Michael Kors communication strategy

MICHAEL KORS Berta Casagran Costal BA Fashion marketing & communication, level 6, 2020-2021 6FAMK005C Communications techniques and strategy 3 CWK1, Cristina Lastra, Agata Zdziarska

MICHAEL KORS

CONTENT Background Target Competitors Positioning SWOT Rebranding Copy platform New brand identity The new MK girl Art direction Media strategy Brand ambassador Storytelling PR Timeline Budget Annex Bibliography

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BACKGROUND Michael Kors is a global luxury lifestyle brand founded in 1981 by the namesake designer, with two main lines, “Michael Kors” positioned in a luxury segment and “Michael” Michael Kors at a more affordable price, both " P R E S E R V E T H E I N T E G R I T Y collections offer prêt-a-porter, accessories OF OUR ICONIC FASHION and footwear. In addition the brand also has BRAND WITH EVERY Michael Kors men.

CUSTOMER INTERACTION. Michael Kors operates digital flagships stores WE ARE A COMMUNITY across North America, Europe and Asia, offering customers an omni-chanel DEVELOPING AND INSPIRING experiance.

TEAM MEMBERS AROUND THE The designer has won various CFDA awards WORLD among which is the lifetime achievement WE ARE PASSIONATE AND award.

The brand is owned by Capri Holdings ENCOURAGE CURIOSITY, Limited alongside Versace and Jimmy Choo.

CREATIVITY AND The brand values are in discordance with the INNOVATION" actions taken from the brand. There interaction with the customer is innexistant with campaigns creatred to interact with them but with no response.

"TO BRING A SOPHISTICATED JET-SET LIFESTYLE TO WOMEN AND MEN AROUND THE WORLD"

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Identity

Michael Kors has been using their icon since 1981, currently outdated it should be eliminated of their branding identity and use only the full name of the brand, redesigned in 2006 in Sans Serif, giving it a cleaner and more elegant feeling.

The colour palette of the brand is white and curnhusk (beige), used in all their packaging giving the feeling of conservative and boring, and it does not stand out from the competitors

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Website

The aesthetic in their website is clean and clear, aligned with the rest of the brand identity, it also uses the colour palette in the shopping cart.

The website shows the products with a white background that changes when the mouse goes over into the interior of the bag.

Instagram

Instagram pictures change with every campaign, always featuring glamurous women, jet set in cool cafes or stepping out off a jet. Michael Kors is very involved with the society and so has launched different supportive campaigns.

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The tone of voice on social media is close to the consumer, asking direct questions, but the interaction reaches an end with the consumer since the brand never answers nor positive nor complains.

Facebook

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TARGET Name: Andreea Age: 35 Occupation: CEO Upper class Interests: Travel, fashion, skiing, art,

Andreea is a business woman who works all day long, she needs to be ready for meetings with important people at any time and needs to reflect trust. She travels a lot because of her job.

When she has some time off, she likes to be updated on art and fashion as much as go on holidays.

COMPETITORS MARC JACOBS A global lifestyle luxury brand selling pretâ-porter, accessories and footwear.

It's brand logo has been the same since 1984, simple, clean and timeless.

It is used in the packaging and products changing colours as it suits.

The tone used by Marc Jacobs is closer to the consumer with funny pictures where models seems to be having a good time.

Some of them could even be taken with the phone for personal albums. The models used are of a great variety of beauty and background, everyday people.

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KATE SPADE It is an American luxury fashion design house selling pret-â-porter, accesories and footwear.

Its logo was rebranded in 2019, the spade above the name of the brandhas been rounded and transform in a heart upside down.

The letterning has been rounded and the background colour has chenged to a bright pink.

The codes used by the brand are mostly mixed with drawings with a colour code that coud be described as "girly" and feminine.

The brand plays with these pastel and fantasy colours to connect with a femenine target.

The pictures in their social media are mostly close ups on the products of the brand in different background combined with unexpected objects or drawings making fun collages.

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COACH Coach is a leading design house of modern luxury accessories and lifestyle collections.

The logo was redesigned in 2013 making it more simple and clean. The text was reduced to only "coach" and the emblem was modernised. The lettering changed to an extra-bold font with thick letters and elongated serifs.

On social media the brand's feeling is retro, with brown filters in the pictures and a colour palette from the 60s. The clothes and the attrezzo is also a reference to the hippy era.

The tone it uses is approachable to the target and the brand even responds to their followers.

POSITIONING AFFORDABLE

KATE SPADE STRONG COMMUNITY

MARC JACOBS

WEAK COMMUNITY

COACH

EXPENSIVE

Michael Kors is currently situated as a high street brand with a relationship with its commuity weak. The brand needs to reinforce their presence and be more present within the community online. The various lines allow the brand to reach different price points, giving it a rather extensive target and posibilities.

SWOT STRENGTH High quality Resilient brand Segmented brand Good price point Good suppliers

OPORTUNITIES Build a strong community Renovate image Bring it to a younger generation Modernise

WEAKNESSES Brand image weakens in bargain stores No interaction with comunity Old concept of Jet Set culture

THREATS Global crisis Licensing contract Malls shuting down due COVID-19 Competitors rebranding as well

REBRANDING CONTENT STRATEGY

The objective is to refresh Michael Kors, create buzz around the brand and take it to a more modern and young generation.

The name of the campaign will be

In order to acomplish those objectives, the brand will have a new embassador, Emily Alind, who is the lead role of the Gossip Girl reboot.

Using also product placement in the series' reeboot.

The expectation for the first campaign with Emily Alind is to grow a 10% in market share by 2022.

In the following years her co-stars will also colaborate with the brand ending with a campaign with all of them as a group of friends.

called XOXO which is the link in all the episodes of Gossip Girl and the incognita in the first series.

Aprochable tone of voice, interaction with consumers, using a handwritten font wil make it more personal Do not make perfect pictures for social media, avoid perfect staging

MICHAEL KORS

XOXO

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COPY PLATFORM What is the most important thing to say?

We are young, fun and stronger together Reasons to believe We are driven by people, a comunity inspiring members around the world What do we want them to do?

Let's be fun and chic, be together Tone we take with our consumer Aproachable, interacting with each other in a friendly way What do we want them to think/feel?

Feel free to express themselves, not ashamed to make mistakes Main message We are stronger together

NEW BRAND IDENTITY PHIYSIC

Logo Color palette: yellow, black Watches Handbags

RELATIONSHIP

Strong community Personal Inclusivity

REFLECTIO N

Elegant Social status Succesful Confident

PERSONALIT Y Fun Friendly Confident

CULTURE

American Jet-set Confident woman

SELF-IMAGE

Well accomplished Sophisticated Elegant

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THE NEW MK GIRL The Michael Kors girl needs to change to a more aproachable person who dares to have fun and make mistakes along the way.

Friendly Funny

Confident

Strong-willed Decisive

ART DIRECTION Michael Kors is currently under the direction of the designer himself and Marcel Ostwald who was working for Hugo Boss before joining the team.

For the new and renovated Michael Kors, the brand will collaborate with Peter Saville, British graphic designer.

The brand logo will be simplified, giving up the round logo on top of the brand name. The year of the foundation will be added underneath the brand name to give a sense of a stablish fashion house.

1981

The new colour palette will be changed to a brighter yellow used alongside black. The white will no longer be used in packaging.

Avoid softer versions of yellow.

Do not use the round logo.

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MEDIA STRATEGY Due to the current situation with the global pandemic the brand will invest only on online advertising.

Social media ads, influencers and product placement will be part of the paid media strategy.

In order to reach the target the brand will use Instagram, Facebook and youtube as owned media. The content posted is expected to generate awareness and build a strong community by hireing a community manager to interact with the followers.

Instagram will be the main vehicle to transmit the new values of the brand being close to the followers.

The pictures posted can no longer be staged, the new communication will show smiles, fun, perfection within imperfection. Videos behind scene will be posted to create a connection with the viewer taking it to see what is never shown.

KPI's To understand if the campaign is working we are going to have a look on the increase of the followers and media mentions. It is very important to examin the reactions from our followers and see how the content quality is doing since one of the objectives is to built a strong community, of course the traffic to the website through social media will be tracked in order to measure the success of the campaign.

XOXO

Smiles Relax Having fun Perfect on its imperfection Bright colours Light

BRAND AMBASSADOR EMILY ALIND

Emily is the playing the lead role in the Gossip girl reboot taking place the current year. She is the perfect person to portrait the new Michael kors' girl.

Emily is going to post on her social media once a week without showing the brand in any piscture until the release of the series, with the capture saying XOXO and using the new hashtags #INTERCONNECTING #TOGETHERMK

Close ups without showing the brand until the new series reeboot is released when a full picture of her in the first episode will be released.

XO XO

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STORYTELLING Frienship is at the center of Michael Kors' values. The first short film will take place in a closet where two young ladies will be playing with their mom's clothes, playing to dress up like mom and deorganising her walk-in-closet. They both have fun together finding timless pieces that they combine with more modern ones.

Looking into the future, the campaign will follow with a series of videos of friends starring the stars of GossipGirl in diferent locations having brunch, going shopping or seating at some stairs having a smoothie, activities any of our consumers do with their friends.

PR INTERCONNECTING The need of connecting with each other is most relevant in times like the one currently living.

Michael Kors is going to partner with Groove Jones and launch a digital collection with augmented reality. The consumers can download it from their computers and try it on with augmented reality, afetrwards they will send a picture to the brand who is going to create a digital format show launched worldwide in all the digital platforms owned.

#INTERCONNECTING #TOGETHERMK Join the fashion show

Download now our latest collection and become the star of the show.

Send us a picture of your look and you too will be part of our next fashion show

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TIMELINE

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BUDGET

ANNEX

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PEST Politics

Economy

US presidential elections hold on November resulted on Baiden's winning.

Great Britain to exit the European Union with apparently no deal.

US boycott to Chinese products.

Germany closes restaurants and bars from 11pm to 6am.

France strict measures closing bars in maximum alert zones.

Pakistan bans TikTok over “immoral and indecent” content.

Unemployment rates grow due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Major European economies are downgrading due to the second wave of the coronavirus. Forecasts show worse growth rates to come.

Gold set for worst month in four years on dollar bounce-back.

E-commerce sales raise while instore drops dramatically.

Social

Global pandemic covid-19 hit worldwide locking down entire cities.

After the release of the video of the death of George Floyd in the hands of the police, the black lives matter movement takes force and demands changing. The movement starts in US and expands to major cities all over the world.

Spain has the higher number of cases in Europe leading to put the capital city Madrid in lockdown.

United Kingdom starts giving Pfizer vaccines to its citizens with a higher deathly risk.

Technology

A race to finding the vaccine for covid-19 puts all efforts into health departments.

Russia, China and Iran launched cyberattacks on presidential campaigns, Microsoft says.

The tech market has increased dramatically this year with people staying home for work and school.

Instagram is adding more shopping features.

TRENDS Work from home Almost overnight, office-acclimated workers had to set up camp at home and get working. Now bosses are torn between pulling the troops back in or continuing with remote working. Working from home may boost productivity and employee satisfaction.

Lockdown blues The effects of this health crisis will usher in another one in 2021 – a mental health crisis. Businesses will need to take the same proactive approach that they used in the early stages of the corona meltdown.

Digital The growth of TikTok, the rise of influencers, and the need for brands to distinguish themselves online. Three trends that will converge in the world of “livestreaming commerce”. Livestreaming commerce will be a new battleground for retailers and may bring community and entertainment to online shopping.

Simplify Brands are looking into the future by simplifying logos and the use of Sans serif, makeing it timeless and cleaner.

Next generation social The data suggests that it is time for brands to rethink their social media strategies and evaluate how to exploit platforms more effectively. Industry executives believe “storytelling” will become more important in the months ahead, focused on high-quality or user-generated content, rather than simple product-focused campaigns. Another tactic attracting attention is use of social media to tap into the “drop culture” associated with streetwear labels. Last year Burberry released a limited-edition Riccardo Tisci T-shirt for 24 hours only on Instagram and WeChat. In addition, gaming networks are an integral part of some youth cultures and may have a role to play in reaching new audiences.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 1000logos.net. 2021. Marc Jacobs Logo | evolution history and meaning. [online] Available at: <https://1000logos.net/marc-jacobs-logo/> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

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CNN. 2021. Europe news - breaking news, video, headlines and opinion - CNN. [online] Available at: <https://edition.cnn.com/europe> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

Facebook.com. 2021. Michael Kors. [online] Available at: <https://www.facebook.com/MichaelKors> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

Globalwebindex.com. 2021. The global consumer and marketing trends to know for 2021 - GWI. [online] Available at: <https://www.globalwebindex.com/reports/trends-2021> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

Harper's BAZAAR. 2021. 'Gossip Girl' Shares a Look at the New Constance Billard. [online] Available at: <https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/filmtv/a28424420/gossip-girl-reboot/> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

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Sky News. 2021. World News - Breaking international news and headlines | Sky News. [online] Available at: <https://news.sky.com/world> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

The Business of Fashion. 2021. Michael Kors is part of the BoF 500. [online] Available at: <https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/michael-kors> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

Vogue. 2021. Michael Kors. [online] Available at: <https://www.vogue.es/moda/modapedia/marcas/michael-kors/146> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

Wishesinabottle.com. 2021. Michael Kors - Wishes in a Bottle. [online] Available at: <https://www.wishesinabottle.com/#Campaign> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

Pressler, J., 2021. How Michael Kors Became an Empire. [online] GQ. Available at: <https://www.gq.com/story/michael-kors-profile> [Accessed 27 January 2021].

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PICTURES 1. COVER. Bella Hadid 2019 [image] Available from https://www.fashiongonerogue.com/bella-hadid-michael-michael-kors-holiday-2019/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 2. Romee Strijd & Taylor Hill [image] Available from https://twitter.com/dailyromee/status/892788247524495360 [Accessed 27 January 2021] 3. Michael Kors bag [image] Available from https://www.awayinstyle.com/michael-kors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 4. Michael Kors packaging [image] Available from https://www.thejewelhut.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1800x/040ec09b1e35df 139433887a97daa66f/m/i/michael-kors-watch-packaging-3_220.jpg [Accessed 27 January 2021] 5. Michael Kors website [image] Available from www.michaelkors.es [Accessed 27 January 2021] 6. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 7. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 8. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 9. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 10. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 11. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 12. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 13. Instagram [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 14. Michael Kors Facebook [image] Available from https://www.facebook.com/MichaelKors [Accessed 27 January 2021] 15. Michael Kors Facebook [image] Available from https://www.facebook.com/MichaelKors [Accessed 27 January 2021] 16. Michael Kors Facebook [image] Available from https://www.facebook.com/MichaelKors [Accessed 27 January 2021] 17. Andrea Diaconu [image] Available from https://www.imgmodels.com/news/andreeadiaconu-michael-kors-fw-2018 [Accessed 27 January 2021] 18. Marc Jacobs campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/marcjacobs/ [Accessed 27 January 2021]

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19. Marc Jacobs campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/marcjacobs/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 20. Marc Jacobs campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/marcjacobs/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 21. Marc Jacobs campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/marcjacobs/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 22. Kate Spade campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/katespadeny/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 23. Kate Spade campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/katespadeny/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 24. Kate Spade campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/katespadeny/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 25. Coach campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/coach/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 26. Coach campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/coach/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 27. Coach campaign [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/coach/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 28. Gossip girl reboot [image] Available from https://www.vogue.es/living/articulos/gossip-girl-reboot-serie-actores-elenco [Accessed 27 January 2021] 29. Happy young woman [image] Available from https://www.westend61.de/en/imageView/MGIF00369/portrait-of-happy-young-womanwith-blowing-hair-in-front-of-yellow-background [Accessed 27 January 2021] 30. Michael Kors [image] Available from https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203711104577200761174419378 [Accessed 27 January 2021] 31. Girls having fun [image] Available from https://hotlifestylenews.com/lifestyle/8ideas-for-birthday-pictures-at-home-this-summer-that-are-super-festive/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 32. Girls having fun [image] Available from https://fr.freepik.com/photos/rollercoaster [Accessed 27 January 2021] 33. Girls having fun [image] Available from https://www.siddysays.com/5-things-toavoid-when-you-are-on-your-period/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 34. Girls having fun [image] Available from https://www.shutterstock.com/th/video/clip6217976-beauty-teen-girls-having-fun-outdoors-beautiful [Accessed 27 January 2021]

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35. Girls having fun [image] Available from https://www.siddysays.com/5-things-toavoid-when-you-are-on-your-period/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 36. Emily Alind [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/emilyalind/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 37. Close up [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 38. Close up [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 39. Close up [image] Available from https://www.instagram.com/michaelkors/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 40. Gossip girl, Blair and Serena [image] Available from https://www.pinterest.at/pin/330170216404530927/[Accessed 27 January 2021] 41. Gossip girl reboot [image] Available from https://www.wmagazine.com/story/gossip-girl-reboot-new-blair-serena/ [Accessed 27 January 2021] 42. Fashion show [image] Available from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/global-markets/michael-kors-holdingsamid-increased-discounting [Accessed 27 January 2021] 43. Mock-up