business research management

For the Alexander Manuel firm to succeed in the clothing industry there are four things that it needs to concentrate on. The first is its customer environment. The second is its general operating environment. The third is its marketing goals and objectives and the fourth is its marketing strategies. By looking at the four areas, an effective marketing strategy can be developed

The customer environment

Young people are the target audience of Alexander Manuel due to their style-consciousness and receptiveness to online marketing and word to mouth. This generation will pave the way as new designer brands like Alexander Manuel establish themselves in the fashion industry. According to Rodrigues and Rodrigues (2019), young people love to look good and they also love to associate with stylish brands. Furthermore, they relate to companies that offer online shopping and delivery. Since the company offers stylish clothes and a marketing model that aligns with young people aged between 16 and 30 years old it is ideal that it targets young people.

The firm primarily deals with male and female clothes. Customers who purchase the firm’s products do two main things with them. The first thing they do is wear them. The firm offers stylish clothes that are comfortable to wear. The second thing that the customers do with the firm’s products is to build their brand. In reference to Trang and Haile Selassie (2020), people are defined by the clothes they wear, and young people, who are seeking an identity, use clothes to showcase who they are and what they stand for.

There are two main places that customers purchase the firm’s products. The first place is the company’s physical store. The physical store is ideal for customers that reside or work near them. Furthermore, the physical store offers a wide variety of clothes to see and even try on. The second place that the customers purchase the firm’s products is an online store. The firm has an online store where it advertises and sells its clothes. The online platform leverages digital marketing and social media platforms to attract as many people as possible.

Customers select the firm’s products based on their gender and preferences. The firm offers male, female and unisex clothes. Based on the gender and preference of a customer, a customer can select and purchase the firm’s product. On the online store, customers identify clothes that look appealing based on design or colorway. If the clothes meet their preference, the customers order them.

Other than young people, the firm can sell its products to people of all ages; however, people aged 35 years and above might not purchase the firm’s products. Elderly people are not keen on clothes styles and designs (Fletcher, 2017). The elderly prioritize functionality and for that reason might not purchase the firm’s products. In addition, the elderly will not purchase the firm’s products as the product designs and styles might not appeal to them. Every generation has what it terms as stylish and because of the difference in style preference, the firm’s products will not appeal to the elderly.

SWOT analysis

Strengths

The firm has two main strengths. The first strength is that the company targets a demographic that is willing to spend a lot on the company’s products. Young people are willing to spend a lot of money on clothes so long as the clothes make them look good and that they help them fit in. Secondly, the company uses marketing and a selling model that appeals to the target market that they have in mind. The firm has a physical store as well as an online store. The online store helps the company sell its products to customers that are in far away geographical regions.

Weaknesses

The firm has two main weaknesses. The first weakness is that the fairly is newly established and for that reason might have challenges attract and retain customers. The second weakness of the firm is that it does not serve a large customer base. The firm primarily offers products that are appealing to only young people. By not serving a large customer base, the firm is challenged in terms of making a profit.

Opportunities

There are three opportunities that the firm can leverage. First, the firm can use its online platform to target global customers thus increasing its revenue as well as build its brand. Secondly, the firm can open up more physical stores in the nation which will help build its brand. Lastly, the firm can diversify to offer clothes that appeal to people of all ages. Furthermore, the firm can also start selling shoes and this will grow its portfolio.

Threats

The firm faces a huge threat from established clothes designers. Designers such as Gucci, Prada are making it harder for the firm to penetrate the industry. The firm is also under threat from new entrants into the market. As more people look for ways to make a living, they are setting up businesses and the businesses are being set up in all industries.

How the firm can leverage its strengths and opportunities while at the same time reducing its weakness and threats

The firm can use its online social media platforms and target marketing presence to attract more young people from all over the world to buy their products. In addition, the firm can come up with clothes designs that are appealing to people of all ages. The firm needs to establish itself as a reliable clothes brand to ward off new entrant threats as well as to stand the competition that it faces from established clothes designers.

Developing competitive advantage

The firm can develop a competitive advantage by leveraging social media marketing. The majority of clothes designers use mainstream media to market their products and unfortunately, mainstream media is limiting in terms of the number of people it reaches. Social media marketing, on the other hand, open up a business to a large global customer base (Palalic et al., 2020).

Developing a strategic focus

The firm needs to focus specifically on young people more so those aged between 19 and 30 years. The identified target customers have purchasing power as well as love wearing stylish clothes. The identified age group does not have many distractive responsibilities and for that reason can afford to spend considerably more on clothes compared to other age groups. By focusing on the identified age group, the firm stands to build its brand not only in the nation but globally.

Marketing Goals and Objectives

To succeed in meeting its strategic focus as well as in developing its competitive advantage, the firm needs to market itself more. The firm has three marketing goals. The first goal is to make its brand appealing to young people as much as possible. Considering that the firm’s target audience is young people, the firm needs young people to be more aware of its existence to stand a chance of attracting them. To make itself more appealing, the firm needs to adopt marketing strategies that are effective for attracting young people. The firm needs to consider digital marketing. According to Avhad and Giri (2020), digital marketing includes social media marketing, search engine optimization, and website advertising. Young people have embraced technological development to the extent that they spend a third of their days on social media platforms and high technology devices. By using social media platforms and platforms that run on common high technology devices such as computers and smartphones, the firm will make its products more appealing to young people.

The second objective of the firm is to make the brand a household brand. The firm needs to make it's brand appealing not only to young people but also to people of all ages. By doing so, the firm stands a better chance of being more profitable. Furthermore, the firm will attract new customers and convert potential customers to actual customers. To do so, the firm needs to use both conventional marketing strategies as well as digital marketing strategies. The conventional marketing strategies will be used to target the older and elderly generations that are challenged by digital media.

The third marketing objective of the firm is to improve the awareness of the general public to its presence. Considering that the firm is fairly new as it has been in existence for only the last year, the firm needs to announce itself more. By doing so, the firm will cement itself as a reliable clothes brand. Just as with the second marketing goal, the firm needs to use both conventional marketing strategies as well as digital marketing strategies. By using both strategies, the firm will be able to reach people of diverse ages and social classes.

Marketing Strategies

Target Markets

The firm has four target markets that if leveraged can improve the firm’s brand image as well as help the firm grow in terms of revenue. The first target market is young people. The firm can benefit a lot if it keeps on targeting young people aged between 16 and 35 years. The young target market has purchasing power as well as loves clothes products. The second target market is the aged and elderly market. The second target market is people aged 36 years and above. The second target market has a higher purchasing power than the first target market and for that reason can spend more on the firm’s products.

The third target market is children and teenagers below 16 years of age. The third target market does not have a purchasing power but it has influence power. Children and teenagers can easily influence their parents and guardians to purchase the firm’s products. The last target market is the global market. Due to globalization, the firm can target people from all over the world.

Marketing Mix

To effectively target the identified target markets, the firm needs to adopt a marketing mix that is appealing to all the target markets. The firm needs to come up with products that are not only appealing to one target market. The firm needs to ensure its products’ designs are appealing to all age groups. In terms of pricing its products, the firm needs to be averagely priced considering that the products are not intended for one specific target market. The average price will allow the firm to attract as many customers as possible and consequentially benefit from economies of scale.

In terms of distribution, the firm needs to set up several physical stores. The stores will complement the firm’s online stores. The physical stores will act as warehouses as well as stores. Whenever there are orders that need to be fulfilled, the closest store to a customer fulfills the order. In terms of promotion, the firm needs to use both conventional marketing strategies as well as digital marketing strategies. By using both strategies, the firm will be able to reach people of diverse ages and social classes.

References

Avhad, S. M., & Giri, N. S. (2020). Digital Marketing Overview. Retrieved from http://studymaterial.unipune.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/3827/1/FYB.Voc%20Retail%20Management%20Unit-1%20Digital%20Marketing%20Overview%20%281%29.pdf