A brief discussion on clothing brand management strategies

Brand refers to the tangible and intangible comprehensive list of an organization and the products or services it provides. Its purpose is to identify the organization's products or services and Differentiate your products or services from those of your competitors.

[Abstract] At present, domestic apparel companies have problems such as unclear brand positioning, lack of individuality of products, and low brand operation capabilities in brand management. The phenomenon of short-lived brands is serious. Improving clothing brand management strategies should be carried out from the aspects of segmenting the brand market, exploring brand culture, highlighting brand personality, innovating product technology, integrating marketing communications, and standardizing marketing channels.

[Keywords] Clothing brand management status quo and business strategy

1. my country’s clothing brand management status quo

1. The current business model of my country’s clothing brands

At present, the management of clothing brands in my country, from the perspective of "purchase" and "sales", mainly has the following three models:

(1) Branded clothing focusing on design, production and sales business. From clothing design, procurement of fabrics and accessories, organizing production in their own factories, to one-stop operation of wholesale and retail; some even have their own fabric factories, such as the Youngor brand.

(2) Brand clothing management focusing on design and sales. It is engaged in clothing design, procurement of fabrics and accessories, wholesale and retail, but it does not have its own clothing processing factory and relies on external processing to make clothing. Such as Yifei brand.

(3) Branded clothing operators focusing on retail mainly include three categories: clothing brand agents at all levels, who purchase their agent brands and then retail them in franchise stores; private clothing merchants, who purchase one or Multiple brands are then retailed in small clothing stores; a few department store purchasing departments purchase certain brands and then retailed in department stores.

2. The operating characteristics of my country’s clothing brands

The concept of clothing brands entered our country in the 1970s and awakened in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, my country became the world's largest textile and apparel country, and my country's garment industry also quietly entered the era of brand competition. It gradually changed from the traditional production state of low branding, low brand added value, and weak brand competitiveness. Shift to a state of attaching importance to brand added value and brand competitiveness; shift from the traditional model of weak brand marketing awareness, single marketing methods, and brand mass production to a rapid response processing system of small batches and multiple varieties.

After more than 10 years of development, my country's clothing brand market has emerged from scratch, from few to many, and from single to composite. As of the beginning of this century, there were 47,000 garment companies in my country, but most of them were small and medium-sized enterprises. There are more than 80,000 registered clothing brands, but only 0.3% can be called domestic well-known brands, and there are no world-famous brands among them. At present, domestic apparel companies have problems such as unclear brand positioning, lack of individuality of products, and low brand operation capabilities in brand management. They still rely on low-level competition methods such as price wars and advertising wars, and the phenomenon of short-lived brands is serious.

With China’s accession to the WTO, well-known foreign brands have entered the Chinese market in large numbers. They are challenging my country’s clothing industry with their brand advantages, financial advantages, and design advantages, causing my country’s clothing companies to face unprecedented fierce competition. If my country's garment industry wants to remain invincible in the competition, it must improve the overall quality of the enterprise, constantly improve the enterprise's management and marketing model, enhance the competitiveness of the enterprise, and win the best economic and social benefits in marketing.

2. Improve the clothing brand management strategy

1. Segment the brand market

Based on geographical segmentation, demographic segmentation, behavioral segmentation, psychological segmentation, etc. Commonly used consumer market segmentation methods analyze the market, find room for brand growth, and complete brand positioning when distinguishing the target market and target consumers. Clothing brand positioning includes product positioning, price positioning and image positioning. Product positioning determines the categories and categories of products to be operated. First determine whether to operate men's clothing, women's clothing or children's clothing, and then decide whether to operate casual wear, professional wear or underwear. Price positioning is based on product positioning and combined with the added value of the brand to determine the price, whether it is mid-range or high-end. Image positioning refers to the brand's packaging, language, brand image, etc.

For example, Youngor suits are positioned for successful men in the workplace, focusing the appeal of the clothing brand on men's "kingly style". Hong Kong clothing brands "Giordano" and "Banniro" are developed and targeted at urban young people. They launch different colors and popular youth casual clothing every season, which are deeply loved by young people. Tingmei underwear uses fashion and sexy appeals to create a noble and elegant brand image full of modern femininity.

2. Explore brand culture

Clothing is the carrier of culture and flowing art and wisdom. Clothing brand is not only a distillation of the spirit of clothing personality but also a summary of clothing characteristics. It is not the clothing itself but a carrier of direct dialogue with consumers. Brand culture is the accumulation of humanistic characteristics in the brand and all cultural phenomena of brand activities. The brand connotation must be discovered in the hearts of consumers.

The cultural connotation contained in the brand is not abstract and far-reaching. It is clearly displayed in front of consumers through the overall image of the product. If we use a metaphor to describe it: clothing is like the human body. , culture is the human soul. A brand without cultural accumulation is like a person without thoughts. Fashion design master Chanel said: "Everything will pass, only style will last forever." The fundamental reason why internationally renowned clothing brands are respected by the world and can lead the fashion trend is that they all have their own unique style, and they skillfully integrate the brand's perfect design ideas and profound cultural heritage into their clothing. , establish their own clothing kingdom, how can this kind of clothing brand nourished by culture not be widely circulated?

For example: Versace is well versed in the luxurious and luxurious psychology of nobles and celebrities, and adopts Noble and luxurious fabrics, stiff tailoring lines, nobility and full of kingly style. Those hard lines will make you recognized wherever you go, becoming the connotation of Versace brand culture. Valentino expresses the elegant, charming and mature female culture.

3. Highlight brand personality

Brand personality is the main reason for attracting attention. If you think of a person as a brand, she is twenty years old, has bright eyes and white teeth, is small in stature, and is beautiful and cute. When you are attracted to her and gradually get to know her, you begin to trust her and like to get along with her, even when she is not around. Miss her very much. It's a joy to be around, and you've been deeply moved by her value and care, which are similar to the emotional effects that people have with a brand's personality. Generally speaking, humans like things with a human touch. If you can create a personality for the brand and meet the emotional needs of consumers, it will be easier to impress consumers. Brands will grow, just as interpersonal relationships will develop. It is often this emotional factor that promotes consumers' loyalty to the brand.

Brand personality is the most differentiated and active part of a clothing brand, and it is the deepening of brand positioning. Only a distinctive personality can become the focus of attention. The more personalized something is, the more people can remember it, trigger excitement and establish a long-term relationship with each other. Anna Su's brand personality is characterized by beauty, eccentricity, decadence, retro and gorgeous luxury, which makes many models and musicians fascinated by its unique style, because these personalities can reflect their and Unique and even shocking, they naturally became loyal customers of the Anna Sui brand.

4. Innovative product technology

In today’s competitive market environment, the continuation of a good brand’s life cycle lies more in the technological innovation of its products. The innovation of clothing brands mainly lies in the use of popular colors, the use of advanced textile fabrics, unique designs, etc. Changes brought about by industrial upgrading and structural adjustment in the apparel industry will continue to be reflected through the market. While consumer demand for apparel is growing, people are further influenced by fashion trends.

The grasp of clothing color is related to the temperament, personality and aesthetic taste of consumers. People will pay more attention to color and will be both bold and cautious when choosing popular colors.

With the development of high technology, the quality of clothing fabrics has improved, the fashion cycle of fabrics has shortened, and more emphasis has been placed on both comfort and fashion beauty. Functional fabrics are gradually becoming a trend. Fabrics with functions such as comfort, breathability, anti-wrinkle and no ironing, anti-static, anti-ultraviolet, anti-bacteria, anti-mildew, flame-retardant and other functions are constantly being introduced, and will soon form new consumer demands.

Therefore, clothing manufacturing enterprises must pay special attention to fashion trends, capture clothing information, focus on the adoption and design of new products and new processes in design, production, and processing, and keep up with international fashion trends. Garment enterprises should take the initiative to eliminate outdated and backward equipment and introduce advanced technical equipment to improve clothing processing efficiency and quality and enhance core competitiveness.

5. Integrated marketing communication

Clothing brand communication is a system consisting of multiple links. For example, bright slogans, distinctive and unified logos, excellent advertising creativity, suitable image spokespersons, accurate communication of brand information, public relations activities (including charity social activities, sponsorship projects, etc.), promotions, etc. Integrate various communication methods to achieve the effect of 1+1>2. For example, ESPRIT, in addition to advertising, also actively encourages consumers to express their own style, and puts forward the concept that the fashion industry must be responsible for society and fashion life. In order to draw public attention to the ecological environment, ESPRIT participates in Earth Day promotional activities every year. The store is also filled with posters about returning to nature.

However, no matter what combination is adopted, different media and different means should maintain a unified image, a unified voice, a unified theme and color, and form a coordinated operation situation. Only by making the brand consistent at all points of contact with consumers can we achieve complementary effects. Of course, on the premise that the theme remains unchanged, the means of creative expression can also be varied and innovative, so that customers will never get bored and become loyal to the brand.

Integrated marketing communications also vary from brand to brand, and the means of integrated marketing must be highly relevant to the brand connotation. For example, making Chinese-style clothing is suitable for holding talent shows such as folk music and traditional Chinese painting to enhance the atmosphere, rather than hosting youth idol meetings or hip-hop performances. Youngor and Pierre Cardin clothing cannot be endorsed by artists with a local flavor.

6. Standardize marketing channels

Clothing is a commodity sold across regions. Establishing efficient and standardized marketing channels is the key for clothing companies to maintain their brands and improve their competitiveness. The marketing channels of the clothing industry include agents at all levels, middlemen, sales terminals and auxiliary institutions (such as transportation companies, independent warehouses, banks and advertising agencies). Channel construction includes two major aspects: channel design and channel management. Channel design should make clothing marketing channels develop in a flat manner and minimize the intermediate links in circulation to accelerate product sales and capital recovery. Clothing marketing channels should also develop in a diversified manner, and the length and width of the channels should be flexibly determined based on corporate strength and market capacity. Brand franchise stores should be the main sales form of the terminal. Shopping mall counters can become the support of brand franchise stores, and self-operated discount stores can be used as a way to handle inventory. In terms of channel management, apparel companies must establish mutually beneficial partnerships with channel members at all levels. The company provides timely and high-quality products and services to channel members and promotes their operation and development, making them profitable while also achieving product sales. and capital withdrawal to ensure its own development. This approach can also fundamentally reduce friction between enterprises and channel members, and between channel members, and better curb bad behaviors such as cross-selling.

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