Tag Archives: Marketing strategy

by | Wednesday, August 9, 2023 · 7:32 am

H&M Adds Home and Beauty Products and Stores   

Once a high-flyer in the area of fast fashion, H&M has come under increasing pressure from China’s Shein and other retailers. Swedish company H&M sales growth has stalled in recent years, forcing the company to examine its strategy and product mix. The company’s revenue in 2022 is relatively unchanged from revenue six years ago. Not good news.  

To counter this revenue decline, the global retailer is now expanding beyond its core fashion business and into new areas of home and beauty products. Although H&M has had to close some of its fashion stores, it is now adding new, stand-alone stores focused on beauty and home products.  

There are now 32 H&M Home-branded stores that sell products from sofas to linens to kitchen products. The company has also added homeware sections to 399 of its regular stores as well as on the its website.  

The company has also opened two flagship H&M Beauty-branded stores in Norway, selling products such as nail polish, body wash, makeup, and razors. Some of the products are also sold in regular H&M stores and online.  

And, in yet another move, H&M has also added other brands to its stores and now offers more than 70 other brands. In addition, H&M has grown its own private-label brands, which have sold at double the rate of the overall company.   Why the changes? According to H&M, “we see that customers spend more time with us if we offer a broader range of products.”   Shall we check it out?      

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the four primary marketing strategies: Market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification.
  2. Poll students: Who has shopped at H&M? What have they purchased?
  3. Which strategy is H&M employing for the new stores? For the new product lines?
  4. Divide students into teams. Have each team select one of the four primary strategies for H&M and develop a marketing mix for it.
  5. View H&M website: https://www2.hm.com/en_us/index.html
  6. View H&M home products website: https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/home.html
  7. And H&M beauty products website: https://www2.hm.com/en_us/beauty.html

Source: Moss, T. (15 July 2023). H&M now wants to sell you makeup, sofas, and crocs. Wall Street Journal.

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by | Tuesday, June 6, 2023 · 7:46 am

Apple Launches its First Retail Stores in India

According to the United Nations, India is on track to pass China as the world’s most populous country later this year. This is an important demographic trend for marketers to recognize; China has held the rank of the most populous nation in the world since 1950.

Along with India, the two countries combine to equal roughly a third of the world’s 7.9 billion people (and likely more by the time you read this article). However, China has an aging population, with low growth. India on the other hand has a much younger population, higher fertility rate, and decreased infant mortality.

Recognizing these trends, Apple has finally opened its first two retail stores in India –  Mumbai and New Delhi, two of India’s wealthiest cities. Until now, Apple products were sold only by third-party sellers in India, which presented its own set of problems for the company. Apple sold 6.5 million iPhones in India in 2022; compare this with the volume of 50 million a year sold in China and the U.S. China is a growing market for technology and innovation.

Of particular interest will be the iPhone pricing. The iPhone is a relatively expensive phone for consumers there. Considered a ‘premium’ product, only 11% of the market could afford iPhones. However it was also the fastest growing segment.

For all these reasons, it’s easy to understand why companies do through analysis of countries for expansion. Population size is only one indicator of potential sales. The psychographic profile is also key. India’s population is more willing to pay a premium for phones and as a ‘premium’ product,  Apple is viewed as a status symbol there.

What does Apple need to do to succeed in India?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show video of opening of Apple in India: https://youtu.be/cRiSSV5pfzk
  2. Discuss the four primary marketing strategies: market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification.
  3. Which strategy is Apple using for this new venture?
  4. Why this marketing strategy?
  5. Divide students into teams. Have each team select one of the four different strategies and explain why that strategy could be used to market Apple.
  6. Have each team determine the marketing mix (4Ps) to support their strategy choice.
  7. Debrief the exercise.

Source:  Kharpal, A. (18 April 2023). Apple opens its first store in India as it looks for a new generation of iPhone users. CNBC.; Travelli, A., and Raj, S. (18 April 2023). Apple opens first store in India, a promising frontier for the tech giant. New York Times.; other news sources.

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by | Tuesday, August 16, 2022 · 7:46 am

Datsun and Internet Explorer Bite the Dust

As we’ve written in previous articles, no product lives forever. There are always new innovations, trends, social forces, competition, and technologies that push products forward. Ultimately, every product eventually reaches its final stage in the Product Life Cycle (PLC) – decline/harvest – when the product is put to sleep and resources are reallocated to up-and-coming new products.

Two more products joined the eliminated list: Microsoft Internet Explorer and Datsun cars.

Datsun helped Japanese car manufacturers break into the American and European market after World War II. In its heyday, 20 million Datsun cars were sold in 190 countries across the world. The Datsun name was phased out in the 1980s, only to be revived 30 years later as “an important part of Nissan’s DNA.” However, Datsun eventually reversed the decision, making Nissan the primary company brand for the auto maker.

Joining Datsun on the gone-but-not-forgotten product list is Internet Explorer – the Web browser that many say really started the popularity of the Internet. First launched in 1995, IE was the dominant browser for many years, reaching 90% of users in early 2000s. But competition from Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari, and Mozilla’s Firefox finally proved to be too much. All is not lost however; in its place will be Microsoft Edge browser.

Farewell to our old favorite brands.

Welcome to the newcomers!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the stages in the product life cycle. What are the marketing objectives in each stage?
  2. Divide students into teams. Have each team draw a PLC and place various products and services into each stage?
  3. How are cars moved through the PLC?
  4. How does technology move through the PLC? What are the adoption cycles?
  5. Show video of Internet Explorer death: https://youtu.be/wZoZV6GjzPA
  6. We’ve seen other products revived after being declared “dead.” What would it take to revive these two brands?

Sources:  Jacobsen, R. (15 June 2022). Internet Explorer has retired. Associated Press.; Nissan signals end of road for Datsun cars. (25 April 2022). BBC News.; other news sources.

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