Jack Wills
Benchmarking
Ralph Lauren Vs Jack Wills
Polo Ralph Lauren is a lifestyle luxary brand thats was founded by fashion designer Ralph Lifshitz.The designer brand , based in america is known for its high end preppy clothing influenced by ivy league lifestyle and sporting activities. Its target market are fashion concious upper middle class families.
The brand is known for its high quality clothing that is very trendy and fashionable. Its the preppy lifestyle brand for the luxary market.One would describe them as the ivy legue of the preppy clothing industry . They are the top class competitor that brands such Jack Wills and Abercrombie & Fitch should aspire to.
Strengths:Ralph lauren's stores has a main focus ''World of Ralph Lauren" This is showcase gives the brand a platform to present all their various brands under one umbrella . One will find Polo Ralph Lauren, Baby Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren home,to mention but a few all in one place. This means that the brand can stock a wide range of products from clothing, accessories to footwear , fragrances, and furniture in uniformity.
All these brands are under its Ralph Lauren umbrella group name and the "World Of Ralph Lauren" puts them all in one place making customers buy everything Ralph Lauren form furniture to clothing.
Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter for Wimbledon .The brand designs the uniforms for the court judges and the ball girls and boys.This gives the brand an advertising platform with their target customer, and world wide audience. it also give the impression that their clothing are quality products.
The brand was over 326 stores in America Europe and Asia . It is now a well known global brand Their website as a list of their brands in one place so customers. It has a luxarious feel , the products listed link to a collection encouraging the customer to view the collection giving them more options and higher chances to find what they are looking for.
There is a lot to be learnt from Ralph Lauren's marketing campaigns. One of the most impressive ones has to be the 4D mapping campaign. They used technology to engage their audience showing how technology can create a story
Weaknesses: Most of Ralph lauren's products are produced outside the United States.This is a big disadvantage for brand that prides its self on American Values.
Having a lof of stores overseas stores means that the brand is constatly affected flactuating currencies. This refects in profits and gives financial instability
Opportunities: With the financial resources the brand can look into manufacturing locally. This would reinforce their values as being an all American brand through and through.
The brand needs to publicise the role they play in corporate social responsibility. This information is available on one page of their website.
Threats:There are a lof of counterfeit Ralph Lauren products. This not only affects profits but also affects the brands repulation.
The fact that
Lawsuits are also a threat to the brands repulation and finances. In 2007 Levi sued Ralph Lauren for trademark infingement of their pocket stitching.
Converse also recently sued Ralph Lauren for trademark infringements of their sneakers.
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Benchmarking
Ralph Lauren Vs Jack Wills
Jack Will`s target customers are school and univerversity students aged 16-24. You will find most of most of their stores are located in University cities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh ans seas side resorts.
Although on paper their target customers are school and university going age , this is not their larger customer base. Most of their customers are in fact older and working . This could be because their products are not affordable to the average university students.
Strengths
Playing on its British heritage Jack Wills have become a popular and well respected export. In America being British gives it bit of an edge also in the middle east and Asia.
Jack Wills have a brick and mortar store as well as an online shop that ships Worldwide.
With social media playing a large role in their marketing , they have strong social media presence and can market to an international audience.
Having their clothing manufactured overseas means production costs less and profits increase.
Weaknesses
One could say Jack wills is not really a “university Outfitters”
University students can not afford their products on a student budget.
The brand focuses on class divides which are not prevalent or reflective of the society we live in now.It does not appeal to most of the modern day students so this market is very small.
The Pink and Blue stripes can look very feminine meaning that they do not appeal to a lot of people
Their inability to tap into the whole student market because of price and style means that they are not able to maximise sales to their target customer.
Opportunities: Theres a a real potentional for Jack wills to establishe themselves more in American with more stores.
Threats
Trading in different currencies in different countries means that flauctuations in currencies can affect their products.
There are a lot of counterfeit Jack Wills products and the brand has a team that is dedicated to looking for the conterfeits online and getting them off the marketplace.
In Feb this year Jack Wills announced a loss in profits due to outsourcing issues . The fact that they have most of their products produced abroad means that they have little control over supply issues. Jack Wills sales rise but warehouse outsourcing hits bottom line WGSN http://ezproxy.bcu.ac.uk:2264/news/?p=1243236