Pepe Jeans Brand Management Essays

Pepe Jeans Brand Management Essays Pepe Jeans Brand Management Paper Pepe Jeans Brand Management Paper This report aims to evaluate the brand image, positioning and brand value of a popular denim brand Pepe Jeans. Pepe is a renowned brand in the apparel industry and is amongst the top international jeans and casual wear brand. This report will also discuss the philosophy and essence of the brand, what it stands for the USP (Unique Selling Point) of the brand and how Pepe Jeans is perceived in the consumer mind. The purpose of researching the brand extensively is to help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of the brand from the point of view to verify its effectiveness. Pepe offers a wide range of products to its consumers and tries to cover the intended target market through its advertising and promotions. The brand is present across the globe in almost 100 countries with numerous loyal customers. A Brief History Headquartered in Madrid, Spain Pepe Jeans London, was started in a small market stall running only on weekends in West London by three brothers from Kenya Nitin, Arjun and Milan Shah in the year 1973. The brothers wanted to set up a British brand of jeans that would be known globally. The jeans that they sold were of good quality and fitting and within no time, the business started to boom. The brand was inspired by London street-wear style and was called Pepe because it was a short two syllable word that was really fast to remember. Pepe was the first brand which enforced that jeans should not be sold hung like a trouser for which they even had to fight with the retailers. By 1980, the brand was competing against the big rival brands like Levis, Lee, etc. for the No. 1 place in U.S. Pepe became UKs most successful jeans brand and even had Jason Priestly and the popular band The Smiths featured in their advertising campaign. Some of the campaigns were censored as Pepe ads usually t eased the boundaries of socially acceptable imagery and norms. This helped them gain the attention of the consumers in the ever expanding world of advertising. Pepe is the fastest growing label in the world and has grown to be more than a $500 million denim and casual wear brand. Brand Image According to Kotler (1988) and Herzog (1963), brand image is the perception of the brand regarding the values it carries in the mind of the consumer. Denims are perceived as a casual wear and the wearer carries an attitude whilst wearing it. Pepe has managed to make denim a style statement. Pepe Jeans is perceived as a premium and international brand which houses casual wear with the heart of London in the brand. The products offered are contemporary and innovative and the impression it leaves, is never missed. The brand image is not a thought on its own, it is engraved in the consumer mind by the marketers through the use of various marketing tools. Some other researchers like Ditcher (1985) define that the impression that the product creates as a whole and not by its individual characteristics is what forms the image of the brand. Pepe offers a whole wardrobe solution from jeans to skirts, to jackets, t-shirts, shirts, cargos, capris and a wide selection of accessories like caps, bags, wallets, belts and even socks. In the case of Pepe Jeans, the marketing and pricing has made the brand appealing to primarily youngsters. The brand has been practicing aggressive pricing i.e. they are competitively priced to their competitors and other international brands. The campaigns reflect that the brand is young at heart and promotes a rebellious attitude through its advertising. The concept is to be bold and ambitious which has helped the brand create a connection with both the sexes globally. As per Abraham (2005), to save the brand legal issues, the brand name should always be unique and distinct. The brand is called Pepe because it was a short two syllable word that was easy to remember and fast to sign on a cheque. Brand Positioning Positioning of a brand can be observed by evaluating how the brand appears when seen in contrast with its competitors. Brand positioning is controlled by the company and its marketing team. They concentrate on delivering and positioning the product in the right way to the intended target audience. All the efforts put together create the brand image of the company. (Park et. Al., 1986) Since its inception, the positioning of the brand was that, Pepe Jeans is all about international premium jeans and casual wear. To be a successful brand, the brand must keep in mind the offering its makes to its consumers and makes the product exclusive to set itself apart from the competitors (Friedman, 1993; Muse Hartung, 1973). The brand continuously developed new fabrics and silhouettes which all had a perfect finish. Pepe used this as a P.O.D. (Point of Difference) to promote itself as The premium jeans, inspired by Londons street wear. For a consumer to feel associated with what the brand wants itself to be perceived as, it is important for the brand to first build a relationship with the consumer (Aaker, 1991). All the retailers in the category are characterised in terms of maturity, capacity, and difference in price which leads to the common factor in all stores (Standard Poor, 1995). Pepe has differentiated itself by keeping the promise of being committed to quality products. They have strived to be best in the commercial aspect and by being the most service oriented. Brand positioning comprises of three important elements namely identifying the possible competitive advantages, leverage the strongest advantages and communicate them in an effective manner and lastly make sure that the message has reached the target group, all these factors combined together influence the buying behaviour of the consumer (Kotler, 1988). In connection with the brand, Pepe whilst positioning itself clearly identified themselves as a premium denim brand which the consumer would crave for and branded themselves with the same proposition. They created their USP from the simple fact that they manufactured the best quality denims which were inspired from London street wear. The brand stands for the youth and talks about being young, cool, creating a style statement, independent and self confident which exudes an attitude of the person who is wearing it. The second element is to identify their own strength which was inspired from Londons energy and street wear styles, every garment exudes an attitude and promoted this through their advertising. The third element is to segment the market and identify the appropriate target audience, having in mind what are the elements of your brand that are able to satisfy their needs and how you are related to this group. Pepe managed to identify and connect with all the three elements ma king it one of the most successful international brands. A successful brand should create an image for its product that, in the consumers mind is associated with the quality, the Unique Selling Point of the product and the superiority towards the competitor. (Vranesvic and Stancec, 2003) Brand Equity and Value A brand is the representation of ownership and product segregation manifested through names, logos and trademarks (Chernatony and Riley, 1998; Hankinson and Cowking, 1993). In the American Marketing Association (1960), the definition of a brand is a name or term, a symbol or design, or maybe a combination of the two which is intended to identify the product or service of the seller and enable them to differentiate it from its competitors. Brand equity expresses the value of a product compared to as if the same product didnt have a brand name. Therefore brand equity is based on the added value of the product because of the brand name. Equity consists of brand awareness and brand image (Aaker, 1991; Ailawadi et.al, 2003). Pepe over the years has successfully established itself in the consumer minds by constantly delivering high quality products and numerous advertising campaigns. Pepes brand value has been focused and been a trademark in the category recognised for the commitment and s ervice provided to the consumers. The brands are seen as corporate assets which have to be taken care of, invested in and have to be nurtured to grow. The brands are conceptualised as value enhancers which has led to the development of the concept of brand equity (Wood, 2000). Pepe has been marketed keeping a target audience in mind and has managed to create a bond of trust and a relationship with the consumers. Pepe as a brand name through the consistent performance and every growing demand in the market by opening new stores and a modern youthful urban image has created a sense of comfort in the consumer mind. As per Biel (1993), the concept of brand equity is very consumer-centered and it said that the consequence is focused more on output rather than input. The brands differentiating factor is that Pepe is much more than just a denim company, it offers a complete casual wear line with knits, wovens, non-denims and accessories under its umbrella. Pepe Jeans takes pride on the fashion forecasting abilities and setting trends with every collection they offer to their consumers. The consumers perception of the quality of the brand is what helps create brand equity.