player emblem on Ralph Lauren’s products. In 1972 Ralph Lauren
opened another store but this time fully owned by himself in Rodeo Drive in Beverly
Hills, California. Later in the following years, Ralph Lauren introduced a much different
fashion product getting popularity and recognition increased with each year
(Biography.com, Editors, 2015). In 1978 Ralph Lauren launched their first fragrance
which was produced by Warner-Lauren at the same store of Bloomingdale's in
Manhattan, in that, Lauren was the female’s fragrance and Polo Men was the men’s
fragrance. Ralph Lauren in 1999 also entered in restaurant business which is not
known by many people, it was in Chicago near the largest Ralph Lauren store in the
city. They also opened two more restaurants in the series later in the year 2010 and
2015 respectively.
EVOLUTION
Ralph Lauren has a history of introducing new and innovative apparel designs in the
market an in its journey of more than 50 year, it was able to get a global brand image in
luxury fashion clothing and accessories. After Lauren’s men’s polo brand and apparel
series, the next major brand that came out from the house of Ralph Lauren was Ralph
Lauren Purple Label and women’s collection which got a great hype in the market and
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became the largest revenue generating brand in his portfolio (Ralph Lauren, 2018).
Ralph Lauren also entered in the market of fashion accessories and in 2008 they
launched Ralph Lauren Watches and Fine Jewelry in collaboration with another luxury
segment group Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. In gentlemen clothing segment
Ralph Lauren launched Ralph by Ralph Lauren in 1994 specifically dedicated to men's
suiting and shirting with main focused products as suits, vests and top coats along with
a series of sports coats. Showing their interest in art and music Ralph Lauren also
launched Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren in 2011 inspired from artists and street
musician of Brooklyn, Newyork featuring in many of the top local music festivals (Ralph
Lauren, 2018). Company entered in home and furnishing segment in 1983 when they
launched a dedicated brand Ralph Lauren Home and Paint, introducing their own line
of home clothing and furnishing accessories including furniture, china, bed and bath
linens, silver, decorative accessories and crystal, gifts, and also fabric, lighting, floor
covering and wall covering.
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INTERNATIONAL BRANDING AND MARKETING
BRAND VALUES AND STRATEGY
Brand value of any company has an understanding of brand assets and market value
owned by the brand or the price the company would get upon selling its brand, but it’s
more than that. Brand value of a brand lies in people’s trust in it along with their attitude
in picking that particular brand over other similar brands in the same segment (Turker
and Altuntas, 2014). This trust and positive perception which is built in years of
branding strategy and techniques along with quality management and strong customer
ethics cannot be bought in a small sum of money considering alone company's assets
and liabilities. However for the sake of information, in that terms, Ralph Lauren
Corporation's net worth was US$ 6.13 Billion in the year 2018 according to data from
the company's annual report. The company has more than 10 subsidiaries in a different
segment and employs more than 18,000 people worldwide (Biography.com, Editors,
2015). Ralph Lauren is still the company's executive chairman and CCO as of 2018
with his son David Lauren as Chief Innovation Officer and strategic advisor to the CEO.
Company’s net income in 2018 was calculated as of US$ 163 million and the
companies are also listed in one of the world's top stock exchange the S&P 500 of
Newyork Stock Exchange.
Company’s branding strategy has always been inclined towards fashion following of
great stars and movies by introducing sponsored appearance with its latest collection of
fashion apparels. In 1974 Ralph Lauren himself appeared in a movie in that regard
called “The Great Gatsby”, remembered by many people. As of 2016 company have
about 77 Club Monaco stores, 144 Ralph Lauren stores and 272 Polo factory stores
worldwide. Ralph Lauren also sponsored many sports events especially The United
States Tennis Association in 2005 when they sponsored the event as its official apparel
sponsor. Similar actions could be seen in 2006 Wimbledon championship when they
officially outfitted the event. Over that Ralph Lauren has its name in many philanthropic
works around the world (Biography.com, Editors, 2015). From 1989 to 2016 Ralph
Lauren has shown his sincere regards for the problem of breast cancer in women and
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opened many breast cancer research Centre some in collaboration and in 2016 they
opened Royal Marsden Ralph Lauren Center for Breast Cancer Research.
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MARKETING MIX & STP
Marketing mix of a company is an analysis of its marketing environment based on the
conventional yet effective concepts of 4 Ps of marketing which are available with added
3 Ps in the service segment. It is a method based on which a marketer analyses
company's position in product, place, price and promotion in the market and what are
the ingredients missing to build it more effective and efficient comparatively. STP is
another segment of marketing analysis which focuses on segmentation and targeting
along with the positioning of customers and product respectively in the market. Any
marketing strategy, no matter the size and segment of the company, requires a careful
analysis of these elements in order to develop a strategic marketing environment which
not only helps the company in more revenue generation but also in creating an
effective brand strategy (Kapferer, 2012). The elements of the marketing mix are
discussed herein Ralph Lauren's perspective of brand management,
PRODUCT: The products by Ralph Lauren are mid-range to luxury fashion clothing,
furnishing and accessories, have a distinct place in the market and are considered a
high-end fashion product of executive class.
PLACE: As mentioned earlier, Ralph Lauren has
144 Ralph Lauren stores dedicated for the
different brand under the house of Ralph Lauren
along with associated 77 Club Monaco stores.
Availability of their product was earlier limited to
dedicated fashion stores only but keeping itself in
line with trends in the current market, they have
brought a series of affordable clothing and
accessories on the online e-commerce market
also.
PRICE: The Ralph Lauren products in early days
were a symbol of status not only because they are
exclusive but they were also known for their price and they still do. However
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Figure 1 Marketing mix: The 4 P's of
marketing

considering the popularity and demand among the middle class in the US and
European countries, Ralph Lauren launched much mid-range product series.
PROMOTION: Promotional tactics of Ralph Lauren has always managed to keep the
brand ahead of other. The sponsoring of big and most popular events in USA like
Wimbledon championship and US Olympic was proved as a milestone in forwarding
towards popularity among people. Association with many big designers and celebrities
along with an appearance in famous movies is some of the popular promotional tactics
which are used by big brand and so did the Ralph Lauren.
Nonetheless, Ralph Lauren has managed to leave a big impression through its iconic
brands in the fashion world. The founder himself has nominations for many great
achievements and awards in the US and appeared in the cover of many popular
magazines. The market segmentation has always been a typical task for marketing
teams in the big brand as Ralph Lauren but through successive steps and starting from
basic concepts it can be synthesized efficiently. Segmentation in case of a fashion
brand is mainly in three categories, age group, gender and economic class. For
example targeting customer for a particular line of clothes and accessories of a brand,
first, they'll have to focus on gender orientation which may be their main image criteria
for that series. Then comes the age group, is it child's wear or adult people and
professional people. Thirdly the economic class according to the pricing strategy of the
product is it going to be luxury class products or mid-range for middle economic class
people which usually form the biggest consumer market. Based on segmentation the
products and promotional tactics are positioned in the market for efficient product
availability and delivery.
BRAND ONION
Brand onion is a structural and hierarchical framework of brand elements which are
vital to an efficient brand management model. It is constructed in a different layer and
each one on top of others represents the importance and value over the lower layer.
The core layer focuses on brand identity and presents with questions like what is the
mission. Vision and values of the brand in a larger context, it is also about setting goals
based on the identity. The second layer is about the presentation of the brand, how it
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should look from outside and depicts an outer perception in people's mind (Kapferer,
2012). The third layer focuses on brand application, including elements which are
necessary according to current market trends to spread awareness about the brand. It
concerns with the technical aspects of the brand and promotional tactics that are most
efficient according to current advancements in technology and media.
Figure 2 Brand onion and elements of it.
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INTERNATIONAL BRAND MANAGEMENT
BRAND AWARENESS
Brand awareness is a process of brand identity creation and making it recognizable
among people of relevant concerns using different platforms and methods of
communication (Huang and Sarigöllü, 2014). It is a part of promotional activities in a
marketing environment. In recent times, the major means of brand awareness is using
the internet and online platforms. Particularly social media is the best efficient method
of creating brand awareness. The most striking feature of these platforms is their
worldwide reach without putting any serious efforts. In the case of Ralph Lauren, the
involvement of their founder Ralph Lauren in different fashion activity and philanthropic
deeds throughout the world pretty much does the job alone. The potential of online
methods of brand promotion is immense and every fashion industry is now coming in
this race and trying to suggest better alternatives to customers (Brogi, et al., 2013).
CULTURAL AWARENESS & COMMUNICATION
Brand management is not a stable and unique concept which is applicable to any
country and cultural environment.
There are factors in brand
management environment which
are fairly influenced and altered with
a change in culture. As discussed
earlier, the brand is a perception of
people regarding the company and
its products as a whole, so these
perceptions vary according to
people of different ethnicity and culture. A critical study on these differences among
people of different countries along
with the marketing environment in those countries is necessary to build an efficient
managed international branding environment (Hofstede, 2001). To study such
differences there are different tools and method available in the market, one of which,
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Figure 3 Hofstede 6 dimensions of cultural difference

also used in this report is called Hofstede framework of cultural dimensions. For this
analysis, there is a need of two different countries and for the sake of analysis, the US
and France are taken here for analysis. This framework was introduced by Hofstede,
who during his long term experience of the culture of different countries learned that
there are basically six dimensions on which a professional culture differs between
countries, each of which is explained here,
Power distance: This dimension concerns with the perception of people according to
which they believe that power is unequally distributed in the society and consider that
an injustice. This difference can be often seen in developing countries with a majority of
people below the poverty line (Hofstede, 2001).
Individualism: This dimension concerns with the extent to which people respects
each-others privacy and independence. Personal space and privacy is kind of big
issues in developed countries like US and UK and France etc. In the graph shown
below, it is evident that the US is far ahead of France in this segment.
Masculinity: This dimension refers to the extent to which people want other’s attention
and interest in them. In women, it can be understood as women's desire to be
respected by others as an independent and attractive individual. The US seems to
more concern about this from the data.
Figure 4 Hofstede's framework of cultural dimensions
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