• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.131-150
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study is to provide the characteristics of marketing strategy on the SPA(Specialty store retailor of Private label Apparel) brand. This research can be used as information for the domestic SPA brand to enhance its international competitiveness. The characteristics of marketing strategy on the SPA brand are as follows. 1. One company integrate vertically the process of planning, production, promotion and distribution. 2. As using the advanced information, productions, and logistics systems, they are carried out speedy management. 3. The production strategies are focused on providing new goods of fast cycle and very diverse styles in a season, developing products that accurately reflect the general market trend and consumer demands, extending the line of goods, outsourcing of the place to reduce production costs. For high-quality goods, they are collaborating with the famous designers and developing of new and green environment materials. 4. Generally, the SPA brand emphasizes the low price strategy against the quality. 5. The promotion strategies are focused on conducting various unique and high sensible VMDs, fashion shows, star marketing, campaigns, aggressive publicity, magazine & outdoor advertisement and various events through the internet website, etc. 6. The place (distribution) strategies of SPA brand are focused on launching into global, expanding number of stores, increasing large-sized stores and diversifying the forms of store and selling.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.19-29
• /
• 2004

The current fashion market is experiencing a lot of difficulties in fashion forecasting due to consumers' fast-changing lifestyle on fashion, changes in consumer behavior, and the segmentation of the fashion market. To cope with this harsh reality, many fashion enterprises have paid much attention to the SPA (Specialty Retailer's Store of Private Label Apparel) brand as a promising fashion marketing strategy in terms of which they can survive in the extremely competing fashion market. The SPA brand is in the stage of inception in Korea, but the SPA brands such as MUJI and UNIQLO are already dominating the fashion business in Japan. Korea has just started developing the SPA brand, but its technological development, which was triggered by the success of 'BASIC HOUSE', is rapidly evolving. Under these circumstances, the SPA brand is getting vital for the fashion market in efficiently realizing consumers' requirements, revolutionizing the method for providing product information and the process of Marketing Mix Program, and expressing the value of shop. This paper studies the nature of the SPA brand and fashion merchandising system, and in turn examine the differences between the visual merchandising of the existing fashion brands and the Japanese SPA brands that are used as the fashion marketing strategy which is driven by the up-to-date technological system. Centering around these issues, we propose a visual merchandising system for fashion enterprises which serves to develop Korean-style SPA brands.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.11 no.9
• /
• pp.51-57
• /
• 2013

Purpose - This study investigates the effect of visual merchandising display (VMD) of local specialty retailer of private label apparel (SPA) brands, such as space, display, and presentation on brand awareness, brand image, and purchase intention. It investigates consumers' VMD awareness and purchase intention of SPA brands to help business activities of local SPA enterprises. Research designs, data, methodology - This study uses SPSS 18.0 to study eight local SPA brands and has 193 effective usable copies from a sample of 200. Results - The display and presentation of VMDs of SPA brands had a positive influence on brand awareness and brand image, which in turn had a positive influence on purchase intention. Conclusions - As SPA brands are increasingly located in supercenters, they face space constraints and find it difficult to display their facade and signs effectively. Therefore, decisions pertaining to display, presentation, and space should consider whether these SPA brands are launched as independent specialty shops or in supercenters. The space for VMD is considered important in independent shops. However, shops that open in supercenters should pay more attention to presentation rather than space.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.239-248
• /
• 2010

This paper describes a collaborative project between academia and industry which focused on improving the marketing and product development strategies for two private label apparel brands of a large regional department store chain in the southeastern United States. The goal of the project was to revitalize product lines of the two brands by incorporating student ideas for new solutions, thereby giving the students practical experience with a real-life industry situation. There were a number of key players involved in the project. A privately-owned department store chain based in the southeastern United States which was seeking an academic partner had recognized a need to update two existing private label brands. They targeted middle-aged consumers looking for casual, moderately priced merchandise. The company was seeking to change direction with both packaging and presentation, and possibly product design. The branding and product development divisions of the company contacted professors in an academic department of a large southeastern state university. Two of the professors agreed that the task would be a good fit for their classes - one was a junior-level Intermediate Brand Management class; the other was a senior-level Fashion Product Development class. The professors felt that by working collaboratively on the project, students would be exposed to a real world scenario, within the security of an academic learning environment. Collaboration within an interdisciplinary team has the advantage of providing experiences and resources beyond the capabilities of a single student and adds "brainpower" to problem-solving processes (Lowman 2000). This goal of improving the capabilities of students directed the instructors in each class to form interdisciplinary teams between the Branding and Product Development classes. In addition, many universities are employing industry partnerships in research and teaching, where collaboration within temporal (semester) and physical (classroom/lab) constraints help to increase students' knowledge and experience of a real-world situation. At the University of Tennessee, the Center of Industrial Services and UT-Knoxville's College of Engineering worked with a company to develop design improvements in its U.S. operations. In this study, Because should be lower case b with a private label retail brand, Wickett, Gaskill and Damhorst's (1999) revised Retail Apparel Product Development Model was used by the product development and brand management teams. This framework was chosen because it addresses apparel product development from the concept to the retail stage. Two classes were involved in this project: a junior level Brand Management class and a senior level Fashion Product Development class. Seven teams were formed which included four students from Brand Management and two students from Product Development. The classes were taught the same semester, but not at the same time. At the beginning of the semester, each class was introduced to the industry partner and given the problem. Half the teams were assigned to the men's brand and half to the women's brand. The teams were responsible for devising approaches to the problem, formulating a timeline for their work, staying in touch with industry representatives and making sure that each member of the team contributed in a positive way. The objective for the teams was to plan, develop, and present a product line using merchandising processes (following the Wickett, Gaskill and Damhorst model) and develop new branding strategies for the proposed lines. The teams performed trend, color, fabrication and target market research; developed sketches for a line; edited the sketches and presented their line plans; wrote specifications; fitted prototypes on fit models, and developed final production samples for presentation to industry. The branding students developed a SWOT analysis, a Brand Measurement report, a mind-map for the brands and a fully integrated Marketing Report which was presented alongside the ideas for the new lines. In future if the opportunity arises to work in this collaborative way with an existing company who wishes to look both at branding and product development strategies, classes will be scheduled at the same time so that students have more time to meet and discuss timelines and assigned tasks. As it was, student groups had to meet outside of each class time and this proved to be a challenging though not uncommon part of teamwork (Pfaff and Huddleston, 2003). Although the logistics of this exercise were time-consuming to set up and administer, professors felt that the benefits to students were multiple. The most important benefit, according to student feedback from both classes, was the opportunity to work with industry professionals, follow their process, and see the results of their work evaluated by the people who made the decisions at the company level. Faculty members were grateful to have a "real-world" case to work with in the classroom to provide focus. Creative ideas and strategies were traded as plans were made, extending and strengthening the departmental links be tween the branding and product development areas. By working not only with students coming from a different knowledge base, but also having to keep in contact with the industry partner and follow the framework and timeline of industry practice, student teams were challenged to produce excellent and innovative work under new circumstances. Working on the product development and branding for "real-life" brands that are struggling gave students an opportunity to see how closely their coursework ties in with the real-world and how creativity, collaboration and flexibility are necessary components of both the design and business aspects of company operations. Industry personnel were impressed by (a) the level and depth of knowledge and execution in the student projects, and (b) the creativity of new ideas for the brands.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.616-630
• /
• 2012

This study examines the impact of consumer knowledge and familiarity with private label brands (PLBs) on perceptions and preferences toward PLBs and patronage intentions; in addition, it examines the incremental effects of a department store image over consumer knowledge and familiarity with perceptions, preferences, and patronage intentions. This study focused on midscale department store PLBs of apparel products and middle age consumers between the ages of 30 and 50 who are the main consumer group of private label brands of apparel products. A structured questionnaire was developed and data were collected from a convenience sample of 257 female consumers between the ages of 35 and 54, living in the Southeastern United States. A factor analysis identified the dimensions of department store image constructs; in addition, a hierarchical regression and multiple regression analyses examined the hypotheses. Consumer knowledge and familiarity with PLBs at department stores is recognized as a major determinant to shape consumer perceptions of and preferences for the PLBs as well as patronage intentions. The present study reveals the significant incremental effect of a store image on consumer preferences, perceptions, and patronage intentions beyond that explained by consumer knowledge and familiarity about PLBs. The study reveals that, among four store image constructs, the store atmosphere and store service factors had significant positive effects on consumer perceptions of PLBs. Store service and atmospheric aspects also affect consumer patronage intentions toward PLBs. The price factor shows a significant and positive influence on the preference consumers have for PLBs, but not on perceptions and patronage intentions. This study has practical implications for department store executives and managers on how to allocate resources in order to increase positive consumer perceptions toward PLBs, preferences over other brands, and patronage intentions of PLBs at a store as well as how to create effective store environments to promote PLBs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.587-600
• /
• 2011

This study presents the strategic directions for Korean multi-brand fashion stores by running in-depth industry research and market analysis. Over 20 professionals were selected from Korean multi-brand fashion stores for this study and in-depth interviews were conducted to evaluate related subjects. The results of the study were as follows. First, Korean multi-brand fashion stores could be classified into three criteria: operating ownership, merchandise mix, and store identity. Second, operating ownership criterion was chosen for further investigations of strategies and directions of the multi-brand fashion stores. The operating ownership criterion consists of three types; department store types, specialty store types, and boutique types. Each type deploys different buying practice, organizational strategies, and distribution channels. Lastly, the suggested strategic directions for each type are summarized as follows. The 'department store type' should utilize its strong direct buying capabilities and acquisition of merchandising can be more effectively managed. The store should utilize its strong buying power as a tool to develop new private brands (PBs). For 'specialty store type', two key factors have been derived: market share expansion and positioning themselves to become a new distribution channel. To respond to these factors, the store needs to be perceived as a brand then diversify its business. Strengthening its brand will allow it to expand into a new distribution channel and also enable a strategic partnership with its competitor brands. The factors influencing 'boutique type' is personalization and uniqueness. With an emphasis on the uniqueness of products and merchandising it will be able to implement the role as a personal shopper and stylist to provide a very personalized service to its customers.

• Design Convergence Study
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.45-57
• /
• 2018

Sales for SPA brand names of private label apparels are on the rise in the domestic clothing market. The aim of this study is to analyze the characteristics of SPA brands and how each color system is proposed within the BI system. In this study, 8 brands were selected as the most popular SPA brands in Korea and abroad with stores based on brand power and sales and preference by consumers. Therefore, among information factors such as brand identity (BI) and color characteristic. sign system, package, and environmental factors, buildings facade and interior design of eight brands were investigated. Research into color application of BI revealed that four brands used red colors with different tones with different identity differentiation. For the other four brands, the company applied BI designs that gained the brand's character such as a black-and-white or dark blue one. Thus, it is considered important to select BI color in order to differentiate and enhance preferences in brand identity.

• Journal of Fashion Business
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.139-156
• /
• 2015

The purpose of this study is to investigate various information relating to research on the dimensions of clothing used in the sale of products via the internet that used to target global SPA((Specialty Store Retailer of Private Label Apparel) brands sold in Korea. A total of 12 SPA brands including seven global SPA brands and five national. SPA brands were surveyed in this study. Brands were chosen net sales and consumer preferences the last three years. In all SPA brands, literal size designation such as S, M, L and numeric size designation such as 0, 2, 4 or 32, 34, 36 etc. were mixed, but in case of Jean, the size codes mark waist circumference were dominant. European size codes were more common in case of European brands while literal codes were more dominantly used for American size codes with in the US brands. By reviewing the measurement information of the body and product size, the product measurement methods of UNIQLO, FOREVER 21 and TOPTEN were much more accountable and excellent than other brands. However, most of the others didn't offer proper information such as pictograms or figures about measurement methods relating body sizes and product sizes. In addition, most of global SPA brands offered size conversion chart which consumers could reference, however of none of the national SPA brands offered a conversion size chart on their website. Regardless of the type of clothing, the coverage of clothing size was higher than in global SPA brands such as H&M GAP compared to national SPA brands. In particular, 8seconds did not present apparel size ranges that fit consumers' individual clothes sizes.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.13 no.7
• /
• pp.85-90
• /
• 2015

Purpose - Global trends play a part to change the structure of the fashion industry. In particular, companies attempting to conduct innovative marketing centering on such products as SPA brands are growing into global companies. SPA stands for "Specialty Store Retailer of Private Label Apparel", meaning its activities are fully integrated from manufacturing through sales, including material procurement design, product, distribution, inventory management, and final sales. For this reason, more understanding of individual corporate profitability is very sensitive to consumer's attitudinal changes. The effects that corporate marketing activities on customer lifetime value through brand attitude were analyzed based on a structural equation model. Rust suggested value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity as customer equity driver. The study examines Chinese consumer because China is the fastest growing fashion market in the world. Research design, data, and methodology - The survey targeted Chinese college student age 20s. Only respondents who had purchased SPA brands in the past year were included for this research. A total of 303, except for 47 missing data of 350 distributed questionnaires were included in this research. The questionnaire is consists of six part to measure value, brand, relationship equity, attitude toward brand, purchase intention and demographic characteristics. This research conducted exploratory factor analysis and reliability test. To verify research hypotheses, structural equation model test was conducted. As for customer equity, diversified models in consideration of the scope of acquisition data, a method of collection of data, influencing factor, and predictability were suggested based on a net present value model. However, the history of customer equity study is relatively short, and sufficient empirical analyses have not been conducted, so more integrated analysis is required. In this study, the concept of driver suggested by Rust was applied to figure out the effects that consumer's attitude has on customer equity. The customer equity driver suggested by them consists of brand equity, value equity, and relationship equity. Results - This study reveals that value equity and brand equity have a positive influence on relationship equity. And, relationship equity has a positive influence on purchase intention through brand attitude. However, value equity and brand equity do not influence on brand attitude. Conclusion - The results of this research generated following implications. First, SPA brands need to take advantage of their value equity such as perceived low price and up-to-date fashion style to attract Chinese young consumer. Second, strong brand equity promises dominants position in the competitive market. As Chinese fashion market grows rapidly, SPA brands can consider branding strategy such as flagship store and celebrity marketing enhancing brand image. Third, the core concept of customer equity strategy is to maintain a relationship with their expecting and existing customers. The relationship equity is built by brand equity and value equity. When SPA brands serves product and service meet with individual customers, customers have intimacy to the brands.

• Journal of Fashion Business
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.35-51
• /
• 2010

This study aims at providing data for establishing a marketing strategy which can enhance the competitiveness of Korea domestic SPA(Specialty Store Retailer of Private Label Apparel) Brands by suggesting countermeasure strategy through the observation and analysis for SPA Brands, under the current circumstance in which the systematic and scholastic discussion for the matter, is lack, despite the diastrophism in fashion industry is prospected according to the rapid growth of Global SPA Brands. For this purpose, the characteristic and current status of Global SPA Brands is examined, and the main cause of growth is analyzed by approaching to their marketing characteristic, in this study. In relation with this situation, this study suggests the provisions as below, which are drawn from the analysis on Global SPA Brands' marketing strategy, so that Korea domestic SPA Brands could achieve successive performance under fierce competition. First, to be a competitive SPA Brands a business should be able to supply products with frequent product turnover by an interval level of one week or so, the existent product planning by seasons, as a business obtains various swift informations on consumers' demand with R&D center foundation. Secondly, SPA Brands should establish a strategy that a business can create high net profit by inventory management which enables lowering inventory ratio remarkably, and a strategy for innovative product supply by small quantity batch production, along with founding a high technological logistics system. Third, SPA Brands should establish a strategy for primary cost reduction by overseas dispersed outsourcing in order to enable diverse product development and rational price setting. Fourth, fashion marketers should establish also a strategy for communication by which brand image can be delivered effectively, by firming the brand identity and by informing product characteristic and customer service totally, with the method of VMD and flagship store. Additionary, fashion marketers also should establish a strategy by developing mobile application which can provide brand image and diverse other fashion related information.