2. Market Research- By doing some market research, Monki have a clear insight into their target market.
Monki’s target audience is women age between 16-27, who live in more urban areas. It is expected that
their typical consumer expresses themselves through what they wear. They will be a regular visitor to
online shops, and life style and fashion blogs for inspiration. They will most lively use social media. Below
are some key segments on their target audience from Monki’s marketing plan.
Knowing this effects the different media that they use to communicate with their audience. They will
typically use social media like Facebook, that their audience will most likely use. Most of their
communication with their audience is done digitally, as that is where they will be most likely to look. Their
age also affects the price of their clothing, as a younger audience will be more likely to purchase good
value clothing. Monki only have a few stores dotted globally. All of their stores are situated in big cities,
such as London, Tokyo, Beijing, Paris and Berlin. This is a reflection of the types of areas it is expected that
their audience will be living.
3. Market analysis- Monki has undergone a SWOT analysis from their marketing team. This
stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. They have clearly established
weaknesses in their online store. At the time of the analysis the online shop was undeveloped.
It was suggested to them to develop the online store, making it an interesting, interactive
experience for the customer. They also suggested that there was only a one way
communication system with the customer. Customers were unable to share or give feedback
to Monki. An opportunity that the found was to develop and implement a Monki app. Below
are some key segments from the marketing plan explaining about the finding from the SWOT
analysis.
4. Market strategy- They state that their aim is to be competition price oriented, meaning that
they are competing with other stores to have the best deals on offer. One way in which they
have suggested they will make their prices more appealing is by introducing a 10% off
student discount, and discount offers for members and repeat users. They also have free
shipping to people who spend over a certain amount, and fixed geographic segment pricing.
Monki’s marketing plan states that they are expecting a 10% rise in market share and 40%
rise in visitors to their online store, just by using cookies and personalized “My Monki”.
Monki uses “Salesforce”, which helps them to manage their customer relationship. They
have predicted that by using this software, they can increase their sales by 20%. Below is
where they have stated this in their marketing plan.
5. Positive Publicity- Monki supports Plan International’s campaign Because I am a Girl. The campaign
supports the education of girls in some of the poorest countries. For every tote bag they sell, 50p of it
goes to the campaign. This makes them look good, and shows their consumers how ethical they are.
There is a brief article on this at gumballmag.com. Below is a segment from the article.
Another bit of positivity publicity for Monki is when Glamour magazine posted about how celebrity
Vanessa White was at a Monki store launch.
Managing the message- Monki states that their own code of conduct is no child labour, no forced
labour, no discrimination, no excessive overtime, payment is at least minimum wage, safe and healthy
working conditions, a legally binding employment contract, environmental responsibility and freedom
of association (unions etc). By stating their high standards of ethics clearly on their website shows to
their audience that they are proud of the way that they work, and they aren’t trying to hide anything.
Below shows where there website stated there code of conduct.
6. Brand promotion- They plan to cross-link their
website with related blogs, or social media
pages. This will catch the attention of their
potential customers. They also plan to hold
competitions for their followers on social media.
This will encourage people to share the brand
name, increasing the awareness of the brand
and encouraging people to get more involved in
the brand.
Monki do not have associations with particularly
big celebrities, though on there website they do
feature more internet famous people, (fashion,
lifestyle bloggers etc) wearing their clothing.
Under there monkistyle section you can find a
range of pictures of bloggers who have posted
themselves wearing Monki clothing.
7. Organizing events- Monki have previously held events in their store. Most recently a
shopping event in there Amsterdam store, joined by some members of the press. This will
get people excited and involved in the brand, and the press will raise awareness of the
brand, and perhaps encourage people to attend future events by them. They posted
about it on their facebook page.
9. 9
Advertising- Nike’s advertising campaign “Just Do It” has
been made about equally as famous as the brand itself. The
campaign launched in 1988, and was aimed to target
everyone, regardless of age, gender or fitness level. This I
think would be a difficult target, however would be
incredibly beneficial to the company if they could achieve
this, as attracting a broad audience would mean more
potential customers. With the Just Do It campaign, Nike
managed to increase their share of the North American
sports shoe market from 18% to 43%.
Here are a few screen shots from a Nike advert from last
year.
The advert features two groups of normal lads on a
football pitch. They all turn into famous football players
and play a match against each other. The pitch that they
are on turns into a stadium, with a huge crowd watching
them. Rather than “Just Do It”, they show the slogan “RISK
EVERYTHING” at the end of the advert. I think that the
advert reflects who their target audience might aspire to
be. They have used celebrity endorsement to make their
target audience feel as if they would be like hose
celebrities if they wore Nike. Unlike the Just Do It
campaign in 1988, they definitely have a narrower
10. 10
target audience in mind. From the advert, I think that their target audience would be young men of
different ethnicities from urban areas, who have an interest in football.
11. 11
Spin- Nike has faced a lot of criticism for its use of sweatshops. They have been accused of
below minimum wage pay, forced over time, and abuse if workers refuse to work the over
time.
William Stepp of the Mises institute has stated that he think “minimum wage is arbitrary and
causes unemployment.”
William Stepp, through the media, has tried to turn the horrible things that Nike have done,
into something he though would be excusable.
William Stepp also wrote a story for the Mises institute’s website, about Jonah Peretti, who
asked Nike to personalise a pair of shoes with the word “sweatshop” in protest against them.
Stepp argued that because the workers turned up for work every day and accepted their pay
cheques, that they must not be being exploited by their employers. Below is a segment from
the article Stepp wrote.
This is an example of Spin, as William Stepp has tried to take Jonah Peretti’s fair protest
against Nike, and make him out to be irrational and ignorant.
12. 12
Damage Limitation-It is said that owning up and taking responsibility for your actions is
the best form of damage limitation. By reacting fast to negative press, people are more
likely to see you as trust worthy and responsible.
The Guardian did a report on Nike, and its abuse towards its workers. Nike published a
report that it had made some false claims about how well the factory workers were
being treated. Although Nikes actions were terrible, because they acted fast and
confessed to their actions rather than hiding it for a long period of time, they were
praised by Michael Posner, the executive director of Human Rights First, for their
transparency. The quote from the Guardian article is below.
They have now hired 97 people to randomly inspect the several hundred of the Nike
factories each year. This shows their customers that they have seen the error of their
ways, and are trying to show that they are making improvements.
13. 13
Lobbying- Back in 2011/12, Nike spend thousands of dollars on lobbyists. It was reported
that they spent $96,806 in 2011, and $115,795 in 2012. They were using them to persuade
governor John Kitzhaber to pass a bill that would give Nike a tax deal. This bill was
approved, and Nike was granted 30 years of “tax certainty”.
watchdog.org published a report on this. Below are a few quotes on the matter, taken from
the watchdog report.
