2021 G l o b a l B r a n d a n d B u s i n e s s S t r a t e g y b y : M a r j u S a n t o s S p r i n g 2 0 2 1 Acne Studios G L O B A L B R A N D B U S I N E S S S T R A T E G Y 1 3 4 6 8 13 15 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Selected Brand: Acne Studios The Disruption of the Fashion Industry and Today's Consumer Consumer Behavior and Marketing Consumer Motivation and the Fashion Consumer / Fashion Trends, Movements, and Influences Social Media The Importance of Data Diversity of Fashion Markets and Consumers Table of Contents 00 18 Works Cited Acne Studios is a high fashion brand based in Stockholm, Sweden and founded in 1996 by Johnny Johannson who is also the current creative director. The brand name is an acronym for “Ambition to Create Novel Expressions”, the founder embraced the unusual word, Acne, which is associated with undesirableness and uncomfortableness, romanticizing it to create a brand that is elegant and minimalistic. Acne Studios originated as a creative collective for graphic design, photography, film, and advertising. The brand moved on to a different direction when Johnny Johansson created 100 pairs of raw cut denim jeans which he gave to family and friends. The unique jeans garnered attention from Vogue and since then, the brand has entered the high fashion scene. Acne Studios present a range of subtly distinctive basics updated with unexpected, oversized proportions and nuanced colors, designed to seamlessly integrate into an artistic, urban wardrobe. Leather and shearling jackets, well-cut denim, cult favorite Pistol and Colt ankle boots, and modern knits all reflect Johansson’s intellectual brand of Scandinavian minimalism. Acne Studios uses Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Weibo for their social media marketing. As seen on their Instagram, the brand uses reels, IGTV, and highlights to connect with their 3 million followers. The account also features their products on the Instagram shop which direct users to the webstore. Usage of influencer marketing is evident on their page, however not substantial. The brand image is very consistent throughout the posts as the photos were curated carefully through their youthful, contemporary aesthetic majorly attracts millennial customers seeking investment pieces for their wardrobes. The search engine results show the webstore as the first result. For their online store, there is also an option on their webstore to sign up for their email newsletters. Acne Studios can capitalize on their high engagement on social media as well as expand their relationships with influencers to market a very effective viral campaign. Part 1: About Acne Studios FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy 01 Part 2: The Disruption of the Fashion Industry and Today's Consumer 02 The Current Customer 1 An Acne Studios customer is both male and females aged 20-45 years. Their customers are likely to be middle or upper class with a high-income level as products are seen as investment pieces. They are highly educated and likely to work in creative industries e.g. in fashion, graphic design and architecture. She/he lives in metropolitan cities and in their free time enjoy watching films, traveling, going to the theatre, art, architecture and shopping. The Acne Studios customer likes to read the Independent, Kinfolk magazine etc. She/he can be described as self-confident, optimistic, creative, outgoing, unconventional and eccentric. Name: Sunny Young Age: 27 Education: Graduate Lifestyle: Fashion enthusiast, loves traveling Occupation: Research Analyst Location: Los Angeles, California Hobbies: Going to museums/galleries, travelling, social events and reading Shopping: Physical stores for experiential shopping and online Online experience: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube Purchase influences: Social media, magazines, friends. Acne Studios Customer Persona FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy 03 Demographic : Age: 20-45 Gender: Males and Females Income level: Middle to High income (50,000/yr) and higher Education: College education and higher Geodemographic: Urban Metropolitan Cities Psychographic: Consumers who value fashion forward investment pieces. Consumers who value brand experience and quality over quantity. Forward thinking individuals, enthusiastic about new tech. Inclination for art and design. Behavioristic: Work in reactive industries Participates in recycling and other sustainable oriented practices. Enjoys going to art museums and galleries, watching films Uses social media. The Future Customer 2 When it comes to Acne Studios, the target customers are art-sensitive, millennial men and women with a minimalistic lifestyle. As the brand is art/design-oriented, the target customers are interested in the overall creative industry from art, design, architecture to photography, film, music and more. These customers are generally affluent, from upper-middle-class to upper-class earners (Mintel, 2020). The company also tries to appeal to customers who are aware of social responsibility by practicing socially responsible production (Acne Studios, 2020). As to loyalty, the target customers of Acne Studios tend to be loyal and highly passionate about the brand, especially to its minimalistic Swedish aesthetic. (IESE Insight, 2012). FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Below are main key-points according to Mintel’s 2020 US Fashion Report that observes the purchasing behaviors of consumers in 2020. This supports the data from the consumer matrix and can be a good basis for Acne Studios' upcoming marketing campaigns. Younger consumers may be used to dressing casually for more occasions than older shoppers and as a result are more inclined to seek clothing options that promise style; however, that doesn’t necessarily mean they want to forfeit style or price, and they may be looking for clothing that deliver on all attributes (DeSalva, 43). In a Mintel survey, 63% stated that they were willing to pay more to purchase apparel or footwear that was made with eco-friendly fabrics and materials (Bedford, 22). Consumers are becoming more willing to buy less clothing in favor of higher quality pieces, and items with ethical/environmental credentials. A new wave of consumerism is encouraging brands to become creative and focus on experienced-based advertising and unique retail environments, as a response to the growing tendency of shoppers to focus on value, quality, and reusability of the product (Kissane, 27). Men are strategic shoppers with clothing, and that’s no different when it comes to their purchase. Men are more likely than women to purchase clothing for a specific need or reason, such as replacement (63% did so) or for work or fitness (more than 30% did so). Meanwhile, nearly half of women buy clothing to treat themselves, and are likely making more impulse purchases than men (DeSalva,37) . 76% of clothing shoppers in the US previously shopped online In reaction to the dominating presence of fast fashion, consumers are reassessing their priorities and increasingly asking themselves what they truly value; leading to a host of major consumer shifts that emphasize sustainability and ethical consumption (Kissane, 27). Part 3: Consumer Behavior and Marketing 04 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy 05 Marketing for Sustainability 1 Currently, the company hasn’t yet calculated its entire footprint and only includes emissions for its own operations in its reporting. There’s no absolute target to reduce its scope 3 emissions, and, for its own operations, carbon emissions have actually increased compared to the previous year. However, Acne mentions an ambition to track and reduce supply chain emissions, and to reduce emissions from its own operations by 5% for the next financial year. A great opportunity for Acne Studios to capitalize on is the rise of Sustainable clothing. Through the steady increase of societal awareness to climate change comes an increase of demand for sustainable products. Many small ethical retailers are starting to have a much bigger impact on high fashion brands that are making changes to their packaging, production and materials. Previous expression of taking part in the sustainable movement must be met with more clear and actionable goals. Expanding Social Media 2 For Acne Studios, the brand does not follow general suits of media marketing strategies in the luxury fashion industry. The brand does no advertising and does not utilize celebrity endorsements and does minimal social influencer marketing. The brand uses its social media channels to only introduce products and update brand activities such as collaborations. Instead of creating hype around a brand through common marketing tactics, the brand focuses on delivering coherent brand identity through its products, logo & package design, store design and collaborations. As to package design, Acne Studios' signature beige-pink shopping bag has become extremely popular that it is now called 'millennial pink' (Ferrier, 2018). This "branding by doing" strategy enables the brand to come across as genuine and authentic and resonates within their customers by making them dream and truly desire (Ferraro, 2012). By sticking to the basics, the brand has been successfully conveying its brand identity to its customers without creating a gap between their identity and image. It is important for Acne Studios to expand its social media marketing strategy. Subtle usage of influencer and celebrity marketing on new platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels through artistic and creative collaborative projects can be capitalized while maintaining its brand identity and authenticity. FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Part 4: Consumer Motivation and the Fashion Consumer / Fashion Trends, Movements, and Influences Through the steady increase of societal awareness to climate change comes an increase of demand for sustainable products. Many small ethical retailers are starting to have a much bigger impact on the big names in fashion like ASOS, Prada, Stella McCartney and Doc Martens’ vegan range to name a few that are making changes to their packaging, production and materials. 06 Acceleration of Sustainable Fashion 1 Acne aims to create quality garments built for long-term wear. They achieve this by designing with carefully considered materials and techniques and remaining transparent with their process. With the launch of two upcycled denim capsule collections, Acne have shown their commitment to sustainability and have since vowed to use 100% sustainable materials whereof 40% recycled by 2030. Since, the rapid growth of sustainability based brands such as Thred- up and Everlane has increased awareness of sustainable fashion on a global scale, awareness is increasing exponentially. For coming collections, repurposed capsules as well as increased usage of recycled materials must be implemented through innovation. As Acne embraces new ideas for upcoming collections, accelerating the pace towards the 2030 goal is very important to stay ahead of the overall fashion zeitgeist. Design Implementation of Protective Clothing 2 As a WGSN report states, “While the current climate crisis is increasingly amplifying our need for a defence against the elements, the coronavirus threat and the fact it cannot be seen, the consumer will want to prepare for every eventuality. Big Ideas 2022: for apparel designers, focus on creating protective garments that offer built-in reassurance or resistance. For retailers, this is about ensuring the entire product proposition can convince a fearful consumer they are making the right spending decision.” -WGSN, 2020 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy As consumers start to assimilate back into normalcy, it is very important to be ahead of what our customers might need. Protective design is not new to Acne’s design history, previous seasons has showcased tech-infused Ready-to-Wear pieces through usage of waterproof and performance enhancing fabrics. However, anti- microbial and self-cleaning technology has yet to be introduced in Acne’s collections. This can be a great venture for the brand to expand on, especially as Acne treads towards the future of fashion. This concept speaks to a new wave of apparel design innovations. Much of the current atmosphere of the clothing businesses is geared toward demand for protective materials and garments. This excerpt from WGSN implies the need to attend to the current need of a “fearful” consumer. There is a predicted longevity on the demand for protective clothing which appeals to a massive audience. Not only for protective clothing, but also for protective, antimicrobial, and self-cleaning fabrics. The usage of active metals such as zinc, copper, silver, and magnesium for infused fabric production can protect humans from bacteria-causing odor, skin irritation, and absorption of toxic elements (Palmer, 2020). Value for the price is an important element in targeting customers. The increased awareness on wellness, hygiene, and health require innovation for sustainable, antimicrobial, protective, and comfortable clothing. As these features add value to our product, the targeted market segmentation will respond as predicted. Acne Studios has a great opportunity to capitalize on protective design for future collections. 07 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy 08 Part 5: Social Media Strength of Social Media Acne Studios uses Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Weibo for their social media marketing. As seen on their Instagram, the brand uses reels, IGTV, and highlights to connect with their 3 million followers. The account also features their products on the Instagram shop which direct users to the webstore. Usage of influencer marketing is evident on their page, however not substantial. The brand image is very consistent throughout the posts as the photos were curated carefully through their youthful, contemporary aesthetic majorly attracts millennial customers seeking investment pieces for their wardrobes. Acne Studios can capitalize on their high engagement on social media as well as their relationships with influencers to market a very effective viral campaign. A Sustainable Capsule Collection To further accelerate Acne's journey towards sustainability, the social media campaign will be advertising content to a sustainable capsule collection. Acne Studios is making a commitment to sustainability with "Repurposed" — a series of drops made entirely from excess textiles and fabrics. Focused on the idea of creating new products from pre-existing materials, each piece within the initiative will utilize specific materials and treatments, produced in their sourced location to minimize transportation. Each new Repurposed installment challenges the Acne Studios design team to maximize waste in a fashionable-yet-effective manner. Everything from leftover buttons to trimmings in respective locations will be included in each range, emphasizing the tactical creative expression that comes from the adversity of limitations. Additionally, each drop will feature different, eco-friendly design solutions — whether that be deconstructing garments, cutting fresh pieces from unused textiles, or patching prints to explore various treatments including lasering, dyeing and overprinting. Business Opportunity 1 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy 09 Campaign Goals 2 Key Indicator Data / Outcome Activity / Action Conversion Rate Increased brand awareness will be measured through the increased conversion rate from Acnestudios.com webstore Increased conversion rate by 35% 60% increase of traffic 40% increase of website clicks per platform Website Traffic Website Clicks Website Traffic will be measured through google analytics Website clicks will be measured through social media platform analytics TikTok and Reels have similar algorithms and user interfaces, but TikTok’s community allows for more rapid and viral sharing. It’s still the ideal venue for making an effective impact with branded content and influencer campaigns. So a brand that wants to build its presence on TikTok would do well to find celebrities and influencers to work with on the platform for promotion. That said, Reels is still very important for brands because it has the advantage of being built on Instagram, which means a stronger presence from brand pages and a captive audience that’s perhaps more inclined to engage with Reels rather than download a new app. For this campaign, it is important to use both platforms due to our advantage in presence and engagement on Instagram, as well as the age group that we are targeting are more inclined with instagram. We want to add Tik-Tok to facilitate the viral potential of the campaign due to the younger audience it mainly engage with. Platform 3 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Acne Studios is a lifestyle brand with a strong message of individuality and creativity. With where the fashion is heading to, Acne Studios want to take part in the sustainability movement and will be releasing a sustainable capsule collection. What we envision for a viral campaign is educating our consumers about the process of sustainable production. We will be creating a video that will show the features of the sustainable and recycled fabrics that we use in the collection. The video will be created in a very entertaining manner, and the goal of this campaign is encouraging people to do the best they can to save our planet, a strong sense of activism from some key influencers recommending the green clothing movement. This video will be released through Tik-Tok. This tool will help us grow numbers on our brand awareness and instill to our consumers the mission of our brand, especially from Gen Z consumers. Execute The Plan 4 10 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Campaign Release Date: June 20, 2021, before Fall/Winter 2021 collection drops in order to create anticipation from customers. Budget: Influencer Ad Payments Total (10 influencers with 200k followers+): $50,000; 5k per post Micro-influencer Ad Payments: 3 Free Clothing pieces from collection per influencer, Cost of Goods. Video Ad Cost: $5000, freelance video editor 11 This video will also be featured on Instagram through their new tool: Reels. Reels is very similar to Tik-Tok and through this we can also reach Gen Y consumers due to their higher presence on Instagram using 10 key style influencers who support sustainable fashion such as Aleali May, Alexandra Guerain, and Ivania Carpio. In addition, Acne will be giving merchandise to 30 micro-influencers to reach approachable audiences. The influencers will be showing a how-to-style video for some key pieces in the sustainable collection, describing its sustainable components. FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy The projected results for this campaign will be an overall increase of overall website traffic, conversion, and instagram engagement. Measurable KPI: Increased brand awareness will be measured through the increased conversion rate from Acnestudios.com webstore by at least 35%. Increased website traffic by: 60% Increased website clicks per social media platform by 50% Results 5 12 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy The highlights and main findings from this data analysis is that Acne Studios have found their identity and know what products and design they want to be associated with and hopefully be able to fulfill consumer’s needs. However, they are not focusing their efforts in finding new and creative strategies for advertising or communication with consumers in order to build on brand loyalty and brand awareness. Currently, this might be a part of their strategy to maintain exclusivity and image, but they should consider changing their strategy because of the challenging market they are competing in considering the ongoing COVID-19 situation which affects both consumers and businesses, as well as changing consumer behavior when it comes to spending habits and priorities. COVID-19’s negative impacts on Brick and Mortar retail stores resulted in closed fitting rooms and customers not being able to see items’ sizing and fit. During the pandemic, as Brick and Mortar stores take a hit due to government mandated social distancing and other safety orders, it has led retailers to close their fitting rooms. For some consumers, there is still lingering fear of shopping in-person as the industry discovers about the uncertainty of the pandemic. Retailers are further burdened by the costs associated with handling online returns, which have swelled in recent months as a result of temporary store closures. Part 6: The Importance of Data Even though Acne studios is a success in many countries that it operates, it has to ensure that its prices are worth it. It has to continue manufacturing good quality fabrics and increase sustainable practices. Investing more in marketing is very crucial to Acne's growth as there are various competitors in the fashion industry that have a larger customer bases. 13 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Augmented reality technology implementation and Convenient Omni-Channel retail experiences. For Acne Studios, it is very important to combat the current shift of consumer trends with innovative ways to connect with their target audience. Since the social media campaign will add increased ethical practices in across the supply chain, it is important for the company to adopt new ways increase accessibility to its items. The crisis in the retail world has created an opportunity to reinvent and revolutionize the way the the company operates. Acne Studios will be adopting virtual features using a combination of computer vision, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and recommendation algorithms to measure the full shape of a customer's body and know the perfect fit for each Acne Studios clothing article. This will create personalization for each customers' experience online, making it easier for each customer to access and view our products. 14 In addition to AI supported features, added convenience must be achieved for the benefit of the customer. Since Acne Studios only has a handful of Brick and Mortar stores in major cities around the world, it is not possible for us to instantly help every customers' needs. We will be implementing free 2 day shipping and free express returns for all of our online orders worldwide. This way, our customers can not only have their items faster, but also establish brand loyalty. According to this graph, slow and expensive deliveries, as well as check-out inconveniences thwart them from purchasing, we will target all of these issues by making the check-out and return process smooth sailing and as reliable as possible. FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy The strength of social media and google analytics is an emerging tool to recognize data on which marketing strategies to invest more on. Here, we find out the main sales leads that draw customers into our stores and website. This mainly represent the growth of our brand awareness, how our customers discover our products. Marketing For Acne Studios, market research is useful in gaining new customers, but it can also be used to determine why current customers enjoy our products. It’s also a good way to find out whether our planned marketing and product planning is in accordance with our target market’s needs and wants.3 main categories of Demographic, Marketing, and Product related questions were surveyed among our target market in the US. 15 Part 7: Diversity of Fashion Markets and Consumers Analyzing which styles appeal to certain genders and age groups are key data to create designs that are suitable for age and gender groups. Income level is included here as well in order to understand appropriate price points that we can implement throughout our sales and product planning as well. Demographic As a creative brand that represents inclusivity and community, we’d like to make our customers voices heard. Here, we analyzed which classic Acne Studios products they’d like to see more of and which introduced them to the brand overall, a lot of my respondents answered jeans, bags, and shoes. Product FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy This market research will help us to develop new ideas for product and marketing strategies. For the first category of demographics, we found out that the majority of our customers come from the older end of millennials, which is actually our primary target market. The secondary age group are younger millennials and mid aged individuals. As a creative company that encourages inclusivity and create adrogenous pieces, we definitely must keep focusing on releasing enough products that equally caters to for all genders. For the second set of questions, we discover the power of social media marketing, SEM, and e-commerce growth. We found out that a lot of new customers discover our brand through social media and google searches. Some loyal fans have discovered us through friends and fashion events, however, we must focus on the growth points of our marketing strategies such as possibly expanding on new platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest, as well as expanding our google ads. For our last set of questions, here we discovered which products our US based customers are more enthusiastic about. A lot of our customers got introduced into Acne Studios through our unique jeans, footwear and leather goods, which are also similar category points they look forward to in our future collections. As we find out that the great majority of our customers are satisfied with our current product mix, we definitely should keep our focus on high priced items such as leather goods, shoes, and our popular jeans. Investment in sustainability of our products and expansion of social media marketing strategies are crucial for the growth of Acne Studios. 16 FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Acne Studios should accept responsibility, change production habits and marketing approaches in order to educate, encourage, and inspire customers to make changes. According to Futerra's Selling Sustainability guide, it is encouraged for brands to add value to their businesses in the form of reducing the number of barriers that come with the ideas of sustainability, and instead add functional, emotional or social benefits that would be in competition with unsustainable competitors. As we discover the power of social media marketing, SEM, and e-commerce growth through our market research, it is only appropriate to invest in the expansion of social media channels such as TikTok and IG Reels, usage of influencer marketing in an unconventional and artistic way will maintain the brand identity as well as expand our market range to new ranges. Through this growth campaign, this will be adopted by Acne Studios. Short, easily digestible video content promoted with Acne's sustainable process will ensure that information passed onto customers does not feel intimidating, but provokes solution-based thinking to environmental issues. Conclusion. 17 This campaign will also challenge the stereotypes that are surrounded with the idea of sustainable fashion. As the association with a creative, striking brand in the luxury sector, such as Acne Studios, will make the concept more appealing and mainstream. Breaking Barriers. FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy Works Cited 18 Acne Studios (2020) “About us” Available from: https://www.acnestudios.com/americas/en/about/about.html Acne Studios (2019) Sustainable Report. Available from: https://www.acnestudios.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library- Sites- acne/default/dw76456220/csr/Acne_Studios_Sustainability_Rep ort_18- 19.pdf J. Chadha (2020) The Impact of COVID -19 on the fashion design industry. Available from: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/350190 DeSalva, Alexis. “ Men's & Women's Clothing: Incl Impact of COVID-19 - US - September 2020.” Academy of Art University Library, Mintel, Sept. 2020, 0-reports-mintel- com.library.academyart.edu/display/987156/? fromSearch=%3Ffreetext%3Dluxury%2520fashion%26sortBy%3Drece nt. Muston, Francesca, et al. “Coronavirus: Design PRiorities.” Academy of Art University Library Online Resources, WSGN, 20 Mar. 2020, 0-www-wgsn- com.library.academyart.edu/content/board_viewer/. Palmer, Helen. “Sustainability & Innovation: Post-Coronavirus Defensive Textiles.” Academy of Art University Library Online Resources, WGSN, 10 Apr. 2020, 0-www-wgsn- com.library.academyart.edu/content/board_viewer/. Kissane, Bernadette. “Apparel and Footwear Global Industry Overview.” Academy of Art University Library, WARC Euromonitor Strategy Briefings, June 2017, 0-www-warc- com.library.academyart.edu/content/article/euromonitor- strategy/apparel-and-footwear-global-industry-overview/111605. The Telegraph. (2016). Nordic chic: 8 Scandi brands you need to know. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/brands/nordic-chic-8-scandi- brands-youneed-to-know FSH 652 | Global Brand and Business Strategy