Burberry Fashion Luxury Company in Kenya Report

The aim of this report is to evaluate and analyze Burberry's brand marketing approach by looking into various marketing dimension during entry of the company into the Kenyan market. This report will describe the aims and objectives of the company investing in the Kenyan market, activities involved as well as the strategic plans. The report will analyze the market value by evaluating the theoretical frameworks that guide the analysis of the Kenyan fashion market. The report will major its analysis on the AIDA and Innovation diffusion theories then discuss the key findings by conducting the company’s SWOT analysis and eventually formulate the company’s marketing objectives. The report will then analyze the strategic marketing of Burberry products in Kenya by looking at the various market dimensions in Kenya such as how the market is segmented, the positioning strategy, the targeting strategy and the company’s source of competitive advantage.

The management of Burberry Company has clearly set strategic objectives to sustain the integration of digital and physical platforms as well as continued investment in flagship markets. In addition, Burberry aims at reclaiming the menswear heritage. These activities have significantly contributed to a strong performance of the company financially as well as a successful brand strategy. Despite the company’s success outlined in the internal financial and media figures, numerous marketing strategies need to be adopted in order to retain Burberry as the leading brand and also to assure better performance and productivity in the future. Marketing value Market expansion is one of Burberry’s strategic plan and therefore this report will into starting a fashion luxury outlet in Nairobi, Kenya.

Burberry Company is known for its innovative and high-quality luxury fashion products and this places it in a better position of doing well in Kenya than other companies. In developing a marketing plan to be used to adapt and introduce Burberry’s luxury fashion products into the Kenyan market, there are two key and significant theories to consider in order for the company to attain the intended objective of successfully expanding its markets. These theories include: AIDA Selling Theory AIDA is the most popular and widely recognized model which assumes that before individuals are interested in a product class, they do not even pay attention in its direction. AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. AIDA is a traditional model on marketing communications that focus on purchases and transactions and places its emphasis on presence and awareness.

This is however achieved by carrying out a SWOT analysis on the Kenyan market. Strengths Burberry Company enjoys the following strengths which enhance its competitiveness in the Kenyan market: • Strong product quality • Superiority in digital innovativeness of the brands • Commitment to product and brand values • Strong online marketing platforms Weaknesses Burberry Company has the following weaknesses: • low turnover • high-priced products • weak interaction with new customers Opportunities • rapidly developing and promising Kenyan market ("Growing at the speed of fashion," n. d. ) • growth in demand for affordable luxury • increasing number of Kenyan middle-class consumers • increasing interest of Kenyans in fashion and entertainment Threats The company faces the following threats in Kenya: • Increasing rate of counterfeit products • High-pricing of products • Increasing competitiveness in the luxury market Marketing objectives Burberry is certainly the most successful luxury company and according to financial and media situation, Burberry is definitely moving in the right direction.

However, in order to sustain this success, there are several marketing strategies that ought to apply such as looking at the present economic situation as well as the trends of the luxury market. Finally, another general objective is to improve the total sales ratio for Burberry both internationally and locally which will be achieved through the smart, cost-aware and timely resource allocations by integrating the practice of innovative organization concepts which will ultimately rise the sale and profit ratios. The expansion Burberry market to Nairobi, Kenya particularly fashion locale would be a smart move towards achieving more sales percentage. Furthermore, this would give the company an opportunity to become familiar with the region’s market and this would help in achieving deeper penetration of its luxury fashion business in other potential African countries.

Other specific objectives will be: • To introduce a new product line which suits the African culture within the first quarter of its launch in Kenya. • Launching an affordable luxury product line which will best suit the lower income earning population within 8 months of launch. Most youths belong to the age brackets of between 18-30 years and this is a major target group for Burberry luxury products. This age group made up of working youngsters and The secondary age group belongs to the age bracket of 30-40 years and this mainly comprise of individuals in a higher income group who can afford discretionary expenses. Consequently, it is Burberry’s global strategy to expand its markets by moving to new geographical regions such as Africa with an aim of increasing its customers around the world.

Positioning strategy Burberry Company has had strong and effective strategies that make it stand out from other fashion companies as well as design it’s positioning. Applying these positioning strategies of Burberry Company in the Kenyan market would help the company establish within a short time. Competitive advantage Burberry Company has had a significant positive growth recorded in its financial records. The company has successfully repositioned its brand with its technology and brand culture since 2005. Burberry has significantly done extremely well in the digital marketing majorly targeting more regional customers (Burney, 2010). The company’s superiority in delivering its brand heritage to customers around the world with new innovation and technology thus giving them the best retail experience. In addition, the ability of Burberry of choosing the correct endorsement for celebrity fashion helps in targeting its customers and also aids in creating new brand’s perception image.

Burberry is known for offering highly innovative and trending luxury fashion, therefore, such events would result in significant product sales. There are several fashion events conducted continually in Kenya and some include: The Nairobi fashion market – this is an event that provides a platform for designers, retailers, and entrepreneurs dealing with fashion accessories, products and brands to market, promote, position and test their products. Moreover, the event brings together thousands of potential buyers from across the region enabling interactions between buyers and sellers and also offers an opportunity for the creation of long-term business relations with the fashion market. Nairobi fashion week – this is another fashion event that brings various designers and allowing them to display their latest brands in high fashion runway shows thus enabling potential buyers to have a look at the best and most trending brands.

Strut it Afrika event – this is a two-day art exhibition and fashion extravaganza that aims at bringing notoriety and poise unprecedented press exposure to African visual artists and designers. This also involves registering the business and acquiring the necessary business permits and licenses as well as assuring the safety of the company’s activities to both the individuals and the environment. In addition, it is the responsibility of every business running in the country to pay re necessary taxes to the relevant authorities at the stipulated rates. Controls, Measurements, Risks, and Contingencies The main risks involves workers and as confirmed by human rights impact assessment, the workers’ health and welfare has been identified as new areas of focus. To control these risks, various mitigation measures will be implemented in efforts to address potential human risks such as: • All Burberry’s supply chain partners will be required to agree with the company’s responsible business principles.

• Burberry will target to promote responsible and fair employment practices by integrating the performance objectives of the company’s sourcing teams. This is expressed through chain establishment and psychic space in the model. The process comprises of an interaction between knowledge improvement round the foreign operations and markets and rising resource commitment to these markets. The key issues about this model are by what means firms learn as well in what way their learning influences their investment characteristics. In addition, Uppsala is a vibrant model which defines firm internationalization as a process. Basic concepts of Uppsala model Uppsala model is built on four conceptions which are grouped into change aspects and state aspects. This means that the anticipated results might not be achieved until the activities are continuously executed severally.

The most significant strength of Uppsala model is on the simplicity of its concept and therefore researchers can carefully and easily add more variables to the model. However, the model faces criticism on its validity and it has been disputed that the designers of Uppsala model use a narrower learning explanation than literature accepts thus the model is unable to clarify certain aspects of internationalization behaviors. As the firm builds on its experience, the perceived risks reduce which in turn result in companies taking greater steps into the foreign market. References Aaker, D. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice hall. Cravens, D. W. and Piercy, N.  Strategic marketing (Vol. 1596/26660 Preiholt, H. , & Kumar, N. INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN FASHION COMPANIES: EXAMPLE OF THREE SWEDISH FASHION FIRMS.