e Marketing Plan of Fashion Hou

Internet and Digital Marketing Communications
E-Marketing Plan of Fashion House 2011
LONDON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

& FINANCE
E-Marketing Plan of Fashion House
Submission Date: 2nd October, 2011
Module Name: Internet and Digital Marketing Communications
Module Code: IDMC
Assignment Title: E-Marketing Plan of Fashion House
Word Count: 4401
Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

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Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................1
2. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................2
3. CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................3
3.1 MARKET ENVIRONMENT........................................................................................................3
4 COMPETITION ANALYSIS................................................................................................................8
4.1 SWOT ANALYSIS.....................................................................................................................8
5 COMPANY’S STRATEGIC APPROACH..............................................................................................9
5.1 CURRENT MARKETING OBJECTIVES.......................................................................................9
5.2 KEYS TO SUCCESS.................................................................................................................10
5.3 CRITICAL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES.....................................................................................10
5.4 E - MARKETING MIX.............................................................................................................10
5.5 PROMOTION TOOLS.............................................................................................................13
6 BUSINESS MODELS.......................................................................................................................16
7 IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL..............................................................................................17
7.1 IMPLEMENTATION...............................................................................................................17
7.2 CONTROL.............................................................................................................................18
8 CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................18
9 REFERENCES................................................................................................................................19
10 APPENDIX.................................................................................................................................21
APPENDIX 1 - Using the Code Source of Banana Republic...............................................................21
APPENDIX 2 - Searching the Key Words at J CREW Website on http://www.jcrew.com/index.jsp. 22
APPENDIX 3 - Using Google Analytics to Determine the Key Words................................................23
APPENDIX 4 – Layout of the Website...............................................................................................24

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report delineates the e-marketing plan of Fashion House. The systematic
market analysis enables the outlining of the unsurpassed strategies that the
organization follows to achieve the strategic goals and objectives.
Fashion House is an exclusive store for the fashion hungry customers and has
positioned itself as a trend setter of the industry, by introducing innovative
products in the market as well reinforcing the existing products. The
amalgamation of unparalleled expertise, latest technology, and an excellent
corporate strategy has resulted in the unprecedented growth of the sales of the
company over the years.
“The difference between style and fashion is quality” (Giorgio Armani, 2007)
As rightly quoted by Giorgio Armani, Fashion House provides customized quality

products for the individual buyers to craft their own style statement. With a
spectrum of clientele, they offer a wide array of products to the consumers with
expertise in ideation, production and delivery. Never stepping back on mediocre
performance and always striving for the best result, the company is today in
history and has emerged as a robust brand.
The success of the company is mirrored by a substantial capture of market

shares within this market, while strategically escalating the company up to the
pinnacle as the leader in the market for the clothing sector.
The e-marketing plan portrays the current marketing mix of Fashion House,
investigates the popularity of individualization and personalization prospect for
the customers (new variants) and formulates suggestions with regard to the
extension of brand promotion with the aid of digital marketing tools including
Paper Click Ads, SEO and Affiliate Advertisements. Primary and secondary
sources of information have been used for the purpose of this analysis.

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2. INTRODUCTION
Fashion House is a newly established UK based company. The company
manufactures high quality, fashionable, exclusive, casual and formal customized
clothing targeted towards fashion conscious men and women, mainly single
professionals and DINKS (double income no kids) couples between the age of 21
to 35 years with a higher disposable income and a palate for indulgence.
Whatever customization clothing a client desires, the company’s in-house

designers and highly skilled tailors can design, craft and deliver. The company
offers original off-the- rack designs for customers to choose from and add their
own twist and modifications to make their clothes personalised and unique as
per their individual taste.
The company also provides a high quality personalized shopping experience by

providing information on the latest fashion trends and a one-on-one guidance to
their customers on dressing well for any occasion.
Fashion House aims to be a ‘one stop shop’ to meet all the needs of an individual
interested in high quality fashion through its extensively interactive and design
focused website which enables the customers to make customisation to their
desired products and also place orders online and have the clothes delivered to
their doorstep.
The company also has an exclusive boutique in Shoreditch - a young hip

fashionable area of London where customers can visit by making an appointment
and get personalised service.

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3. CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
3.1 MARKET ENVIRONMENT

“Market environment consists of the actors and forces that affect a company’s
capability to operate effectively in providing products and services to its
customers” (Jobber, 1998, pg 106).
MACRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS OF FASHION HOUSE
Domestic or foreign jurisdiction, accounting standards & taxation, technological

advancements and other macro factors affect the company which are by and
large uncontrollable by the company. PESTEL analysis is used to analyse
changes in these macro factors and their effect on the company.
Political and Legal Analysis
Government Policing and Regulations
UK based companies have to comply with the EU regulations and the EU

emphasizes strict implementations of data protection and privacy laws, under
which the EU countries must ensure the confidentiality and security of
communications by prohibiting intrusion, tracking and surveillance without the
user’s consent. (Baker and Hart, 2008)
The Internet Advertising Key Report (2009) states that The European
Commission is concerned about the use of a behavioural internet technology
known as ‘Phorm’, which constantly tracks and analyses customers behaviours,
interests and preferences .
The rapid pace of innovation of these privacy laws could mean that the law is
unclear and had never been enacted upon to govern a particular activity or
tested in courts. These laws could have significant impact on the marketing
activities of the company and any non-compliance of the law could lead the
company in dire legal consequences and also cause serious damage to the
reputation of the company. Negative sentiment could result into loss of trust
among current and potential customers, resulting in reduction of online sales.

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Government Taxation
The UK government has increased VAT tax rates in 2011 to its highest at 20% to
make up for the budget deficit caused by the recession. The increase in VAT tax
on luxury clothing has a direct negative effect on the sales and revenue of the
company.
Economic Analysis
Rapid Growth of Online Retailing
The UK Online Retail Report (2009) claims that between 2008 and 2011 whilst
UK retail sales will increase by just 0.2% and high streets sales will decrease by
1.4%, the non- store (online) are projected to increase their sales by 49%. In
fact, the only growth sector in British retailing in 2012 will be online retailing.
The online retail market is also forecasted to double its participation of total
retail spending between 2008 and 2011 from 3.2% to 7.4%. (Richard M.S et al,
2005)
These figures mentioned above led us to conclude that although the recession of
the economy that has hit the country since 2008 (Clothing Key Note, 2010),
there is a big opportunity for retailers to adopt an online buying model to sell
their products. The impact of these trends on Fashion House has been very
positive, since the company´s primary aim is to sell clothing products and
provide services like fashion advice through online platforms to increase
customer reach, provide additional value and decrease costs.
Social and Cultural Analysis
European Consumer Trends
The Internet Key Note Report (2009) states that European consumers will spend
an average of 14.2 hours a week on the Internet, and it will become the most
popular and preferred buying channel in the future. It is also stated that the
social media will play a significant role in e-commerce and e marketing.
In order to take advantages of these consumer trends in the UK, Fashion House
is investing heavily in digital media channels to increase its online presence.
Security and Reliability

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Safety and privacy issues are the most important issues faced by e-commerce
growth in the UK (Internet Advertising Key Report, 2009). Increased attacks on
social networking sites by hackers and Phishing websites created by cyber
criminals for identity theft and to steal credit card details can result into high risk
for consumers and cause hesitance in online shopping, especially from a
relatively new and less known Brand’s website.
Fashion House has built alliances with trusted companies like PayPal UK that
provide secure and reliable online payment transfers, to offer customers a safe &
assured shopping experience and in turn build their trust in the company and the
brand.
Technological Analysis
Increased Broadband Access and Speed
One of the most important issues of setting an online buying channel for the
company is the internet access of the population of a country. In Britain, 70% of
the households had access to the internet in 2009 compared with 65% in 2008
and 57% in 2006; which is a large percentage of the population, also increasing
broadband speed determines the capacity for the communication and saves time
and these two technological developments works very favourably for our
company by increasing our customer reach and facilitate the navigation of
current online shoppers.
The late 90’s witnessed a surge in the services sector of the Indian economy with
numerous BPO centres for global conglomerates.
From technical customer support to bill handling to medical transcription services

to banking back-end operations to insurance services, BPO put India on the
world map and identified that it was a force to consider with in the post-
globalization world 24x7.
BPO services in India initially started with email and voice-only customer support
services that later led to the mushrooming of numerous call centre hubs across
the length and breadth of the country. While this created employment
opportunities for numerous graduates and part time job seekers, there was a

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progressive transition of these call centres into more professional outsource
service centres offering specialized high end services to overseas clients.
SNS communication technologies enable or facilitate ‘user-to-user’ interactivity

and interactivity between user and information. Internet replaces the "one-to-
many" model of traditional mass communication with the possibility of a "many-
to-many" web of communication.
Any individual with the appropriate technology can now produce his or her online
media that include images, text, and sound about whatever he or she chooses.
So the new media with technology convergence shifts the model of mass
communication, and radically shapes the ways we interact and communicate
with one another.
When we think of interactivity and its meaning, we assume that it is only

prominent in the conversational dynamics of individuals who are face-to-face.
This restriction of opinion does not allow us to see its existence in mediated
communication forums. Interactivity is present in some programming work, such
as video games. It's also viable in the operation of traditional media. Other
settings of interactivity include radio and television talk shows, letters to the
editor, listener participation in such programs, and computer and technological
programming.
Social networking is the term used to describe the websites that offer people a
chance to ‘meet’ virtually, sharing information, news and views via the Internet.
Social networking provides many significant benefits and allows people from all
over the world and from all walks of life to ‘meet’ in a way that would have been
inconceivable only a few years ago.
A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who

share interests and / or activities, or who are interested in exploring the
interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based
and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant
messaging services.
Recently they have started many additional applications such as iPoke, Tag etc
to put across emotions. Social networking has created new ways to
communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used

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regularly by millions of people, and in most society’s social networking have
become an enduring part of everyday life.
Why Social Networking Sites are Becoming Popular?
One of the big reasons why social networking sites are popular is because of the
multitude of things people can do on social networking sites. Here are just a few
of the things users can do:
Reconnect with Old Friends
If the users are looking for people they haven't seen in a long time or people
they went to school with, it is easy to find them on social networking sites. Many
sites categorize people by their hometown, where they went to school and the
different places they have worked, so they can browse through the people who
went to their school or search for the name of someone they are looking for.
They can also use a social networking site to keep in touch with family members
who live far away, plan reunions and share pictures without clogging up their e-
mail account.
Make New Friends
Social networking websites have the potency to connect the users to the friends
of their friends, and can see and contact people in their friends' circles whom
they don't know. This gives the users the ability to connect with people they
might not have otherwise met.
The users can also use social networking sites to find people to date. Back in the
days when Facebook was just for college students, many people used it as a
dating service to find people on their campus who they might not have known
otherwise.
Find Business Partners
Social networking sites link people with similar interests. The users can use a
site (and the same process of meeting people through friends and their friends)
to find business partners or people whom they are working in a business that is
similar and want to engage in a joint venture.

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Some social networking sites are also great for getting publicity for a business
enterprise because they can write about what's going on in their business for the
entire world to see. They can even set up their own music group as its own
entity on a social networking site so that it can have "friends" who then get all
the updates about their events.
Fun and Frolic
The social networking sites aren't just about hooking up with people. They also
let people share videos, pictures, quizzes and develop online games and
applications. It also allows the users to develop their own applications and share
them over the network. These games and other options can be a lot of fun, but
they can also drain time, which can be good or bad depending on what your goal
in using the social networking site is in the first place.
Social Systems, Culture and Individualization in Organizations
A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many

ways. Within an organization, the social system includes all the people in it and
their relationships to each other and to the outside world.
The behaviour of one member can have an impact, either directly or indirectly,
on the behaviour of others. Also, the social system does not have boundaries as
it exchanges goods, ideas, and culture with the environment around it.
Culture is the conventional behaviour of a society that encompasses beliefs,

customs, knowledge, and practices. It influences human behaviour, even though
it seldom enters into their conscious thought.
People depend on culture as it gives them stability, security, understanding, and

the ability to respond to a given situation. This is why people fear change. They
fear the system will become unstable, their security will be lost, they will not
understand the new process, and they will not know how to respond to the new
situations. Individualization is when employees successfully exert influence on
the social system by challenging the culture.
Productivity and Social Networking in the Modern Economy

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Bernolak (2009) defines productivity as 'how much and how well we produce
from the resources used. If we produce more or better goods from the same
resources, we increase productivity. Or, if we produce the same goods from
lesser resources, we also increase productivity'. In this article, 'productivity'
refers to the time spent by an employee actively executing the job he or she was
hired to do, in order to produce the desired outcomes expected from the
employees' job description.
Recent studies, for example, Golder, Wilkinson and Huberman (2010), Arvanitis
and Loukis (in press) and Coyle and Vaughn (2010) concur that social networks
are typical characterisations of human behaviour to fulfil the need to
communicate and connect with people they know, meet new people who share a
common interest, collaborate, participate and share information and knowledge
as well as gain new knowledge. Generally, these are also the reasons why
individuals engage in social behaviour via the Internet. To many, the Internet
provides effective social networking opportunities and their online behaviour
includes building individual relationships, expanding their personal network of
friends, finding people who have had similar experiences, discussing common
topics of interest, dating and finding potential life partners, staying connected to
old friends or distant family and virtually meeting peers, including work
colleagues, to discuss current issues or topics of interest.
Capital Factors in the Modern Economy
In the modern economy, Boase, Horrigan, Wellman and Rainie (2009), Acquaah
(2009), Arvanitis and Loukis (2009); Shalley and Perry-Smith (2009), and Wong
(2009) identify some of the 'new' factors that are becoming increasingly
important, namely:
 Human Capital - Knowledge, skills and capabilities that people possess
 Social Capital - The relationship between people and the collective wealth
contained therein
 Organisational Capital - The new workplace management skills and

knowledge acquired through learning within the modern organisation,

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which simultaneously and continuously adapts and learns to sustain
performance
 Intellectual Capital - The knowledge people possess that can be exploited

for financial gain or any other useful purpose that might be advantageous
to a company or cause
 Network Capital - The contacts individuals draw on as a source of trusted

information. This usually happens in an environment where people are
confronted with institutions and rules, typically in a work environment,
which forms part of problem solving processes.
The combination of the factors mentioned above can be referred to as

'knowledge capital', which refers to people as key organisational assets, because
knowledge – that is valuable knowledge – exists mainly in individuals. People
should therefore be the main focus of the knowledge-based economy, as they
are the most valuable resource it has. Since the individual is the main focus of
the knowledge-based economy, effective interaction between individuals is of
great importance to stakeholders. The Internet has aided such interaction since
its inception, and the flexibility of the World-Wide Web (the Web) has a unique
capacity to 'break down boundaries of distance, language and domains of
knowledge' (Berners-Lee, 2009).
Rise of the Social Web
Since 2005, the term 'Web 2.0' has been used to describe the new applications
and sites that were rapidly emerging in the existing Web environment (Anderson
2008)
However, to discourage the misconception that these 'new' technologies are part
of a 'separate' Web, the term 'social Web' is used to describe the interactive
technologies that form a part of the so called Web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0
technologies include blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS and online social networks.
Online Social Networks and Social Networking

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The concept of social networking is not new. Human interaction inherently
promotes the formation of networks through social contact (Tapscott and
Williams 2010).
Collaboration used to take place on a much smaller scale between relatives,

friends and associates in households and communities. The present situation has
changed substantially and today one rarely finds an organisation that functions
without group collaboration and accordingly applies Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) in its collaboration space.
In this space, social networking technology, for example, allows members to

create personal profiles and network with other members, as well as with other
organisations. Members network by adding other members as 'friends', posting
public and private messages, participating in discussion forums and engaging in
other forms of digitally mediated social interactions (Vander Veer 2008).
Through the development of Online Social Networking (OSN) technologies, it is

now possible to network much quicker and reach a much larger expert audience.
Online Social Networks and Human Capital
Social networking is common human behaviour, but the question arises: Do

social networks add value to organisations? With specific reference to
'productivity', Arvanitis and Loukis (2009) investigated the link between ICT,
human capital, workplace organisation and labour productivity.
This was a comparative study based on firm-level data and India and
Switzerland. Their study showed that although the use of ICT in Indian firms has
led to positive productivity effects, the full productivity potential was not reached
because human capital was not efficiently combined with technology. Similarly,
Arvanitis and Loukis (2008) found that:
'The decentralization of some competencies has positive productivity effects, but

this potential is not fully exploited due to inefficient combination with human
capital. Swiss firms, on the other hand, seem to be able to exploit the potential
of technology and decentralization through the combination of these factors with

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appropriate human skills, which in turn enables a higher level exploitation of ICT
and a more successful decentralization of competencies.'
From the above quote it is clear that the effective combination of human capital
and technology is required to increase productivity. To this point it has been
established that a focus on human capital, that is what people know, will
contribute to an organisation's productivity. Organisations have to optimise this
human capital by facilitating the interaction of communities and networks
through, for example, social networking sites and business customised OSN
technology. This is necessary to increase what people know, how they perform
and how they apply their knowledge and energy in the organisational context
and specifically within their communities of practice.
Online Social Networking and Interactivity

Communities of Practice (CoPs) or communities of interest are groups of
individuals who share a passion for something that they know how to do, and
who interact regularly in order to learn how to do it better' (Wenger 2010).
Boothby (2010) argues that today's knowledge worker can work efficiently in
large virtual teams, and social networking sites create such an electronic
platform.
Wenger and Bryan (2010) concur and add that groups of people, who interact
regularly, such as virtual teams, are bound to improve their skills through
knowledge sharing. Therefore, notice should be taken towards the knowledge
workers of today who not only function efficiently in large virtual teams, but
thrive in such an environment to an extent where they advance their knowledge
sharing skills. If knowledge sharing can be increased by a virtual CoP, then
social networking sites may prove to be the catalyst to promote interaction
(Boyd, Ellisonal, et al., 2011).
Considering the potential of virtual teams interacting within a CoP by utilising the
OSN platform, the effect may be an increase in productivity of those employees
who actively search and employ their list of contacts as well as others' linked-in
profiles and their contacts and by updating and growing their own list of
contacts.

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If these 'connected individuals' spend time interacting with other individuals who
possess knowledge about the relevant working environment, increased
knowledge sharing is likely to take place. With this in mind, the potential positive
effect of virtual CoPs is further investigated.
Online Social Networking and Communities of Practice
Productivity was described above as the time spent by an employee actively

executing the job he or she was hired to do, in order to produce the desired
outcomes expected from the employees' job description. Productivity refers to
how well an individual performs. Research by Groysberg and Lee (2009) shows
that individual top performers do not 'own' their performance, but that the
'quality of colleagues' in the organisation also significantly affects top
performers' ability to maintain their performance.
Thus, in an organisational context, value can be found in attracting and

developing individuals who hold specialised knowledge, but that value can
further be promoted by encouraging the social networks that enable the sharing
of knowledge between these individuals. Lesser and Storck (2009) and Bartlett
and Ghoshal (2009) explain how: by connecting these individuals a CoP is
formed, which allows and encourages members to engage in sharing and
learning based on their common interests.
To this Khanna and New (2009) and Hong, Kianto and Kyläheiko (2009) add the
importance of optimal use of the social Web to enhance knowledge work in a
culture and generation diverse organisation.
This is important in order to increase employee satisfaction and to foster

individual and organisational performance. OSN technology may aid knowledge
work in a diverse organisation and foster individual and organisational
performance through collaboration. However, the risks associated with OSN are
manifold.
Advantages and Risks of Online Social Networking

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Social networks function in the online environment through social networking
sites, that is, technology that allows people to set up profiles, link to other
individuals' profiles and view, navigate and interact with others in the social
network.
Lange (2009) views the linking of profiles together with the ability to view the
resulting connections on others' profiles as the most tangible mechanisms
reflecting existing social networks. Boyd and Ellison (2010) add that this
technology allows people to articulate their relationship to others in a way that is
visible to anyone who can access their profile. Being linked or connected to
others can lead to potential benefits such as improved collaboration and
information sharing, greater productivity and enhanced communications among
co-workers, business partners and customers.
KPMG , Barker and Bernoff (2010) review recent studies of OSN in the workplace
and conclude that OSN permits a robust blend of member profile and contact
information, rich presence information, collaborative document creation,
distribution tracking and other features that 'build a pulse' inside the
organisation. In this environment, individuals know who knows who, what each
member is currently involved in and how they can be reached. In short, OSN
provides a simpler and more intuitive approach for members of the same
community of employees to find each other based on complementary knowledge
or need for knowledge.
OSN, however, is coupled with risks associated with it. Hathi (2009), Perkins
(2010), Star Technology (2009) and Violino (2010) summarise some of the risks
as follows:
 OSN spurs social activity and is associated with developing addictive

behaviour; if not managed properly it will result in a decline in employee
productivity.
 OSN poses privacy issues and poses security risks such as identity fraud.
 OSN may result in secondary data collection, that is, indirect derivation of
data from existing sources.

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 OSN may lead to social networking spam, that is, the propagation of
unsolicited messages.
 OSN holds the risk of corporate espionage, that is, organisations can
expose their intellectual property and other proprietary information to the
outside world or to people within the organisation with negative result.
 OSN may expose members to malware thereby introducing viruses,

worms and spyware to the organisation's ICT infrastructure.
 OSN results in bandwidth and storage consumption. Many social network

members share pictures, music, videos, high-definition movies and other
large files.
Many individuals who use the social Web do so at work for both non-work and
work-related purposes. Even though the above list of risks is not inclusive it
suffices to stress the need to understand the effect of OSN in the workplace.
MICRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS FOR FASHION HOUSE
Porter’s Five Forces
This framework is used to assess the attractiveness of the UK Clothing Industry

by analysing the impact of the Internet on the five competitive forces affecting
the company.
Threat of Potential Entrants (High)
According to the Clothing and Footwear Key Note Report (2010) the clothing
industry has shown a slow growth due to price deflection occurred between 2005
and 2009. By contrast, online shopping including Clothing has dramatically
increased in the past decade in the UK (Internet Advertising Key Report 2009).
Hence, E-Commerce has become a very attractive option for companies to
diversify and expand customer reach by increasing their online presence.
Also, there are no significant barriers for companies to enter E-Commerce in the
UK (Internet Advertising Key Report 2009). An offshore company with similar

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product offerings can build an online presence by adopting an e-commerce
business model and use the internet to facilitate their entry in the UK market.
Even traditional competitors can create new internet companies that can enter
the market rapidly as these new entrants do not have to develop a separate and
local distribution network & manufacturing base.
Bargaining Power of Buyers (Low)
Taking into account the nature of the internet marketplace, increase in customer
knowledge and price transparency to evaluate products and easy comparison
with competitor’s products can significantly drive down prices and tremendously
increase the bargaining power of customers.
However, taking advantage of their highly interactive website, Fashion House

has recognized a gap in the market of premium customized clothing. Hence even
though the internet marketplace increases the bargaining power of the buyers, it
is mainly relevant to standardised products and services, while companies like
Fashion House offering highly differentiated products with negligible substitutes
can still charge a premium price for their premium products.
Threat of Substitute Products (High)
Customers enjoy easy comparisons and wider choice of products online.

Therefore, the main threat of substitute of customized clothing would be the
established designer brands clothing of the same price bracket, sold by e-
commerce and physical stores.
Fashion House needs to monitor substitute products and services offered by its
competitors and continue to offer more valuable and differentiated products to
avoid erosion of market share.
Competitive Rivalry (Low)
Online retail is expected to grow by over 36% in the next 18 months compared
to just 1% for in-store sale according to the UK Online Retail Report (2009).
Thus, we expect a drastic increase of competition in the E-commerce of the
clothing sector. However, to succeed, companies need to be market leaders in
executing e-marketing and online customer service. Also, Fashion House serves

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a very niche segment with negligible number of rivals. Most companies that
currently provide mass customised clothing online offer cheap and casual
clothing like t shirts with screen prints designs on them or customised logos of a
company or an education institution. These companies are not competing with
high end personalised products of Fashion House. Hence the internet has not yet
significantly increased rivalry in the unique case of Fashion House.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Low)
Generally, in the case of the E-Commerce marketplace, the power of the

suppliers is low since the barriers to switching to a different supplier are
reduced. Also, the use of the internet can reduce cost by increasing supply chain
efficiency which is another reason to demand lower prices from suppliers. Only
suppliers with rare or specialised raw materials to supply will have any
bargaining power left.
Hence low bargaining power of suppliers caused by the internet is an opportunity

and not a threat.
Abridgement
From the five forces model we can conclude that the e-commerce clothing
industry is a highly competitive environment. Furthermore, there is not much
stability since the threat of new entrants is high.
However, there are few competitors in the customized and stylish clothing niche
segment; which is an opportunity for Fashion House to provide for this market
gap in the UK market.
4 COMPETITION ANALYSIS
4.1 SWOT ANALYSIS
“A SWOT analysis is a structured approach to evaluating the strategic position of

a business by identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats”.
(Jobber, 1998: 37)

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The potency of Fashion House as a brand in the UK is indicated clearly in the
SWOT analysis. The brand was swotted to be at the pinnacle in the category of
customized clothes option, with strong customer loyalty.
The quintessential threats of the brand, as depicted above, indicates that

Fashion House has made numerous efforts to refurbish itself as a top designer
brand but till date its assiduousness towards the tag line is low-slung by the
customers.
The brand is in the currently in the growth stage of the product life cycle with a
robust proclivity towards the maturity stage.
Competitors
There are hardly any companies in the UK that provide high end, customised,
fashionable clothing. Hence the competition is mainly based on the price factor
and not necessarily on the similarity of the product range. High price end high
street brands with high online presence like Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, J.
Crew and lower price end designer brands like Karen Millen and Tommy Hilfiger
do not provide customised products but targets the same price segment clothing

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and their products too are high quality, trendy and fashionable, just as Fashion
House, making them direct competitors of the company.
Intermediaries
The company does not use any intermediaries. It sells its products and provides
its services directly from its own interactive company website and less frequently
from its London based boutique.
5 COMPANY’S STRATEGIC APPROACH

5.1 CURRENT MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Primary Objective
To increase sales and brand awareness via strong digital presence while building
and maintaining strong customer relationship.
Secondary Objectives
 Achieve 10% online revenue contribution within 2 years

 Achieve the first mover advantage with proactive penetration in the
market
Future Objectives
 To achieve a cost reduction of 10% in marketing communications in the

next 3 years
 Create value added customer services not currently available
 Expand the brand into developing markets in Asia in the next 2 years
 Develop database of customers and prospects/collect sales leads
 Up-sell customer to premium and customized product or service

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 Improve internal efficiency by reducing marketing cost and improving
customer retention rates
 ROI (Return on Investment) to be achieved within the time period of 4

years of business operations
5.2 KEYS TO SUCCESS

Fashion House is the pioneer in introducing customization of clothes online in the
market. It has the first mover advantage. Continued improvement in
differentiating Fashion House from an ordinary online store to specialized
customized platform positioned it at the zenith.
5.3 CRITICAL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

In order to maintain its position as a leader in the market, Fashion House has to
be perceived as the preferred option in customized clothing market.
5.4 E - MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT AND SERVICE OFFERING
The company’s website in detail displays the clothing line which includes Suits,
Coats/Jackets, Shirts, Trousers, Shorts, Skirts, Dresses and Denim for men and
women. To add value and improve custom, the company provides a number of
online after sale and general customer services.
The website has a section dedicated to explain and demonstrate to the

customers how to best care for their clothes to make them last and keep looking
like new for longer. The Website also hosts a blog that gets updates on a regular
basis and includes contributions from the company’s in-house designers on the
latest fashion trends, general tips on dressing well for different occasions and a
RSS web feeds from leading fashion dedicated websites like Vogue Magazine
website and famous fashion designer Gok Wan’s website etc.
The Customers also have an option to book private consultations with an in-
house designer of the company through the different contact points like
telephone number, email addresses and online forms available on the website.
PROMOTION

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Customer database linked with the company’s website will generate greets,
recommendations and target offers to all the registered customers. Attention
grabbing and easily comprehended web banner adverts displaying a part of the
product line will be placed on fashion related websites like styleshop.co.uk - a
search engine for high end fashion clothing, websites of fashion magazines like
Marie Claire, websites of fashion events like London Fashion Week, blogs and
message boards dedicated to fashion.
Direct email marketing for those who chose to opt-in would be used to target
upcoming and budding new designers and fresh graduates of design and fashion
schools to inform and introduce them to the company as a platform to display,
promote and sell their designs. Editors of reputed fashion related online
publications will be invited to positively review the company’s products and
services and mention and recommend it on their websites and e-zines as a part
of the company’s E-PR campaign.
Search engine marketing is used and integrated with search engine optimisation
by the use of appropriate and sufficient range of keywords in the website
content, building external and internal links with other good reputation and
relevant websites and databases such as Google Product Search, Youtube, social
networks, directories, reputed bloggers etc. to achieve the highest position
practical in the natural and organic listings on a search engine.
Pay-per-click advertising with a link to the company’s website are displayed on

the side of natural listings will be used to drive more traffic to the website.
Application and widgets will be built to enable the customers to browse and shop
from the company’s websites from their smart phones.
PRICE
The pricing of the products is strictly based on competition-based pricing. Our

customized products will cost more than high end high street brands like Banana
Republic, Brooks Brothers, as they are positioned as exclusive along with highest
quality along with additional associated valuable services. However, they will be
cheaper than big established designer labels like Ralph Lauren and Armani, and
so on as the company and the designers are new, young and lesser known

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compared to the more established fashion labels. This gives the customers an
incentive to try a relatively less famous brand while receiving the highest
possible quality without paying the highest price.
PLACE
This UK based company operates in a seller controlled and seller oriented

environment by selling through its own website and fashion oriented websites
through would display its products along with their competitors. E.g – net-a-
porter.co.uk. The customers are encouraged to customise and purchase their
products through a direct sales channel from the company’s website, however,
the products are distributed through traditional courier and postal channels.
PEOPLE
A combination of people and technology is used to provide the best possible

products and online customer service and seamless online shopping experience.
The people and the staff are the core of this ‘customer centric’ and ‘service
oriented’ business. The company employs talented but new, lesser known and
upcoming designers and fashion graduates along with skilful tailors.
The designers also make contribution to the company’s blog about fashion tips,
trends and general advice on dressing well.
The company’s cutting edge website with heavy graphics and designing and
customization features is extremely integral feature towards the differentiating
factor of the products. A team of skilled website designers are employed to
constantly update the website and adding new features and designing options.
General administration staff with knowledge of fashion industry is employed to

timely answer email queries, phone queries, provide call back facility, maintain
online appointment bookings of consultations with designers and queries through
online chat, maintaining general smooth running of the operations.
In addition to above, the website provides FAQ section to answer the most
common customer queries and a forum for customers and patrons to leave
comments, suggestions, even complaints and general feedback to create a
dialogue between the customer and the company to stay in tuned with the

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customer’s preferences and in turn provide improved services. The website also
has an in-site search engine enabling the customer to easily find a specific
product or piece of information.
PHYSICAL PRESENCE
The company has a boutique in a high end part of London where customers can
come for fittings, alterations (if required any). Physical presence assists in
establishing trust and reassurance among new customers. However, the point of
sale will mainly be on the website
5.5 PROMOTION TOOLS

Power of the Mass Media – Media has power and is considered to be the ‘voice
of the people’. Advancements in graphics and special effects in placing
advertisements, marketing using digital communications and effective usage of
the new media plays a vital role in the promotion of the product and its
sustainability in the market.
OFFLINE PROMOTION TOOLS
Advertising
These include tools like print ads in leading fashion magazines and high
circulation newspapers, billboards and posters.
Sponsorship
Sponsoring fashion related events such as London Fashion Week, organizing in-
house fashion shows, etc.
Direct Mail
High value spending customer database will be built and information about latest
products and offers will be mailed to them on regular basis
ONLINE PROMOTION TOOLS
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

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Specific combination of keywords like tailor made, personalized, customized,
luxury apparel and so on is used be used to achieve the highest position
practical in the natural listings of popular search engines like Google.
In order to identify the keywords we had a look at the keywords of three main
competitors by using the code source.
From Banana Republic.com we identified the following keywords: “apparel,

clothing, clothes, women’s apparel, men’s apparel, men’s clothing, work wear,
office wear" (Refer APPENDIX.1)
J Crew: the following key words: meta name="keywords" content="women's

clothing, men's clothing, children's clothing, Crewcuts, women's dresses,
cashmere, cashmere sweaters, women's shoes, wedding dresses, men's shorts,
men's ties, designer clothing, luxury apparel, cashmere, sweaters, gift cards,
J.Crew, jcrew.com, JCrew, J Crew". (Refer APPENDIX 2)
Afterwards, by using the Google analytics tool we determined the most suitable
keywords for Fashion House to be used on the SEO (Refer APPENDIX 3).
Several landing pages are built to provide better user experience as it takes the
user straight to the information related to the keywords typed into the search
engine by the user.
Pay Per Click Ads
A well thought out text ad with a link to a company page are used to advertise
the company profile and its products and services on leading search engines like
Google and Yahoo.
Sponsored Search Adverts
Sponsored search advertisements will be advertised on search engines like

Google and Yahoo by entering specific keywords is will be used to attract traffic
to the website
Display Banner Ads

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Engaging and rich media display banner ads which are similar to offline posters
will be placed on different fashion related websites, blogs and forums E.g. -
fashion-conscience.com etc.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is used by placing ads on website of fashion magazine like

Vogue and popular news websites like guardian.co.uk .These websites with
heavy traffic are used to drive traffic to Fashion House’s website.
Social Media
Features like “Add This” is added to the company’s website which lets the site
visitors share the webpage on popular social networking websites like Facebook
and Twitter with millions of other subscribers. When the user click on the ‘Add
This’ widget, the specified web page will be displayed on users Facebook and
Twitter page. In the beginning of the business the company will need to drive
traffic to the landing pages. Therefore the company and its products will be
promoted on social media websites by following the cost per impression model
which is cost effective and significantly helps increase sales and brand
awareness.
E-Mail Marketing
Opt-in email customer database will be created to send automated e –

newsletters to update, personalised recommendations and offers to engage,
encourage and persuade customers to buy the trial out the products.
6 BUSINESS MODELS
Business Model – A Birds Eye View
A business model is how business makes money. It is accumulation of all the

departments’ i.e. sales, marketing, operation, administration, R&D, finance and
everything that is involved into a business. It includes all the strategies and
tactics that determine if the company is going to make money or not. (Kaufman,
K., 2010).

A4030598 Page 25
Following business models are used by Fashion House:
Online Business Model
Online business model is used to promote and sell products and services on the
internet. Customers can place their orders using the company’s website and
online payments are accepted by credit cards and trusted third parties such as
PayPal.
Benefits of Using This Approach - Operating cost of online business is cheaper as

compared to offline business. Promotion venues are wide and options are low
cost. You can have a global reach with a small investment.
Manufacture Model
Manufacture model is the most important for Fashion House as it will help the
company maintain a direct contact (in the absence of an intermediary) with their
customers, provides a better control on the outcome of the final product in
addition to increase efficiency, improve customer service and provide better
understanding of customer preferences.
Benefits of Using This Approach – The Company will be able to provide superior
products and services by better understanding of the customers and having total
quality control of the product.
Merchant Model
The merchant model is used as the products and services will mainly be offered
online. The company has established an electronic storefront on the World Wide
Web , a complete technology infrastructure capable of receiving and processing
orders, appropriate security measures so assure confidentiality, safety and
confirmation of transaction information and completing fulfilment. Hence the
company is an online retailer of its own products.
Advertising Model
Advertising model will play an important role in marketing the company and its
products and services. Online and offline advertising channels are used to
promote the products and services.

A4030598 Page 26
For online communication, banner ads, portals, contextual marketing, content
targeted marketing and intromercials are used. Advertising model will work best
for targeting UK high end customers.
Fashion House will liaise with Institute of Practitioners in Advertising which is

professional institute of leading advertising agencies in the UK and specialize in
outdoor, digital and sponsorship sectors.
Fashion House will also obtain the membership for Internet Advertising Bureau
for digital marketing as it will help the company identify the best role for online
market, engaging with customers and brand building.
Benefits of Using This Approach - Advertising model will enable the company to
market the brand, product and services to the target market and generate traffic
to the website and generate sale leads which is the ultimate target for the
advertisement campaign.
7 IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL
7.1 IMPLEMENTATION
Email and SMS marketing being less intrusive than telephone marketing will be
used to build customer relationships and to keep them updated with the
company’s latest offers. Using the company’s website is also a very flexible
option to meet most of the company’s online marketing needs. A knowledgeable
and well trained workforce needs to be employed for a smooth running of online
marketing campaign activities from building websites, designing online adverts
to maintaining an E-PR. Constant improvement to stay abreast with
developments in technology and regular review of marketing practices with the
e-marketing regulations will be key to the success of the company’s online
marketing campaign.
7.2 CONTROL
It is extremely important to use web analytics and other online metric tools to
measure the effectiveness of the online marketing campaign, to test which e-
marketing tools are more effective which in turn helps in the allocation of the
marketing budget and concentrate our efforts, time and creativity to optimise
the use of the more successful marketing tools. It also helps us understand why

A4030598 Page 27
other tools are less successful and decide whether to improve them or abandon
their use all together.
The overall sales of the products are measured once in every six months for its
stability and sustainability in the market. Customer feedbacks are obtained
time and again to improvise the product and evaluate the success of the
product.
8 CONCLUSION
In conclusion we can confidently say that an E-marketing plan with its digital
media tools like websites, emails, mobile devices and social networking is an
economical, flexible and efficient alternative to traditional marketing tools to
send personalised communications to the company’s target customer base and
build brand awareness. It enables the company a global reach of new markets at
a lower cost. It is much easier to measure the effectiveness and responsiveness
of the individual e-marketing activity and enable the company with the right
amount of budget allocation to each marketing activity. E-marketing tools are an
integral and unavoidable part of any successful marketing campaign.

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9 REFERENCES
BOOKS
Baker and Hart (2008), The Marketing Book, 6th edition, United States of
America, Butterworth-Heinemann
Brassington and Pettitt (2006), Principles of Marketing, 4th edition, United

Kingdom, Prentice Hall
Dann, Stephen, and Susan J. Dann (2010), E-marketing: Theory and

Application, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan
David Loudon, Robert Stevens, and Bruce Wrenn (2005), Marketing

Management (Text and Cases), 1st edition, New York, The Haworth Press
Fill Chris (2009), Marketing Communications, 5th edition, United Kingdom,

Prentice Hall
M.C Cant, J.W. Strydom, and P.J Duplessis (2007), Marketing Management, 5th
edition, South Africa, Juta and Co Mercury Crescent
Richard M.S Wilson and Colin Gilligan (2005), Strategic Marketing Management,
3rd edition, Burlington, Elsevier Butterworth
Strauss, Judy, Raymond Frost, and Judy Strauss (2001), E Marketing, Upper
Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall
Subroto Sengupta (2005), Brand Positioning – Strategies for Competitive

Analysis, 2nd edition, United Kingdom, Tata Mc Graw Hill Publishing Company
Limited
ARTICLES
Emirates 24/7 (2011), E-Marketing Specialist, [Online], Available:

http://jobs.emirates247.com/en/job/?xid=1718164 [Accessed: 21st September,
2011]

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San Francisco Chronicle (2011), Internet Marketing Company Announces New
Access to Free Quotes on Their Site, [Online], Available:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-in/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/30/prweb8843770.DTL
[Accessed: 19th September, 2011]
JOURNALS
Gilmore, Audrey, Damian Gallagher, and Scott Henry (2007), E-marketing and
SMEs, Operational Lessons for the Future, European Business Review, pg 234-
247
Manouselis, Nikos, and Constantina Costopoulou (2006), A Metadata Model for

E-markets, International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies, pg 141
Robins, Fred (2000), The E-Marketing Mix, The Marketing Review, pg 249-274
Stafford, M. R (2005), Introduction to the Special Issue on E-marketing,

Marketing Theory, pg 5-6
WEB
Liberty Institute (2011), [Online], Available: http://freemarket.org/ [Accessed:

22nd September, 2011]
Mean, That I (2011), Internet Marketing for Free, [Online], Available:

http://www.askjinger.com/ [Accessed: 19th September, 2011]
Internet Marketing Newsletter (2011), [Online], Available:

http://internetmarketingnewsletter.com/> [Accessed: 15th September, 2011]
Group Marketing Services (2011), [Online], Available: http://gmsil.com/

th
[Accessed: 25 September, 2011]
DOCUMENTARY MOVIE
Business Leffler and Blair (2009) [DVD], Online Marketing, Word of Mouth
Marketing on Your Business, 6 minutes, 33 seconds, Dogwoof Studio
David (2008) [DVD], The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing, 2 hours, 22minutes,

50 seconds, Final Cut Studios Pvt Ltd

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10 APPENDIX
APPENDIX 1 - Using the Code Source of Banana Republic

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APPENDIX 2 - Searching the Key Words at J CREW Website on
http://www.jcrew.com/index.jsp

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APPENDIX 3 - Using Google Analytics to Determine the Key Words

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APPENDIX 4 – Layout of the Website

A4030598 Page 34

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Internet and Digital Marketing Communications

E-Marketing Plan of Fashion House 2011

LONDON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

E-Marketing Plan of Fashion House

Submission Date: 2nd October, 2011

Module Name: Internet and Digital Marketing Communications

Module Code: IDMC

Assignment Title: E-Marketing Plan of Fashion House

Word Count: 4401

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

As rightly quoted by Giorgio Armani, Fashion House provides customized quality

The success of the company is mirrored by a substantial capture of market

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

Whatever customization clothing a client desires, the company’s in-house

The company also provides a high quality personalized shopping experience by

The company also has an exclusive boutique in Shoreditch - a young hip

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

3.1 MARKET ENVIRONMENT

MACRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS OF FASHION HOUSE

Domestic or foreign jurisdiction, accounting standards & taxation, technological

Political and Legal Analysis

Government Policing and Regulations

UK based companies have to comply with the EU regulations and the EU

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

Rapid Growth of Online Retailing

Social and Cultural Analysis

European Consumer Trends

Security and Reliability

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

Increased Broadband Access and Speed

From technical customer support to bill handling to medical transcription services

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

SNS communication technologies enable or facilitate ‘user-to-user’ interactivity

When we think of interactivity and its meaning, we assume that it is only

A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

Why Social Networking Sites are Becoming Popular?

Reconnect with Old Friends

Make New Friends

Find Business Partners

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

Fun and Frolic

Social Systems, Culture and Individualization in Organizations

A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many

Culture is the conventional behaviour of a society that encompasses beliefs,

People depend on culture as it gives them stability, security, understanding, and

Productivity and Social Networking in the Modern Economy

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

Capital Factors in the Modern Economy

 Human Capital - Knowledge, skills and capabilities that people possess

 Organisational Capital - The new workplace management skills and

Madhura Kuduvalli Nagendra

 Intellectual Capital - The knowledge people possess that can be exploited

 Network Capital - The contacts individuals draw on as a source of trusted

The combination of the factors mentioned above can be referred to as

Rise of the Social Web