The 4 Ps of marketing are:

Product: what you are selling

Price: how much you’re selling it for

Place: how your product is distributed

Promotion: how you promote your product

The 4Ps need to be considered in conjunction and are not mutually exclusive.

Marketing Planning involves:

Defining your target market

Situational Analysis – SWOT

Competitor Analysis – direct & indirect

Environmental Analysis – political, legal, social, economic

Setting objectives, strategies, budgets & measures for the 4 Ps

Your target audience defines who you are going to sell to.

Target markets can be defined by:

Demographics – age, gender, race

Psychographics - lifestyle choices

Geographic – country, city, suburb

Benefit – groups looking for the same product benefits

Buying behaviour – frequency, loyalty

Fashion customers can be grouped into four main categories

McFashion: cheap, chic clothing availableall over the globe. Enables safe buy in into latest trends,

International Superbrands:led by the notion of couture. International superbrands are the drivers behind the aspirational elements of fashion

London Style: The London fashion scene is recognised internationally for its creativity and flourishing market. Prides itself on designers that took over Paris fashion houses.

Micro markets: most directional in regardsto the future of clothing and fashion. Related to consumer moods – customised clothing online

Introduction of a new product

Product improvement or modification: Used when a product has reached a stage where something has to be done to keep it viable.

Product imitation: Wait for another to take the lead in a market, then release an imitation product

Product innovation: introduce a new product to replace an existing product and satisfy the need in a new way

Product diversification: Introduces new products or markets into marketing strategies in pursuit of growth

Diversification can be:

Concentric: close synergy with existing products(ie dresses and shoes)

Horizontal: technologically unrelated, but sold toThe same customers (ie dresses and perfumes)

Conglomerate: no relationship to current Product(ie dresses and bread)

Product Life Cycle stages

Introduction: acceptance of the product is in doubt. Usually involves high marketing expensesand little profit

Growth: Period of substantial profit improvement

Maturity: intense rivalry. Companies battle for market share through advertising, new distribution channels, price concessions

Decline: not necessarily a bad thing. Competitors can leave, resulting in reduced costs

                                                                              

Apparel and other consumer products can be classified by the length of their

life cycles.

The life cycle curves of basic, fashion, and fad products are pictured below.

Five types of consumers emerge at each of the life cycle stages.

Different marketing strategies should be used to reach each of these

consumer types.

                                                                          

    

Branding

A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or a combination of these that identifies a product or service and what the product stands for.

While a brand can be product specific,corporate identity is how a whole company presents itself.

Fashion companies are often similar. To differentiate themselves, companies must focus on the customer experience. This is communicated through corporate

identity and brand.

A brand is a seller’s promise.

The best brands convey a guarantee of quality.

Some brands gain so much loyaltythat shoppers refuse substitutes. This is

called high brand equity.

Brands can offer four levels of meaning:

Brand attributes

Brand benefits

Brand values

Brand personality

Some companies opt for emotional positioning of their brand over product characteristics

A logo is a visual representation of a brand.

So is the labelling and thepackaging.

But your brand is the messagethat lies behind the logo.

Your brand will affect the wayyou package your product, and

the way you package your product will reflect your brand.

Packaging is the “silent salesman”.

How you label your product also contributes to how well

it will sell.

Made in Australia? Made in Paris?

Real fur?

Your brand!

How are goods & servicesdifferent?

Most services contain some element of goods.

Goods are the object, a service is the effort, performance or deed

A product can be either a good or a service

Purchasing a service is often more personal than purchasingA product.

Bad service sticks in people’s minds!

All retailers are classified as being in the services sector.

Service retailers in Australia aregrowing faster than product retailers

Services have four uniquecharacteristics:

Intangibility

Inseparability

Heterogeneity

Perishability

The People Problem

People are inseparable from the product in every service firm

This involves customers as co-producers

Both can cause problems.

Although a service is intangible,the P of ‘place’ still plays a major

tole in marketing.

Where should the servicebe in order to effectivelyreach the target market?

And to strengthen the brand?

Guidelines for advertising services

Develop a word of mouth network

Promise what is possible

Tangibilise the intangible

Feature the relationship

Reduce fears about inconsistency

Megan Salmon advised:

When starting out, you need to build goodwill through word of mouth.

Sell yourself. Your biggest marketing opportunity is yourself

Take yourself seriously enough to get out there

Always have soundbites ready

Have minimum 20-60 pieces in a range

Don’t make photos editorial style

Integrated Marketing Communicationsmeans integrating and coordinating all

communications to deliver a clear, consistent message about a company and

its products

An IMC programme should effectively achieve major objectives such as:

Inform consumers

Persuade consumers

Remind consumers

Reinforce consumer attitudes & perceptions

IMC means using all the elementsof the promotional mix to maximise

communication opportunities.

Advertising

Sales promotion

Public relations

Direct marketing

Online marketing

Personal selling

Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and

promotion of ideas, goodsor services by an identified sponsor.

PR gets to the buyer as ‘news’ rather than as a sales-directed communication.

Direct marketing is an interactive system of marketing.

Usually DM refers to activities that use targeted media to facilitate interaction.

The key point is that there is continuous interaction, and not just one way

communication.

Direct marketing can still use mass media

Online marketing is closely aligned to direct marketing as it

entails interaction with customers on a one to one basis, often in real time

Sales promotions attract consumer attention and offer strong incentives to create a stronger, quicker response. “Buy NOW”

Often short lived and usually not effective in building long run brand preferences

Personal selling is a face to face interaction with a prospective customer for the purpose of making sales.

For certain products this can be the most effective form marketing tool