Business English
( taken from MAKET LEADER)
UNIT 1
BRANDS
A. List some of your favourite brands. Then answer these questions.
1. Are they International or national brands? 2. What image and qualities does each one have? Use the following words and phrases to help you. [pic]
3. Why do people buy brands? 4. Why do you think some people dislikes brands? 5. How loyal are you to the brands you have chosen? For example, when you buy jean, do you always buy Levi’s
B. A recent survey named the brands below as the world’s top ten. Which do you think is number one? Rank the others in order.
Vocabulary Brand Management A. Match these word partnerships to
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Coach, the US leather goods maker, is a classis example. Over the past five years, it has lifted all its gross margins by manufacturing solely in low-cost markets. In March 2002 it closed its factory in Lares, Puerto Rico, its last company-owned plant, and outsources all its products. Burberry has many Asian licensing arrangements. In 2000 it decided to renew Sanyo’s Japanese licence for 20 ten years. This means that almost half of Burberry’s sales at retail value will continue to be produced under licence in Asia. At the same time however, Japanese consumers prefer the group’s European-made products. Sanyo is now creating to this demand for a snob alternative to the Burberry products made in its factories across Asia by opening a flagship store in Tokyo’s Ginza, where it sells Burberry products imported from Europe. In interviews with the FT, many executives says the top luxury brands will continue to be seen, particularly in Asia, as European. Domenico De Sole of Gucci says “ The Asian Consumer really dos believe – whether it’s true or not – that luxury comes from Europe and must be made there to be the best.’ Serge Weinberg, Chief Executive of Pinault Printemps Redoute, which controls Gucci, says it will not move Gucci’s production of shore. Yet some in the industry recognize that change may be round the corner even for the superluxury brands.
This expansion demonstrates how the luxury industry is now run by massive corporations whose focus is only on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and most importantly, PROFITS! With growth and expansion, has come a decrease in quality and rarity. The luxury garments produced are mostly not handmade but are even outsourced to large factories in places such as China and Turkey. Also, to meet quarterly turnover projections, “designers churn(ed) out increasingly trendy collections of clothes, handbags, and shoes.” (Thomas, Pg. 246) With hundreds of new stores around the globe the surplus of designer labeled merchandise is immense hence, the proliferation of outlet malls.
As two separate companies, they have established a different approach towards the market, however with the right research and evaluation, Rousteing and The Bay have beautifully managed to make both sides collide with success. They have managed to design ready-to-wear for different target groups, for example, women’s outerwear shoes, men’s business attire, jewellery, as well as the latest Balmain Army collection inspired by Rousteing himself. They have made the price range of the products in the listed categories reasonable and affordable for premium quality clothing, accessories and footwear for both genders that are quality and price conscious. Also, in Toronto and Vancouver, The Bay has launched a showroom called “The Room” that features some of Balmain’s hottest but not-so-retail-friendly designer clothing from Rousteing’s runway collection. With the stratospheric prices, these items are obviously in display for the more sophisticated young female adults that completely disregard the price tag when they see something they genuinely adore. However, this was also an intelligent way for Rousteing and The Bay to promote their collection by giving the people of middle-class families to feel and take a closer glimpse of some high-quality handiwork. This makes the women of the demographic target market want to know what else Balmain has in store at The Bay, that is of similar quality, but with a more affordable
For years, Louis Vuitton enjoyed high profit margins from the luxury market in Japan until other competitors such as Prada and Gucci entered the market. Counterfeiting also became a threat to the firm’s brand by satisfying consumer demand at lower prices. Other external global environmental problems included highly priced products, limited availability in stores only, and a heavy dependency on the Japanese market (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Moreover, “the after-shocks of the global recession were a threat to Louis Vuitton’s luxury business in Japan”, and Japanese women became less interested in the brand’s products (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Alternatively, Louis Vuitton could “reinvent itself and regain what used to be its well-attested
Gucci is a luxury brand made in Florence, Italy in 1921 by Guccio Gucci. These luxury brands consist of fashion and leather goods. The company first started out as a family business. It was Gucci and his two sons who expanded the business and opened it as a company. The first store was opened in Rome and opened in 1938. The second store was opened in Milan and opened in 1951. In the beginning, most of the company’s customers were horseback riders, which is how the company came up with its signature logo. Gucci has become more innovational over the years with their products. Gucci is known for their handbags, women’s and men’s shoes, dress shirts, wallets, belts, fragrances, briefcases and accessories. Today, Gucci operates in about 550 stores and in over more than 30 countries.
As a clothing store which is focusing on local designed and European designed clothes, our products are going to be high-end, fashionable, green and unique.
Burberry need to scan their market segments in order to gain the most competitive advantage. Pestle analysis looks at the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that affect an organisation providing a ‘comprehensive list of influences on the possible success or failure of strategies’ (Johnson, Whittington, Scholes, 2011). However, the three main changes that focused on in this essay are Economic, Social and Environmental factors. The economy within China is currently very stable; being a part of the 4 fastest growing economies in the world (BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India, China), it has made large strides in recent years in the business and industrial sector. , the country
This behavior brings competitive advantages to the European luxury brands. Moreover, customers in different countries have different purchase behaviors. For instance, some countries’ customers are willing to move away from common recognized brand, because they want to purchase more exclusive products. Furthermore, because of the increasing speed of globalization, people are more likely willing to travel between different countries. These travelers will buy luxury good during their trips. In fact, Chinese tourists contributed over one third of sales in Europe. The luxury goods industry should notice to adjust the actual demand between local people and tourists in Europe
Labor costs in the United States are much higher than in many parts of the world. Consequently, the costs of production for labor-intensive manufacturing can be significantly reduced by moving factories overseas mainly to third world countries this is a common practice of Nike who outsource there manufacturing to other companies in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia.[ ]
In 1997, it started expanding & establishing manufacturing units in South Carolina and Los Angeles, and as of today the apparel manufacturing operations have spread to 800,000 sq. ft. of facilities in the warehouse district of downtown LA.
Market growth: Repositioning and revival of the brand has led the company to the fast growing path and Burberry would like to continue it in future. Business strategy adopted by Burberry at this stage would have long-term impact on its growth. Therefore, market growth becomes an important criterion for basing any recommendation.
When Burberry brand became licensed across a range of categories, the price,design,and quality of products were not being looked at anymore. In Asia, wholesalers sold the products to unauthorized distributors, who then sold the products at prices, channels, and locations without respect to the brand image and because of that Burberry started to
Risk is a core reason why other luxury goods companies, with an eye on a Hong Kong listing, have hesitated. Prada was bold in its listing strategy, and that has to be one of the biggest lessons. It is one thing to identify emerging Asia – and China in particular – as the sweet spot of luxury goods opportunity, it is another to act on it
To sum up, there is no easy answer on what should Burberry do next. The
LVMH’s brand portfolio is a catalogue of the finest things money can buy. Arnault said, “A Star brand is timeless, modern, fast growing and highly profitable.”[iii] LVMH has positioned its brands strongly in the luxury segment offering more than 50 different brands under their five core competencies. LVMH has been successful through all of their various brands in their portfolio giving them each their independence and creativity. “LVMH is well known for leaving much operational and marketing freedom to the various brands it owns.”[iv] “LVMH has done an excellent job of brand positioning, says Ben Cavender, senior analyst at China Market Research Group. It has succeeded in securing the particularly enviable position of gaining a following among the top percentage of China’s wealthy. As the financial crisis stretches on, LVMH customers in China still have money to spend.[v] “LVMH’s brand imaging, which relies heavily on pushing its European heritage, is so successful that it has benefited other brands by proxy, says Paul French, one of the founders of Access Asia, a group dedicated to tracking regional consumer and marketing trends. “Everyone hangs on the coattails of Louis Vuitton’s brand imaging in China.”[vi]
Contract manufacturing- where manufacturing is contracted to an external foreign partner provides a low risk and potentially low cost mode of entry. Benetton and Ikea are a good example of companies who successfully rely on a contractual network of small overseas manufacturers. Benetton has over 80% of its production outsourced to 450 contractors (located in low cost production countries such as India and China). As a result of the money saved on labour, Benetton can sell products 20% cheaper, helping it to maintain a low cost position in comparison to competitors. Of course, this method may not be appropriate for every company as there is a loss of knowledge and intellectual property rights, and the transaction costs involved must also be considered.