Chapter 16: Promotional Planning For a Competitive Advantage

Promotion is a huge part of any retail industries customer attraction. Although every retailer may promote in different ways the objective of all forms of promotion in the long run is to bring about some form of profit. When it comes to G-Star Raw and their methods of promotion they use some elements of their competitive advantage by comparing their usage of raw materials to that of other companies. Some products that G-Star uses in the development of their products include organic cotton alongside other recycled materials. As far as communication is concerned there are certain aspects in which G-Star can improve the way they reach out to those who are not as familiar with the brand. One way would be to have more eye catching posters because the ones they have are usually in plain color sets such as "black and white" or "navy and grey". Those color schemes don't really pop as much so a person wouldn't really notice and also being that the style is very edgy as opposed to a loud fashion look a person wouldn't catch on that its a clothing brand poster. Some of their posters look like those that are for movies which is why most people would walk past them. But for those who actually do notice the promotional methods of the G-Star brand they always have good feedback upon entering the store or even looking at the website. 

G-Star actually appears to be better at interpersonal communication in my opinion solely based off of the fact that the sales representatives in the store give you better explanations of products and what they can do for you than the website or a poster can provide. With the external forms of promotion you enter the store with a pure curiosity but once you leave the store whether you make a purchase are not its more than likely your familiar with many aspects of the brand . One of G-Star's stronger promotional aspects are their newspaper ads. From the very beginning it is a good start just because many people read the newspaper. Also newspapers are a great source of publicity for anyone because people are always interested in current events. As for G-Star's display of the "AIDA" concept there are some things that could definitely be improved but every brand has their faults. When it comes to personal selling I can admit that G-Star does amazingly well as a brand on that aspect. When you walk into the store just by having a conversation with the employees pertaining to the brand and any of its products you feel as though you want to purchase something before you leave just for the "RAW" experience. 

Chapter 10: Product Concepts

 When it comes to production G-Star is a very strong brand when that aspect comes into play. Many retailers offer clothing and accessories in their product mix just like G-Star does which is why their stock is completely classified as shopping products. Their products come to be more expensive than many other stores but for the simple fact that people love not only the design but the feel of G-Star Raw and its clothing they are willing to give up extra money to attain such a product. One thing that constantly puts G-Star ahead as far as their products are concerned is their product modification. Some of their denim may come to be hard denim with a strong material while others appear not as heavy with a lighter color scheme to it. Also they have t-shirts made of organic cotton, polyester and both leather and cotton winter coats. As I am sure you have noticed by now the name of this brand is "G-Star Raw" and as noticed on the images of many products the single letter "G" with its unique shape is the mark used by the brand. Unlike certain brands the only place in which you would probably be able to buy G-Star brand clothing besides their stores would have to be amazon or e-bay for the most part. 

The fact that there are many consumers who take time to go the G-Star Raw store locations to purchase their specific products shows a great deal of brand loyalty. G-Star uses family branding in the way that they offer man things such as belts, hats, jackets, t-shirts and underwear alongside many other products all with the G-Star brand name. Usually G-Star clothing does not use a specified packaging except for the bags you receive at the point of purchase which are actually ecologically friendly and re-usable. All labels of the G-Star brand have the oddly shaped "G" somewhere to dignify its authenticity. When warranties come into play the warranty offered by G-Star upon all of its purchases are is actually a 6 month return policy. Although the item must be unworn and include all original tags the amount of leeway given for a consumer to return their product without he common situation of not being able to return it in time is a great asset to the policy. 

Chapter 18: Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

G-Star Raw is a brand that doesn't usually do many out of store sales promotion. What I mean by that is basically if you are not in the store there is a high chance that you will be unaware as to weather they have items that are on sale or not. This works in a negative way for them because it actually may defeat a chance of them bringing in a potential customer. G-Star sometimes has prices on items that are so high that people actually may be sitting and waiting for a sales promotion so they could immediately enter the store but if they are not informed of when they will never be around to actually make such a purchase. As for the signs that do appear out of store they tend to actually be dull and are not eye catchers. They instead put the more noticeable signs in the windows of the stores such as the one in the top left of this blog. They do demonstrate consumer sales promotion in the way that a large percentage of the deals are worth while. G-Star offers deals such as buy two shirts and second one you would get 20% off or even just an entire sale rack of worthwhile merchandise. The loyalty marketing program is implemented by G-Star where they offer customers to receive constant emails as to what is going on within the branch concerning sales, new stock and other things of that nature. G-Star is a brand that I can definitely say heavily relies on personal selling. I say this because you don't really see or hear many advertisements for the brand but once you walk into the store the representatives can make you feel as though you need to leave with something. They provide you with as much information as possible from the material of the shirt to the season it was created. My only negative reaction to their sales associate is that I feel as though they only want you to make a purchase but don't fully find it in their personal interests to make the customer satisfied they just go for the sale. Also I find that they only attempt to build a relationship with you when you appear to be a regular customer as opposed to developing a relationship which could possibly result in such an ordeal. 

Chapter 17: Advertising and Public Relations

G-Star has various elements to its advertising which help build towards the indefinite progression of the brand. Also G-Star is actually way past the point of building sales/share they have been at the maintenance point for quite a while now. Institutional advertising is a method in which G-Star commonly uses. They promote the fashionable yet edgy look for those who find that method of dressing appealing as opposed to promoting their denim which is actually their strongest product. Although from time to time you may see a bit of product advertising in the winter or spring with G-Star's denim at bus stops or in Fashion Magazines. During product advertisement G-Star uses advertising appeal where they make a quick statement which distinguishes the quality of their denim from other hard denim brands. The fact that their actual positions which specialize in the marketing aspect of G-Star Raw is what also helps to broaden its promotion. Things such as "creative planner" and "fashion coordinator" help to develop an appealing image to the public. The manikins which reside in the store windows are an excellent source of upfront advertisement so long as the manikin is indefinitely presentable and fashionably uplifting. Generation Y is a group who will actually often be attracted by these various forms of advertising, simply for the fact that this generation has the most diverse sense of fashion. Also they have a constant trial and error behavior where they are always trying out new things. Although G-Star already has a specified target market their forms of advertisement could possible sway or influence an alternate customer into trying the product. Things like that can result in a wonderful consumer relationship. 

Chapter 15: Retailing

During a previous retail visit I noticed many things that actually showed me the difference between G-Star and other retail brands. One comparison is between G-Star and the Billionaire Boys Club(BBC) store in SoHo (New York). BBC is an independent retailer owned by Pharrell Williams who is a very well respected hip hop artist. That specific G-Star store was actually one of the many chain stores. G-Star can indefinitely because classified as a specialty store due to the fact that they have the most reliable denim as opposed to many other retailers. Although both have methods of direct response marketing G-Star has come to be more reliable being that BBC often has many goods that are sold out on there website so it actually has an effect on the amount of customers who shop online because people will always shop with the most reliable retailer. But as far as customer service goes i can say that G-Star wins that off the back solely because in BBC help is not automatically offered at all times you have to actually request many things as opposed to when you are shopping in G-Star and help is immediately offered to you. But being that BBC is a the only one in Manhattan it easily becomes a destination store unlike G-Star. G-Star has a much better retailing mix and also edges the competition of product offering too. 

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

What is so appealing to customers when it comes to G-Star Raw and their products? One major reason is that as weird as it may seem G-Star Raw denim jeans don't need to be washed instead they actually can be aired or even frozen. In worst case scenarios one can bring them to the Dry Cleaners at most but only if they are being cleaned for the first time. The reason given was that G-Star Raw jeans are dyed, cut and sewn a certain way, such that washing them would alter their appearance. G-Star Raw Denim is designed to exactly mimic the comfort and look of a worn-in pair, demands just that kind of offbeat care. The fact that it does not really take intense care and is an indefinitely reliable product is what actually makes consumers continuously return to purchase the product. Therefore not only has customer satisfaction been obtained but the consumer decision making process has also been completed. 

Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision

One of G-Star Raw's expansion methods also consisted of them opening a store in Australia. Nick and Candice Hirons are the two people who operate G-Star Raw Concepts stores within Australia. They initially became  involved with the G-Star brand 13 years ago preceding them selling the label through their multibrand 'D. inc' boutiques in Melbourne. They opened up a G-Star Mono brand store in Melbourne Central as a result of their passion for the brand itself in the year of 2003. Another major location of the G-Star Raw brand is their Hong Kong location, representing G-Star's largerst flagship store up to date this humongous retail space with two floors, LCD wall that reaches fromt he floor to the ceiling and a custom design dressing area. G-Star also offers online access to places such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France and Germany just to name a few of them. As for the quality of its clothing, G-Star distributes the same quality of clothing to all of its branches. All of its products remain environmentally friendly and of course their denim is the primary focus in all of their branches.There has been a great economic growth in all of their locations and G-Star continues to provide its target market with what is needed to maintain customer satisfaction. All these branches have done well and with that being the case G-Star has already begun to concentrate on opening up more locations in specific areas.