Advertising Strategy

1.0 Key attributes of David Jones’ brand

The evolution of David Jones’ brand over the last 10 years is quite significant. The company is emerging from a poor brand image characterised by perceptions of poor service in the market. This image was accompanied by an apparent poor attitude towards employees who were being scaled down on to cut back on operation costs. However, the new approach towards the brand appears to embrace employees as the brand ambassadors whose contribution would be central to delivering the desired brand image. The retailer is accordingly investing heavily investing to reverse this poor brand and is keen on creating a new brand image with functional and emotional attributes as outlined below.

The functional attribute in the new brand focuses on creating pleasant shopping experiences where customers are served diligently by highly motivated employees who not only have the most current knowledge on fashion but are also keen on ensuring that the shopping process is convenient. This extraordinary shopping experience would also be characterised by swift action in the identification of products needed to be ordered on behalf of the customers. Functional brand attributes relate to the physical experiences that customers undergo when interacting with a brand or business (Hartman, Ibanez and Sainz, 2005). This differs from emotional attributes which refer to the feelings elicited from the customers while undergoing the brand experience (Hartman, Ibanez and Sainz, 2005). The experiences may or may not be related to the functional attributes projected. In this case, the emotional attributes include the feeling of importance associated with the provision of personalised services; and a trendy feeling in terms of comfort that comes with knowing that one is current with the fashion trends.

2.0              Retailer organisation size, historical performance and analysis of prospects for growth

David Jones runs 36 stores. The retailer has been on an employee recruitment drive where it has recruited 200 new style advisers to be distributed across the 36 stores, 100 new supervisors and 200 technical staff to be allocated to support functions such as IT. It has also entered into an alliance with the Shop and Distributive and Allied Employees where the more than 9000 members are supposed to receive a 10.2% wage rise within 3 years.

Recent statistics about the company indicate that the retailer’s profitability is expected to plummet by 35-40% in 2012 (AAP, 2012). Its performance for the second half of 2011 is also said to have dropped by 19.6% when compared to the performance in a similar period in the previous year (David Jones, 2012).

Even though the growth prospects for the retailer look grim, David Jones has a chance to turn its performance around and this can be done by rebranding and using its new image to capture additional market share. It can tap into the sensitivity surrounding fashions and trends in the market and provide the fashion services needed.

3.0              Role of advertising in fashion industry

In general, advertising helps in creating awareness of products as well as brands. Analysts have in many cases successfully established a direct relationship between advertising spend (including creativity of messages and choice of channel) and the success of the company (Layton, 2011). The same has also been established about brands with many of the well-known brands in the market being those that have been widely advertised in many forums (Layton, 2011). Advertisement in the case of David Jones is therefore expected to yield results. Advertising in Australia has been tilting towards online advertisements with 2012 statistics indicating that the 2012 ad spending is projected to rise to $13.3bn (Jackson, 2012). The newspaper and magazine ads are to drop by 4.5% to $790m while TV ads spend rises by 5% to $4.2bn. These growth rates pale when compared to the 18.8% growth experienced in the online and mobile advertising sector (Jackson, 2012).

David Jones ranks at position 13 in a list of Australia’s top retailers in a list led by giant retailers such as Woolworths food and liquor, Coles food and Liquor, Myer, Kmart and Harvey Norman among others (Inside Retail, 2012). The spending by leading retailers in advertising had dropped in 2011 with companies such as Woolworths reducing its spending on advertisements by 5.6% to reach $160m (Davidson, 2011). Harvey Norman on the other hand increased its advertisement spend by 0.6% to $150m (Davidson, 2011).

4.0              Target ideal audience for David Jones

Target marketing helps in improving the effectiveness of marketing programs by ensuring that resources are channelled towards the 20% of the market that is more likely to consume a company’s products (Koranda, 2007). This is done by focusing on the products on question and creating a preferred customer profile for the typical consumer that would be served best by the brand.

In the case of David Jones, the focus is on providing a personalised service where customers are accompanied by style advisers who would then advise them on the most current trends and fashions that are compatible with their tastes. The advisers would also serve the purpose of facilitating transactions and ensuring ease of ordering of products that are not in stock. This is a premium service that could easily attract luxury shoppers. Luxury shoppers would be willing to pay a premium in return for personalised service and are in many cases persons whose incomes are relatively high. The customers should also be keen on fashion and trends in the market; and sensitive in terms of an inherent need to remain current and be seen to be trendy.

The ideal customer would be a person aged between 30 and 45. Such a customer would typically be working class with relatively high income grown with increasing experience given that many people begin to work at a young age (about 20) in Australia. They would be persons that are probably overcome with pressure at work and would not want to hustle over researching trends when they could simply get an adviser to provide the service. Their lack of time to conduct extensive research does not necessarily mean that they are not interested in fashion. Their positions in their organisations would probably be such that they would need to project an appropriate image in order to maintain their influence.

5.0              Potential strategic hypothesis

Strategic hypotheses are the suppositions that provide the rationale for any undertaking in rebranding/ re-launch campaigns (Koranda, 2007). Such hypotheses should be formed after due consideration of the internal and external environments of the firm. In other words, they should be grounded on facts as well as sound research for them to be reliable. As Rod would put it, an appropriate strategic hypothesis for marketing would therefore link the undertaking to the goal that the organisation aims to achieve (1997). In this case, David Jones intends to recapture market lost customers and gain additional market share through its rebranding exercise. The appropriate hypothesis would therefore be: Effective rebranding enables organisations change consumer perceptions on brands and fuels growth and increase in market share.

6.0              Foundation for re-launch advertising

A good advertisement should be able to send the intended the message to the target audience and inspire them to take the desired action. In general, a good advertisement should reflect on the likes and preferences of the target audience and preferably make an example of challenges that they face on a daily basis (Iyer, Soberman and Miguel, 2005). It can serve the purpose of creating demand by making the audience notice that they may need the products or services or they could even act on human emotions such as anxiety. For instance, an advertisement could focus on the detriments of being out of fashion hence heightening anxiety and getting consumers to want to acquire the trendy outfits and avoid such detriments. The message should therefore be though out carefully. The same applies to the choice of actor to deliver the message. In ideal situations, the actor should be one that the target audience could easily relate to (Layton, 2011). For instance, it would be ineffective to use a child to advertise a fashion product when the target audience is an adult. Neither would it be wise to dwell on advertise teenage fashions when the target audience is adults aged 30 to 45. The suitability of the brand is also crucial as it provides a platform through which customers could relate to the products in a manner that supersedes the functionality of the products in question or the shopping process. It should bring out the feeling in a manner that no other brands could. Such a unique brand identity would be crucial in protecting the brand from threats by competitors.

In the case of David Jones, the ideal customer would fall within the category of the target market. A 35 year old lady in middle management level in an organisation would be ideal for the advertisement. This would be reflective of persons with plenty of working experience, growing responsibilities both at work and in the society, and keen on ensuring that they remain on top of developments around them. The lady of choice would be a person who is increasingly busy both at work, home and in other sectors of the society. She would also be under pressure to ensure that she does not lag behind in terms of the currency of her appearance and dressing code. She would be determined to continue being a sterling example to her colleagues at work. However, her main concern would be the fact that she hardly gets any time to relax and do adequate research online on fashion. She would find this solution at David Jones whose style advisors would be depicted as Gurus in fashion and conversant with fashion developments in all sectors of the society including hers.

The ideal brand would bring out the relief and joy associated with shopping at David Jones while also emphasising the practicality and uniqueness of the solutions offered. An appropriate brand would therefore read: “Define Your Image with the Ultimate Shopping Experience!”.

7.0              Proposition for advertising

The proposition of the unique selling proposition brings out the uniqueness of the products or services being advertised (Reeves, 1961). The proposition should not only be in consistency with the brand image but also the functionality of the products. This USP only serves its functions when the market gets to embrace it as factual. While the tangible attributes may be easily proven, the intangible attributes would be a matter of perception (Reeves, 1961). The USP must highlight on the one definitive feature that other products or brands in the market may not contain.

In the case of David Jones, it is said that the personalised advisory services are new to the Australian market. This would therefore be an ideal proposition for advertising. Providers of fashion products may be available in plenty in Australia. They may as well be able to stock some of the latest fashions. However, they may not be able to provide the personalised advisory services that David Jones proposes. The provision of fashion advice based on individual customers’ preferences and the instant help with ordering out of stock products may provide a satisfactory shopping experience. The proposition should therefore focus on the fact that David Jones makes shopping more relaxed and adventurous where shoppers can rediscover their tastes.

8.0              Media channels of Choice

The choice of media should be informed by the media usage of the target market. The choice should also be informed by changing trends in the field of communication and socialisation. In Australia, the influence of the internet has been immense in recent times with over 80% of the population being said to have ready access to the internet (Stafford, 2011). Social sites such as Facebook boast of a customer base of about 11 million people representing a total penetration of 55.08% of the population (Social Bakers, 2012). The growth in the usage of the internet should reflect on changing trends. This is especially important when it is considered that the level at which information is sought over the internet is high. However, traditional media such as TV and newspapers should also be factored in especially during peak times such as during news as the segment in question is likely to follow developments through news in order to be well versed with happenings in the society and the business world. There should therefore be a healthy mix between the channels with the proposed distribution being 30% TV, 20% Radio, 20% outdoor advertising, 25% internet (viral marketing and social media), and 5% direct marketing.

9.0              Objectives of the campaign

The objectives should focus on the generation of additional sales as well as ensuring retention of customers. The objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound). The objectives should therefore read as follows:

• To boost annual sales by 20% annually for the next 3 years
• To grow the company’s market share by 15% over the next 3 years
• To improve on the rate of customer retention by 60% over the next 3 years
• To promote brand awareness and boost brand equity within the 1^st year

10.0          Measuring the success of the advertisement campaign

Measuring the success of an advertising campaign serves a number of functions. To begin with, it gives the organisation a chance to know whether it is receiving value for its advertisements. It also enables revisions on subsequent campaigns in terms of message and choice of channels with an aim to ensure that future advertisement campaigns are more effective (Petburikul, 2009).

The performance of the campaign shall be measured by determining whether the objectives have been achieved. Measuring the improvement on the annual sales is likely to be straight forward where sales revenues are compared over the periods concerned. It is also relatively easy to measure market share by relying on industry surveys that indicate how market players are performing in the market. Customer retention rates may not be easily determined. However, loyalty programs could be put in place allowing for analysis on the frequency with which shoppers continue shopping over time. This would indicate whether sales are driven by old customers or by new customers. The measurement methods can however only amount to estimations and may not necessarily guarantee accuracy.

The effectiveness of the advertisements on different channels could also be determined using coupons. For instance, internet and newspaper advert success rates could be done by monitoring the rate at which the coupons are redeemed. The more the number of coupons redeemed the more effective the channel is. The level of traffic generated through the interaction with the customers over the social media should provide an indication on whether the advertising campaign is successful. A good advertising campaign should be able to generate increased traffic in terms of feedback and enquiries.

References

AAP, 2012. David Jones flags full year profit fall of up to 40%. (Online) Available at: http://www.news.com.au/business/david-jones-first-half-profit-down-196-per-cent/story-e6frfm1i-1226305918491#ixzz22xHRTk3N (Accessed 7 October 2012)

David Jones, 2012. About David Jones. (Online) Available at: http://www.davidjones.com.au/About-David-Jones (Accessed 7 October 2012)

Davidson, D., 2011. Retailers cut back on ad spend.  (Online) Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/retailers-cut-back-on-ad-spend/story-fn91v9q3-1226308642471 (Accessed 7 October 2012)

Hartman, P., Ibanez, V.A., Sainz, F.J.F., 2005. Green branding effects on attitude: functional versus emotional positioning strategies. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 23(1), pp. 9-29

Inside Retail, 2012. Top 25 Retailers.  (Online) Available at: http://www.insideretailing.com.au/IR/IRNews/5718.aspx (Accessed 7 October 2012)

Iyer, G., Soberman, D., Miguel, V., 2005. The Targeting of Advertising. Marketing Science 24(3), pp. 461-476.

Jackson, S., 2012. Advertising spending set to recover after flat years.  (Online) Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/advertising-spending-set-to-recover-after-flat-years/story-e6frg996-1226453623502 (Accessed 7 October 2012)

Koranda, D., 2007. Advertising Account Planning: A Practical Guide. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 84(3), pp. 627-628.

Layton, R.A., 2011. Marketing: is management all this? A Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 3(2), 194-213

Petburikiul, K., 2009. The impact of corporate rebranding on brand equity and firm performance. RU International Journal, 3(1), pp. 155-172

Reeves, R., 1961. Reality in Advertising. New York: Alfred A. Knopf

Rod, M.R.M., 1997. The use of research in developing advertising strategies. Management Research News 20(1), pp. 50-60.

Social Bakers, 2012. Australia Facebook Statistics. (Online) Available at: http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/australia (Accessed 7 October 2012)

Stafford, P., 2011. Advertising spending surges in 2010 as retailers take flight for market share, but experts say growth wont stay high for long. (Online) Available at: http://www.smartcompany.com.au/advertising-and-marketing/20110328-advertising-spending-surges-in-2010-as-retailers-fight-for-market-share-but-experts-say-growth-won-t-stay-high-for-long.html (Accessed 7 October 2012)