A unique good can be defined as a good at the highest end of the market in terms of quality and price (wikipedia.org). Classic underwear includes high fashioned items such as lingerie, clothing, and accessories.
However, many markets have luxury segment including for underwear's. The market for unique classic underwear for women in the UK has been expanding during the past decade, as more outlets have begun to stock larger ranges of designer underwear's, and more designer brands are coming into the market. The market is dominated by traditional fashion houses many amongst a few are Agent Provocateur, Contessa, Bravissimo, Myla, Figleaves to mention but a few. The market has been encouraged by the huge take-up of major brandsThere are many factors contributing to the growth of this market in recent years.
The number of females in employment expanded at a faster rate in the second half of the 1990s than the total workforce, growing by an estimated 6.6% between 2003 and 2005 (Mintel report),although in some point it was static Employment encourages women to take more care of their appearance, and potentially provides more disposable income. Females aged 25-40 are highly influential on spending. These consumers are often single with few commitments. In addition, brands have opportunity to capture the imagination of women.Every company's primary goal is to profitably serve and satisfy specific needs have chosen target markets.
To carry out this task, the company links itself with a set of suppliers and a set of marketing intermediaries to reach its target customers. The suppliers/company/marketing intermediaries /customers chain comprises the core marketing system of the company. The company's success will be affected by two additional groups, namely, a set of competitors and a set of publics (Kotler 1991, p.129).
However, the Intimissimi brand is entering the classic underwear market for women in the UK. The "Intimissimi brand" will be managed by people with vast experience in the underwear sector, especially in the luxury market. This organization will be drawing from this wealth of experience, as the main accord is to sell well designed and good quality underwear/ lingerie to women in the UK.For the purpose of this paper, marketing intermediaries and competitors in this market will be analysed. Middlemen are business firms that help the company find customers or close sales with them. Department stores like Selfridges, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Harvey Nichol and John Lewis are the major stockists of all these brands.
A company rarely is alone in selling to a given customer market. The company vies with a host of competitors. These competitors have to be identified, monitored, and outmanoeuvred to capture and maintain customer loyalty. The competitive environment consists not only of other companies but also of more basic things.
The best way for a company to grasp the full range of its competition is to take a viewpoint of a buyer. What does a buyer think about that eventually leads to purchasing something? In this context most buyers indulge in high quality underwear because of the status attached to it.Target marketing is the only way competitors used to segment their customers in this market. Here the seller distinguishes the major market segments; targets one or more of these segment, and develops products and marketing programmes tailored to each selected segment. Target marketing is increasingly taking on the character of micromarketing where marketing programs are tailored to the needs and wants of customer groups. Companies in luxury underwear market in the UK are increasingly embracing target marketing.
This is because target marketing helps them to identify marketing opportunities better. They focus on the buyers whom they have the greatest chance of satisfying.This project aims to indicate measures that can be taken by the intimissimi brand in order to enter the classic underwear market in the UK. It identifies the market factors, size and trends. Market segmentation will be looked at in detail while, key players in the market will be identified as well. Focusing on 3 major players in the market namely; Bravissimo, Myla, AgentProvocateur.
Intimissimi brand is synonymous with good quality products at extremely attractive prices. It ascribes the essence of a woman as being inherent in the company's product. As the organization is venturing into the classic underwear market in the UK, the quality of the products it is offering will be second to none. intimissimi will operate as a boutique store covering middle level market.
This will be mixed with added value with great emphasises on the supply chain structures. As the company will be liaising with different suppliers on different level of production, it is the belief of the management team that the ethical stance of the organization will be reflected in every element of the supply chain. The organization will source from suppliers that meet the ethical stance of the intimissimi brand.
