Marketing mix of Brazilian swimwear

The swimwear market in the United States accounts for approximately 2% of total sales in the women’s US apparel industry. For many years it was dominated by just a few well known brands that were domestically producing their lines. Over the last few years the domestic swimwear production has fallen and this decline is especially attributed to the growth of imported swimwear.[1]

Brazil is part of the group of countries that export swimwear to the United States. The Brazil brand is becoming more valuable in the American swimwear market and Impression Showroom has intensely worked with some Brazilian swimwear companies to capture business opportunities.

This report analyzes the performance of Impression Showroom and the Brazilian swimwear companies that it represents from a marketing perspective. Impression Showroom through the analysis of product, promotion, price and place seeks to identify areas that need to be improved to continue developing a valuable business.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Impression Showroom is a showroom located in the center of the Garment District in New York City. It opened in 2005 and its focus is to introduce Brazilian brands in the American fashion market through public relations events and media placements and consequently, sales. It occupies a floor on the corner of 39th Street and 8th Avenue and the collections are divided in two different areas: accessories which is formed by shoes, handbags and jewelry and fashion, which includes bikinis and clothes.

The showroom started with two Brazilian friends who were living in New York City and shared the love for fashion. They knew some Brazilian companies that wanted to introduce their lines into the American fashion market and then they planned to initiate and also intermediate the relationship between these Brazilian lines and fashion buyers and press editors from the United States. The owners of Impression Showroom started by doing an extensive market research. Based on the analysis, selection and development of plans, they decided which brands they wanted to represent. The showroom was primarily created to help the introduction of these brands to the market through public relations initiatives. Impression Showroom was opened in New York City mainly because of the convenience, considering that the owners lived in the city and secondly because New York City is a fashion capital.

Over the years, Impression Showroom has established great relationships with influential buyers, fashion editors and stylists who have helped the showroom to create a lot of buzz about Brazilian brands in the media. The brands represented by the showroom are targeted to a high end consumer, so the showroom focus is to have its brands featured in magazines such as Vogue, Bazaar and Town and Country which are also targeted to high end customers. More recently, the name of one of the designer that the showroom represents was mentioned in an episode of Gossip Girl which created a buzz and helped the showroom to increase sales. The majority of the brands the showroom works with are sold in such stores as Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

Over the last two years, the showroom has been working more intensely with Brazilian swimwear designers. Impression Showroom increased its focus in swimwear after the analysis of some important facts related to the industry. Studies conducted in 2006, showed that the American swimwear retail market would rise from U$ 12.00 billion to U$ 13.51 billion by 2012.[2] In addition, they observed a large growth in imported swimwear in the United States, which rose 78% from 358 million in 2001 to 638 million in 2006.[3] So, it became clear to Impression Showroom owners that some Brazilian swimwear lines had great potential to compete for a share of the American swimwear import market. Brazilians are known to be proud of their bikinis as much as Americans are proud of their jeans.

INTRODUCTION OF BRAZILIAN SWIMWEAR LINES

All the lines represented by the showroom are made in Brazil. In order to enter the American market, some lines (especially the swimwear ones) had to adapt themselves. Instead of introducing their own lines into the American market as an extension of their internal market, the Brazilian swimwear companies had to plan their entrance.[4] According to CRUZ, some companies usually start to export due to unexpected orders or internal market saturation[5] and do not plan their introduction in foreign markets appropriately.

For the Brazilian swimwear companies to start to export to the American market, some of the lines had to be redesigned. Also, companies had to change the way they promoted themselves, improve international support by assigning a representative in the import country, which in this case was Impression Showroom and evaluate pricing strategies to compete with other well established brands.[6]

Nowadays, all swimwear brands that Impression Showroom represents already have some export activities in the American market. China is the largest supplier of swimwear to the United States[7], however according to Lisa Curran who is a swimwear designer, there are a lot of smaller international designers entering the swim market and there is more competition now. But also according to Curran, it is not only about the big branded names. She affirms that if you have a product that sells, that is the bottom line.[8]

Impression Showroom has been introducing the Brazilian swimwear lines through some public relation initiatives and trade show participations. In order to increase the performance of all swimwear lines represented, the showroom decided to conduct an analysis of some marketing elements to investigate which areas the showroom needs to focus to better perform in the United States.

A group of four marketing elements known as the 4 Ps in marketing were analyzed.[9] Product, promotion, price and place[10] comprehend the marketing mix that can influence buyers and consumers, according to Professor Neil Borden from the Harvard Business School who introduced the term in 1964. [11]

PRODUCT

One element of the marketing mix is the product that in this analysis is swimwear pieces made in Brazil.

Brazilian Swimwear lines have worked to offer what CAVUSGIL and ZOU have mentioned as some characteristics that the product needs to have to better perform when it is exported. The product needs to be unique, it needs to have some cultural characteristic related to its country of origin, it has to technically suit all import requisites and it has to have some export market competitiveness.[12]

For the Brazilian lines, it is very hard to compete with the lines made in China that represent over 25% of the world’s unit swimwear capacity.[13]. In addition to that, China offers competitive prices and the swimwear pieces are made with high technology machines. Brazilians are trying to differentiate by customizing its lines. Considering that China work with a lot of different markets it is hard for them to suit each individual country or order specification, Brazil exports less and can give higher attention to some pre established customer specifications.

PROMOTION

According to BURTON in the Encyclopedia of Business and Finance, promotion is a communication process that takes place between a business and its publics. Also cited by BURTON, there are four basic promotion tools: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and public relations.[14]

Impression Showroom which is a well established showroom in New York City is the company that closely works with the Brazilian swimwear companies intermediating and promoting their products in the American market by especially promoting sales and organizing public relations initiatives.

The showroom promotes sales by participating in trade show fairs. According to CRUZ, the physical contact with the potential customer is very important in order to promote the product, because it attracts more attention and create product awareness.[15] So, the participation in trade show fairs as much as the road trips promoted by Impression Showroom are very important initiatives.

Another promotion tool used by the showroom is public relations that help to develop the image of the Brazilian swimwear products as much as it enhances the credibility of the product. CAVUSGIL and ZOU cited that the possibility to promote the products exported in specialized magazines and newspapers are relevant tools to increase sales[16]. Impression Showroom works closely with influential fashion editors and make sure that accurate information are being disclose.

PRICE

Another element in the marketing mix is price. Pricing the products that will be exported requires an analysis of its competitiveness, production costs and all logistics procedures.

Impression Showroom has employees with great knowledge of all the bureaucratic issues involved with imports to best assist all its clients in order to avoid business mistakes. Also, the showroom has been working intensely with APEX – Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency to make sure that all Brazilian companies comply with US and foreign regulations when importing.

According to AABY and SLATER, another way to differentiate in order to make your price more attractive is to offer to the companies that you are working with some discounts or different ways of payments.[17]

PLACE

Place is the last element of the marketing mix that is analyzed in this report. The right placement of the product is extremely important to achieve satisfactory results. Placement is usually done by intermediaries which in this case is the Impression Showroom.

In the last few years, there has been a move in the swimwear industry to promote and sell swimwear pieces all year long. However, it remains a seasonal business and stores depend on warm temperatures to heat up the consumer demand.[18] Impression Showroom, after analyzing its sales results, concluded that the above statement is true because swimwear sales are higher at the west coast instead of the east coast. Florida and California are the main markets for swimwear and this is probably due to weather conditions. In other words, these areas have a longer summer time compared to other areas in the United States.

CONCLUSION

After the analysis of the four marketing elements of the marketing mix, Impression Showroom concluded that the showroom and the Brazilian swimwear companies represented have been doing a great work related to the product offered, its price and promotion.

KOTLER in his Marketing Management book has stated that the marketing mix decisions must be made to influence the trade channels as well as the final consumers[19]. When talking about place, it is necessary to state that Impression Showroom is facing difficulties to promote the Brazilian swimwear lines in the proper place with the appropriate attention to details due to a lack of an office closer to the right customers. Impression Showroom’s only office is in New York City and it would be helpful to open a second office closer to its west coast customers.

Impression Showroom has made a commitment to represent the Brazilian lines carried all around the United States through the offer of its different services. However, the showroom believes that is not doing a good job communicating with its customers from the west coast through the New York City office. Communication is being made by email, telephone and sporadic business trips. Its goal to keep a close relationship with its clients by providing excellent service requires a higher attention.

By opening an office in the west coast of the United States, Impression Showroom would be able to keep building a reliable relationship with current and potential new customers. The focus of this office would be the swimwear industry. As a result, opportunities to other lines represented may rise and the Impression Showroom will be well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities.

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