Tengri's Sustainable Marketing Strategies In Fashion Industry (70 Characters)

Consider the case of Ten,

1. Identify the marketing mix of this organisation.

2. Consider the product, promotion, distribution and pricing strategy of this organisation.

3. Provide a positioning analysis of the organisation against its competitors.

4. Identify, the sustainable marketing principles Tengri is following and whether this strategy is successful or could be improved by following other principles.

Sustainability is a major factor to be considered by the contemporary business organizations. This is due to the reason that current business scenario is highly affected by the climate issues and exploitation of resources (Beckmann, Hielscher and Pies 2014). In the case of fashion industry, sustainability issues include the sourcing of the fibers and generation of wastage from the production process. Unethical supply chain policies are also being considered as a major sustainability issue for the fashion industry. This situation is further increasing the importance initiating sustainable approach in this industry. There are number of fashion brands already practicing sustainable business policies and gaining competitive advantages from them.

Tengri is one such fashion brand based in London that is practicing sustainable business practices and is creating a new benchmark in the industry. Some of their major sustainable policies are ethical sourcing of the raw materials and fair share of profit with all the herders and other internal stakeholders. Fashion industry in the United Kingdom is highly competitive with the presence of number of domestic and global brands (tengri.co.uk 2018). Thus, it is not easy for the new entrants to create a niche in this market. However, sustainable business practices of Tengri are helping them in gaining competitive advantages in the market.

This report will discuss about the sustainable marketing policies of Tengri. In addition, this report will evaluate the marketing mix elements of Tengri in order to understand their strategic intent in the market. Different strategies of Tengri in relation to their product promotion and pricing will also be discussed in details. Different marketing models and theories related to the strategies of Tengri will be used to evaluate their effectiveness. Positioning analysis for Tengri will be done to understand their brand position in the market against their competitors.

Products of Tengri are mainly winter garments. As per the information available, products for Tengri include sweaters, scarf, socks, beanies and blanket. Thus, they are only offering winter products and this strategy is different to that of the industry nature. This is due to the reason that majority of the fashion brands in the market are having diverse product portfolio including garments for different seasons (Porter and Heppelmann 2015). On the other hand, Tengri is following single product line strategy. In addition, it is also identified that major competitive advantage for Tengri in their winter products is sustainable materials and features such as non-allergenic, breathable and water resistance (tengri.co.uk 2018). These features are helping Tengri in having competency over their competitors.

Product

Products of Tengri are priced premium. This is evident from the price stated in their online shopping site. Premium pricing for their products is important for them due to the reason that higher quality materials are used in the production process and business of Tengri is based on fare deal with the suppliers (Besbes and Sauré 2016). This caused Tengri to have more cost of suppliers compared to their competitors. On the other hand, premium pricing of Tengri is justified due to the reason that fibers for their clothesline come from Mongolia and not being manufactured or processed in the United Kingdom. This involves more cost for Tengri. On the other hand, this helps in maintaining the quality and authenticity of the products of Tengri and justifies the premium price.

Tengri is having exclusive distribution strategy that involves selling only through the company outlets and site. In the case of Tengri, their products are sold only through their online shopping site. Thus, Tengri is not having offline presence and only having limited online presence. This is mainly due to the medium scale operation of Tengri. They are relatively newer in the fashion industry compared to some well established players and still having small scale operation (Khan 2014). Thus, having exclusive distribution strategy is helping Tengri to cater to niche customer segments and it is also justifying their exclusivity and premium image.

Promotional activities of Tengri are intensive and limited due to the reason that they are operating in limited market area and targeting a niche customer segment. Thus, the promotional activities need not to be extensive and vast. Social media is one of the major mediums for Tengri in promoting their products. This is due to the reason that social media involves lower cost compared to some other conventional mediums. In addition, social media is also enabling Tengri to determine the views of the customers regarding their products. This is also helping Tengri to understand the need and requirement of the customers and offering products accordingly (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014). It should be noted that major concentration is given on the sustainable factors associated with the products of Tengri in promoting them. Thus, with the help of social media marketing, Tengri is being able to promote their sustainability to the customers.

Process of Tengri is also being made sustainable by means of more effective production process, reduction in byproduct waste and sourcing raw materials in most ethical manner. In addition, due to the fact that online medium is used in product retailing; customer product delivery is also effective. It is stated in their official website that production process of Tengri is designed in such a way that it will reduce the byproduct wastage significantly. It is also stated that raw materials are sourced directly from the herders of Mongolia (Aghaei et al. 2014). Moreover, the herders are being fairly paid and they are supported in their agribusiness activities. Therefore, the internal process of Tengri is designed to have maximum value for the customers.

Price

Physical evidence for Tengri is the product they are offering to the customers. Sweaters, socks and scarf offered by them stay with the customers and they can have the tangible value for their price. In addition, different products and designs are also further enhancing the physical evidence for the customers. The sustainable and long lasting quality of the products of Tengri is further helping to extend the physical evidence for the customers in the long term (Lovelock and Patterson 2015).

In case of Australia, the possible customers of Tengri yarn are the wardrobe manufacturers and the woolen product users. It can be argued that the woolen market in Australia is full of enthusiastic customers who love to purchase wool items (Bahadir, Bharadwaj and Srivastava 2015). Therefore, the high quality of yarns manufactured by Tengri have high expectation and prospect in the Australian market where the customers and buyers are eager to use those products.

Product strategy is considered to be one of the important aspect for expanding the business for Tengri. It can be argued that the Tengri products are relied on a single product line strategy that facilitates a strategic advantage to the market capitalization of the company. As per the single product line strategy it is firmly related to the mission and vision of the company and thus create a road map to meet all the criteria that are important for the appreciation of the product (Loo and Leung 2018). In this context, the Tengri Company provides a number of winter garments to the customers with a high quality materials and easy to use.

As far as the product description is concerned, it is primarily depends upon the quality by implementing cutting edge technology in order to maintain a high brand image. In this regard, the Tengri products in terms of the sweaters, scarfs, socks, beanies and blankets are manufactured with a vision to provide the customers some unique experiences. Therefore, the anti-allergic and the water resistant feature in the products provide it more strategic advantage that are beneficial for the company to expand its business further in Australian market.

As a matter of fact, the product roadmap is also considered to be an important aspect that Tengri puts its focus upon. As per the survey done by Talpau (2014) it can be argued that the Australian woolen market puts emphasis on the quality of the products. In fact, Tengri also keeps an eye on the product quality and incorporates it in the company vision as well. Moreover, measuring the costs and benefits are also pertinent to the business orientation of Tengri and the company intends to continue it.

Place

Promotional measure is another important aspect on which the companies put more emphasis. In this context, there are two types of promotional strategies that Tengri can implement. The traditional promotional strategy encompasses the use of Television, banner and flyers as advertisement tools (Wei, Samiee and Lee 2014). For Tengri, these tools are quite beneficial to attract people in an intense manner. As most of the people watch television daily therefore, it will be an easy way to telecast the Tengri advertisements in television and attract a great number of people. On the other hand, banner and flyers are also important to let inform the local community about launching a new product.

However, with the advent of technological advancement and increasing use of social media create a scope for Tengri to adapt the social media marketing method. In this context, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are beneficial for Tengri to go for a social media promotions through these social media platforms. As a result of that the social media market will develop a better marketing exposure for the company by attracting the young generations to buy the Tengri products.

On the other hand, the social campaigns are also identified as effective measures to incorporate the community in the promotional strategy of the company. Therefore, it will be pertinent for Tengri to organize some social campaigns and indirectly promote their products through establishing a steady growth in the brand value (Stadler et al. 2018). In fact, the incorporating the customers with the promotional process will guide Tengri to set up a strong customer base and reduce the market risks.

In case of the Distribution strategy, Tengri can utilize a number of different distribution framework that are important to supply products from the vendor or manufacturer to the customers.

It can be possible for Tengri to introduce the indirect distribution strategy. In means the product will distribute to the customers through different supply channels. In this context, the different channels are identified as the export and shipping supply from the parent company to the overseas consumers (Anderson 2017). Therefore, Tengri can use this strategy in order to expand its market internationally. Moreover, the company will make contact with the distributors and the distributors will be responsible to distribute the product to the consumer.

In case of the direct distribution the company can make connection with the consumers directly. This strategy leads to the concept of e-commerce purchasing and selling methods (Ashley and Tuten 2015). In fact, for Tengri this strategy will develop a direct communication with the customer and it will help to deliver a better market capitalization for Tengri.

Promotion

On the other hand, Tengri can also focus on the exclusive distribution practice where the company is able to establish its outlets in the overseas market in a rigorous manner. This type of distribution strategy is seen in the cities where Tengri is expected to get a dynamic consumer market (Strauss and Frost 2016). As a matter of fact, the exclusive distribution requires enogh market holding for the specific region and Tengri must keep focus on it.

The pricing strategy of Tengri is based on the premium pricing. Premium pricing means the company sets costs of products higher than the competitors. There are a number of reasons behind the premium pricing strategy of Tengri. The company maintains a wide range of distributors to supply the products effectively to its international customers. Therefore, huge cost is amounted on the supply management. Furthermore, the raw materials in terms of the yarn is imported from Mongolia. Therefore, it carries huge expenses in course of producing winter garments. As a matter of fact, the company continues the premium pricing strategy because of maintaining quality of the products (Spann, Fischer and Tellis 2014).

However, price skimming strategy can be considered as a strategy measure for Tengri in order to encapsulate the Australian market in a robust manner. As far as the price skimming strategy is concerned, it can be ascribed that the strategy enables the company to fix the price high during the introductory phase in the new market (Stevens and Johnson 2016). As high price of the products develops interests among the consumers about the significance and benefits of the products therefore in the inceptive phase it will be better for the companies to high the price so that more consumers will be attracted (Yawar and Seuring 2017). However, the major characteristic of price skimming is to lower the price gradually. Thus, the purpose of maximizing the customers will be meet effectively (Gao et al. 2016). It enables Tengri to get a clear picture of the consumer behavior of Australian market and as a result of that the company can develop a better marketing strategy.

Positioning analysis

(Created by the author)

From the above positioning map of the competitors in Australian wool products manufacturing companies it can be argued that most of the Australian woolen companies are putting more concern on the quality of their products. For an instance, the Chinetex and AClink are taking extra efforts to provide the customers more stylish and quality products. As a matter of fact, those woolen products manufacturer companies maintains great competitiveness in the Australian market as well as in the international domain. Moreover, the specifications of the wools are also identified as important part to develop market capitalization extensively. As far as the Australian woolen product market is concerned Australia is the largest wool producing country around the world producing 27% of the wools across the world. As a matter of fact, most of the woolen products are entitled to export abroad and used for making wool products domestically. In fact, the Merino wool that is harvested in Australia has a worldwide demand internationally.

Process

Based on this it can be argued that the Australian wool manufacturer companies are also inclined to develop quality products. The reason is quite obvious as the country harvests quality wool products therefore the Australian wool manufacturer companies also compel to develop quality products. As a matter of fact, the role of cutting edge technologies is also a significant part in the process as it facilitates the quality and style of the products. Moreover, in case of the wool products industry in Australia the companies are also put emphasis on the pricing strategies. Most of the woolen product manufacturer companies in Australia are like to high the price of their products because of using advanced technologies and maintain the quality of the products. However, Hedrena succeeds to maintain a low pricing strategy because of the company has enough market holding in Australia. Woolmark is the largest wool product manufacturer in Australia and is very popular for its fine products with stylish attire. However, in terms of the quality and price Tengri shows the most consistency and never compromises with the quality of products irrespective of the manufacturing cost increases.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that Tengri has a great potential to expand its business in Australia. In fact, the quality of the Tengri products are identified very high quality that other companies are failed to cope with it. However, it creates some problem regarding the price of the Tengri products but the company is more concerned with maintaining quality rather than putting more stress on the price. Therefore, the company has both advantage and disadvantage to expand market in Australia.

References

Aghaei, M., Vahedi, E., Kahreh, M.S. and Pirooz, M., 2014. An examination of the relationship between services marketing mix and brand equity dimensions. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 109, pp.865-869.

Anderson, C., 2017. Amplify Your Impact: Moving from a Promotion Strategy to an Engagement Strategy. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 57(2), pp.89-92.

Ashley, C. and Tuten, T., 2015. Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), pp.15-27.

Bahadir, S.C., Bharadwaj, S.G. and Srivastava, R.K., 2015. Marketing mix and brand sales in global markets: Examining the contingent role of country-market characteristics. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(5), pp.596-619.

Beckmann, M., Hielscher, S. and Pies, I., 2014. Commitment strategies for sustainability: how business firms can transform trade?offs into win–win outcomes. Business Strategy and the Environment, 23(1), pp.18-37.

Besbes, O. and Sauré, D., 2016. Product assortment and price competition under multinomial logit demand. Production and Operations Management, 25(1), pp.114-127.

Gao, J., Wang, X., Yang, Q. and Zhong, Q., 2016. Pricing decisions of a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain under uncertain demand of indirect channel. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2016.

Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-132). Springer, New York, NY.

Khan, M.T., 2014. The concept of'marketing mix'and its elements (a conceptual review paper). International journal of information, business and management, 6(2), p.95.

Loo, P.T. and Leung, R., 2018. A service failure framework of hotels in Taiwan: Adaptation of 7Ps marketing mix elements. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 24(1), pp.79-100.

Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P., 2015. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.

Porter, M.E. and Heppelmann, J.E., 2015. How smart, connected products are transforming companies. Harvard Business Review, 93(10), pp.96-114.

Spann, M., Fischer, M. and Tellis, G.J., 2014. Skimming or penetration? Strategic dynamic pricing for new products. Marketing Science, 34(2), pp.235-249.

Stadler, C., Mayer, M.C., Hautz, J. and Matzler, K., 2018. International and product diversification: Which strategy suits family managers?. Global Strategy Journal, 8(1), pp.184-207.

Stevens, G.C. and Johnson, M., 2016. Integrating the supply chain… 25 years on. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 46(1), pp.19-42.

Strauss, J. and Frost, R.D., 2016. E-marketing: Instructor's Review Copy. Routledge.

Talpau, A., 2014. The marketing mix in the online environment. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 7(2), p.53.

tengri.co.uk 2018. Our Story. [online] Tengri. Available at: https://www.tengri.co.uk/spirit-of-mongolia/ [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Wei, Y.S., Samiee, S. and Lee, R.P., 2014. The influence of organic organizational cultures, market responsiveness, and product strategy on firm performance in an emerging market. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 42(1), pp.49-70.

Yawar, S.A. and Seuring, S., 2017. Management of social issues in supply chains: a literature review exploring social issues, actions and performance outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 141(3), pp.621-643.