Moncler Branding Report

GLOBAL FASHION BRANDING: THEORY

BA FASHION MARKETING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

SARA AL NOUR -22003351

WORD COUNT - 2,149

MINAL KHAN

I, Sara, certify that thisis an original piece of work. I have acknowledged all sources and citations. No section of this essay has been playgarised

AIMS

The aim of this report is to deconstruct the designer global brand Moncler usuing analysis tools and branding theory.

INTRODUCTION

Designer brand Moncler was first established in 1952 by René Ramillon and Andrè Vincent near the French Alps. The brand first started out with the aim of protecting workers from harsh weather conditions and continued to develop.

Figure 1 - Moncler kapferer prism (Sara Al Nour,2023)

BRAND HISTORY

Founded in 1952, by Rene Ramillion and Andre Vincent in Monestier-de-Clermont, Grenoble, France, the brand first had the aim of protecting workers from the cold with their jackets. Over the course of the Moncler’s timeline, the brand has now moved further away from its initial aim and has become more evolved with their motto “born in the mountains living in the city” selling luxury products to luxury clientele. With the help of technological research, innovation and Remo Ruffini -who took over the company in 2003, Moncler has been able to cement itself within the high fashion world as a timeless brand.

In the 80s, Moncler opened its first store and made its transition into the city where its products started becoming popular amongst consumers. However, it wasn’t until 2003 with a new strategy that Moncler was seen as a high-end brand. In 2006 Moncler launched its Gamme Rouge women’s collection and in 2009 it

launched its Gamme Bleu menswear collection that have both now been discontinued in 2017 as Moncler decided to take a new approach to evolve which tempted the start of the Genius line.

More recently, Moncler has signed the acquisition of Stone Island which became finalised in December of 2021and Stone Island became a part of Moncler Group. Moncler has also completed the internationalisation of the e-commerce and launched the brands first-ever fragrances, Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme.

(All information from Moncler Group, N.D)

Figure 2- Moncler ad in Antartica (NA, 2016)

1952

Rene Ramillion and Andre Vincemt founded Moncler in the mountains near Grenoble.

KEY EVENTS IN MONCLER HISTORY

2021 Moncler completes the internalisation project of the e-commerce and launches their first ever fragrances.

1954 Moncler creates its first ever down jacket. It also supplies jackets for the Italian expedition to K2.

1968

Moncler becomes the official supplier for the French Alpine at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble.

1980 Moncler made its entrance into the city. It’s products start becoming popular in cities.

2003 Remo Reffini becomes the Chairman and CEO of the Group.

2020

Moncler signs the acquisition of Stone Island.

2018 Moncler launches the new project -Moncler Genius.

2013 Moncler was floated on the Italian Stock Exchange.

2006

In 2006 Moncler launches Gamme Rouge and in 2009 Gamme Bleu.

BRAND IDENTITY+PERSONALITY

Moncler’s brand identity relies on 5 main principles that are tradition, heritage, friendship, integrity, and innovation (Porto Montenegro, N.D). These principles allow Moncler to be the brand that it is today and resonate with its consumers. The constant high technology and research that is included in its designs and collections transcend beyond the name of the brand and create a trendy and high standing identity for the brand. Furthermore, through primary research, Moncler could be described as having a unique, fashionable and luxurious personality. (see appendix)

Figure 14 -Moncler Old Bond Street store (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

BRAND ARCHITECTURE

Moncler’s range of fragrances is owned by Interparfums, which also develops, manufactures and distributes other luxury perfumes for brands like Jimmy Choo and Montblanc. This helps to create a good image towards Moncler’s fragarances within consumers perceptions as Inerparfums are interlinked with best selling perfume brands (Tom Bottomley, 2020)

Moncler’s parent company is Moncler Group, which also owns Stone Island since 2021. It’s brand architecture is built on the House of Brands strategy with two sub-brands being Moncler and Stone Island that are stand-alone, disconnected brands.

Figure 15 - Moncler brand architecture (Sara Al Nour, 2022)

Figure 16 - Positioning mao (Sara Al Nour,2022)

PRODUCTS

Moncler sells a wide range of products ranging from jackets all the way to perfumes. They cater to men, women and children as well. Al of their products are made using down feather and Japanese nylon. They have also announced that they will be stopping the use of animal fur as of 2024. One of Moncler’s brand values is to “embrace crazy” which certainly goes into the making of their products giving the “unique and creative edge” (Moncler Group, N.D) that their ensure to include in their products. Another valie they possess is keeping warm which is most certainly shown in the quality of their jackets and coats due to the brand initially starting out with wanting to keep people warm.

BRAND MESSAGE

Moncler’s key brand message is the fact that they are “one house”. Although the brand has many people involved with it through monthly collaborations, they still showcase their unity as a family. Moncler urges the celebration of all perspectives and the brand speaks to all generatiosn through their product range. To Moncler, they believe that by “letting many voices sing, they are playing a beautiful harmony” (Moncler Group, N.D)

ETHICS

Moncler is a company that strives to do good, not only for the environment but also to their costumers. They are very transparent and all information can be found on The Moncler Group website. Moreover, Moncler tends to take a long time viewing and analysing a future that gies beyond convention. They rise and act on social and environmental challenges of the world.

COMMUNICATIONS + RETAIL

Moncler is a global brand with lots of retail spaces in various countries. It has it’s own section in Selfridges and also has a store in Old Bond Street. Moncler’s retail spaces are designed to match the theme of the brand using dark colours such as grey, and black with a gold accent. There are also hints of white in the interior.

It’s latest designs are displayed beautifully in the racks creating an inviting environment to the costumer. They also use a variety of comminication sources such as adverts on YouTube, Instagram, billboards, fashion shows and much more.

CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION

Moncler is a global brand that operates in many countries and continents such as USA, Italy, Asia and many more. It is present in all major markets through the retail channel with diretcly operated shops, online (e-commerce), shop-in-shops in department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges (Moncler Group,N.D)

PROFITS + GROWTH

Moncler’s revenues have contined to grow rising slowly each year until the 2020 Covid Pandemic which had slowed down sales, however, they have since reocvered from that making approximately 2.06 billion euros in 2021.

DISTRIBUTION + PROFITS

Figure 18 - Moncler store locator (Moncler Group, N.D)

Figure 19- Revenue of Moncler Group worldwide from 2012 to 2021 (Tugba Sabanoglu, 2022)

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

Figure 20 - competitor analysis for Moncler (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

MONCLER‘S FUTURE POTENTIAL

For different geographical Moncler seems to have different aims and objectuves that will helpm further it’s further growth and potential. For example, it’s aims in Euope are different to their aims in Asia. In Europe, Moncler aims to reinforce their position in the market and target main cities cementing on the slogan “born in the mountains, living in the city” whilst in Asia Moncler’s main aim seems to be to increase brand awareness as many of people are not aware of Moncler due to the hot climate in Asia.

At the moment, Moncler’s Genius line seems to be doing the best as the monthly drops featuring different designers bring ‘hype’ towards the brand. Successful advertising of this line and strategic collaborations with designers could help the brand to grow even further and attract new customers. Moncler’s target market are consumers between the ages of 29-65. However, with the use of different collaborations that target customers outside of this age range, Moncler could bring in new customers.

In my opinion Moncler could continue to be successful if they change a few things specifically their customer service in their physical shops. When I went to conduct primary research at the old Bond Street store, I felt the staff being prejudice towards me, with no one asking me if I wanted any help and having a member of staff closely follow my every move. Furthermore, I heard the security guard whisper to a colleague ‘When is she going to leave?’. This type of customer service reflects very badly on the brand a whole and deteriorates their brand image.

Figure 24- Question mark picture (Orlando Florin Rosu, , N.D)

CONSUMER 1:

CONSUMER PROFILE

GENDER: Female

AGE: 41

MARITAL STATUS: Married

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Journalism

OCCUPATION: Fashion Magazine Editor

INCOME: £150,000

HOBBIES/LIFESTYLE: Has a gym membership and is very concoius of their health. Participates in pilates, yoga, swimming and enjoys going on skiing holidays

PERSONALITY: Adventurous, Confident, Classic, Creative

BRAND BOARD

Fabric : Moncler uses Japanese nylon for all their products

Figure 25 Moncler Brand Board (Sara Al Nour, 2022)

PRIMARY RESEARCH

I conducted a survey that consisted of 6 questions (see appendix) in order to find out what different people think of Moncler as a brand. This led to the conclusion that not many people have interacted with Moncler or are properly aware of Moncler as a brand or it’s products and those that are aware of it are ethier not motivated enough or have enough disposable income to shop at Moncler.

If I were to conduct primary research again, I would choose to interview people inside Moncler as I believe the results would turn out substantially different.

Moreover, upon conducting my primary research, I feel that Moncler, as a whole are a very luxurious brand with many people commonly choosing to describe them as “expensive”.

Figures 26-29 Inside Moncler store in Old Bond St. (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

Figure 30 - Pie chart showing the percentage of people who have and haven’t shopped at Moncler (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

REFERENCES

1 Abigail Leong, 2020 -Tour De Force: Moncler Collaborates With Rick Owens On A Tour Bus https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/tourde-force-moncler-collaborates-with-rick-owens-on-a-tour-bus

2 Alexandra Pauly, 2022 -MONCLER TO PHASE OUT ANIMAL FUR BY 2024 https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/moncler-fur-free/

3 Kimberly Ong, 2020 -Maisie Williams Rises To The ‘Girl Up Challenge’ With Moncler To Support Girls’ Education https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/maisie-williams-rises-to-the-girl-up-challenge-with-moncler-to-support-girls-education

4 Moncler, N.D -OVERVIEW https://www.monclergroup.com/en/group/overview#:~:text=Moncler%20is%20present%20in%20all,retailers%20 (e%2Dtailers).

5 Moncler Group, N.D -VALUES AND PURPOSE https://www.monclergroup.com/en/group/philosophy-and-values

6 Moncler Group, N.D -SUSTAINABILITY https://www.monclergroup.com/en/sustainability

7 Moncler Group, N.D - STORIA https://www.monclergroup.com/en/brands/moncler/history

8 Martino Carerra, 2022- Moncler Tops Sustainability Ranking for Fourth Year in a Row https://wwd.com/sustainability/business/moncler-rank-first-dow-jones-sustainability-indices-fourth-year-1235398049/

9 Porto Montenegro, N.D -Moncler brand – the history of the popular fashion giant porto montenegro https://www.portomontenegro.com/blog/ moncler-brand-history/#:~:text=Moncler%20brand%20identity%20relies%20on,highest%20peaks%20in%20the%20world.

10 Rachel Lubitz, 2016 -Moncler Faces Major Backlash Online for a New Collection Inspired by Racist Dolls https://www.mic.com/articles/148980/moncler-faces-major-backlash-online-for-a-new-collection-inspired-by-racist-dolls

11 Tom Bottomley, 2020 -Moncler signs global perfume license deal with Interparfums https://theindustry.beauty/moncler-signs-global-perfume-license-deal-with-interparfums/

IMAGE REFERNCES

Cover Page (Pinterest, N.D) https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/733523858041486283/

Figure 1 - Moncler kapferer prism (Sara Al Nour,2023)

Figure 2- Moncler ad in Antartica (NA, 2016) http://www.bookmoda.com/en/2016/11/02/moncler-ad-antarctica-2016/

Figures 3-12 (Moncler Group, N.D) https://www.monclergroup.com/en/brands/moncler/history

Figure 14 -Moncler Old Bond Street store (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

Figure 15 - Moncler brand architecture (Sara Al Nour, 2022)

Figure 16 - Positioning mao (Sara Al Nour,2022)

Figure 17 -Moncler born to protect collection (Moncler Group, N.D) https://www.monclergroup.com/en/sustainability/think-circular-bold/born-to-protect-collection

Figure 18 - Moncler store locator (Moncler Group, N.D) https://www.monclergroup.com/en/group/overview#:~:text=Moncler%20is%20present%20in%20all,retailers%20 (e%2Dtailers).

Figure 19- Revenue of Moncler Group worldwide from 2012 to 2021 (Tugba Sabanoglu, 2022) https://www.statista.com/statistics/538856/global-revenue-of-moncler/

Figure 20 - competitor analysis for Moncler (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

Figure 21 - Moncler + Rick Owens tour bus (Moncler, 2020) https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17886373075760937/

Figure 22 - Girl up challenge (Moncler, 2020) https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17880281677846515/

Figure 23- Moncler Maya 70 years show (Moncler, 2022) https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17966860997131039/

Figure 24- Question mark picture (Orlando Florin Rosu, , N.D) https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-question-mark-d-people-man-people-thinking-red-marksabove-his-head-over-image31973664

Figure 25 Moncler Brand Board (Sara Al Nour, 2022)

Brand Board links

Blue -https://www.colorcombos.com/colors/000084

Red-https://htmlcolorcodes.com/colors/dark-red/ Grey-https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/grey_1

Black-https://colourlex.com/project/vine-black/ Dog jacket-https://www.designboom.com/design/moncler-dog-jacket-mondog-puffer-10-25-2017/

Polar Bear-https://www.ft.com/content/48ca0440-e882-11e1-8397-00144feab49a

Kendall and Kylie jenner -https://id.pinterest.com/pin/699395017134218974/

Girl in sunglasses -https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/548172585907645361/

Drake -https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/drake-hotline-bling-moncler-jacket

Pierpaolo Piccioli -https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2019-ready-to-wear/moncler-1-pierpaolo-piccioli

Moncler X Palm Angels -https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/moncler-palm-angels-maya-jacket/ Men standing -https://www.monclergroup.com/en/brands/moncler/history

Figures

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/moncler-goes-fur-free-002057121.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAMeZ2OzF4euTyJof5V-bMRvbMbkeEonuYKuksh8mrMpKDbgrtEF1faoXMiM67ixramZV9gKA4vRYNVnY2OpJfERs3Jh_XS3ay8QlTGqlT_EtAIbsXbiPw4SWy5WjZyVvXS8Bz6qGjER1iEwZ6cq2XjA6KZVbHWB3lRI5N2Gj7dU

Figure 32 -picture of Moncler x FriendsWithYou collaboration 2016 (Vitkac.com, N.D) https://www.vitkac.com/gb/p/reversible-jacket-moncler-jacket-30498

26-29 Inside Moncler store in Old Bond St. (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

Figure 30 - Pie chart showing the percentage of people who have and haven’t shopped at Moncler (Sara Al Nour, 2023)

Figure 31- Animal rights activists in front of Moncler (Lev Radin, 2022)

APPENDIX

Moncler Genius

The brands first announced project Genius at Milan Fashion Week in 2018 where essentially the project is set to combine both collaborations and “drop culture” into one through asking multiple creative directors to work for Moncler and release new pieces -once a month- out to consumers. Some examples of directors include Pierpaolo Piccioli and Craig Green.

Moncler Grenoble

Moncler Grenoble is a skiwear line that was first introduced in 2010. This collection is designed for the slopes and peak performance.

First previewed in Milan Fashion Week February 2022, the Moncler X Palm Angels collaboration for Genius has created lots of buzz surrounding it. The collection helped to “bring in new perspectives and a fresh air approach to collaborations and image-making” (Federico Sargentone, 2022). The main idea of the project was the break norms of the classic Moncler clothing by making it less “pure” through vandalism.

Co-Branding

Palm Angels and Moncler have collaborated multiple times. For example the 2019 collection that was more vivacious with bright colours and also the recent October 2022 collection that combined high tech and creativity together creating a light up jacket that ‘lights up thr future’ (Federico Sargentone, 2022). Moncler’s most prominent USP seems to be their sustainability. The Moncler Group is very sustainable with Moncler winning first place for the fourth year in a row the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2022 in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indices - ‘Textile, Apparel& Luxury Goods’ sector (Martino Carrera, 2022).