Competition Fast Fashion Industry Break Into New Brand Of Clothing

You may be surprised. clothing The retail brand was not Gap, but the brand that had not been heard before. In fact, OldNavy is the brand developed in the Gap1990 era in response to the new round of competition in the US apparel market. At that time, Gap had upgraded its brand positioning to the middle end market, and launched a series of children's wear and baby wear. WAL-MART and Target, the two largest retail supermarkets, launched the clothing business and launched a slogan that is lower than Gap.

In order to shake off competitors, GapCEO MillardDrexler of the time decided to launch a clothing brand between Gap and WAL-MART in 1993. They transformed a Gap outlets store as the first store of the new brand. Store displays, jeans and T-shirts directly from low shelves, giving people a sense of complete variety and low price. In order not to affect the brand image of Gap, the "warehouse" put up the "OldNavy" sign in second years.

Since then, OldNavy has only spent 4 years to achieve sales of $1 billion, which has become a miracle in the history of American retailing. In the United States, its positioning is the place where middle class families purchase daily.

The reason why OldNavy chose to enter China is not much different from other competitors. China's huge population, the rapid expansion of the middle class, the improvement of purchasing power and the rise of the two or three tier city economy.

But before that, UNIQLO, H&M and so on. brand They have already entered the Chinese market, so OldNavy must prove their differences and values.

The location of the first shop reveals its ambition.

OldNavy in Jingan Temple, the total area of shops is nearly 1500 square meters, three floors, divided into men's wear, women's wear and children's wear. In Shanghai, the same area and similar lots are hard to find. The reason why OldNavy can persuade property developers is largely due to the achievements made by parent company Gap in China in the past 4 years.

But it is not Gap after all. When you enter a store, you will feel this strongly. At the entrance of the exhibition stand, a large number of models are placed in a row, simulating the state of a family, which makes people feel that this is a more practical family consumption brand. In the children's clothing area on the third floor, there is an airplane model on the ceiling, with interactive toys scattered in the corner, trying to create a children's paradise full of surprises. In addition, the price of goods in the shop is lower than that of Gap, and the price of some T-shirts and accessories is even less than 50 yuan.

This exquisite and lively shop is not a typical OldNavy store. In many parts of the United States, OldNavy shops are usually a hypermarket. However, since 2005, along with the rise of low price fast fashion brands like Forever21, OldNavy has fallen into a difficult period of growth stagnation in the United States, and even sustained several quarters of decline in performance. CEODawnRobertson, who took office in 2006, tried to improve the brand image of OldNavy with fashion boutique. He finally failed and he was fired in 2008.

3 years later, OldNavy's brand strategy once again returned to its original target audience - buying benefits for the family. clothes Middle class mom. They aim to highlight the family shopping atmosphere and make a comprehensive reform of store design and brand image. The code in the company is "PhaseOne".

JeffKirwan personally participated in PhaseOne. His current position is president of Gap Greater China. Before that, his job was to be responsible for OldNavy store operations in North America. He remembered that Thanksgiving day after the first store was renovated, the shop assistants even stood on the cash register to dance with their customers. Kirwan hopes to bring the latest achievements of PhaseOne to China.

"We kept this passion and energy in our first store in China. Our core concepts are 4 key words: fashion, fun, family and benefits. JeffKirwan told reporters.

In order to create a similar atmosphere in Chinese stores, OldNavy adopted a special way of evaluating salesmen. Gap is looking for cool, good American casual shop assistants, and OldNavy needs employees who look energetic and enthusiastic. In the training session, they also invited professional actors to take acting lessons, so that the salesmen could learn how to use body language to enthusiastically infect customers. It is said that in the classroom, the shop assistants also made up a dance for themselves. They planned to start music from time to time in the store, and they would also let customers join in the interaction.

These entertainment elements and display methods in Kirwan seem to embody OldNavy's personality and help it stand out in the competitive fast fashion field of China. "China's clothing brands are generally lacking in distinct personalities, and what we do is to tell people that this is a place that allows laughter and laughter." Kirwan said.

OldNavy's target customers in China are women between 25 and 35 years old. They usually not only shop for themselves, but also buy clothes for the nuclear family members, pay attention to fashion, and are also sensitive to prices.

In the United States, OldNavy created a virtual character Jenny for this image. While Gap's Chinese team is doing market research for OldNavy, it is found that the Chinese version of Jenny's interpersonal circle needs to be magnified much more than the US version. Not only the nuclear family, but also grandparents, brothers and sisters, friends and even colleagues. "We find that in China, children's clothing is not only the mother of their children, but also their grandmother, colleagues and friends." Kirwan said.

This is why OldNavy should regard children's clothing as the flagship of China's first store, and design the whole third floor as a children's playground. Before the Jingan Temple store was opened, OldNavy first opened a Pop-upStore to collect consumer preferences while promoting its brand. They found that many Chinese customers especially liked the interesting devices on display, so they immediately added more toys to children's wear areas. Kirwan revealed that in order to satisfy customers' preferences, a truck model will soon be added, which is originally a decorative painting on the wall. {page_break}

In addition, in the preliminary research, OldNavy found that Chinese consumers' shopping habits were more sociable, such as weekend shopping and hanging out with friends, and during the lunch break, a few colleagues would gather around the shops around the office. Therefore, they specially customize the "WelcometotheFamily" advertisement for the Chinese market. The advertisement filmed a large group of actors from 11 different age groups, and showed scenes of gatherings between family members and friends.

But you will still see the classic signs of American culture in this advertising film, for example, they will gather to watch American football.

This is actually from Gap's experience - emphasizing American culture and American fashion, and distinguishing it from competitors. In March 1st, when the store opened, OldNavy invited the drum band of University of Southern California to let them ride around the city on the sightseeing bus. In order to emphasize that they are American brands, they also add a line of words to indicate their birthplace: LED, SanFrancisco, California.

It seems that OldNavy has made every possible preparation for entering the Chinese market, and its own business platform and Tmall flagship store are also open at the same time. However, in March 1st, a group of customers who exchanged free products with text messages and paper coupons were queuing up at the door.

PeterMack, director of marketing in China, Lang Tao, a brand consultancy, told the first financial weekly that OldNavy is very difficult to succeed in China. LandorAssociates Gap's experience does not mean that another brand will work again in 4 years.

In addition to low-priced goods, a OldNavy man's hooded sweater is 299 yuan, and the shirt is about 149 yuan, similar to UNIQLO. Under the premise that there is not much difference between price and quality, people tend to buy brands that are more familiar to them.

"The competition in China's clothing market has been very intense. International brands want to be successful, or through strong public relations strategy, ask stars to endorse and put a lot of advertisements, or it itself is the focus of fashion media attention, and has a certain reputation." Mack said. These are not available on OldNavy.

The reason why OldNavy failed to seize the initiative was that it established its international business department in 2012 and began expanding beyond the North American market. The first stop is the headquarters of UNIQLO, Tokyo, Japan, which now has 12 stores. This is because its low price strategy caters to the macroeconomic background of Japan's economic stagnation. On the other hand, Gap entered the Japanese market in 1995, where it has accumulated for many years.

In China, even Gap has only 4 years of experience, and UNIQLO opened its first store in 2002. As of July 2013, the total number of UNIQLO stores in China has reached 212, far exceeding 57 of Gap.

OldNavy is very cautious about the future development in China. When it comes to expansion plans, Kirwan says OldNavy will open 4 more stores in 2014, 2 of which are in Shanghai, and 2 in Wuxi and Suzhou respectively, but contracts with developers have not yet been signed. The 2015 plan is too early for OldNavy and needs to be worked out according to the financial expectations of headquarters in 2014.

"We know China. market There are great opportunities and we know there is no shortcut. Success is not an easy task. " Kirwan said.