michael--kors

[michael--kors]

Post 13 Promotion

Michael Kors uses their website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Weibo, Youku, WeChat, Pinterest, Instagram, and the Destination Kors portion of their site to reach consumers that fit their advertising objective. On all of these platforms, they use high-quality images to engage consumers and increase the likelihood of purchases and their publicity. They use social media a considerable amount and likely use the advertising response function when considering how much to spend on advertising even though it is already a well-known brand the fashion industry typically has to show they have the latest trends.

They use advocacy advertising a form of institutional advertising. During Pride Month, they came out with a line of rainbow-colored items and 100% of the proceeds when to an organization that supports the LGBTQ community.  They also use advertising appeals, such as posting about celebrities wearing the brand to build a higher demand for a particular line or item. The brand uses coupons on a variety of websites, and sometimes after in-store purchases to increase customer loyalty.

Michael Kors does use some billboards for promotion, but it seems as though a majority is done through social media as this has the most significant reach to their target market. The brand does use personal selling in their store to promote the purchase of items. Also, they encourage you to take style quizzes on their app so that they can suggest a specific item that fit your style. 

Learn From Michael Kors' Social Media Strategies - Phoebe Wang. (2017, June 11). Retrieved from https://medium.com/@PhoebeMcQueen/learn-from-michael-kors-social-media-strategies-5fdb15e0da4b

Marketing mix of Michael Kors - Michael Kors Marketing mix. (2019, February 05). Retrieved from https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-michael-kors/

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Post 12 Place (Distribution)

There are 731 Michael Kors stores worldwide in addition to products being carried in department stores, discount stores, outlets, and online. The level of distribution intensity of Michael Kors products would likely be considered selective distribution as it seems they are aiming somewhere between intensive distribution, for maximum market coverage, and elusive distribution, where there are only one or a few dealers in a given area. Retailers that Michael Kors uses to bring items to consumers include, Macy’s, Overstock, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and more brick and mortar and digital channels. Michael Kors has also created an app to provide anyone with a smartphone a way to be always in touch with their products. 

Although they are available in many places, Michael Kors is working to solidify its status as a luxury brand. Capri Holdings has recently acquired luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo and luxury fashion brand Versace. They likely did this in hopes to be more closely associated with these high-end brands and shift their target market to clientele with more expensive taste than they are currently reaching. 

Marketing strategy of Michael Kors - Michael Kors Business strategy. (2019, May 29). Retrieved from https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-michael-kors/

Zigu. (n.d.). Michael Kors Marketing Mix (4Ps) Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/17659-michael-kors.html

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Post 11 Trends/Pricing

According to The Startup, the top-7 marketplace development trends in 2019 include, mobile design and progressive web app, hyper-personalization, artificial intelligence, mobile payments, and customer involvement. I believe that these provide an opportunity for Michael Kors to thrive in the marketplace. With their most recent app release KORSVIP, they have created a platform where customers can stay up to date on the latest trends, schedule appointments with private stylists, earn rewards, online shop and take style quizzes to get personalized recommendations.

The pricing of Michael Kors is an interesting thing to consider. Despite being considered a luxury brand, you can find many of the brand’s item at outlets and sales stores like Ross and Nordstrom Rack. Since there is such a wide range of products, you can buy something by the brand for as little as $10.00 or as much as $13,000. According to Macrotrends.net, on March 3, 2019, the Capri Holdings return on investment was 21.16%. Since the supply of many Michael Kors products is sometimes higher than the demand, once the fashion season comes and goes the last season items get pulled from the Michael Kors and department store shelves and placed on the sale shelves at discount shops. In addition to discounted prices at discount shops, Michael Kors has many sales that provide seasonal discounts to their customers.

 Sankar, C. (2017, November 07). The Confidence Factor for Women: What The Michael Kors Brand Can Teach You About Pricing. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@CarolSankar/what-you-can-learn-from-michael-kors-about-pricing-a016b17e7c03

The Five Most Expensive Michael Kors Designer Handbags. (2016, October 06). Retrieved from https://moneyinc.com/michael-kors-designer-handbags/

Top-7 Marketplace Development Trends in 2019 - The Startup. (2019, February 08). Retrieved from https://medium.com/swlh/top-7-marketplace-development-trends-in-2019-7427c11e2b0f

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Post 10 Services

The Michael Kors Service Promise, according to their website is, “Memorable service is at the heart of Michael Kors. We are committed to making shopping a breeze, to offering the biggest selection of the absolute best products, and to giving you style insight and insider access that works for your 24/7 lifestyle.” Since Michael Kors products are available online and in stores, they provide hands-on customer service when you are in the store and an easy to navigate website, owhere you can chat with a customer service representative from 9, am to 9 pm seven days a week. When it comes to evaluating the service quality of the brand, you must look at the five components, which include reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. As I mentioned above, they have online services available for communication as well as in-store customer service representatives, which shows that they likely are reliable and responsive. The employees are knowledgeable when it comes to current product and trends when you are in store to increase the assurance that you can trust them. In addition to being knowledgeable, from when you walk in the store till when you leave, an employee is there to help with any potential questions or concerns that may arise providing empathy to all customers. When it comes to the tangibles component of service quality, Michael Kors does not have anything that fits in other than the professional nature of its employees. Michael Kors also provides warranty and repair services, which help to increase their service quality as well. 

Michael Kors. (n.d.). Michael Kors Service Promise. Retrieved from https://www.michaelkors.com/info/faq/s11400077

Michael Kors. (n.d.). Warranty: Michael Kors Access. Retrieved from https://www.michaelkors.com/trend/mkaccess-warranty/_/R-cat3110005

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Post 9 Brand Detail

The company seems as though it strives to, at some point, be considered to make specialty products. At this point, they are considered to be a luxury brand, but their products are not something that people typically have to hunt to find. Unlike most specialty products,  you can find Michael Kors' products at outlets, sales stores (Ross, Nordstrom Rack, etc.) and most department stores. Despite being a luxury brand, I believe that the products they carry would more likely be considered heterogeneous shopping products because they are more expensive than convenience products and are found in fewer stores. Michael Kors' product mix includes accessories, footwear, watches, jewelry, women's and men's ready-to-wear, wearable technology, eyewear, and a full line of fragrance products. According to Statista.com, in 2017, 70% of the total net sales were generated by the accessories segment. According to their website, the product lines of Michael Kors includes Michael Kors Collection, MICHAEL Michael Kors, and Michael Kors Mens Labels. The trademark that Michael Kors is most commonly known for is the bolded MK within a circle, as shown below.

Michael Kors. (n.d.). ABOUT US. Retrieved from https://www.michaelkors.com/info/about-us/s11400074

O'Connell, L. (2018, December 13). Michael Kors - Statistics & Facts. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/topics/3215/michael-kors/

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Post 7 - Packaging

The Michael Kors packaging reflects the luxury, simplistic, on the go customer base they want to appeal to. The box or bag that holds the item is tan with a with border and white lettering for the brand name and inside, if you purchased a bag of some sort, it is covered by a white dust bag to keep any on the go product perfect every time which also includes their trademark in silver lettering. If you look at any luxury brand packaging, you should be able to tell where it is from within an instant whether it is the iconic packaging or the bolded font used by almost every brand.

 When looking at the package for this brand I think it does a very good job representing the product line and exactly what the brand wants people to think of when they see the package and makes sure to not leave anyone wondering where it is from. The contrast helps the packaging to stick out so that you can read the brand name and the unusual tan tone is unlikely to be like any other package you get.

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Post 6 - Competition

According to WWD.com, the biggest competitor for Michael Kors is Ralph Lauren, but other competitors also include Kate Spade and Tory Burch. The market share of Michael Kors in September of 2018 was 15.9 percent. The brand held the top spot in the Trend Report: Luxury Brands Online 2018 for online market shares for luxury brands.

 The position that Michael Kors hold in the market is their price. They have product differentiation from other competitors as they offer both high and mid-level price points, and this positioning and the wide range of products they produce helps them increase their target market. Since they appeal to two or more well-defined market segments, they have adopted a multisegment targeting strategy.

Agency, P. (2018, September 16). Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren Take Top Spots in Online Luxury Market Share. Retrieved from https://www.pmxagency.com/blog/2018/09/michael-kors-ralph-lauren-take-top-spots-in-online-luxury-market-share/

Zaczkiewicz, A. (2018, September 12). Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren Take Top Spots in Online Luxury Market Share. Retrieved from https://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/pmx-luxury-report-1202802922/

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Post 5 - Target Market

The NACIS 1 code for my brand (Michael Kors) is 424330, and the description is women’s, children’s, infant’s clothing, and accessories merchant wholesalers. The NAICS 2 code is 448140, and the description is family clothing stores.

 The brand’s target market, according to BusinessWire.com, is 25 to 54 years old, with an annual income above $50,000. In addition the demographic includes the younger, affluent that Michael Kors sees as typically overlooked by luxury brands, likely referring to Millennials and Generation Z. The psychographics of Michael Kors would include someone living a luxury lifestyle who typically travels and minimalistic. The typical consumer also includes housewives. While the brand does include a menswear line, most of their marketing is targeted at women.

  Michael Kors Customer profile. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://customer-profile.com/apparel-and-fashion/clothing/women-s-clothing/michael-kors-customer-profile.html

Research and Markets: Michael Kors Holdings Case Study: How to Design a Winning Growth Strategy. (2013, March 04). Retrieved from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130304005694/en/Research-Markets-Michael-Kors-Holdings-Case-Study

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Post 4 - SWOT

SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the brand Michael Kors

Strengths- Their celebrity clientele, recently Bella Hadid has been the face of their campaigns, but other celebrities include Gigi Hadid, Shaleen Woodley, Rita Ora, Bette Midler, and many more from various age groups. Promotion- social media seems to be primarily where they show celebrities in pieces.

Weaknesses- Lack of variation and styles seem to often look similar to other brands in their product. Place- lack of presence in Asia, which has a strong market for luxury brands. Price- having low end priced items can deter some luxury customers

Opportunities- Increasing the presence of Menswear, as they are an entry-level luxury brand, shifting some focus to menswear and male celebrities may increase profits. 

  Threats- Competition- since they are an entry-level luxury brand, other brands can easily be desired more (Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Louis Vuitton)

 Katz, E. R. (2019, May 07). Why is everyone hating on Michael Kors? Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://www.mic.com/articles/191503/michael-kors-versace-why-is-everyone-hating-on-michael-kors

Michael Kors Competitors, Revenue and Employees - Owler Company Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://www.owler.com/company/michaelkors

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Post 3 - Strategy

One important aspect that Michael Kors that differentiates the brand from their competition is the ability for it to be written as “Michael Kors” or “MK” on products and still be recognized easily without hesitation from customers. This makes them able to appeal to a larger group of people that either desire a more minimalistic “MK” or the really out there “Michael Kors” designs that are both recognized as staples of the brand. The diversification has helped to keep this brand alive as they enter menswear, accessories, and perfumes.

 The sustainable competitive advantage of Michael Kors is their product. They have so successfully used celebrities wearing their products to help with market development and product development to show off their new and existing products to new and existing customers. This brand has such a wide range of product pricing that they used strategic planning to bring in not only the type of person that wants a luxury item but also the person looking for a more everyday price and style but with the luxury name.

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Post 2 Michael Kors

My brand is Michael Kors. This company produces luxury accessories and apparel such as footwear, watches, jewelry, women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, eyewear, and fragrance. The products are available in stores that we operated either directly by the company or by licensing partners. Michael Kors is currently owned by Capri Holdings Limited (formerly known as Michael Kors Holdings Limited) and is a public company. 

Michael Kors launched the Women’s Collection in 1981 but in 1990 the company was forced to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy and they used the mostly quickly changed of the “Four Ps”, price, and launched a lower-priced line, Kors Michael Kors. From there, the company used both marketing penetration and diversification to grow the market share among the existing customers and also by introducing menswear as the designer won the Menswear Designer of the Year in 2003.

The annual sales for Michael Kors have slightly fluctuated throughout the past four years with total revenue (in millions) in 2016 reported $4,712.11, 2017 reported $4,493.70, 2018 reported $4,718.60, and so far in 2019 reporting a $3,894.30 evaluation the first three quarters. (CSIMarket Website) The companies market cap as of June 2018 was reported to be $9.6 billion.

As of June 2018 this company reported having 13,702 employees with its headquarters in London, England and were ranked #499 on the Forbes list America’s Best Employers. The companies mission statement is “to bring a sophisticated jet set lifestyle to women and men around the globe whether they are traveling for business to New York, Paris, or Tokyo, or traveling for pleasure to Aspen, Capri or Bali.” This mission statement is consistent with its comfortable yet luxury products perfect for any fashionable jet setter. (Comparably Website)

References

KORS's Revenue Growth by Quarter and Year. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2019, from https://csimarket.com/stocks/single_growth_rates.php?code=KORS&rev

Biography.com Editors. (2019, April 18). Michael Kors. Retrieved June 23, 2019, from https://www.biography.com/fashion-designer/michael-korsMichael Kors 

Mission, Vision & Values. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2019, from https://www.comparably.com/companies/michael-kors/mission

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Post 1 MICHAEL KORS Selection

I chose to use the fashion brand Michael Kors for my term project because this is a brand that I find myself consistently intrigued by their products and the way that they market them. Michael Kors is easily considered one of the worlds leading luxury apparel companies. Michael Kors has used the four basic marking mix decisions, also known as the 4Ps, to help increase their success since the company was established in 1981. Out of the four marketing mix decisions, Michael Kors has done a particularly great job with their product decisions as they include accessories, footwear, watches, jewelry, women’s and men’s apparel, eyewear, and fragrance. The wide range of products they produce mirrors the companies pride in itself that they hire diverse talent and work to provide a work environment for all. The company also uses on-demand marketing by delivering relevant experiences within stores and with an online shopping experience and online presence, such as Instagram. The current focus of the brand has been market development as they have more recently expanded internationally to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and also starting into South Korea. 

I look foreward to looking further into Michael Kors’ marketing techniques and strategies throughout the duration of this class.