Reformation Industry Report

Reformation

Social & Digital Marketing Portfolio and Campaign Rationale Guide Student ID: 16480084 Year 2 - 2018/19

Executive Summary This report is divided into two parts: the audit report and the visual portfolio. In the first part the SOSTAC model is used as a structure to help convey this marketing framework. An internal analysis on the clothing company Reformation is then done and will touch on points such as the background history of the company and study how sustainability is the core of their brand and built into every aspect of it.

An external analysis follows where it is identified through a PESTLE analysis and Consumer market research, that there is a gap in their customer journey. Reformation is missing potential customers by not having a easily working mobile platform or app.

Table of Contents Company History

1 Who is She? 2 Target Customer Analysis 3 Millennials 5 Situational Analysis 7 SWOT Analysis 8 PESTLE Analysis 9-10 POEm Model 11 Campaign Rationale 13 Integration 14 Objectives & Aims 16

GANTT Chart 16 Part 2 18- 23 (Digital visual, creative part (portfolio) References 24 Appendix 25

The next section talks about strategy and tactics along with the campaign rationale. Here it is suggested that Reformation develops an app along with a VIP program. As the customers have to sign up to join the app, it will gain Reformation another way to connect with their customers. The VIP section will also help close the gap from online to offline integration and help increase the amount of customers who visit their retail locations.

A GANTT chart shows the marketing calendar in regards to the launch of the app. The objectives, key performance indicators, and metrics are stated after. It then leads to the visual portfolio section of the report. This includes mock ups of the Reformation app and the VIP section.

Below this, is the appendix and the reference list. In the appendix, it shows visual pictures the author took of her visit to one of the most popular Reformation store locations located in Santa Monica in Los Angeles, California.

(Reformation, 2019)

Company History Reformation is a privately held company based out of Vernon, CA with an estimated 300 employees based out of Los Angeles, California (Reformation, 2019). Their company mission is to strive to be the most sustainable company in the market. They had an estimated ÂŁ75 million annual revenue in 2018 (Owler, 2019). They are known for creating delicate and effortless silhouettes in the trendiest styles that have developed a cult like following. Their range of products are bodysuits, bottoms, dresses, intimates, jumpsuits, outerwear, tops and wedding dresses. Their main fast fashion competitors are Zara, Topshop, Anthropologie, Revolve and Nasty Gal. (Owler, 2019) They operate both online and in store with 80% of their sales being online. (Fernandez, 2019) Additionally, they produce 83% of their product in the United States and the rest in China. They are a B2C privately held company and only sell directly to their customers.

Sustainability is at the core of their brand with their mission statement being “to lead and inspire a sustainable way to be fashionable�. (Reformation, 2019)

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Who is She?

(Harpers Bazaar, 2019) 2 (Reformation, 2019)

“It is out mission to lead and inspire a sustainable way to be fashionable�

Target Customer Analysis The Reformation women is to be respected and feel respected in her clothing. She is urban sophisticated. A socialite who is always on the go and desires to always be fashionable and on trend. She is very conscious on her impact on the environment, and strives to only shop from brands that are eco-friendly and of the highest quality. She is a young professional just establishing her career but is extremely ambitious to move up the ladder. The reformation girl practices thoughtful shopping habits and is always looking for what is new and trendy, but also loves to invest in quality pieces that will last forever. Her schedule is very packed and struggles to find the time to shop for the perfect items for her frequent events. That is why the Reformation VIP concept is perfect for her. She can shop online and have everything ready in store for her to try on and purchase right there for her event.

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(Reformation, 2019)

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Millennials - Millennials are people born between the years 1980s to 2000 (Shugerman, 2018) - Millennials are reported to consider social, environmental, ecological and political impact before buying a product. (Landrum, 2017) - 50% of millennials would be more willing to make a purchase if it supported a cause (Millennial Marketing, 2019)

She’s a women to be respected and feel respected in her clothing

-- 84% of millennials are influenced through user-generated content through company websites (Zimmerman, 2019) - They respond well when given a reason or an incentive to purchase a product (NeilPatel, 2019) - In total Millenials have a spending power of over ÂŁ2.5 trillion by 2018 (Shroader, 2018)

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(Reformation, 2019)

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SWOT Analysis Situation Analysis

Strengths: - Deliver strong marketing campaigns with the message of sustainability - Limited amount of stock items available keeps high interest, demand and inventory turnover - Fast fashion with eco-conscious business model - Strong brand loyalty along with high celebrity following, customers are willing to pay full price - Company transparency through the RefScale and RefRecycle programs - They provide a unique store experience through their technological experiential stores and lighting control in the fitting rooms (See appendix 1) - Strong customer journey on their instagram channels, can be directed through their posts to the website to buy the items displayed in the picture.

(Reformation, 2019) 7

Weaknesses: - Due to their high level of sustainability makes the price of the clothing more expensive - Limited stock items and high demands with fast sellouts result in loss of p otential purchases - Mobile purchasing on website is difficult, there is no company app - Lack of customer knowledge on impact they make on the earth through purchasing from their company - Lack of video campaigns across their social media platforms - Limited stores available currently, making the VIP concept not available to all customers

Opportunities:

Threats:

- Brand has the ability to expand to more store location, potencial globally due to brand awareness growing larger - Developing more sustainable ways to manufacture their products - To create more awareness for their substantial practices through sharing across their social media platforms - Educating their consumers on sustainability through physical videos that show customers the different they make for the earth through their purchase - Widen the variety of collections they create - Further reach customers who want a 100% sustainable lifestyle - Creating fashion films that display their garments, since films are one of the top ways to capture millennials attention (Millennial Marketing, 2019)

- Other brands and companies breaking into the sustainable fashion with lower prices - Fast fashion competitors (Zara, H&M, Topshop) copying their designs and selling at a cheaper price point - Trend evolution, eco-friendly and sustainable trend transitioning away - Their resources becoming too expensive to use - Production costs rising

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PESTLE Analysis

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Political: With the tension rising between the US and China’s trade war, there is potential that tariffs will be places on fashion garments imported from China to the US. Since Reformation manufactures 17% of their garments in China, this may in the future have an effect on the business. (Berezhna, 2019)

Economical: In the US consumers spend nearly £290 billion on apparel and footwear in 2017. (United States Congress, 2019) The increasing budget deficiency in the US puts the economical growth of the country at risk. Last year the deficit rose close to 17% as the deficit currently equals close to £565 billion. (Tankersley, 2018)

Social: Where their current brick and mortar shops are located are all in busy shopping districts and cities. The population of these cities also fluctuates regularly due to being high tourism destinations, will means more foot traffic surrounding the stores.

Technological: Reformation uses the most eco-friendly technologies and practices available in today’s industry. Their brand is build around being sustainable and they invest in green buildings to minimize waste, water and energy footprints. They carry their sustainability approach into they dye they use in their fabrics. They use Bluesign dyeing which is one of the safest for factory workers and the environment. (Reformation, 2019) One of their biggest fabrics they use is Tencel which is similar to cotton but requires five times less land to grow. Additionally, the potential threat of automated factories in the future could affect the production of their goods in their US factory.

Legal: Reformation follows labor regulations and how employees are treated very well. They have publicly stated that it is an initiative to pay all factory workers LA’s living wage of £10.86 by the end of 2019. If the living wage goes up in the next year it will affect their budgeting and make them not reach their goal. Additionally, labour regulations and how employees are treated is carefully monitors in the retail businesses.

Environmental: Reformation best selling items are their dresses and Summer top. Therefore business will thrive more in the warmer weather months. Additionally, tourism in the Summer is higher than in the Winter which also factors into business thriving more.

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POEm Model Paid: They use Google Ads, paid search and sponsorships to get their brand awareness online. They also pay for top supermodels ‘it girls’ to appear in their campaigns ever season.

Owned: They are active on all social media platforms, and primarily use Instagram as their main marketing tool. They have a following of 1.2 million and you are able to be shop directly through their posts to the website to buy the items displayed in the picture.

Earned: Top A list celebrities and influencers are regular shoppers at Reformation, and they pay for it themselves.

They regularly post pictures of themselves in the clothing and accounts that track where their clothes are from report it being Reformation.

Campaign Rationale 11

(Reformation, 2019)

12 (Reformation, 2019)

(Reformation, 2019)

Campaign Rationale Based on the situational analysis, it is recommended Reformation should create an M-commerce app to further their customer journey and reach more potential consumers. The purpose for the concept of the app falls directly into the company’s 2019 initiative that customers have the ability to buy anything from anywhere (Fernandez, 2019). It allows the Reformation customer to shop online and add items to their cart and then arrange a time to come and try on the items in a store nearest to them. When the customer comes into their dressing room, it will be fully stocked with the pieces they selected in their size as well as suggestions made by the in store stylists Reformation already has available at each location. This concept will target local customers to the cities they have physical stores in which are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Washington D.C. The apps aim is to attract online customers into the physical stores which is a concept the company is already trying to achieve. The CEO of Reformation Yael Aflalo says when talking to Business of Fashion “A customer that shops online and retail is twice as valuable as a customers that shops only online� which solidifies that the concept aim would be achieved. Michael Kors has done a similar approach with creating a VIP concept for their customers, but their app lacks the ability to make an appointment for in store fitting rooms.

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Integration With the flow from online shopping to coming in the store to try on, will integrate both online and offline social and digital marketing solutions. The app will be marketed on their social media platform through short videos demonstrating how the app works.

It has been reported that 64 - 85% of Millennials are more likely to purchase products or invest in services after watching videos demonstrating the concept, making short videos the perfect way to capture their attention. (Zimmerman, 2018)

(Reformation, 2019)

(Reformation, 2019) 14

GANTT Chart January Week 1

Febuary Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 1

March Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Approve Plan App Drawings Market Research Market Strategy Prototype Test Pototype Evaluate Results Marketing Final testing Changes Launch

Smart Ojectives

(Reformation, 2019)

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Objectives & Aims

KPI’s

Metrics

Increase number of app downloads by 48% in 6 months after app launch

Increase app downloads by 8% every month for 6 months

An increase in app downloads by 48% at the end of 6 months

Increase in store sales through Reformation VIP services in 5 months by 30%

Increase sales by 6% each months for 5 months

An increase in sales by 30% in 5 months through the use of the Reformation VIP services.

(Author, 2019) 16

Part 2 (b) Digital visual, creative part (portfolio)

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App open page

App home page

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When Join Now is clicked...

This page allows the user to either sign in, join up, or connect through social media You will then be connected to either window- depending on what selected...

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Returning user log in

New user sign up

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Explaining benefits

Example of conversation with in-store stylist

Shopping on the App

Items able to shop on the App

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Berezhna, V. (2019). ​What Trump’s Trade War Means for Fashion​. [online] The Business of Fashion. Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/professional/what-trumps-trade-war-means-for-fas hion [Accessed 22 Apr. 2019].

References

Committee, U. (2019). ​The Economic Impact of the Fashion Industry - Reports - United States Joint Economic Committee​. [online] Jec.senate.gov. Available at: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2019/2/the-economic-impact-of-the-fas hion-industry [Accessed 22 Apr. 2019].

Landrum, S. (2019). ​Millennials Driving Brands To Practice Socially Responsible Marketing​. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahlandrum/2017/03/17/millennials-driving-brands-to-practicesocially-responsible-marketing/#48080d434990 [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

Millennial Marketing. (2019). ​Who Are Millennials | Millennial Marketing​. [online] Available at: http://www.millennialmarketing.com/who-are-millennials/ [Accessed 2 May 2019].

Owler. (2019). ​Reformation Competitors, Revenue and Employees - Owler Company Profile​. [online] Available at: https://www.owler.com/company/thereformation [Accessed 2 May 2019].

Schroeder, J. (2019). ​How To Tap Into The Millennial $200 Billion Buying Power With Social Media​. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/julesschroeder/2017/10/31/how-to-tap-into-the-millennial-200-bil lion-buying-power-with-social-media/#6ed927251161 [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

Please select a time to come try on in-store at: Santa Monica, CA Tuesday, May 7th 3:00pm - 5:00pm Wednesday, May 8th 11:00am - 1:00pm 23

App check out & try on time sceduled

Shugerman, E. (2019). ​What is a millennial and when is the cutoff date for generation Y?​. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/millennial-how-old-is-generation-y-cutoff-date-pew-r esearch-center-a8235731.html [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

Tankersley, J. (2019). ​Budget Deficit Jumps Nearly 17% in 2018​. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/us/politics/federal-deficit-2018-trump-tax-cuts.html [Accessed 9 Apr. 2019].

Zimmerman, H. (2019). ​How Thoughtfully Organized Content Can Inspire Millennials to Buy | Millennial Marketing​. [online] Millennial Marketing. Available at: http://www.millennialmarketing.com/2018/12/how-thoughtfully-organized-content-can-inspiremillennials-to-buy/ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2019].

Images: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/369365606920656771/ https://pixabay.com/photos/field-grass-sky-natureearth-834375/ https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/designers/ a4608/yaya-aflalo-reformation/ https://www.allure.com/story/reformation-yael-aflalo-sustainable-fashion-brand http://ladiesaloud.co/conscious-living/reformation-cleaner-jeans-sustainability/ https://www.thereformation.com 24

Appendix 1 Primary research conducted at Santa Monica, CA store in April 2019. Researcher observed how store was conducted and how customers interacted throughout the store.

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