Marketing Management

INTRODUCTION

Jeans are now a very popular form of casual dress around the world, and have been so for decades. They come in many styles and colors; however, "blue jeans" are particularly identified with American culture, especially the American Old West.

Jeans are trousers made from denim. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of pants called "blue jeans" and invented by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers, especially members of the greaser (subculture). Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler. Jeans come in various fits, including skinny, tapered, straight, boot cut and flare.

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The history of jeans

Denim and jeans - where do the names come from?

The word jeans comes from a kind of material that was made in

Europe. The material, called jean, was named after sailors from

Genoa in Italy, because they wore clothes made from it. The word

'denim' probably came from the name of a French material, serge de

Nimes: serge (a kind of material) from Nimes (a town in France).

 

 

The 18th century

At first, jean cloth was made from a mixture of things. However, in

the eighteenth century as trade, slave labour, and cotton plantations

increased, jean cloth was made completely from cotton. Workers

wore it because the material was very strong and it did not wear out

easily. It was usually dyed with indigo, a dye taken from plants in

the Americas and India, which made jean cloth a dark blue colour.

 

PLANTATION: (n) a

large farm where a

single crop is grown

DYE: (v) to change the

colour of something.

(n) a chemical used to

change something's

colour

The 19th century – The California Gold Rush

In 1848, gold was found in California (not too

far from San Francisco) and the famous Gold

Rush began. The gold miners wanted clothes

that were strong and did not tear easily. In

1853, a man called Leob Strauss left his home in New York and

moved to San Francisco, where he started a wholesale business,

supplying clothes. Strauss later changed his name from Leob to

Levi.

 

WHOLESALE

BUSINESS (n) buying

large amounts of

something & selling it

to shops

 

Rivets

A big problem with the miners' clothes were the pockets, which

easily tore away from the jeans. A man called Jacob Davis had the

 

RIVET: (n) a strong

idea of using metal rivets (fasteners) to hold the pockets and the

jeans together so that they wouldn't tear. Davis wanted to patent his

idea, but he didn't have enough money, so in 1872, he wrote to Levi

Strauss and offered Strauss a deal if Strauss would pay for the

patent. Strauss accepted, and he started making copper-riveted

'waist overalls' (as jeans were called then).

In 1886, Levi sewed a leather label on their jeans. The label showed

a picture of a pair of jeans that were being pulled between two

horses. This was to advertise how strong Levi jeans were: even two

horses could not tear them apart.

metal fastener

PATENT: (v) if you

patent something it is

legally your invention

and other people

cannot steal it.

OVERALLS: (n) a

loose fitting garment

that covers the legs and

chest

How jeans became popular

The 1930's: Westerns

In the 1930's, Hollywood made

lots of western movies. Cowboys

- who often wore jeans in the

movies-became very popular.

Many Americans who lived in

the eastern states went for vacations on 'dude ranches' and took

pairs of denim 'waist overalls' back east with them when they went

home.

 

DUDE RANCH: (n) a

holiday resort in the

western US where

people can ride horses

and pretend to be

cowboys

The 1940's: War

Fewer jeans were made during the time of World War 2, but 'waist

overalls' were introduced to the world by American soldiers, who

sometimes wore them when they were off duty. After the war, Levi

began to sell their clothes outside the American West. Rival

companies, like Wrangler and Lee, began to compete with Levi for

a share of this new market.

 

OFF DUTY: (v) time

when a soldier is not

working

RIVAL: (n) something

in competition with

you

The 1950's: Rebels

In the 1950's, denim became popular with young people. It was the

symbol of the teenage rebel in TV programmes and movies (like

James Dean in the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause). Some

schools in the USA banned students from wearing denim.

Teenagers called the waist overalls 'jean pants' - and the name

stayed.

 

BAN: (v) forbid; order

people to stop doing

something

The 1960's: Hippies & the Cold War

In the 1960's many, many university and college students wore jeans. Different

styles of jeans were made, to match the 60's fashions: embroidered jeans, painted

jeans, psychedelic jeans...

In many non-western countries, jeans became a symbol of 'Western decadence'

and were very hard to get. US companies said that they often received letters

from people all around the world asking them to send the writer a pair of jeans.

The 1980's: Designer Jeans

In the 1980's jeans finally became high fashion clothing,

when famous designers started making their own styles of

jeans, with their own labels on them. Sales of jeans went

up and up.

The 1990's: Recession

Things changed in the 1990s. The rock-and-roll generation

gave way to the hip-hop crowd. Blue collar made way for

the white. The craze for jeans began to fade. For the dot-

com dudes, the sartorial key was khakis. Denims made

way for Dockers. A company that once had a 90 per cent

of the market and made 90 per cent of its jeans in the US

started to fray. Today it has branched out to khakis and

other apparel and it now parcels out 90 per cent of its

production far and wide so that it can have a leg up on the

fast evolving market.

LEVI’S

Parent Company : Levi Strauss & Co.

Category : Apparel and Footwear

Sector : Lifestyle and Retail

Tagline : Go Forth

USP : The brand id known for its denim apparels especially jeans. It is the

oldest manufacturing company of jeans.

STP

Segmentation :

Target :

Positioning :

SWOT Analysis

Strengths :

The main strength of Levi’s is its popularity.

It is a globally recognized brand all over the world.

Competing prices with the rivals.

Variety of products like T-shirts, bags, shoes, jackets make the company

more profitable.

Weakness :

They only focus mainly on youth that makes company weaker in marketing

areas.

Losing market to newer and more trendier brands.

Opportunity :

The company has more than 5000 trademark registrations and pending

applications in more than 180 countries.

The company’s products are sold in more than 60000 outlets and in around

110 countries worldwide.

It is registered in more than 160 countries.

Threats :

Brands like pepe, lee, and others create tough competition.

The choice of youth keeps on changing, so a company solely targeting youth

needs to innovate a lot.

SPYKAR

Parent company : Spykar

Category : Apparel and accessories.

Sector : Lifestyle and retail.

Tagline : Bring it on.

USP : The brand id known for its denim apparels especially jeans.

STP

Segmentation : Men and women loving denims and western comfortable

clothing.

Target : Young men and women from the urban areas.

Positioning : With culture.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths :

1. The company is an Indian denim brand and hence has an Indian mass appeal.

2. The company has strict code of conduct and quality with almost negligible

attrition rate.

3. The company has an in-house processing unit giving the company the

competitive edge in consistently producing quality denims

4.SPYKAR is available at over 450 MBOs across the country, apart from the

large format stores like Shopper's Stop, Globus, Lifestyle, Pantaloons etc. and

the exclusive outlets.

5. The brand also has a stylish website giving complete information relating to

its products, campaigns and stores.

Weakness :

1.The brand has tough competition and there is high brand switching

2. Limited global presence as it restricted to a small market.

Opportunity :

1. With 100 per cent FDI in single brand retail getting the nod and 51 per cent in

multi-brand likely to happen, Spykar can benefit.

2. The Company can do aggressive marketing in colleges and youth events.

Threats:

1. Similar designs available in other brands hence switching cost is less.

2. Local market and international brands poses a risk.

Competitors

1.Levis

2. Pepe

3.Wrangler

3. PEPE JEANS

History

In 1973 it was originally just a weekend road side stall on the Portobello Road

Market located in west London established by three brothers: Nitin Shah, Arun

Shah and Milan Shah. Nitin and his two brothers later started their own company

Sholemay Ltd trading, as Pepe Jeans.

Parent company : Pepe Jeans Incorporation.

Category : Apparel and accessories.

Sector : Lifestyle and Retail

Tagline : Pepe Jeans London.

USP : A brand, which is really innovative, stylish changing with variety at an

affordable price.

STP

Segmentation : Men and women who like contemporary style of fashion with a

rebellious attitude.

Target : Young urban Men and women from the upper middle class.

Positioning : Pepe Jeans is a premium and international brand, which houses

casual wear with a heart of London in it.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths :

1. Pepe Jeans is present over 100 countries and employs more than 5000

employees all over the world.

2. The brand is the fastest growing denim brand and is 500 million denim and

casual wear brand.

3. The brand had a different view of selling jeans and was against hanging them

and even fought with the retailers to change this fashion, which was a big hit.

4. The brand has entered the elite segment of the top four denim producers in the

world.

5. The brand has always been constantly producing unique silhouettes, which the

brand is very famous for across Europe.

6. The brand uses extensive advertising where the brand often teased the

boundaries of acceptable social imaginary and norms, which had a big attraction

among young consumers.

7. The brand has a heavy brand following and is has a strong financial position

in the denim industry.

8. The brand has signed international celebrity brand ambassadors which

enhances the brand equity.

Weakness :

1. Constantly changing fashion trends means inventory issues

2. The brand has several competitors hence high brand switching.

Opportunities :

1. The brand should expand its products and services throughout the world.

2.  The brand can enter into the kid’s wear segment.

Threats :

1. Switching cost between brands is very low, so there are regular price wars

among competitors.

2. Increasing Competition from brands like Lee, levis is increasing never like

before.

Competitors

1. Lee

2. Levis

3. Wrangler

Wrangler

Parent Company : VF Corporation

Category : Apparel

Sector : Lifestyle and Retail

Tagline : There's a bit of the West in all of us.

USP : Comfort and style at affordable rates.

STP

Segmentation : Casual wear

Target : Men and women from the urban upper middle class

Positioning : Tough and rugged, lasting quality.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths :

1. Wrangler has a wide distribution channel. They sell their jeans at mass

merchandisers such as Walmart and Target.

2. They also have their own flagship specialty stores located at many

places.

3. Strong brand presence

4. Good marketing and advertising at stores and print ads.

Weakness :

1.Competition from standalone specialty stores means limited market share

growth

2. Lot of options available means high brand switching.

Opportunity

1. Denim industry is expected to grow at a faster rate

2.Companies are using new media to reach consumers

3. More global penetration and enhanced visibility.

Threats

1. With increased interest in their own flagship brands mass merchandisers like

Walmart are beginning to decrease shelf space allocated to these premium denim

brands.

2. Increasing competition

3. Fluctuating currency values and economic scenario.

Competitors

1. Levis

2. Lee

3. Pepe Jeans

KILLER

Parent company : KewalKiran Clothing Limited

Category : Apparel and Accessories

Sector : Lifestyle and Retail

Tagline : Worship the night, Killer for her; What’s your cut?

USP : India’s first international denim brand.

STP

Segmentation : Fashion conscious and trendy  youth

Target : Youth from the Urban upper and upper middle class.

Positioning : Denim brand with an attitude.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths :

1. Strong brand presence with over 1600 points of sale in the form of

MBO’s with chains

a. like Shopper’s Stop, Central, Lifestyle and their exclusive brand

outlets like K-lounge in all Tier-1 cities.

2. Diversification into other product line like Killer Tees, innerwear,

footwear, eyewear to make it a complete lifestyle brand. 3. Innovative

ad-campaigns have made a strong connect with the youth which is their

main target audience.4. Brand has been termed as India’s first

international denim wear brand with it exporting denim wear to Middle

East, USA, Africa, South-East Asia since 1994.

3. Self-procurement and manufacturing facilities has been a great strength

for the brand as it 5 units with an annual capacity of over 30 lakh pieces.

Weakness

1. Though the brand has stretched its portfolio with many

diversifications it still has to heavily depend on denim wear for its

revenues.

2. The brand is facing increasing competition from the other sibling

brands of the parent company like Lawman and Integriti which too

are emerging in denim wear.

Weakness

1. Though the brand has stretched its portfolio with many diversifications it

still has to heavily depend on denim wear for its revenues.2. The brand is

facing increasing competition from the other sibling brands of the parent

company like Lawman and Integriti which too are emerging in denim

wear.

Opportunity

1. The company can look to expand its manufacturing capabilities in

emerging markets which would be a great boost for the brand.

2. The brand can also start online stores for selling its merchandise as it has

emerged as an effective medium for selling.

3. The brand effective in its advertising can also look at green campaigns

which is attracting a lot of attention these days.

Threats

1. The government tax policies on apparel are set to increase the unit cost.

2. Highly fragmented fashion industry which would involve low customer

loyalty.

3. The entry of several international players in the retail industry after

opening up of FDI would also pose as a threat for the brand.

Competitors

1. Pepe Jeans

2. Levis

3. Diesel

Market Share

Now let us see the market share of the above brands in India.

The Market Share for Levis is the highest i.e. 49%, followed by Pepe at 14%. Other brand includes UCB, GAS, Flying machine, etc.

Market Share based on Gender :

Average rating :

Brand Loyalty

In the end looking at all the brands and considering the brand loyalty of all the

brands, we can conclude that Levis has the highest brand loyalty.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_Jeans