Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Literature review of importance of brand image
Literature review of importance of brand image
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Literature review of importance of brand image
1. Analysis of the company's history, development and growth
Founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher, Gap Inc is largest clothing and accessories retailer in America. The clothing store began in San Francisco California, where the Fishers opened their first shop because they had been frustrated with the poor service and clothing styles offered at other retailers. The store was named the gap because it supplied clothing to teenagers and college students, the "generation gap" between children and adults.
Originally, Gap did not sell its own brand of clothing, carrying only the Levi Strauss & Co label on its shelves until 1978. At this time Gap had opened more than 300 stores and was selling its own, increasingly popular brand with the Gap label. While manufacturing products under its own label Gap saw its dominance begin, and ultimately stopped selling Levi's altogether in 1992; this move allowed Gap to lower transaction costs and reduce supply threats created by Levi's.
For years, Gap was popular for its basic T-shirts, khakis and sweaters, bringing in the kind of cash-generating revenue that helped fuel its explosive growth in the 1990s.
But as competitors began offering similar styles and prices and apparel sales began to lose momentum, Gap slipped away from basics and tried to pull ahead with unique fashions. The strategy backfired, and the Gap subsequently alienated its core 20- to 30-year-old customer base with far-out fashions that appeal to younger consumers, or that missed completely. Gap chose to chase trends, instead of reinforcing its strengths.
2. Identify the company's internal strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
Branding
The Gap's multiple brands have become some of the most recognizable labels ...
... middle of paper ...
...d affiliations. Currently the brand stands for nothing. They should focus on what the brands stands for rather that any popular trend. Due in part to its commercials, in the early 90's the Gap was perceived as being cool and understated. If they could find a way to use its reach to influence culture in turn restoring its credibility among young consumers. At the end of the day it is the product that really matters, by changing the product line to reflect the original Gap ideals, the company will be one step closer to survival.
References
Textbook, Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach
Case 13, Gap international: A specialty Apparel Retailer C200-229
Wikipedia Online-The Gap
"Gap hires Egon Zehnder to find new CEO" (reprint), Associated Press, 5 Mar 2007.
"Gap Explores Alternatives, Including Possible Sale: CNBC's Faber", CNBC.com, 8 Jan 2007.
The founhder of the company, Godfrey Keebler, started with jus a small bakery in Philadelphia, PA in 1853. During the next two generations, local bakeries popped up around the country, including Strietmann, Hekman, Supreme and Bowman. With the introduction of cars and trucks (carrying the Keebler logo), bakery goods could be distributed beyond the neighborhood and regional distribution began.
Lululemon was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 1998; as of October 2015 they have 354 stores worldwide, making them on of the biggest retailors to solely focus on athletic wear clothing. Their most popular product are their leggings. Created for health conscious yogis, Lululemon prides themselves in creating high-quality products for men and women who live a health focused lifestyle. Lululemon is famous for giving environmentally friendly red and white reusable bags after a purchase and providing the highest quality for their clientele. They also practice social responsibility when they screen their vendors to make sure they have the same environmental and social standards as them ().By examining the main social forces, consumer behavior, and
Abercrombie and Fitch was initially started in 1892 by David T. Abercrombie. An outdoorsman himself, Abercrombie wanted to create a clothing line that was suitable for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping and hunting. Ezra Fitch, a lover of the Abercrombie clothing line, decided to become a partner in the company, this making what we know today as Abercrombie & Fitch. This partnership began in 1900 and subsequently ended in 1907 when David Abercrombie resigned from the company due to personal differences. The company proved to be a success and had much interest in expanding their company in order to draw in more business. The first major executive decision came shortly after Abercrombie’s resignation. The A&F catalogue was a cross between a clothing magazine and a guide to the outdoors. It gave information and advice to campers, hunters and fishers and also simultaneously provided a wardrobe for these activities. This catalogue increased both sales and notoriety. It brought Abercrombie and Fitch to people all around the world. Unfortunately, success was not everlasting. The company endured very tough financial times during the early 1960’s and 70’s and eventually declared bankruptcy in 1977. In 1988, success came again when The Limited Inc. bought Abercrombie and Fitch. Abercrombie is now a 223.0 million dollar corporation.
Sears, a company spanning 131 years that began as R.W Sears Watch Company was once the largest retailer in the United States. Kmart, its runner up, began as a general retailing store just thirteen years after Sears as S.S Kresge Company in 1899. Sears had been the largest retailer in the United States until Wal-Mart rose and surpassed them, and Kmart bought out Sears and merged the two struggling companies in 2005 (Meyer, 2017; New York Times, 2002). From there, Sears and Kmart have been steadily making their way towards what many believe will be an inevitable closing.
During the mid 2000’s until late 2012, media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper company, News Corp, conceived one the biggest scandals in media history to date. Speculation of phone hacking occurred in November of 2005 when the Royal’s officials reported possible voice mail phone hacking to the police because News of the World released a story about Prince William hurting his knee. The victims of the phone hacking scandal not only included the Royal family but also politicians, celebrities, people who were murdered, and family members of soldiers who died during combat totaling the victim list to 3,870. The entire duration of the investigation revealed not only disturbing information about the conducts committed by journalist, but the conspiring with private investigators and the London police enforcement, also known as the Scotland Yard, to cover up corruptions on all ends (CNN, 2012).
Tommy Hilfiger, 48, founder, designer, and honorary chairman of the Hong Kong-based company that bears his name, was born and raised in the small town of Elmira, New York. He was one of nine children. Even at a young age, his fashion and artistic talents were shown through his dress. "He's always wearing a shirt or a pair of pants that was a little different than what everyone else was wearing" a friend of his remarked. In 1969, Hilfiger and two friends opened People's Place, a store specializing in trendy fashions and other items. The store grew and expanded with People's Places opening in various upstate New York towns such as Ithaca and Corning. Hilfiger, wanting to design clothes rather than purchase them from the manufacturer, began to consider becoming a designer. When his People's Place chain went bankrupt in 1977, Hilfiger moved to New York and worked as a designer, even though he had never attended design school, for various companies until 1984, when Tommy Hilfiger the company was born.
Maximize the interaction with in the group to facilitate unity of the three individual groups (management and workloads)
Celebrating their 100th anniversary next year, Harley-Davidson is a true American success story. From their modest beginnings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to one of the most recognized company names worldwide, they have been passionate about motorcycles. Harley offers an experience like none other with the one of a kind look, feel, and sound only available on a Harley. Besides their main business of building and selling motorcycles, they have began to offer financing and insurance through Harley-Davidson Financial Services, and they also offer a full line of accessories and apparel to make the Harley experience complete.
P&G was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble as a maker of soaps and candles. P&G was known in Corporate America as a company to be admired and imitated. In addition, it was envied for its profitability as well as strong brand name. P&G has a long standing reputation as having life long employees. This dedication and loyalty by P&G's employees created the notion that outside sources were unwelcome and all products and ideas must come from within, however, this is not the way of the future.
Like most companies The Gap Incorporated usually has some type of commitment or vision that they want their company to fulfill. The owner, Don Fisher wanted his company to be unique and really help the community. The company does not have a set mission statement but they have made commitment to their stakeholders, employees and they community. One of the commitments the company made was that they will do way more than just sell clothes (Gap Inc. 2014). The Gap Inc. also ensures that everyone that works with the company or is associated with the company will be treated with the up most respect, fairness and dignity (Gap Inc. 2014).
American Eagle Outfitters is a fairly new company but they are doing extremely well because they have a clear grasp of who their target market is. They posses a fresh new hip look with great quality clothing at a reasonable price for consumers (http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte201w/aeostrat.html). This is one of the main reasons why teenagers and young adults are so attracted to the company. American Eagle is aiming to appeal not only to the targeted 20 year old but also consumers between the ages of 16 and 34 years old. This will widen the gap between their major competitors because they are trying to appeal to more segments than just one. American Eagle seeks to be assessable, fashion orientated, and has a strong value proposition, which has allowed the company to thrive and take shares from competitors over the past five years. Not only is their clothing line very comfortable, bold and fresh, the store layout and atmosphere is also major key factors in American Eagle’s success over the recent years. AE also has a strong competitive advantage because of their short lead times and their ability to position themselves in high-visibility, high-profile locations in key markets. American Eagle’s cycle time is about five months from design to delivery, versus about nine months for The Gap and six months for Abercrombie. AEOS minimizes lead times by maintaining sourcing relationships with a few key manufacturers and producing much of the merchandise in North America, versus 9% for The Gap and a minimal amount for Abercrombie. AEOS has the ability to quick-source some of its simpler product categories in order to react quickly to sales trends. (http...
The period success of GAP had taken a turn since 2002. Profits and revenue continued to decline. From 2008-2010, just in U.S, 6000 retail stores had been closed because of the financial recession; during this period, Gap closed more than fifty of its 3251 stores. The annual income of GAP had also been successively overpassed by ZARA in 2008 and H&M in 2009, which dropped down to the third in fashion industry (Liu, 2013). And continually, the company’s net income declined to $833 million in 2011, which is 17% less than it earned in 2010 (Exhibit 1) (Ciasullo, Blauvelt, & Lambert, 2012). In U.S, the largest market for GAP, the elder generation who bought Gap products in 1990s had gradually left Gap for different requirements with the increasing age, and Gap was unable to keep its success with the younger generation. In addition, although Chinese market currently has been the second largest market for GAP Inc., they still operate the GAP brand as a follower without any distinct positioning str...
Levi’s was too late in attending global competition. To catch the market, they had to
...re chances of growth and development for the company which is clearly understood through the research done on the Ansoff’s matrix. P&G is much ahead of its competitors and has also won many honors in terms of offering quality and innovative products. The company’s products are also sold by wide variety of retailers around the world and also through many e stores that sells the product online. Finally the company has also got more expansion opportunities which is clearly understood through the Yips model of Internationalization. As the company continues to acquire international brands over the years and succeeds in offering quality and innovative based products to the people all over the world it tend to give a much better completion to its competitors and of course get a wider market share making its competitors give a tough time in the industry.
Marketing is a very influential factor. Generation Y is the most targeted group of people today. The fashion trends of the day are pushed onto kids through the media. Through television, magazines, movies, and teen idols, today's youth are told what to wear to be "cool".