Fashion Marketing Basics

Objectives What is marketing? What are the seven key marketing functions? What are the customer characteristics used to define a target market? What is fashion merchandising?

What is Fashion Marketing? Marketing – the process of developing, promoting, and distributing products to satisfy customers’ needs and wants. Starts at the very beginning of product development and continues until a consumer purchases the product. A series of activities that fashion businesses undertake so that customers will buy products from them instead of their competitors.

Marketing Concept Marketing concept – the idea that businesses must satisfy customers’ needs and wants in order to make a profit. Fashion products are presented in a way that makes the customer want to buy merchandise Fashion marketers must offer the right product at the right time and right price. Must develop strategies to tell selected market about these products.

Marketing Functions Marketing – Information Management Financing Product/ service management Pricing Promotion Distribution Selling

Marketing-Information Management Involves gathering and using information about what consumers want. Considered critical because it determines what product to produce and sell. Five main elements are: Input – reports, past records, or surveys Storage – saving information Analysis – study information gathered so a decision can be made Output – reports of the analysis and conclusions Decision making – the final result of the first four elements.

Financing Involves planning ways to cover the costs of successfully operating a business. Includes factors such as, production costs of the product, product pricing for the customer, and everyday expenses such as rent, supplies, and payroll.

Pricing The process of setting the value or cost at the right level. The price of a fashion product is dependent on the cost of production plus a profit/ Customer demand can adjust the price up or down

Pricing The price must cover all the elements of the key marketing functions: The costs of gathering information of what the customer wants The costs of financing the business The costs of design, fabric, and construction to produce the product The costs of advertising and promotion The costs of moving the product to the consumer The costs of selling the product to the final customer Some profit for all of the people involved in each of these steps.

How can marketers do this? Promotion Communicating with the customers about the product to achieve the desired result – customer demand for and purchase of the product. Includes advertising, personal selling, publicity, and public relations. Fashion marketers can create an image of who wears a brand of clothing through promotion. How can marketers do this?

Product/ Service Management Designing, producing, maintaining, improving, and/or acquiring products or services to meet customer needs.

Distribution Involves moving the product each step from the design idea to the consumer. Number of businesses involved in the actual planning and movement of the product Actual transportation of the product – by truck or by air.

Selling Assists the customer in identifying and satisfying a want or a need. Helps the customer understand the benefits of quality.

What are the seven functions of marketing? Give example of each. Review What are the seven functions of marketing? Give example of each.

What is a target market? Target market – the specific group of people that a business is trying to reach. Identified through research and by the shared characteristics of the specific group of people. How is this done?

Market Segmentation Market segmentation – a way of analyzing a market by categorizing specific characteristics. Marketers divide the people into groups of possible consumers based on various shared characteristics. Fashion marketers to concentrate on meeting the needs of certain types of buyers rather than the needs of all shoppers.

Customer Characteristics Demographic Psychographic Geographic Behavioristic

Demographics Demographics – statistics that describe a population in terms of personal characteristics such as age, gender, income, ethnic background, education, religion, occupation, and lifestyle.

Psychographics Psychographics – studies of consumers based on social and psychological characteristics such as attitudes, interests, and opinions. Consumers’ attitudes and values are often represented by how they choose to spend their time and money.

Psychographic Trends Women in the workforce Urban population Home and family activities Travel Work at home Home computer use Casual dress for home and office Value of time over money Large clothing sizes

Geographics Statistics about where people live Region of the country, size of the city or county, the density of the population (urban, suburban, or rural), even climate Location of where people live has an influence on their buying habits.

Behavioristics Behavioristics – statistics about consumers based on their knowledge, attitudes, use, or response to a product. - marketers look at the purchase occasion for a product, product benefits, or usage level and commitment.

Behavioristics Purchase occasion – instance when a customer might use a product. Ex. “after-five” Product benefits – the benefits that consumers desire in a fashion product or service. Ex. Stain-resistance. Usage level and commitment – identified by how often they use the product and their loyalty to purchasing it.

What is Fashion Merchandising? Fashion merchandising – the planning, buying, and selling if fashion apparel and accessories to offer the right merchandise blend to meet customer demand.

Retailers and Fashion Merchandising Merchandising is the main function of apparel retailing. Retailers buy at wholesale and then sell then at retail prices. Other retail responsibilities; store operations, financial control, personnel, and sales promotion

Merchandising Market Factors Economic issues can influence customer buying habits. How? New technology. How?

The Marketing Mix and Fashion Fashion Marketing Mrs. Shaw

Objectives What are the four components of the marketing mix? What are the four types of promotion?

What is the fashion marketing mix? marketing mix – consists of our basic marketing strategies known as the four P’s of marketing. Product Place Price Promotion These are the basic elements to satisfy a customers needs and wants.

Product What a company is offering for sale to customers to satisfy their needs and wants. includes goods and/or services strategies that include producing, packaging, and naming a product. Ex. jeans, sweaters, jewelry, hairstyling

Place the way products are distributed and their systems of delivery getting the product to consumers and the steps of distribution how and where a product will be distributed Where the customer will purchase the item when the product will be distributed

Price the amount of money consumers will pay for a product have to determine how much consumers are willing to pay depends on the price of producing the item, the markup, and the customer demand. Goal: Business must make a profit.

Promotion any form of communication that a business or organization uses to inform, persuade, or remind people to buy it’s product inform customer about the features of the product and persuade to make a purchase

Types of Promotion Sales promotion – special contests, displayed merchandise in windows, special coupons to increase customer traffic in a store contests, displays, and coupons – do not require any direct contact with the customer

Types of Promotion public relations and publicity – promote the image and communications a company has with employees, customers, and the public. publicity – usually unpaid mention of a business, its employees, or its merchandise in the media.

Types of promotion advertising – paid message that a business sends to the public about the product. personal selling – requires personal communication and contact with the customer

Marketing Strategies Three strategies that fashion marketers use to increase their business: increase the number of customers increase the average transaction increase the frequency of repurchase