Prada

Prada S.p.A. (Italian pronunciation: [prada]) is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women (ready-to-wear, leather and fashion accessories, shoes, luggage, perfume etc.), founded in 1913 by Mario Prada. The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a leathergoods shop Fratelli Prada (English: Prada Brothers) in Milan, Italy.[1][2] Initially, the shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks and handbags. Mario Prada did not believe that women should have a role in business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his company. Ironically, Mario's son harbored no interest in the business, so it was his daughter Luisa Prada who took the helm of Prada as his successor, and ran it for almost twenty years. Her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970, eventually taking over for her mother in 1978. Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocone.[1] She met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leathergoods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon after. He advised Miuccia and she followed the adviceon better decisions for the Prada company. It was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to change the existing luggage styles. Miuccia inherited the company in 1978 by which time sales were up to U.S. $450,000. With Bertelli alongside her as business manager, Miuccia was allowed time to implement her creativity onto design.[1] She would go on to incorporate her ideas into the house of Prada that would change it.[1] She released her first set of backpacks and totes in 1979. They were made out of a tough military spec black nylon that her grandfather had used as coverings for steamer trunks. Initial success was not instant, as they were hard to sell due to the lack of advertising and high-prices, but the lines would go on to become her first commercial hit. Next, Miuccia and Bertelli sought out wholesale accounts for the bags in upscale department stores and boutiques worldwide. In 1983, Prada opened a second boutique in Milan reminiscent to the original shop, but with a sleek and modern contrast to it. It was opened in the shopping district of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

STRENGTHS

1. Established Fashion house 2. Known for its quality and unique designs

3. Has a strong association of luxury and premium attached to it 4. Has a strong presence in and around the world 5. Good advertising and branding through print ads

WEAKNESS

1. The brand has severe competition and hence there is high brand switching 2. Limited brand awareness in emerging markets

STRATEGIES BEING EMPLOYED 1. Entrance in emerging markets 2. Capitalising the digital medium to increase its reach where it is not available 3. Tie-up with fashion houses through partnerships to increase awareness 4. Intense Competition in Luxury fashion 5. 2.Easily available substitutes 6. Change in economy which may reduce the dependence on luxury fashion

This is no small task in a highly competitive market, and the country managers role at Prada is fairly all-encompassing, covering finance to retail operations to product advertising and marketing. As ORourke explains her duties: I am ultimately responsible for the running of the business, the profit of the business, making sure we actually have the right staff in the stores to service our clients, which are absolutely number one, and making sure we have the right product. She also sees public relations as a crucial element in doing her job successfully. Public relations is extremely important, so developing relationships with press, making sure we can send out products for photographic shooting to ultimately have exposure in magazines and newspapers, thats been very successful in the last few months. This management of the brand at a local level must always be kept in line with the globally defined and recognised image of the Prada brand a very different approach from marketing a more commercial brand. Having spent time as divisional manager at local brand Lovable, ORourke appreciates the distinction as much as anyone. She explains that while working with the broader audiences inherent in a more commercial brand gives you a lot more scope for flexibility, and allows for the implementation of broader marketing strategies, at an international prestige brand such as Prada it is important to implement plans for

growth and expansion within the explicit guidelines of the global image. In terms of advertising and marketing it is extremely important with any brand that you are with that you uphold the core principles and the core advertising campaign, because that is where you get global strength. So what is the global image of Prada, as far as ORourke is concerned? How does it distinguish itself from the other brands she has worked with? Its a very clever brand. Miuccia Prada, the designer, I guess shes an intelligent women. It has more of a contemporary, slightly architectural feel to the product. ORourke describes the family-owned and run company, its products, in fact everything about it, as brimming over with that wonderful Italian passion. The Pradas are very hands-on in the business. They dont put a collection together unless they absolutely believe in it and Mrs Prada is very big on innovative fabrics, and innovative silhouettes and designs, so that is probably a very strong trademark of hers, explains ORourke. The collections are released every six months and, while the global image of the company remains steady, among individual collections there is a very big change from season to season. Although there will always be what are known as continuative items Prada staples each new season sees such a huge range of products that even for a major outlet like one of the Milan flagship stores it can be very difficult to carry the whole collection at any one time. This means that, while predicting fashion trends is the domain of the designer, predicting what will work best for individual stores falls to Prada management. Here in Australia ORourke would estimate we see approximately 60 percent of what is originally offered. As such, it is essential to identify which of the trends put forward by Miuccia Prada each season will work well in the Australian and New Zealand market, and once that decision has been made to leverage it as best as possible. ORourke stresses how important it is that her team communicates the new look or the key look of the season to her clients: If were going to have the it bag or the it look, we [have to] make a decision on what that is going to be for our market and we really then follow that up with advertising, editorial and in-store visual merchandising, so it becomes a story. REASONS FOR BEING A GLOBAL BRAND In 1913 Mario Prada first introduced the Prada brand into the fashion World in Milan, Italy. Prada outlets can be found World wide and are very influential in the fashion world. Prada is a high class luxury clothing and apparel company. However, the first products by Prada were handbags, suitcases, shoes and trunks with the main focus being high quality leather1. In 1978 Miuccia Prada, Mario's granddaughter, took over the company. During her take over of the company, they had been struggling against competition of Gucci. Prada needed a new look and Miuccia was just the person to help refocus the company on a new look. Though, Miuccia did not have any education in fashion, she did have a degree and political science and a natural knack for designing. The first step

under new management was to regain a foothold against the competition and redesign some of Prada's old favorites. The black classic prada handbag was the first product to help Prada take gain footing against the competition. The handbag was so popular and so expensive that it erupted a large amount of knockoffs that helped Prada become even more popular2. Ten years later Prada entered into the fashion market with the popular and sexual low cut tops and short skirts. The fashion World could not ignore the trendy sexual line of clothes and it helped to make Prada an even more popular company. Prada's first time on the runway in 1989 was very successful. The high quality fabric, basic colors and simple elegance caught the publics eye. Prada's silver triangle symbol at this time became a recognized symbol of upper class elegance.

SOURCES:
http://www.marketingmag.com.au/case-studies/inthespotlightprada-4229/#.UgA2npKl6z0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prada