Writing Assignment help on : The Prada Universe’: Prada Holdings NV and Flagship Stores: A case Study

Prada

Prada is a luxury brand which had evolved from the small leather goods manufacturing business to a top brand in the world fashion signatures and multi-brand luxury Goods Company. The products available from the brand were of premium quality and were available at premium prices. It usually was used by the high class society as a status symbol or image. The company had made it to the best premium brands in a matter of few years in the midst of the trend of branded products especially by the luxury groups of the society. The products by the company were highly sophisticated and came with added practicality in terms of its designs and usage. Today the brand is operating in almost every continent and has built a unique identity of its own through its unique stores and products. In total the company is present in 70 countries and has a large chain of 345 directly operated stores. Its products are also available through various departmental stores, franchises, etc. The strategy by the company had always been mixed to enter new countries where it expanded into broader market segments with numerous products such as watches, Jewellery, etc.

Question 1: Analyse and explain the branding issues associated with Prada’s ‘Epicenter’ store developments. You should apply theory and concepts as part of your analysis.

Prada being a big company and operating globally across the world had expanded at a rapid phase during the year 1990 and 2000. However there were still concerns for the company in terms of the branding issues while it kept on expanding across continents. With concerns and branding issues hovering the brand commissioned four new epicentre outlets in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tokyo. These epicentres were conceived by OMA as an experiment for building new spatial relationships, technology applications, materials and its service strategies. Some of the branding concerns the company had have been summarized below: (Fashion Windows 2004)

• Risks of expansion: The Company was concerned about the rapid speed it was growing and launching its stores globally. They had a fear that it may affect the aura the company had built and hence lose the spirit of adventure. The brand had a unique aura about its products and was popular all over. But with so many stores coming up there seemed to be a fear of depletion of its brand.
• Sustain growth: One of the other dilemmas which the company was facing was sustaining growth and maintain its exclusivity. The brand’s identity was distinctive triangular logo and their recognisable stores which features the generic ensemble of the pistachio green walls minimalist stock presentation, and flesh pink carpets.
• Creativity v/s financial ambition: The management also faced the challenge due to its indefinite expansion which it thought could change the brand’s identity from a creative brand to a purely financial enterprise. Losing out its image of creativity might turn off the customers who had been regularly buying the products by the company due to its exclusivity and uniqueness.
• Architectural designs: As per the new architectural designs that were published for the epicentre stores the company was experimenting with its identity rather than determining it. The management wanted to give the architectural designs the look of a creative brand rather than a corporate brand outlook. The development was pretty different from the ones which had been there before. The management at the company targeted transformation of the company’s stores through the new ones and bring in the element of uniqueness to these special epicenter stores. This was seen as one of the other gambles where the fans of the company’s products might not accept the change and prefer the old ones (Business Insider 2011).
• Brand identity: The statement ‘Luxury is Stability’ had been used as a subversion of the traditional store characteristics like the chequered marble floor and mahogany framed display cases of Milanese store from the 1913. At the epicentres in New York and Los Angeles the classic Prada quality was evoked but incorporated into unpredictable formulations like the traditional black and white tiles which dissolve in the reflection of curved glass ceiling and slick pistachio green walls. It although was supplemented by the saying that the more stable a brand is the more it changes but these changes would have been a fear for the change in the brand’s already built identity.
• Increased investment: Prada had invested huge in terms of technology which was one of the significant contributors to the epicentres the brand developed. It facilitated both the functional as well as the aesthetic perspective of the brand. Millions of dollars were spent for computerization of the sales and stock holding systems to provide a much better customer service and accounting system. Although this was seen as a major step by the company it could have changed the company’s image as a traditional one to a much more modern brand.
• Competition: It is certainly one of the other elements which surely were the main concern for the company as well. With both the old as well as the new brands offering unique as well as innovative products the brand had to offer a new range of its unique collection so that the fans of the brand had something to cheer about. Besides product identity the epicenter provided a new store identity to the brand as well and in the era of brans making their own identity in terms of every aspect it was seen as a great contributor to the firm’s success. But there were always a concern and thought which troubled the management was of extinguishing the image of the brand which had been seen by the people for years of its operations.

Theories and Concepts

The Epicenter stores by Prada provide a learning prototype depicting the future of luxury retail stores which the company would be building. It addresses the theory of ‘’managing the critical issues’’ of the management for enhancing the individual shopping experience of its customers. It has been discussed as the Theory of redefining the shopping experience. The other concept which the brand had established was ‘’No Risk No Fun/Gain’’. Epicenter stores were actually an experiement which came with several risks. However taking the initiative the firm establishes the fact that with risks comes gain and adds the fun element for the customers. Although, Prada which had been doing so well over a century especially over the last decade before the epicenter stores were built had to counter several challenges to maintain its own identity. The brand faced several challenges from the old as well as the new ones in the market. Besides the above listed branding issues there were several others which had to be addressed by the company to continue with its unique identity and offer products which would make their customers happy. It was not an easy decision to change their marketing plans, traditional structures, their stores, etc. However, where Prada is today it certainly proves that people demand change but for the better. The company had been innovative with its plans and approaches which have highly contributed towards the way people see to it. The products, store designs, packaging, and virtually every other thing associated with their products have always been in line with the theme they have maintained.

Question 2: In a more general sense, analyse the function of a flagship store to a luxury brand. You may illustrate points by drawing on examples of contemporary innovative store developments which go beyond the specific Prada example in this case study. You may draw on sources including wgsn for examples.

Flagship stores

Flagship stores are one of the sources which luxury fashion brands use as a market entry method. Luxury Flagship stores represent a strategic approach for market entry which is employed for supporting, enhancing as well as developing the distribution activities within a new market. The case on Prada shows us that there is an interdependence of flagship stores and the wholesaling methods of distribution. Usually the flagship stores are important to reinforce and enhance the retailer’s luxury status while maintaining the relationships both with the customers and the distribution partners. Particularly the last few decades that have seen the emergence of the fashion media has found out that flagship stores are one of the most vital elements for a brand to establish itself. As per the case study of Prada, it provides information on the role as well as the importance of the flagship stores which the company used to expand and enter international markets. It provided a pivotal aspect to the luxury brand and became one of the most important elements for the internationalisation strategy. It hence gets pretty clear that flagship stores are crucial for a luxury brand such as Prada in its international development although it might be high in terms of costs. The important elements for a flagship store: (All.repecn.d.)

• Innovative designs

A flagship store is marked by an innovative store design concept which helps it to be differentiated from other brands. If it is unique it provides an exceptional customer shopping experience. Although most of the Flagship stores in the past had been focussing on housing products rather than innovative store designs, it has been seen that companies that have used the concept of innovative designs have performed way better. As per the examples of Christian Blanckaert from Hermes, he considered it as an important element for the Hermes stores. His concept was to present the Hermes stores as places of theatre. Particularly the retail environment is characterized by consistency and sameness of multiple retailers. All these stores provide a large range of products and services. But when the stores turn towards the flagship concept it presents an opportunity for experiencing distinctive, memorable, unique as well as a new physical environment. It is ideal for a brand which focuses on embracing a holistic approach for showcasing distinctive experiences. The content on display would certainly vary from one sector to the other, where a clothing store may demonstrate a complex mix of products as well as service experiences. It is further enhanced by investment into a comprehensively designed store environment which would endure for a very long time period. Therefore innovative designs and ideas are ideal to provide a different image to a brand altogether.

• Designed Space

A location could be defined or may define a flagship store of a company. For example Harrods in London or the Jenners in Edinburgh typify distinctive local positions. Similarly the Selfridges play the role of defining the Oxford Street and the Bullring shopping area in Birmingham. The Regent Street which is one of the busy areas of Central London provides an architectural integrity creating an environment which has been famous for providing memorable experiences before entering the distinctive worlds of Hamleys, Libertys or the Apple. The entire street has been planned in a way which creates a different environment altogether and complements the neighbouring streets of Oxford street or the Bond Street.

• Size of Flagships

More importantly a store’s size is not always a critical factor, but the store design and is location can provide a comparable halo for the smaller stores. Size does differentiates the flagships, but with an authoritative design and layouts which appeals to the customers many small flagship stores may leave a larger impact compared to the large ones.

• Market Research and Strategic Marketing

This is regarded as the other important steps for a brand to develop and contribute towards growth of a company. Flagship stores help in getting feedback from the customers as well as the staffs about the good and the bad about the retail brand. It may well be defined as a relationship or comparison with the other stores or brands and help to develop new ideas.

• Avoidance of internal structure: The recent trends have revealed that companies are avoiding the internal structure while building flagship stores. For example the flagships of the Apple stores have been a prime example where the stores have been uniquely designed to provide a different feel of the brand’s products. The use of same styling, materials like the mezzanine floor, and a white ambience talking in the same line with the white range of products.

Function of a flagship store to a luxury brand

After considering all the factors and some more which have an implication on a luxury brand it is clear that a flagship store can make a significant contribution for increasing visibility of a brand.

1. Valuable source of showcasing products:They should be regarded as a valuable source for showcasing products as well as the practices as a media for communication to the internal and the external stakeholders. Flagship stores even provide the opportunities for demonstrating leadership by giving the option to innovate with new designs, products as well as experiences to the customers (Emerald Insight 2010)
2. Adds a distinctive image:Further the functionality of interactivity and change is also added to the sensory customers and has been very useful to the customers in the recent times. Usually it has been observed that architecture is not held that important for communicating a consistent retail brand identity. But with buildings that are of distinctive visual styles by the designers and architects a retail brand has the opportunity to project itself in a much different manner. So a brand can change its value and meaning from time to time the use of distinctive buildings and further invoke a sense of continuity or connect with the past.
3. Facilitates Branding:A closer look at the research findings and the past trends it has been explored those flagships stores for luxury brands points towards diversity in branding which frequently matches with the intended marketing gains of the company. This indicates that flagships are of experiential as well as evolutionary nature which goes through transition while the company moves from one phase to the other. Through their flagship stores the luxury brands could develop as well as expand their identity by the use of innovative as well as iconic infrastructural setup. To conclude it can be established that retail innovation through flagship stores is the present and future of a brand which looks towards integration of the marketing strategies with the design strategies as well as operational cultures.
4. Combines aesthetics and experimental elements: The store designs for brands immediately gains attention which is regarded as the integral component of a flagship store. The function of the design of a flagship store is the combination of the aesthetics and the experimental elements which have made firms like Prada stand out among its competitors. The concept of providing something unique enables the customers to interact with the brand on a multi-sensory level generating emotional response and attract attention. A well-planned flagship store provides the customers an opportunity for being inspired, affected, enjoy, get entertained, socialise, and be pampered.

Contemporary Innovative Store Developments

In short, they provide the best, most memorable shopping experience – ever. In turn the flagship store generates publicity where the pinnacle of success is to become a famous destination globally. For example the Starbucks flagship in Amsterdam ‘the bank’ is located in a good place which is quite impressive. It is situated on the historic bank vault where the contemporary designs reflect the Dutch culture and the buildings banking heritage. The walls are decorated by the use of bicycle inner tubes as well as the antique Delft titles, ceiling is covered by the pieces of the Dutch Oak and the floors are made of concrete with marbles from the 1920 era. The store also has its own-in-store bakery and is a venue of cultural activity such as poetry, reading and music. Thus this shows the image a flagship store which can contribute in a great deal towards building the image of a brand (Adflownetworksn.d.). Similarly there have been the brands such as the Victor, Rolf, and Burbury who have made their own flagship stores in different countries.

Conclusion

Most of the brands today have adopted the strategy of flagship stores to enter a new country with the sole reason that it enables them to make a big and a grand entry. It stimulates the interest and asses the response of the people within the new country. It makes a strong statement of the company’s capacity and status while suggesting the brand’s confidence and commitment to provide its products in the new country. So for all the future retail stores flagship can be regarded as the most important element for their expansion. Today with stiff competition it makes it more important for a company to build up its own image where flagships stores certainly facilitate the process.

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