LETS JUST KEEP EVERYTHING SIMPLE AND NEAT
In this report, we have chosen to work on a successful brand of fashion and styling to study in order to understand the basic concept of branding and the general brand architecture. We can identify the elements that make a brand success and understand the relationship between the corporate identity system and branding through studying and analyzing the brand’s market positioning, target customer profile and their competitors.
Brand
'Human civilization is dependent upon signs and systems of signs, and the human mind is inseparable from the functioning of signs - if indeed mentality is not to be identified with such functioning." Clarles Morris, Foundations of the theory of sign
:CONTENTS RESEARCH FINDINGS
02
FACTUAL INFORMATION
17
FURTHER ANALYSIS
41
CONCLUSION
49
REFERENCE LIST
54
PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK. WARINING: THIS BOOK IS NOT A TOY TO AVOID DANGER OF SUFFOCATION, KEEP AWAY FROM BABIES AND CHILDREN DO NOT USE IN CRIBS, BEDS, CARRIAGES OR PLAY PENS
:RESEARCH FINDINGS 02
NEWS :CHOCOOLATE為香港i.t Apparels Ltd旗下的品牌之一，於 2006年Fall/Winter首度發表。:CHOCOOLATE服飾設計與具 有遠見人士對日常生活的追求及價值同出一轍，流露出原 創性；透過設計表現追求更美好生活的態度。 :CHOCOOLATE的服飾適合每天穿著，剪裁舒適且別具型 格，展現出簡潔的輕便時尚感。店鋪環境更將品牌理念立 體的展現，為顧客帶來一種前所未有的購物樂趣，更於 2008年11月推出White :Chocoolate女裝系列。 Daniel Clowes在其漫畫作品中所創造的人物， 是:CHOCOOLATE品牌的代言人。Character與品牌皆有 相同的Lifestlye，近期的設計概念是永不退流行的「hicasual」風格。 品牌風格涵括日系的休閒儉約、美系的漫畫學院，身受潮 流界人士的喜愛。最擅長與各品牌Crossover製造話題，、 Kit Kat、Burger King、Coca-Cola、CAMPER都曾與它合作 過不少限量的聯名商品。
:CHOCOOLATE 朱古力衫：無印佬味 全新品牌 Chocoolate 總帶有一點點izzue 及無印影子，整 個系列沿用「masstige」理念，將「mass」與「prestige」 結合，打造別樹一格簡約樸素男士形象，全男線取名為 「Black Chocoolate 」。 開店第一炮主攻成熟型男士，花巧設計欠奉，只有最 Basic 橫間同格仔，全個系列以剪裁舒適、質料高質素作 賣點， 晒愛好舒適、形象低調男生。整體而言，男士服 最基本衣、恤衫、Polo Tee 、大褸同西裝褸通通有齊， 當中顏色及設計都加入不少今年大熱軍事元素，Basic 得 又能貼近潮流。除男士服之外，更有冷 帽、頸巾、 領 呔、襪同Boxer 等小物，全面照顧時間寶貴事業型 男士， 一店滿足由內至外、由頭至腳所需。為帶出悠閒概念， Chocoolate 更有可愛得意狗仔衫、 狗圈及狗帶，體貼有寵 物男士，睇怕想避開I.T 於11 月咁全面攻勢都幾難 。
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:CHOCOOLATE 出貓王紀念Boxset (綜合報道)「震過貓王」形容舞姿強勁，相信大家都聽 過，Elvis Aaron Presley於上世紀六十年代紅極一時，能夠將 Country、Rock及Blues等幾種不同音樂元素混合，正是他成 功的一大原因。1977年，一代 巨星逝世，至今剛好離開我們 三十個年頭，Sony BMG特別為他推出了幾套珍藏CD，當中最 特別的，應是與時裝品牌：CHOCOOLATE聯名合作的Boxset， Fans們勢必狂熱搶購。 解構：CHOCOOLATE紀念Boxset 每 一套：CHOCOOLATE貓王紀念Boxset都包括兩款T恤、一頂 Mesh Cap以及一盒十八張Singles的CD Boxset。T恤以貓王的俊 臉為Photo Print，分別有黑白二色，Mesh Cap則簡約地印上簽 名，同樣備有黑白二色，客人可於購買時自行配搭。而最有 紀念價值的，當然是共有十八張Singles的CD Boxset，這十八首 歌都是英倫銷量第一的，每一張CD都仿照當時推出的封面製 作，而且以黑膠碟的造型登場，百分百原汁原味，加上不設獨 立發售，更具珍 藏價值。
APM開女版朱古力 要做一個較平民但又唔 Cheap Casual Wear品牌一都唔易，包 裝超緊要，好似唔識:CHOCOOLATE人，淨係睇到 apm新舖 白朱古力磚牆都必定會走入去逛逛。呢兩年都有戴開:BLACK CHOCOOLATE Cap帽，口邊時常埋怨點解無女裝，相信從今 以後我都要收口。 身邊好 Girlie女士們都唔係太鍾意黑色，我就勁愛，事關穿上 黑色後，淑女變酷女，想要型又要 Slim，容乜易！白朱古力 新貨同黑朱古力一樣，以黑色為主打色，希望大家上身後發覺 自己簡潔又時尚，最重要係 Mass同 Prestige系列都有，任由你 Mix& Match。價錢方面同:BLACK CHOCOOLATE一樣經濟，最 家陣市道低迷盡情入貨！
將朱古力味融入生活 :CHOCOOLATE 3週年紀念box set 【Bee.WEBZINE報導】一個品牌的成功，除了商品要吸 引，最重要是有其獨特的風格品味；例如日牌visvim直營 店F.I.L.的一片簡約氛圍早已成不少潮人心中的理想品味家 居，故此年初visvim與法國品牌Blaise Mautin聯手推出一款 有著「V味」的蠟燭，當然旋即被搶購一空！ 而創立3週年，以舒適店面以及售賣簡約便服的本地品 牌:CHOCOOLATE向來以crossover聞名，The Beatles、 Danner、EASTPAK、甚至近期的A Bathing Ape(BAPE)， 永遠都有驚喜！不過繼與BAPE crossover的3週年系列後， 新一波的紀念系列竟然不玩crossover，反以元祖推出自家 box set作慶賀，而愛搞gimmick的:CHOCOOLATE今回竟 gimmick欠奉，轉玩細心！ Box set中除了附有直接了當的3週年紀念tee，更窩心是附 有1個鋼製保暖杯，於冬天時最能為你的熱飲保溫；而最 令fans興奮就一定是一枚 「很:CHOCOOLATE」的CD，因 CD收錄的歌曲就正正是多年來:CHOCOOLATE店中所播放 的輕音樂。試想想在家播著這枚CD，再用其保暖杯 喝一 杯熱朱古力－真真正正把:CHOCOOLATE的品味融入生活 中，如何不叫fans感動？
SupermanClark Kent 形象深入民心，試問有邊個唔識超人 ?! 我諗真係無。土炮潮牌:CHOCOOLATE 出名玩 Crossover ， 之前有Mos Burger 、 Burger King 和 CocaCola等，今期反而 唔玩飲食 ，轉玩英雄人物交叉。:CHOCOOLATE 過 往的 廣告造型好突出，繼早前以The Cocktails 及 David Boring 作 為廣告人物之後，今季就搵來美國著名漫畫《超人》 主 角Clark Kent 為 SS09 廣告代言人。 :CHOCOOLATE ×Clark Kent 別注系列包括兩款Logo Print Tee 及兩款Logo Mesh Cap ，分別推出男女裝，顏色易襯，唔係黑就白， 買定咩場合 着都啱。
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成 功 得 來不 易 更 冇 得 慳 冇 得 偷 懶 ， 3 年 來 路 線 堅 定 清 晰 ， 每 2至3個月就有新 別 注 ， 襟 興 的波 點 、 橫 間 長 推 長 有 ； 款 式 中 性 熱 賣 1 Podka Dot 低 調 點 好 賣 點 HeadPorter 的 Black Beauty 細 波 點 受 歡 迎 ， 由 背 囊 到 LOMO 袋 、 iPod 袋 均 大 把 潮 友 支持 ， 設 計 師 Wallace 做 過 民 意 調 查 ， 發 現 Head Porter 小 波 點 比 COMME 的 大 波 點 為大 眾 更 接 受 ， 皆 因 較 低 調 唔 太 誇 ， 所 以 今 季 繼 續 小 波 點 tee 、 帽 、 scarf 以 外 ， 更新 增 tone on tone 波 點 ， 白 色 連 身 恤 上 有 白 波 點 、 黑 色 lorry cap 上 玩 黑 波 點 ，好 嘢 當 然 乘 勝 追 擊，唔使下下玩限定，標高個價要人畀多啲錢 。贈 品 冧 客 冇 得 慳 一年 4 季 唔 減 價 ， 企 得 咁 硬 ， 原 來 另 一 綽 頭 更 筍 ， 一 是 有 會 員 制 ， $100 等 於 5 分 ， 可 以 當 cash dollar 買 新 貨 ； 二 是 買 滿 特 定 金 額 即 送 禮 ，最受 歡 迎 是 萬 能 插 蘇 頭 ，更 包 埋 硬 身 尼 龍 袋 ， Wallace 都 話 勁 多 friend 問 所 以 會 再 出 ， 贈 品 都 咁 有 心 ， 今週 有 以 下 4 款 。 熱 賣 2 agnes b. 3cm 粗 間 平 版 Stripe 造橫 間 最 出 名 的 有 agnes b. ， 橫 間 有 1.5cm 同 3cm 粗 兩 款 ， 粗 間 經 常 斷 。 今 季:White Chocoolate 玩 成 4 種 不 同 粗 度 橫 間 ， 最 粗 的 橫 間 同 agnes b. 一 樣 係 3cm， 店 員 都 話 一 星 期 賣 超 過 50 條 。 :Chocoolate 唔 怕 醜 ， 跟 着 agnes 走 ， 得 咗 ！ 熱 賣 3 恤 衫 唔 易 皺 Poplin :Chocoolate的 恤 衫 每 季 都 有 近 10 個 不 同 款 式 畀 你 揀 ， 但 重 點 係 易 打 理 ， 洗 後 只 要 摺 得 好 好 哋， 穿 上 身 冇 熨 都 唔 太 皺 ！ 設 計 師 Wallace 解 釋 ： 「 :Chocoolate 恤 大 致 分 Poplin同 Oxford 兩 種 ， 之 所 以 唔 皺 因 為 我 揀 最 滑 身 的 棉 Poplin 去 造 ， 而 Oxford 即 有 1粒 粒 白 線 或 顏 色 線 撈 咗 入 衫 裏 面 ， 嗰 啲 我 就 會 揀 啲 粒 粒 分 布 得 平 均 啲 嘅 ， 效 果 更 挺身 。」
別注唔扮高深贏共鳴 創業 3 年 近 20 個 別 注 中 ， 有 3 分 1 都 係 食 物 ， Kit Kat 、 可 口 可 樂 有 邊 個 未 食 過 飲過 ？ 全 部 都 係 揀 深入民心的單位，唔買都因為有共鳴望一望！ 今 週 Beatles 之 後 ，Wallace 話 會 有 Snoopy ， 有 邊 個 唔 識先！ 熱 賣 4 足 磅 Chino Chino同 牛 仔 褲 一 樣 ， 有 磅 數 之 分 ， Wallace ： 「 冬 天 我 會 揀 8 至 10 安 的 布 去 做 Chino， 夏 天 不 能 太 厚，6至8安就最適合。而布款方面，通常都係 Twill （ 斜 紋 ） 同Canvas （ 有 1 粒 粒 紋 的 布 ） 兩 款 布 ， Canvas 中 的 粒 粒 太 大 會 太 『 嚡 』 身 ， 我 會 摸到 1 隻 覺 得 啱 啱 好 ， 夠 舒 服 的 先 扑 鎚 ！ 」 拿 上 手 雖 然 冇 CdG 咁 厚 ， 但 上 闊 下 窄 剪 裁學 到 足 。 Wallace ， 38 歲 ， 曾 任 林 海 峰 Prototype 品 牌 的 ProductionManager ， ‘01 加 入 I.T ， 由 Double-Park buyer 做 起 ， 到 鶽 家 成 為 :Chocoolate、 :White Chocoolate 、 Fingercroxx 設 計 總 監 ， 在 這 行 已 打 滾 了 16 個 年 頭 ， 「:Chocoolate 的 宗 旨 是 堅 持 用 最 好 的 布 料 做 最 好 的 衫 ， 不 求 1 件 賺 得 你 多 ， 只 求 你返 轉 頭 再 買，薄利多銷。」寧願薄利都要好料，呢句消 費者最啱聽。
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:CHOCOOLATE ╳ Burger King 與Burger King聯名大玩美式速食文化。 :CHOCOOLATE ╳ Mos Burger 與日系漢堡店Mos Burger合作。推出的產品有黑白Tee、 Cap、朱古力造型杯墊／旅行吊牌... :CHOCOOLATE ╳ MINI COOPER MINI COOPER是許多年輕人的Dream Car，車廠近年轉攻 年輕人市場，趁著成立50週年之際，推出背面印有MINI COOPER誕生年份1959的聯名Tee。 :CHOCOOLATE ╳ Sony Ericsson C903 與手機一同推出三種主流潮色的系列產品，充滿活力的紅 色、清爽的白色及至酷的黑色，讓手機配件也能成為你的 隨身潮物。 :CHOCOOLATE ╳ THE BEATLES 向來喜歡與音樂結緣連結，特別與英國經典樂隊THE BEATLES合作推出聯名商品，有限量20件的水鑽Logo Tee，還有將成名曲「Let It Be」、「Cant’t Buy Me Love」、「I Want To Hold Your Hand」、「A Hard Day’s Night」設計成Slogan Tee。
ARTICLE
我會揀:CHOCOOLATE唔揀 IZZUE，點解？一來 學阿 Jan（林海峰）話齋鍾意佢間舖夠 Neat，二 來我超級鍾意食朱古力，三來賣夠平又易襯，點 睇都唔似 Cheap！淨係呢幾個 Points，已經足夠 令:CHOCOOLATE越開越多間分店。上星期仲話 apm開埋第一間淨賣女裝:WHITE CHOCOOLATE新 舖；唔止，朱古力兩歲生日，又搵同自己合作無 間 Jan Lamb設計生日禮物，一睇又想使錢，林狗 同:CHOCOOLATE粉絲咪走寶！ 記者：陳諾堯 攝影：林鈞
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Launched in Fall / Winter 2006, : CHOCOOLATE is a collection of everyday wear with superior fit and great looks. A store with fun environment to bring you a wow shopping experience, it is created to the forward thinking individuals with definite core values and position on life, updated from well-rounded exposure, but who are still down-to-earth and unpretentious yet appreciates the originality and a better quality of life.
Established in winter 1999, http://www.izzue.com is already a name in the fore-front of original creation of local design. Under the ideology of ‘casual chic’ , http://www.izzue.com never stops exploring every “must-have” elements by mixing signature details and subtla surprises that brings flamboyance to the fashin connoisseur’s wardrobe, each design accentuates one’s own charisma and everyday outfit. Understanding formality is the news of the now, they proudly introduce a strong debut of IZZUE COLLECTION in their unerring vision IZZUE COLLECTION is an emblem of luxe individualism, designing special pieces for the youth on the brink of adulthood. Masterfully mixing restraint and boldness, new silhouettes combine the sophistication of couture with a rule-breaking sense of proportion, layering and volume, subtly constructed from hidden luxuries, whilst elevated by fine materials. http://www.izzue.com believes in breaking new ground, its expansion has moved above and beyond Hong Kong. The first shop in Shanghai was opened in Fall 2002. Up to data, there are more than 80 shops in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. By bringing the causal hip and the always fashionable to the young affluent on a global scale.
Fingercroxx has been the driving force behind urban sports oulture in Hong Kong. The epitome of active street style. Fingercroxx incorporates details and feature of innovative functionality and fashion from around the globe to produce clothing that guarantees quality and style. The rich experiences and pioneering vision of the design team in manufacturing garments allows fingercroxx to create distinct and fresh street style that suits the needs of all fashionable youth. The brand makes a tribute to the great outdoors through its products that embody the characteristics of chic utility and delivers the message of strength and determination as exemplified by the brand’s successful refusal to sacrifice style for function.
5cm is another house label of the I.T group featuring unisex clothing. Guys and gals love the casual simplicity of the line, which takes denim and cotton-drill as its foundations.
double-park 以售賣外國街頭文化及運動服飾為主，如著 名的Carhartt,OBEY, XLarge, Zoo York, DC Shoes 等，亦 有近年備受追棒的自家品牌Fingercroxx.
:012 The first UNIQLO store opened its doors in June 1984. We proved the success of the SPA manufacturer retailer model controlling the entire process from product planning, production, distribution and marketing. UNIQLO enjoyed superb growth by providing high quality casual wear at remarkably low prices.We began opening UNIQLO stores outside of Japan in September 2001 starting in London. Since then, we have expanded our international network across seven countries; UK, China & Hong Kong, USA, South Korea, France, Singapore and Japan. We opened a global flagship store in New York’s SOHO area in 2006, and on London’s Oxford Street in 2007. We plan to further develop our flagship store strategy in the future focusing on the major fashion cities of the world. Customer Views The various views and impressions received from our customers are incorporated into our product, store, service and management policies.UNIQLO accounts for roughly 90% of total sales at the FAST RETAILING holding company. FAST RETAILING is clearly in the top class if you compare its scale of sales with other specialty clothing retailers from around the world.
Muji ( 無印良品 Mujirushi Ryhin) is a Japanese retail company which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods. Muji is distinguished by its design minimalism, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logo or “no-brand” policy. The name Muji is derived from the first part of Mujirushi Ryōhin, translated as No Brand Quality Goods on Muji’s European website. No-brand Muji’s “no-brand” strategy means that the little money is spent on advertisement or classical marketing and Muji’s success is attributed to the word of mouth, a simple shopping experience and the anti-brand movement. Muji’s no-brand strategy also means its products are attractive to customers who prefer unbranded products for purely aesthetic reasons. Muji has released a t-shirt with a rubber square on the chest for customer to design their own logo or message. Although the company styles itself as a brandless brand, some of its most popular designs are thought to be by well known and established product designers. The protagonist of William Gibson’s 2003 novel Pattern Recognition, being allergic to brands and corporate logos, wears clothing from Muji. Design Muji is known for its distinctive design, which is continued throughout its more than 7,000 products. Commentators have described Muji’s design style as having mundanity, being “no-frills”, being “minimalist porn and as “Bauhausstyle”. Muji product design, and brand identity, is based around the selection of materials, a streamlined manufacturing processes, and minimal packaging. Muji products have a limited colour range and are displayed on shelves with minimal packaging, displaying only functional product information and a price tag.
:014 QUESTIONNAIRE 1. □ Male □ Female 2. Age: □ 15-19 □ 20-24 □ 25-29 □ Above 30 3. Income: □ Below 5000 □ 5001-8000 □ 8001-11000 □ Above 11001 4. Occupation: _________________ 5. The frequency of shopping in :CHOCOOLATE every month. □ Always □ Often □ Sometimes 6. What do you think of :CHOCOOLATE? _________________________________________ 7. What is/are the factor(s) attract you go and buy :CHOCOOLATE? □ Style □ Price □ Quality □ Brand □ Free gift □ Others ___________ 8. Do you think the choices of :CHOCOOLATE products are enough? _________________________________________ 9. Do you think the price of :CHOCOOLATE is reasonable? _________________________________________ 10. Suggestions for :CHOCOOLATE _________________________________________
INTERVIEW QUESTION 1)你的設計靈感來自於? 2)你的設計概念是? 3)你在設計時遇到了什麼困難嗎? 4)你在未來會否在包裝設計上有新的改變? 5)為什麼你會選用這種物料來製作包裝?
關於:CHOCOOLATE 6) :CHOCOOLATE的名字由來 7)成立品牌的原因
與競爭者的比較 8)這次的設計概念與你以往為其他品牌所作的有什麼相同/ 不同之處? 9)這品牌與其他品牌相比之下有什麼優勝之處?(於市場上) 10)你對:CHOCOOLATE的前景有什麼看法?
:016 CLIPPINGS FROM WEB
FACTUAL INFORMATION 17
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is one of the brands under I.T apparels Limited, a fashionable icon for the trendsetter as well as one of the largest fashion group established in Hong Kong. Launched in Fall/Winter 2006, :CHOCOOLATE is a collection of everyday wear with superior fit and great looks. It combine 「mass」 and 「prestige」to made the 「masstige」 concept, to promote a simple man style and created the man line BLACK :CHOCOOLATE. Each design was basic idea and minimalism. A store with fun environment to bring you a wow shopping experience, it is created to the forward thinking individuals with definite core values and position on life, updated from well-rounded exposure, but who are still down-to-earth and unpretentious yet appreciates the originality and a better quality of life. :CHOCOOLATE was opened the women line white :CHOCOOLATE in November,2008. :CHOCOOLATE found the U.S.A famous cartoonist DANIEL CLOWES to use chappie style make a fictitious fugues. And wear their products. The Character had same lifestyle with :CHOCOOLATE. It made a「hi-casual」style.
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The style of :CHOCOOLATE was inspired by the coolie in America who wear simple casual wear but still look cool and fashion. It is a little bit tricky that the pronunciation of “coolie” and “coolate” (in chocolate) is similar. The original name is :CHOCOLATE but “chocolate” has been registered, so :CHOCOOLATE is finally adopted. Also there is a word “COOL” hidden in the name :CHOCOOLATE which is one of their core values. Moreover, there is a colon before the word CHOCOOLATE as the designer expect people can “speak out” their own style through wearing :CHOCOOLATE products. :CHOCOOLATE product man and woman collection. The basic outwear, pants and sweater and so on. They sell a wide range of apparel / non-apparel products, including Casual wear (e.g. T-shirt, Jeans, short pants, and parka), Business wear (e.g. shirt, blouse, dress, jacket, coat and trousers), Average basics (e.g. underwear, top), sport wear (e.g. polo shirt), and accessories. (e.g. hat, glove) :CHOCOOLATE is in the middle price range. The price range for a pair of short pants is from $299 to $599.
:CHOCOOLATE x CROSSOVER 2010
:CHOCOOLATE X Danner Mountain Light :CHOCOOLATE X A Bathing Ape
2009
:WHITE CHOCOOLATE X b+ab :WHITE CHOCOOLATE X 30ME THING :CHOCOOLATE X Burger King :CHOCOOLATE X HeM :CHOCOOLATE X Mos Burger :CHOCOOLATE X MINI COOPER :CHOCOOLATE X STRIDA :CHOCOOLATE X Sony Ericsson C903 :CHOCOOLATE X SUPER MAN :CHOCOOLATE X Clark Kent :CHOCOOLATE X SNOOPY :CHOCOOLATE X JAN LAMB :CHOCOOLATE X FCUK
:022 2008
:CHOCOOLATE X THE BEATLES :CHOCOOLATE X Burger King :CHOCOOLATE X Kit Kat
2007
:CHOCOOLATE X Coca cola
:CHOCOOLATE X Burger King
:CHOCOOLATE X THE BEATLES
:CHOCOOLATE X Mos Burger
:CHOCOOLATE X MINI COOPER
:CHOCOOLATE X A Bathing Ape
:CHOCOOLATE X Sony Ericsson C903
:024
:BLACK CHOCOOLATE / men
:WHITE CHOCOOLATE / women
Accessories
Accessories
Outerwear
Pants
Pants
One-pieces / Skirts
Sweater
Outerwear
Tops
Sweater Tops
Business Structure Production
Head Office
Distribution Management Inventory Management Materials Planning Marketing Merchandising Store Design Store Developmen
Factories Materials Manufactures Process Management Quality Control & production
Sales Stores Customer Services
Head office Store Development & Store Design A store with extensity environment and use chocolate brick wall. The Marble flooring mainly black and white color, to bring a wow shopping experience. Merchandising & Marketing Collect information from around the world to create product concepts. They have a concept as a pivotal theme, each of men and woman product sections.
Sales Store :CHOCOOLATE began opening first store in 2006. White :CHOCOOLATE established in 2008. 2009 :CHOCOOLATE also opened the other store in Macau. Customer Views The various views and impressions received from our customers are incorporated into our product, store, service and management policies.
Customer Profile
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We used questionnaires as a method of collecting data. Questionnaires will allow us to collect some general information about the profile of :CHOCOOLATE customer. Interviewee who answered the questionnaires had shopped in :CHOCOOLATE and the interviews were done outside the branch stores.
According to the interview data, the genders of the customer were almost the same as :CHOCOOLATE consists of both men and women collections. Moreover, over 70% of the interviewee was 20-24 and most of them are students.
Customer Profile
It showed 70% of the interviewee had income lower than 5000. And according to the price of :CHOCOOLATE chart, half of the interviewee answered that the price of :CHOCOOLATE was reasonable which showed that the target audience of :CHOCOOLATE is focused on the younger who did not have high income thus the price was adjusted to be affordable. Also it showed that interviewee shopped in :CHOCOOLATE in a relatively high frequency. It indicated that
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This sentence shows the concepts of :CHOCOOLATE design: “SIMPLE” and “NEAT”. It uses “LETS” which refers to “let us” to be as closed to customers as their friends. So, it is easy to let people know more about the concept and create a profound image to the people.They express the promise to customers through We b s i t e , P o s t e rs, products, free gifts and so on.
LETS JUST KEEP EVERYTHING SIMPLE AND NEAT
Brand Promises
VALUE BRAND
Here the main asset of the company is its foucs on a group of values, way of life, or brands the design is led heavily by the values: Disney's foucs is on safe, colorful, children-led family fun; Nike's is on emerging street-level trends and sporting icons to make sportswear, and sport, hip for the clubbing generation. In both cases their designs have become icons in themselves, and both have also created their own "worlds" of experience and helped define aspects of popular culture.
:030
Simple Neat Casual Urban Basic
Competitors:
Popular Casual Simple Colorful Economic
Minimal Natural Environmental Simple
In design concept side MUJI, UNIQLO and :CHOCOOLATE also place emphasis on simple and casual. Their designs are easy to collocate. MUJI insist on environmental protection, so it uses earth color such as grey, brown, black and white. It’s colorless and ordinary. UNIQLO emphasize providing high quality casual wear at remarkably low prices. Many of its products have a variety of colors. And it provides products for children, teenagers, adults and elders in order to suit each age and to be popular. : CHOCOOLATE also pursues simple and casual style. However, the use of colors, :CHOCOOLATE is not as ordinary as MUJI but not as colorful as UNIQLO. It usually uses black, white, red, blue, grey and green. And we feel that :CHOCOOLATE products are younger than MUJI and UNIQLO.
:032 Competitors:
Fashionable Various Casual Luxurious
Young Energetic Stylish Sporty
In commerce side izzue, double-park and :CHOCOOLATE are aimed at teenagers. Izzue emphasize casual style, it also creates a fashionable and luxurious image. The concept of Doublepark is come from American culture of street. So it contains several of brands such as Fingercroxx, 5cm and X-large which are expressing different characteristics. :CHOCOOLATE does not insist on luxurious and it is more economic and simple than izzue. And :CHOCOOLATE products are unified.
:034
CONSISTENCE After the interview and the research, we discover that the package design of: CHOCOOLATE is not consistent with the brand’s name. The reason why they are not consistent is that the package designers want to make the texture and feeling of package looks like the brand which called “45RPM” and it comes from Japan. They hope that the package will give a causal and simple impression to the customers. Moreover, the new imagine of customers will be created by themselves as designers encourage the customers to participate of their characteristic when they are wearing of: CHOCOOLATE products. Therefore, the package design is not consisted of the brand’s name.
In addition, : CHOCOOLATE would like to have crossover with another brands. This brand has crossover with the American’s at the beginning and after that it has crossover with the famous local brands in Hong Kong, such as b+ab and Song Ericsson. Also, it is very interesting that : CHOCOOLATE do not find any celebrity or real person to be their brand’s representative, only create a virtual characters which are wearing the products in every advertisements and promotions. Moreover, : CHOCOOLATE won’t have any discount and it will sell the new version of the product regularly after several months. Nevertheless, the concept of the brand emphasizes that keeping everything simple and neat is the core value of the brand. These are the most special and important events or affairs for : CHOCOOLATE to stand out from its competitors. Customers will recognize the brand more easily. Comparing with another competitors, for example, Izzue, Muji and 5 cm. They have some differences from : CHOCOOLATE because we can discover that the prices of other brands are higher than :CHOCOOLATE and the target customers of Izzue tends to the female with middle income. And the products of Muji are Minimalism and give a natural impression to the customers. Izzue has always find the Japanese or western models to be their brand’s representatives.
:036 In our research, it shows that most of the customers think : CHOCOOLATE has fulfilled their expectation and it can represent their own style and the most target customers are younger who appreciate the products because they like to wear a simple and causal clothing. Also, it is convenience for them to clear the clothes easily because : CHOCOOLATE is using the high quality of materials for productions. However, a few of them think the price range is too high and the colors of the products are not enough. Without these improvements, most of them think : CHOCOOLATE has established a well impression in their heart.
:038 The reasons why :CHOCOOLATE success :CHOCOOLATE is becoming one of the popular brands in the fashion industry. His target customers are those who like causal style and wear simple design’s young people. Because of the simple style is very popular in this decade, :CHOCOOLATE can successfully get into the industry and become more famous. M o r e o v e r, : C H O C O O L AT E a l w a y s t a k e s h i s opportunity to cooperate with other company such as Burger King, Bathing Ape, etc. That makes him successfully attract different types of customers and let more people know the brand, :CHOCOOLATE. As :CHOCOOLATE become more popular, he develop the women’s wear to fulfill more customers. :BLACK CHOCOOLATE is for men’s wear and :WHITE CHOCOOLATE is for women’s wear. That superiority brings :CHOCOOLATE competitiveness and make the brand have his own identity. Plus, :CHOCOOLATE related to some American lifestyle and those lifestyle can make the customer feel they also have this lifestyle, it’s simple, causal, neat but still cool. That can represent their character and bring the messages they want to say. These factors which are the simple style, special item with other company, specific line for customers and the brand’s own character.
:040
Future development :CHOCOOLATE will focus on cooperating with other brands. The crossover item will be :CHOCOOLATE’s signature. This year :CHOCOOLATE will crossover with Mos Burger and issue in 2010-2-5. This cooperation will design both :BLACK CHOCOOLATE and :WHITE CHOCOOLATE. Also, Mos Burger will also have a new uniform for their employees with :CHOCOOLATE design. This crossover arrangement will help :CHOCOOLATE become a special brand that keeps bring freshness to their customers. :CHOCOOLATE is becoming famous and have his own identity. He contains his simple and cool style. Those elements can help :CHOCOOLATE outlast in this industry. And his crossover item might be very popular in this age because nowadays people love freshness. Study!!Readers are Leaders.Education. Learn from Live Leaders. Be Faithful with Little Things, and You Will Be Promoted to Bigger Things. Clarify and Commit to a Bigger Vision. Be Willing to Be Controversial Decide to Be Courageous!
FURTHER ANALYSIS 41
FURTHER ANALYSIS :CHOCOOLATE opened its door in 2006 and its ambition is to keep the simple life style to present the idea in its products. They have won the DFA Best Design fron Greater China award in the HKTDC Innovative Technology & Design 2007. During its first two years, :CHOCOOLATE opened its women collection called :WHITE CHOCOOLATE to expand its market. Its target audiences are young people who like simple style and neat. It also makes a brand promise “LETS JUST KEEP EVERY THING SIMPLE AND NEAT” to strengthen the simple and neat image.
The comparison between :CHOCOOLATE and its competitors. As a fashion and styling brand, :CHOCOOLATE faces a lot of competitors such as UNIQLO, MUJI, izzue, Fingercroxx, 5cm, etc. We have chosen UNIQLO, MUJI, izzue and double-park to research the comparison with :CHOCOOLATE. However, these four brands are not in the same position as the competitors of :CHOCOOLATE. According to the interview we have done with Leo who was one of the package designers of :CHOCOOLATE, he brought up a point about the design concept. He said that :CHOCOOLATE emphasize the simple and neat style but UNIQLO and MUJI are also in the same manner so that they build up a competitive relationship in the design concept.
:042
As we can see, many designs of :CHOCOOLATE are very similar to UNIQLO or MUJI such as jacket or shirt, because they have no pattern and they are just a simple cutting. They also like to use checker and straight line on their designs. Therefore we can buy similar designs from UNIQLE, MUJI or :CHOCOOLATE. :CHOCOOLATE should do something distinctive to protrude its specialization.
:044 But at the same time, :CHOCOOLATE also faces other types of competitors like izzue and doublepark. The two brands are sharing the same range of customer who are young people with :CHOCOOLATE. The difference of UNIQLO and MUJI, izzue and double-park are not designing simple and neat products but their target customers are young people; UNIQLO and MUJI are designing simple and meat products but their target customers are not just focus on young people. In another word, these three brands are competing in the same market. Although izzue and double-park are more expensive than :CHOCOOLATE, there are more choices of products provided to customers and izzue and double-park have their personality to attract people. Like double-park, this brand contains several brands such as Xlarge, Fingercroxx and 5cm, so it contains several personalities of each brand and attracts more customers. Also like izzue, it creates a fashionable and luxurious image which is also the personality of izzue. How about :CHOCOOLATE? Is “SIMPLE AND NEAT� enough to present its personality? Competing to UNIQLO, MUJI, izzue and double-park, :CHOCOOLATE have to find out its unique
in order to stand out above competitors besides going through with the “SIMPLE AND NEAT�. Continual crossover is the unique of :CHOCOOLATE and one of the success in competing with the brands. Since 2006, :CHOCOOLATE have been starting crossover with different kinds of famous brands such as Coca cola, THE BEATLES, Sony Ericsson C903 and SNOOPY. The success of crossover with brands is :CHOCOOLATE catches up the mental requirement of customers. Most people like special things and pursue something unparalleled and unique. Crossover can content this requirement so that :CHOCOOLATE can compete to the brands. Besides that, the high quality and reasonable price also fulfilled the expectation of customers. Comparing to the competitors, especially MUJI, izzue and doublepark are more expensive than :CHOCOOLATE. Moreover, according to our survey, one of the factors attract people to go into :CHOCOOLATE is the interior design of the shops. They use black and white as the main color to be the neat style, and use chocolate pattern to serve as a foil to the brand name :CHOCOOLATE. The special interior design is also an attraction to customers besides the products.
:046 The success of :CHOCOOLATE First of all, defining a brand is success or not is base on the Corporate Identity System which contains Mind Identity, Behavior Identity and Visual Identity. Mind Identity: a spirit and a culture of the corporate. The core value is very important for the brand to decide the styling of the products, give the positive impression to customers and have a well development in the future. This act will make the customers to clearly understand the concept and background of the brand based on vision, mission and valuation. So the core value of : CHOCOOLATE is keeping everything simple and neat. Therefore, they can discover the value though products. It can let them to recognize the brand from other competitors more easily. Behavior Identity: the operational principles that regular all people who worked in the corporations. The staffs of this brand wear the clothing of their company when they are at work. They will show the clothing as a model so that customers can clearly preview the outcome. For the staffs, they
will easily to participate in the company. It has the benefit for the company because the staffs will pay more effort in selling products. Visual Identity: the brand’s name, logo, corporate color, applications and advertisement, etc. According to Healey(2008), “The name is the thing by which a brand is remembered and discussed. A “good name” is synonymous with a good reputation.” He also said that it is easy for a brand to change its logo, its package design, or its advertising. Having a good name is very important for a brand to be success. :CHOCOOLATE choose the name which is similar to the word ‘chocolate’, it is easy for people to remember. In addition, when :CHOCOOLATE open its women collection, the brand name are divided into BLACK :CHOCOOLATE and WHITE :CHOCOOLATE. It is very interesting and the name can gradually permeate through the people. “beyond the name, a brand identity requires a visual system, beginning with a logo.(P.90)” Healey(2008) :CHOCOOLATE choose the button as the logo to indicate that it is a fashion brand. And the logo is very simple so that it can express the simple and neat style. The use of color also can the people feel about a brand. :CHOCOOLATE use black and white to be the main color. These two colors are very useful and timeless.
:048 Disadvantages Although :CHOCOOLATE successfully attracts a range of customers in Hong Kong, it has some disadvantages. First, :CHOCOOLATE have not many kinds products for customers to choose because of the “SIMPLE AND NEAT” concept. Second, according to the interview with Leo, he said that the origin idea of :CHOCOOLATE is from the coolie in America who wear simple casual wear but still look cool and fashion. But at the same time, Leo points out that the style of :CHOCOOLATE is also from the simple style like UNIQLO and Esprit. So, :CHOCOOLATE does not have own original personality actually.
Future development As a brand, the company should have a clear direction for their future developments. Especially, the brand should use the unique and marketing to be aimed at customers who will be attracted and still support the brand. T h e r e f o r e , : C H O C O O L AT E f o c u s o n i t s “crossover”. It will bring freshness to customers continuously. However, the design of the clothing will not have big changes in the future because :CHOCOOLATE has maintained the “SIMPLE AND NEAT” concept. According to our survey, more than half interviewees think that the choices of :CHOCOOLATE products are not enough. It has opened the women collection in these few years, will it open another new lines such as kid collection in order to expend its market?
:050
CONCLUSION :CHOCOOLATE made a strong and fashion impression on us as it cooperated with other famous brands that brought us the feeling of freshness. In the process, not only the general and basic information of a real and big company has been studied but also the way that company put their core values into practice and the way to identify the consistence of the brand identity. Those forementioned are important steps that lead us to be familiar with the corporate identity. GROUP EVALUATION After we have the regular discussions after school, we still discuss online to ensure our ideas and data will be updated that conform to our scheduled progress. For our communication, we spend lots of time on exchanging ideas and analyzing the questions, in order to get thorough concepts on the establishment of a successful brand. When our ideas are not in a line, respecting each member is the way to make us work smoothly towards the target. We have positive attitude to due with our problem therefore we can effectively finish our work instead of evading the problem-solving.
:052 REFERENCE Q=Questions
L=Leo (:CHOCOOLATE的包裝設計師)
Q: 我們得悉你是做:CHOCOOLATE的包裝設計。你 對:CHOCOOLATE有什麼感覺? L: 首先你們懂得如何分辯:BLACK CHOCOOLATE 和:WHITE CHOCOOLATE嗎? Q: BLACK CHOCOOLATE和:WHITE CHOCOOLATE分別是男 裝和女裝。 L: 你們知道:CHOCOOLATE原本的對象嗎? Q: 上班一族 L: 這是錯的, 上班一族是smart-casual 的。:CHOCOOLATE的市場是主攻UNIQUE, Espirt和 MUJI, 它是行casual路線的, 而izzue collection 才是high-fashion 及主攻上班一族。你們知 道:CHOCOOLATE名字的由來嗎? Q: 我們從售貨員口中得知, “CHOCOLATE”一字被人 登記了, 所以在”CHOCOLATE”中加上一個”O”變 成” CHOCOOLATE”並帶有”cool”的意思。 A: 對,這是其中一個原因, 而另外,我們其實想營造 美國工人的感覺,他們即使只穿簡單的白色背心,也能 表現“cool”的此感覺。那如何能營造出這種只穿白 色衣服, 牛仔褲,沒有圖案也能很酷? 這就是美國的 “coolie”。所以:CHOCOOLATE 就能同時表達cool及 coolie 。而chocolate 讓人有熟悉的感覺, 所以這 個品牌就命名為:CHOCOOLATE。 Q: 那為什麼:CHOCOOLATE前面總是會有“:”? L: 你何時會見到“:”? Q: 鈕子。
L: 除了鈕子呢? Q: 冒號。說話的時候。 L: 即是其實它是想透過話這個品牌來表達自己，所以 其實這“:”除了是表達鈕子,代表它是時裝外。也希 望能穿上這件可能很普通的衫，亦能說出自己的感覺 穿出自己的風格來。而那這美國工人亦是這樣，衣著 簡單但也可表達自己，做出“cool”的感覺。 Q: 那你設計:CHOCOOLATE這個包裝的靈感是來自那裡 呢? L: 我們設計的時候是需要找資料給公司的,而這些資 料是找來日本牌子“45RPM”的風格的。那本身它們 的包裝也是用雞皮紙袋的。我們也會看很多物料的， 而45RPM是一個很休閒,很平民的牌子。那我們用了它 的感覺，用了它們的物料，重新組織並放在我們的設 計上。而我們的設計重點並不是在物料上，用雞皮紙 袋是想表達出我們我設計是很基本的，反映我們的衣 服是很簡單，沒有什麼剪裁，很漂流的圖案，但是穿 上身後，加上自己的特色，就變成一個突出的風格。 所以用這些平凡的雞皮紙袋。另外，公文袋的開口也 是常見的東西，是圍繞著身邊的事物去營造出這種感 覺。 Q: 那本身:CHOCOOLATE這個品牌是與chocolate無關的 嗎?因為我們常在:CHOCOOLATE的店舖中看見chocolate 的裝潢，以為是跟chocolate有關的。 L: 其實沒關係的。用chocolate是因為公司有另一 個品種叫 Vanilla Sweet。是一個高跟鞋的牌子。 讓我拿些照片給你們看…裝修也跟:CHOCOOLATE差不 多，有一點浮誇。想起它的同時便想起:CHOCOOLATE。 因為之後出的品牌也希望圍繞這些主題的，所以就 有:CHOCOOLATE這構思。亦因為chocolate比較容易上 口，所以用這個名字。
:054
Q: 所以它的包裝跟chocolate其實沒有關係? L: 是的。它的裝修有chocolate也是純粹為了迎合它 的名字而已。 Q: 我們知道你設計過很多品牌，那你覺 得:CHOCOOLATE跟其他牌子有什麼不同或相同的地方? L: 你們用什麼品牌跟它做比較? Q: 因為我們以為的競爭者是5 cm, izzue那些。 L: 其實不同的，5 cm的性格是比較似“飛輪 海”,“棒棒堂”那些的，穿出來的感到會有些像壞 男孩，所以找了李燦森當代言人。但他某些衣服也能 上班的，像貴價西裝那些。而izzue分兩面，一面是 街頭服裝，比較像Espirt，但會用較多圖案及剪裁來 演繹，而另一面izzue collection用來上班及比較貴 價的，走高級時裝的路線。 Q: 所以它們的風格並不是:CHOCOOLATE的路線? L: :CHOCOOLATE是沒有太多圖案的, 他們是多與其 他公司合作，推出crossover商品的。例如:超人， Burger King, Bathing Ape…. :WHITE CHOCOOLATE 也是比較男性化的。其實她最初的對象是女同性戀者 的。 Q: 另外，你的包裝上的字有某些會被手抽的條子遮 蓋了，因而讀不到了，那麼為什麼會這樣呢? L: 其實那些字並不是讓人讀的，因為公司想維持 cool的風格，所以看不看到，根本都不會考慮。 Q: 那麼你覺得:CHOCOOLATE未來的前景是如何? L: 它應該會繼續與其他品牌合作。它的crossover 商品最初是跟一些小形美國牌子合作的，後 期:CHOCOOLATE比較出名的時候，才跟香港本地名牌 合作的。所以它應該會保持crossover的特色。 Q:謝謝你接受我們的訪問。
左三為:CHOCOOLATE包裝設計師
:056 REFERENCE LIST Books Healey, M. (2008) What is branding? Crans-Près-Céligny ; Hove : RotoVision Vaid, H. (2003) Branding (1st ed.). New York : Watson-Guptill Publications Website www.muji.com.hk www.uniqlo.com.hk www.chocoolate.hk http://www.izzue.com http://blog.yam.com/wenziwei/article/14165714 http://www.hkwei.com/forum/thread-66157-1-1.html http://hsin0423.blogspot.com/2009/09/chocoolate.html http://hsin0423.blogspot.com/2009/09/chocoolate.html http://www.lemonforumhk.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=398 http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple_sub/art_main.php?iss_ id=20081110&sec_id=38163&subsec_id=11569483&art_id=11825513
GROUP MEMBERS
CHAN CHUI LING, ELAINE 51797473 CHEUNG CHUNG MAN, YOKO 51851598 CHUI WAI SUM, ESTHER 51843168 HO YUET CHING, HELEN 51847665 LEUNG ON YING, DAISY 51847131
TYPE-BITTER SWEET TASTE SPEC.BCD-J-203-193 URBAN, CAUSUAL, BASIC