Initial Research

Research: 
Context - 

Fashion marketing is concerned with understanding the complex needs and wants of fashion consumers, whilst orienting both strategic and operational business activities
to satisfy those demands. Fashion marketing’s particular complexity as a business philosophy arises from the diversity of fashion-related nuances, coupled with the fast-moving pace of fashion product life-cycles, all of which shape consumer needs.
The fashion industry has experienced dramatic shifts in the last decade, from globalisation
to the evolution of technology and social media, which have all democratised the media landscape and changed the way customers consume and engage with brands, products and both digital and printed media. Therefore, you must have a strong understanding of
the marketplace in order to drive, reach and stimulate both awareness and demand
for fashion.
In recent years, the high street has struggled to keep up with sales from online retailers, and have began to re-market and re-strategise to instigate re-growth.

You will critically explore contemporary fashion companies, their products, consumers, and how they operate within the wider marketplace. You will study marketing frameworks such as SWOT and PEST analysis’, and the Marketing Mix (4 P’s: Product, Price, Place & Promotion) alongside other areas of fashion management and marketing.

Brief - 
You will develop an understanding of how to apply these skills and methodologies to a fashion brand, and will demonstrate this through creating a Brand Marketing Report, based on auditing their current positioning, whilst advising on what they could improve, or change in order to re-establish the brand. You will choose from one of the brands to base your marketing report on; 
Brand choices;
- Topshop/Topman 
- Ben Sherman 
- Umbro 
- Victoria's Secret 
- Abercrombie & Fitch 
- Dolce and Gabanna 
Using this brand, you will use primary and secondary research, to develop a strategic Brand Marketing Report. Your report must be informed by your market research and should be relevant, insightful snd considered, with a comprehensive evaluation of the brands current marker condition including any external factors affecting success, competitor analysis and a number of other key considerations. A key part of your brand report will be to produce a creative strategy proposal with a series of recommendations, of which will naturally derive from your brand research. 
These recommendations could be based on advising your brand to connect with a new segment, launching brand extensions, a change of ethics, or even developing new products, or introducing or relaunching social media platforms/influencer campaigns, for example. 
It must include references and sources acknowledged using APA referencing. 

Quick Brand Research;
I have decided to just quickly research all of the brands given to me so that I can see which one that I'm fully interested in and which ones stands out to me most. 

1. Topshop/Topman:

Topshop is a British Multinational brand that started as a brand extension of department store Peter Robinson in the 60's. Sold fashion from designers such as Mary Quant and Stirling Cooper. This brand has an average of 500 stores, with over 300 in the UK alone. Current CEO is Ian Grabiner and they are currently part of the Acardia group. 

2. Ben Sherman:
Brand founded in 1963, Brighton by Arthur Benjamin Sugarman. British clothing company that sells products including; shirts, sweatshirts, suits, outwear, footwear and accessories predominantly for men. Their designs sometimes feature the Royal Air Force roundel which is targeted for the MOD culture. 

3. Umbro:

Umbro is an English sportswear and sports equipment supplier. Found in 1924 by Harold & Wallace Humphreys based in Cheadle have products sold in over 90 countries. Since 2012 the company has been a subsidiary of Iconix Brand Group and Nike in 2007-2012. 

4. Victoria's Secret: 

An American designer, manufacturer and marketer of women's lingerie and womenswear and accessories. Founded in 1977 by Roy Raymond and his wife Gaye Raymond, Stanford Shopping Centre, Palo Alto, California, U.S. The brand has 1017 stores worldwide and 18 independent stores. 

5. Abercrombie & Fitch:
Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer which focus on upscale casual wear and have an older target audience of 21-24 year olds. Founded in 1892 in New York by David. T. Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch. A&F also operate two other brands, Abercrombie Kids and Hollister. Co. 

6. Dolce and Gabanna: 

Dolce and Gabanna is an Italian luxury fashion house, founded in 1985 in Legnano by designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabanna. They serve a worldwide area with over 3150 employees. Both designers met in 1980 as they both designed for the same fashion house. In 1982 they established a studio together where they then grew to become 'Dolce and Gabanna'. 

Decisions: 
After quick researching all of my brands that I had to choose from I have chosen to write my Report on UMBRO, this is because its a brand I think I will enjoy researching. My previous project I focused on teenage brands and UMBRO was one that was featured so I would like to carry researching this and understanding why this brand is not as successful in certain areas and why it is exceeding in others.