retail offer advantage through brand orientation in luxury, high fashion stores

161 Pages·2007·1.53 MB·English

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Abstract
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The high fashion, up-market, high-street, or designer’s fashion, is highly successful, as
measured by customer recognition levels, the premium prices that these can command
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in addition to the extent to which these brands can be applied Εacross a range of product
categories, where socially affected dimensions, such as brand image and the level of
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service provisions, are important for retailer’s success. The concept of branding in the
context of fashion retailing is characterised by high levels of market concentration,

centralisation and outlet standardisation. Also, newΟ technological developments have
enabled fashion retailers to replicate competitor offers quite easy, while fast fashion
retailers, such as Spanish Zara, Mango or SwΙedish H&M are producing cheap versions
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of “in vogue” clothes, making fashionable apparel affordable to wide consumers ranges.
In the pursuit of market share, the multiple fashion retailers are implementing branding
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strategies that aim to differentiate their product offer and reinforce their market
positioning.
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This thesis provides a conceptualisation of brand orientation within the context of fashion
retailing, specially the luxury, Σor, so-called, high fashion retailing. Most of the high fashion
sold today is ready to wear collections and diffusion lines, targeted to customers of
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particular class, age, income, social status, and with particular orientations to fashion. In
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plethora of offers, retailer need to work on a number of distinctive features that will make
its store special, noΕt only because of the clothes it carries, but also because of the store
location and image, aesthetics and atmosphere, staff and its attitude, communication
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messages, celebrities endorsements, etc. One way retailers have sought to differentiate
their stores, and develop sustainable competitive advantage is through branding not only
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the products, but the total store experience. Branding is endemic in retailing, where
produΠcts, ranges and the company itself may be branded, and is currently the dominant
strategy around which retail competition is structured. Brand orientation expressed
through brand’s distinctiveness, functional, value adding and symbolic dimensions which
are tightly connected to retail mix elements including merchandise, communication
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messages, trading format and customer service, is “responsible” for the success of the
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luxury fashion stores, selling either their own or other manufacturers’ brands. Previous
studies suggested that to maintain a competitive advantage, a fashion retaiΙler needs to
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translate its core values into coherent brand strategy, and more brand oriented the retailer
the greater its offer advantage, because, at the heart of brand orientation is the pursuit of
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competitor differentiation. In this thesis, the case of contemporary Greek clothing retailer
characterized as “lifestyle retail brand” will be examined on the bΙasis of the brands it
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carries, services unique for local market that “add value” before and after the purchase,
selective “branded” staff, smart communication messaging, exclusive location, prestigious
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clientele, etc. In other words, the leadership position of particular high fashion retailer is
explained by focusing on its brand oriented strategies implemented in its multi-brand and
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mono-brand luxury stores.

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Acknowledgements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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To Dr. George Pannigyrakis my mentor and advisor, for his time, guidance, and
encouragement in completion of the study.
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To my family back home, Vladimir, Smilja, Aleksandra, Petar and Marko, for their support
throughout all these years, for all the love and understanding theΙy were and still are
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embracing me with. Special thanks to my son, beautiful, wonderful, amazing Orpheus, to
Zdravko my great brother who is always by my side, to Sakis, Olja, my best friend and
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sister in Greece, for her supportive phone calls.

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Special thank you to my mother, she knows why…

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In loving memory of my grandmother…
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Table of Contents
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INTRODUCTION OF THE THESIS..................................................................................1
Background..............................................................................................................Ι....................... ..1
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Problem Statement........................................................................................................................ .5
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Objectives of the Study................................................................................................................ .6
Research Question........................................................................................................................ .7
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Framework of the study................................................................................................................ .7
Definitions of the Study..........................................................Π...................................................... .8
Outline of the Thesis..................................................................................................................... .9

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CHAPTER ONE: LUXURY FASHION BRANDS..........................................................10
Fashion Products Classification..............................................................................................1 0
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Fashion artifacts............................................................................................................................1 3
Luxury Brands Concept..............................................................................................................1 5
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Luxury, Lifestyle, High Street Fashion...................................................................................1 8
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Heritage and Tradition as a Basis of High Fashion Brands.............................................20
Branding the high fashion....Σ......................................................................................................2 3
Luxury brands “democratization”............................................................................................2 8
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Prestigious and Mass-tigious....................................................................................................3 0
Luxury Apparel Industry Trends...............................................................................................3 1
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References of Introduction and Chapter One.......................................................................38
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CHAPTER TWO: FASHION RETAILER AS A BRAND.................................................44
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Fashion Retail Stores...................................................................................................................4 4
FashΠion Seasons and Cycles....................................................................................................4 9
Competition in high fashion market........................................................................................5 1
Luxury Market Figures.................................................................................................................5 4
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The Major High Fashion Companies.......................................................................................5 6
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The Greek fashion market..........................................................................................................6 7
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The City of Athens Fashion Offer....................................................................Α.........................6 8
CHAPTER THREE: BRAND ORIENTATION – LITERATURE REVIEW.......................77
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Brand Orientation as Market Orientation “Plus”.................................................................77
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Market-Orientation Concept...........................................................Ε............................................7 8
Brand Orientation Concept........................................................................................................8 5
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How Brand Orientation is defined in Literature...................................................................87

Brand Orientation in Retailing...................................................................................................9 0
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Brand Orientation Strategies in Fashion Retailing.............................................................92
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CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY OF THΜE RESEARCH AND THE CASE STUDY11 1
Research Strategy.......................................................................................................................11 1
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Case Study Design......................................................................................................................11 2
Data Collection Method.............................................................................................................11 3
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The Carouzos Company- History Milestones.....................................................................114
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The Carouzos Mission...............................................................................................................11 5
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The Company Today...Π...............................................................................................................11 6
The Brand Name..........................................................................................................................11 8
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Competitors...................................................................................................................................1 19
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Merchandise-Brand Portfolio...................................................................................................12 0
Services..........................................................................................................................................1 23
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Made to measure.......................................................................................................................123
Private Shopping.......................................................................................................................124
GifΠt Services...............................................................................................................................124
Free Fitting..................................................................................................................................125
Home Delivery............................................................................................................................125
Monogramming..........................................................................................................................125
Trunk Shows...............................................................................................................................126
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Trading Format.............................................................................................................................1 26
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Location.......................................................................................................................................126
Store environment.....................................................................................................................127
Staff........................................................................................................................Ι......................129
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Communication............................................................................................................................1 30
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Carouzos as Brand Oriented Retailer...................................................................................13 2
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CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION OF THE RESEARCH............................................136
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List of References.......................................................................................................................13 9
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Table of Contents

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LIST OF TABLES Α
Table 1: Artifacts of Fine Fashion Industry................................................................14
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Table 2: Summaries of luxury goods characteristics..................................................16
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Table 3: The Main Distribution Channels in Fashion Industry, and the Differences
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in Control, Capital Required and Profitability for Fashion Company......................47

Table 4: The Major Luxury Companies’ Sales in 2003..............................................55
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Table 5: Relevant Situations for Different Research Strategies...............................111
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Table 6: The Carouzos brand Portfolio......................................................................120
LIST OF FIGURES Η
Figure 1: The Fashion Pyramid...................................................................................11
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Figure 2: Multiple sources oΣf legitimacy for fashion houses.....................................53
Figure 3. Customer satisΙfaction as the focus and point of departure of the firm - the
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logic of market-oriented approach................................................................................7 8
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Figure 4. Market Orientation Matrix.........................................................................83
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Figure 5: the market oriented process effects:..............................................................84
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Figure 6: The brand as a company’s strategic platform-the logic of the brand-
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oriented approach.........................................................................................................8 8
Figure 7: Brand Hexagon...........................................................................................89
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