Showing the customer who's Boss Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Showing the customer who's Boss - Case Study Example The launching of "Boss," which targeted young professionals with a full line of more casual clothes as well as sporting accessories, allowed the company access to a much wider range of clientele than it had previously enjoyed. It is this segmentation of the Hugo Boss brand helped the company immensely with its growth and profitablility. According to Diamond and Pintel (1980) "there is generally a limit to the amount of sales that a given article can produce, company growth may depend on the introduction of new products for an increase in sales" (p.166). Which is exactly the idea that Hugo Boss had as they expanded their product lines and thereby expanded their client base. The next foray into new territory brought them into the world of women's apparel. Since Hugo Boss was not well known in this market, they had to work hard to extend the popularity and the image of their brand. They already had a great advantage because their name has always been associated with quality clothing, this strong brand name and store image played a very important role in their new product lines. "Store image is a very important factor for effective retail marketing because it can exert a major influence on consumer patronage patterns" (Rosenbloom 1981 p. 127). A strong store image can help not only attain new patronage but also ensures retaining the clientele they already have. However, Hugo Boss needed to ensure that their popularity would be transferable to the women's market. Hugo Boss faced a challenge in marketing the women's line "unlike most types of goods, merchandise with fashion orientation requires anlysis that is often different" (Diamond and Pintel 1980 p.192). Hugo Boss needed to generate ideas quickly and analyse their information and designs in a different manner when dealing with women's fashions. "Fashion, with its rapid changes, dictates the need for the continuous introduction of new styles" (Diamond and Pintel 1980 p.192). Hugo Boss also employed various ways to communicate with their audience, such as media outlets, fashion shows, and major layouts within popular fashion magazines. Hugo Boss' goal was to have their popular brand name become associated with high quality women's clothing. The obstacles were difficult to overcome, the costs for advertising were high and fashion is risky, the clientele's needs and wants are in constant flux. According to Diamond and Pintel (1980) "an error would be enormously costly, since wrong styles have almost no value," (p.193) yet are still costly to produce and promote. Hugo Boss experienced difficulties with their new women's line early on, as is seen in the net losses they sustained when it was first launched. Extending an existing brand into a new, but related market, is challenging for several reasons. First, the audience needs to accept the change, and secondly, they need to believe that the brand will retain its integrity and quality when producing new products outside their original market. The danger is that the brand name will be diluted by being over eager and attempting to go into markets beyond their core competency. Yet, by 2002, Hugo Boss had figured out how to leverage their name across new markets and had finally become