Le Blanc was launched only a year ago in 2015, but its product line and the quality of lingerie that it offers, especially, to its female customers has created a greater-than-anticipated demand. According to research, the demand for such products is certainly on the increase with more people now spending on leisurely activities. The target market being women and other sport-minded people all over the world puts the company in a strong position to compete. The existence of competition is acknowledged, and Le Blanc places itself in a position where it can benefit from the receptive marketing environment. Over the next 3-5 years, Le Blanc seeks to expand its distribution, marketing and sales. Brand Le Blanc is a lingerie brand was founded in the year 2015, and the focus on lingerie is because one of the aims of this brand is to empower women to celebrate sensuality. In order to achieve this aim among others, this brand offers women lingerie nightwear, swimwear, beauty, and luggage, and being some of the most important garments as far as women are concerned , this brand incorporates a twist of quality and class to ensure that the customers get value for their money. By ensuring that the product design is customer-centred and that the needs of the customer have been taken into account as much as possible, this brand has a strong position in the fashion market, and its position would most likely be stronger in the future. This is because focussing on the customer increases the chances of customer satisfaction and according to Ko & Woodside (2013), when a brand achieves customer satisfaction, there is a high likelihood that such a brand would achieve competitive advantage over rival brands. Le Blanc believes in exceptional quality and beautiful design; since these are the main factors that please the customers. Customers would believe that a certain brand gives them utility if they feel it was designed for them. According to Rinaldi, Testa & Rinaldi (2015), once customers perceive a product as designed for them, then the likelihood of perceiving the product as that of a good quality is high. We not only believe in beautiful design and exceptional quality, but also ensure that our products are provocative, but always with something left out for imagination. This is a major contributory factor to the overall quality of this brand, and with its British sense of style and design, we believe that this brand is an assortment of what our customers would be looking for, not to mention the fact that its price range of 400-600 dollars is quite affordable. Le Blancs mission is to be the leading producer of high quality, provocative, and beautifully designed lingerie, and this is aimed at empowering women to celebrate and enjoy their sensuality. This is not only aimed at empowering women to enjoy their sensuality, but also to put them in a confident position especially as far as their love of beautiful and sensual designs is concerned. During the next five-year period, Le Blanc seeks to achieve the following financial and non-financial objectives: To obtain financing from different sources to facilitate the expansion and the manufacturing capabilities of the luxury brand. This is aimed at increasing the distribution, and possibly, the introduction of new product lines. To ensure that the revenues that are generated by the brand have been increased by a margin of at least 50% every year. Come up with ways of increasing the company revenue exponentially, and be in a position to donate at least $ 20,000 every year to conservation organizations. Internationalise or enter new geographical markets Introduce two or three new product lines Develop an online platform which would act as an alternative outlet for the brand to carry out its marketing activities, as well as making sales. This is aimed at improving the relationship not only with the customers, but also the retailers. Le Blanc would seek to use its core competencies to achieve a competitive advantage that is sustainable, in which other competitors in the same line of business cannot provide the same value to the consumers in a manner that Le Blanc does. Le Blanc has already developed key competencies, and they include: Offering of high quality, branded lingerie products whose image would be easily recognisable among consumers. Creating a sense of oneness and community among the consumers who buy the Le Blanc products, and this would be achieved by ensuring that the quality of the products offered to the consumers unifies them, and this strengthen the position of the company. Developing a strong reputation among the retailers, and this would be the reputation of a reliable manufacturer, who has the ability to deliver the requested number of products on an agreed schedule. It is imperative that these competencies are nurtured for the good of the brand, and as such Le Blanc would focus on building on these competencies, especially through marketing efforts that could increase the number of products offered by the company, as well as their different distribution outlets. This would bring the brand closer to achieving its financial, as well as non-financial goals, and as such achieve competitive advantage in an already competitive fashion industry. The strength of this brand would depend on its ability to foster a strong and good relationship with the retailers, the suppliers, and most importantly, the consumers of the fabric, not to mention other goods and services that are necessary not only for the production process, but also distribution and sales. Le Blanc believes its ability to create sustainable competitive advantage over most of its rivals, and since the rivals are many, and thus the competition fierce, achieving such competitive advantage is key to the brands survival and success. This is to be achieved by ensuring that the customers are assured with the conviction that is desired as far as delivery of quality products is concerned. The focus on women and their sensuality is what the brand seeks to maximise on, and by giving them this utility, this brand stands in a strong position to acquire more and more customer loyalty. The marketing environment is the first aspect that concerns any brand, especially in the fashion industry, and in this case, we examine the marketing environment of Le Blanc in terms of the opportunities available, not only for the current production capacity, but also in the future when the company would have made significant expansions. Wang (2015) points out that marketing environment should present ample opportunities, if the brand is to have a decent chance of thriving and beating the fierce competition that now characterises every industry. There are, however, also a number of challenges in the business environment, and this section summarises them using the SWOT analysis. The company would build strengths in within two years, while at the same time looking forward for as many opportunities as possible. This is enhanced by the fact that this brand has sought to penetrate the luxury brand market by ensuring that the quality of lingerie and swimwear among other products is one that beats competition and puts the brand in a strong position to compete. There are a number of strengths that put this brand in a strong position to compete, especially in terms of the quality and the uniqueness of the product, and one of the strengths is the fact that the management understands the target market and the product very well, and as such, are capable of making decisions that positively impact the progress of the brand. Secondly, le Blanc has already achieved distribution in several markets with quick acceptance. This is only likely to improve as the management lays ground for more effective measures. Le Blanc currently has very little debt, and this is complemented with the fact that the brand has great potential for growth. Lastly, Le Blanc works with only a few manufacturers, and the advantage to this is that there is maximum quality control. There is a likelihood that the management of Le Blanc could lose sight of their business, and this could be influenced by the dynamics of the industry, especially the challenges. When this happens, the brand becomes unable to develop and win the confidence of customers, since the vision, mission, and goals would not be accomplished. Another weakness is the fact that there are generally few consumers currently who are aware of the Le Blanc luxury brand, and this puts the brand in a disadvantaged position, especially in the face of competition in the fashion industry. One of the major opportunities of Le Blanc as a luxury product is the fact that the consumers of this brand are likely to buy any new products that the company might choose to introduce. Another opportunity is the fact that there are significant gaps as far as the introduction of new products in the fashion luxury brands is concerned. The lingerie line of business, for example, could open ways for opportunities such as mens swimwear and nightwear among many other possible products. Le Blanc has a chance to expand across the national borders to many other countries, and these new markets provide an excellent opportunity for expansion of the brand. The internet presents yet another important opportunity, since it facilitates e-business. With e-business, for example, this brand is in a strong position to reach more customers through its official website. Reaching more customers means that communication and marketing activities are successful, and these are just proxies of excellent opportunities that a luxury fashion brand such as le Blanc could take. There are, however, a few threats as far as the goals of this brand are concerned, and one of the major threats is the fact that consumers might tire with the concept that is propagated by this brand and, therefore, Le Blanc has the responsibility of ensuring that it keeps its concept fresh. The second threat is competition, especially from large and established fashion brands such as Patagonia and Timberland. This is because such huge competitors might easily soak up all the consumers money, or simply launch similar product lines. Lingerie sales in the UK, especially, have been low in the past few years according to Arntzen (2015), and this threatens the core business of this brand. A final threat is the fact that relationships with retailers are likely to deteriorate, especially when they believe that they face internal competition, whose most likely source would be internet sales. Arntzen (2015) points out that the outdoor retail industry in the UK alone sells an approximated ?5 billion worth of clothing and equipment annually. It is clear that the outdoor apparel market has many entries, and this is especially due to the fact that the luxury brand business industry has grown significantly in the recent past, and new technology such as internet and social media play a crucial role. Some other fashion giants that offer lingerie garments and swimwear among other product lines that Le Blanc is interested in include Patagonia, Timberland, and Bass Pro Shops among others, and these are some of the most well established multinationals in the fashion luxury industry. The outlook for the fashion luxury industry in general, and le Blanc in particular, is positive for a few reasons, and the include, first, most consumers are looking for different ways on enjoying their leisure on holidays without having to spend too much on lingerie or swim wear, and secondly, the consumers are gaining more and more confidence in the economy and are, therefore, willing, as well as able to spend more (Rinaldi, Testa & Rinaldi, 2015). While all the aforementioned companies could be considered as competitors, none of the offers specifically the type of product that Le Blanc offers the consumers, especially taking into account the fact that Le Blanc focuses on lingerie and customises the products for as many consumers as possible. This gives the company a strong position, particularly because most of the lingerie only ranges between $ 400 and $ 600, which, compared with other prevailing prices in the market, is very competitive. Le Blanc communicates with its various customers, as well as the retailers about the products in many different ways, and the reason behind ensuring that the communication between the company and these stakeholders has been effected is because it directly affects the profitability of the company (Welters & Lillethun, 2011).Currently, communication with the stakeholders is through direct mailings, the internet and in person. Le Blanc uses personal contact, especially with its retailers, especially for the purposes of keeping track of its products in the stores. Public relations and sales promotions constitute most of Le Blancs promotional strategy. Public relations, according to Wang (2015), go a long way in creating good relationships between the company and the public, from which the company gets its customers. Sales promotion is complemented by public relations, and Le Blanc, in an effort to win over most of its customers who already have a number of options to consider in the market, it has ensured that communication with its stakeholders, especially the consumers is as effective as it could get. The target market is a critical part of a business because it defines the specific customers that the business is targeting, as well as how to make sure that every customer included in this targeted group identifies with the product. In the case of Le Blanc, the target audience is women in general. However, to be more specific, the lingerie brands young women who want to be sensuous and confident as well as identify their body types, while not being too revealing. The brand managers target women between the ages of 18 to 45 years thus offering them an opportunity to feel inspired. Women who want to feel active beautiful, and find fitting sizes that match their body types in the age bracket provided would feel comfortable with such a range of products. This group of women represents an active population of women who are in relationships, of planning to start a relationship soon. A majority of these women would be married and would want to explore their personal relations based on how they feel and how they want to express themselves. These consumers are a good audience to target because most of them have an income, which aids them in making decisions. Women at this aged also start maturing to become conscious of their bodies and personalities, and thus wanting to explore the possibilities of making decisions of wearing clothes designed specifically for that. As much as this category has an income that could be used to ensure that they buy what they want and need, this group is highly conscious of costs and expenditures, since most of them have a budget. Especially when it comes to married women with children and are from a mid-level income earning family, the idea of costs becomes critical. A big percentage of such customers are willing to pay cash up to a certain level, over which they do not pay premium price. The current customers being targeted are not from a specific area, but rather from anywhere in the world. The number of customers that could be accessed through marketing globally is numerous even though the reach could be challenging. However, with the use of the internet, it is possible to increase global customer reach. The marketing mix is outlined below as explained The product strategy for the lingerie brand is based on high quality materials used to make varying designs that define and accentuate a womans personality. Some of the useful and string strategies used by the brand include product promotions, public relations, fashion shows, online advertising, as well as traditional forms of advertising. The brand also allows women who wish to have customised sizes and designs do so at an affordable price. The marketing strategies selected are critical and useful because they directly reach to the selected target customer with ease, whether at home or at work. More people have online access through mobile devices, making it easier to reach them. This brands distribution strategy involves the use of different outlets within the country, and the use of the internet as well. This company prefers to use a direct distribution strategy, where the intermediaries are reduced as much as possible. For those customers who would rather buy offline, the company uses retailers or its outlets in different parts, but for those who would prefer buying online, the company ensures that the products have been delivered using an agreed upon system and procedure. This has facilitated the taking care of different types of customers, and this is a strength on the side of the brand. As pointed out earlier, Le Blanc product prices were determined while bearing in mind the competition. This brand is not interested in setting extremely high prices to signal prestige or luxury, or using extremely low prices in an effort to achieve the goals as fast as possible. Instead, this company practices value pricing to ensure that customers feel comfortable purchasing new lingerie. Even with a short history that le Blanc enjoys, this brand has generally witnesses an increase in sales since 2015. In this plan, le Blanc looks forward three years, and in these three years, this brand seeks expansion of the outlets, as well as the introduction of new product lines. In the 1st year, this brand looks forward to adding 20 new outlets and customised items. The number of customised items would include 4 logos and 2 slogans. There would be no luggage items in the first year. In the second year, 40 outlets would be added10 logos, and 10 slogans and 2 luggage items. In the 3rd year, the number of outlets added would be 75, customised items; 2 logos, 3 slogans and 1 luggage item. Top of Form Ko, E., & Woodside, A. G. (2013).Luxury fashion and culture. Bingley [England: Emerald. Top of Form Top of Form Top of Form Welters, L., & Lillethun, A. (2011).The fashion reader. Oxford: Berg. Top of Form Arntzen, M. G. (2015).Dress code: The naked truth about fashion. Top of Form Rinaldi, F. R., Testa, S., & Rinaldi, L. M. (2015).The responsible fashion company: Integrating ethics and aesthetics in the value chain. Top of Form Wang, X. E. (2015).Model Commodities: Gender and Value in Contemporary Couture. Berkeley, CA. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form
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