Gabby Dissertation Final

ZARA BRANDING STRATEGIES IN THE UK 1
An evaluation of the effectiveness of branding strategies used within the UK fashion
industry- Zara
(Name)
(Institution)
TABLE OF NTENTS
1.Introduction/Research Problem...................................................................................................4
1.1 Zara’s Branding Strategy................................................................................................. 5
1.2 Evaluating global retail leaders competitive strategies.........................................7
1.2.1 Zara versus H&M........................................................................................................... 7
1.2.2 Zara versus Gap Inc................................................................................................... 8
1.3 Future Overview................................................................................................................. 8
1.4 Aims and Objectives.......................................................................................................... 8
2.0 Literature Review............................................................................................................................10
2.1 Branding Theory....................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Strategy.............................................................................................................................. 15
2.3 Branding............................................................................................................................ 16
2.3.1 Brand Awareness........................................................................................................ 17
2.3.2 Brand Attitude............................................................................................................... 17
2.3.4 Brand Identity........................................................................................................................... 18
2.3.5 Brand Evolution............................................................................................................ 19
2.4Brand Definitions............................................................................................................. 20
2.5 Brand Affinity................................................................................................................... 23
2.6 Brand Personality........................................................................................................... 26
2.6.1 Aaker’s Brand Personality Construct.......................................................27
3.0 Methodology........................................................................................................................................28
3.1 Research Design...................................................................................................... 29
3.1.1 Research Philosophy............................................................................................... 29
3.1.2 Research Approach................................................................................................... 30
3.1.3 Research Strategy..................................................................................................... 32
3.1.4 Research Ethics........................................................................................................... 33
3.1.5 Methodology limitations....................................................................................... 34

4.0 Findings..................................................................................................................................................34
4.1 Fast Fashion................................................................................................................ 35
4.2 The Textile Industry............................................................................................... 36
4.3 The “Zara Way”.......................................................................................................... 37
4.3.1 Production & Design................................................................................................ 38
4.3.2 Retailing & Store Operations...........................................................................39
4.3.3 Marketing............................................................................................................................ 40
4.4 Pros and Cons of Zara’s (Inditex’s) multi-brand store strategy 42
4.4.1 Advantages of multi-brand strategy..........................................................42
4.4.2 Disadvantages of multi-brand strategy..................................................43
4.5 Zara’s approach to minimize risk of “Cannibalization”..................43
5.0 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................45
6.0 Recommendation............................................................................................................................47
6.1 Overall Recommendation................................................................................... 48
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................................50
1.INTRODUCTION/RESEARCH PROBLEM
In the twenty first century where technological advancements are
rampant, globalization has become an apparent phenomenon in the world
of business. International competition has intensified and therefore every
firm has had to feel the immense pressure from international competitors
in their domestic markets. International marketing refers to business
operations that enable a firm to operate effectively in more than one
country (Ghauri & Cateora, 2014). Zara is a Spanish fashion retail company
that has had immense global success as evidenced by their 2000 stores in
the world’s leading countries in over 80 countries. This success makes
Zara’s global branding strategy a befitting case study to be used by a
variety of global retailers and management experts as well as students.
The growth of social networking among consumers as has been
enabled by technological advancements accrues a wide array of benefits to
retailers and enables them to develop closer relationships with their
customers. Hanlein and Kaplan (2010) posit that social media gives firms
the leverage to engage in direct and timely contact with consumers at a
low cost but achieving higher efficiency levels that could be achieved with
traditional tools of communication. Conventionally consumers have used
social media as a means to interact with other individuals as opposed to
with businesses; however, the average consumer is currently linked to 29
consumer brands on Facebook. The exponential penetration and use of
smartphones and mobile devices as opposed to computers "has placed

retailers, symbolically perhaps, in the palms of consumers’ hands, removing
many former borders and expanding the contexts and times that
engagement can happen". Retailers have leveraged the power of social
media and have developed large followings on sites such as Facebook that
enables them to consistently interact with consumers and deliver brand
specific content to their brand’s central supporters. 86% of the top hundred
online retailers in Europe, as per ComScore’s rating, have developed
outstanding Facebook profiles. This paper will delve into brand identity as a
core concept in the modern business world and establish orchestration and
interaction patterns and evaluate to what extent they need to be
implemented for brands to use social media to gain a competitive
advantage. The questions to be asked are: “What are the processes, skills
and mind-sets of retail brand owners when enacting their brands within
social media?” We shall begin by discussing the tensions between market
and brand orientation and to what extent these tensions are magnified
during the management of online brand identity. How data on Zara was
gathered will be described in the methodology. Data analysis on the
gathered information will identify the points to be considered when making
decisions, highlight the apparent hindrances to brand orientation and
identify the marketing team’s learning processes. The discussion part of
the paper will evaluate the differences between how organizations control
brand content and what the consumers expect of the brand
1.1 ZARA’S BRANDING STRATEGY
Inditex SA controls Zara, a multinational company that is owned by
Amancio Ortega Goana. Inditex is the global leader of clothing retailers
with their market capitalization being approximately €65 billion and Zara
being responsible for around 80% of their revenue (Groucutt & Hopkins,
2015). The unique selling point (USP) for Zara is that they are able to offer
consumers relevant and trendy clothing at an inexpensive price. The
branding strategy that Inditex depends on is largely hinged on Zara, as they
were the first to establish themselves in new foreign markets thereby
enabling other brands to do the same.
Branding is perceived as a complex set of activities and processes.
It is possible to evaluate Zara’s branding process by evaluating three
conceptual theories of branding: entry options, market selection and
motivation. Summers and Frazier (2011) state that the push and pull theory
can be used to explain the motivation factor. Push factors lead a firm
towards looking for opportunities for branding. The push factors for Zara in
particular were the slow nature of growth in consumption, changing
purchase behaviour in Spanish consumers and the maturity of their
domestic market (Matic & Vabale, 2015). Pull factors refer to those
persuasive business conditions in the market; pull factors for Zara were the
rapid development of IT, opening up of countries to investment from foreign
countries, removal of hindrances to exportation, advent of regional blocs
and consequently markets such as the ASEAN FTA and the EU,
homogenization of patterns of consumption in different markets,
globalization and the entry of Spain into the EU (Bharadwaj, et al., 2011).
Zara’s branding process as pertains to selection of markets shows a
consistent pattern that can be expounded via the Uppaala model theory
that is used to explain how brands take steps towards increasing their
activities in other countries (Ghauri & Cateora, 2014). Zara’s first foreign
store was opened in Portugal in in 1988. This initial phase can be referred
to as the “reluctance and trial stage” in which Zara’s orientation can be
referred to as ethnocentric. The consequent phase can be referred to as
“cautious expansion” and this is where Zara further took up globalization
into markets that were close to Spain and whose culture was similar to
Spanish culture. The years between 1989 and 1996 saw Zara opening a
store in Paris, which is considered as the global capital for fashion, and
more stores in Cyprus, Greece, Mexico, Malta, Sweden and Belgium (Lopez,
2009). After achieving considerable success in the markets, Zara took up
the “aggressive expansion strategy” which saw them open up stores in
other countries such as Japan, Argentina, Britain, Brazil, Canada,
Indonesia, and Costa Rica etc. In the new century, Zara expanded into
other international markets such as India, China and Australia (Matic &
Vabale, 2015). In consequent years Zara took to a geocentric market
orientation by using solutions that are specific to the individual market
other than just making replicas of the domestic market in other countries.
The strategy that Zara uses for market entry is hinged on
intermediate and hierarchical modes (Lopez & Fan, 2009). The hierarchical
mode is also known as direct investment and is the riskiest as well as most
costly mode of market entry; several South American and European
markets are characterized by significantly minimal business risk, minimal
socio-cultural distance from Spain and an immense potential for growth.
Zara used intermediate modes and participated in partnerships in India and
Germany as well as franchising in countries such as Andorra, Kuwait and
Puerto Rica etc. in countries that showed high risk and which were
significantly culturally different from Spain and whose markets had lower
potential for growth and whose barriers were considered to be higher. Once
a strategy for entry into the market was determined, Zara adopted the “oil
stain” strategy for expansion where the firm established flagship retail
stores in strategic places within the new market then expanded in the
market.
1.2 EVALUATING GLOBAL RETAIL LEADERS COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES
There are several competitors in the fashion industry who pose a
threat to Zara in regards to business scope, tradition and size with Gap and
H&M being their most formidable rivals. The competitive strategy employed
by Zara is hinged on a number of elemental aspects. Zara has control over
most of the phases of the branding and is a vertically integrated retailer. It
is centered on “fast fashion” and has built its brand around this concept.
Fast fashion as a concept is built around affordability, trendy designs and
minimal time of production as well as distribution. By having highly
fashionable designs Zara is able to be at the forefront of the trend curve
and design, manufacture and supply their clothing lines within a minimal
time period therefore enabling managers to restock efficiently and
effectively.
1.2.1 ZARA VERSUS H&M
Hennes and Mauritz (H&M), a retail fashion company based in
Sweden, is Europe’s biggest and highest valued fashion brand with their
valuation being approximatedly €13 billion (Matic & Vabale, 2015). They are
located in 61 countries and have over 3900 retail stores. Their core concept
is “fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way” (H & M, 2016).
Both brands are very similar when evaluating how they operate within the
fast fashion market. However, Zara is vertically integrated while H&M takes
a different approach by outsourcing production from 700 cloth suppliers.
Zara creates designs by imitating what is trendy within the market and
therefore enables it to maintain a competitive edge within the market by
being aware of the trends currently in circulation and distributing them
quickly to customers. Contrastingly, H&M have two main seasonal
collections: fall and spring, and have other collections seasonally which
they make possible by working with famous designers such as Stella
McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld to catch the eye of the market (Cavusgil, et
al., 2014). Zara’s focus is mainly on fashion show inspired products present
on catwalks around the world while H&M focuses on daily clothes and
street-fashion. Also, H&M uses celebrities for their advertisements whereas
Zara’s advertisement strategy focuses on basic shopping and being able to
meet the needs within the market.
1.2.2 ZARA VERSUS GAP INC.
Gap is a fashion retailer based in San Francisco. The brand was
established in 1969 and is among the world’s leading retail fashion brands
being based in 5 countries (Canada, USA, UK, Japan and France) with 3053
stores (Gap Inc., 2016). They outsource production from 1100 suppliers in
both the United States and abroad unlike Zara (Bharadwaj, et al., 2011).
Unlike Zara, Gap has not adopted an aggressive branding process and has
instead mainly focused on its large revenue source markets. This has seen
them spend a substantial amount of their cost expenditure on
advertisement; unlike Gap, Zara has decided to use their revenue to
establish new stores. Gap has however been going through tumultuous
times owing to the intense nature of competition within the market.

1.3 FUTURE OVERVIEW
Zara’s business model is evidently more tuned for growth and
development into the future as evidenced by the analysis above. Annually
Zara is able to produce 12 to 16 collections (11000 items) in comparison to
their competitors who only produce two collections annually (200-4000
items) (Temporal, 2011). Customers of Zara therefore visit the stores more
frequently in order to be aware of new items. Zara also has significantly
more control of the functions of their branding and this enhances their
stock turnaround. They also have a more dominant international presence
as compared to their rivals. Their employee and manager empowerment
strategy and that of consistent management of their IT infrastructure also
gives them a competitive edge over their rivals. However, they should be
aware of the detrimental effects of heaving immense pressure on their
branding in order to cater for the needs of their expanding international
market.
1 .4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Statistics from eshopwolrd.com (2018) show that there are about 46
million ecommerce users in the UK. The economic output of the retail
sector was estimated at £92.3billion in 2017 accounting for 5 per cent of
UK’s GDP. There has been rapid advancement in the fashion industry in
prior years and firms within the industry are altering their processes and
systems of business. Companies are becoming more focused on the
consumer and their present needs. The concept of fast fashion is being
integrated into more business operations within the industry as consumers
are evidently aware of and demanding the latest trends. Consumers are
constantly in search of new products that are different and unique and
firms that are able to give this to consumers are bound to have more
success.
Other than looking for a wider variety of products, consumers are
also using several new channels to enable them to shop. Online shopping is
becoming more prevalent in this market space as it lures consumers due to
its convenience. The use of these different channels however differ by
generation and firms should therefore be aware of the target market’s
purchase behaviour in order to know how to reach them and meet their
needs. Fashion firms are therefore able to adapt their operations and
integrate technology into their processes to make the consumer
experience more pleasurable.
The core objectives of this study are as follows:
 To conduct literature review on Branding theory:

 Analyse the current branding position of Zara and their marketing
and communication channels, branding and strategies employed in
the e-commerce business model as compared to their on-ground
retail stores.
 Evaluation of how effective Zara’s current strategy is
 Recommendations on how to improve on their current branding
strategies
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
Retail can be defined as the activity of selling products to the final
customer. The initial phase of the process is identification of the demand
within the market then the demand is met through branding. There have
been changes in formidable retailer groups in prior years as they
increasingly use their bargaining and purchase power to demand for more
flexible networks of production and lower costs.
Huys and Sels (1999) posit that: “Instead of clothing manufacturers
pushing fairly standardized products through the chain, a greater variety of
products are now pulled through the chain by retailers. Smaller quantities
of more varied goods and more sophisticated products replenishments
schedules enabled retailers to respond more accurately to consumer
purchasing behaviour.”
Standardised production for a general market was a core attribute of the
fashion industry in the past with suppliers pushing products to retailers for
2 to 4 seasons. Many retailers sought for methods by which they could
reduce their operations. They were able to lower their inventories through
reducing the period between the sale and the order by having an increased
number of seasons with low goods for sale. Success in this market space is
hinged on the retailer’s ability to identify modern trends and adapting
hastily to these market dynamics. Technology has been used as a means by
which retailers are able to be constantly aware of upcoming market trends
with their stores giving them market data on sales and therefore enabling
them to order lower quantities of products with frequency consequently

lowering costs incurred due to inventory and pushing the product prices
lower.
Sandberg (2011) identifies a number of market trends evidenced in
the retail fashion markets of Western Europe:
• Expansion to new geographical markets: there is less intense competition
in markets in Eastern Europe that have higher growth in GDP.
• Private Labeling: stores have ensured customer loyalty by using private
labels.
• Vertical integration and consolidation: this is helpful when a firm is
seeking to reduce operational costs as well as enhance efficiency, lower
costs of transportation and turnaround periods. DeWulf and Bushman
(2005) hold the position that “Private labels are brands owned by the
retailers and sold exclusively in their stores, being part of retailers’
business”. Private labels give firms differentiation from their rivals and this
in turn proves to be a competitive advantage. They are enabling firms to
gain more profits, capture more of the market as well as offering the
consumers more expensive products but at cheaper prices.
Introducing private labels can accrue several benefits to retailers and
become core determinants of their success; these include:
• Improving consumer loyalty, brand image as well as strategic
differentiation
• Increasing in the revenues;
• The bargaining power over manufacturers increase

2.1 BRANDING THEORY
Brand equity and its intangible advantage to a firm has become an
immensely researched on topic in recent years. Brand equity has been
attributed as having an effect towards firm performance and therefore
should be expounded on in terms of effects of the marketing process that
are specially characterized to a brand. The definition of brand equity is
therefore in that the success of marketing a product is hinged on the
consumer’s perception of the brand; if perceived positively then the
product is likely to have more success than if it was not taken as being part
of that brand.
Recognizing some benefits of the marketplace that are got from
possessing a strong brand can see the brand value for an organization
appreciate. Hoeffler and Keller’s (2003) research evidenced a wide array of
benefits:
. Better performance of products in the market;
. Increased consumer loyalty;
. Lower vulnerability to the actions of rivals and crises in marketing;
. More profits;
. Greater consumer elasticity when prices are decreased and lower
elasticity when prices are increased;
. Better intermediary support and co-operation;
. More effective communication marketing;
. More opportunities for licensing and extending the brand.

The ability of firms to leverage these advantages will invariably vary
depending on the individual firm’s resources and marketing expertise as
well as the specific situational circumstances within the market and
contextual base of operation. Some brands face intense rivalry that
decreases their ability to take advantage of the benefits accrued by
branding. Consumers who are tough minded or fickle in nature may also be
a detriment towards firm’s ability to enjoy these benefits. Despite these
circumstances, brand establishment and management is a consideration to
consumers and companies in search for the best product among a variety
of offerings within a market.
Building a formidable brand enables a form to increase the
effectiveness of marketing communication. The willingness of consumers
to acquire additional information from a brand increases as per the
strength of the brand and its equity. They are also more willing to process
the information more positively and their consequent recall ability is
impacted more favorably. Brand equity is therefore core to ensuring that
advertising works effectively whether as an individual goal or in the
process of enabling other goals.
These benefits are however only achievable if a brand has a strong
image in the market. Establishing a strong brand is thus a central objective
of management (Aaker 1991, 1996; Kapferer 2005). Core to establishing
formidable brands is the presence of the proper structures of knowledge in
the minds of the consumers that will enable them to react favorably to
marketing campaigns. One important way by which this knowledge can be
shaped is through marketing communications. This is in reference to the
means that firms persuade, inform and remind consumers on the brands
and products that they sell. In essence, marketing communications is
representative of the overall ‘voice’ of a company possesses, therefore the
brand are a way of establishing a dialogue and building relationships with
consumers. This is clearly demonstrated in Aeker’s Brand Equity Model
shown in the illustration below:
Brand Equity
Brand Perceived Brand

Brand Loyalty Other
Awareness Quality Association
Proprietary
Assets
Brand Loyalty shows the extent that people become loyal to a
particular brand that is revealed through a reduction in marketing cost
since relying on loyal customers is way cheaper than charming new
customers. Loyal customers are a representation of a stable revenue
source. Loyalty attracts new customers who are also slow to switch brands
thus giving the brand an avenue to respond to competitive threats.
Brand awareness shows the extent a brand well known in the public
domain that are measured with the following metrics:
 An anchor where some association is attached that is
dependent on the strength of a certain brand name

 Liking and familiarity such that consumers with a positive
brand attitude often talk more about a brand hence spreading
its awareness.
 Commitment towards a brand
 Brand to be considered in the purchasing process and to what
particular extent the emotion evoked by a brand.
Perceived quality is the extent that a brand is considered to offer quality
products and is measured with the following metrics:
 Differentiation level in comparison to competing brands

 Price of product
 Quality offered by a product
 The availability of several channels of sale for a particular
brand
 The increased number of extension of the brand.
Brand Association is any association that could be triggered by mere
association of brand. These include the extent that a brand retrieves
association from the consumer brain like information gathered from
television advertisement. The extent of differentiation contributing to brand
differentiation in comparison to its competitors and also the extent of
brand association in the buying process. The greater the extent, the higher
the brand equity. The extent of association of a brand leads to positive
attitude hence and extension of the brand.
Marketing communications gives several functionality benefits to the
consumers. It shows consumers the right way to use products and the
reasons why it should be used, shows the type of consumer to use the
product and at what time and place it should be used. Consumers are also
given information on who makes the product and what their brand
represents and also inform them of rewards or incentives for day-to-day

usage or for trial periods. It allows firms to create linkages between their
brands and consumers, places, feelings, events, experiences and other
things. Marketing communications can build online and offline communities
as well as create experiences. It contributes to brand equity through brand
establishment in the consumers’ memory as well as creating an image of
the brand and consequently impacts sales revenue as well as shareholder
value (Luo and Donthu 2006).
Marketing communications, despite its effectiveness and benefits,
must remain effective in an intensifying communication and competitive
environment. Media has undergone drastic changes in previous years as
traditional marketing media has become less effective. Technological
advancements have drastically changed the marketing landscape by
influencing how, where and when consumers access information and
whether or not to process the information. The penetration of the Internet,
smartphones, digital video recorders, portable music players have called
for marketers to go back to the drawing board when it comes to marketing
activities (Kaplan Thaler and Koval 2003; Kiley 2005).
2.2 STRATEGY
Michael Porter (1996), posited that strategy can be defined on the basis of
three elemental aspects: creation of strategic positions, creation of a fit in
the firm’s systems and making trade-offs. Competitive strategy considers
how a firm is able to make themselves unique in the market space and this
therefore requires them to choose a set of systems and processes that are
different from their rivals and consequently provide a special experience to
the consumer. Strategy is hinged on a firm’s ability to create a position that

is valuable to them and making decisions to perform activities that are
different from their competitors. Therefore, strategic position can be
acquired through different methods:
 Access based positioning: where the consumer needs are same but
how the firm can meet these needs is different.

 Needs based positioning: this is where there exists same customers
but with different needs in unique occasions.

 Variety based positioning: a firm engages in the production of
products through different activities

(Porter, 1996)
It is very simple for competitors to imitate a corm’s defined strategic
positioning and therefore it is crucial that a firm understands the impact of
trade-offs to their performance.
Porter (1996) states “Trade-offs are essential to strategy. They
create the need for choice and purposefully limit what a company offers.”
Trade-offs are evident in 3 different ways. Inconsistency between the value
of the service delivered and their reputation is one of the ways through
which trade-offs appear. The second is from inflexible resources and
expertise required during situations. The third way through which trade-offs
appear is internal management limitations. Trade-offs enable a company to
make decisions on what activities to undertake and what activities to not
undertake. Lastly, strategy as defined by Porter is the ability of firms to
create a fit between their activities. Fit enables firms to improve the
effectiveness of their operations and this is immensely difficult for rivals to
imitate. When an individual activity has a deficiency then the whole
system’s effectiveness is reduced and in the same way, if an individual
process is improved then the entire system improves.

2.3 BRANDING
The firm uses branding as their central strategy towards building a
competitive edge that is sustainable and that differentiates them from their
rivals. Proper branding is advantageous to a firm and contrastingly, poor
branding will have detrimental effects on the firm’s performance. O’Malley
(1994) posited that a brand is defined as a design, name or symbol or a
combination of the three that enables consumers to identify a firm’s
products and gives them a considerable differentiated edge over
competitors. Brand personality enables firms to establish an emotional
relationship between the brand and the consumers and is effective in
ensuring consumer loyalty. There are seven approaches towards branding
as expounded on by Scott MacStravic (1999) and each has its own set of
advantages and demerits:
1. Smoke-and-mirrors branding is focused on advertisement and is
applicable with products whose advantage is inherent in the
consumers’ perception of them.

2. Features-based branding focuses on the specific features that the
producer wants to highlight. However, different consumers may
perceive these things differently.

3. Event-based branding focuses on occurrences that take place. Just
like feature based branding, different consumers may perceive these
events differently.
4. Attribute-based branding uses positive qualities in branding;
5. Results-based branding focuses only on results that arise or that are
achievable in future. Promising these results can however be risky to
the consumer.
6. Value-delivered branding is focused on the costs and benefits
deliverable.
7. Value-gained branding is focused on the product’s impact on the
consumers’ life.
2.3.1 BRAND AWARENESS
Rossiter (1992) define brand awareness as “a buyer’s ability to
identify a brand within a category in sufficient detail to make a purchase”.
The customers’ ability to recognize the brand during the moment of
purchase is an important point during marketing communication.
Companies should however be aware of the difference between recall and
recognition. Recognition of a brand is characterized by when brand
awareness comes prior to purchase; the consumer recognizes the brand
that makes them aware of the product that will satisfy their needs. Brand
recall on the other hand is antonymic to brand recognition; the consumer is
aware of their needs and therefore they remember a number of brands so
as to make a purchase decision.
2.3.2 BRAND ATTITUDE
Rossiter and Percy (1992) define brand attitude as “a buyer’s overall
evaluation of a brand with respect to its perceived ability to meet a
currently relevant motivation”.
Their position is that a consumer’s evaluation of a brand is linked to their
present motivation. They expound on this by providing 4 characteristics
that enable us to understand this concept better: brand attitude depends

on the purchaser’s current motivation, involves both affective and cognitive
components of which the latter may contain beliefs of benefits from
associating with the brand and the notion that brand attitude is largely
relative (Percy and Rossiter, 1992).
Shorthand Relationship Risk Reducer
Evolving Entity Identity System Personality
2.3.4 BRAND IDENTITY
Brand positioning is identified from several perspectives and definitions of
a brand.
Figure on Brand Identity
Logo Image
Adding Value
Company Value System Legal Instrument

Identity positioning as defined by Kelly and Lewis (2008, p.38-41)
enables us to give understanding on what values the brand represents and
how it fits within the market and between rivals. Identity positioning gives
brand managers the ability to match elemental aspects of brands and
metaphors in order to aid in the creation of advertisement campaigns and
inform consumers of the advantages of a certain brand’s products while
alleviating concerns on their demerits.
Strategic management of brands is a new concept in the business
landscape with the available literature providing case studies of brands
that involve informing consumers of advantages and quality assurance; the
examples are dated back to 2250 BC.
2.3.5 BRAND EVOLUTION
The concept of brands has existed for a long time. “Prototype-
brands” refer to items that have been dated to the early Bronze Age
(2250BC) (Moore and Reid, 2008). These brands have prototypical attributes
when compared to modern world brands.
A conventional prototype brand had certain information that was
attached to the product or how it was packaged that intended to satisfy
three core requirements. The first was providing information on the source
of the product often in form of signature, symbols or properties of the
materials used to manufacture it. It also facilitated marketing such as
transportation, sorting and storing. The third purpose was to provide
information on quality, which consequently reduces consumer risk during

occasions when products are recalled. A product’s source for example, may
improve how the consumer perceived is quality.
Brick producers made markings on their products to facilitate easy
identification as a result of different areas making bricks of different
quality. This is identifiable from artifacts and records that date back to
Egyptian times. Medieval European trade groups also fitted their products
with “trademarks” that were marked upon products to ensure that the
consumers were aware of the quality of the product and offer a form of
legal ownership of brands (Farquhar, 1989).
Branding as a term was obtained from the word brand; initially it
referred to the activity of marking harlots and wrongdoers for identification
(Henning, 2000) or on livestock with hot irons and embers so as to identify
them easily (Arnold and Hale, 1940).
The concept of brands was further developed in the 18th century as
“brand names” and animal images; origins and famous individuals in the
society replaced the conventional process of only showing the name of the
producer. Producers became aware of the benefits of associating their
brands with products thereby ensuring that consumers would more easily
recall and identify the differences between their products and those of
rivals. In the 19th century for example, whiskey of high quality was
commonly associated with smugglers and how they were able to specially
distil alcohol. This led to the establishment of the “Old Smuggler” brand in
1935 thereby leveraging this perception in consumer minds.
Marketing experts had already taken up brands and began using
them in marketing by the 1920s (Stern, 2016), but only until the 1950s did it
become a subject of focus in research and studies increasingly made
considerations on how consumers perceive brands (Gardner, 2015) which
caused symbolic associations and meanings of brands to become crucial to
organizations. This concept has developed from its definition as a method
of identification to being an overarching system by which organizations and
products are identified and which represent the function, direction and
meaning of organizations (Kapferer, 1994).
2.4BRAND DEFINITIONS
As brands develop they have become more instrumental in ensuring
maximum performance and have become an important intangible asset
thereby calling for strategic management (Keller, 2008). Establishing and
developing formidable brands can offer organizations a significant
competitive edge but establishing brands may also have its own set of
challenges.
Brands have undergone a number of definitions by different scholars.
Brand as defined by De Chernatony (2008) expound on the concept as
having 12 elemental capacities; they include “legal instrument, logo,
company, shorthand device, risk reducer, identity system, image, values
system, and personality, relationship, adding value and evolving entity”.
A brand as a “legal instrument” refers to the mark that enables a
firm to state that they have legal ownership of it. Historical origins of this
capacity of brands are believed to have originated from branding of animals
and its development into a trademark that protects a firm’s investment in a
brand (Broadbent and Cooper, 1987).

The American Marketing Association defines brands as “logos” as
being a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them,
intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers
and to differentiate them from those of competition”. This capacity of
brands enables consumers to differentiate brands using visual
identification and its name. The importance of brands as logos is evident in
the consideration of brand awareness and especially recognition of brands.
Psychological literature on the topic of marketing shows that constant
exposure to information in the form of logos improves the chances for a
consumer to judge a product favorably and increase its acceptability in the
specific market’s situations (Janiszewski, 2001).
The capacity of a brand as a “company” utilizes the fathered equity
by the company’s name that applies to their products and therefore is an
extension of the firm (Cretu, 2007). The advancement of own-labels in the
business world is making this conceptualization of brands as companies
more dominant. In the supermarket retail sector, for example, companies
such as Tesco have leveraged this to produce company branded products
such as Tesco Petrol, finest goods and insurance among several other own-
label brands. Contrastingly, firms such as Nestle have over six thousand
products brands that range from pet care to cereals (Aaker, 2004).
The perception of brands as “shorthand” looks at brands as
facilitating the increase in speed and briefness as well as enabling the
representation of psychological and utilitarian individualities (Cohen, 2009).
Brands as “risk reducers” accrues specific advantages to firms as a result
of the risks that customers think of before making purchase decisions and
when in the activity of doing so (Kapferer, 2008). By doing this brands are
allowed to present their goods and services in a way that improves
confidence and reduces the risks that consumers perceive to be
associated with the brand. As a brand develops it becomes more important
for them to ensure consistence in the product’s quality and services
offered so as to enjoy the benefits of brands as a reducer of perceived
risks.
Brands also operate as an “Identity system” which can be defined as
“the brand not being a product, but the product's essence, its meaning, and
its direction; it defines its identity in time and space”. The position of
Kapferer takes a deconstructionist approach to the conceptualization of
the brand as a logo and as a legal instrument. A brand’s true meaning
should be understood and an alignment made between the consumer and
the employee and consistency ensured throughout all the organization’s
facets (Jones, 2001). Any gaps between the consumer and the employees
should consequently be reduced and eventually eliminated (Davies and
Chun, 2002).
The brand can also be perceived as an “Image” in the minds of
consumers and therefore emphasizing the crucial role that image plays in
business; consumers react to perceived notions of realism as opposed to
its actuality (Kapferer, 2008). Brands work towards communicating certain
imageries and symbolisms to the consumers thereby impacting their
perceptions of the brand and differentiating the brand and its products from
rivals (Mody-Kamdar and Srivastava, 2009).
The conceptualization of brand being a “Values System” posits that
consumer decisions are made on the basis of both individual and cultural
belief systems. For a consumer to consider a brand as being valuable there
has to be a congruency between their personal and cultural values as well
as those that are represented by the brand.
The perception of a brand being a “Personality” is considered as an
anthropomorphisation, which is obtained from the Latin word “anthr opos”.
This involves brands having human attributes as a means of sustaining
individuality by creating emphasis on psychological values that exist
outside of the brand’s spectrum or utility. The brand as a personality gives
them humanistic characteristics that enable consumers to relate to them
as if they were people (Grohmann, 2009).
The conceptualization of a brand as a “relationship” necessitates the
aforementioned aspect of brands as a personality to be established so as
to create a link between brands and consumers. Brands as a relationship
enables consumers to not only be aware of and recognize the brand but
also interact with it and establish relationships that impact consumer
loyalty (Aaker et al., 2004).
Perception of brands being a means of “Adding value” refers to the
creation of differentiation advantages by creating perceived benefits to the
consumer (Schau et al., 2009), and therefore giving these brands a
competitive edge. This enables firms to use premium-pricing strategies, for
example to offer better “quality” service.
Perception of brands as an “Evolving entity” refers to brands going
through different phases of advancement. Each phase shifts the focus of
the brand from the organization and product to the consumer. For example,
an entity that is unbranded becomes a logo, and then it acquires a

personality, develops a relationship with consumers, and eventually has
values added to its original existence.
The conceptualization of brands as a “logo” will be the most used in
this literature (Aaker, 1996), it is however evident from the aforementioned
literature that this is not an overarching definition of brands. De Chernatony
(1998) and Crainer (1995) hold a criticism on the definition as relying too
much on the visual attributes of the brand as opposed to the intangible
merits accrued from its existence. Chaffey (2009, p.159) builds upon this
criticism and gives his own definition of a brand as; “an identifiable product
or service augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives
relevant unique added values which match their needs most. Furthermore,
its success results from being able to sustain these added values in the
face of competition”. Added values are therefore considerably more
intangible but at the same time of similar imperativeness.
2.5 BRAND AFFINITY
Lassar et al., (2005) state that brand image represent a number of
their associations; they are defined as “consumer perceptions of and
preferences for a brand, as reflected by the various types of brand
associations held in consumers’ memories” (Keller, 2009). An emphasis is
therefore created on the commerciality of image and an argument made
that individuals react to their perceptions of reality (Godin, 2005), as
opposed to the actuality of reality (Kapferer, 2008). Included in these
associations are brand performance, beliefs, personality and meaning.
“Associations as brand beliefs” refer to the views that individuals have
developed as regards to products that are associated with a specific brand.

Measurement of beliefs is carried out via qualitative research by enquiring
from stakeholders about their perceptions of certain brands.
Keller (2008) defines “Associations as brand performance” by stating that
they are “the way in which the product or service attempts to meet
customers more functional needs”. This is built upon by expounding on 5
elemental attribute types that are:
 Supplementary features: consumers could hold beliefs on a product’s
operating level or features of its design that are specific to it and
thereby make it unique.

 Serviceability, reliability and durability: factors considered include
the actual performance consistency and comparisons with its
expectations over its lifetime, service provision and speediness and
quality of service provision.

 Quality of service puts into emphasis the effectiveness of the
service and therefore includes aspects such as customer
satisfaction, speed, efficiency, and responsiveness of the service to
the consumer’s needs.

 Design and style include associations that do not hold any functional
significance which includes aesthetics such as shape, size, material,
smell and color

 Price structure: price is crucial as it establishes a perception of the
quality of a product in the minds of consumers therefore causing
them to relate a price to a tier within the market category.
Stakeholders often regard higher priced items as offering higher
quality.
“Associations as brand through meaning” highlight the extrinsic
attributes of the product therefore seeking to satisfy the consumer’s

psychosocial and psychological needs. This overreaches the basic
functional merits, for example:
 User profiles highlight the individual stereotypes of people whom the
product is intended for and therefore meant to appeal to the target
customer’s aspirations. Hauge and Power (2008) identify an
unintended consequence of user profiles that “emerged when a
subculture became devoted followers of the famous Burberry
pattern. Burberry check, in particular checked baseball caps,
became a symbol of so called chavs, a derogatory term for
uneducated, uncultured British working class youths associated with
antisocial behaviour”.
 Situations of purchase and usage are typical situation associations
where the brand is meant to be bought and utilized, for example,
being bought from a specific outlet type or how easy it is for the
product to be purchased. Firms could also relate associations to the
instances that they should be utilized, for example, during specific
time periods within the day or the month, where they should be used,
or even the activity which the product should be used for. The brand
“Coco Pops” recently tried to improve associated utilization of their
product in after school as well as before school means (Sims, 2010).

 Chamorro-Koc et al., (2009) hold the position that experience and
heritage associations enable a brand to relate to certain events in
history as well as episodic information in regard to individual
emotional events or ones that involve the family or friends of the
consumer. A brand may for instance, be associated with a film or a
song that has significant emotional effect on the consumer.

“Associations as brand experiences” can be explained as “encompassing
the feelings, sensations, behavioral response and cognitions which are
induced by stimuli related to the brand” Brakus et al., (2009) is of the idea
that associations as brand experiences are a representation of several
communications which encompass the surrounding environment of a brand
and package it to order to enable for the creation of a perception and
experience to the consumer. Firms could use technology to increase these
experiences and make these brands core elements of the consumer’s day
to day experiences; for example, “on the move” computer and mobile device
applications have been used to improve the interactivity of brands and
consumers and to create attachment as suggested by Broady et al., (2007).
Scales of brand attachment have been developed with a view to measuring
the intensity of connection between brands and their consumers (Whan
Park et al., 2010) as well as to what extent the brand interacts with
consumers and the degree to which they would utilize, buy, look for
information, talk about and go to brand events.
“Associations as brand personality” refer to the brand as having
humanistic attributes. Research shows that McDonald’s is perceived as
having more competencies and being more exciting in comparison to
Burger King (Keller, 2004). Respondents in this area of research are often
asked to rate brands based on Aaker’s (1997) 42 traits framework that will
be discussed in detail in coming sections
2.6 BRAND PERSONALITY

“Brand personality” as a phenomena in brands has oftentimes been
perceived as being of “intuitive appeal”, especially when considering the
link between consumers and a brand.
Humanistic Personality
Brand Personality
Unique Selling Point
Aaker’s Brand Personality
Geuen’s Brand Personality
The brand personality framework established by Aaker (1997) and
developed by Geuns et al. (2009) is one of the most iconic within this field
of research:
The framework developed by Aaker (1997) was based on the “Big Five’ of
brand personality was developed based on the “Big Five” humanistic
personality dimensions that were employed in the analysis of brands by
filtering and using other relevant scales of marketing. Aaker’s scale is
specifically developed for use in the context of Western brands and is
widely accepted and used in the subsequent literature. Widespread use of
Aaker’s scale has led to researchers being aware of its limitations through
thorough validation and testing (Azoulay and Kapferer, 2003). Several other
researchers have also used it in contrasting cultural contexts (Smith et al.,
2002).
The framework developed by Geuens (2009) is a 5 factors, 12 item
measuring technique of brand personality and its original form was only
meant to include personal items. Therefore, this is evidence of its affinity
to “Big Five” model. The study was based on the opinions of 12,789 Belgian
respondents and included one hundred and ninety three brands. The
respondents were required to rate 12 items within the confines of 5 factors:
activity, emotionality, aggressiveness, simplicity and responsibility. The
strength of this model is that it is valid across different cultures without
the need for adoption of culture specific scales.
2.6.1 AAKER’S BRAND PERSONALITY CONSTRUCT
We will review Aaker’s model of brand personality and assess its
definition and development using several trait sources that have been
drawn from marketing as well as human scales that were thoroughly
refined and filtered.
The framework of brand personality developed by Aaker (1997) gives
researchers the ability to explain and measure 5 distinct aspects of the
conceptualization of brands as a personality. It can be defined as “the set
of human characteristics associated with a brand”. Direct as well as
indirect brand routes may lead to the formation of these associations; as
Aaker (2000) makes clear with fundamental using the Virgin personality
example that “flaunts the rules, has a sense of humour (maybe even
outrageous), is the underdog (willing to attack the establishment) and is
competent (always doing a good job with high standards)”.

It is possible to typify several brands by the dimensions shown:
Brand Personality
Sincerity Excitement Competence Ruggedness Sophistication
Honesty Daring Reliable

Upper-class
Whole Spirited Intelligent Tough
Charming
Cheerful Creative Successful
3.0 METHODOLOGY
It is important to highlight the methodology used in this study so as
to enhance understanding of the findings.
The research aims at understanding brand identity management as
presented in the social media context in the present day society. The core
objectives are understanding how brand owners so as to accrue
themselves a competitive edge within the market implement patterns of
orchestration, interaction and effect. To enable this research data was
collected through carrying out qualitative interviews and from going
through secondary sources from a case study. Case studies enhance

understanding when evaluating “the complex processes of contemporary
marketing management” which include online marketing communication
and relationship marketing (Kapoulas, 2012). The purpose is not to
generalize the research to any demographic but rather to “to a real world
that has been uncovered” (Easton, 2000). To ensure relevance we decided
to use a single applicable case study (Yin, 2003). Qualitative research
allows for the researcher to select cases on the basis of the richness of
information contained therein and the relevance to the phenomenon under
evaluation (Shaw, 1999). The case study was selected upon considering the
prominence of the brand within the United Kingdom market and its activity
levels on social media. The sample company in the case study is a
prominent fashion retailer in the UK with more than 10 years of business
operation within the market. It operates approximately 100 stores and
concessions on top of an e-commerce platform. Most of its business
products are branded fashion items for women, men and children from mid-
tier fashion market and sports brands. On top of these items, it also retails
its own products and brand. The selected brand has a formidable presence
on more than four social media sites and has an in-house social media
resource that is dedicated to performing its functions. The brand offers a
unique evaluation of the phenomena of brand identity and management in
the digital age on social media. The selected company in the case study
has received several awards in the retail industry and is therefore a
recognizable social media champion in the retail industry. The immense
potential that the selected case study holds for evaluation and analysis
into brand management on social media is enough criteria to validate its
selection in this particular study.

This research will therefore analyse the branding concepts in use by
Zara to facilitate effective marketing of their products and focus will be
emphasized on how the consumers perceive Zara as a brand in the UK. It
will also highlight the core factors that will be instrumental in aiding Zara
to develop as a brand as perceived by consumers. To enable us to conduct
out this research the research onion was followed: the research philosophy
that guided the study is firstly explained then the approach taken, strategy
used, sampling method, research ethics, instruments used in data
collection, procedures for data analysis and consequently the limitations of
the methodology used. The reasons and merits of selecting this
methodology are explained under each of the subsequent headings.
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY
Research philosophy is highlighted as the initial step in undertaking
any research study. “The research philosophy you adopt can be thought of
as your assumptions about the way in which you view world” (Saunders,
2012) There are several research philosophies; epistemology and ontology
both “highlight important differences which will influence the research
process” (Saunders, 2012) This particular research will employ
Interpretivism which emphasizes “conducting research among people
rather than other objects such as truck and computers.” (Saunders, 2012)
The research will therefore be focused on human beings; an analysis of
branding strategies employed by Zara in Dublin, Ireland to enhance
consumer loyalty to the brand among Irish consumers. The research makes
an attempt towards understanding how these branding strategies will

enable Zara to enhance consumer loyalty and improve the brand’s growth in
the market in Ireland. Interpretivism means that the “researcher has to
adopt an empathetic issue” (Saunders, 2012) and that they have to enter a
“social world of the research subjects and understand their world from
their point of view.” (Saunders, 2012). Also, interpretivism is “highly
appropriate in the case of business and management research specifically
in the field of human resource management.” (Saunders, 2012).
Interpretivism was therefore chosen for this research due to its suitability
and appropriateness for this specific research.
3.1.2 RESEARCH APPROACH
This is the subsequent layer of the research onion model. Its
structure shows that there are two methods of approaching research:
deductive approach and inductive approach. This research study will utilize
the deductive approach or the “top down” approach. This means that we
will start with the broad theory underlying phenomena and gravitate
towards the specific hypotheses and collect observations to validate the
aforementioned hypotheses. The theory can finally be denied or confirmed
(Saunders, 2012, Trochim, 2006).
Secondary data as well as primary data was used to gather
information on the company under analysis and about their consumers.
Initially, it was crucial for the researcher to understand the internal
operations of Zara: their strategies (employees, product, management,
suppliers, internalization, and sustainability), branding, marketing and
communication channels. It was also important to understand the

customer’s role in the company and analyse their behaviour putting into
consideration their generation.
Secondary data refers to data that has been gathered prior to the
research study and has been analyzed by other people. Secondary data was
gathered from academic papers, books, Zara and Inditex’s website and
yearly reports, magazine and newspaper articles and any online information
that was imperative to the research.
Primary data is data that was gathered by the researcher to improve the
nature of the study by having fresh information. An online survey was
conducted to measure customer behaviour (physical and online shopping)
and their perceptions of Zara as a brand.
The survey had both open ended and close-ended questions to gather data
on both the spontaneous and directed notoriety of the respondents
respectively.
This case study required both qualitative and quantitative data to be
collected to give a clearer view on what the market is really like. The
quantitative tools utilized were:
• Each brand’s contribution to the total sales revenue of Inditex.
• Each of Inditex’s brand number of stores by the end of 2015.
Using qualitative tools enables us to understand the information gathered
in a better way. They include:
• Inditex’s history in order to understand the origin of Zara as a brand.

• A history on each brand under Inditex accompanied with its year of
establishment so as to better understand the company.
• Zara’s origin and expansion in order to understand how they managed to
become successful.
• The growth and development of individual areas of Zara to enable us to
understand their development as a whole.
• H&M’s history in order to differentiate it and its strategies from those
employed by Zara.
• Weaknesses and strengths of Zara and the challenges they face so as to
form the brand’s SWOT analysis.
• So as to understand the case tools used it is important to carry out a
literature review.
The approach used in the inductive research is antonymic to that

used in the deductive approach as “It starts by collecting data to explore a
phenomenon, then the theory is generated or build” (Saunders, 2012)
This research falls under the deductive approach as the initial phase
of research involves reviewing the theories and already published literature
under brand management and loyalty and consequently they are tested and
validated by conducting interviews on Zara’s store managers and UK
consumer base. Also, the deductive approach is said to be the most
convenient for master dissertations.
3.1.3 RESEARCH STRATEGY
“In general terms, a strategy is a plan of action to achieve a goal.”
(Saunders, 2012) Choosing the correct strategy enables a researcher to find

solutions the research question. Choosing the right strategy also makes
the researcher “achieve a reasonable level of coherence throughout the
research design, which enables to answer particular research question and
meet the research objectives.” (Saunders, 2012). There are a couple of ways
to obtain data when conducting a marketing research:
a) Through asking the individuals

b) Through observation of the target population
(Domegan and Fleming, 2007).
Fleming and Domegan (2007) state that “Survey research is
considered to be a systematic collection of data from a sample of
respondents, usually involving the measurement of a large number of
variables such as: depth and extent of knowledge, attitudes, interests and
opinions, behavioral factors and classification variables, demographic and
socio-economic variables”. Deductive approach and survey strategy are
chosen for this particular study as the researcher states that “survey
strategy is usually associated with a deductive research approach and it is
a common strategy in business and management research.” (Saunders,
2012). Survey strategy is more advantageous when compared to other
research strategies as it “gives researcher more control over the research
process.” (Saunders, 2012) Gathering of data can also be through
interviews as this strategy is “most frequently associated with organization
and method research and interviews”. A survey questionnaire was issued to
respondents via email and also through Facebook for this particular
research.
3.1.4 RESEARCH ETHICS

Ethics are imperative for the proper completion of a research study
and therefore should be taken into close consideration. “Ethics are critical
aspects for the success of any research project.” (Saunders, 2012). This
particular study has a high human involvement rate, “business and
management research involves human participants. Ethical concerns are
greatest where research involves human participants.” (Saunders, 2012)
3.1.4.1 TRADITIONAL TYPE ACCESS
Human participation is involved in this study as the retail managers
and customers of Zara in the UK were asked to participate in the research.
A face-to-face interaction between the researcher and the retail managers
was used while a survey was employed to gather data from the consumers
thereby constituting the traditional type access. The researcher explained
the advantages of the study to all consumer participants of the study. In
collection of data from the retail managers, the interviews were properly
organized and the language used was business oriented and professional
normality’s were adhered to. When getting access to data, “Researcher’s
should not attempt to apply any pressure on intended participants to grant
success.” (Saunders, 2012) The researcher did not heave pressure on any
individual to participate in the data gathering process. On agreement of the
retail managers to participate in the research study, an official consent
form was signed by the researcher and the participants.
3.1.4.2 ETHICAL ISSUES DURING DATA COLLECTION
As the data gathering process involves a face-to-face interview the
researcher has to follow professional protocol and normality’s and only use
business oriented English to communicate with the participants. “In face-

face interviews the researcher should avoid over questioning and pressing
the participant for a response.” (Saunders, 2012) Putting pressure on
participants is said to “lead to stressful situation for participant.”
(Saunders, 2012), obtained from Sakaran & Bougie, (2009) The managers
will only be interviewed when it is convenient for them and the researcher
will ensure that the interview is wrapped up in the time that the managers
request (Saunders, 2012), citied the work of Sakaran & Bougie, 2009). The
researcher will put these ethical considerations in mind to ensure that the
study is completed effectively and in good time.
3.1.5 METHODOLOGY LIMITATIONS
The study is conducted on a short-term basis and therefore only
focuses on the company so as to complete the study. The study involves
gathering data from retail managers and customers of Zara from Dublin,
Ireland.
4.0 FINDINGS
Creswell states that “data analysis in qualitative research consists
of preparing and organizing the data (i.e., text data as in transcripts, or
image data as in photographs) for analysis, then reducing the data into
themes through a process of coding and condensing the codes, and finally
reporting the data in figures, tables, or a discussion.” (Creswell, 2013). A
better definition of this is given by hart (2000) when he says that it is a
systematic breakdown of data and linking the data to each other after
exploring and analyzing the information. The questionnaires issued were
checked after collection and sent through email to the respondents and
posted on Facebook. Appropriate and fitting techniques were used to
validate and interpret the results from the analyzed data.
We were able to obtain a quality mix of data by having participants
across different genders, age groups, professions as well as geographical
locations. This mixture of important variables to the business can be
imperative in assisting the researcher in the analysis of the data gathered
as pertains to the broad understanding of persons and their perceptions.
The study also focuses on the different factors that are considered by
consumers when making purchase decisions as pertains to the topic of
brand identity and management.
Interviews between the researcher and the store managers were
conducted in mid-august of 2015. A total of 4 retail managers and managers
employed at different Zara stores across different locations were asked to
voluntarily take part in the study. However, only two of these managers
accepted to take part in the in-depth interviews to be conducted by the
researcher as the other two cited work and personal reasons as being the
hindrances to them participating in the research.
The interviewees were made aware of the purpose of the research
prior to its commencement and they were also made aware of the private
and confidential nature of their discussions with the researcher. They were
also told that the research interview was going to be recorded and asked if
they were okay with this. They were also told that they could leave the
interview at whatever point in time for whatever reason. The following
insights were gathered from the findings:
4.1 FAST FASHION

Zara is a pioneer brand when it comes to the concept of fast fashion.
It is globally known for their ability to produce trendy items rapidly and
distribute them to their stores in international markets. The world had
started observing the blossoming of fashion retailers like H&M, Primark,
Zara, Topshop and Mango and there was no information on what leaps the
industry would take in the future. These firms did however have one
common elemental aspect; they all sought to bring the high culture and
trendy fashion industry to the common consumer and provide inexpensive
fashion items to the masses and make a statement that fashion should be
available for the masses and not be exclusive in nature. The market’s
demand for “adapting merchandising assortment to current and emerging
trends as quickly and effectively as possible” was therefore deemed as
being a core element in this industry category. Competition would therefore
not only be based on price but also on the timeliness of the firms to enable
them to provide to their consumers as fast as possible.
Understanding consumer tastes and their shopping and purchase
behaviour was therefore critical to facilitate the matching of consumer
demands to product supply. However, few retailers were able undertake this
activity. Zara overtook other retailers by being the best in this regard and
was able to create a fitting branding and integrated communications
between designers and its retail stores. They were able to force the hand of
the most conventional fashion houses and lead them to adapt to the new
market requirements, as they feared losing profits to “mass-
merchandisers”.
The fast fashion industry’s top 3 firms by the end of 2012 were
Spain’s Zara, America’s Forever 21 and Sweden’s H&M. In Europe however,
Zara and H&M with Ireland’s low cost firm Primark and Spain’s Mango
increasing the competitive pressure in the market dominated the market.
4.2 THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY
Inditex had developed and parented over one hundred firms that
operated in design, manufacturing, textile and distribution. This is an
indication of Aeker’s Brand Equity model. Inditex commenced on its global
expansion strategy in the 1990s as it acquired and established new brands.
In 2001, Their IPO had accumulated a 50% stock price increase and
Amancio Ortega rose to from being an errand boy to becoming the richest
man in Spain (fourth richest globally in 2014). Inditex controlled 8 fashion
retail brands by the end of 2012 with Zara being its flagship brand and had
more than 6000 stores in 86 international markets. Their company’s worth
was estimated at around €15 billion and they had over 120,314 people
(Exhibit 2 provides key details on the group’s performance). Over half of
their employees were based outside of Spain and an estimated 80% of their
workers were women averagely aged 26.
Individual retail chains (business units) had independent
management and each had their own strategies, models of manufacturing,
brand images, stores, designs and financial performance results. The
performance of brands that had more success such as Zara offered “best
practices” that was supposed to be imitated by the rest of the brands to
ensure effectiveness and efficiency when it came to operations and
expansion. Inditex also promoted immense autonomy and employee

responsibility despite the nature of the worker’s function and they were
supposed to provide feedback on all elements of operations in order to
enhance the overall system’s performance. This emphasized the crucial
“Inditex offers a dynamic and international environment where ideas are
valued with a strong bet on internal promotion. We believe in job stability
and continuous training.”
4.3 THE “ZARA WAY”
Zara was the most globally recognized brand of all of Inditex’s
brands as well as its oldest having officially been established in 1975 prior
to the establishment of the Inditex Group. The company’s first substantial
milestone was Ortega’s establishment of “Confecciones GOA” as a retailer
that sold intimate clothing to ladies. However, only until 1975 was the first
Zara store opened as it sought to sell “contemporary fashion of medium
quality at a good price”. The brand’s global debut came in 1988 when a
retail store was established in Oporto, Portugal and by the end of 2012 the
brand had opened more than 1900 retail stores in 86 foreign markets and
their operations accounted for 66% of the group’s revenue.
The fast fashion industry accommodates an intensely specific
business model considering the rapidly developing and immediate response
market that it operates in where brand loyalty is key. Most firms
conventionally outsourced the apparel production process to other
companies so as to lower operational costs and improve their flexibility.
However, Zara introduced a vertically integrated chain where it had full
control over garment manufacturing and outsourcing was only used for
“basic” apparels whose ordering could be made in advance and was easily
adaptable to future styles as required.
4.3.1 PRODUCTION & DESIGN
Zara chose to go against the grain followed in the industry and retain
approximately half of its production within the confines of the group under
the operation of twenty of their production factories. Inditex bought
garments that were undyed from countries such as Turkey, Italy, China and
India through a purchasing office in Hong Kong and another in Barcelona.
Fabrics and other items that were not as elemental in the product
manufacturing process were bought as finished items in minimal quantities
which enabled Zara to respond quickly to changes in market demand by
producing products and distributing them hastily to their stores (items
could be distributed to stores in as few as three weeks after demand was
identified). Production from outsourced firms did not prove to be a
hindrance to Zara as 80% of such production was carried out in Europe
while the remaining 20% was carried out in Asia and other countries with
low wages where only basic items and less trendy apparel was
manufactured.
The fabrics would be received at Arteixo and sent to the factories
close-by for color and cut then sent to 400 traditional sewers and
assemblers in Northern Portugal and Galicia. Inditex Group did not own
these stores but had integral ties to them and their owners and assisted in
the supply of their production requirements. When sewing and assembly
was done the items would then be taken back to Arteixo for labeling,
pressing, assurance of quality and finally distribution. All of Zara’s products

would go through Arteixo before final shipping to international markets
regardless of their origins.
Just as other fashion retailers did, Zara introduced their apparel
under two seasonal collections: fall/winter and spring/summer. This is a
demonstration of its brand awareness. However, unlike some of their rivals,
they replenished their stores with products throughout the entire year.
Their collection was divided into the women, children’s and men’s sections.
Accessories such as shoes and fragrances further complemented all these
lines. Their main fashion line that catered for women was further
segmented into Zara Basic (for more informal looks for younger
consumers), TRF (sporty apparel for young consumers) and Zara Woman
(professional and executive trendy designs).
Zara had a large team of designers (approximately 200) unlike other
retailers who mostly used small design teams that were more elite and
experienced. The brand had a flat organizational system that planned and
presented 50% of their elemental collection on “first guess basis” half a
year prior to the launch of each season. Reminders would be made through
the year using real-time data gathered from the stores by the designers.
These designers were tasked with bringing more than 11000 products to
the market annually.
The items produced by Zara were meant to be fast moving products
so as to reduce the possibility of inventory build-up and slow turnaround in
retail stores. This translates to perceived brand quality hence driving the
consumer traffic. This was also mean to enable the brand to produce items
while they were still trendy and to pilot new merchandise in certain select
stores before global distribution. The immense nature of control and
flexibility that Zara had enabled them to have a marginal failure rate of only
1% as compared to the industry’s 10% average by conducting 35% of
design functions, 40-5-% of finished items purchases and 85% of internal
production at the beginning of the prior season thereby enabling them to
ensure that their systems were run effectively and efficiently and giving
them a large competitive advantage
4.3.2 RETAILING & STORE OPERATIONS
All of Zara’s retail stores (1900 in number) receive shipments two
times in a week with new products that have been managed in the central
distribution center (Arteixo) and whose orders have been made by store
managers globally. Zara, just like Inditex, had owned its Distribution
Centers (DC); a building spanning 40000 sq. meters in Arteixo with smaller
buildings located across Southern America. As aforementioned, all
shipments passed through Arteixo regardless of their location of origin.
Store managers had complete control and autonomy when it came to
ordering inventory and managing it in their respective stores; this included
product placement, information to regional stores and controlling supply of
employee uniforms. The retail store segment had always been the central
focus for Zara’s organizational system and had been its face and its source
of market data on what consumers demanded. The stores were designed
minimally and had huge windows and were therefore comfortable for the
consumer and “created an atmosphere of chaos and excitement”. The
stores were sized at averagely 1400 sq. meters and had lights that were
clear, white ceilings and walls in order to draw the consumer’s attention to
the clothes. Displays on windows were changed on a monthly basis and
refurbishments done every four years.
Individual store interiors and displays were designed in Arteixo
where a 1500 sq. meter store and twenty-five spaces for windows were
available to enable them to plan for subsequent changes to stores. On
completion of the final design, the pictures would be sent to the store
managers and designers would be sent to the stores to implement the new
design concepts. Individual stores were however meant to adapt to and
complement their environment and at the same not compromise the overall
image of the brand and store.
4.3.3 MARKETING
Zara’s marketing strategy was extremely different from the rest of
their rivals in the retail segment. Most of their competitors advertised
heavily throughout the year whereas Zara invested little to none of their
revenue in advertisement. Cost expenditure for Zara accounted for
approximately 0.3% of their total revenue while the industry average was
roughly 3-4%.
4.3.3.1 POINT-OF-SALE (POS) ADVERTISING
Communication to its consumers was mainly implemented through
their PoS and product offerings. The marketing director of Zara was
therefore tasked with yearly gathering, size of runs of production as well as
individual product quantities and defining the image of their stores and
product displays.
Their stores gave their financial teams the much needed information
on consumer demand and consequently Zara chose to invest in locating
their stores in locations that enabled them to set the right environment for
their consumers and letting their products “speak”. The rapid cycles of
production enabled their stores to give out an aura of “opportunity and
scarcity” where customers were aware of the need to buy products as soon
as they saw them as they knew the products might not be on the shelves
the next day or even during their next visit to the store.
All elements of the stores, right down to the employees, were
designed to never be a bother to the clients. Garment combinations to form
outfits would show the offer in a way that would assist the consumer in
figuring how different pieces would match together and only one size would
be available for every product to enable the stores to display more
products, the tables on which products were displayed were low and
synced well with the overall store’s image to enable consumers to view
“the whole” store once they entered and employee training taught them to
only approach customers if they were requested to.
By having a rapid cycle of product supply to the stores customers
were encouraged to visit the stores more often as they sought to get a hold
of the trendiest items at a “bargain”. This made the average store visits for
every customer average at 17 visits annually as compared to their rivals
whose customers only visited their stores around 4-5 times every year.
4.3.3.2 PUBLIC RELATIONS

Zara had a large reliance on unpaid PR and word of mouth from their
loyal customers. Their public relations originated from pictures of
celebrities who were spotted wearing clothing from Zara (Kate Middleton
wore several apparel pieces from Zara and this built the brand’s image).
Also, research had shown that Zara was effective in relating its brand to its
corporate identity and therefore any alteration to either would lead to
detrimental effects to the brand. Consistency was therefore identified as a
core element to the business’ stellar performance.
4.3.3.3 ONLINE
Zara was conspicuously a late user of online commerce as the
company had had a site since 2010 but only started using it as a sales
channel a year later. Zara’s managers hesitance towards joining in the e-
commerce wave had been as a result of their success in the physical retail
segment but the increasing penetration of internet use and their huge
reliance on consumer’s ability to spread the word about the brand led them
to believing that establishing an e-commerce platform would enable the
consumers to interact better with the brand prior to purchase. After
evaluating the effectiveness of an online strategy in capturing the interest
of consumers prior to purchase the brand tool measures to establish its
first online commerce strategy in 2011.
4.4 PROS AND CONS OF ZARA’S (INDITEX’S) MULTI-BRAND STORE

STRATEGY
A multi-brand strategy refers to a company marketing different
products that belong to similar categories or ones that are related but
using different brand names (Shankar & Carpenter, 2012). In the modern
landscape of retail business that is highly competitive in nature companies
can not only focus on an individual demographic of consumers but also
have to cater for the increasing range of tastes, preferences and budgets of
consumers. When compared to business-to-business model industries, it is
clear that B2C companies have to pay significantly more attention to how
they segment their markets so as to increase their influence on customers
who have a wide number of considerations to make before making
purchase decisions.
Its several brands enable it to cater for the deficiencies regarding
price and quality in their targeted markets. For instance, Zara provides a
variety of style options for several age groups, Pull and Bear on the other
hand is focused on fashion for the youths, Massimo Dutti’s designs ooze
elegance and class and is suited for more professional consumers, Bershka
is famous for their avant-garde apparel lines, Stradivarius caters for trendy
young women.
4.4.1 ADVANTAGES OF MULTI-BRAND STRATEGY
By using the multi-brand strategy Inditex has been able to penetrate
into several consumer segments (as per the behaviors, tastes and needs of
the market) in an effective way and this has consequently resulted in the
parent company having a considerably high market share (Dawson &
Mukoyama, 2013). By having different brands Inditex is able to capitalize on
consumers who interchange between brands frequently (Matic & Vabale,
2015). There is also internal competition created by the different brand
managers who are seeking to promote their individual brands and boost
their sales. Eventually, this will improve Inditex’s overall profitability. This
also enables them to create economies of scale as the multiple-brand
strategy facilitates sharing costs such as sales, advertising, distribution,
production and merchandising. It also enables Inditex to protect itself from
bad repertoire of one brand affecting the performance of other brands and
therefore if one brand faces challenges these problems will not be
transmitted to the other brands. This strategy has also increased the
group’s visibility in international markets.
4.4.2 DISADVANTAGES OF MULTI-BRAND STRATEGY
By having several brands Inditex risks cannibalizing their own profits
through sales in other brands of theirs. Management of several brands is
also a difficult operation for Inditex. This also raises consumer
expectations of new brands as they are used to the stellar quality that they
have received from other brands and they expect this to continue and
improve. Equity dilution may also happen as there is pressure to maintain
the performance of highly valued brands and this may leave some brands
unattended to. Negative performance or feedback on one brand may also
have detrimental effects on how consumers view other brands
The multi-brand strategy can be exponentially advantageous when it comes
to ensuring the continuity of profit generation but at the same time Inditex
should protect themselves against the significant costs and positioning
their brands within the same industry.
4.5 ZARA’S APPROACH TO MINIMIZE RISK OF “CANNIBALIZATION”
Cannibalization is defined as when a company drops market share of
one brand or product as a result of introducing a competing brand or
product within the same market (Fernie, et al., 2015). Cannibalization

occurs when a product or brand captures the interest of the existing
market as opposed to creating a new market as was envisioned for the
product or brand.
In the constantly altering conditions within the market the fear of a
company cannibalizing its own products as a result of using multi-brand
strategy is extremely high and this also affects firms that do not use
multiple brand portfolios but produce products within the same price range
(Obal, et al., 2015). The possibility of cannibalization happening
exponentially increases when the firm uses the same channels to supply
the different products as well as when prices are similar as firms are
encouraged to use different channels for different target markets to ensure
maximum optimization of processes (Boone & Kurtz, 2015). Inditex’s
cannibalization has been as a result of them having similar categories of
products, pricing methods, targeted markets, presentation of their stores
and brand images.
Inditex’s decision to increase the number of brands managed was as
a result of their intent to increase the percentage of the market which they
operated and their mindset was that by introducing these brands they
would become more competitive as opposed to the thought that they would
cannibalize their own products; they therefore decided to target different
segmentations of the market with different products (Bharadwaj, et al.,
2011). Inditex have also located their stores strategically far from each
other so as to further reduce the possibility of cannibalizing each other.
The differentiation strategy employed by Zara is facilitated by them
offering diverse styles to their consumers (informal, formal, suits, dresses

for festive occasions) as well as producing apparel for women, children and
men; Massimo Dutti is their elegant brand whose style is chic, classic and
elegant; Pull & Bear is their urban brand whose style is for younger target
markets such as teenagers; Stradivarius is a mid-tier brand intended for the
young woman; Bershka is a brand aimed at young ladies with a tinge of
youth to their style; Oysho caters for the women’s lingerie needs by offering
clothing to wear during the night and during bath-times and this brand has
also been expanded to cater for small girls and infants; Zara Home supplies
high quality household items and has significantly benefited from the
reputation of Zara as the parent brand; Uterque caters for consumer needs
for accessories that are reminiscent of English clubs and their aim is to
become competitive in terms of price and compete with the more
established and well-known brands within the market.
Zara’s strategy has enabled them to use their existent retail brand
image and leverage the customer’s trust with already existent brands to
build their other brands and has effectively lowered the risks of
cannibalization within their multi-brand strategy. They should however
protect themselves from the risks of cannibalization apparent from its
online commerce business.
5.0 CONCLUSION
The researcher spend more than sixty days to gather information and
analyse the data collected in order to offer information on Inditex’s
strategies. The final phase of the research process is therefore
summarizing all the research study findings and putting these insights
forward to the users of the information. From the research it is evident that
a brand represents an individual’s vision; however it is necessary for a
group of people to work together towards ensuring that this vision is
achieved and the brand becomes successful. The research shows that
interplay of a variety of factors influence consumer purchase decisions and
affect their loyalty towards certain brands. The factors studied and that
works towards the benefit of Zara are: quality, price and a wide offering of
products. However, Zara’s secret strategical strength that was not
expounded in detail in the research is their branding. Several researchers
have studied and analyzed Zara’s branding but the company does not
include it in their official organizational strategies. They have a very
flexible chain of supply that assists them in meeting the rapidly changing
market demand that is common in the fast fashion industry. It also helps
them to rapidly imitate fashion off of catwalks and runways and into their
stores. Despite the rapid advancement of technology in the market, Zara
has remained true to its traditions and has ensured that consumer
feedback on products and services gets to the company prior to the
production of new clothes. Therefore, from the research study conducted, a
brand can be defined as a strategic mix of a number of factors that enable
it to become successful and its success is hinged on its ability to retain its
traditional values and not jeopardizing its identity.
Despite Zara’s ability to inspire competition on a global scale, Oscar
Marcote retained his hesitance. There was evidence of stagnation and
slowing down of sales as the brand opened new stores and perhaps the
consumers had become tired of only being able to see what was offered in
the stores. Therefore there was a suggestion to begin personal shopping in
a number of stores and to allow this service to customers as a free service.

The benefit was that the idea could potentially improve sales especially in
the more premium store sites but the costs to be incurred to offer such a
service to the consumers free may greatly overweigh the revenue benefits.
Research also showed that “not being bothered” was one of the most
alluring factors about Zara’s operations so the question was why did they
have to begin being bothered? Innovation remained a core business
concept for the brand and having rivals such as Primark dominating
“basics” and doing it at relatively reduced costs made Oscar look back on
his communication decisions for Zara as a brand.
The question was therefore whether Zara should overhaul its
communication strategy and make use of a new outlet such as advertising
or if the solution was to add certain components to already existent
channels such as by using personal shopping or an e-commerce presence.
Online commerce had already proven to be beneficial for H&M as they used
an online “fitting room” and this gave the firm a competitive edge therefore
the belief was that Zara could use the same concept but implement it
differently so as to gain their own edge in the market. Another suggestion
was to try and improve the efficiency of the existing communication
channels and strategies. There were several questions on how Zara would
be able to remain competitive while still remaining true to their core
business values and beliefs.
Zara’s model of operation accrues number of benefits to the brand such as
enabling them to effectively differentiate themselves from the rest of the
market. However, their business model also presents a number of demerits
that can have a detrimental impact on ensuring sustainable growth and

development. Zara’s first store in America was opened in 1989 in New York.
The brand has largely been unable to replicate their success in the
European market in the much larger and profitable American market. This
failure may be attributed to the difference in fashion tastes and
preferences between American and European consumers. They have also
been unable to replicate the strong branding system existing in Europe in
the American market and this has led to them being unable to penetrate
into the market. In the European market Zara has a strong strategy that
includes being able to produce quickly, rapid distribution and short lead
times. However, their strategy also has some weaknesses. Many authors
regard vertical integration as a strategy that potentially increases profits
and reduces risks; however the drawbacks are still equally important to
recognize. Vertical integration often leads to the inability to acquire
economies of scale. A focus on speedy and recurrent introduction of new
products incurs increased costs as well. They have higher research and
development costs. They also have elevated costs due to the constant
changeover of production techniques to create their different clothing lines.
6.0 RECOMMENDATION
The researcher uses this particular case study as a means by which
they can interestingly give information about the business strategies
employed by Zara and the inherent challenges faced by the brand as they
seek to retain their competitive edge and improve their success in the
future. The primary objective of the research was to bring life to a narrative
that challenges readers to want to discuss the operational strategies of

Zara and the main challenges the brand faces as well as give them a
learning experience on the operations of Zara as a brand and the Inditex
parent company group.
In conclusion, it is the author’s belief that this particular case study
is a depiction of the general operations of companies, despite the different
industries that they belong to, and how these companies oftentimes do not
conform to academically taught strategies. This case study shows that
certain strategic theories may be academically correct but may not be
applicable in real life situations as real life decisions often fall within “grey
areas” and all decisions made have costs as well as benefits
6.1 OVERALL RECOMMENDATION
Zara took action on the realization that purchase behaviors of their
consumers were changing as the market and industry advanced and such
rapid reaction to changes in the market enabled them to establish
themselves as leaders in the fast fashion market.
Zara are always in the search for upcoming trends in the city streets
as well as on fashion runways, televisions, magazines and online. They
make sure that they are aware of their customers’ current needs and due to
their fast and efficient branding they are able to produce the trendy apparel
and distribute to their stores where they sell them at inexpensive prices.
Zara pioneered a new dawn in the fashion industry by having a fast
branding that enables them to follow up on trends and this has forced the
haute couture fashion market to rethink its strategies.

Zara is able to be aware of trendy fashion items, design them,
produce and distribute the products to all their stores within less than
three weeks. Zara retailers have new products on a weekly basis that are a
representation of the latest trends in the fashion industry.
Zara’s branding operates on a vertical integration model and this
therefore gives them full control over the most important phases of
production; this enables them to create a system that few, if any,
competitors can imitate. Production is centralized in Portugal and Spain
thereby giving them flexibility in lead times, frequency and quantities due
to the close proximity to their headquarters in Spain. In the past,
researchers have used studies on consumption behaviour to understand
consumer purchase trends. Schewe et al., (2000) posits that such studies
are designed after generational cohorts which is the best way to create
segmentation within markets as individuals in the same segment share
common factors age, consumer motivation, beliefs and values.
Williams and Page explain that “Baby Boomers” who are persons
older than 52 years “are less price sensitive if they believe they are getting
a superior product and good value”.
Market research shows that majority of individuals of this age rarely
visit Zara’s physical retail stores and those who actually do go there to
view new products as their preference is the physical retail stores. People
in this age category that purchased from the online store did so because of
the larger number of products available online or as a result of lacking the
product in the physical store.

The second generational group is “Generation X” who is aged
between 38 and 52. William (2005) states that this age group seeks
convenience in all activities.
Several members of this age group rarely visit the online platforms
and when they do they only want to be aware of new products, as they
would rather purchase at the physical retail stores. Most who purchased
from the e-commerce site did so because of the ease and convenience or
because the product was out of stock at the physical store.
The next generational group is “Generation Y” also known as
millennials (aged 21-37). These people perceive shopping as a form of
entertainment (Parment, 2009) and are the target market for e-commerce
(Forrester, 2012).
Several members of this age group often visit Zara’s online site and
purchase from there because of the ease and convenience of online
shopping. The items they want are also mostly unavailable at the physical
retail stores and this forces them to use online shopping.
The last generational group is “Generation Z” (under 21 years) and
these individuals have been molded by technology.
Most of these individuals visit the online site just so as to view the
available new products, as they prefer to purchase at the physical retail
stores. Majority have never made any online purchase.
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ZARA BRANDING STRATEGIES IN THE UK 1

An evaluation of the effectiveness of branding strategies used within the UK fashion

1.1 Zara’s Branding Strategy................................................................................................. 5

1.2 Evaluating global retail leaders competitive strategies.........................................7

1.2.1 Zara versus H&M........................................................................................................... 7

1.2.2 Zara versus Gap Inc................................................................................................... 8

1.3 Future Overview................................................................................................................. 8

1.4 Aims and Objectives.......................................................................................................... 8

2.0 Literature Review............................................................................................................................10

2.1 Branding Theory....................................................................................................... 11

2.3.1 Brand Awareness........................................................................................................ 17

2.3.2 Brand Attitude............................................................................................................... 17

2.3.4 Brand Identity........................................................................................................................... 18

2.3.5 Brand Evolution............................................................................................................ 19

2.5 Brand Affinity................................................................................................................... 23

2.6 Brand Personality........................................................................................................... 26

2.6.1 Aaker’s Brand Personality Construct.......................................................27

3.1 Research Design...................................................................................................... 29

3.1.1 Research Philosophy............................................................................................... 29

3.1.2 Research Approach................................................................................................... 30

3.1.3 Research Strategy..................................................................................................... 32

3.1.4 Research Ethics........................................................................................................... 33

3.1.5 Methodology limitations....................................................................................... 34

4.1 Fast Fashion................................................................................................................ 35

4.2 The Textile Industry............................................................................................... 36

4.3 The “Zara Way”.......................................................................................................... 37

4.3.1 Production & Design................................................................................................ 38

4.3.2 Retailing & Store Operations...........................................................................39

4.4 Pros and Cons of Zara’s (Inditex’s) multi-brand store strategy 42

4.4.1 Advantages of multi-brand strategy..........................................................42

4.4.2 Disadvantages of multi-brand strategy..................................................43

4.5 Zara’s approach to minimize risk of “Cannibalization”..................43

6.1 Overall Recommendation................................................................................... 48

In the twenty first century where technological advancements are

rampant, globalization has become an apparent phenomenon in the world

of business. International competition has intensified and therefore every

in their domestic markets. International marketing refers to business

operations that enable a firm to operate effectively in more than one

the world’s leading countries in over 80 countries. This success makes

Zara’s global branding strategy a befitting case study to be used by a

variety of global retailers and management experts as well as students.

The growth of social networking among consumers as has been

enabled by technological advancements accrues a wide array of benefits to

retailers and enables them to develop closer relationships with their

the leverage to engage in direct and timely contact with consumers at a

traditional tools of communication. Conventionally consumers have used

social media as a means to interact with other individuals as opposed to

with businesses; however, the average consumer is currently linked to 29

consumer brands on Facebook. The exponential penetration and use of

smartphones and mobile devices as opposed to computers "has placed

retailers, symbolically perhaps, in the palms of consumers’ hands, removing

engagement can happen". Retailers have leveraged the power of social

enables them to consistently interact with consumers and deliver brand

online retailers in Europe, as per ComScore’s rating, have developed

interaction patterns and evaluate to what extent they need to be

implemented for brands to use social media to gain a competitive

social media?” We shall begin by discussing the tensions between market

gathered will be described in the methodology. Data analysis on the

gathered information will identify the points to be considered when making

decisions, highlight the apparent hindrances to brand orientation and

identify the marketing team’s learning processes. The discussion part of

brand content and what the consumers expect of the brand

1.1 ZARA’S BRANDING STRATEGY