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    Branding Apparel

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    Renji George
    Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing retailer that has become one of the largest brands in Japan. It is expanding globally and entered the UK market in 2001 and US market in 2005. Branding is important in the apparel industry because clothing allows people to express themselves. Apparel brands provide a way for consumers to express their identity. Uniqlo's philosophy puts customers first before the brand by not emphasizing their logo and allowing clothing to be mixed with other brands. This approach is different from other apparel brands that focus on branding and self-expression. It remains to be seen if this strategy will be successful against strong competition in the apparel industry.

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    Branding Apparel

    Uploaded by

    Renji George
    50 views1 page
    Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing retailer that has become one of the largest brands in Japan. It is expanding globally and entered the UK market in 2001 and US market in 2005. Branding is important in the apparel industry because clothing allows people to express themselves. Apparel brands provide a way for consumers to express their identity. Uniqlo's philosophy puts customers first before the brand by not emphasizing their logo and allowing clothing to be mixed with other brands. This approach is different from other apparel brands that focus on branding and self-expression. It remains to be seen if this strategy will be successful against strong competition in the apparel industry.

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    Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing retailer that has become one of the largest brands in Japan. It is expanding globally and entered the UK market in 2001 and US market in 2005. Branding is important in the apparel industry because clothing allows people to express themselves. Apparel brands provide a way for consumers to express their identity. Uniqlo's philosophy puts customers first before the brand by not emphasizing their logo and allowing clothing to be mixed with other brands. This approach is different from other apparel brands that focus on branding and self-expression. It remains to be seen if this strategy will be successful against strong competition in the apparel industry.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    50 views1 page

    Branding Apparel

    Uploaded by

    Renji George
    Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing retailer that has become one of the largest brands in Japan. It is expanding globally and entered the UK market in 2001 and US market in 2005. Branding is important in the apparel industry because clothing allows people to express themselves. Apparel brands provide a way for consumers to express their identity. Uniqlo's philosophy puts customers first before the brand by not emphasizing their logo and allowing clothing to be mixed with other brands. This approach is different from other apparel brands that focus on branding and self-expression. It remains to be seen if this strategy will be successful against strong competition in the apparel industry.

    Copyright:

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    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Uniqlo - Is branding important in the apparel industry?

    Uniqlo, a name formed by the fusion of two words Unique and Clothing, is usually referred
    to as Japanese version of Gap. Founded in 1995 by Tadashi Yanai, Uniqlo has become the
    number one brand among the Japanese retailers with more than 700 stores and a revenue
    totaling US$3.5 billion in 2005. In its bid to become one of the global giants in apparel, the
    company started to expand globally. In 2001 it entered the UK market and in late 2005
    entered the US market.

    The Uniqlo story is different and interesting at the same time because of its underlying
    philosophy of people before brand. What does it mean and what are its implications for the
    brand?

    Literally every sector of the industry is proliferated with brands - regional, national and
    international - and the apparel industry is no exception. The US apparel industry is probably
    one of the most competitive apparel markets in the world. This ultra competition makes it a
    perfect place for brands to thrive.

    One of the main reasons for the tremendous success of branding and also the presence of a
    great many number of brands in the apparel industry is because apparels are very self-
    expressive products. People use clothing as a major avenue to express their sense of self to
    the world. Coincidentally, one of the main functions of a successful brand is to provide a
    channel for the consumer to express himself. As such, branding becomes more important in
    the apparel sector than in many other sectors as the symbolic value is very high.

    If Uniqlo's brand philosophy is analyzed in this background, it makes for a really intriguing
    case. When the brand entered the US market in late 2005, it did that by opening three stores
    in a New Jersey mall. The brand created the initial awareness in the market place by using
    news paper inserts that displayed its variety of clothes and the low price. But to create a
    distinctive position the brand follows a position where it puts the customer before the brand.
    The CEO of Uniqlo USA Nobuo Domae says: "We are selling jeans, not style, we don't want
    to push our brand logo, and you can combine our clothing with other brands". This is very
    different from what one hears in the industry. By not emphasizing the brand image and
    identity aspects, Uniqlo might be making a mistake.

    Playing in a sector where self expression, fashion, symbolic value and self-expression are sky
    high, brands and strong brand identities provide a channel for consumers to achieve all of the
    above parameters. Uniqlo, by emphasizing low price and high quality is hoping to win the
    race. Time will tell whether this strategy will be successful and can sustain pressure from new
    brands and tough competition.

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