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This business report aims to highlight the term “PPM” (Principles and Practice of Marketing). Marketing is a critical business function for both profit and non-profit businesses. Marketing is a broad term that includes product designing, marketing research and development, promotion, customers, etc.
In this business report, the focus will be given on the current marketing scenario of Hugo Boss, UK. More specifically, this report will include the critical analysis of positioning and segmentation strategies that Hugo Boss has been following for the last three years in the UK.Additionally, in this report, the focus will also be given to how the marketing mix strategy has helped to underpin the positioning of Hugo Boss in the UK market.
The second section of this report will highlight the core findings of Hugo Boss, the UK's marketing mix strategy in alignment with the Taught theory and model.
Lastly, this report will include a critical evaluation of the effectiveness of marketing efforts that Hugo Boss has been used to position the brand in the UK fashion market.
2.1 Reflection on the company -Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss AG, most commonly known as Hugo Boss, is a European fashion company headquartered in Metzigen, Germany, Europe. Starting from fashion accessories to footwear, clothing to fragrances- Hugo Boss deals with a large variety of fashion products and sartorial. Hugo Boss is one of the leading brands in the premium segment of the global apparel market and the UK fashion market. As per the company report, in 2019, the company has been marked as one of the largest German clothing companies and brands, with global salesof 2.9 billion euros (Uk.globaldatabase.com. (2022).
In the UK, on an ordinary 1000 people are currently associated with the HugoBoss, UK. as per the report of the company in the financial year of 2019-20, the total turnover rate of the company in the UK market was £146 million, a 5.4% of increment than the previous year. At the same time, the company’s gross profit went up by 1.9% in the financial year 2020 (Hugoboss.com. (2022).
According to the 2020 report, Hugo Boss, UK's total asset value was 46.5 million with a working capital amount of 4 million andatotal liability of £7 million. Considering these facts and figures, it can be assumed that around one thousand employees who work for Hugo Boss in the UK are always ready to offer the best to the customers, from collection to service- the Boss and HUGO’s women and menswear not only restricted in the casual outfit or business wear categories or athleisurewear but also it includes elegant wears for the special occasion. The company claims that “no matter what the day is, the customer will dress perfectly for every situation and occasion” (HUGO BOSS Annual Report (2020).Due to its extensive presence in the global and UK fashion market, it has been observed that the brand has used b and all-embracing marketing strategies to stay in front of its competitors.
Considering the overall business scenario in the past three years for Hugo Boss in the Uk fashion market, it can be evident that the brand has some unique features for positioning.
The vision of HUGO BOSS in the UK is “to become of the most desirable fashion brand”. And HUGO BOSS has positioned itself in the premium segment of the UK apparel market.
For positioning the brand in the UK high street and premium fashion industry, HUGO BOSS has been following three guiding principles in the past three years:
Targeting
Considering the last three years’ target market, it can be seen that HUGO mainly targets younger and fashion-conscious customers. Boss offers business wear and refined casualwear collection. Therefore, the target market for BOSS is the UK’s sophisticated customers (Nast, 2022).
Considering the segmentation of BOSS, the brand used to segment its targeted customers based on psychographic status. Or more specifically, BOSS has segmented its target market based on the following psychographic rate of the customers:
Therefore, BOSS has positioned its brand in the Upper premium segment, characterised by high quality, superior materials and precise design product ranges. Additionally, BOSS has invested ina “value-for-money” proposition for its products in the UK high-street fashion market. Further, to position the brand in the premium apparel segment market of the UK, BOSS has followed the entry-level pricing” strategy for brand positioning (Soares, 2021).More specifically, in the UK, with the presentation of the Spring and Summar collection in 2020, BOSS has positioned its brand through the entry-level price range of the upper premium segment.
Additionally, from 2019 to 2021, the brand has focused on numerous events and campaigns to position the Brand. The brand has presented its menswear and apparel for unisex in the BOSS Fashion Show, UK. additionally, BOSS runway Collection in 2021 was another strategy that the brand has used to position itself in the UK premium fashion market segment (Nast, 2022).
Unlike BOSS, HUGO mainly targets the younger and more-fashion conscious millennials. Considering the psychographic segmentation, HUGO mainly segments its customers based on their personality, open-mindedness, individuality and spontaneous like to shop. HUGO specifically targets the younger and fashionable customer base who are inclined to progressive design and clear fashion. Like BOSS, HUGO has positioned the brand in the UK’s premium fashion market segment. HUGO also follows the entry-level pricing strategy to position the brand. And the price of HUGO is 30% lower in the UK than BOSS (Virtualhumans.org. (2022).
The pronounced positioning strategy of HUGO includes events and campaigns. In 2021, HUGO BOSS came up with the Russell Athletics capsule collection. With the presentation of the physical exhibition in Millan, HUGO has positioned the brand on social media platforms and in the UK’s premium fashion industry.
4.1 Promotion
In the present market environment an engaging and consistent promotional strategy is one of the prime requirements for every brand (Craig et al., 2017).HUGO BOSS utilises both traditional and digital platforms of marketing to ensure its positioning in the high-end fashion market.
Events and experience: The brand has been promoting and sponsoring both Big Fashion events and Dynamic Sports events all over the world for many years. To keep this momentum going, the brand sponsors a number of elite events, including Formula One, sailing competitions, and golf championships. The brand actively promotes such actions through digital platforms in order to enhance its brand awareness and engage its customer base (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick., 2021).
Advertisement: The majority of HUGO BOSS's clients are affluent or business-class clients who are difficult to reach. HUGO BOSS, therefore, places advertisements in upscale publications where the brand may draw attention.
Word of Mouth Marketing: The Company also used testimonial-based marketing, interviewing its most valuable clients. The brand also published such interviews in its social media handles in influence the potential customers in a positive manner.
Sales promotion: HUGO BOSS Experience Reward program, is the loyalty program run by the brand. This program helps the brand to create loyal customer base by engaging them with the brand and giving the benefits such as, personal invitation to events, returns without receipts, exclusive gifts and so on.
Direct marketing: HUGO BOSS uses an effective direct marketing approach. The brand has a huge customer base and brand send personalise e-mails to the customers who have signed to its newsletters.
(Image 6: Newsletter by HUGO BOSS)
Social Media marketing: In terms of digital marketing, the brand holds an engaging content strategy under which it utilises the major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter and so on. For the launch of its Spring/Summer collection 2022, the brand actively promoted the social media campaigns #HowDoYouHUGO and #BeYourOwnBoss. HUGO BOSS makes the globally popular K-pop star Big Matthew the face of the #HowDoYouHUGO campaign. In order to make the campaign successful, the brand utilises influencer marketing with the celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner. Besides that, the brand is actively engaging popular social media influencers to further spread the campaign.
4.2 Product
Product is the central area of all the marketing activities, so an effective product mix is very crucial to establishing a b positioning within the targeted marketplace (Dörnyei., 2020). HUGO BOSS is a luxury fashion and accessory brand. The brand has a number of categories of products in its marketing mix in the UK. The main product categories of the brand are as follows:
Hugo plays in the luxury section of the fashion market, and it ensures that its products give a premium feel to its customers. Personalisation is one of the major product strategies of the brand under its ultra-premium segment. The brand offers customised apparel and accessories, which effectively allows the brand to establish a premium and personalised impact on the customers. The customised segment of the brand has become a favourite gift option to the targeted audience.
Through its customised product offering, the brand tries to directly provide the customers with a sense of establishing its identity, which reflects its 'dare to be you' campaign, as shown in the image 7.
The packing strategy is highly crucial in terms of branding. The sustainable packing strategy of HUGO BOSS enables it to position itself as a sustainable brand. The brand uses FSC®-certified papers for packaging. Besides that, the packing is effectively designed to reflect the richness of the brand. The effectively designed labels of HUGO BOSS show the authenticity of each product and also mark its product branding.
In the product offering of HUGO BOSS, the presence of the Product life Cycle is quite evident. The Product Life Cycle theory states that every product has a life which goes through four stages introduction, growth, maturity and decline. The products HUGO BOSS introduced a focus on a market trend (Kotler et al., 2019). For instance, the 'Dare to be you' unisex apparel range is designed focusing on the LGBT rise, which is presently in a growth segment were actively creating fashion statements. Soon new fashion trends arrive in the market, and it reaches their maturity stage and then decline.
4.3 Place
In terms of place and distribution, the brand adopted the exclusive distribution strategy; under this distribution strategy, brands partner with very limited distributors so that the products are being sold in defined locations (Mitterfellner., 2019). HUGO BOSS is a luxury brand, and its products are not for everyone. In order to ensure its exclusivity, the brand adopted the exclusive distribution strategy. To accommodate the purchasing habits of HUGO BOSS customers, the brand is methodically harmonising its distribution. The brand is distributed through the Group's own retail and wholesale operations, which operate both online and offline. In the market segment of the UK, HUGO BOSS has a significant presence. The brand has stores in major prime locations of the country, including London, Hounslow, Manchester, Nottingham, Southampton, Glasgow and so on.
At the present time, HUGO BOSS is giving a huge focus on its online distribution channel. The brand effectively utilises the potential of its online store https://www.hugoboss.com/uk. Besides that, the brand is also making its product available on popular e-commerce sites like Amazon, eBay and so on. Building a b hold on the omnichannel distribution channels, including retail, wholesale, digital and licensing the brand to ensure a seamless brand experience across all the customer touch points (HUGO BOSS Annual Report., 2022)
4.4 People
HUGO BOSS has been created for a high-end, premium customer segment that is highly inclined towards fashion. The brand has an effectively trained sales and marketing team, which is responsible to design the marketing campaigns analysing the market trends and considering the unique positioning of the brand. The brand’s sales team support its sales force and are essential to its marketing initiatives. Te sales staffs are effectively trained in persuasive methods as well as how to respect and take into account the p
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