(mintel – Clothing Retailing, September 2007)
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Although the advertising spend of Gap has been cut down 42.9% from 2002-06, the amount is still high. They mainly spend on press and outdoor advertising space. (appendix 4)
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Mintel’s consumer research shows that 8% of women bought Gap womenswear in 2004.
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Gap is now a safe haven for over-35, but losing 15-34s customers
(mintel - Womenswear Retailing, July 2006)
- Results of primary research
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Both Gap stores in London and Kent do not show the range of ‘(Product) Red’ on the eye level. They only show it next to the fitting rooms: customers are less likely to notice products that are available from this range.
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Questionnaires were completed by 14 participants outside a Gap store in Oxford Street. The findings from the questionnaires were that most of them do no know Gap has any ethical policy but they would like to buy ethical products if they trust the company. I also found that they prefer Sarah Jessica Parker rather than Madonna in the previous advertisement of Gap. (appendix3)
4.0 Theoretical Analysis
4.1 External Environment – Gap
4.1.1 5C’s & PESTEL
5C’s
PESTEL Analysis
- Competitive positioning
Market positioning map (Price/trendy)
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This graph shows that M&S and French Connection have the similar price as Gap, but French Connection is more trendy than the others.
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Next, Mango, H&M and River Island offer a lower price to the market. Most of them provide trendy garments, whereas next has a less trendy image.
Market positioning Map (Age/ Affluence)
Figure: target market for major fashion retailers, positioned by age and socio-economic status, August 2007
(mintel – Clothing Retailing, September 2007)
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This shows that French Connection and H&M are the main competitors of Gap.
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The average age of the customer is 36 and the socio-economic status is quite high, which we can see from the graph.
4.2 Internal Environment – Gap
4.2.1 SWOT
SWOT analysis
- Marketing Mix
Marketing Mix – 7P
Product
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Gap offers 6 main lines: women-wear, men-wear, baby-wear, children-wear, a lingerie line and body products. They do accessories as well, such as shoes, bags an belt.
()
Price
- Pricing is one of Gap’s major problems. Its prices in Europe are pitched way above the US, and do not commensurate with its position in the market. This is one of the reasons behind its difficulties attracting the right kind of customers.
Skinny Jeans: £39.50
Shoes: £50
New supresoft cotton V-neck: £25
T- shirt: 2 for £20
(observation in store)
People
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Staff are not trained, but friendly and helpful.
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Staff have to wear the seasonal garments of Gap when they are working in store.
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Staff have to wear a Gap tag on their top to show their identity.
(appendix 2)
Place
- Gap reaches its customers through its stores
Stores and locations & Count :
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U.S.A.: 1199
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Canada: 94
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U.K.:120 Gap, 114 GapKids, 120 babyGap
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Ireland:1
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France: 25 Gap,24 GapKids/babyGap
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Japan: 118
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Korea: 6 (Franchise)
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Indonesia: 3 Gap, 2 GapKids/ babyGap (Franchise)
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Singapore: 3 (Franchise)
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Turkey: 1
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India: 2
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Kuwait: 1 (Franchise)
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Pakistan: 1
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Malaysia: 1 (Franchise)
Online sales
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The US websites are transactional, but there is no UK or UK equivalent. They are for information only.
Physical ambience
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Clean atmosphere
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Bright lighting for optimal view of items
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Appointed ‘sales floor’ for regular customers
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Mannequin displays situated all around the store
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Large fitting rooms available at end of store
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New seasons shown at front of store
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Open-end window display allowing consumers to see into store
(observation in store)
Physical evidence
The Gap stores provide a comfortable and relaxed environment for the customers. Staff also sport newest Gap collections for customers to see.
(observation in store)
Promotion
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Gift cards, catalogues, advertising programs on TV channels and magazines.
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Celebrities in ad campaigns – more than 300 celebrities used throughout all their campaigns.
- Brand Lifecycle
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The current position for the brand is between the maturity and decline stage. This is because the sale is decreasing since 2003, but it still has a 1.3% of market share in the UK. The brand needs more interesting ideas and products to increase the sales.
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Boston Matrix
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The jeans are the stars, as they are the top selling product of Gap and have been experiencing high growth rate with a quite high share of the market.
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However, the (Product) Red range collection is the question marks, as it has a low market share in a high growth ethical market. The company need more money spent to develop this high growth market or product.
- T-shirts have a higher market share but with low growth, so they are categorised as Cash Cows.
4.2.5 USP of new ethical range
The Unique selling point of this new range of ethical garment would be the material. As these collection products will be sustainable, because Hemp is a natural fibre that requires few pesticides and fertilisers to grow, therefore it will help to reduce the harmful impact on soil that conventional farming can have. On the other hand, silk is a luxury fabric that helps garment drapes well. The new collection will mainly be womenswear, with a smaller range for men and children.
4.3 Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning
4.3.1 Segmentation & Targeting
Segmentation
According to Acorn classification, Gap’s consumers relate to the following segments:
Table 2. ACORN type
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Special groups created by Mintel (appendix 6)
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Confused but Willing (23%)
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Keen to be Green (24% of consumers) The Keen to be Green group is most strongly represented among 35-44-year-olds
- Keen on bargains but will also buy upper mainstream line, want contemporary classics but can also be lured by the promise of a designer bargain.
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Ethical fashion shoppers are most likely to be found in the following demographic sub-groups:
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55-64-year-olds (36%)
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ABs (36%)
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Living in South West/Wales, East/Midlands(28%) and Scotland (28%)
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Third age lifestage group (32%)
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ABC1s in the pre-no family and third age lifestage group (both 37%)
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Broadsheet readers (48%)
- Shoppers at Waitrose (44%) and Marks & Spencer (41%)
(Green & ethical consumers, January 2007)
Pen portraits
Jodie is 27 years old and lives in Canterbury, Kent. She lives with her boyfriend, Ken. She works as a nurse in the main city hospital. She has a heavy work schedule and does not work during the weekend. She earns the average UK income. She is not very interested in fashion, but she wants to wear comfortable and plain clothes. She wears jeans most of the time. She enjoys online shopping. She is not very sociable and likes reading at home. She sometimes likes to go to the cinema with her boyfriend. She likes to go shopping at Waitrose, Gap and Next, as she thinks the prices are reasonable for her. She is an ethical shopper, but she only buys garments she can afford in stores that she believes are ethical. She wants to save money, as she wants to have a baby in a 2 or 3 years. Therefore, she shops more sensibly and tends to be more aware of the environmental issues then the others. She does not want her next generation live in an awful world.
Most of Ken’s clothes are bought by Jodie, as they have been going out for a long period and Ken does not fancy spending money on clothes. Jodie is a keen customer of Gap, as she like the style of the brand and she can shop for her boyfriend and herself at the same time. She likes watching ‘Sex & the city’ and she likes Sarah Jessica Parker. She thinks she is fashionable, successful and a good mother of one child.
She likes traveling once a year during the Summer with her boyfriend or her family. As this all they can afford to go on due not only to money but also time, they tend to try and save up that little bit extra to have a more luxurious holidays.
In her spear time she socializes with her friends, some are single but the majority are mums with young children. They spend their time at each others houses and often go for lunch or for a coffee.
She does drive but only during weekends. When going to work she prefers to commute by train and bus, so that she can avoid the traffic.
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Positioning
Market positioning
Mintel’s consumer research for this report shows clearly that draws from a relatively affluent consumer base, but also a relatively young one. The average age of Gap customers is 37.8, with a clear peak in the 20-24 age range, and a slant towards the young, although not teens. It is also more popular amongst the pre-family lifestyle group.
(mintel, Ethical and Green Retailing, June 2007)
5.0 Marketing Campaign
5.1 Objectives
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To increase brand awareness, as an ethical brand by at least 40% with chosen advertising and PR media in 3 months.
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To increase sales by at least 30% by achieving a series of promotional marketing tools, making more interesting in 3 months.
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To increase market share by 10% by increasing sales and ethical brand awareness in 3 months.
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To increase footfall by 45% in 3 months by correctly marketing and advertising new range and increasing consumer trust in brand through editorials.
5.2 Strategy
The strategy is to launch a new range of ethical garments which will be made of hemp/silk. These products will be sustainable, because Hemp is a natural fibre that requires few pesticides and fertilisers to grow, therefore, it will help reduce the harmful impact on soil that conventional farming can have. On the other hand, silk is a luxury fabric which blend with hemp will attract more target customers which from AB socio-economic group.
The campaign will consist of three major areas:
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Marketing Campaign - promotion
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Advertising Campaign
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PR Campaign
5.3 Marketing Campaign - promotions
To achieve the strategy, different marketing tools will be used carefully. They include the following:
Sales promotions
Tactic –
- Customer promotions: from the start of sale for the new collection all customers who go in-store and spend over £50 will received a limited Gap bag which made by organic cotton with Gap logo and floral pattern, which can be reused. This promotion will be applicable for one month.
Expected outcomes:
- To increase the brand awareness and ethical image
- To increase sales
- To attract new customers and increase footfall
Action –
First, illustrators will design the limited Gap Bag and produce it in the Gap factory. The bags will then be delivered and available for distribution for the promotion.
Control –
The number of bags that have been given away over the month will measure this promotion.
Direct and Viral Marketing
Tactic –
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Register online for free membership (allowing consumers an extra 10% discount printable voucher) – UK customers
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Leaving details, such as e-mail address and home address will be used for further communication with potential and current clients.
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There will be a link to guide them to the website.
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Members and potential customers will be informed of the launch of the new range of ethical garments through direct e-mail.
- Catalogues will be mailed to customer addresses for regular updates of collections.
Expected outcomes:
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Develop a trustable relationship with customer by sending them a personal message.
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Increase usages of the official Gap website.
Action –
Using an IT illustrator to design the website for the message page. Then send out message with a link to the gap website to customers, members and potential customers through mail and their home office.
Control –
We will measure the effectiveness of this by using site counter on the website to measured visitors. Also, number of the mailing list will be counted from the start of this direct e-mail.
Packaging
i)
Tactic –
- Re-packaging the bag of the brand. The bag will be using hemp/silk blend bag.
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Product will be sold in beautiful re-usable wood boxes harvested from certified sustainable forests.
- A photo sticker of the garment and the logo, ‘GAP’ will be shown on the box in green colour capital letters. (see below right)
Expected outcomes
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To make the corporate identity more consistent.
(making ethical issues related to the brand )
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Make it more desirable and to increase sales.
Action –
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Designed the packaging of the boxes
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Produce it in the factory
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Deliver to stores
Control –
The number of the hemp/silk blended bag will be counted. Also, the number of the boxes sold with items will be measured.
ii) In-store display
Tactic –
In-store media
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Medium Widescreen TV with a wood frame (to relate to wood box)
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The brand name above the TV
- Showing images of the new ethical collection and advertising campaign
Expected outcomes:
- To increase sales through attracting more new consumers
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To increase the awareness of the new collection.
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To increase the awareness of the brand – an ethical brand.
Action –
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Produce a promotional video for the new ethical clothing collection
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Buy new HD widescreen TVs and set them up at the flagship store – London, Birmingham and Kent.
Control –
Do survey during the sale of the new collection outside the stores, to measure if the customers think this promotion is interesting and if how they became aware of the new ethical collection.
5.4 Advertising Campaign
The advertising campaign will be focused on the theme of ‘Back to the nature’, which will be educating the market about a new range of ethical clothing collection in Gap. Sarah Jessica Parker (appendix 7) will be the main figure on the advertisements, as she has already been used to front an international campaign by Gap and she is fashionable has a large amount of influence on the target market.
I will focus on consumer advertising by using press and outdoor advertising, as the previous campaign did. The advertisement will run in magazines, newspapers, billboards and tube.
In 2008, the budget on advertising will be similar as last year, which is around £2,000,000(appendix4). Therefore, these 3 months advertising campaign will be around £500,000.
Strap Line -
Tube
In metropolitan area, the public transportation becomes an important alternative to commute in the area. Tube is also a medium that many people have to see everyday. Therefore, I will spend for 2 week advertising on 4 main tube station in zone 1 and 2 areas, which include Oxford Street, Marylebone, Bank and Waterloo station.
Press – magazine & newspapers
I choose 2 newspapers and 5 magazines which cover the target market of Gap. Pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker wearing the new ethical collection will be shown on the press with the brand logo of gap on it.
(appendix)
Billboard at railway station
Billboard can catch a significant attention from pedestrians and drivers. However, it has a limitation of up date because it cost a company a huge amount of money to change the billboard each time.
Adverts will be placed in all the major cities, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, New Castle and Cardiff. These locations are good for promoting the Gap brand due to the fact that there are more popular than it has been in decades for example Cardiff’s billboard has an annual entry/visit of 7.743 million people and in 2005 approximately 1.07 billion passenger journeys were taken which was the highest figure in almost fifty years.
This is an example of the advert that I intend to use as it will provide the largest creative scope at the main cities in the UK, which is in high visibility locations and no one can miss the billboard.
ACTION –
The Account executives will write up a contact report and keep communication clear. Planners will need to provide an objective voice to all other players. Then, a copywriter and arts direction will bring up ideas and concept of the advertisement. Media planner will need to negotiate and ultimately buy the space from the media owners. Then, the production department will help hiring a studio, camera/crew photographer, director, editing suites etc. After that, the traffic department will need to take responsibility for getting the right artwork to the right magazine at the right time.
CONTROL –
To measure how successful of the
5.5 PR campaign
The PR campaign will combine three key areas of activity
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The media
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The retailers
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Consumers
TACTIC & ACTION –
Trade & consumer press
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Send out press release(appendix) through mailing list.(appendix)
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Sample images of the collection will be given to journalists
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The ethical clothing collection of Gap, ‘Back to the Nature’ will launch to trade and consumer press at a vegetarian restaurant, ‘Eat and Two Veg’.
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Interview of the designer about the material of the ethical collection will be recorded for press release and editorial purposes
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Information packs will be distributed.
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Consumer press will be targeted to ensure the inclusion of ‘Back to the Nature’ in all high-street fashion articles.
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Regular press releases will be issued to the press, focusing on ethical clothing and buying opportunities, such as London Sustainable Week.
Consumer activity
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Additional in-store links will be developed, such as the opportunity to win a free meal in a luxury plus vegetarian restaurant, by buying ‘Back to the Nature’ collection and entering a prize draw.
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A leading high-street fashion magazine linked up with a leading department store to hold a reader event, with opportunities for readers to participate in other promotional activities.
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‘Back to the Nature’ samples will be sent to celebrities, such as Jessica Parker.
Retailer event
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To build loyalty to the brand, a retail event will be hosted at a vegetarian restaurant, ‘Eat and Two Veg’, linked to the promotion of registration a membership in the restaurant.
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Innovative incitation will be used to attract the attention of retailers and their families.
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To create a taste of fun and excitement with ethical theme, Traid (appendix) will organise an opportunity to educate consumers of the secret of keeping recycling going in fashion.
CONTROL –
6.0 Evaluation of Campaign
Effectiveness of Campaign
To measure how successful how
-
Three months after the campaigns have finished, the compay will carry out a customer survey to see how people see the brand related to ‘ethical’ more than before.
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To maintain customer loyalty a weekly analysis of customer feedback whether it is positive or negative will be carried out. This will help to improve the levels of customer satisfaction.
- Monthly store visits will be made to make sure that the standard of visual merchandising is always at its highest.
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The sales figures will be compared to those six months after it finishes establishing how successful the promotional tools have been.
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Measured by the number of sending off the membership’s card.
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Site counter will be used on the website to measured visitors.
PR
‘Back to the Nature’ will received regular and in-depth coverage in consumer press. The column/inch received will be calculated to measure the effects of the PR campaign.
This will be matched by consistent favourable and ethical trade press features.
The marketing and promotional campaign should produce a more ethical environment for the brand and the high-street fashion market. Its main focus is to create a larger ethical awareness through these campaigns. Also, the
get consumers to shop ethically in Gap and link ‘ethical’ with the brand, Gap. Also, to create a larger ethical awareness through these campaign.
If this campaign is successful, Gap is going to have to keep up with the ethical collection and its promotional tools to keep their existing and new customers busy.
7.0 Gantt Chart & Budget
7.1 Gantt Chart
7.2 Budget
Budget – Marketing communication
Total = £291,500
Budget – PR Campaign
Budget – Advertising Campaign
We have chosen Vogue, as it is perceived to consumers as the fashion bible. Its target readership correlates with our clientele and is concentrated in the ABC1 20-44 demographic group. A high proportion is in some kind of job or profession and is in the higher income groups.
Frequency - Monthly - 1st Monday of the month
Circulation - 219,026
Price - Single copy £3.70
Editorial Profile - Leading-edge fashion magazine playing a vital part in helping women decide what is the right style, the right colour, and above all the right look.
Total Readership - 1,125,488 (4.33 readers per copy)
()
We have chosen Vogue, as it is perceived to consumers as the fashion bible, its targets are market, those ABC placed in the high end of the market whilst having a high readership.
The Daily Mail (editorial)
SUNDAY MIRROR CELEBS
Target market : ABC1C2D
Readership: 2,804,444 women and 2,560,240 men
Where :