April 19, 2008

Bringing the Stars Together

I believe that the most influential promotion used is celebrity endoresement. That is what Macy’s is using for their advertising. I’m sure almost all of you have seen the Macy’s commercials that feature many celebrities. Some of the celebrities include Sean Combs, Martha Stewart, Usher, Donald Trump, Jessica Simpson, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole, Marc Ecko, Emeril Lagasse, and more recently Carlos Santana and Mariah Carey. Macy’s is hoping that these celebrity-filled commercials will help attract more customers to shop at their stores and win them over. The ads may be fun and entertaining, but can they really help Macy’s boost their sales?

People who are fans of these celebrities are willing to buy the products that are associated with that celebrity.
Here are some of the products:

Mariah Carey
339233_fpx.jpg
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=273951&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

Jessica Simpson
376943_fpx.jpg
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=291052&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

Carlos Santana
395865_fpx.jpg
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=292933&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

Tommy Hilfiger
390237_fpx.jpg
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=298064&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results


As you can see, the chart shows that the revenue and gross profit has increased in 2008.
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http://hoovers.com/macy%27s/—ID__12493,ticker__M—/free-co-fin-factsheet.xhtml
So, it is possible that Macy’s new marketing campaign is part of the reason why the sales have gone up.

Posted by Katie C. at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sourcing in foreign countries

When an apparel company decides to do the sourcing off-shore, it is important to know the advantages and disadvantages.

ADVANTAGES
The advantages for foreign sourcing are lower cost of materials and labor, raw material availability, and multiple sourcing options and supplier choices. The labor cost in foreign countries is much cheaper than the labor cost in the United States. There is also an abundance of different raw materials available in foreign countries. For example, silk is found in China, Sri Lanka has hemp, Italy is known for its leathers, and wool and trim suppliers are also available in foreign countries. There are many sourcing and suppliers to choose from when sourcing in a foreign country, also.


DISADVANTAGES
The disadvantages for sourcing off-shore are lead times are longer, logistics, and control. There can be logistics problems and other costs. When working with an off-shore company, there are duties, brokerage, quotas, and transportation costs. Duties are taxes on imported goods, like a tariff. Brokerage fees are the licensed agents who import products in the U.S. customs. The quota is how much of the product is allowed to come in the country at a time.

It is tougher to control product quality, deliveries, Intellectual Property Rights, and Social Compliance Concerns. It is difficult to control how the quality of the product will be since it is in a foreign country. It is hard to control deliveries because it is unknown whether or not they will arrive on time due to the weather or transportation problems.

Intellectual Property Rights are legal protections for exclusive use by owners of copyright, trademarks, and patents. There are problems with counterfeiting. A counterfeit is a look-alike with a fake trademark or misleading identification. This is illegal, so the business has to make sure that the off-shore manufacturer does not make counterfeit products.

Social Responsibility and Social Compliance is the obligations to a group or the general population for their well-being. The business needs to make sure that the off-shore manufacturer is not mistreating its employees and are recognizing their rights and giving them fair pay. But, that is difficult for them to know what is really going on in the workplace since they are not physically there to watch them.

Posted by Katie C. at 03:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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