Thursday, September 12, 2013

Should H&M promote some aspect of its Swedish-ness?

H&M is an international fashion brand known for its low prices and a mixture of simple, staple wardrobe items and fast-fashion pieces. The four Ps of marketing (price, product, promotion, and place) for H&M boil down to a simple formula:
Price: H&M offers affordable prices such that customers can purchase a trendy shirt even though they may not plan to wear that garment beyond the current season.
Product: They offer clothing for men, women, and children, including activewear, work clothes, undergarments, jewelry, purses, shoes, and most fashion basics. Their clothing is of a high enough quality that it lasts for several years but low enough to allow for reasonable pricing.
Promotion: H&M uses a variety of advertising (print, TV, online, and mobile) as well as product placement to market their clothes. They often aim themselves at celebrities and teens, counting on younger generations to bring their families along to stores to sell other lines.
Place: The brand has positioned itself as a convenient, affordable option for consumers in every income bracket. Their marketing shifts slightly in different countries but generally places the company as an international brand.
While Swedish furniture maker IKEA leans into their heritage as a selling point of their brand, H&M does not currently highlight themselves as a "Swedish brand." IKEA spent years establishing the concept of Swedish furniture, paving the way for other brands to tout their Swedish heritage as a selling point.
H&M could market their Swedish roots in comparing itself to IKEA, but they would have to focus on building the concept of Swedish clothing as beneficial in some way, because the idea does not currently exist. Given their current success in consumer clothing worldwide, it may not make sense to step away from their current marketing strategy and put themselves in the position of having to establish a new brand identity.
https://dianajoines.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/final-term-paper-hm-vs-zara-marketing-strategies.pdf

https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/the-ikea-effect-how-ingvar-kamprad-s-company-changed-the-way-we-shop-118013100201_1.html

https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-hm/

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