Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch

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Marketing strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – A&F Marketing: Abercrombie and Fitch is an American source brand that is well-known for its youthful and fashionable image. There are retail stores throughout the US and around the Globe in the major nations. It is referred to as a brand that is a lifestyle brand due to how it markets its products through its lifestyle differentiation. 

Did You Know About Abercrombie and Fitch?

[wp-svg-icons icon=”office” wrap=”I”] Company : Abercrombie and Fitch

[wp-svg-icons icon=”user” wrap=”I”] CEO: Fran Horowitz

[wp-svg-icons icon=”user” wrap=”I”] Founder:  David T. Abercrombie | Ezra Fitch

[wp-svg-icons icon=”calendar” wrap=”I”] Year founded:  June 4, 1892

[wp-svg-icons icon=”location-2″ wrap=”I”] Headquarters: Manhattan, New York, NY

[wp-svg-icons icon=”stats” wrap=”I”] Annual Revenue:  US$ 3.13 billion

[wp-svg-icons icon=”bars” wrap=”i”] Profit | Net income: US$ -114.02 million

[wp-svg-icons icon=”pie” wrap=”i”] Products & Services: Apparel, accessories, personal care, footwear

[wp-svg-icons icon=”pacman” wrap=”I”] Competitors: American Eagle Outfitters | Aeropostale |  Gap Inc. | DSW  |  J. Crew. | Uniqlo | Dior | Chanel

[wp-svg-icons icon=”globe” wrap=”I”] Website:  www.abercrombie.com

Abercrombie and Fitch Fun Fact: Abercrombie & Fitch believes that every day should feel as exceptional as the start of the long weekend. Since 1892, the brand has been a specialty retailer of quality apparel, outerwear and fragrance – designed to inspire our global customers to feel confident, be comfortable and face their Fierce.

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

The brand’s primary focus is on the younger segment. But, due to its depiction of youth, the brand is loved by both men and women of all different ages. The primary group of the brand is the upscale audience. To appeal to the lifestyle and upscale people, Abercrombie and Fitch have put a lot of money into its stores, and brand ambassadors as well as marketing to make sure that the lifestyle-conscious crowd enjoys the brand. 

While A&F had a goal of placing itself at the Top of Mind but it has not achieved the same. Ten years ago, A&F marketing was strong and therefore was able to achieve Top Of Mind Awareness. Today, however, the brand has lost the “cool” and “hip” appeal and is doing very well generally, but not at the same rate as it had 10 years ago. In 2014, the brand reported the biggest loss. It also lost its top position since the younger generation does not connect with the brand. 

Abercrombie and Fitch Mission Statement

“Abercrombie and Fitch focus upon high-quality merchandise that compliments the casual classic American lifestyle.”

Abercrombie and Fitch Vision Statement

Abercrombie & Fitch believes that every day should feel as exceptional as the start of the long weekend.

Abercrombie and Fitch Tagline

“This Is Abercrombie & Fitch,”

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – Competitive Advantage

the brand has a substantial retail presence across the US as well as around the globe. It is well-known for its clothing specifically designed for youth as well as the design and quality of its clothes. 

With three brands: A&F, A&F kids, and Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch target children and young children aged 13-18, and young people too. The complete entire life-cycle of a child’s life up to his teen years is covered under the three brand names that are Abercrombie and Fitch. It also covers a variety of aspects of the lifestyle segment through clothing, clothing, and other items within the collection. 

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – BCG Matrix

the retail industry is a Star. This is because the sales share that is held by Abercrombie and Fitch is dropping over the past few years, yet it has a substantial share of market share and an excellent market presence. To keep its market share, it needs to promote and promote itself extensively. 

Furthermore, when we look at the rivals for A&F We see that Tommy Hilfiger appears to be an extremely close brand that is losing market share and growing rapidly. Thus it’s clear that the market share is so that costs of A&F advertising will only increase, and not fall. 

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – Distribution Strategy

the US and has over 400 stores in the US by itself. Around the world, It operates stores across the UK as well as it has stores in the European Union. A&F gets the majority of its revenues from outside the United States due to a variety of problems and challenges within the United States. 

Business experts always state that the issue in A&F’s plan of distribution of A&F is that the distribution strategy was not properly planned. It has lost market share in its home country, which happens to be the US because of brand reasons. Outside of the US, it doesn’t have a significant percentage of market share within the Middle East or Asian countries which has impacted the overall revenues for the company. 

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – Brand equity

The equity in the brand for Abercrombie and Fitch has been declining over time, even though its branding efforts are on point. The brand has taken over the entire range of its products portfolio and is focusing on expansion to enhance its brand’s overall visibility and worth in the marketplace. 

As of 2012, the company was ranked 474th globally according to Forbes. However, since 2012 the brand has suffered more brand equity, and is no longer among the top 500 brands in 2016. 

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – Competitive Analysis

The main competition for Abercrombie and Fitch comes from Tommy Hilfiger, Aeropostale, and American Eagle outfitters. 

Analysis of the customer analysis The typical consumer from the name Abercrombie and Fitch is seen as a youthful, athletic person who prefers dressing fashionably and keeping up to date with the most recent trends. The style demands to be light and fresh but not formal or bulky. The consumer should appreciate the casual style for which their jeans and t-shirts are famous. 

Similar to when we go to A&F children, the clothes are generally bought by parents, who ought to be wealthy and be willing to invest an extra bit to outfit their children in the most fashionable styles. 

Marketing Strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch – Promotional Strategy

A&F has employed 3 kinds of promotions with the greatest effectiveness throughout the years. 

1.) The first one is to employ real fashion models at their retail stores to act as representatives of the brand who display the merchandise to the customers. Naturally, it creates a “want” kind of situation in the minds of consumers since the customers would like to see a person as a model. This raises the importance of the brand in minds of customers. 

2.) Most of the advertisements that are run through Abercrombie and Fitch include models in their stores, creating connections between the model representing the brand of the store and the local population who buys. These ads have an obvious subtext of sexuality, as the majority of them are made outdoors, with semi-naked females and males. 

3.) In the initial period in which shopping had reached its highest (And before when the advent of E-commerce began to take off), A&F used to have more exclusive stores, and customers needed to visit to view the clothing and the design. Through the years, A&F has changed its store’s layout and design and has made it more accessible so that interested customers could shop in the window. This has exposed A&F’s outstanding design to a wide range of customers. 

All in all, Abercrombie and Fitch has an overall well-established brand presence but it seems like a brand that requires change and this is exactly the thing A&F did in 2015. The year 2015 saw A&F begin franchising selected companies to expand to areas such as Mexico and other countries. We can expect the same marketing plan from A&F and we would love to witness it rise to the top of the list again, with its high-end positioning as a brand that is marketed to youth. 

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