Ch. 11- Developing and Managing Products

Like any business UNIQLO has developed many products that are new to that target market that they are targeting. That in mind leads to the test marketing concept. Since UNIQLO is an overseas company it takes a lot of adjustments to be able to market their products in the USA. Test marketing is very important for UNIQLO because since it is a sample/prototype of the product being shown it helps them get feedback by how many people buy that item. That feedback helps them find out if this certain would work in the USA and what needs to be adjusted.

The UNIQLO started off as a store for the basic items like a tee shirt and things like that. It was also one of the only companies in Japan to open at around 5 am every day. The reason for that is that the company wanted to be open for customers at the hours they might need something which made them super convenient and made there sale rocket. That was the beginning so everything they developed after the beginning, was put through test marketing.

The Ultra-Light down jackets were one of those items that were put in the test marketing. Since they were new to the market and there weren’t many or any light compactable until the UNIQLO brand came out with one. Another item put through test marketing was they Heat Tech and the AIRism. These are both new to their target market. Heat Tech is supposed to keep you warm during the winter. You layer it under a sweater and your body heat gets contained. Whereas the AIRism products does the opposite. These products are used during the summer or during working out because they help to keep your body cool. Both these items are new to their target market and through advertisement people were able to find out what exactly these products do.

Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Multi-segment targeting is one of the approaches that UNIQLO uses in their market strategies. This being that they target to two or more well-defined markets and develop a certain marketing approach for each. Since UNIQLO is considered a family store, there would be distinct ways that the marketers of UNIQLO would market to the Women target that differs from the way they market to the Men target.

In UNIQLO one other market that gets targeted is the Art Enthusiast. The SPRZ NY collection is consist of UNIQLO famous Ultra-Light down jackets but with prints and designs from famous artist like Andy Warhol. There are also tee-shirts and other clothing items that are similar to the regular UNIQLO items but just designed differently.

A way to tell that Women, Men, and Art Enthusiast are marketed differently is by going to the store itself. For example, if you were to step into the 5^th avenue store in New York, you can see that the SPRZ items are placed different and have a different floor format that the rest of the store. They also have different hangers and displays. When you step into the Women’s department you would see tons of items and tons of mannequins everywhere. The Women’s department takes up most of the third floor. Once you step into the Men’s department you would see barely any mannequins and everything is put together and more convenient floor plan.

The reason for that is when a man usually goes shopping they know what they want and go straight to that item first then they looks around to see what else is there. So if the Men’s department is condensed and everything is in reach it is a easier trip for said man. Women on the other hand come shopping to just see what there is and that’s why there is so many mannequins, women want to see what types of outfits they could get.

Ch. 15- Marketing Communications

Like any retail store Advertising is a key concept to the business because if people don’t know it exist then they won’t buy. But when considering the AIDA concept that is just one of the aspect to the business. AIDA stands for Attention. Interest. Desire. Action. When considering UNIQLO, when the store is having a sale, particularly for an Ultra-Light down Jacket, the process for the purchase is the following:

1.      Attention: First, UNIQLO uses the email to let all the customers about the special sale. As well as other social media.

2.      Interest: The visual team makes sure to put an Ultra-Light down Jacket on almost all mannequins to draw the customers attention. Even if those aren’t the ones that are one sale it makes the customer want to see the product.

3.      Desire: Since UNIQLO has Ultra-Light down Jackets all year long there are a lot of customers that would rather get the old season Jackets instead of the new season since it would be cheaper. Which is why they developed the water defenders with a different variation of colors, in order to convince the customer that this Jacket would be better the old season Jackets.

4.      Action: Lastly after being attracted to the new season Jackets the customer decides whether they would want the old season one which is on sale or the new season one. Which a lot of times they take both.

This concept is very much needed when there are promotions and sales because UNIQLO usually has business because of the tourist that hear of the brand from others so a lot of the UNIQLO customers are new to the brand which makes AIDA important. The store has to be able to have the customer buy something as well as have them want to come back even if it’s not that store but the overall goal is to get the customer to shop at UNIQLO.

Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

UNIQLO most definitely does branding and has a lot of benefits from doing so. Since UNIQLO known slogan is Changing Clothes Changing Conventional Wisdom, Change the World. This really is what they follow in corporate UNIQLO because they try to make their clothes as innovative as possible. Which, if you were to put that information in a chart of the power of brand equity. Light Compactable Jackets would be the product category and the dominant brand name would be UNIQLO. I have seen many light Jackets from other brands but the UNIQLO Ultra- Light Down jacket is the most recognizable.

Global Branding is a definite benefit for UNIQLO since the store originated in Japan and since then the Stores have spread to Europe and All over the USA. The Japan stores are everywhere in Japan as well as in Korea, China and other Asian countries. Just from there, the company make good amount of profit. Especially since they make your clothes to fit better for the Asian body than for that of a westerner. But the clothes in Europe and the USA are a bit bigger but the profit is from those stores are very significant. The sales goal for some stores, like the 5^th avenue store, which is a flagship store, can average to 100,000 dollars for the day. Sometimes more or less but always in the high end of the thousands.

Brand loyalty is a definite in UNIQLO. I have personally had customer come up to me to say how much they love the store the products they have to offer. There are customers who got recommended to go to UNIQLO and since then they only shop there when they want either work clothes, or comfy clothes for the winter, or even just the Ultra-Light Down jackets. Those same customers, come up to me and say how they went to our others and loved it as well. Some went to the Japan store and they never knew about the store in the states so since then the started shopping more frequently at UNIQLO.