Brand Marketing Program to Build Equity for Ted Baker UK

Brand Marketing Program for Ted Baker UK
Website:  /uk?country=GB
Executive Summary
In the fashion apparel (clothing) industry, consumer purchase decisions are dependent on several factors, with one factor being brand equity as it creates an identity for the product. Therefore, many companies tend to focus on branding activities so that product gains recognition and sales increase. This report analyses the brand marketing of one such company is the UK based fashion retailer Ted Baker, that although has a rich legacy, is struggling as many alternatives are available for consumers and are also more budget-friendly.
Based on the above analysis, this report suggests three approaches (online presence, influencer marketing, and discounting) to enhance brand equity over the period January 2022- December 2023.
Introduction
According to Ondogan (2016), in the clothing industry, brand plays a key role in influencing consumer preference as it creates an identity for the brand. Also, creating a brand is a time-consuming and costly process and requires significant effort (Ondogan, 2016). Therefore, a brand marketing program is being planned for the UK Clothing brand, Ted Baker, to develop its brand equity.
This program is preceded by an analysis of existing branding activities to understand issues faced by the brand so that the brand marketing program can be designed effectively.
Branding Statement of the Company
Ted Baker is a UK-based clothing fashion company with a focus on high street fashion through its approximately 500 stores globally (Ted Baker, 2021). The branding statement of the company is presented below.
Figure 1: Branding Statement of Ted Baker (Source: Ted Baker, 2021)
Brand Analysis
According to theory of brand loyalty as argued by Kumar et al. (2013), brand loyalty is not a single-dimensional aspect as it is not only dependent on the product/service but also the behaviour and attitude of the consumer. As per these dimensions, if consumers have a special interest in a particular brand, they will purchase the product and not attempt to acquire other brands. This applied to Ted Baker in the 1990s as it was a preferred brand for young professionals in the UK as it offered clothes that could be considered more smart than casual (Bremly, 2019). However, with the rise in new brands, Ted Baker is witnessing diminished brand loyalty amongst its consumers. The prima facia reason is the availability of various brands for specific purposes: For fast fashion, there are Mango and Zara, for staples, there is Uniqlo, for smart office attire there is Reiss, and for occasion wear there is Whistles. Also, several Scandinavian brands including Arket and Cos offer on-trend minimalistic fashion.
Han et al (2015) argued that according to value based brand theory, for customers to be loyal to a brand, it must create value for the customer. As mentioned earlier, consumers now have various alternatives to Ted Baker. Also, consumer budgets have been reduced and other brands offer cheaper and more stylish alternatives than Ted Baker. Ted Baker as a brand is rigid as it offers some kind of clothes even though today's fashion is rapidly changing with Instagram leading the fashion and not following it. Other brands li...