This report has been written with the purpose of providing a clear marketing and promotion plan for Gap. Insights will be shown the business environment - the ethical policy in the fashion retail market, marketplace and competitors analysis and a marketing and promotional plan. Gap is the American based company.
In 2006, there were 130 stores in the UK and most of which carry womenswear. There are just a handful of childrenswear-only stores.In spring 2006, the company appointed its first heads of design across menswear, womesnswear and childrenswear. These are part of the strategy to create a London-based UK team to design specifically for this market; their influence was put to task from spring 2007. The company will not be moving too far away from its heritage and what it is know for, but wants to 'broaden the offer' as 'the UK is more fashion-focused' than the US and France. Gap's consumer appeal is strongest amount 14-34s and dropped off sharply after that, which is interesting considering media reports that Gap had lost its fashion credibility .
The Financial performance of Gap is poor and largely driven by undifferentiated product ranges and lack of images of However, the consumers trust the brand very much, but not as much as Marks ; Spencer. (Appendix 1) 2.0 Methodology 1. Secondary research First, I used search engines such as Yahoo and Google for general research, which has given me a good understanding of the brand.
Then, I researched the ethical issues market and the retail fashion market from Mintel and the Gap Website. I also found competitors' ethical policy from their website. The official website of Gap also provided a financial report and the background of the company, whereas mintel provided more detailed information on consumers.2.
Primary research Primary research was conducted by interview (appendix 2) and questionnaires(appendix3) about ethical policy in the fashion retail industry, customer profiles, competitors' retail outlets and their ethical policy. I went to the Gap stores in London and Kent. I also went to its competitors stores for observational research. Staff at Gap have given me some general information about the brand and which helped me fill in my Marketing Mix.Jodie is 27 years old and lives in Canterbury, Kent.
She lives with her boyfriend, Ken. She works as a nurse in the main city hospital. She has a heavy work schedule and does not work during the weekend. She earns the average UK income. She is not very interested in fashion, but she wants to wear comfortable and plain clothes. She wears jeans most of the time.
She enjoys online shopping. She is not very sociable and likes reading at home.She sometimes likes to go to the cinema with her boyfriend. She likes to go shopping at Waitrose, Gap and Next, as she thinks the prices are reasonable for her.
She is an ethical shopper, but she only buys garments she can afford in stores that she believes are ethical. She wants to save money, as she wants to have a baby in a 2 or 3 years. Therefore, she shops more sensibly and tends to be more aware of the environmental issues then the others. She does not want her next generation live in an awful world.Most of Ken's clothes are bought by Jodie, as they have been going out for a long period and Ken does not fancy spending money on clothes.
Jodie is a keen customer of Gap, as she like the style of the brand and she can shop for her boyfriend and herself at the same time. She likes watching 'Sex ; the city' and she likes Sarah Jessica Parker. She thinks she is fashionable, successful and a good mother of one child. She likes traveling once a year during the Summer with her boyfriend or her family. As this all they can afford to go on due not only to money but also time, they tend to try and save up that little bit extra to have a more luxurious holidays.
In her spear time she socializes with her friends, some are single but the majority are mums with young children. They spend their time at each others houses and often go for lunch or for a coffee. She does drive but only during weekends. When going to work she prefers to commute by train and bus, so that she can avoid the traffic. The advertising campaign will be focused on the theme of 'Back to the nature', which will be educating the market about a new range of ethical clothing collection in Gap.
Sarah Jessica Parker (appendix 7) will be the main figure on the advertisements, as she has already been used to front an international campaign by Gap and she is fashionable has a large amount of influence on the target market.I will focus on consumer advertising by using press and outdoor advertising, as the previous campaign did. The advertisement will run in magazines, newspapers, billboards and tube. In 2008, the budget on advertising will be similar as last year, which is around 2,000,000(appendix4).
Therefore, these 3 months advertising campaign will be around 500,000. Strap Line - Tube In metropolitan area, the public transportation becomes an important alternative to commute in the area. Tube is also a medium that many people have to see everyday. Therefore, I will spend for 2 week advertising on 4 main tube station in zone 1 and 2 areas, which include Oxford Street, Marylebone, Bank and Waterloo station.Press - magazine & newspapers I choose 2 newspapers and 5 magazines which cover the target market of Gap. Pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker wearing the new ethical collection will be shown on the press with the brand logo of gap on it.
(appendix) Billboard at railway station Billboard can catch a significant attention from pedestrians and drivers. However, it has a limitation of up date because it cost a company a huge amount of money to change the billboard each time.Adverts will be placed in all the major cities, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, New Castle and Cardiff. These locations are good for promoting the Gap brand due to the fact that there are more popular than it has been in decades for example Cardiff's billboard has an annual entry/visit of 7.743 million people and in 2005 approximately 1.
07 billion passenger journeys were taken which was the highest figure in almost fifty years.This is an example of the advert that I intend to use as it will provide the largest creative scope at the main cities in the UK, which is in high visibility locations and no one can miss the billboard. ACTION - The Account executives will write up a contact report and keep communication clear. Planners will need to provide an objective voice to all other players. Then, a copywriter and arts direction will bring up ideas and concept of the advertisement. Media planner will need to negotiate and ultimately buy the space from the media owners.
Then, the production department will help hiring a studio, camera/crew photographer, director, editing suites etc. After that, the traffic department will need to take responsibility for getting the right artwork to the right magazine at the right time.
