BRANDING AND EXPANSION

Branding Strategy and International Expansion of Sean John

[Instructor name]

[Course]

Table of Contents

Executive Summary1

1 Introduction2

2 The Sean John Brand3

2.1 About Sean John3

2.2 Sean John Branding Strategy3

2.2.1 The Sean John Brand3

2.2.2 Sean John Marketing Strategy6

2.3 Expansion into the Japanese Market8

2.3.1 Overview of the Japanese Market8

2.3.2 Expansion Strategy9

2.3.3 Entry Methods11

3 Conclusions and Recommendations12

References15

Branding Strategy and International Expansion of Sean John

Executive Summary

Sean John is a successful medium luxury brand business operating in the United States. It currently sells a range of men's wear which include suiting, casual wear, sportswear, accessories, and fragrances. In addition, it also sells clothes for boys and a fragrance for women. Currently, Sean John has co-branded with Macy's departmental stores and exclusively sells its branded luxury products through its online and offline stores in the United States. Additionally, Macy's also provides international shipments of all products.

The brand of Sean John is very strong with very high brand awareness and brand equity. The company is currently being privately held. Still, the company has a strong brand which sells globally. The Sean John brand is also inextricably linked with the celebrity and personality of Sean “Diddy” Combs. The marketing mix has been developed to position the brand as a celebrity luxury fashion brand.

Japan is a lucrative market for luxury branded goods. It is the second largest economy of the world and one of the biggest consumers of luxury goods. The consumer market segment of men in relation to the market segment of 'parasite singles' is the target for Sean John. However, currently Sean John is only available for online purchasing. Accordingly, it is recommended that Sean John develop its physical presence in Japan through either entering a joint venture with Macy's in Japan or by establishing its stores in Japan independent from the co-branding with Macy's.

1 Introduction

Fashion marketing involves using numerous techniques to satisfy the customer in general and the customer of clothing and other accessories in particular. This results in the achievement of the long-term goals by the organisation. It is also clear that the fashion marketing is not the same as conventional marketing. It is different. It is the nature of fashion which has change embedded in it that results in varied marketing for fashion. In addition, there is also design in fashion marketing that both leads and reflects the consumer's demands.

The fashion industry is very vast and there are a lot of businesses in the fashion industry of varying sizes. There are both self-employed small designers of knitwear and other multinationals such as Zara and Liz Claiborne. The fashion industry has become a global business with the expansion of the Internet, the expansion of EU, and lowering of the trade barriers.

The fashion marketing poses the challenge of balancing the concerns of marketing and design. Most of the fashion marketers do not have formal education in business or marketing. Still, the conditions are changing in the EU. It was clear that creativity would thrive if there were no structural constraints. Therefore, the design training acknowledges the need for ...