Fashion Strategic Marketing Communications

Question: Discuss about the Fashion Strategic Marketing Communications. Answer: Introduction Each organisation requires promoting their brand identity in a significant manner. The effective brand promotion strategy helps in drawing the customers attention in order to participate in the competitive scenario. According to (), brand communication is the effective initiatives undertaken by the organisations to promote the brand among the customers. Before implementing the communication plan, the organisation requires identifying the target customers at the first place. The integrated marketing communication is mainly focusing on the increasing rate of the sales ratio and the cost effectiveness. In this study, the discussion of the integrated marketing communication plan will be discussed. The communication objectives will be analysed to formulate the communication objectives. The alternative style will also be selected to determine the structured communication plan. Reviewing such plan, the proper media will be selected for the business. Organisation Background Cotton On is the fashion retail sector in the Australian market. Having established in 1991, the company started focusing on the brand promotions more specifically. The vision of the company is to establish the passionate brand identity and deliver the on-trend basics to the customers (Cottonon.com 2016). The company has been bringing much innovation to the business communication process in order to promote the brand much significantly. The association of the effective media channel is also one of the most significant functionalities that are effective enough to draw the attention of the customers. The mission of the company is to become the responsive and innovative brand within a market. Cotton On does not compromise with the quality of the clothes. The brand is committed to maintain the affordable price and quality parameter of the products simultaneously. Focusing on the long term customer sustainability, the company has been structuring the marketing plan and business functional ities sequentially. Target Audience Segment Analysis Cotton On offers the high quality clothes to the customers at very affordable prices. The company maintains the style segments of the latest trends in the society (Zheng, J.H., Shen, B., Chow, P.S. and Chiu, C.H., 2013). The major target customers of the company are men, women, and young generations. More specifically, it can be stated that the primary target market of Cotton On is the youth group of 15-30 years old. The customers are simply the seeker of trendy and simple style segments. They usually opt for the fashion clothes, which are flexible yet fashionable enough to wear. The company promotes the ready-to-wear fashion garments with the same brand image. The youth group is much fascinated about the effective promotional strategies that will attract their attention instantly (Kapferer 2012). Concentrating on such requirement, the company is following the structured communication plan. Communication or Advertising Strategies Development The maintenance of the proper communication process is essential for drawing the customer attention (Rosenbaum-Elliott et al. 2015). The effective advertising strategy helps in enhancing the brand awareness among the target customers. It is essential to keep the concentration on such effective strategy that is beneficial for the future business sustainability. Moreover, the companies will be communicating with the customers to gather more supports. The effective communication strategy is thus analysed further: Brand Awareness: Establishment of the brand awareness is essential for each of the organisations. Cotton On is also not an exception. The company is much ambitious about drawing the attention of the target customers. It has focused on driving more sales through online sources. Therefore, it is notified that the company has invested a high amount of capitals on social media presence. It is to be indicated that Cotton On is considered as one of the fastest growing retailers in the Australian market (Lea-Greenwood 2013). The growth of the sales ratio has reached up to 20% per year. This ratio was seen for the past five years and this year it has been projected to reach at least A$1.5 billion. The company is trying to enhance the brand awareness by promoting the products through the online sites. There is the online page where the customers can post their reviews about their experiences. The social media strategy undertaken is following the creative feature that is attracting the custome rs in a significant way (Gabrielli, Baghi and Codeluppi 2013). Apparently, it has been noticed that the brand has put the social icons on the front page. In this current world, people are much fond of the online social sites. The innovative features maintained in these websites are attracting the customers in a significant way. Influence Interests or Consumer Attitudes: In order to promote the communication strategy, it is important to concentrate on the customers demands. It is noted that the brand preferences depended on the specific needs and demands in a prominent way. Similarly, Cotton On has been focusing on the customers preferences by reviewing the customers attributes and needs (Foxall 2014). The presence of the online pages is thus quite appreciable in such regards. It has been seen that the customers can post their queries and feedbacks, which is visible to the companies and the other members. Moreover, if any concern is supposed to be raised to the customer case executives, the company will be able to know the preferences of the customers (Yeshin 2012). If the products are acceptable to the customers, it will promote the brand. Moreover, it will be helpful enough in establishing the positive word of mouth as well. Promoting Companys Knowledge: It is to be indicated that the company requires enhancing the knowledge regarding the customers preferences. The ability of resolving the customers queries creates the sense of reliability on customers minds. It is to be noted that the online presence is a way to understand the needs and requirements of the customers. Therefore, it is to be stated that the consumers can opt for any queries. In such regards, the employees should be knowledgeable enough to be responsive towards their queries (Thorson and Moore 2013). The enhancements of the knowledge are thus essential for the employees. More information will be available in the official websites; will promote the knowledge of the company more specifically. Alternative Styles of Creative Advertising The company requires opening a separate online page for communicating with the service executives. The maintenance of the communicational transparency is essential to provide the insightful idea about the quality and the brand (Lusch and Vargo 2014). The service executives will be available for 24*7 and they will fulfil the entire queries of the customers. If the customers are obtaining the knowledge about the product specification, it will increase the sense of reliability. The major motto of the company is to be responsive enough towards the brand that is to be offered. Therefore, the employees can present their expectations about the latest fashion trends. The fashionable garment with proper price is always the first preference to the customers (Shimp and Andrews 2012). If the customers can communicate with the service executives, it will be effective enough for the company to know the basic needs and requirements. While undertaking such advertisement strategies, the company needs to concentrate on the ethical issues. While communicating with the employees, the company needs to keep the focus on the ethical considerations. One of the major ethical concerns of the business is to provide the authentic business information to customers (Luxton, Reid and Mavondo 2015). Especially, when the company is trying to communicate with the customers through the online media, it is necessary to maintain the authenticity. It is essential to determine that the customers have been receiving the proper information. Moreover, the business ethics considers the delivery of the high quality products (Duncan and Caywood 2013). The fashionable garments have to be higher in quality as promised by the company. However, it is seen that in order to keep the quality high, the company require more capital to invest on the high quality garment materials. Hence, it becomes tough to keep the price lower with such high quality. The issue thus becomes much prominent for the ethical business practices. Media Plan The different advertisement strategies are structured to promote the brand identity among the target customers. It helps in enhancing the business profitability by generating the customers supports for long run (McHugh 2013). Cotton On is the popular fashion brand that maintains the effective fashionable garments for men, women and children. However, the focus on the youth group requires the attractive advertising strategy that can draw the attention of the customers (Hollensen 2015). In order to undertake the effective advertising strategy, the brand can organise a fashion show for the youth group (Puligadda, DelVecchio and Gilbreath 2014). The arrangements of such fashion show will be appreciable, as the youth group are much fascinated about such events. Moreover, when the customers can experience the fashionable approaches through such events, it becomes much attractive to them. In fact, these events are even gathering the crowd to broadcast the latest fashions, which are influenc ing the interests of the target group. Based on such media advertisement media, the company can communicate with the target customers well. In fact, the proper communication and the feedback received from the target customers are necessary to understand the exact needs and requirements of the target group (Pauwels, Erguncu and Yildirim 2013). Therefore, while designing the garments, the fashion production can concentrate on such demands. The social media is thus much helpful in making the people aware of such events. The venues and time will be reported to the customers through television advertisements, hoardings, and social media sites. The feedback session will be gathering the crowd to derive the responses of the customers regarding the product experience. Hence, it is one of the most effective communication channels, which can be beneficial for the company to understand the customers needs. Evaluation The adopted communication plan is helpful enough in gathering the crowd and generating feedbacks from the customers. It is noted that the generated review will be helpful for the company to bring innovations to the production house. However, it is necessary to measure the progressive report. It is important to analyse the effectiveness of such initiative. The events will be organised for a month and in weekends on the supermarket area. The youth group mostly visit such places on weekends. Hence, it has been seen that the customers are much interested in joining such crowd and share their experiences. When the company will be able to generate feedbacks, it will be beneficial to understand the latest style segment that can be used while designing the clothes. The progress report is needed to be reviewed frequently. In fact, in case of any changes, the marketing manager will be structuring the plan accordingly. Hence, it is necessary to structure the communication plan and work as per t he responses derived from the customers. The evaluation will be based on the frequent communication process, which is essential. The structured budget will also be planned accordingly. The review of the weekly report will be presented to the marketing manager to measure the progress. Conclusion Marketing communication plan is essential for establishing the brand awareness among the customers. the effective brand identity ensures the business success by generating the customers supports. Most of the organisations undertake several marketing strategies to promote the brand and draw the customers attention. Hence, it is necessary to identify the fruitful marketing communication process, which will be beneficial for business sustainability. The study is associated with the marketing communication plan undertaken by Cotton On, which is a renowned fashion retail brand in Australian market. The communication plan is generally indicates the process of generating feedbacks from the customers to understand their demands and requirements. The target youth group has the keen interest on fashion show on weekend. The shared experiences through social media will also be helpful in generating feedbacks. However, the availability of the service executives is also necessary. The executives a re needed to be knowledgeable enough to fulfil the queries of the customers. Hence, the communicational transparency is essential. Eventually, the review of the event report will be helpful enough in undertaking the proper communication process. References Cottonon.com, 2016. Cotton On | Womens, Mens, Kids Baby Clothes, Gifts More. [online] Cottonon.com. Available at: https://cottonon.com/AU/ [Accessed 29 Sep. 2016]. 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