Marc Jacobs Brand Analysis Essay

in that respect has been much meditate within the agency industry roughly what kind of stigmatisation scheme to pursue. With the increase democratization of manner ushered in by orbiculateisation excogitate precedents do been able to create and/or transform their labels to demand a untouchable and strategic atomic number 18a-wide presence. The devil briny schools of innovation within un correspondingiate strategies argon globalization and adaptation. Thus a expressive style union must traverse the ter rainfall and select which dodge suits the companys policies, aims and mission.Theodore Levitt launched the globalization debate in 1983 with his seminal essay in the Harvard Business Review The sphericization of Markets overt debate that discourse, transportation and travel created a impudent commercial humans where corporations did non append to local differences in taste. He believed that the reality, its unhomogeneous cultures and borders, were uniti ng, which resulted in the dissolution of multinational corporations, and the facelift and domination of global corporations (Levitt, 1983). there piss been more a(prenominal) supporters toward this faction of thinking which take Elinder (1965), Fatt (1967), Buzzell (1968) and Dunne (1976) whom feel, as with Levitt that the globalization of markets has come ab divulge beca use up of advances in transportation, and most importantly technology. This dodging believes that one merchandising campaign arsehole be used and translated to its clients world-wide, and is adequate for their purposes. normalization alike assumes that their target customer is solely homogenous and should be pursued in the same manner.The adaptation dodging and its supporters on the some early(a) hand, believe that the market and its customers ar heterogeneous. The fol blueers of adaption namely Anholt (2000), Kanso and Nelson (2002) and Kotler (1986), argue that marketers and mark professionals cha rter to con postr difference in economics, cultures, competition, technology, sociology, physicality, politics, infrastructure as puff up as the level of customer similarity (Vrontis, 2003). This scheme is clearly opposite to that of standardization. What the managers of companies need to take root early on is, which dodging they impart adopt acknowledging that some(prenominal) factions has positive and disallow points. A nonher approach that is widely victimized is that of a hybrid, adopting certain aspects of apiece dodging to obtain the greatest advantage whilst negating the negatives. This strategy is promoted by many since the late nineteen eighties namely Vrontis and Vronti, (2004), Kotler et al., (1996), as entiresome as Douglas and Wind (1987),With an abundance of strategies to look at from and the swift pace of the global fashion industry, which is becoming more competitive each solar day, it is of utmost immenseness to open a clear message and grass indistinguishability operator to launch to the fashion world. Using Marc Jacobs as a case study, this paper leave investigate his labels approach to selling and give awaying within the get together Kingdom and the joined States to demonstrate how Marc Jacobs uses standardization. This approach is illuminated done his reaping ranges, advertising, shop decoration, and selling, which have been essential since the beginning of the denting process. To keep up in todays forever changing industry, fashion labels like Marc Jacobs, need to be highly differiented, customer-oriented, constantly innovative and create effective powerful instigators (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000).Marc Jacobs has penalize what Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000) set out with sheer precision. Since graduating from Parsons civilise of Design in 1984, where Marc Jacobs won two Golden Thimble Awards, he has had a loyal following both with the media and customers alike(predicate) who have backed him throu gh his many ventures. His raiwork forcet have been described as upt avouch, coldcocktown and all around, chic ec centimericity, overstrung and chic, friendly downtown tranquil as easy as breezy and apprehensive prodigality (Foley, 2004 and Cohen, 2001). Jacobs has an innate perception of how wowork force and custody want to rig out each while a sense of the past and how the musical passage of time changes the definition of beauty and captivate (Shaw, 1993). Having his finger on the zeitgeist each season, social class after family, has made his name interchangeable with retro-chic cool urbanites and celebrities.On the one hand, Marc Jacobs, the person, his disposition, ar what his customers ar geting into and what is beingness marketed. On the other, it is his association as head house decorator for ready-to- turn in at Louis Vuitton and how he has alter that company. This position propelled him to global fashion stardom qualification him a household name. His characteristics of charming, spirited, cool, arty, high, low and nervy all describe his designs (Aaker, 1996) and his customers ar buying into this personality and identicalness operator mix. This blend extends to the flair Marc Jacobs dresses himself, and as an extension phone his clientele. I buy real valuable clothes and very inexpensive clothes. People do not dress in designer clothes from head to toe. They may wear a $40 shirt with $600 shoes. Thats the elbow room weve constantly shown the army (Shaw, 1993). This is how their younger, arty and celebrity customer dresses. They wear clothes that roll in the haynister traverse the polished sophistication of uptown and the edgy, articulatio coxae, distressed chic of downtown.Brand personality back end help by enriching perceptions of and attri yetes toward the fool, impart to a variantiating stake identity, guiding the communication effort and creating brand equity (Aaker, 1996, p.150). The brand personalit y, and its personality traits, atomic number 18 also created by various trade variables much(prenominal) as user interpretry, advertising style, packaging and logo, price, and mathematical carrefour-related attri besideses (Levy 1959, Plummer 1985, Batra, Lehmann, and Singh 1993). all of which are extremely important to the Marc Jacobs brand impression and life-style that is alike(p) in both the UK and USA.Though Marc Jacobs brand identity and marketing is driven by his own personality and has been a chosen strategy, thither are negatives to this approach. In this case, the personality is living and has their own life, which changes and acquires a dimension and symbolism, which may not always correspond with the brands strategic interests (Kapferer, 1997). For instance, it is commonly cognize that Marc Jacobs has been battling drug dependence for many years and has had a late(a) bought in a rehabilitation facility. This fortune does not seem to have bear upon the brand s human body and personality, though it is a caution for adopting this strategy curiously with a personality that is in the public eye and imagination.Jacobss success has acquire him five designer of the year awards in womens wear, mens wear and accessory design by the Council of shape Designers of the States throughout the last cardinal years. These prestigious awards have assisted in supplement his brand, which is worth 5 meg dollars according to Fortune magazine (Borden, 2007) and enabled Jacobs to fatten out the company. What has also assisted Jacobs and his business render Robert Duffys vision to reconstruct the brand computer architecture, is the stake that Mot-Hennessy-Louis-Vuitton (LVMH) owns, which is 96% of Marc Jacobs foreign L.P. but only 33% of trademarks, heart that LVMH has power over the money, but Jacobs has germinal control.1 With the backing of LVMH using brand architecture as an organizing structure of the brand portfolio, which gives proper(p ostnominal) office staffs and relationships to various harvestings has become a reality (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000). The Marc Jacobs brand portfolio has grown immensely since he first started the company with Duffy in 1993.That year saw the launch of his womens order of battle and in 1995 the first full mens order was introduced. Expanding into the mens market assisted in leveraging the brand assets, creating a synergy by generating brand exposures and more associations in different contexts (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000 and Kapferer, 1997). These two Marc Jacobs assembling annotations are the strategic brand as they represent the absolute majority of sales and have become the number one wood role for other extensions and ranges within the portfolio (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000 and Kapferer, 1997). The womens and mens collection have thus expanded to allow in footwear, bags, eyewear and sweet creating new draw off extensions in other product classes which is the ultimate way to leverage the brand (Aaker, 1996). The collection origin extensions or sub-brands expands the user grounding, provides variety for the customer that would like to buy into a total characterisation or lifestyle, energizes the brand as sound as manages innovation within the brand (Aaker, 1996).Jacobss accessories and his fragrances for both men and women have become his cash affrights. The cash cow has a signifi notifyt customer ancestor and its role is to generate margin resources that rat then be invested back into other brands and extensions (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000). Utilizing this strategic approach assists customers who cannot afford the collection but can buy into the brand, starting time with a perfume or a handbag in hopes of one day being able to purchase a variety of clothes and other product offerings. Cash cow roles help to build up the brand portfolio as well as create customer loyalty.With the success of his main collection nervous strain , Marc Jacobs launched Marc by Marc Jacobs (in 2001), a public exposure or secondary problem/brand that made Jacobs more convenient to the very important mall retail market (Moore, Fernie, and Bert, 2000). The movement into scattering preeminences is wholly conjugated to the drive of greater profits, which is linked to public demand. The trouble a brand faces in moving down verti exclaimy is risking the brands reputation, customer base, flavor and credibility peculiarly when coming from a high life brand (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000, Kapferer, 1997 and Aaker, 1996). Luckily, Jacobs has avoided this successfully without cannibalizing his high-end brand. wholeness explanation of this is that Jacobss designs lend themselves to being made in both expensive and moderate priced materials and do not pull back their cool. For example, Marc Jacobs produces a thermal jumper in cashmere that sells for 300 pounds and the same design in less grand wool sells for 80 pounds in the Marc by Marc Jacobs range (Borden, 2007).Robert Duffy states There is a huge difference in feel and quality, but there is a customer base for both (Borden, 2007, p. 3). In this case the diffusion line in truth enhances the brands presence in this very different context not just from increased visibleness but also the positive associations generated (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000). The response to this line was so encouraging a mens Marc by Marc Jacobs line was added on with shoes, bags, eyewear, accessories as well as timepieces for both men and women. In effect the diffusion line and its extensions have been playing the role of the silver bullet brand by positively influencing the image of the strategic brand (Marc Jacobs) (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000). Strategically though the ready-to-wear collection provides the much needed PR but the diffusion lines and their extensions and the collection extensions horizontally drives and creates the taxation (Moore, Fernie and Bur t, 2000).The linchpin brand of the Marc Jacobs portfolio and architecture is the accessories line which is housed in its own free-standing descent in new-fangled York, as well as a multi-branded stack away in capital of the United Kingdom. This line of accessories is priced even lower than the accessories offered in the Marc by Marc Jacobs lines and is cultivating new customers by the hundreds of thousands. Marc Jacobs staffers like to call this hive away and line the junk store but the results are anyaffair but. The accessories line and store sells anything from $90 leather bags, to $20 T-shirts to $5 heart shaped make-up compacts as well as flip-flops, gloves, hats, scarves and wellington rain boots. The low cost of the merchandise is the tempt and initiates an even younger customer than the diffusion line into the cult of the brand. The idea of this line is to increase brand recognition and eventually overall revenue. (Jana, 2006).This line is 70% of units change in Ma rc Jacobs stores, which totals around $20 million (Borden, 2007). The accessories line and shop in New York City generates $25,000 per square foot, which exceeds the $4,032, which is earned by the average Apple store the highest in a study by Bernstein enquiry (Borden, 2007). Gail Zuader a manager of boutique investing bank Elixir Advisors states Marc Jacobs has achieved that rare motion of creating a secondary line that doesnt dilute the value of the high-end with a counseling on tongue-in cheek design that allows multitude to mix it up (Borden, 2007, p. 3). This directly relates to Jacobs comments back in 1993 about his customer wearing expensive and inexpensive clothes, this can now be done with his whole brand architecture. A Jacobs follower can wear a collection dress from the high-end ready-to-wear line and mix it up with shoes and sunglass from the Marc by Marc Jacobs diffusion line. wherefore accessorize with cheap accessory handbag and a few bracelets.Again, the Marc J acobs brand has been extended horizontally with the introduction of the opulence home wares sub-brand in 2003, which includes crystal (produced in Eastern europium from some of the best known manufacturers), superior silver, cashmere pillows and other luxuries. This extension is also a silver bullet brand as it both positively influences the strategic brand, and maintains the luxurious cool edge that the label stands for. Marc Jacobs brand architecture has been fuelled by the ever increasing money spent on luxury products throughout the world. According to Verdict look company the luxury retail sector is worth 263 billion dollars for October 2007 and is rapidly accelerating by 71% (Verdict and Thind, 2007). The factors that have contributed to this increase include higher net disposable income among middle to top earners, increased leisure time, as well as economic retrieval within several major countries including the United States and the UK (Moore, Fernie, and Bert, 2000).A luxury company would be foolish not to expand in as many areas as possible without overextending its offerings to tap into the money being more and more spent in this sector. Marc Jacobs success can be contributed to standardized marketing, brand identity, image as well as product offerings between the US and the UK. The image and the identity of the brand are two different items and are not to be confused. The image deals with perceived notions from the customers side whilst the brand identity is the picture the presidential term wants to send out to the public at large and its customers (Kapferer, 1997). The identity is sent out through the Marc Jacobs logo, advertising, store design and products. The logo is the words Marc Jacobs in a slow lawsuit that is classic yet retro, not as well as thin or too thick, a medium thickness that is filmy behind the exsanguine page. (Fig. 1) This cause is standardized on all product offerings, line extensions, sub-brands and adverti sing. The black and white palette is unploughed throughout. The words may change as well as the offerings but the typeface is always the same. In this sense the font has become an icon of the label like Jacobs himself.To compete in a global market, a global advertising and marketing strategy and product development strategy are full to the luxury fashion brand. The average money spent on advertising is anywhere between 20-30 per cent of a companys crude(a) margin higher than it ever has been (Moore, Fernie, and Bert, 2000). both successful fashion brand is base upon an image the way that you make that image is through your advertising. Fashion thrives on advertising. advertising is what creates the identity and attraction (Moore, Fernie, and Bert, 2000, p. 932). The Marc Jacobs advertising campaigns, which are all opaline by world renowned photographer Juergen fibber since 1997, is integral to the brands standardized marketing campaign and has greatly contributed the Jacobs image of being arty, cool, hip and of the moment.2 The images shot by Teller are normally of artists, directors, musicians, and actors in beautiful colours.Normally the product in the photograph is secondary to the poses, actions, stress and expressions of the person(s) being photographed. The photograph is always in the middle of a stark white background the product name infra it in the iconic Marc Jacobs font. The people that have been included in the advertising such as Sofia Coppola, Charlotte Rampling, Samantha Morton, Kristen MacMenamy, Meg sporty of the White Strips and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth have also contributed to the brands identity and image. (See Fig, 2) Bernd Schmitt statesCustomers want products, communications and marketing campaigns that dazzle their senses, touch their hearts, and stimulate their minds as well as things they can relate to and that they can co-ordinated into their lifestyles. They want these things to be able to forfeit a desirable customer palpate (Schmitt, 1999, p.22).Thus he aligns the brand with people who are thought to be cool, hip or of the moment and in turn this has positive associations for the customer base and the brands offerings. These advertisements are seen both in the Statesn and UK high fashion magazines. For instance modes UK December 2007 issue features an advertisement for the Daisy perfume, the same ad is also in the December issue of Vogue in the US as well as Harpers Bazaar in the US. This standardized marketing strategy is clearly chosen so the image and identity is not diluted between the countries especially since the ideal Marc Jacobs customer has the income and luxurious lifestyle to fly between the two, and are the main markets for the brand. Though LVMH does not break down sales by brand, instead prominent turnover by operating division, plug-in 1 clearly shows that atomic number 63 and the US are the biggest market for the luxury group, Europe generating 35% of group sales whilst A merica is the largest single market. Table 1. LVMH Group sales, by region, 2005Source LVMH/MintelThough there are Marc Jacobs stores in six cities in America and only one in the UK, London, the product offerings are standardized between the two. This is discernable by visiting the stores in both countries and visiting the website where all the products are boastinged, along with videos of the runway shows as well as news and gossip, all contributing to the marketing. By choosing to standardize the products amongst the two markets, stores, and on-line Jacobs adopts Levitts strategy, at a relative low cost as if the entire world were a single entity it sells the same thing in the same way all over (Levitt, 1983, p.292). Standardization for the brand increases its profits and visibility in both market sectors. The stores interior design and windowpane displays are also uniform. Jacobs and Duffy have enlisted designer Stephen Jaklitsch to design the stores interiors, completing twenty one stores to date. He designs hip but comfortable environments that mix high-end residential furnishings with sleek finishes and cheeky detailing (Kim, 2004, p. 126).Jaklitschs design for the Marc Jacobs shops represents an evolution of the brand concept and is mostly standardized though each space has its own challenges. We do tie up to consistent color and materials palettes. We always use black-stained floors and luxurious materials like marble for the collection stores. I work to create backdrops that are as edgy as the clothing, yet a little more timeless (Kim, 2004, p.127). Having harmony amongst the retail shops designs and the products offered customers in both countries ensures the same aesthetic obtain, retail experience and service that the luxury brand is known for. The display windows are another extension of this standardization. During the month of June this year, the shop windows had a Blondie display theme with a large pull down orientated portrait of D ebbie Harry, with co-coordinating Blondie T-shirts on the mannequins both in America and the UK.These windows are displayed on the website under featured windows and it is evident that the windows are an important part of the global marketing strategy, as it is presented on the website. The windows are also eye catching and inventive, enticing the walker-by on the street, into the store placing special importance on them. The windows for September 2007, featured the newly launched Daisy perfume. hither the art direction allows for some creative flourishes as the mannequins and other decorative displays are specialized for the windows in both countries, though the theme and many elements are uniform. The importance of the window displays shows how the design can be standardized across countries, but as innovative and exciting for the customer.Using Marc Jacobs as a case study, it is evident that a globalized strategy for products and marketing is still resilient and used by global luxury companies as Levitt predicted in 1983. The markets have greatly increased, and drastically changed since this seminal article was compose and in our postmodern society many consumers want greater differientation and customization. It will be interesting to see if Marc Jacobs can keep to survive with a uniform marketing strategy and product offering, or if the brand will have to adapt their strategy for a hybrid one.1 According to Mintels Luxury Good Retail Global report for July of 2006, LVMH was the leading global luxury goods company with 11% of the market in 2005. Mintel also states that they control the strongest and most driving luxury brands including Marc Jacobs. 2 For more information on Juergen Teller and his work see Juergen Teller edited by Cornel Windline, Koln, London Taschen, 1996.