Impacts on Marketing Strategies for Forever 21

Introduction

Marketing strategic planning is important for all the multinational corporate firms in order to expand their business and promote the organisational products and services successfully in the market (Heinze et al., 2016). In the recent era of globalisation, all the companies are trying to switch their marketing tactics from the traditional media to digital media strategy in order to engage with a huge range of social communities as well as establish the business strategically in the market (Ozuem, 2016). The aim of the study is to analyse the changing behaviour of the existing consumers of the organisation as well as identify the impacts of the changes in consumer behaviour on the organisational marketing strategic planning. The study also provides a scope to recommend some suitable suggestions for the organisation Forever 21, where changing consumer behaviour would influence the brand to restructure their marketing tactics for strengthening their customer’s base.

Organisational background

Forever 21, is the American fast fashion retailers, which is successful to provide quality products including clothing and accessories. The fashionable products and the quality the major success factors of the brand Forever 21 where the customers can get quality and fashionable products according to their needs and preferences. the company expands their business throughout 623 locations and the employees are efficient where there are more than 33000 employees who manage the organisational operations in order to handle their customers base and deliver high quality fashionable product at effective price so that it is possible for the brand Forever 21 to maximise customer satisfaction and improve their shopping experience for the quality products an efficient services of the brand Forever 21. In the recent years, there is changing preferences of the customer towards digital media and online shopping where the firm should focus on restructuring their digital media strategy in order to strengthen their customer’s base and retain their old as well as new customers across the market. The company is also efficient to expand their business through store expansion strategy where the company focuses on establishing the brand Forever 21 through physical store, where there are different stores across Europe, Asia, America and Oceania (Forever 21, 2019).

Significant change in the behaviour of the existing consumers

Consumer behaviour is the practice, where it is possible to acknowledge the actual needs and preferences of the customers in the market and in this regard, it is necessary for the organisation to analyse the changing perspectives of the consumers in the market which in turn provides a scope to the organisation to develop effective tactics to attract the audiences and retain them for long run. In his regard, in order to assess the changes in customer’s behaviour, it is necessity to identify the factors such as customer’s expectations, engage prospects evaluate the process of the customer’s service management of the firms as well as look in to the future prospect of the firm for creating values for the customers. In the recent era globalisation and also digitalisation, all the customers prefer online services and they are willing to get suitable services directly from their home. Hereby, this is a major change in the customer behaviour in fashion industry, where the customers in the recent years are not willing to go to the shop of the companies and enjoy the physical presence of the products rather than, the customers prefer online shopping and they are willing to make effective purchase decision online (Hollensen, Kotler and Opresnik, 2017).

The beliefs, decisions as well as attitude and the preferences of the customers are important for analysing the major change, where it is necessary for the company Forever 21 to identify and acknowledge the actual needs and personal preferences of the buyers in the market. In this regard, it can be stated that the customers in the recent era of globalisation believe that, the online purchase is effective where they can get branded products and quality products of Forever 21 through online shopping. Secondly, the customer’s preferences shifted towards online shopping in such a digital era, where the customers are willing to make effective purchase decision, where every buyer try to make effective decision after identifying he product options and monitor the product review. Through the online shopping, the customers can get different options and compare the price and quality of the products online and apart from that the customer also can identify the product review where other consumers can share their experience after using the products. These are major benefits for which the customers in the recent years try to switch their preferences towards digital media, from where they can get appropriate information and data related to the organisation as well as the products quality and pricing. The decisions of the customer are hereby changing day to day where the consumers try to make the appropriate purchase decision after reviewing the products online and analysing the quality and reliability of the products. In the online sites, the customers can also review the alternative substitute products from where they can get better idea before making the purchase decision (Richardson, Choong and Parker, 2016).

Apart from that, another reason that the customers prefer digital media for buying the products of Forever 21 is that they can opt for different products according to their budget constraint, where they can review the prices of the products and the available substitute products in the market. Additionally, the customers prefer to make safe payments through the online website of the company Forever 21 as well as e-commerce services where the consumers can make easy payments for the purchase of the organisational products, they don’t need to suffer for any payments and they can transfer money for successful purchase of the products. In addition to these, the customer’s preferences are changing towards digital media and the online shopping activities, where the customers can get the quality products as per the products, seen on the company website where authenticity and reliability of the products are maintained by the organisation. As well as, the customers can get the products directly at their place without any disturbance and product defaults, for which the consumers in the recent years prefer digital media and online shopping activities in order to make easy payments and make effective purchase decision for the quality products of the organisation Forever 21 after reviewing the price and products quality.

Additionally, the customer’s attitude is also changing, where the customers try to engage with the representatives of the brand Forever 21, in order to improve trust and loyalty where the customers can connect with the representative of the brand Forever 21 in any time according to their preferences which in turn helps to improve strong relationship with the customers. Hereby, the customers prefer online activities and get proper assistance and support from the representatives of the brand Forever 21, where they can get support and cooperation for choosing the right organisational products as well as they can share their feeling and resolve their queries with proper collaboration with the representatives of Forever 21. Hereby, the digital media and the online shopping activities are the major change in the consumer’s behaviour, where in the recent era of globalisation, the customers of the brand Forever 21 prefer online shopping activities and they aim to build strong relationship with respect and mutual trust in order to maximise their shopping experience. Additionally, the customers also can track their products through dispatch, to delivery options, where the customers can get the right product within right time. these are the major reason for which the he customers change their preferences from traditional shopping towards the online shopping activities and it is necessary for the organisation Forever 21 to improve and redesign their marketing strategic planning in order to attract the online audiences ad online social communities as a whole in order to sustain in the fashion industry across the globe as well as gain high competitive advantage and market share in the fashion industry.

Impacts of the change on marketing activities of the organisation

The above mentioned change in the consumer’s behaviour is effective for the organisation to restructure the marketing tactics in order to strengthen their customer’s base (Richardson, Choong and Parker, 2016). The customer’s preferences of the existing customers of the brand Forever 21 is also changing in the recent era digitalisation and globalisation, where all the customers prefer online shopping and make easy and safe payment for getting the right and quality products of the brand. In this regard, the changing preferences of the customers are beneficial for the organisation to attract the social communities across the globe where they can retain the customers in the fashion industry. The brand also can be beneficial for such change in consumer’s behaviour, where the organisation can promote the organisational products and services at the fashion industry through digital marketing strategic planning, where they can attract the online buyers successfully. Apart from that, the changing needs and preferences of the customers are beneficial for the brand Forever 21 in order to improve the online activities where digitalisation of the business can be possible.

The digital media marketing strategic planning can be developed through the strategic change in the brand Forever 21, where the company can represent the business efficiently in the market as well as it is possible for the organisation to strengthen their customer’s base. Through restructuring the digital media marketing strategy, the company can promote the products in the fashion industry and attract the customers who love innovative and quality fashionable products including clothing and accessories. The marketing strategic planning is also advantageous for the organisation in order to manage the marketing activities and improve the brand visibility in the market (Keegan and Rowley, 2017). Through the digital marketing strategy, it is also possible for the brand Forever 21 to target the audiences including men and woman who love fashionable outfits and accessories ad apart from that the digital marketing strategic planning would be beneficial for the organisation to fulfil the expectations of the customers and cooperate with the consumers for better purchase decision making behaviour.

Additionally, the marketing strategic planning of the organisation is also effective where the organisation Forever 21 can strengthen their customers base and retain the old as well as new customers in the market here the online activities and digital media marketing would be effective for Forever 21 in order to maximise customer satisfaction and fulfil the expectation of the buyers where the firm can cooperate with the customers and provide efficient services to all the buyers through online activities. Hereby, the customer’s recent change in the purchase behaviour and attitude toward decision making activities have direct impacts on the brand Forever 21 where the company aim to restructure their marketing activities in order to meet the customer’s expectations and restructure the branding strategy so that the company can establish the business efficiently in the fashion industry across the globe and strengthen the customers base for sustaining in the business.

The customer’s changing preferences towards fashionable quality products and online shopping activities further affects the strategic planning of the company Forever 21 as the changing expectation toward online activities influence the brand to develop effective digital media marketing strategic planning in order to improve the branding decision and raise visibility of the firm in the market. hereby, the current marketing activities of the firm Forever 21 should be changed towards digital media marketing as the customers in the recent era of globalisation prefer online shopping activities and the try to gather latest information and new directly from the online activities and thus the changing customer behaviour influence the brand Forever 21 to develop digital media strategic planning in order to establish the brand successfully and retain the new as well as old customers in near future in order to sustain in the global fashion industry and gain high competitive advantage in the market.

Recommended suggestions for organisation’s marketing strategy

Digital media marketing strategy is the tactics of the multinational corporate firms in order to maximise the business objectives and aims as well as improve branding strategy to establish the company in the market. In this regard, it is necessary for the brand Forever 21 to restructure their marketing tactics as well as develop effective planning for promoting the organisational products and service as per the consumer’s trend (Olson et al., 2018). In the recent era of globalisation, the customers changing preferences towards online shopping and gathering online information further influence the brand Forever 21 to digitalise the organisation and secure future sustainable growth of the business (Kingsnorth, 2019). In this context, the suggested recommendations will be discussed further through which the company Forever 21 would be able to strengthen their customer’s base and make the business successful. In this regard, content marketing is one of the effective ways for digital marketing were attractive content is helpful to create digital content for online articles an blogs, from which, the customers can gather adequate information and data related to the organisational products and services. Apart from that, the company should focus on YouTube channel, which is effective social media channel where the company needs to create attractive video related to the organisational products quality and process as well as innovation and creativity so that the firm can promote the firm in the fashion industry successfully. Additionally, FaceBook is another platform, where two way communication can be built and the organisation Forever 21 must focus on developing effective content and upload pictures n FaceBook in order to target the audiences and attract different social communities across the globe. In this context, the company needs to develop FaceBook page which shows daily updates according to the available products and services, activities of the firm and seasonal offers so that it would target the audiences successfully.

Apart from that, the company needs to focus on email marketing which is effective for digital marketing and establishment of the company and in this regard, the organisation Forever 21 needs to handle the organisational data base and manage the customers online. Additionally, it is necessary to send personalise email to the customers (Key and Czaplewski, 2017). This is effective tactics to develop trust and loyalty among the customers as well as retain the old as well as new customers in the market. On the other hand, the company needs to develop personal website, where the customers can review their products and get proper assistance during making the purchase decision. Easy handing website must be created with easy and catchy content and proper pictures and description of the products. This content is effective to attract the customers and share the product information where the consumers can access the product and check the availability of the products according to their taste and preferences. Additionally, the representative of the organisation Forever 21 needs to be efficient to provide 24*7 services to the customers so that the customers can get proper assistance and support ad they can make effective purchase decisions according to their choice and preferences. The company also make easy options for the payments online through their company website so that the customers can feel free to make purchase and transfer their money for successful payments.

Additionally, in order to fulfil the changing preferences of the customers, the company should focus on developing mobile application for the customers. In the rennet years, people prefer online activities and they gather new and latest updates through online sites and apart from that, all the customers prefer Smartphone activities for their daily activities, booking or payments. In this context, it would be beneficial for the organisation Forever 21 to create mobile application, through which the customers can access the organisational products and services from their Smartphone this is one of the effective ways and easy method to attract the customers where the consumers can access the products and review the products for making effective purchase decision. Additionally, the company also needs to focus on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which is the process of maximising the numbers of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of searches by the search engine. Giving proper title and description of the page, relate all the content with proper pictures and choosing right URL are necessary for the company to improve SEO and promote the brand in the market so that it can establish the brand and attract the audiences successfully (Hapsari, Stoffers and Gunawan, 2017). The company in their regard also needs to focus on paid advertisement on social media as the social media is an effective platform where two-way conversation can be built properly. In this regard, the organisation can enhance their online presence and attract the audiences across the global fashion industry on the other hand, there is another strategy through which the company can establish the brand and improve their digital media strategy which is social media campaigning. It is one of the effective ways to improve branding and increase online presence of the company and in this regard, the company needs to arrange online campaigning to promote the brand in the fashion industry and share the information related to the products and services in the organisation.

Conclusion

In the recent era of globalisation and digitalisation, the customers are changing their preferences while making purchasing decision where the consumers prefer online shopping activities and gathering information through online. hereby the changing preferences of the customers further influence the brand Forever 21 to digitalise the business and improve their digital media marketing strategy in order to promote their business and strengthen their customers base strategically to enhance their performance in the market. In this context, the strategic planning of blogs, Twitter, digital content development, social media campaigning, social media advertisement, developing company website efficiently, creating mobile application for the brand Forever 21 would be beneficial to improve their branding and develop digital media marketing strategic planning in order to sustain in the competitive fashion industry across the globe sustainably.

Continue your exploration of Digital Marketing for Brand Development with our related content.

Reference List

• Forever 21, 2019. About Us. [online] Available at: https://www.forever21.in/content/about_us?source=footer [Accessed 2 January 2020].
• Hapsari, C., Stoffers, J. and Gunawan, A., 2017. The Influence of Perceived Cultural and Business Distance on International Marketing Strategy Decisions; A Case study of Telkom Indonesia International. International Review of Management and Marketing, 7(3), pp.238-245.
• Heinze, A., Fletcher, G., Rashid, T. and Cruz, A., 2016. Digital and social media marketing: a results-driven approach. London: Routledge.
• Hollensen, S., Kotler, P. and Opresnik, M.O., 2017. Social Media Marketing: A Practitioner Guide. Opresnik Management Consulting.
• Keegan, B.J. and Rowley, J., 2017. Evaluation and decision making in social media marketing. Management Decision, 55(1), pp.15-31.
• Key, T.M. and Czaplewski, A.J., 2017. Upstream social marketing strategy: An integrated marketing communications approach. Business Horizons, 60(3), pp.325-333.
• Kingsnorth, S., 2019. Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online marketing. Kogan Page Publishers.
• Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, pp.62-73.
• Ozuem, W., 2016. Competitive social media marketing strategies. London: IGI Global.
• Richardson, P.S., Choong, P. and Parker, M., 2016. Social Media Marketing Strategy: Theory and Research Propositions. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 10(2).