integrated marketing communication

Missguided, the prominent United Kingdom (UK) fashion retailer who has been selling its ware mainly through its online website since it was established in 2009, recently launched its very first brick and mortar store in Manchester, England in 2015. The move from selling on the Internet to constructing a physical store was encouraged by increased customer demand in the UK (Missguided, 2016).

Since the brand has been received very well by the masses in the UK, Missguided can opt to increase their customer base and brand outreach by establishing the brand into markets beyond the UK. One of the countries that it can choose to venture into, is India. If Missguided wants to pursue the market development strategy of venturing into the Indian market, crafting and adapting the marketing mix would be necessary for their success in the market. Alongside, close scrutiny of current competitors prevalent in the market, for example other international fashion brands or domestic fashion brands is necessary so that Missguided can convey their unique selling proposition to their target segment and pinpoint opportunities and threats from the external environment. Discerning these factors can ultimately be beneficial for Missguided to attain a competitive advantage (Pani and Sharma, 2012).

To appeal to the target audience in India, ascertaining the correct communicational mix is key. Ensuring that a clear message is conveyed to target group on the advertising platforms is vital to build up its brand awareness and image in the new market (Chakraborty, 2016). This report suggests various ways in which Missguided can build its brand awareness in India through effective marketing communication.

Situational Analysis

Prior to its launch in India, Missguided would have to assess the macroenvironment and microenvironment to decide how it can best craft its marketing and marketing communications plan. India is a democratic country with a massive population of 1.26 billion. Out of this total, the Hindus make up the majority of the Indian population (79.8% ), followed by Muslims (14.2%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.7%) and others (2%) (MarketLine, 2015). The country can be subdivided into urban and rural areas as seen in Figure 1

Figure 1

Adapted from (Ajith, 2015)

Figure 1 depicts the proportion of India’s urban and rural areas

Even though urban city dwellers for example Delhi and Mumbai make up just 31% of the current population, most of the country’s GDP is derived from these urban areas. Across India, be it urban or rural areas, rightfully Hindi is the National language of the country, however it is not spoken in all the 29 states of India. Each state has its own regional language and occupants of one state may not necessarily be able to communicate with the residents of another state, though both of them dwell in the same country. From a marketer’s perspective, this can serve a barrier when it comes to designing a marketing communications plan, because depending on the targeted city and target audience selected, the marketer may have to translate ads into the regional languages to endorse their brand (Ajith, 2015).

Evidently, India has a huge market that can be targeted by a foreign company like Missguided, so that it can reap profits. But amidst the entire market, Missguided is a brand that should mainly target the population that lives in urban cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, this is because most of the people in such cities have higher literacy rates and are able to speak English (Shah, 2013), which in turn means that Missguided, an English brand can create brand awareness without having to alter the language medium it is acquainted with.

A further scrutiny of India’s PESTLE analysis and Missguided’s SWOT analysis shows how Missguided would have to avoid certain challenges system and how it can adapt itself into certain social Indian norms to broaden its brand reach.

Chart 1

Adapted from (Claudio, 2007), (Gupta, 2013) and (Gupta and Hodges, 2012)

Chart 1 depicts the PESTLE analysis of India and how it will relate to Missguided’s operations in India.

Table 1

Adapted from (Missguided, 2016) and (Raichurkar and Ramachandran, 2015)

Table 1 is representative of the SWOT analyses for Missguided

From both the PESTLE and SWOT analyses it is indicative that Missguided would be able to assimilate itself in the Indian market. Further analysis into the consumer behaviour of the two main urban cities of India supports the presumption that Missguided would be able to have a successful store in the cities of Delhi and Mumbai.

Figure 2

(a)

(b)

Adapted from (Kawazu and Ishizaka, 2012)

Figures 2 (a) and (b) are reflective of the mindsets and consumer behaviour of the people living in Delhi and Mumbai.

As indicated in Figure 2, dwellers of both these cities are receptive to new products being launched with the people of Mumbai being more conscious of the brand whereas the people of Delhi are more focussed with the product design (Kawazu and Ishizaka, 2012). Amidst the presence of strong competitors like H&M, Zara and Forever21, Missguided would have to campaign itself adequately to create its brand awareness amidst the target audience (which would be discussed in the upcoming sections) so that Missguided will be a brand to consider in the decision making process when they want to make an apparel purchase. Creating a liking for their products amidst the target audience would foster customer satisfaction that can ultimately establish the desired brand image and promote brand loyalty which in turn can lead to repurchases (Chakraborty, 2016).

References

Ajith, P. (2015). Rural to International: Blueprint for Marketing. SCMS Journal of Indian Management, 1(1), pp.5-16.

Chakraborty, S. (2016). An Explanatory study on Indian Young Consumers’ Luxury Consumption: The Underlying Relationship of Interpersonal Influence, Brand Image, Brand Consciousness and Demographic Components with Luxury Brand Purchase Decision. International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, 2(6), pp.622-634.

Claudio, L. (2007). Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), pp.449-454.

Gupta, A. (2013). Environment & PEST Analysis: An Approach to External Business Environment. International Journal of Modern Social Sciences, 2(1), pp.34-43.

Gupta, M. and Hodges, N. (2012). Corporate social responsibility in the apparel industry. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 16(2), pp.216-233.

Kawazu, N. and Ishizaka, E. (2012). Marketing Strategies Targeting the Middle Rich in India. Journal of Marketing & Communication, 7(3), pp.4-15.

MarketLine, (2015). India In-depth PESTLE insights. Country Profile Series. London: MarketLine, pp.1-94.

Missguided. (2016). About Missguided - Forward Thinking Online Fashion. [online] Available at: https://www.missguided.co.uk/about/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2016].

Pani, A. and Sharma, M. (2012). Emerging Trends in Fashion Marketing: A Case Study of Apparel Retailing in India. International Journal of Business and Management Tomorrow, 2(10), pp.1-8.

Raichurkar, P. and Ramachandran, M. (2015). Recent Trends and Developments in Textile Industry in India. International Journal on Textile Engineering and Processes, 1(4), pp.47-50.

Shah, N. (2013). Literacy Rate in India. RET Academy for International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research, 1(7), pp.12-16.

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