Introduction
Miuccia Prada once said that “What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language”. Miuccia Prada and the Prada brand have grown from humble beginnings making quality leather goods to a public traded company with a current market capitalization of over $26 billion (USD) . With the development of Prada as one of the world’s premier luxury brands it provides an excellent case study to examine how strategy paved the way for the success of the Prada brand. First, an examination of Prada’s strategic positioning against luxury brand rivals Louis Vuitton Hennessey Moet (LVHM) and Kering (Gucci). The acquisition history of Prada will be reviewed, where some preliminary conclusions can be made about what has been contributing factors to both the successes and failures. Then finally, an evaluation of what the future holds for Prada and the sustainability of its competitive advantage.
Section 1: Prada’s Strategic Positioning compared to LVHM and Kering
Strategic/Competitive Positioning
The high pressure luxury brand industry has evolved over the last few decades from a small and selective to a multibillion dollar arena offering significant potential and growth opportunity for the luxury brands that compete within its realm. With many luxury brands competing for over $225 billion (The Economist, 2009) in revenue each year it is easy to see how strategy plays an important role.
In order to understand the context of what type of positioning a company can take as part of its competitive strategies this paper below will examine how Prada fits in to Porters’ concepts of generic strategies and competitive position as well as Treacy and Wie...
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...for diversified groups, pp. 285-314.
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Karolina Swietoniowska, the young, youthful, educated and passionate owner of Korra dancewear has been in business, trying to live her dream of designing dancewear clothes for the past three years. Sales have been however very slow for her, given that she had other priorities to take care of, she is now looking to improve her position as a businessman and increase her scale of business and expand and grow. Capital and experience constraints have been pulling her down and she is struggling to make her mark on the market. There are other very strong competitors in the market, functioning with very different
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Since 1967 Polo Ralph Lauren the brand is impeccable example for how a company must develop strong brand equity through the years. Indeed, the brand has established its image across a diversity of products and markets using a perfect lifestyle marketing approach. To understand how the brand has achieved strong brand equity, and resonance with its customers, analy...
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 86(1), 25-40.
Six years after deciding to be an independent public company in late 2000, Coach Inc.’s net sales had grown at a compounded annual rate of 26 percent and the stock price had increased by 1,400 percent due to a strategy keyed to a concept called accessible luxury. Coach crafted the accessible luxury category in women’s handbags and leather accessories by differentiating themselves on price, but matching competitors on styling, quality, and customer service. The accessible luxury strategy mirrors a focus (or market niche) strategy based on low costs. Coach concentrates on a narrow buyer segment and outcompetes rivals by having lower costs than rivals and thus being able to serve niche members at a lower price. Management believed that new products should be based on market research rather than on designers’ instincts. Coach utilized extensive consumer surveys and focus groups to gain insight in the market, and ultimately a competitive advantage over competition. Coach’s $200-$500 handbags appealed to both middle class consumers who now were able to afford a taste of luxury, as well as affluent consumers with the means to spend $2,000 on a handbag on a regular basis.
Polo Ralph Lauren’s key success factors derive from the company’s powerful identity. It is notorious for it preppy American style in the designer world, but it is also luxurious, elegant and thrives to always be a classic. It appeals to a wide range of consumers, even if a person doesn’t wear Polo they are at least familiar with what it is. The way the company markets itself is also a big part of its success. For a company that started out less than 50 years a...
The unique heritage and Burberry’s Britishness are the significant resources that contribute to its success and premium price. Strong brand image as part of intangible assets contributes approximately 25% value to the organization in average (Keen 2003). To avoid discount or oversupply, Burberry needs to continue maintaining its long-term brand image (Berends 2004). Also, Burberry has a variety of product lines and attributes to high worth that makes it more competitive
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Both Porter and Miles and Snow’s strategy typologies are based on the concept of strategic equifinality, or the ability for firms to be successful via differing managerial strategies (Hambrick, 2003, p. 116). Porter 's strategy is more generic while Miles and Snow’s is more specific in nature. Porter’s generic strategy typology is based on economic factors centering on the source of a firm’s competitive advantage and the scope of a firm’s target market (González-Benito & Suárez-González, 2010). Porter’s typology emphasizes a firm’s cost, product differentiation or non-differentiation and market focus. When utilizing Porter’s strategy typology, a firm must first decide to target its products toward the mass market versus a market niche or focus. Secondly, a firm will determine if it wishes to minimize costs or differentiate its products with differentiation meaning that firms will most likely forego lower costs (Parnell, 2014, p. 184). This can lead a firm to develop a myriad of strategies between these options. Strategies which may have or not have focus, may or not be differentiated, may or not be low cost or any combination of strategies. In contrast to Porter, Miles and Snow’s typology is more specific in nature.
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 25-40.
Under Arnault, the company was the world’s leading luxury product group. Arnault believed that LVMH control of retail chains was critical to luxury brand success. The finer points of retailing were believed to be, influencing of the overall image of luxury products, as much as the product attributes.
-Status symbols: Sophisticated customers who value the distinctive, exclusive collection seem to value the corporate-branded version of luxury. –Philip Martiz, chairman of the board
“Despite worldwide softness in the sale of luxury goods, LVMH has cemented its position as the world’s largest and most profitable player in the category. To stay there it must keep its customers loyal and its brand strong and find new markets worldwide” (Hazlett C. 2004). That is why in its mission they state to represent the most refined qualities of Western “ art de vivre” all around the world. Their objective is to be the leader in the luxury market, continuing to transmit elegance and creativity. This poses some major challenges, the main one is to keep being the leader in the luxury market through a sustainable growth. The main problem to achieve it is the high dependency on three main countries, France, Japan and USA. This becomes a threat because if there is an economic downturn in one country it affects LVMH directly that is why.
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