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Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

Recently, a number of domestic Textile Fashion Show In Beijing, chairman and chief executive. China Clothing Association survey, the domestic textile and garment industry is gradually restored to the steady and healthy development, production and sales grew steadily since the second half last year, a momentum will be continued. This year is the revitalization plan of textile second year of implementation, is the next sector of the beginning of 10-year plan, the industry rebound worth the wait.

Ministry of Industry data show that in February the national 100 key large retailers clothing retail sales and retail sales were up 97.2% year on year and 52.1%; first two months of retail sales growth year on year to a new record high in 2007. Clothing increased by 30.1% retail sales, retail sales rose 11.7%. Most apparel sales growth was better than a year earlier, sales growth has resumed some of the goods to the 2007 level. Two months before the 12 categories of major apparel products in 9 categories and sales grew more than the level a year earlier.

1 2 months, the added value of textile line grew 13.4%. February’s export figures is a large-than-expected: total exports 12.638 billion U.S. dollars, have been 3 consecutive months of positive growth over the previous year, an increase of 89.34%; before 2 months, exports grew 29%. Among them, textiles, clothing cumulative export growth was 39.43% and 23.71%. At present, the textile export growth has been going on for 5 months faster than the growth rate of apparel and textile exports has been restored to 2008 levels over the same period. This shows that with the international demand (especially Europe and the United States) began to improve, the global textile industry operating rates further pick-up boom of the textile industry began to rise.

Domestic market is now recovering, stores, a new network Sell The rapid development of channels, will increase apparel brand competition in the retail channel, the foreign enterprises in the domestic market will continue to accelerate the speed of the layout. Expected consumption growth of Chinese apparel in 2010 will be higher than in 2009, and change the downward trend of the past two years. With the advancement of urbanization, and rapid development of central and western regions, the next 10 years, China will usher in golden clothing consumption growth. Have forecast that first quarter sales growth of Chinese apparel to more than 25%. With the rising prices of export products, textile and garment export amount will gradually rise. Textile raw material prices, increased labor costs will erode profits of export-oriented enterprises in order to promote export orders increased the contract price. Also as a further improvement in the global economy, employment improved, Europe and the United States consumer spending gradually eliminate psychological barriers, especially in high-end apparel demand recovery, are conducive to the improvement of textile and apparel export prices. Guangzhou Securities Linsui Lin

Authority Forecast Shenzhen Customs statistics showed that 1 to 2 months, the Shenzhen Port textile and apparel exports of 3.33 billion U.S. dollars, up 48.1% over the previous year.

According to statistics, the first 2 months, the Shenzhen Port textile and garment exports of general trade mode 2,620,000,000 US dollars, up 70.2%, accounting for the same period in port textile and garment export value 78.7%; processing trade exports of 390 million US dollars, down 16.3%. Hong Kong’s exports to China of which 860 million U.S. dollars, up 19.3%; exports to the EU 830 million U.S. dollars, up 93.2%; on U.S. exports 410 million U.S. dollars, up 37.7%; on ASEAN exports 300 million U.S. dollars, up 89%; exports to emerging markets in Latin America 190 million U.S. dollars, up 73.9%; of African exports 160 million U.S. dollars, up by 1.3 times.

The first quarter, exports of France seized Jiangsu Wujiang textile and garment district 77.8 million U.S. dollars, 3437 batch, an increase of 8.1% and 7.7%. Products are mainly exported to the U.S., EU, Japan, Canada, Australia and other countries and regions. Wujiang as Silk The government, textile powerhouse, Wujiang textile and apparel exports are one of the pillar industries of the two major export markets?? The United States, the European Union’s exports continued to rise. In which the U.S. textile and apparel exports reached 35.748 million U.S. dollars, up by 8.3%, apparel exports to Europe reached 19.39 million U.S. dollars, up 11.3%.

Raw material prices, peer more competitive and to Proxy More and more business rebate, their thin profit every day, many Clothing Manufacturer overwhelmed, “agent Marketing Model “passed their prime??

Many brands and businesses of primitive accumulation are basically “agents” are closely linked, good agents are also achievements of the many brands, but as the market constantly changing, especially in Financial Crisis, some clothing manufacturers seem to realize that to maximize profits, “Direct Model” is the development of the “benevolent.”

Multiple reasons why the producers “from” agents

, According to a company’s marketing director, introduced Mr. Hu, clothing Sell Prevailing four modes, namely, agent, agent combined with Direct, Pure Direct, and E-commerce “But now some brands ‘exterminate’ the original dealer, go to change the way Pure Direct and e-commerce, is so, for many reasons, the main terminal or the ex-factory price and the difference between sale price . ”

An ex-factory price brand clothing at 200-300 yuan, but ultimately to the consumers hands, the price of this dress may be a thousand dollars, between producers and consumers, “sandwich” thicker the higher the sales price of the terminal, as a “sandwich” of brokers naturally earn more, manufacturers are still taking share of “dead money”, “many manufacturers have quite unfair, but if not given proper profits, dealers or agents is very likely to invest in the arms of fellow competitors. “addition” Afterward “, the agents do not want to share the rising prices of raw materials, rising labor costs and difficulties, resulting in apparel production manufacturers seldom had a more modest profit, “in particular agents, some to make money even at the expense of the interests of manufacturers.” Many businesses here especially as the agent of a brand, but one does not find that their huge profits, they would into another brand’s agency, “the market this thing, no feelings, to make money or not is the last word.”

“Pure Direct” target lock “fame and fortune”

“Channel for the king, the terminal is king” has become a pet phrase of many marketing experts, production-oriented enterprises are slowly remember the phrase suggests the future development of the classical doctrine, a marketing expert said the master channel Direct is the most effective method of garment enterprises in the development process, there is always a stage for Direct mode, “Pure Direct mode many advantages.” Hu said.

For garment production enterprises, how to make more substantial profits, reduce intermediate links is the key. Enterprises can reduce the agent link to open direct sales stores, reducing agent level, to enhance and improve business-to-end control over sales, which can be more profitable returns, “originally a proxy, the piece of clothing can only make 100 80 yuan Now Direct, profits may be 500-600 yuan, same clothes, the profit difference is so big! “Direct high profits is the most direct benefits. In addition, the directly managed not only help the first time manufacturers of consumer feedback in a timely manner to respond to all aspects of production, including the entire supply chain to further improve, but also can help companies achieve precise product quality control, “In this level, Direct help enhance brand image.” Mr. Wu, the industry that manufacturers through direct, high profits and brand can be formed between a virtuous circle.

Direct after profit than before “agent of the times” N times as large in quantity, brand apparel manufacturers also have capital in the image, promotion, human resources, scientific research, increase investment, the brand impact will be further enhanced distribution and agents in the maintenance of the manufacturer brand experience and there is a greater lack of capacity.

As a smaller brand within the clothing design industry, how can you compete against the bigger brand names without email marketing?

You don’t have the kind of money to buy print media or TV ads to expand your client base. On top of that, you don’t have the expensive, fancy tools big companies use to keep their clients coming back. Email marketing helps you retain your clients by helping you promote your brand and make your customers feel appreciated. Email marketing solutions only require a few minutes of your time, and what you get are professionally designed email advertising campaigns sent directly to your customers.

So here’s how you start: The first thing you have to do is collect a list of emails. There are a number of ways to do this, but one effective method is to get your customers to sign up by offering them a discount, like ’5% off every order this month if you sign up for our email database.’ Anyone who is satisfied with your service will want to receive the same merchandise at a lower cost, especially if it means that they will receive a ‘preferred customer promotion’ for doing so.

Congratulations! You now have your first contacts. The next step is to sign up for an email marketing account. Signing up is easy, because most email marketing solutions are so simple that anyone can take advantage them. Now, cycle through the professionally-designed templates and create your first campaign. Building your campaign is also an easy process. Email marketing provides you with user-friendly templates so that all you have to do is input your text (or you can copy and paste it, if you want), and add your images. Here are a few tricks to think about when using your email marketing to create a campaign: Do not use excessive bolding, italics, and capital lettering in the main section or the subject line of your email. Also, try not to put too many pictures of your products without also adding content to support the images. Symbols like dollar signs in your subject line or exclamation points should be avoided as well. All these techniques commonly used to attract attention also end up attracting spam filters. If you overuse them, your email will not go into your subscribers’ inbox, but rather into their spam or junk mail box.

When you are ready, just click a button to schedule your email marketing campaign and it will automatically go out to the people on your list at the date and time you selected.

Now that your email marketing campaign is finished and has arrived in your buyers’ inbox, you will be able to track which of your customers are interested in your promotions. One of the great things about email marketing is that it can track ‘clicks’, and ‘opens.’ This gives you a percentage breakdown and analysis of which of your customers are opening and clicking on the promotions you have included in your email. Also, by adding a ‘forward to friend’ button, you will be able enhance your mailing list, and have a greater chance to gain more customers.

As a clothing-designer, using email marketing will have a large impact on how many return customers you have, which will positively affect sales. Email marketing can provide you with added business and potentially grow your client base over time. This is a cost effective way to keep on par with larger brand competitors and maximize your brand’s potential. You might be small, but now you can plan for bigger things.

If you are thinking about a career in fashion design, then you don’t have to be a big name designer to start earning good money while at it. You also do not need to live in the fashion design cities of the world. These cities includes; New York, London or may be Paris. In fact all you need to get started is your local market while at your home and later join the ranks of the famous designers like Giorgio Armani if that is really your intention.

Now the question in your mind is, you have tonnes of designs in your sketchbook and you are dying to sell them in the departmental store, but how do you do so? Of course the answer to this question is that your sketch work or illustrations is the first step towards realizing your design long process. If you approach a potential client, may they be that departmental store, boutique shop or private individuals, their main interest is your finished final product. There are various ways of doing this, either you manufacture the finished clothe product in-house by doing it yourself or through hired labor or you license your illustrations to a third party manufacturer whereby they pay you a percentage of royalties.

For example if you are the chief designer for a well established clothing company ,you could give out your approved designs to a pattern maker who would then turn them over to the manufacturing division who will send them marketing division for distribution to the retail market.

This is not the case if you are doing all this tasks by yourselves. You are the main guy thus, you will have to perform all the steps all by yourselves. Anyway, once you put some ideas into sketches, pick two to four of your favorite and create samples. Create a pattern, keeping in mind what sizes you want to sew. As the construction of the garment progresses, keep track of all your expenses by taking notes of everything. You will need to know the cost of designing or assembling your clothes. This should include labor and all other related costs so that you will know how much money you will need to charge in order to make a profit.

For the majority of the beginning designers, the sample process experience is the eye-opening phase. The more complicated the illustration, the more costly it will be in final product manufacturing. So, simplify as much of your sketches as you could possibly be able to. Modify your sketch as you go along to reduce the run away the costs. Once you have sewn your sample up, make sure they are properly finished and that they will stand up to the handling and inspection by potential clients. Make a list of departmental stores or boutique shops in your locality that sell clothes that bear a close resemblance to the ones you have designed noting down their prices and styles. This will guide to improve your design and in making them unique.

Now that your sample is a finished product, you will need to call the stores supply department and make appointment to show off your wares. If it is a small boutique shop, the owner is usually the buyer. Be on time for your appointment and dress professionally. If they are impressed by your designs, they will place orders immediately. Don’t promise more than you could deliver and by the due date. Depending on the terms of agreement, you may request a part of the order be paid up front so that you may have money to buy the raw materials and the balance to be paid once the delivery is done. In case you are selling to private individual’s example a wedding gown, insist on this type on arrangement. You don’t want find yourselves in the situation where all the labor and raw materials are on your side while the clients places an order and then disappears.

Once the agreement is reached between you and your clients, prepare a proper purchase order. List all details of the agreement on it and get the buyer’s signature on the order form. Then go back to your office which in this case is your home and start filling out the order. Once you are comfortable with a specific order, start adding more to your work schedule. A word of advice, always promise what you can comfortably deliver. As your client’s order increase, it is time for expansion You will do this by hiring additional staff or outsourcing a part of the manufacturing process.

If your designs are rejected by your prospective clients, don’t give up but rather, go back to the drawing board and do improvement on your sketches. The next time you go marketing, target another different group of potential clients. Never give up as one client’s taste may not be necessarily the same as the next one. Selling your clothing designs is a good way of earning a neat income while you are at your home. Always strive to learn new designs and tricks so that you will be in a position to have an edge over your competition.

Sekonda was founded in 1931, now it is part of Time Products (U.K). It remains the same privately owned business that it started as, but has evolved to cater to 6.5% of the British watch market (GFK data 2006). With a market share like that it is no surprise that Sekonda is presently the U.K.’s best selling watch brand. More amazing is the fact that it has remained the U.K.’s favorite watch brand since 1988 and in 2006 became the best seller by both volume and value. Showing that it is firmly established in its position at the top of this industry. The reasons for their success are many and perhaps can be best summed up by their own slogan “beware of expensive imitations.”

The History

Sekonda used to import Soviet watches for sale in the Western markets. They are associated with the original production of both digital and quartz watches. Firstly sourcing Russian mechanical watches and then moving their production to Hong Kong as quartz technology became the highly desired watch mechanism. This flair for utilising innovations has been a crucial element of their success. In the 1980′s a host of fashion houses such as DKNY, Gucci and Guess began producing their own fashion watches. This marked the beginning of a new era of competition within the watch industry and questions began to be raised about how to combat the new influx of competitors; the main problem was that the size of the market had not increased at the same rate as those after market share.

Sekonda’s Solution

The key values that have driven Sekonda’s success are price, quality and service. RRP’s are chosen before product development is complete. This places the emphasis on the buyers to reduce material costs, rather than on the retailers to sell at a higher price. The core lines retail between £20 and £80, eminently more affordable than their fashion house counterparts. Strict quality controls have remained firmly in place since the start. Each watch is checked by hand for any faults which has resulted in a return rate of less than 1%, even though they sell in excess of 1.6 million watches a year. Admirable. Additionally both end customers and retailers continually express their satisfaction with the sales process and the after sales care.

Brand Revolution

Sekonda have managed to retain their market status not only by providing a high quality of product and service but by constantly evolving to satisfy the desires of their key target market, 25-35 year olds. In the last twenty years this has meant a change of strategy as fashion now dictates that style must be fast and disposable. The notion of impulse buying has become not just a bonus for the retailer but a staple diet. Sekonda decided to develop ranges that fed into this market and, in 2004 and 2005 respectively, the Seksy and One ranges were born.

These two identities now account for 20% of Sekonda’s overall sales. Both ranges consist of watches that are individually named, most famously the Seksy Eclipse, which both emulates high fashion’s penchant for naming items and creates a tag that is significantly more likely to lodge in the mind of the consumer than just an image or traditional product code. Image conscious women and men were suddenly provided with high fashion style for high street prices from a reliable brand. This sales strategy has been one of the most successful of recent years. Essentially the model that they have created is eminently effective marketing actually backed up by a good quality product at a good price. They are ticking all the boxes and this constantly creates a substantial amount of work but allows for continual reassessment and innovation.

Practical Management

One of the essential elements of a fashion brand is a quick turn around on products. The lead time for a new Sekonda watch is only 3 months, so their ‘cool hunters’ can capitalise on a trend within a relatively short time. They also have product launches every six months to facilitate this. This is a logistic nightmare. But thanks to a precise stock system, based upon perceptive use of market research and advertising strategies Sekonda have one of the lower waiting times for delivery in the watch sector. This has come to be essential in a market based upon rapidly changing fashions. At any time they have approximately 1 million watches in stock, yet aim to sell 600,000-700,000 of this stock within a short period. In addition to this they will also label products for individual retailers based on their systems rather than Sekonda’s. This further enables a speedy transition to the shop shelf.

Brand Management

The most visible and therefore the most important element of their sales is brand representation. In 2006 they had a marketing budget of £1.6 million, this increased to £1.9 million in 2007. A significant outlay which has yielded impressive results. This budget is in part spent on traditional magazine advertising including features in Heat, OK, Closer, Nuts and Zoo. But they have embraced new advertising realms. Noting the prevalence of media celebrity culture they have aligned their brand with a number of high profile celebrities; most recently Girls Aloud, Take That and Jack Osbourne. They have also sponsored television shows with anticipated high viewing figures such as the 2008 X-Factor. One of the most notable forms this has taken is the distinctive idents placed in advertising breaks, which include a number to text for your nearest Sekonda retailer. During the program “An Audience with Take That’ they received 1500 texts, the highest number ever recorded for this type of advertising. Putting aside for one moment the valuable brand exposure the ads provide, Sekonda have managed to turn TV advertising into actual sales. The effect of their campaign has filtered down right through the sales network. It is rarely that a customer asks for a specific watch that they have encountered through any advertising campaign. The retailer that I work for has received unprecedented numbers of enquiries about Seksy and One watches solely based on the effects of the TV campaigns.

The Future

Sekonda have entered into the travel retail market which as well as direct sales opportunities has the added benefit of brand exposure. Customers with enough capital to travel are a captive audience for the duration of flights. They are highly likely to browse the in-flight magazine the products are featured in even if they do not purchase anything. Other businesses have been keen to capitalize on Sekonda’s success. Virgin flights had Sekonda advertising running on the back cover of the summer edition of their magazine. Sekonda now sell their watches on a number of airlines, have flagship stores at major airports and are completing a number of deals to place shops in popular U.K. tourist destinations and in ex-pat communities located in Dubai, Spain, Sharm el Sheikh and South Africa. At present U.K. consumers account for approximately half of all Sekonda’s sales.