While I was studying business management in Europe, I did some research on famous brands. So, now I would like to share what I’ve learned with you, so you will know why Milan, Italy is the best shopping destination in the world. ?
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You can find both low-end brands and high-end brands in Milan.
The brand that I work in the group poster is Converse, and the brand that I am critiquing is Versace.
After looking at the poster of Versace, I can see that the introduction section of their poster doesn’t indicate this is about spectacles. Instead, their introduction only talks about the fashion brand Versace in general. That’s why it’s a bit hard for the audience to quickly figure out what exactly they are trying to say. This is their first weakness that needs to be addressed.
The second issue that I have noticed is their SWOT analysis which includes S, W, O and T in the illustration. However, if someone who didn’t study this marketing course is looking at this poster, they wouldn’t know what S, W, O and T refer to. So, I think it would be better if they can use Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to specify what this analysis is actually about. At the end of the day, the Australian culture is a reader-dependent culture rather than a writer-dependent culture, so this poster needs to cater for the needs of the regular reader which can be a random member of the general public.
Having said that, I can see that their poster’s PESTLE analysis is very well done because every aspect is extremely clear and easy to understand. But their references aren’t formatted properly according to Harvard Referencing Guide.
In contrast, our Converse poster is very easy to read and the message is crystal clear. The terminology is clearly defined and explained, although our reference list isn’t formatted perfectly either.
But overall, our Converse poster has a better impact than the poster of Versace in terms of the design and the clarity of the content, even though our Converse poster has more in-text reference errors.
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How policies influence brands in the best shopping destination:
The government has passed legislations about payroll taxes which will increase the cost of business by about 5% annually. Now the senior management team is worried about this cost hitting the business’s profit, so they would like to make up for the profit hit by increasing the sales volume. I think this is the best strategy given the current situation because from a marketing perspective, there are many ways to increase the sales volume when the right marketing strategies are used correctly.
First of all, Converse can introduce new products or variations to create planned obsolescence, which means Converse can intentionally shorten the life-cycle of products so customers will want to buy more. This is an effective way to increase the sales volume which is supported by theoretical elements in this course.
Another way to increase the sales volume is a recommendation from our group poster. In order to increase the sales volume, Converse should end line extension because line extensions almost never work, according to our research. Sadly, most businesses have the irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand by introducing line extension. And Converse also has many line extensions. But this doesn’t help the brand to increase its sales volume because the focus is lost. As a matter of fact, Converse should narrow the focus in order to build a position in the customer’s mind. Truthfully, marketing is a battle of perception, not product. The fact that Converse doesn’t really have a unique selling point means its line extensions are hindering the sales volume. As a company is spread thin over too many products, usually it loses money. And currently, the cost of the business has increased already, so most of its line extensions really must be terminated now. Realistically, the leader in any category is oftentimes the brand that is not line extended. Although a lot of marketers disagree with this viewpoint, many real examples have proven that line extension is always a loser in the long term. But unfortunately, when a company becomes successful, it plants the seeds for its potential issues in future such as line extension which isn’t really necessary.
“Based on my analysis, it is clear that increasing the sales volume is a very practical and reasonable strategy. What’s more, Milan is the best shopping destination in Italy.”
