Zara Five Forces Analysis

The fashion sectors are changing rapidly. The right definition of the target market and segmentation and their value means will be miles tones of the marketing strategy. (Wilkinson, 2013)

In the pre-globalization world fashion had a vertical trend. As geographic borders merged through trade, travel, communication, and technology, information and ideas for fashion were transmitted. Though international trade of fibers and textiles has influenced cultures throughout history, increasing technology has resulted in diffusion of trends to the four corners of the globe. The Industrial Revolution improved the quality of life in the lower-class, causing fashion to become more democratic. Technology allows items and people to travel worldwide faster than ever, and images and information can be communicated instantaneously. However, to adapt to the fierce competitiveness of the global market, the fashion industry has relocated production to developing countries with poor working conditions; for democratization of fashion to be complete these inequities must change (Gestal, 2015).

In today’s competitive business environment, the prime objective of any firm is to gain the profit and to achieve its goals successfully (Sokolowski, 2013). For this, companies focus on the market orientation to have the clear picture about the market and strategies that can increase its customer base and help to achieve its objectives. But, there are different types of factors like PESTEL and marketing myopia, which affect their objectives and the business growth of the company. In this report, the implementation market orientation of Blockbuster is discussed which helped Blockbuster to achieve its strategic goals (Hutt and Speh, 2012). Additionally, how badly it coasted blockbuster, failure to implement these framework and objectives.

In order to create individual competitive advantage each firm has to develop distinctive competencies, decide on one of the generic strategies and create superior value for its customers. The model of competitive advantage of firms was first established in 1985 by M.E. Porter in his study/book “Competitive Advantage:

The 21st century saw a rising alarm about the intricate relationships between people, places and commodities and it is crucial to discuss the framework of commodity chains in order to study the gaps in the connection between consumers and producers. The globalization of the fashion industry is mainly driven by international retailers (Gereffi, Humphrey & Sturgeon, 2005: 79) and extends to every part of the world, leaving the Global South to suffer for the needs of the people of the North. These companies ignite globalization and majorly contribute to the increase in manufacturing jobs from the West. As pioneers of fast fashion, many major companies have a variety of ways in which they source across the globe.

Social and cultural changes are major determinants of emerging fashions. However, they are themselves affected by the other drivers of change that include globalization of world markets and accessibility of more sophisticated communications technologies. The latter has provided people with faster and wider access to more ideas and influences from other cultures and societies, driving demand for wider choice in fashion products.

o achieve superior performance, a business must develop and sustain competitive advantage. But where competitive advantage was once based on structural characteristics such as market power, economies of scale, or a broad product line, the emphasis today has shifted to capabilities that enable a business to consistently deliver superior value to its customers. This, after all, is the meaning of competitive advantage. Our recent research shows that a market-oriented culture provides a solid foundation for these value-creating

A market orientated company is one that organizes its activities, products and services around the needs and requirements of its customers. Burton Snowboards use market orientation because it is Customer focused. Jake Burton creates Burton Snowboards for the love of the sport. He practically invented snowboarding and transforms it to a world-class sport. The company focused in riders for its products developments and always wanting feedbacks from them to satisfy customer's needs and wants.

According to the study of Mentzer & Williams (2001), the approach to have sustainable competitive advantage may not just adhere to only 4 factors of marketing mix: product, price, place and promotion, but companies

Market orientation has three behavioral components( Narver and Slater (1990) customer and competitor orientation and interfunctional co-ordination. And also on two decision criteria;s long term profitability and focus. Deshpande´ et al. (1993) define customer orientation as set of belief that puts customer interest first . George Day (1994) also define market orientation as it represent superior skills in understanding and satisfying customers. The concept of market oriented culture is important to all level of the organizations (Day, 1990; Deshpande´ and Webster, 1989; Narver and Slater, 1990; Shapiro, 1988). Narver and Slater (1990) finding is that there is positive relationship between market orientation and profitability . and also they conclude that the business in which there are highest degree of market orientation is the business that associated with highest profitability . Slater and Narver (1994) says that market oriented business are understand revenues and cost dynamics of not only current but also future target customers. This is achieved by spending considearable time on meeting and talking with customers formally and informally. Market driven business

One of the greatest artist Pablo Picasso once said, “Action is the foundational key to success”. Well, we all agree with this quote, but there are many variety of factors that also implies in aspect of life. In the field of business, one of the key elements that ultimately controls the destiny of an organization, is their competitive advantage in a particular industry. The competitive advantage is defined as “an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices”("Competitive Advantage | Business."). In order to deeper understand of competitive advantage in a firm, I chose to read the book “Competitive Advantage Creating And Sustaining Superior Performance” by Michael E. Porter. He is an economist, researcher, author and professor at Harvard Business School most of his career. His extensive researches and wrote many books about economic theory as well as strategy concepts that made him widely recognized in economics and field of business.

Thus, firms that have a Market Orientation understand the importance of utilizing information about both customers and competitors when developing strategy. These firms can utilize knowledge about their competitors (e.g. product, prices and strategies) and knowledge about a customer segment to produce a market offering for a certain segment more efficiently and effectively than their competition (Glazer 1991). The factor that determines the degree to which Market Orientation allows a firm to develop competitive advantage is the degree to which having a Market Orientation is unique, or rare, among competitors. Studies suggest that, indeed, a market Orientation is rare (Jaworski and Kohli 1993; Narver and Slater 1990). In addition, research suggests that market orientation contributes not only to competitive advantage, but also sustainable competitive advantage (Hunt and Morgan 1995).

The turbulent and highly unpredictable market in the fashion industry creates hasty changes in consumer demands. Many products and services are assumed to have life cycle, perhaps none have more diverse cycles than Fashion. Fashions are, by definition, temporary cyclical phenomena adopted by consumers for a particular time and situation. The phenomenon of fashion invades consumer’s choices of many products and services. The triumph of fast fashion to a great extent depends on identifying a trend quickly and translating it into the market before the trend is

Market orientation requires a business to focus both on customers and its’ competition in addition to coordinate all internal business function inclusing HR, finance, operations, IT and

The case, “Marketing 's Contribution to Strategy: The View from a Different Looking Glass”, by Dr. P Rajan Varadarajan, discusses the growing influence of marketing in the strategic decision making of the organization. The author cites numerous instances from the field of marketing where one can observe how the marketing is guiding the strategy of the companies like de-conglomeration, enviropreneurship etc. The case seems to critically examine the article, “Marketing’s Contribution to Strategy Dialogue” By Mr. George S Day in Journal of The Academy of Marketing Science 20 (fall), which examines the diminishing role of