Topshop’s Global Consumer Behaviour

My following blog entries will explore aspects of consumer behaviour focusing on consumer behaviour and how it affects the activities of the clothes retailer “Topshop”.  The subjects investigated are strategy, Taboo & Sexuality and Language Barriers in global marketing. These blog entries will discuss situations in which standardised and localised strategies are the most appropriate for Topshop and ways in which the company will need to be sensitive to culture.

Strategy

By adopting a standardised strategy, a company would have the same style of marketing campaigns with all markets globally. For example Coca-Cola would be most likely to adopt this strategy because their product is targeted at all ages, all cultures and races and is a global brand. Marketing for the product does not have to take much care in to being sensitive to different cultures. Here at Topshop, adopting a standardised strategy could enable us to reach markets and create a global branding image. A benefit of adopting this strategy would be to reduce the amount of marketing strategies that are necessary globally (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/global-standardization-marketing-25939.html, 2013). If at Topshop we were to target each country with the same marketing strategies then we would have a stronger and more individual defining image of our brand and products.

Using a localised marketing strategy means to adapt marketing strategies according to the area and culture that you are targeting. By adopting a localised strategy, it would be necessary for the company to be sensitive to the cultures and areas that it is marketing to. Adopting a localised strategy is Topshop’s most effective strategy to use.  By being based in the UK, it is deemed more acceptable for models to be more exposed and for our clothing to be exposing more flesh. However, we must be sensitive when targeting different countries and areas such as the middle-east. In some middle-eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Islamic laws and ethics state that women of Islam must cover up their bodies, necks and faces. (http://ukinsaudiarabia.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/living-in-saudi-arabia/, 2013).  In this instance, care must be taken in to marketing products in Islamic countries for those who do not follow the Islam rule in order to be respectful to the culture. Being respectful of culture also is dependent on genres of music playing in retail stores. Western countries have adopted the stimulus that “sex sells” which is not the case in certain cultures and music cannot contain any connotation. Not respecting cultural differences can result in a damaging brand image not just in the affected area but globally.

Taboo & Sexuality

 

Taboos are subjects that make the public feel uneasy to see, talk about or encounter and make them question their morals and beliefs. Examples would be animal testing, homosexual couples in public, drug use and war. Marketers must be aware of sensitive topics in different cultures when expanding to different countries or areas with different cultures. The topic of taboo must be considered in order to be sensitive and respectful to cultures which may vary from what is deemed as “acceptable” in the British culture. For example to market a product in the UK with light hearted references to animal testing is highly likely to cause uproar with consumers.

Which each society, it is inevitable to find each culture has diverse views on sexuality. For example: homosexuality, the roles of men and women, sex and provocative clothing etc. In the aspect of role differences, in British history, it was more stereotyped for the women to stay home and be housewives, mothers and home keepers whereas the men were supposed to be the bread winners, working full time jobs and returning to a perfect household. In the modern age, it had become more common for women to also be career driven and working rather than becoming “stay-at-home” wives. In this modern day, the idea of homosexuality has become less of a sexual taboo and more acceptable. However there are some cultures in which this is still a taboo subject and marketers must be sensitive to the subject in order to not cause any offense.

Language barriers/Lost in translation

 

Language barriers can be very problematical and destroying for a business campaigning to expand in to the global market. It is impossible to begin to emerge in to a new market without understanding fully their culture and language. Lack of knowledge of translation, language barriers and what may be classed as an unacceptable innuendo in a certain language gives the impression of unprofessionalism and failed planning. (http://blog.verbalizeit.com/reducing-the-impact-of-language-barriers-in-your-business/, 2013). Successfully breaking through language barriers will be a step towards breaking through to the new market and creating a sense of trust with the consumer and the company. The following three companies are case studies of global marketing campaigns which have resulted in poor translation and language barriers.

1)      The telephone company “Orange” started a launch campaign in 2004 with the tag-line “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.” This became problematical in Northern Ireland as this reflects this suggests to them “The Orange Order” which means protestant or loyalist, implying that the future is protestant. (http://www.i18nguy.com/translations.html, 2013).

2)      “Parker Pen” marketed a ball point pen in Mexico. Their slogan was intended to read “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you.” However the translate slogan read “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”

3)      Chevy’s marketed their new car “Nova” to Latin America only to discover that in Spanish “Nova” translates literally as “It won’t go.” (http://www.translationswave.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63:translation&catid=34:articles&Itemid=41, 2013).

 

Topshop is a retail store which started in 1964 in England. They now have 300 stores in the UK and have now expanded to the USA. Their target market is young women as their fashion is very modern. Their primary celebrity ambassador is Kate Moss who designs her range of women’s clothing sold at Topshop.  As well as Topshop stores, their ecommerce is increasingly popular and most items are sold online, shipping to over 100 countries. 

Consumer Behavior Essay

  Consumer Behaviour

The following is an internal newsletter for the staff of The Body Shop, exploring consumer behaviour and how it will influence the organisation.

Attitudes- Customer attitudes is an important factor in consumer behaviour which explores the emotions and thoughts customers have towards a product and how they became to have those particular feelings and attitudes. As marketers, we need to understand what customers are thinking and what they want from a product or service. Customer attitudes help with communications because knowing how customers feel about a product will mean that the company will have a better understanding on what products will drive the business and increase sales (http://www.msi.org/publications/publication.cfm?pub=1788, 2013). Customer attitudes are very important for us at The Body Shop. As marketers understanding customer attitudes are important for several reasons. One because understanding why the consumer feels the way they feel about our product will influence our products within the company and how consumer attitudes can be changed. Customer attitudes can be measured by further market and field research in the form of questionnaires and surveys. Customer attitudes can be formed from various stimuli

Perceptions- Perceptions can be defined as “The process by which an individual selects, organises and interprets stimuli in to a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.”

At The Body Shop, we pride ourselves in our ethical trade and using good, wholesome skin care products (http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/values/EthicalTrade.aspx,2013). Because of this reason, customer perceptions are very important to the company. Stimuli used here at The Body Shop are things such as using natural colours when advertising such as green and natural yellows. By displaying these natural colours, consumers may be more inclined to buy the products which appear fresher and cleaner. Knowledge of perceptions are important in helping to understand purchase and usage because as marketers we can identify which surface manifestations have the best effect on purchasing. Knowledge of perceptions can also aid communications because it gives us a wider knowledge on how to improve and influence customer perceptions.

Motivation- Customer motivation can be defined as “an internal state that drives people to identify and buy products or services that fulfil conscious and unconscious needs or desires” (http://www.ehow.com/about_6572429_definition-consumer-motivation.html, 2013). For us, customer motivation means exploring the reasons why customers are motivated to buy our products and services. Depending on each individual consumer, influential factors relating to motivation will be different. Motivation can be negative or positive. Positive motivation can be a consumer having a strong want or need for a product or service, and a negative motivation would be for example when the consumer is particularly against purchasing a certain product or service. An example being products that are known to be tested on animals and the consumer is very against buying these products. So what motivates customers to buy products? Maslow created a hierarchy of needs which shows basic human needs.

  

These needs can explain why customers are motivated to buy certain products.

Our ambassador and model Lily Cole is a great celebrity endorsement for our products. Lily has natural wavy, red hair and a fresh fair face. Using Lily as our celebrity endorsement enhances the vision we go for as a fresh, clean and natural company. Understanding customer motivations can influence marketing communications by relating back to maslow’s hierarchy of needs to identify which needs customers need to be fulfilled. By doing this, we can establish which products and services have the potential to be the best selling.

Word of Mouth- Word of mouth marketing can be defined as “When a consumer’s interest for a company’s product or service is reflected in their daily dialogs.” (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/word-of-mouth-marketing.asp#axzz2HffzGYkM, 2013). Those who express feelings about a company, product or service from outside our organisation are arguably the most influential when it comes to spreading feelings and thoughts to others. Word of mouth will always be uncontrollable as people will always talk about experiences with others.  Negative word of mouth will effect marketing communications as it will at first be brand damaging. However, receiving negative comments from word of mouth gives us the opportunity to enhance our marketing communications, recover from the negative comments and have the opportunity to act upon them. This can be done by either rebranding, promotions or press releases. Positive word of mouth has a tremendous impact on sales and positivity towards the company. An example of word of mouth marketing in action would be the Japanese clothing retailer “Uniqlo”. Uniqlo hold pop up stores around the world and announce the date of the pop up the night before. By doing this they created a hype of potential consumers talking about the event and word soon spreads very quickly. Another hugely successful example of word of mouth marketing would be in 2012 with the release of the book “50 Shades of Grey”. This is a great example of how word of mouth marketing has been hugely successful. This method has also proved cost effective.

Opinion Leaders- Opinion leaders are those who have the influential power to convince consumers to feel a certain way about something with their opinions. For example: celebrities and journalists. As opinion leaders, it does not necessarily mean that they agree with what they are saying or that the opinion is strictly their own. But as marketers, we need to target these opinion leaders as priority. They have the power to persuade and influence others decisions. In the modern world with social media sites, targeting opinion leaders such as celebrities can have a very positive impact if views are reflected through their social media profiles.

Opinion Formers- Opinion formers are those who create their own opinions of a product or service by having a substantial amount of information to be able to justify their opinion. Opinion formers which would have an impact on The Body Shop would be editors or journalists who have experience in the field of skin care and beauty products such as In-Style magazine editors. Those who have had first-hand experience of our field such as dermatologists and skin care and beauty experts are valuable to our company. These opinion formers have the power to enhance a very good brand image for us. People who have the knowledge of the products will be trusted by the consumer and their opinions will be taken on board by the public. Marketing communications can be developed here by ensuring that our products are worth talking about and that the discussion about the products and services are positive.

Involvement- Involvement focuses on thoughts when going to purchase a product. For example buying something like a chocolate bar will be low involvement as the consumer would not have to think too much about buying it. Also in most stores, chocolate bars are located near the till areas so consumers are more inclined to pick up a chocolate bar without too much thought. High involvement purchases would be for objects such as a new more expensive car, where the consumer will have a lot of thought and research gone in to the decision making process of deciding which car to buy. These concepts can impact decision making because if the product involves a high involvement purchase, then the consumer may be less likely to follow through with the purchase due to the purchase not being as straight forward as a low involvement purchase. Low involvement purchases can impact decision making in a positive way because there is less thinking to do and most low involvement purchases will occur with very little thought going in to the decision making process. Involvement will affect our marketing communications here at The Body Shop by giving us leads in to creating more products which involve low involvement.

Perceived risk- Perceived risk can be defined as “Consumer’s level of uncertainty regarding the outcome of a purchase decision.” (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/perceived-risk.html, 2013). Perceived risk can influence decision making because the consumer may be less inclined to buy a product which they feel could be a risky purchase. For example: buying an expensive car. The consumer may have reservations in buying the particular vehicle in case the car has faults and repair is not worth the money to pay. Perceived risk influences marketing communications because by assessing how customers perceive risks when buying products, marketers can use communications to display the benefits and reliability, ensuring trust and confidence with the consumer.

Appendix- The Body Shop was started in 1976 by Dame Anita Roddick in Brighton. They sell skin care products, hair care and makeup for women and men. They do not test on animals and are branded as a natural skin care business.

 

References-

Anon, 2012. Ethical Trade (online) (viewed 9^th January 2013). Available from: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/values/EthicalTrade.aspx

 

 Anon, n.d. Word of Mouth Marketing (online) (viewed 11^th January 2013) Available from: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/word-of-mouth-marketing.asp#axzz2HffzGYkM

 

Bown-Wilson, D, n.d. Definition of Consumer Motivation (online) (viewed 11^th January 2013). Available from: http://www.ehow.com/about_6572429_definition-consumer-motivation.html

 

Dominique M. Hanssens, Koen H. Pauwels, Shuba Srinivasan, and Marc Vanhuele, 2010. Consumer Attitude Dynamics and Marketing Impact on Sales (online) (viewed 10^th January 2013). Available from: http://www.msi.org/publications/publication.cfm?pub=1788

Advertising Genius!

In the depths of a recession and financial crisis, T-Mobile launched their new advertising and marketing campaign. This video in my opinion is advertising genius! They created a sense of fun and trust in the company by putting together this live event and surprising hundreds of commuters.
With a 52% increase in sales following this advert they can’t be doing all that bad!

What if Money Was No Object?

A really inspirational video to make you think about your life and career.

What is Social Media doing to us?

I read this article today from the BBC which I wanted to share.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18081651

Titled “Are Twitter and Facebook Changing The Way We Complain”,  it got me thinking in to social media in the modern age.

A couple of weeks ago, myself and friends went out for a birthday meal. Everything from start to finish was awful. The service for one- we were forgotten. Really was not acceptable. So as a marketing student, I tested out this new “craze” ,if you will, of making a complaint online. So I wrote a less than happy comment on the Facebook wall of this restaurant. Within 24 hours I had a sincere apology and a 50% discount voucher emailed to me. This increasing trend of consumers expressing their opinions and complaints on any type of social media platform does prove to have a good response. If the company can prove they are dedicated to resolving each problem, the overall response from the consumer can be completely changed around in to a positive experience.

One company who I will not name has been known to delete comments from their social media sites in order to “protect their image”.

Protecting their image? Or giving the impression they do not care?

Marketing and the CIM

So… soon I will be studying and taking exams to be accredited to the Chartered Institute of Marketing…

The CIM is an awarding body of Chartered Marketeers and I am really looking forward to being accredited and starting my new career!

You can now follow me on…..

https://twitter.com/JessPardyMarket

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top

 

Lily of the Valley

Evening! 

So I wanted to share something about one of my favourite places on earth. Lily of the Valley Children’s Village in South Africa homes over 100 orphaned children starting from just little babies to those in their early 20’s. I had the privilege and  honour to be able to work there last year with the intention of doing my bit to help do my bit for the world. In fact what actually happened was I was touched by an incredible bug which even today I cannot explain. 

Although I love every single last one of those children…This incredible young boy below changed my life….

 

 

Like I said on my last post, I am indecisive and scatty. I have jumped around from job to job, kidding myself I was passionate about the food and beverage industry and wanted to own my own pub and restaurant. This little 2 year old boy of all people showed me otherwise. Until I worked at Lily I tried a bit of call center work, restaurants, pubs, accountancy, you name it. This little boy touched my heart in such a way that it all suddenly became clear, like a big punch in the face. After I left Lily, I did accept a job as a Trainee Assistant manager of a pub. It’s what I knew, so I accepted. With constant thought of Lily ever since I took a huge leap of faith and followed my heart to University. I am now studying Marketing and I want and need to turn these skills in to helping others like the children at Lily who need me. Whether I start my own charity or work for the marketing of another charity I do not know. All I do know is that this little boy is and always will be blissfully unaware that he’s the one who set me on the right path.

Just me.

So…. my first blog post. Where on earth do I begin? My intention really is to give an insight in to who I am and what I do and share things I like and love!

My name is Jess, I’m coming up to my 23rd birthday and I am a first year student studying BA Hons Marketing in Southampton and am part of the RAG Society at our university. So for those of you who do know me, you will understand that I can be scatty, indecisive and forgetful… but on the upside I have a huge passion and love for helping. I like to think that makes up for the other points!

My favourite things in life are….

New clothes, knowing I’ve made somebody smile, a good night out, puppies, South Africa, Durban North Beach, Cocktails, Cheesy music, Jenna Marbles.

Things I want from life…

To be skinny, to find the motivation to go to the gym to make myself skinny, to live in South Africa again, to be a successful marketeer for a charity, to graduate with a first class honours degree.