INDIVIDUAL PROJECT REPORT ON CARE CLOTHING UK
Introduction
Brand portfolio mainly includes four different elements; these are brand loyalty, awareness, associations and perceived quality. In this research the branding aspect of clothing industry is going to be analyzed with internal and external interference. The study analyzed the brand Care Clothing of UK by using different frameworks and marketing strategies to determine its scope inn national and international markets.
Part 1) Brand analysis
Brand Introduction
Care Clothing is a well-reputed brand that is mainly operating in the clothing and apparel sector. The above-mentioned organization is having its headquarters in the UK and holds a strong market share in the region. Care Clothing UK is an integral part of Stanfield Hosiery Group of Companies and the organization is dominating the UK business market more than 45 years (Careclothing, 2023). The concerned organization has bought revolution and strong discovery related to the latest fashion in clothing in the UK. The below figure is highlighting the top performers of UK’s fashion industry with their market share.
Figure 1: Top performing brands in UK’s fashion segment
(Source: Statista, 2023)
The above-mentioned fashion brand produces men’s and women’s clothing. Despite this brand being a clothing brand, it produces other products too such as shoes. Care Clothing promotes online delivery too in the country and other neighboring countries. The brand image delivers ethical fashion that provides organic fashion. Care Clothing UK has introduced an indigenous system known as 3D secure to enrich consumer safety (Careclothing, 2023). The mentioned company is targeting to secure maximum consumer satisfaction in order to increase sales results.
Brand Portfolio
Brand portfolio mainly includes four different elements; these are brand loyalty, awareness, associations and perceived quality. Based on the study by Dressler and Paunovic (2021), it can be postulated that the above-mentioned elements of the brand portfolio are considered the four main pillars to remain competitive in the tough and continuously evolving business market. Factors that could affect brand awareness for Care clothing UK might include the brand’s marketing and advertising efforts, its presence on social media and other online platforms, its product quality and customer service, and its overall reputation within the clothing industry. Building and maintaining strong brand awareness can be important for attracting new customers, building loyalty among existing customers, and differentiating Care clothing UK from competitors in the marketplace.
Brand loyalty
Brand loyalty refers to the tendency of customers to consistently choose and purchase products or services from a particular brand over other available options. As per the view of Kim et al. (2020), a measure of the strength of the relationship between a customer and a brand and is often based on factors such as trust, quality, reliability, and emotional connection.
Figure 2: Elements of brand equity
(Source: Self-created)
The above figure is describing the elements of brand equity and it influences brand loyalty. In the context of Care Clothing UK, brand loyalty would refer to the degree to which customers consistently choose to purchase clothing from this particular brand, as opposed to other clothing brands in the market. Brand loyalty can be fostered through a variety of factors, including quality, style, fit, price, and customer service. Brand loyalty is important for companies like Care Clothing UK because it can lead to repeat business, positive word-of-mouth marketing, and increased revenue over time.
| Brand portfolio | |
| Dimensions | Descriptions |
| Loyalty | Consumer oriented products at affordable cost |
| Awareness | Strong market experience and well-known name in the business market of UK |
| Associations | Great quality products with affordable price tags |
| Quality | Continues R&D to improve quality of the products |
Table 1: Brand portfolio
(Source: Self-crated)
Brand awareness
Brand awareness refers to the level of familiarity and recognition that a brand has among its target audience. In the context of Care Clothing UK, brand awareness would refer to how well known and recognized the Care Clothing UK brand is among the UK’s consumer population (Jayasingh, 2019). Care Clothing aims for enhancing brand quality to increase its existing consumer base at a rapid pace.
Brand associations
In the context of Care Clothing UK, brand associations might include attributes such as quality, durability, comfort, affordability, and style. Other possible brand associations for Care Clothing UK might include social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and ethical manufacturing practices. Brand associations can be shaped by a variety of factors, such as advertising, product design, packaging, and customer experience (Dressler and Paunovic, 2021). In addition, by creating positive brand associations, Care Clothing UK can build a strong brand identity and differentiate itself from competitors.
Perceived quality
Care Clothing always gives its priority to product quality for this purpose the company works on its production and manufacturing quality. The company’s prime focus is the value of money and quality. In fact, the company provides reasonable prices for this clothing to attach more customers. In fact, the brand innovates new designs and an extremely unique variety of fashion in clothing every season that is fully appreciated by the customers (Critchlow et al., 2019). Money value and quality emote a presentable brand image that helps the company to establish its marketing empowerment.
Brand Elements
Brand elements are the visual, auditory, and textual cues that help to identify and differentiate a brand. As per the study by Sivaram et al. (2019), brand name, logo, tagline, storage design and packaging are prime brand elements. The name Care Clothing UK itself is a key brand element that communicates the brand’s focus on quality clothing and its origin in the United Kingdom. 3D Secure Software that delivers a better experience to its customers automates care Clothing. The brand presents the quality of choices in clothing because it stands for quality and product value. In the UK, it has considered a developing brand that was inaugurated around 45 years ago. The tagline Clothing that Cares is another key brand element that reinforces the brand’s commitment to quality and its focus on customer satisfaction. The brand directors declare that they mainly focus on providing luxury experiences to their customers. They maintain standard quality and fine value in production to give a great experience to their customers.
Care Clothing UK’s packaging is also a brand element that can help to differentiate the brand. For example, the use of sustainable and eco-friendly materials in packaging can reinforce the brand’s association with environmental sustainability. The organization is concerned about the price for that purpose it provides reasonable prices for its customers. The management aims to maintain a good connection and relationship with their customers for the reason the brand works to provide best experience to their customers. In fact, it aims for discovering more varieties of clothing for attracting people. Jeong et al. (2019), mentioned that components of brand elements can be considered as intellectual property of that organization and it helps the organization to stand out of the pack. It launches seasonable clothing varieties that offer numerous choice and unique styles. The company always refines its faculties and brand difficulties for that reason it provides liable offers and deals for its customers.
Brand Equity (Keller’s CBBE model)
Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model is a framework for building and managing strong brand equity. It is a compact theory of strategic management of brands that are widely explained in this model. This model provides brand-related requirement strategies to establish a strong brand model (Khanna et al., 2019). It is built aiming at presenting a perfect brand image before the customers to gain their trust and to produce a better experience. The model is designed as a pyramid shape that highlights brand equity strengths.
Figure 3: Keller’s CBBE model
(Source: WU et al., 2020)
Step 1: Brand Identity
Through this step, the brand producer aims for developing brand awareness or brand salience. Here, the producer must ensure brand standardization that an aware brand ensures to their customers. The brand must produce some brand strategies to deliver brand-related images before the customers to aware their customers about the brand (Upadhyay et al., 2022). The brand entity is a must when it comes to establishing the brand reputation because without brand identity a brand cannot continue its process of establishing a strong brand image. This gives a clear concept of making brand-related decisions for improving brand perceptions such as the process of making customers happy or applying strategies to make the brand image better and classy (Siregar et al., 2020). Analyzers of the company can identify how their customers classify their brand which can help them to generate the required classification in the production and manufacturing processes.
Brand identity refers to the awareness and recognition of the brand among consumers. In the context of Care Clothing UK, building brand salience or identity would involve creating a strong brand identity through consistent use of brand elements, such as the brand name, logo, and tagline. Communication is another part of this stage where customer demands and satisfaction is an essential part to be maintained (WU et al., 2020). Business holders of the brand can adjust their service or product by generating effective strategies and plans.
Step 2: Brand Meaning
After brand identification and communication, the brand ambassadors must concentrate on producing brand meaning that means where the brand stands for. Brand meaning is a systematic concept that considers two basic items which are imagery and performance. Serviceability consists of service efficiency, effectiveness, design and style, empathy, and price (Uford and Duh, 2021). By improving these factors the brand producers can develop their brand performance. It helps them to carry the brand reputation and to continue the brand meaning. A strong brand base is essential to continue the brand reputation, for this reason, primary characteristics need to be developed (Smink et al., 2020).
The step related to brand meaning directs to create a positive brand associations and perceptions in the minds of consumers. In the case of Care Clothing UK, the brand might seek to create associations with quality, durability, comfort, style, sustainability, and ethical manufacturing practices (Jiménez-Marín et al. 2021). In addition, by consistently delivering on these attributes, Care Clothing UK can build a strong brand meaning and reputation. Brand managers must train their workers and other clients to enhance their efficiency and workforce to deliver effective service to the customers. In spite of that, the brand managers must discard unimportant materials from the production and manufacturing system (Kumar et al., 2020). One of the most essential parts of performance is maintaining design and style in clothing brands mostly. Innovative creations and designs are enough to attract more customers to the brand. Despite that, style is a vital fact in the fashion industry where customers get a variety of choices and styles to their demands (Zollo et al., 2020). Pricing strategy should be maintained in this process to adopt essential strategies to make profits. Offering great deals and offers to customers earns benefits for the brand.
Imagery defines how the brand can meet its customers’ demands on the psychological and social levels. For applying this strategy the producers must include feedback systems from the customers thus they can know about their experiences, in fact, it will increase their brand reputation too (De Veirman and Hudders, 2020). They can produce effective plans and strategies to meet their customer’s needs thus they can modify their products and introduce new designs and styles. Brand managers wisely target customers from those they can extract the brand aspects and they can connect them with the brand. Directly or indirectly the brand promoters can meet their customer satisfaction to manage brand aspects.
Step 3: Brand Response
This step is ideally related to customers’ reviews that are based on feelings and judgments mainly. Improvisation in this step is mandatory unless the customers are satisfied with the service or product. Either quality management or brand reliability needs to be managed thoroughly. Innovation and creativity are mandatory for producing unique and new products thus the producers can achieve success to meet customer satisfaction (Kim et al., 2020). The step involves creating a positive emotional response and connection with consumers. For Care Clothing UK, this might involve creating a sense of trust, reliability, and satisfaction among customers. The concerned could be achieved through excellent customer service, personalized shopping experiences, and targeted marketing campaigns. Likability and trustworthy products manage to create a perfect bonding between the customers and the brand. The managers manage to improve credibility by presenting acceptable and trustworthy products. The customers judge brand superiority and consideration and the brand can identify its blank areas in serviceability and production.
Step 4: Brand Resonance
In this stage, brand loyalty is presented where the brand can achieve repeat and regular purchases. The presentation of the brand carries customers’ activity to the brand where customers love to be attached to the brand and they accept it as special purchases. Customers’ activity with the brand matters a lot in brand equity management according to Keller’s model (Habib et al., 2021). This final step involves creating a deep, emotional connection with consumers that fosters loyalty and advocacy. The concerned could be achieved through various means, such as creating a community of loyal customers, offering exclusive promotions and rewards, and creating engaging content that resonates with the brand’s target audience. Here, the producers of the brand work on improving product quality and service quality to give leverage and better experience to their customers (Khanna et al., 2019). In such a way, the producers can attach more engagement with their customers which will enhance their brand position through empowering brand equity.
Moreover, by following Keller’s CBBE model, Care Clothing UK can build strong brand equity and differentiate itself in a crowded market. The above-mentioned aspect can lead to increased customer loyalty, higher sales, and a stronger brand reputation. The concerned organization can consider each element of the earlier mentioned model and it can lead to significant improvements in business performance.
Brand Mantra
The brand mantra is a concise, memorable phrase that captures the essence of a brand’s positioning and identity. It should be simple, meaningful, and memorable, and serve as a guiding principle for all aspects of the brand’s marketing and communication. The main brand mantra of Care Clothing UK is quality clothing for careful customers. The above-mentioned Mantra of the company emphasizes the company’s focus on providing high-quality clothing to customers who are careful and discerning in their purchasing decisions. On the other hand, the phrase quality clothing communicates the company’s commitment to producing garments that are durable, comfortable, and stylish, while the word careful reinforces the idea that Care Clothing UK is a brand for customers who value quality and are willing to invest in products that will last. In fact, they try to give exciting offers and deals to their customers for the reason they are attached to the brand mostly (Raut et al. 2020).
The company promotes a reasonable price for its products thus; it can engage more people with the brand. In fact, the brand mostly introduces seasonable products where customers can get a variety of products and choices (Rojas-Lamorena et al. 2022). The brand mantra of the Care of Clothing is to provide outstanding value and the finest quality of products for their customers.
Part 2) International Market Analyses
SLEPT analyses of 3 culturally distinct markets in which the brand could potentially enter
Care Clothing UK has strong market capture in different regions of the UK and the organization is not having a presence outside of the UK. According to the view of Jafari-Sadeghi (2021), business expansion is crucial to increase the revenue margin and organizational growth. Depending on the current business portfolio of the mentioned organization, it can be advised that they can expand their business in Italy, Germany and Portugal. However, entering a new market requires careful planning, research, and understanding of the local culture, regulations, and customer needs. Some factors that a company like Care Clothing UK must consider when expanding its business include local competition, the target customer demographic, the demand for its products, the availability of resources, and the regulatory environment, among others. In order to identify the business opportunities in the above-mentioned counties SLEPT analysis has been done.
SLEPT analysis of Italy
| Factors | Description | Impact |
| Socio-cultural | · Population of Italy is 60 million (Worldometers, 2023)
· Strong buying capacity of the citizens (Britannica, 2022) |
High |
| Legal | · Italy follows a civil law system
· Strong constitution to protect basic rights |
High |
| Economical | · Italy is the eight-largest economy in the world (Data, 2022)
· The country is having 6.7% positive GDP growth rate |
Low |
| Political | · Italy is a democratic country
· Stable political condition |
High |
| Technological | · Well-developed infrastructure
· €35 million budget allocation for technological advancement (Trade, 2021) |
Medium |
Table 2: SLEPT analysis of Italy
(Source: Self-created)
Italy is a democratic country with a parliamentary system of government. The country has a president who serves as a symbolic head of state, while the prime minister serves as the head of government. Italy’s political system has faced challenges in recent years, including a lack of stability due to frequent changes in government and the rise of populist movements. On the other hand, COVID-19 has brought fresh business challenges in Italy. Average income of Italy’s diverse population is in stable condition and it is increasing at a smooth pace. Italy hoists mixed business opportunities for Care Clothing UK. Italy is known for its fashion industry and design expertise, making it an attractive market for Care Clothing UK is high-end fashion products. As Italy is located near the UK, the mentioned company can depend on exporting to set up its business. As mentioned by Tien et al. (2019), international business expansion helps an organization sharpen its business expertise and market share. Depending on the in-depth SLEPT analysis of Italy, it can be postulated that expanding in the region can be proven beneficial for Care Clothing UK in the long run.
SLEPT analysis of Germany
| Factors | Description | Impact |
| Socio-cultural | · Germany is having 83 million population
· Median age of major population (Worlddata, 2022) |
High |
| Legal | · Germany has a civil law system
· Strong regulatory environment |
Medium |
| Economical | · GDP growth rate of Germany is 2.6% (Macrotrends, 2022)
· Strong automobile manufacturing sector |
low |
| Political | · Germany is a democratic country
· Presence of a federal law system |
Low |
| Technological | · Strong focus on innovation
· Well-developed technological infrastructure |
Medium |
Table 3: SLEPT analysis of Germany
(Source: Self-created)
Germany offers many opportunities for businesses in a variety of industries, particularly in manufacturing and technology. However, companies looking to expand into Germany must be prepared to navigate a complex regulatory environment. Additionally, Care clothing UK must consider the country’s social, economic, and political challenges, such as an ageing population and relatively low economic growth. Germany’s political system is known for its stability and its commitment to international cooperation, particularly within the European Union. Based on the statement of Nambisan et al. (2019), it can be postulated that developing well-structured strategic planning can help the organization to initiate a proper business expansion process. On the other hand, the limited presence of competition in the German market makes it suitable for expansion. Moreover, with its strong manufacturing base and high-tech industries, Germany could be an attractive market for Care Clothing UK’s products. The company could explore opportunities to partner with German manufacturers or retailers to expand its reach in the country.
SLEPT analysis of Portugal
| Factors | Description | Impact |
| Socio-cultural | · Rich culture and history
· Approximately 10 million population (Worldometers, 2023) |
High |
| Legal | · The country is committed to protecting individual rights and freedoms
· Challenges with bureaucratic inefficiency (Essential-business, 2021) |
High |
| Economical | · Portugal is experiencing a 5.5% positive GDP growth rate (Worlddata, 2022)
· High levels of youth unemployment |
High |
| Political | · Presence of a democratic parliamentary
· Commitment to international cooperation |
Low |
| Technological | · Significant technological advancement
· €43 billion budget for research and development |
Low |
Table 4: SLEPT analysis of Portugal
(Source: Self-created)
Portugal has made significant progress in recent years in terms of technology and innovation, particularly in areas such as renewable energy and digitalization. The country has a well-developed infrastructure and is committed to investing in new technologies. The country has a president who serves as a symbolic head of state, while the prime minister serves as the head of government. Portugal’s political system is known for its stability and its commitment to international cooperation, particularly within the European Union. In addition, with a growing focus on sustainability and eco-tourism, Portugal could also be a good market for Care Clothing UK’s sustainable and ethical products. However, Portugal also faces challenges with bureaucratic inefficiency and a relatively slow judicial system. Similarly, Portugal also hoists a mixed business environment and there are many possibilities belonging in the market. As per the view of Paul (2019), expanding in emerging markets entangles both challenges and opportunities. In this regard, it can be hindered that Care Clothing need to develop a strong framework for business expansion and develop products according to consumer interest.
However, Germany and Portugal’s business market is having some issues in the sense of ageing population, economical instability, slow growth of GDP and political instability. On the other hand, Portugal’s small market size makes it challenging to expand in the region (Worlddata, 2022). In this case, Italy hoists perfect possibilities for Care Clothing UK to expand its business in the region. Italy is having well-structured law system, a balanced regulation system, high tourist footfall, stable economic growth and a promising business market. Expanding in Italy can be proven beneficial for Care Clothing UK in the end.
Competitor analyses for each market
The concerned section entangles a broad discussion on the direct competitors of Care Clothing in the proposed markets for business expansion. The discussion about competitors has been done in the below section for the company which might help to figure out the exact competitors.
Italy has several major high fashion brands like Valentino, Parada, Marni, Iceberg and many more that have high reputations in the international market. Even those companies have strong supply chain management as well as a wide range of consumers globally (Mugo, 2020). It has a high chance that all of those brands and many products can give high competition to the brand Care Clothing of the country UK. All of those designer brands in the Italy have strong consumer powers in the global sectors and one of the most popular Italian fashion brands is Gucci, which is counted as the most luxurious brand.
On the other hand, in the country, Germany is also famous for its luxurious fashion brand and all of those brands can able to give tough competition to a new fashion brand. PUMA, ADDIDAS, Closed, Tom Tailor, Oliver and there have several brands which have spread all over the globe. The company or organization need to provide the products and services even at a reasonable price because it is a basic thing before entering a new market.
Portugal is also nourishing popular brands like Marita Moreno, ISTO and many others and all of those stores are counted as sustainable Portuguese brands for fashion. All of those brands are able to compete with the brand Care Clothing in the country UK and because of that, the company might face challenges. Therefore, it is important for the brand to understand the strategies and evaluate the business according to the market needs. Many reputed brands are operating in the business market of Italy. However, business opportunities in Italy can help Care Clothing UK to reduce the business threats posed by competitors and continue business growth.
Porter’s five forces
Competitive rivalry (High force)
The company Care Clothing UK has a highly competitive rivalry and because of that the brand can face challenges while expanding the business. The industry has several firms that serves the same products with an effective process (Nuraini and Purwanegara, 2020). Additionally, because of that it created competitiveness in the market and makes it more difficult to compete in the market rather than in other things.
Threats of substitute (High force)
In this industry, there have several firms or brands from each country have been presented that produced the same products even at the cheaper prices with high-quality materials. Therefore, it created threats to the company as well as increased the chances of failure in the market.
Figure 4: Porter’s five forces
(Source: Self-Created)
Threats of new entrants (High force)
Even all of those brands have high revenue in the market as well as have popularity among consumers, which is a big concerning matter. The company of the country UK needs to understand the market and business strategies of those brands and analysis to avoid failure (Kim et al. 2020). Therefore, it is important for the company to understand the threats and issues while entering in the new market to make the business wider.
Bargaining power of consumers (moderate force)
The consumers of fashion brands need products of high quality but the cheaper prices, which might help to increase the sales. However, in that case, it has been founded that consumers try to find alternative products and shift their choices towards the brand that provides better offers and services.
Bargaining power of suppliers (Low force)
It is important for the fashion company to have strong suppliers in the market to get the raw material for increasing productivity. However, suppliers of the fashion industry have a huge impact and most of the forms from the different countries want to get products or raw materials at the cheaper prices.
Figure 5: Business market share in Italy, sector wise
(Source: Grandviewerresearch, 2023)
Overall, the above discussion has found that Italy’s promising business environment is already nourishing several fashion brands. The concern is making it difficult to enter the market as rivalry and threat of new entrants are standing as a high force. However, low bargaining power of the suppliers can help the brand to develop and deliver cost-effective products to the new consumers of Italy. The above-mentioned possibilities can help the organization to expand in the mentioned region successfully.
Part 3) Strategy for Market Entry
Selection and justification of new international market to enter
A company for entering a new market in other countries can choose various strategies. The strategies that the company can choose can follow some specific steps. On the other hand, market entry mode depends on the nature of the target market and business capabilities of the organization.
Licensing
Licensing is an essential factor that is needed to be done by any new company for entering a new market in any other country. Licensing allows the company to use the property of any other country for their own business. Any company needs to make the license of the countries where they need to expand their business (Barbieri, P. and Gioachin, 2022). The clothing care company of the UK needs to make licenses for using the properties of Germany, Italy and Portugal for their own businesses. Licensing can be a great advantage for the company and this can be considered as a small investment for the company for expanding their businesses. The countries also have various companies from the fashion industry and these companies can be the most effective competitor of the company (Trinhm, 2023). The company needs to create their own market in those countries while competing with those companies.
Franchising
Franchising can be another strategy for entering the market of other countries. Franchising is the process that the company can use for expanding the business in a more rigorous way. While franchising the company can use the properties of those target countries and they need to sell their rights and royalties to any partner for this (Brzinsky-Fay, 2022). The franchising company needs to pay for the rights of their company. Franchising can be quite similar to licensing but a little different. Care Clothing UK needs to sell its rights and royalties to Italy in order to make a profound strategic move.
The above mentioned aspect can be efficient and profitable for those countries too and this is why the countries can take an interest in letting the company use their property (Becker and Blossfeld, 2022). There are some limitations too that the country would take interest for franchising with the company only when the company can achieve enough profit there (Knorr and Eisenkopf, 2022). If the company cannot earn enough profit, the countries do not take any interest in franchising with that specific company.
Joint venture
The joint venture is another strategy for entering a new market for the company. The joint venture procedure is efficient enough and in this process, two companies can merge with each other. The two companies of joint venture procedure can be that one external company can merge with another company of the countries (Bellini et al. 2022). For expanding the business, the company can merge its business with other companies in Italy to boost the expansion process. This can be efficient enough for the company and the companies of these countries too.
Partnering
Partnering can be creating partnerships with companies from other countries. The company creates a partnership with various companies for having proper manufacturing and any other requirements. The care company can make partnerships with any of the companies of raw materials in those countries where they want to expand their businesses. The company can achieve raw materials from partner companies. The major brands in the fashion industry of Italy are Valentino, Versace, Prada, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and many more. The major brands of Germany are MCM, Hugo Boss, Adidas, PUMA, Escada, triumph and many more. The major companies in the fashion industry of Portugal are Inditex, LVMH, Hennes & Mauritz, Hermes and many more (Aghimien et al. 2022). The company needs to achieve these strategies and improve their own strategies in an innovative way for achieving a specific customer range in the competitive market.
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
Foreign direct investment is another strategy for the company to expand its businesses in Italy. The mentioned strategy can help the company to invest directly in Italy for the sake of expanding its business. The company can also ensure high number of investors in those countries. Investors can invest in the company with their own interest and this can be efficient for Care Clothing UK to expand its business. This can also help the company to achieve a specific position in the competitive market (Beelen et al. 2022).
It is important for an organization like the fashion company Care Clothing is needed to analyze the market before expanding the business into a new market. Eventually, sometimes while a company tries to enter the market it faced several challenges regarding the business expanding matter (Goworek et al. 2020). Additionally, to stick to longevity it is important for the management of the business to search for the target marketers as well as realistic competitors who are on a pinpoint. It is important for the company to understand who are the actual competitors are for the brand while trying to expand the business on an international level (Casadeiand Lee, 2020). Besides, all of this it is important to analyse, identify problems or issues of the consumers, and try to solve the problems by providing products and services based on that.
Figure 6: Benefits of licensing mode
(Source: Self-created)
Based on the benefits and drawbacks of the above described market entry modes and strategies it can be postulated that licensing is the best option for Care Clothing UK. The mentioned entry mode can help the brand to operate in Italy at a full swing from the day one. Italy’s strong technological infrastructure and economic stability can help the brand to attract a large number of potential consumers in no time. In this case, adoption of licensing procedure is the perfect match for Care Clothing UK.
Recommended market entry strategy
Earlier a suitable market entry mode for Care Clothing UK has been identified. However, if the mentioned market entry mode does not work, the brand can follow Franchising as an alternative. However, the alternative market entry mode for Care Clothing UK would depend on various factors such as the level of resources available, the level of control required, and the level of risk associated with the market entry mode.
Conclusion:
Figure 7: Benefits of franchising
(Source: Self-created)
Franchising is an effective way for Care Clothing UK to expand its business in Italy as it allows the company to leverage the existing infrastructure, experience, and knowledge of local franchisees (Alon et al. 2020). Franchisees would be responsible for setting up and managing the retail stores in Italy, while Care Clothing UK would provide the franchisees with the necessary training, support, and resources needed to ensure that the brand is marketed effectively.
Recommendations for standardization or Adaption
Recommendation 1: Need to standardize the business
It is important for the organization to understand the requirements of products and identify needed areas for development and proper identification might help in the development process. Additionally, for the standardization of the business, the company or organization needs to set the place and prices accurately to avoid disruption in business (Henningeret al. 2019). Additionally, to grow the business in the international market it is important to understand the market for standardization of the business in the global market.
Recommendation 2: Adopting new tactics for business development
The fashion company of the country needs to use different tactics regarding promotion, which means the company needs to use different types of promotional strategies to increase the brand value (Chen, 2019). In this regard, adoption of machine learning and AI can help the organization to reduce errors related to decision-making. Besides, the company or organization might use different social media platforms to promote the brand among people and gain popularity (Vosset al. 2019). It becomes easier for the company to get capture the attention of the consumers from the global market. Differentiation in tactics and promotional strategies can help to increase the fundamental structure of the business.
Recommendation3: Penetrate in-depth market analysis
Enter new markets is necessary for holding the brand image therefore Care of Clothing should accept internationalization to penetrate new markets worldwide. In fact, the company should apply effective strategies to penetrate new markets in the world. It should inject brand awareness and brand quality management procedures aiming at providing brand quality and standards (Febriyantoro, 2020). Care of Clothing should follow innovation for creating new ideas and new products thus they can qualify to maintain brand reputation worldwide. Moreover, in-depth analysis of the market can help the management to sustain better business tactics and sound strategies.
In the global zone, the organization must apply effective strategies to compete against the competitors. In fact, it must concern about the brand elements thus the brand can carry a brand reputation in international areas (Iglesias and Ind, 2020). Besides, the company should follow Keller’s CBBE model aiming at customer satisfaction. In fact, it should make good connections with giant factories to get advantages in the production and manufacturing process (Jadhav et al., 2021). Brand equity must be maintained to make the brand image stronger, which will help the company to create a brand reputation worldwide, and it will facilitate the company by developing competitive advantages.
Points of Differentiation (POD)
Points of differentiation refer to the unique features or characteristics of a product or service that set it apart from competitors in the market. In the context of Care clothing in the UK, some points of differentiation could include
Product differentiation
There can be different types of products in the companies of competitive markets of those countries. Product differentiation is an efficient part of the company for entering a new market. Care clothing could differentiate itself by using high-quality, durable materials in its products that last longer and provide greater comfort to its customers.
Services differentiation
Services differentiation is an efficient factor for the company for entering to a new market of any country. The company of the UK needs to achieve the differentiation of services for entering to the market of these three countries. In addition, by offering unique and innovative designs, Care clothing could stand out from other clothing brands and appeal to customers looking for something different and unique.
Personnel differentiation
This is helping the company in giving proper skills and knowledge of the employees of the company. Care clothing could position itself as an affordable option in the market, providing customers with quality clothing at a competitive price point by enriching the working efficiency of the workers.
Channel differentiation
This is helping in the expertise coverage and performance of the company in different countries. Care Clothing could differentiate itself by focusing on quality, innovation, sustainability, affordability, personalized service, and specialized clothing.
Image differentiation
This is used for giving a competitive advantage to the development of the company. Care Clothing could also differentiate itself by offering specialized clothing for people with disabilities or medical conditions, such as adaptive clothing or clothing with easy-to-use fastenings.
Conclusion
This research has been performed to identify the importance of brand based on the gradual expansion of Care Clothing in global market. It was also analyzed that, a full swing from the day one. Italy’s strong technological infrastructure and economic stability can help the brand to attract a large number of potential consumers. Developing and sustaining great brand awareness can be crucial for luring in new clients, cultivating client loyalty, and setting Care Clothing UK apart from rivals in the industry. The study indicated that Care Clothing has potential in expanding international market while stabilizing the competition in the national domains successfully with reference to strategic input in technological integration in operations for better prediction and strategic decision-making.
References
Journals
Aghimien, D., Aigbavboa, C., Oke, A., Thwala, W. and Moripe, P., (2022). Digitalization of construction organisations–a case for digital partnering. International Journal of Construction Management, 22(10), pp.1950-1959.
Alon, I., Apriliyanti, I.D. and Parodi, M.C.H., (2020). A systematic review of international franchising. Multinational Business Review, 29(1), pp.43-69.
Barbieri, P. and Gioachin, F., (2022). Social origin and secondary labour market entry: Ascriptive and institutional inequalities over the early career in Italy and Germany. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 77, p.100670.
Becker, R. and Blossfeld, H.P., (2022). Changes in the returns to education at entry into the labour market in West Germany. Longitudinal and life course studies, 13(1), pp.61-86.
Beelen, L., Jansen, S. and Overbeek, S., (2022). Are you of value to me? A partner selection reference method for software ecosystem orchestrators. Science of Computer Programming, 214, p.102733.
Bellini, G., Inoue, K., Mantovani, F., Serafini, A., Strati, V. and Watanabe, H., (2022). Geoneutrinos and geoscience: an intriguing joint-venture. La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento, pp.1-105.
Brzinsky-Fay, C., (2022). NEET in Germany: Labour Market Entry Patterns and Gender Differences. In The Dynamics of Marginalized Youth (pp. 56-86). Routledge.
Chen, C. L. (2019). Value creation by SMEs participating in global value chains under industry 4.0 trend: Case study of textile industry in Taiwan. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 22(2), 120-145.
Dressler, M. and Paunovic, I., (2021). The value of consistency: portfolio labeling strategies and impact on winery brand equity. Sustainability, 13(3), p.1400.
Goworek, H., Oxborrow, L., Claxton, S., McLaren, A., Cooper, T., and Hill, H. (2020). Managing sustainability in the fashion business: Challenges in product development for clothing longevity in the UK. Journal of Business Research, 117, 629-641.
Henninger, C. E., Bürklin, N., and Niinimäki, K. (2019). The clothes swapping phenomenon–when consumers become suppliers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 23(3), 327-344.
Jafari-Sadeghi, V., Garcia-Perez, A., Candelo, E. and Couturier, J., (2021). Exploring the impact of digital transformation on technology entrepreneurship and technological market expansion: The role of technology readiness, exploration and exploitation. Journal of Business Research, 124, pp.100-111.
Jeong, Y., Park, I. and Yoon, B., (2019). Identifying emerging Research and Business Development (R&BD) areas based on topic modeling and visualization with intellectual property right data. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 146, pp.655-672.
Jiménez-Marín, G., Sanz-Marcos, P. and Tobar-Pesantez, L.B., (2021). Keller’s resonance model in the context of fashion branding: persuasive impact through the figure of the influencer. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20 (6).
Kim, J., Lee, H. and Lee, J., (2020). Pathway towards brand loyalty: A discrete choice model reflecting the reference point and peer effect. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 52, p.101907.
Knorr, A. and Eisenkopf, A., (2022). An alternative regulatory approach for long-distance passenger rail services: An explorative analysis with a focus on Germany. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 14, p.100593.
Mugo, P. (2020). Porter’s five forces influence on competitive advantage in telecommunication industry in Kenya. European Journal of Business and Strategic Management, 5(2), 30-49.
Nambisan, S., Zahra, S.A. and Luo, Y., (2019). Global platforms and ecosystems: Implications for international business theories. Journal of International Business Studies, 50, pp.1464-1486.
Nuraini, S., and Purwanegara, M. S. (2020). Business Strategy for Longgar Outfit as a New Fashion Brand. Tourism and Sustainable Development Review, 1(1), 14-24.
Paul, J., (2019). Marketing in emerging markets: A review, theoretical synthesis and extension. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 15(3), pp.446-468.
Sivaram, M., Hudaya, A. and Ali, H., (2019). Building a Purchase and Purchase Decision: Analysis of Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty. Dinasti International Journal of Education Management And Social Science, 1(2), pp.235-248.
Tien, N.H., Phu, P.P. and Chi, D.T.P., (2019). The role of international marketing in international business strategy. International journal of research in marketing management and sales, 1(2), pp.134-138.
Trinh, N.A., (2023). Why do trends in social fluidity at labour market entry and occupational maturity differ? Evidence from Germany and the UK. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 83, p.100746.
Voss, H., Davis, M., Sumner, M., Waite, L., Ras, I. A., Singhal, D. I. V. Y. A., and Jog, D. (2019). International supply chains: compliance and engagement with the Modern Slavery Act. Journal of the British Academy, 7(s1), 61-76.
Website
Britannica.com, (2022). Social factors of Italy. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/Daily-life-and-social-customs [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Careclothing.co.uk, (2023). About us. Available at: https://www.careclothing.co.uk/aboutus.asp [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Data.worldbank.org, (2022). GDP growth rate of Italy. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=IT [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Essential-business.pt, (2021). Potguals poor legal system. Available at: https://www.essential-business.pt/2022/05/11/portugals-legal-system-so-degraded-it-is-now-threatening-the-rule-of-law/ [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Grandviewerresearch.com, (2023). Business market share in Italy, sector-wise. Available at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/italy-dropshipping-market [Accessed on: 23/03/2023]
Macrotrends.net, (2022). GDP growth rate of Germany. Available at: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/DEU/germany/gdp-growth-rate [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Statista.com, (2023). Top performing brands in UK’s fashion segment. Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/870303/top-online-stores-fashion-united-kingdom-ecommercedb [Accessed on: 23/03/2023]
Trade.gov, (2021). Technological budget of Italy. Available at: https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/italy-information-and-communications-technology-ict [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Worlddata.info, (2022). Average age of the german population. Available at: https://www.worlddata.info/average-age.php [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Worldometers.info, (2023). Population of Germany. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/portugal-population/ [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Worldometers.info, (2023). Population of Italy. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/italy-population/ [Accessed on: 21/03/2023]
Bibliography
Jafari-Sadeghi, V., Garcia-Perez, A., Candelo, E. and Couturier, J., 2021. Exploring the impact of digital transformation on technology entrepreneurship and technological market expansion: The role of technology readiness, exploration and exploitation. Journal of Business Research, 124, pp.100-111.
Yarovaya, L., Elsayed, A.H. and Hammoudeh, S., 2021. Determinants of spillovers between Islamic and conventional financial markets: exploring the safe haven assets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Research Letters, 43, p.101979.
Harsch, K. and Festing, M., 2020. Dynamic talent management capabilities and organizational agility—A qualitative exploration. Human Resource Management, 59(1), pp.43-61.
Mikalef, P., Krogstie, J., Pappas, I.O. and Pavlou, P., 2020. Exploring the relationship between big data analytics capability and competitive performance: The mediating roles of dynamic and operational capabilities. Information & Management, 57(2), p.103169.
Ciampi, F., Demi, S., Magrini, A., Marzi, G. and Papa, A., 2021. Exploring the impact of big data analytics capabilities on business model innovation: The mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation. Journal of Business Research, 123, pp.1-13.
Lane, D.C. and Rouwette, E.A., 2023. Towards a behavioural system dynamics: Exploring its scope and delineating its promise. European Journal of Operational Research, 306(2), pp.777-794.
Bian, Y., Song, K. and Bai, J., 2019. Market segmentation, resource misallocation and environmental pollution. Journal of Cleaner Production, 228, pp.376-387.
Agi, M.A. and Yan, X., 2020. Greening products in a supply chain under market segmentation and different channel power structures. International Journal of Production Economics, 223, p.107523.
Davras, Ö. and Caber, M., 2019. Analysis of hotel services by their symmetric and asymmetric effects on overall customer satisfaction: A comparison of market segments. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 81, pp.83-93.
Altavilla, C., Carboni, G. and Motto, R., 2021. Asset purchase programmes and financial markets: lessons from the euro area. International Journal of Central Banking, 17(4), pp.1-48.
Block, J.H., Groh, A., Hornuf, L., Vanacker, T. and Vismara, S., 2021. The entrepreneurial finance markets of the future: a comparison of crowdfunding and initial coin offerings. Small Business Economics, 57(2), pp.865-882.
Nambisan, S., Zahra, S. A., & Luo, Y. (2019). Global platforms and ecosystems: Implications for international business theories. Journal of International Business Studies, 50, 1464-1486.
Manieson, L. A., & Ferrero‐Regis, T. (2022). Castoff from the West, pearls in Kantamanto?: A critique of second‐hand clothes trade. Journal of Industrial Ecology.
Costa, J., & Castro, R. (2021). SMEs must go online—E-commerce as an escape hatch for resilience and survivability. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(7), 3043-3062.
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