“Comparative analysis of Marketing Communications strategies and mix for the fashion market in the UK”

                   

                                                

        AZ

                                 

                                Table of contents:

                         

Introduction                                                                                        3

Research methods                                                                              3-4

Market overview                                                                                4-5

Analysis and Discussion                                                                    5-12

Conclusion and Recommendation                                                      12

References                                                                                          13

Appendix                                                                                            14-

Introduction

Fashion market in UK is one of the largest markets in the world and is still expanding, as the companies are becoming global which helps the new entrants from different countries to fill the existing gaps. Zara, H&M and Gap are considered to be the lightening stars in the fast-fashion clothing industry. This is due to these retailers that the fashion trends are moving at a fast pace. Zara, a Spanish retailer owned by Inditex Group was successfully launched in 1975 as an imitator with low prices. With the encouragement of Spanish people it went international in 1988 and by 2007 it owns 3200 stores in 70 countries.

 Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Sweden based clothing company famously operating as H&M. Using top models the company introduces some hippest looks in the fashion industry and the combinations are then delivered in its 1400 stores operating in 30 countries as compared to one in 1947.Gap is an American retailer established in 1969.It was due to the chains super star Mickey Drexler strategies that the company became the hottest retailer and had managed to establish 3139 retail outlets in 11 countries. In the last six years the company has suffered because their CEO had departed in 2001. (Mcafee 2004)  

  In my report I will illustrate the comparative analysis of marketing communication strategies and mix for the companies stated above in the UK Fashion Industry.

RESEARCH METHODS

Following are the research methods that will be used in collecting the data. The data collected will be quantitative and qualitative. My report will rely on the primary and secondary research.

Primary Research

The primary research will be the first hand information gathered through surveys, interviews and questionnaire and data collected manually will be used for the first time in this report.

Questionnaire

I will gather the primary data through the questionnaires as they contain straightforward questions and are easy to conduct. This is one of the effective ways of collecting the views of the consumers in the fashion industry. The questionnaire will be given to my friends, classmates and to the customers of these three brands.

Secondary research

This research will be based on the second hand information which has already been used. This will include my research from newspapers, web sites, academic journals and books related to this report.

Market overview

Zara had achieved a land mark by entering UK’s fashion industry in 1998. Zara’s “instant fashion model” has turned the brand in to a ‘Spanish success story’. Zara’s turn over has increased from £133,603 in 2005 to 155,325 in 2006.The company also claims to have an increase of 26% in their net profits to £555(million) for the year 2005.Europes fastest growing retailers have been rivals in gaining the market share. Although foreign retailers like Gap, ZARA and H&M had a small market share in 2002 which was just 5% as compared to Marks & Spencer’s 10.2% in UK’s retail market. These retailers have come along way in the past five years by improving their market strategies. H&M in 2006 had a profit (before tax) of £65,878 which was £17,289 greater than the previous years profit before tax. According to the annual report of 2006 H&M “In the past five years, sales including VAT has increased by 72 per cent and profit after tax by 183 per cent.”(www.hm.com).

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According to Gap’s recent reports as of September 2007 their sales have increased by 4% as compared to those of 2006.The international sales of the company on the other hand have decreased by 7% as they were flat in the last year. Gap has also been struggling to maintain its profit in UK as it had declined by £1015 in 2006.|The competition in UK’s retail market is still on and has extended beyond these brands after the entrance of the UK’s super market giants like Tesco and Asda . These potential entrants are trying their level best to pass the ...

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