Essay: Marketing And Management For Clothing And Lifestyle Brands - A Case Study Of Bonds.

A brief description of industry market and evaluation of current trends

Discuss about the Marketing and Management for Clothing and Lifestyle Brands.

Bonds clothing is popularly regarded as one of the leading clothing and lifestyle brands in Australia. The organization primarily deals with the manufacture and import of clothing material of men, women as well as kids. Among many existent fashion brands in this part of the world, Bonds can be deemed as one of the best in terms of quality of products as well as popularity. Bonds took the step from national to international recognition when it spread its wings to Jakarta, Indonesia in 2013. In this assignment, the researcher would fundamentally focus on the current market trends evaluating on factors such as growth, profitability and macro environment relating to the renowned Australian clothing organization named as Bonds. This study will also elaborate the concepts about the identification of market segments and influence of the segments in the decision making of the organization along with the discussion on various strengths and weaknesses of the organization.

Apparel and clothing industry sales are influenced by few factors such as financial conditions, demographic trends etc. For an individual organization, the current trend in fashion may also play an essential part. The clothing industry in Australia is massive, has enough maturity and is highly fragmented as well. The current trends can be evaluated elaborately taken a few factors into consideration. These factors are discussed in this section (Mapping the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries cluster, 1999).

The market in the clothing and apparel industry has been on the rise in terms of growth. In the present retail based environment, the clothing and apparel market has been regarded as one of the leading booming industries in the world. The production driven approach of the market has changed considerably with passing time towards a more fast fashion approach and realization of consumer needs have been more prolific (Ä°ÅŸcan, 2000).

Bonds clothing brand of Australia has also grown from strength to strength over the past two decades with the change of approach of the clothing and apparel industry. From more of a conventional style, Bonds clothing has embraced a more transparent buyer-supplier relationship, efficient supply chain management which contributed to the success and growth of the organization (Kim, 2013). 

With the ever changing scenario of the business market, the change of approach has raised the bar for customer satisfaction. Along with the customer satisfaction, it has also brought new levels of profitability ("Current Trends in Imaging Evaluation of Chiari Malformations", 2011). Clothing and apparel industry is such a market where growth and profitability walk hand in hand. With the evolution of the former, the latter is entitled to rise as well.

Evaluation of current trends in terms of growth

As per the Bonds clothing brand, the profitability, and the revenues have significantly risen over the past decade. From being an Australian brand, it has got international recognition as well in the year 2010, when the business step foot in Jakarta, Indonesia. In a nutshell, it can be safely stated that the profitability of the organization has reached a new high in the past two decades (Ayla & Ä°ÅŸgören, 2010).

The macro environment can be regarded as the environmental factors which are not liable to be controlled or are deemed as uncontrollable beyond the grip or influence of the organization. Macro environment constitutes of certain elements. The fundamental factors of the macro environment are demographic, economic, political, cultural, technological, legal and global factors (Pickles, 2006).

In the case of Bonds clothing brand of Australia, PESTEL analysis of those factors is elaborated in this section.

Political Factors	Economic Factors	Society factors	Technological factors
The ending of import quotas favors cost reduction.	Fast paced and emerging markets	Growing importance of fashion in urban lifestyle	Increase in promotion and distribution via different channels of technology
Corruption	Reduction of cost via globalization	Changing consumer habits in Australia	Fewer ambiguities in shopping owing to online shopping and promotion.
Unexpected political violence	Economic crisis	Variety of products guaranteed owing to cultural diversities and choices

Identification of major market segments and analysis of primary and secondary target markets.

Market segmentation is regarded as a significant as well as influential factor in terms of achieving success in the modern day competitive market. In the case of Australia-based clothing brand Bonds, the market segmentation and detailed analysis of the primary and secondary target markets are discussed in this section ("IRS provides more detail on EO market segments", 2002).

Bonds clothing and apparel organization’s business market is segmented between the clothing products for kids, men as well as women. In the case of men and women, the organization fundamentally targets to attract the age groups belonging to 20 to 40. The organization ensures that within the perimeter of this group, the color barriers are non-existent, and the customers belong to diverse backgrounds as well (Yuasa, 2001). A modern day customer is a flexible man or woman with who can easily fit or adjust in different environments and is not hesitant to pay a hefty chunk of his or her hard earned money for genuine quality clothing. In the case of the kids and baby clothing, Bonds organization also has specialized expertise and quality products.

The primary target markets that can be identified and analyzed in the case of Bonds, are the clothing of every variety such as underwear, trackers etc. of men and women ranging from the age group of 20 to 40 years. This age group is the organization’s primary target as it is observed via extensive market research that online shopping is most proffered by this age group in this part of the world and Bonds make a hefty chunk of their revenue by online shopping (Dijkstra, 2015). They have their brand stores as well in various parts of Australia, and by conveying a thorough market research analysis it is observed that the sale ratio is much higher in the mentioned age group in case of both the sexes.

Evaluation of current trends in terms of profitability

The secondary target market of Bonds clothing organization can be regarded as the baby clothing section. Different promotional and distributional techniques are used by the organization in order to promote their baby clothing genre in the market. But due to the unquestionable and genuine quality of their products and efficient on time delivery and replacement on damage services; this particular section of the organization’s business is also touching new and potentially successful benchmarks (Verde, Irpino, & Balzanella, 2016).

The identification of the market segmentation along with identification and analysis of the primary and secondary target markets has been possible owing to the extensive market research and conduction of numerous surveys by the Bonds clothing organization.

In terms of decision making, the primary segment of the market segmentation has a fundamental part to play, with reference to Bonds clothing brand based in Australia. The decision making in terms of organizational decisions can be regarded as a potentially future and outcome changing factor in terms of reputation and growth of the business organization. The primary segment of an organization effectively portrays its value in the market. So, the primary segment thus plays a major part in the decision-making in the organization. In Bonds clothing organization, the major decisions are taken by the administrative department considering into account the type of impact that decision can potentially make in the primary segment of the organization (Kang & Choi, 2016). For instance, if the organization decides to make some changes in the distribution strategies or promotional strategies, it ensures the fact that those changes would not possibly have a negative effect on the primary section of the organization. Moreover, if some changes are required to be made in the organization, aligned with the ever changing market trends, then it is ensured by the highly authorized administrative department that those changes are made having a positive impact on the primary segment of the organization.

The primary segment of the organization has a considerable level of significance in terms of decision making in the organization owing to the fact that as it represents the organization, so the reputation of the primary segment is deemed as an essential factor. Although it should also be taken into consideration that the secondary segment of the organization also constitutes a considerable part of the organization's success. But, if an administrative decision is made in the organization regarding any major changes, then the priority level of the primary segment is at a much higher level than that of the secondary segment. For instance, if Bonds clothing enterprise is conducting a market survey on the television, then the promotion of their primary segment products will be much more influential than the promotion of their secondary segment products (Flores, 2010). As the primary and the secondary segments are identified via extensive market research and analysis, it is necessary that while decision making and conducting other major promotional and distributional activities, the primary segment is given added importance and significance.  In this way, it can be stated that the primary segment is essentially involved in the context of decision making in the top business enterprises such as Bonds.

Evaluation of current trends in terms of Macro-environment

Competitiveness is the most common trait of the modern era. The scenario is the same in the case of clothing and apparel industries as well. In Australia, there exists numerous clothing brands and Bonds face highly significant and competitive threats to their business (Turgut & Gultekin, 2015). Apart from established clothing and apparel business enterprises, competition from various third parties is also existent this could possibly be a reason for the reduction of the organization's sales as well as an increment in the purchase cost of their raw materials. As Bonds clothing expanded to various types of clothing, it faces a breakneck competition from the other competitors who are specialized in that particular market. For instance, Bonds expanded their business to baby clothing and apparel section but faces a stiff competition from the other business enterprises that are specialized in that particular genre. In some cases, the scenario might be a bit more adverse where the competitors adapt to the ever changing requirements and demands of the customers more quickly, and that may result in loss of a few customers and in turn, net loss in the sales ratio. It should be taken into account that, in order to get a foothold in this cut-throat competitive market, an organization has to constantly come up with new ideas and new promotional and distributional strategies otherwise the organization may face unwanted consequences (Wu, Zilberman, & Babcock, 2001).

It is often the case that the fundamental competitive factors in the clothing and apparel industry are basically the design of the product, brand image, consumer satisfaction, affordable price, genuine quality of the product, marketing, promotion and distribution of the products, and after sale customer service. In the case of Bonds, there exist some particular products which can be made use of season after season; the clothing and apparel industry in a general point of view can be deemed as subject to rapidly changing trends in fashion and ever-changing customer requirements. 

A SWOT analysis is conducted in order to determine and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Bonds clothing based in Australia ("Composites industry gets SWOT analysis", 2001).

Strengths ·         Clarified target markets. ·         Recognized brand value ·         Clear business plan. ·         All the product items are elaborately promoted and introduced to the customers.	Weaknesses ·         Customers cannot see product quality online. ·         High price demands long distance delivery. ·         High time consumption for long distance delivery.
Opportunities ·         Region restriction is non-existent. ·         Expansion of market for foreign customers. ·         Comparatively less online shopping options for the Australian customers.	Threats ·         Cut throat competition. ·         Loss due to product backlogging. ·         Business strategies can be easily copied.

In the above figure, a positional map for the marketplace is drawn, with reference to Bonds clothing and apparel business enterprise based in Australia. This positional map constitutes of factors such as price and value of the products, selection of clothing and apparel by the customer in accordance with the current existing trends in fashion and lifestyle, the convenience of the customer and the service provided by the organization (Jewell & Barone, 2007).

Market Segmentation for Bonds Clothing

The positional map elaborates few major factors in terms of the clothing and apparel industry. One of those factors involves the fact that based on the selection of the product by the customers, the demand for that particular product would increase, and in turn, the price of that particular product is also liable to increase owing to its high demands. It is also witnessed that if discount policies are applied on any of the products, then it is more likely to be sold than the other products. For instance, a business strategy could be applied that if a product of genuinely high quality cannot be sold owing to its high price tag, then if a discount policy is applied to it, then it is more than likely to be sold.

Every clothing and apparel business organization existent in today’s modern marketplace applies more or less the same positional theories but, the quality of product and the service provided is often witnessed as the distinguishing factor in these business enterprises.

Bonds stands among one of the leading clothing and apparel brands in Australia in terms of both online shopping and conventional shopping and thus it's positioning in the marketplace is also immaculately high, as it sets such high standards in terms of clothing and apparel products (Perera, Khatibi, & Navarathna, 2015). Their success is also owing to their diverse collection of products ranging from apparels for men, women, and kids as well.

Conclusion

It can be easily stated from this assignment, that clothing and apparel industry will continue its significant and ever growing influence on the masses in the future. This sector can be regarded as one of the most lucrative business propositions in the whole wide world. Bonds, a clothing brand based in Australia has achieved a significant amount of growth and success over the past two decades. This huge amount of success is made possible by the extensive market research, evaluation of the ever changing trends in the market, identification of the different market segments along with the evaluation of the primary and secondary market targets and implementation of the right and apt business strategies and state of the art promotional and distributional techniques to become one of the leading clothing brands in Australia. Bonds has spread its wings in the international market as well, when it stepped in Jakarta, Indonesia in the year 2013, earning an international reputation as well along with national prominence in Australia.

References

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