This document tries to explore the importance of brand personality and self concept congruence in the denim industry

Quiz 4: Personality
The Denim Industry

Rishav Kanodia 1211290

[QUIZ 4: PERSONALITY] January 25, 2013

A write-up on the Denim industry focusing on Personality

Why did I choose this product category?
The Indian denim industry is in a very exciting state at this point of time. The market is growing rapidly and is expected to reach $2.1billion by 2015. With the young population in urban and semi-urban areas having higher disposable income and more & more offices allowing for smart casuals, the usage of high end denim in India is set to pick up. If we look at the industry dynamics, differentiation on the basis of tangible attributes is almost impossible to achieve. The key to success seems to lie in the emotional and self-expression benefits that the brand provides to their customers. In this context, brand personality and selfconcept plays an important role in brand adoption. The basic question a marketer has to answer is - how is the consumption behavior affected by readily identifiable personality characteristics. Studies have shown that the way you dress is a reflection of the way you are. The customers view dressing as a way to express themselves. So personality plays an important role in determining their choices. Some people try to appear sincere, some hip and cool while others sophisticated. Any marketer needs to understand the reasons behind those choices in order to create a line of offerings that appeal to a large segment of the market. Moreover, this industry gives a vast space to understand how the different concepts related to personality like ethnocentrism, self-concept congruence etc. have been used by the different players in the market. This made it an easy pick for me to further probe and explore.

Submitted by: Rishav Kanodia, 1211290

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[QUIZ 4: PERSONALITY] January 25, 2013

Examples of brands in the Denim Industry:

Levi Strauss & Co: Levi Strauss & Co. personifies itself as a brand for mavericks and loners who identify with challengers to orthodoxy. The personality of the brand is more individualistic, hip, edgy and trendy. It portrays rebellion, sensuality and being cool. The brand has changed a lot over time and recently it came up with the Change your world campaign advertising itself to the people of entrepreneurial nature who are risk takers and not afraid to try out new things i.e. the focusing on the consumer innovativeness. Lee Jeans: Lee Jeans is conjuring up the image of the young American whom everybody admires. The intention is to establish its heritage and the American character of the brand. Its latest advertisement is directed at men and based on Dont settle for less targeting the aspirational consumers. Its not for the masses ad gives the feeling of exclusivity. Pepe Jeans: Pepe Jeans is communicating the persona of the urban, sophisticated European as opposed to the all American hunk, to appeal to a different breed of buyers. They are trying to create a classy, chic and trendy personality in the European way. Wrangler: Dupont Sportswear, which markets Wrangler jeans, is targeting the young college goers by projecting itself as a more outgoing and rough & tough kind of a brand. It tries to create a resonance with the free willed animal spirit inside us. Zodiac: It uses the formal, elegant and professional look and targets the employed persons by projecting the fact the brand helps you make an impression in office. Ruf and Tuf: Indian consumers in the semi-urban area who had high aspirational values could not afford the multi-national brands and were in need of a good quality product to avoid buying cheap clones. Ruf-and-Tuf exploited the ethnocentrism aspect by associating it with an Indian celebrity and giving a sense of Indianness to the brand.

Submitted by: Rishav Kanodia, 1211290

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[QUIZ 4: PERSONALITY] January 25, 2013

Using personality concepts to enhance Brand Image: Levi Strauss & Co

The target segment of Levis is consumers in the age group of 15-39. The brand projects itself as a premium brand and is directed towards youth. Most of the people in India who buy Levis are the people from the fledging IT and BPO industry and young college goers with high aspirations. If we look at the needs of the target segment of the brand: The extrinsic needs of the consumers of this product are the status symbol, exclusivity and uniqueness. The intrinsic need of the consumer is the comfort and fit associated with the product. By providing an offering that unique, exclusive and values the intrinsic needs of the consumers can help it make a gain in such a competitive landscape. The notion of self-image congruence states that the consumer preference is determined by the cognitive matching between the user self-image and the brand image. The denim is an expression of the person you are. The target segment of Levis sees itself as one who is individualistic, is rebellious, likes freedom and has high aspirational values. Levis can make a play on the actual self-concept of the target segment and draw them towards itself by communicating the values it represents. In order to capture the imagination of the young crowd the brand is targeting, it needs to create an emotional connect with its target segment. The brand needs to communicate that it represents what is hip, cool, carefree and is a reflection of the people who are trend setters. Even the hedonic aspects like pleasure (the ID component of the personality) propagated through internet can play a role in drawing in this target segment (consumers of the brand are more permissive in nature). The target segment is very aspirational in nature and western in its outlook. Hence, the brand can leverage the country of origin effect by branding itself as the authentic denim from America. The most important point for Levis is to keep itself relevant in such a fast changing industry. Creating an image that is seen to be fashionable, desirable and having a degree of exclusivity, is vital for attacking the designer end of the jeans market. And this can only be done by reinforcing brand beliefs and forming strong brand associations with its customer base.

Submitted by: Rishav Kanodia, 1211290

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