Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Brand Audit Final
Brand Audit Final
By Sharon Lee
04/25/2016
Haworth
MKT3320.001
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Brand Inventory
Company......3
Category...7
Products...8
Competition...10
Brand Analysis.12
Consumer Profile.13
Marketing Communications..14
Media...16
Promotions....18
Digital Strategies..19
Brand Value...26
Brand Exploratory
Research Method #1 Qualitative..27
Research Method #2 Quantitative...28
Recommendation ...29
Citations.30
Company
Brand History:
Fossil was founded in 1984 by Tom Kartsotis and his brother Kosta Kartsotis.
Together, they helped Fossil introduce its first line of watches in 1985. From the
beginning, Fossil wanted to embody the essence of vintage American fashion
Fossil was one of the first companies to delve into the new womens accessories
market in the early 1990s. By 1993 the company went public as FOSL and then
went on to develop the mens accessory market. The company developed a line
of leather products, sunglasses. Starting from 1997 Fossil started signing
licensing agreements with other brands such as Emporio Armani and later on
DKNY, Diesel and more. Today the company is a well-known international brand
that has acquired brands such as Zodiac, Michele and Skagen.
Organization & Major Activities
Fossil has a more laid back culture and stresses team work and creativity in the
work environment. They try to encompass an All for One mantra.
The philosophy at Fossil is fun, fashion and quality which encourages more
impulse buying and repeat purchases from customers. Their products tell stories,
are authentic, and come in a variety and aim to provide a unique product at an
affordable price.
Subsidiaries:
Proprietary Brands:
Michele ($295 -$4990) sold at Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus,
Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue and online
Relic ($60-$150) JC Penny, Kohls, Sears, and online
Skagen ($95-$275) US Department Stores, US specialty and
independent stores, Asian specialty stores and online
Zodiac ($795-$1,395) Watch specialty stores worldwide and online
Licensed to:
Adidas, Armani Exchange, Burberry, Diesel, DKNY, Emporio
Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade New York, Marc by Marc
Jacobs, Michael Kors, and Tory Burch
Misfit
Merge
Fossil acquired Misfit,
which is a technology based company in order to gain access to
Misfits intellectual property which has allowed Fossil to produce
their new line of smart watches called Fossil Q.
Skagen
simplicity, approachability and clean focused aesthetic
Skagen is a company based in Denmark
Skagen designs contemporay watches with infusions of Danish
culture and design
Location
o
o
o
o
o
Manufacturing
Fossil has manufacturing facilities in China and Switzerland with
distribution centers in Asia, Germany and Dallas
60% of the watches and 40% of jewelry are assembled in factories
throughout China
o Fossil East looks over the control of the production of the watches
in this area
o The materials for the watches (cases, dials, hands, bracelets,
straps, crystals etc.) are from China, Hong Kong, India, Japan,
South Korea, Switzerland and Thailand
Swiss made watches were assembled in third party factories in
Switzerland
Overall, Fossil has maintained a close relationship with factories
located mainly around Hong Kong, China, and Switzerland and relies
heavily on these manufacturers.
Annual Report: Fossil Group 2014
o Net sales: $3.5 million
o Gross Profit: $2 million
o Earnings per share 7.1
o Operating Income $566,536
o Net Income: $376,707
5
Key Personnel
o CEO: Kosta Kartsotis
o Executive VP: Darren Hart
o President Skagen Brand: Jennifer Pritchard
o COO: John White
Category
Category definition
Shopping Products - Personal Accessories (watches, handbags etc.)
Jewelry, watches, clocks, precious metals and stones
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Jewelry; 9% Other; 2%
Leather; 14%
Watches; 75%
Watches: 581 million, Leathers: 104 million, Jewelry: 66 million, Other: 18 million
Size of category
225
350
150
US
Country
Product-Form Description
o Bags: backpacks, clutch, duffel bag, tote bag, etc.
o Eye-ware: sunglasses, glasses,
o Jewelry: earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, anklets, cufflinks,
body piercing, toe rings, pins, lockets, pendants
o Watches: athletic, fashion, utility, outdoorsy
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Methods of distribution
o Online Store fossil.com
o Retailers Belk, Macys Nordstrom, Dillards, Buckle
o Fossil Stores
o Fossil Outlets
COMPETITION
Major Players
They range from upscale to lower price point because Fossil has an array
of price points amongst its proprietary brands
o Guess
o Movado
o The Swatch Group
o LVMH Moet, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton in Euros
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0
Fossil
2,000,000,000
Guess
4,000,000,000
Movado
12
Net Sales
600,000
Gross Profit
400,000
Net Income
200,000
0
Quarter
North America
Wholesale
Europe
Wholesale
Asia Pacific
Wholesale
Direct to
Consumer
Growth
$3,5
million
$103.1
million
$44
million
$106
million
Percent of Total
Revenue
Amount of
Revenue
50.72%
$391 million
33.74%
$260 million
15.54%
$119 million
13%
$198 million
14
15
c) They also feature average Americans in their campaigns to connect better with
consumers and give a more All American feel
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17
Customer Value:
Affordable prices,
Wider range (to cater to a wide variety of individual tastes and preferences),
High quality
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a) Pique sales are during the holiday season and back to school
b) Products themselves are not seasonal, just the retail business itself
3) Media employed by top brands
a) Marc by Marc Jacobs : a lot more artsy and high fashion-esque, they are
targeting a different type of consumer, but still do an excellent job showcasing
products and garnering interest
b) Burberry:
aesthetic
toward
c) Michael Kors: advertises the most similar to Fossil, simply showcasing their
products in a straightforward way, the target market is the most similar to that of
Fossil
4) Spending patterns
a) Shifting away from an emphasis on stores in the mall toward e-commerce
b) Relaunched Fossil.com before holiday season in 2015
c) Plans to upgrade and fulfill mobile requirements in 2016
Competitor spending
LVMH spends 3.9 billion in advertising in 2014
20
Website
23
Fossils Social Mention score is also okay. Although the strength of Fossils online
presence is only decent, people seem to be very neutral in how they perceive the
brand. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, but its something Fossil can
definitely try to improve on. This is definitely an avenue Fossil can improve on to
best utilize the benefits of social media to improve brand value and loyalty.
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25
Facebook
Most of the posts are identical to those on Twitter (same picture, same
text; they are likely using a social media tool like Hootsuite)
2,200,000 likes on Facebook
Consistently get around 100-200 likes on each post with around 10-30
shares on each post
Lots of link authority, to websites where you can buy products and
other social media platforms
Overall:
o The posts are well planned,
consistent and showcase the
products in a pleasing fashion
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Pinterest
They have 47,600 followers
5,000 pins
100,000 likes
Their boards consist of products theyre promoting (Fossil Q Wearables),
Mothers Day promotional items, classic, color, design, culture, DIY, Vintage,
seasonal
Overall, the Pinterest boards all cover a variety of different interests and do a
good job of showcasing different styles for different types of consumers
27
YouTube
2,352 subscribers
2.4 million views total
Joined August 2009
They dont frequently post
They introduce new products/lines
The videos are creative ways to gift, centralized around gift giving, give
consumers tips and how to videos and promote themselves while doing it
Overall its a nice channel but its not updated frequent enough and therefore is
not very effective.
Tumblr
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Discuss their brand value and whether it has increased or decreased this year.
The brand value of Fossil has increased this year. Although Fossil sales havent
substantially increased, with the introduction of Fossils new line and the market
potential for wearables, Fossil has a lot of potential this year. Overall, Fossil has a good
potential for increasing its brand value and loyalty. By analyzing Fossils social media
and website it does attempt to engage customers and improve loyalty and garner
interest in the brand, however, with improvements Fossils value could increase
exponentially.
Although the market itself for watches hasnt been growing as much, Fossils
innovative products keep the company relevant in the market. Fossil also doesnt have
a lot of negative publicity, which allows for the company to easily improve its brand
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image in the eyes of its consumers. With more aggressive marketing with a
specialization in social media outreach and engagement Fossil can be just as
successful as other brands like Michael Kors and Kate Spade.
Brand Exploratory
Research Method #1 Qualitative
Free Association
1. When you think of the company Fossil Group what word BEST
describes how you feel?
Involved with the Community/Fashion
Forward/Innovative/Ordinary
2. What type of product would you most readily associate with Fossil
Group
Wallets/Bags/Watches/Jewelry/Wearables
3. What should Fossil improve the most on?
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Research Method #2
Quantitative
Brand Awareness
1. Have you heard of Fossil Group?
Yes/I think Ive heard of it before/No
2. Do you recognize this product?
Yes/Looks Familiar/No
3. When you want to buy watches which brand would you want to
buy?
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Results:
Recommendation
Overall Fossil is an excellent
company with a lot of potential to grow and be even more successful. To start with,
Fossils social media platform is excellent. Fossil employs a social media tool to allow it
to post the same content consistently across all its social media accounts. The post
content itself is varied, fairly unique, and quality. However, Fossil should be more
aggressive in their social media tactics. They should work harder to get consumers to
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follow their social media accounts. They do a good job with increasing their follower
base using promotions and should continue to do so. They should try to allocate more
money into their marketing budget to ensure their social media is being utilized to its full
extent. The extra money could go towards advertisement to increase their presence in
the retail market, and really differentiate themselves with their consumer.
Another tactic that Fossil can employ concerning its social media strategy is to post
different things on different platforms. As a consumer, if I were following Fossil on
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram if I were to see the same 3 posts on every single
media, I wouldnt be motivated or excited about their new product. Fossil should really
try to specialize its different social media sites to cater toward different aspects of their
consumers. For example, Fossil could use Twitter mainly to retweet customers to
engage with them more. Fossil could then use Instagram as a way to show how their
products can be suited to consumers with different styles. Simply by focusing its social
media content on certain, more specific, target market it would bring variety and also
strengthen Fossils image.
As noted before, Fossil should engage even more frequently with its consumers. Fossil
products are unique and very trendy, but it doesnt have a very strong connection with
its consumers. According to the qualitative survey that was conducted, a good portion of
consumers have a dominating neutral feeling towards Fossil. This is not necessarily a
bad thing; however, it is something that Fossil may be able to utilize. Fossil can dedicate
some of its social media channels (Snapchat, Twitter, blog) to engaging with
consumers. This will not only strengthen brand awareness but also brand loyalty and
commitment.
Fossil should aim to increase its presence in the local community by reaching out more
with local schools and businesses. This could be anything from volunteering more as a
company, to sponsoring local races, or just reaching out to schools and talking to them
at assemblies. Involvement in the community whether it be through investment,
integration or involvement can increase customer base, differentiation from other
companies and increase brand trust locally.
Citations
"Our Story." Fossil Group. Fossil Group, 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
"Fossil Group, Inc. Competition." Fossil Group, Inc. Names of Competitors. Hoover's
Inc. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
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Fossil Group. 2014 Annual Report. Richardson, TX: Fossil Group, 2014.Fossil Group
Annual Report 2014. 2014. 16 Apr. 2016.
<https://www.fossilgroup.com/documents/2015/04/annual-report-13.pdf>
"Guess' Inc." Yahoo! Finance. Yahoo!, 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
"Handbag, Luggage & Accessory Stores in the US: Market Research Report." Handbag,
Luggage & Accessory Stores in the US Market Research. IBISWorld, Nov. 2015. Web.
12 Apr. 2016.
Cox, Marissa. "Accessories Gaining Momentum Among Men." NPD Group. The NPD
Group, 23 July 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Fossil Group. Fossil Group, Inc to Acquire Wearbale Technology Innovator
Misfit. Fossilgroup.com. Fossil Group, 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Riley, David. "NPD Reports Online Sales of Womens Accessories Increased 7 Percent
In Otherwise Flat Market." NPD Group. The NPD Group, 27 May 2014. Web. 19 Apr.
2016.
Canada Newswire. "Fossil Group to Launch Wearable for Eight Brands and in 40
Countries in 2016."CanadaNewswire.com. Cana Newswire, 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 19 Apr.
2016.
Strandberg, Keith W. "Fossil, the Great American Watch Company." Luxury Swiss
Watches & International Watchmaking from Europastar. Europa Star WorldWatchWeb,
3 Feb. 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Haider, Zeeshan. "Jewelry & Watch Wholesaling in the US." IBISWorld Industry Report.
IBISWorld, June 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
"Fossil Group Inc (FOSL.O)." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Halkias, Maria. "Fossil Watches Empire Grow." Fossil Watches Empire Grow | The San
Diego Union-Tribune. The Dallas Morning News, 8 Jan. 2005. Web. 19 Apr.2016.
"Fossil Group, Inc. Segments." Fossil Group (FOSL) Divisions, Quarterly Segment
Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Fossil Group. Fossil Group, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2014 Results.
Rep. Richardson: n.p., 2015. Fossil Group, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year
2014 Results. Fossil Group, 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
"Fossil Group, Inc." Fossil Group (FOSL) Business Description. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr.
2016.
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Stambor, Zak. "Why Instagram Is Fossil's Top Social Media Priority." Why Instagram Is
Fossil's Top Social Media Priority. Vertical Web Media, 18 Jan. 2016. Web. 24 Apr.
2016.
O'Leary, Noreen. "R/GA Takes Lead on Fossil's Social Media Efforts." AdWeek.
Adweek, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
"Fossil Brand History :: Fossil Watches Brand History." Fossil Brand History :: Fossil
Watches Brand History. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
"Fossil Group's Suppliers Performance." Fossil Group, Inc.'s (FOSL) Suppliers by
Company, Division and Industry. CSI Market, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Jaffray, Piper. "Fossil to Lose $100-$200M Burberry Brand." StreetInsider.com. Street
Insider, 14 Jan. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Revill, John. "Fossil Group Fast-Tracks Smartwatch Launches; U.S. Watchmaker Tries
to Counter Growing Competition from Apple, Samsung." Wall Street Journal
(Online)Mar 15 2016. ProQuest. Web. 22 Apr. 2016 .
Chow, Jason. "Business News: LVMH Sales Slow After Terrorist Attacks." Wall Street
Journal, Eastern edition ed.Apr 12 2016. ProQuest. Web. 22 Apr. 2016 .
Dusto, Amy. "A Closer Look at Fossil.com: Digital Core." A Closer Look at Fossil.com:
Digital Core. Vertical Web Media, 3 June 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Lindner, Matt. "Fossil Shifts More of Its Focus to E-commerce." Fossil Shifts More of Its
Focus to E-commerce. Vertical Web Media, 18 Feb. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Subramania, Sandhya. "Marketing Journal- Sandhya Subramanian: Marketing
Management Journal: Fossil Watches." Marketing Journal- Sandhya Subramanian:
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2016.
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