Forever 21

forever 21 - Marketing Mix
Swot Analysis
Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

1. FOREVER 21 PRESENTATION BY : STUTI MITTAL

2. ABOUT THE COMPANY FOREVER 21 - An American chain of fashion retail brand. The chain, was originally known as Fashion 21. Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1984 by Do Won Chang and his wife Jin Sook Chang. Firstly, intended mostly for middle-aged women. The store was targeted towards the Los Angeles Korean American community with most of their designs popular in the South Korean regions.

3. Forever 21 has operations in around 68 countries across the world and is the fifth largest specialty retailer in the USA with an annual turnover of USD 4 billion and over 28,566 employees worldwide. The company now sells clothing, accessories, and beauty products for women, men and kids. And the average store size is 38,000 square feet. More than 60% of its apparel is manufactured in China and is exported to other Asian countries, America, UK and Middle East.

4. MARKETING MIX

5. PRODUCT Forever 21- fast fashion retailer selling the latest trends and styles at economical prices. Products - Clothing, Bags, Shoes and Accessories for men, women and kids. Enables teenagers to buy the latest fashion at affordable prices. A Forever 21 Product i.e. Clothing can be divided into three levels of product: Core Product, Actual Product, Augmented product.

6. CORE PRODUCT A core product is the intangible value that you may obtain from the product. The main element of the product is its Design. The essence of this Brand- Latest designs from high end celebrities available to common people. Unique selling preposition is to imitate or create the latest trends. Another very important aspect of its core product is the Quality. The brand have average quality clothes.

7. ACTUAL PRODUCT Actual product is the tangible form of the core product. Most of the collection by Forever 21 caters to young men and women as they offer more casual range of products that may include Dresses, Tops, Jackets, Jeans, Shorts, Skirts for women and Shirts, Graphic Tees, Sweatshirts, Shorts for Men. Apart from Clothing, the actual Products include Make-up, Shoes and Accessories like Bags, Belts, Jewellery, Hair accessories.

8. AGUMENTED PRODUCT The Augmented products for Forever 21 includes the sales assistance which is provided by the very fashionable staff that is present in the store. Forever 21 engages in visual merchandising by releasing photo shoots and mannequin styling that can inspire its customers to try on various new and stylish combinations. With the trial rooms facility in their stores, they allow customers to try on various outfits before they have to choose what they want to buy. Generally also have an exchange policy in case they change their mind in a week or so.

9. PROMOTION Forever 21 has a target audience of young men and women between the ages of 13 to 30. Hence, it takes a huge advantage of Internet and Social Media to introduce and popularize its Brand in the global market. Forever 21’s website is a great example of content marketing. http://newsroom.forever21.com/social-media https://www.facebook.com/Forever21/ Twitter, Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , Forever 21 App - Examples

10. They had indulged in the Promotion technique called Marketing Public Relations by organizing a fashion parade, photo shoot booths to engage the people. The brand also engages in Sales Promotion from time to time that creates additional motivation for its customer to buy the product. Regularly provides its app users with discount coupons and promo codes that can be used during online shopping.

11. PRICE Price strategy of Forever 21 plays a very important role in the Brand’s success. This is quite evident from the Mission Statement of the company: The company's mission is to provide shoppers with an unprecedented selection of today's fashions with affordable prices. Forever 21’s strategy is to make fashion affordable to everyone. The various Pricing Strategies used by the Brand are as follows:

12. Product Bundle Pricing: Marketing ploy in which several products are offered for sale in one combined unit that is often marked at a reduced price compared to the sum of their separate purchase prices. Example: If you buy 1 Denim Jean at Forever 21, it will cost $15, however, if you buy 3 different denim jeans, it will cost $40 rather than $45. Promotional Pricing: Marketing strategy where products are temporarily priced very low in order to increase short-term sales. Psychological pricing: Pricing/marketing strategy based on the theory that certain prices have a psychological impact on the customer’s behaviour.

13. PLACE Forever 21 has always followed a One level distribution channel, with most of their manufacturers being in India and China, from where the merchandise is made available to the customers through their retailers which are available around the globe. They also have a Zero level channel by their mobile app, where there is no need of a retailer and customers can choose and buy the products directly from the Mobile App.

14. SWOT ANALYSIS

15. STRENGTH Staying in trend Something new every day Affordable Customer Savvy Association with young celebrities

16. WEAKNESS Private ownership Centralised decision making Excessive focus on teens

17. OPPORTUNITIES Growing need for youngsters to stick to trends Fashion changes Personalisation clothing

18. THREATS Economic Crisis Focus on recycling

19. Competitive advantage in the Marketing strategy Trendy and affordable pricing Limited Presence

20. SEGMENTATION The Company uses the mix of the psychographic, demographic  and  geographic segment. The variables like age, expectations, gender, income group, region, family size, loyalty, social class, price sensitivity, personality attributes, and lifestyle.

21. TARGETING Mass targeting strategy is used by the company to be competitive in the fashion industry and target the customer group with the distinctive features and offerings.

22. POSITIONING The speciality retail store has positioned itself based on young, trendy and fashionable offerings which create the image of being young or ahead of fashion. The company has positioned itself based on value-based positioning strategy.

23. THANKYOU!!!