Fashion Blog- Sharing my ideas and true opinion.
Hey everyone, so today I decided to talk to you guys about a brand called UNIQLO. Some of you may have heard of it before, while others haven’t. Well to be completely honest with you, I discovered this brand when I moved to the UK, and may I say What a comfortable brand!!
Fig 1
At a first glance, I wasn’t really attracted to try one of their products for the simplest reason-their style is quite basic and I’m more of a trendy person. But, with my mom by my side, she pushed me to buy one of the Heattech underwear shirts because she didn’t want me to get cold, you know how mums are, and I was completely satisfied with it.
Fig 2
So to give you a quick idea of this brand, UNIQLO is a modern Japanese company that became international, ‘inspiring the world to dress casual’ (Roll 2019). They are known for their comfortable, casual, everyday wear and the use of low-key/neutral colours. Their segmentation is divided into multiple categories such as Womenswear, Menswear, Kids and Baby and sub-categories such as accessories, shoes, underwear, knits, sports…
The image of the brand is quite fun, free-spirited, optimistic, under the sign of love and life. I think that they don’t follow a specific trend and I would say that their DNA is actually “Zeitgeist” which actually means “Spirit of time”. It’s a global brand that sells the moment. And you know what? I began to fall in love with the neutrality and the simplistic approach that this brand offers since I love pairing their products with bolder and more daring pieces that are found in my closet. And can we take a moment to discuss the quality of those products? If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume those pieces are top-notch luxury pieces! I would conclude that UNIQLO targets a very large clientele, no matter their country, culture or age, offering them universal products.
Fig 3
UNIQLO could be labeled as a high street brand, since it is affordable while offering good quality products. Its main competitors are Gap, Zara, H&M, and Primark. However, UNIQLO has an advantage over these brands in terms of longevity, quality, and simplicity. Zara and Gap are considered to be expensive for high street brands, but one is fashionable while the other is not. This also applies for Primark and H&M but both fit into the “cheap” category. UNIQLO’s positioning is basic style and moderate pricing, so I would say that Gap is its main rival because they both share the same positioning. In my opinion, what UNIQLO proposes in its products such as fabric innovation and multiple sub categories in its segmentation, could really push the brand forward and get a better positioning.
Fig 4
There is no question that UNIQLO is growing in terms of sales, mass production, distribution, retail, and recognition. Developing new materials with fabric innovators while creating such basic designs makes a great combination for affordable products called “LifeWear” designs. The brand really succeeds in targeting a huge number of customers since it caters for many sizes, nationalities, and age groups. To add to that, the brand is evolving with the world today, being present in the digital world where communication with customers is made easy and quick, (Fastretailing 2019)
Therefore, UNIQLO speaks universal!
Anyways, I’ll see you next week on a new blog entry!
References:
– Agence France-Press (2019) Japan’s Uniqlo pulls ad after South Korean fury [online] available fromhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/21/japans-uniqlo-pulls-ad-south-korean-fury/ [6 february 2020]
– M. Roll (2019) Business and Brand leadership [online] available from https://martinroll.com/resources/articles/strategy/uniqlo-the-strategy-behind-the-global-japanese-fast-fashion-retail-brand/ [6 february 2020]
– UNIQLO Business(2019) UNIQLO Business Model [online] available from https://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/strategy/uniqlobusiness.html [6 february 2020]
Table of illustrations:
Figure1: Japan’s Uniqlo pulls ad after South Korean fury. Source The telegraphe (2019)
Figure2: personal pictures.
Figure3: Ecommerce business plan for Uniqlo. Source Slideshare (2017)
Figure4: UNIQLO Business Model. Source Fastretailing (2019)
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