CASE STUDY - Uniqlo: The Strategy Behind The Global Japanese Fast Fashion Retail Brand

Mention the brand Uniqlo 10 years ago to anyone outside of Japan and you would get a confused look. Mention Uniqlo to any global citizen today and the associations of quality, affordability and fashionable come to mind immediately. That is how successful Uniqlo has become in recent years. It has become yet another contender in the global fast fashion retail market. Despite having to compete against other bigger players like Zara, H&M, Gap and Forever21, Uniqlo has still managed to grow at an astounding pace. How did it manage to capture a share of this competitive fast fashion retail market so quickly?

Uniqlo's brand message encapsulates a clear vision: "Uniqlo is a modern Japanese company that inspires the world to dress casual". The corporate strategy that has worked for Uniqlo so far is to "totally ignore fashion" instead of chasing fast-fashion trends like its other competitors. The brand philosophy "Made for All" positions its clothing to transcend age, gender, ethnicity and all other ways to define people. Contrary to its name "Uniqlo", its clothes are simple, essential yet universal, enabling the wearers to blend them with their individualistic style. Uniqlo caters apparel to mainly 3 customer segments: Women, Men and Kids & Babies. The brand is divided into five sub-brands separated by style but housed under the same Uniqlo store, within which Uniqlo showcases its collections: outerwear, tops, bottoms, innerwear & homewares. Some of Uniqlo's key brand success factors include its unwavering commitment to innovation and its company culture. Its Japanese founder, Tadashi Yanai is famous for his quote "Without a soul, a company is nothing". This design driven clothing brand offers unique functional performance owing to in-house fabric and design innovation. The company distinguishes itself from its price driven competitors by branding its signature innovations with names like HeatTech, LifeWear and AIRism Uniqlo provides a superlative physical shopping experience by impeccably managing its stores, inculcating a positive employee culture and through in-store technology like video tutorials that describe product attributes. One of Uniqlo's main brand communication methods is its in-store environment. Through its wide aisles, bright lights, neatly stacked shelves and beautifully presented displays creating a comfortable and welcoming shopping experience, Uniqlo communicates its ideal of simplicity and essential basics. Although the brand intentionally limits the number of designs it produces, it compensates for this and distracts consumers from the lack of choice by stacking its apparel from floor to ceiling, creating an illusion of choice and plenitude. It also has many digital screens in-store explaining the practical benefits of its fabrics and apparels. Compared with other fast fashion competitors whose stores are jam-packed with clothes, lack order and do not have a specific focus on customer service, Uniqlo's in-store experience stands out and contributes heavily to effective communication of its brand philosophy. Building and sustaining a brand that is relevant and one that resonates with the customer base is one of the most difficult aspects of building a strong brand today. Uniqlo, with its presence in diverse markets, has managed to hold up well to this challenge of building a relevant and resonant brand personality.

Q1: Uniqlo tries to be "everything for everyone" - which is typically not a desirable segmentation and targeting strategy. (A.) Discuss why its typically viewed as an undesirable strategy and (B) Why do you think it has worked for them? Q2: Being a brand that originated in Japan what are some things the brand will need to consider in order to expand globally? What might help them succeed?

. provide your responses to the two listed questions. Use research and references to support your responses, making sure to reference in text. Include a final slide for the references used in your presentation. Q3 . provide a brief summary of the case. Specifying the company, industry and topic of interest. Use research to support your explanation and reference

Q4 identify and explain TWO concepts relevant to the case. Make sure to reference in text. Q5. Marketing concepts can include (but are not limited to): * Product (including as product hierarchy, product mix, product classification) * External environment factors (including political, economic, social-such as trends in the market, technological) * Segmentation (including ways to segment a market) * Targeting & Positioning * Pricing strategies (including price setting, adapting the price, consumer psychology behind pricing, price elasticity) * Advertising (including objectives, appeals, types of media, IMC) * Consumer decision-making (including factors that affect the process) * Branding (including brand image, brand equity, brand associations) * Marketing Ethics, corporate social responsibility & sustainability Retailing (including types of appeals, aspects of the retail environment, retail atmospherics) Q6. draw linkages between the marketing concepts and case illustration. Focus on the specific aspect of that concept that is most related to the case. How are these concepts applied in practice as outlined and explained in the case? E.g., discussion of add-on services, warranty etc. an illustration of the product hierarchy or questioning whether consumers will pay more for an ethically sourced product is an illustration of price elasticity. provide your responses to the two listed questions.