Over the past few years, Digital marketing has been a recent phenomenon in terms of marketing (Ryan, 2016). Thus the paper begins by conducting a situational analysis through which the digital marketing trends will be discussed in addition with the issues and challenges faced by the organization in terms of digital marketing. The situational analysis is done with a reference of SWOT analysis from the perspective of marketing. Meanwhile, the paper clearly states the objectives of the digital marketing plan while identifying the target audience for that. While discussing the target market, the study also mentions branding and positioning of the brand. The report gives suggestive measures in terms of target audience. At the same time the study also gives separate suggestive measures along with the digital marketing plan which includes different aspects like media strategies, search engine optimization suggestion and so on. The report concludes with the suggestive measure to monitor the process of digital marketing.
The Spanish fashion brand Zara is one of the leading brands in the fashion industry. Offering its services across the globe the company has its outlets in every metro city all over the world. Founded in the year of 1975, the company is the main brand of Inditex group. Since 1988, the company has started expanding its business over different parts of the world. Beside of retail outlets, the company also has taken initiative of making its products available over online in the year of 2010 (Zara – inditex.com., 2018). Initially the online website of the company was available only in the countries of Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, France and Italy. Later on in the same year, it expanded the services over other major countries as well. The company has been named among the 30 fashion best brands across the globe. Offering both men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, Zara launches more than 12000 new designs every year (Zara – inditex.com., 2018). However, the company follows a unique strategy by opening new retail outlets instead of investing in advertisements.
|
Strengths · Good reputation in the industry for quality, style and product availability. · Strong financial position of the company makes it able to invest in an adequate manner. · The company manufactures its own products and saves the cost of outsource manufacturing. · Strong delivery network of the company makes it business process smooth. · Through web portal the company reaches out to maximum customer base (Hammoudeh, 2014). |
Weakness · High price of the products is the major weakness of the company for which a very significant portion of customers can purchase its products. · The company does not compromise with the quality of the product for the sake increasing product sale. · The market share of the company is extremely low since the company do not do not market their products. · In case of marketing strategy is applied time and proper management will be required (Hammoudeh, 2014). |
|
Opportunities · The company can extend its business in the Asian markets in a more extensive manner. · Innovations keeping the market trend in mind can be incorporated in order to attract wide range of customer base. · Adoption of technology in production can help the company in reducing the cost so that more customer base can be achieved. · More focus on customer service will make the brand more trustworthy. · Most importantly the company needs to invest on promotional strategies in order to increase its product sale (Hammoudeh, 2014). |
Threat · Threat of similar brands in the industry with low price strategy is likely to be high. · Low purchase power of the customer can impose immense threat on the company in the near future. · Non-availability of the raw materials seems to be major threat due high number of buyers. · Supplier’s can easily shift to other similar brands if they find more cost effective deals (Hammoudeh, 2014). |
Source: Created by author
As observed there is a huge demand of online purchase. Customers nowadays prefer purchasing over online portals to get rid of the physical hassle of buying products from retail stores (Cortez et al., 2014). It has been observed that most of the companies focus more on digital marketing in order to reach maximum customer base. In order to do so, organizations use social media marketing sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and etc. Several ways are adopted in the marketing strategy over digital media (Okonkwo, 2016). For example, using engaging contents posts are shared over online portals in order to assure that customers are persuaded to buy the products that are being offered by the companies. In adiition, different photos, videos etc are posted to drive the customers to purchase products. Moreover, the companies use the digital marketing way in order to easily attract the target customer. Since these above mentioned social media sites allows the customers to give feedbacks and communicate directly with the company, the digital marketing especially over social media sites is considered extremely beneficial (Lea-Greenwood, 2013).
Thus in this regard, it needs to be mentioned that the global brand Zara does not market its products and branding in spite of having the reputation of providing quality product. The company rather invests in opening of new outlets. Thus it is observed as the issue since the rival companies like H&M, John Lewis and etc. use effective marketing strategy in order to promote its branding. As observed, the popular brands like H&M, John Lewis, and New Look etc focus more on digital media marketing with special use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (Hammoudeh, 2014). Therefore it is apt to state that the brand needs a digital marketing plan with special emphasis on the use of above mentioned social media platforms in order to increases competitiveness in the fashion industry (Khan & Siddiqui, 2013).
As per the identified current market trends and issues faced by the company, the primary aim of this digital plan would be increasing the company’s sales margin by 12% within the next 3 years (Hammoudeh, 2014). However, the secondary objectives of the digital marketing plan are:
The existing customer base of the company is mainly the higher middle class to affluent class of the society. It has been obser
ved that in the middle class level customer base is little ignorant of the brand since the company do not use the marketing strategy (Okonkwo, 2016). Thus with the digital marketing plan the company will aim to increase its brand awareness within the customer base of middle class. On the other hand, the fashion lovers of Asian countries are the major target area of the digital marketing plan (Yasmin, Tasneem & Fatema, 2015). The common factor of the target customer of the company would be the ‘internet-savvy’ people mainly the teenage group.
For the purpose of positioning, the digital marketing plan will aim to change the perception of the customers towards the brand. As the digital marketing plan will be targeting the middle class customer base, the company will be using the social media like Facebook and Instagram in order to promote the products at lower price range than it currently offers (Mohr, 2013).
When a high priced brand offers its products at lower price, customers normally perceive that the company compromises with the product quality. According to Nagle & Müller, (2017), in order to retain the brand image, additional offers and discounts by 15% -50% might be introduced so that customers do not have any misconception regarding low quality products.
The main purpose of the digital marketing plan will be focusing on the Asian customers in order increase the sales margin in the Asian countries (Kim, Fiore & Kim, 2013). Since most of the Asian countries are developing countries, the major customer base of these countries has low purchasing power (Nagle & Müller, 2017). Thus in order to create the brand awareness as well as to promote the products within the teenage people, social media marketing will be highly beneficial.
The digital marketing plan will promote the different ranges products ranging from men’s clothing to women’s clothing and the children’s clothing (Okonkwo, 2016). Since the aim of the digital marketing will be increasing the brand awareness in the Asian countries, emphasis will be more on Asian trend of fashion while designing the products.
The company presently follows a higher pricing strategy. However, the Asian market demands products at lower price than the present pricing range of the company. Hence, the digital marketing strategy will focus on promoting lower pricing strategy in order to assure a 12% increasement in the sales margin within 3 years (Nagle & Müller, 2017).
Zara has many retail stores in the Asian market, but the major focus of the digital marketing plan would be promoting the product sale over the online portal of the company (Cao, & Li, 2015). Thus in order to do this, the company needs to organize the entire marketing plan mentioning the schedule of the offer or discounts to be provided.
As per Kant Hvass, (2014), in order to develop the digital marketing plan, it deserves mention that emphasis will be given on the social media networking sites Facebook and Instagram. In addition, strategies will be developed for other mediums as well.
Third party owned media is generally referred by earned media (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). Thus the marketers need to communicate with the customers to make satisfied so that they give positive referrals, testimonials either on social media platforms and maintain their loyalty towards the brand.
Meanwhile, the paid media like publishing contents over web portals, online channels or paid social media posts will be included in the digital marketing plan of the fashion brand Zara (Harrison, 2013).
However, along with the above mentioned strategies, the website of the company and the official shopping portal of the company will be designed in a way that visually attract the customers to buy the products. Several technical tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, Sublime Text, GitHub, etc can used to design web portals in an innovative manner (Tuten & Solomon, 2017).
The entire digital marketing plan needs to be monitored in an effective manner and thus a special marketing team comprising the technological experts will be appointed. Weekly follow up and necessary actions accordingly will be taken by them in order to ensure successful implementation of digital marketing plan.
Conclusion
Thus to conclude, it is apt to state that digital marketing plan will be extremely beneficial for Zara since the company do not market its products. Digital marketing plan is considered as the cost effective, easy and fast growing marketing way of marketing. Thus the company using digital marketing plan will be able to reach out to maximum number of customers within minimum time.
References
Cao, L., & Li, L. (2015). The impact of cross-channel integration on retailers’ sales growth. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 198-216.
Cortez, M. A., Tu, N. T., Van Anh, D., Ng, B. Z., & Vegafria, E. (2014). Fast fashion quadrangle: An analysis. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 18(1),
De Mooij, M. (2013). Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. Sage Publications.
Halvorsen, K., Hoffmann, J., Coste-Manière, I., & Stankeviciute, R. (2013). Can fashion blogs function as a marketing tool to influence consumer behavior? Evidence from Norway. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 4(3), 211-224.
Hammoudeh, R. (2014). Zara, from Spain to the big wide world. Company analysis, markets and competition.
Harrison, F. (2013). Digging deeper down into the empirical generalization of brand recall: Adding owned and earned media to paid-media touchpoints. Journal of Advertising Research, 53(2), 181-185.
Zara – inditex.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.inditex.com/about-us/our-brands/zara
Jutkowitz, A. (2014). The content marketing revolution. Harvard Business Review, 1.
Kant Hvass, K. (2014). Post-retail responsibility of garments–a fashion industry perspective. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 18(4), 413-430.
Khan, F., & Siddiqui, K. (2013). The importance of digital marketing. An exploratory study to find the perception and effectiveness of digital marketing amongst the marketing professionals in Pakistan. Journal of Information Systems & Operations Management, 1.
Kim, E., Fiore, A. M., & Kim, H. (2013). Fashion trends: analysis and forecasting. Berg.
Lea-Greenwood, G. (2013). Fashion marketing communications. John Wiley & Sons.
Mohr, I. (2013). The impact of social media on the fashion industry. Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 15(2), 17-22.
Moran, M., & Hunt, B. (2014). Search engine marketing, Inc.: Driving search traffic to your company’s website. IBM Press.
Nagle, T. T., & Müller, G. (2017). The strategy and tactics of pricing: A guide to growing more profitably. Routledge.
Okonkwo, U. (2016). Luxury fashion branding: trends, tactics, techniques. Springer.
Ryan, D. (2016). Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. Kogan Page Publishers.
Tiago, M. T. P. M. B., & Veríssimo, J. M. C. (2014). Digital marketing and social media: Why bother?. Business Horizons, 57(6), 703-708.
Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2017). Social media marketing. Sage.
Yasmin, A., Tasneem, S., & Fatema, K. (2015). Effectiveness of digital marketing in the challenging age: An empirical study. International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration, 1(5), 69-80.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download
