ASSIGNMENT 1 FRONT SHEET

Qualification BTEC Level 4 HND Diploma in Business

Unit number and title Unit 2 Marketing Planning and Processes

Submission date 28/11/2022 Date Received 1st submission

Re-submission Date Date Received 2nd submission

Student Name Đoàn Tử Việt Hải Student ID GCH210923

Class GBH1113 Assessor name Đặng Sơn Tùng

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Contents
I. UNIQLO Company .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
a. History .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
b. Business Model ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
II. Definition and process of marketing...................................................................................................................................................................... 6
a. Definiton of marketing ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
b. Marketing process ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
i. Defining the brand ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
ii. Building a customer profile ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
iii. Developing a strategy ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
iv. Execute ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
v. Evaluating and adjusting the strategy................................................................................................................................................................ 8
III. The role and responsibilities of the marketing function in the context of UNIQLO .......................................................................................... 8
a. UNIQLO marketing strategy ................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
i. Raising brand awareness and using the product as a marketing platform ....................................................................................................... 9
ii. Investing in experiential marketing and in-store training to deliver customer experience (CX) excellence ..................................................... 9
iii. Marketing sustainability in a fast-fashion world. For UNIQLO, LifeWear = Sustainability .............................................................................. 10
iv. Seeing e-commerce as not just a new format for doing business but also a marketing channel to boost in-store sales .............................. 10
v. Collaborations with top influencers help take the UNIQLO brand to the next level ....................................................................................... 11
IV. Marketing influences and interrelates with other functional departments in UNIQLO .................................................................................. 11
a. Research & Development (Designers/Pattern Makers)................................................................................................................................... 11
b. Merchandising ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
c. Development and Procurement of Materials .................................................................................................................................................. 12
References ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14
I. UNIQLO Company
a. History
The history of Uniqlo begins in 1949, when Ogori Shji, a Yamaguchi-based company, opened a
store in Ube, Yamaguchi, selling men's clothing under the name "Men's Shop OS." But the brand
didn't start to take off until May 1984. Under the name "Unique Clothing Warehouse," the
founder opened a unisex casual wear shop in Fukuro-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima. The brand was
originally intended to be registered as a shortened version of "unique clothing." However, the
brand name was created in 1988 when staff members in charge of registration misread the "C" as
a "Q" during administration work between Hong Kong and the brand. Fast Retailing adopted The
Gap's "SPA" (for specialty-store/retailer of private-label apparel) strategies in 1997, which
involved producing and selling only their own brand of clothing. In order to help the business
implement this strategy, they hired the retail brand consultancy CIA, Inc. / The Brand Architect
Group. This included consulting on products, visual merchandising and display, store design, and
a new logo created by Richard Seireeni and Sy Chen of The Brand Architect Group's Los Angeles
office. 2005 saw increased international expansion with the opening of stores in South Korea,
New York City, and Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tsui) (Seoul). Sales reached $4 billion in 2006. By April
2007, the business had set a $10 billion global sales target and a goal of joining Limited Brands,
Gap, H&M, and Inditex as one of the top five global retailers. Furthermore, Fast Retailing
declared on September 2, 2009, that it would aim to achieve pretax operating profit of 1 trillion
yen ($12.2 billion) and annual group sales of 5 trillion yen ($61.2 billion) by 2020. This indicates
that the business's long-term objective is to surpass all other specialty retailers of private-label
clothing as the largest in the world. In order to develop a line of Heattech layerable basics,
including tank tops, leggings, underwear, and bodysuits, Uniqlo established partnerships with
some well-known designers, including Jil Sander in March 2009, Shiatzy Chen in 2010, and
Alexander Wang in October 2018 (Fashionabc, 2022).

b. Business Model
Uniqlo is able to produce such a wide range of unique products because their
business model unifies every stage of the clothing-making process, from planning and
design to production, distribution, and retail. Globally, Uniqlo's market share is growing as
it creates fundamental designs using superior natural materials and pioneers in fabric
technology to create radical new materials. Uniqlo's signature item is LifeWear. a high-
end, original piece of clothing that is cozy and aesthetically appealing to all people. As the
world transitions to a more digital environment, Uniqlo makes use of this to interact with
 customers directly and swiftly translate their needs into actual products (Fashionabc,
2022).

Figure 1: UNIQLO (Lam, 2022)

II. Definition and process of marketing

a. Definiton of marketing
Marketing is an action taken by a company to attract customers to products or services
through a high-quality message. Marketing aims to provide value to customers and consumers
through content, with the long-term goal of proving the value of the product, helping customers
trust and be loyal to the brand, thereby increasing sales (Forsey,2021)
 Figure 2: Definiton of marketing (Forsey, 2021)

b. Marketing process
i. Defining the brand
The first step in the marketing process is to identify your company's
identity. Therefore, be careful to use precise language when describing who you
are. You should also create a mission statement that outlines your company's
unique selling proposition and corporate goals (Shivani, 2021).
ii. Building a customer profile
Without knowing your customer, you can't develop a marketing strategy,
which is why creating a customer profile is so important. In order for your team to
understand what kind of customer you are referring to when you say "Joe" or
"Susan," you should ideally have a few customer profiles with their names.
A good customer profile cuts down the following general aspects about individual
customers: Age, Education level, Gender, Job title, Interests, Needs and pain
points, How they currently solve their problem (Shivani, 2021).
iii. Developing a strategy
You can create a thorough marketing strategy now that you are aware of
who you are and who your target audience is. Make sure your marketing strategy
is integrated, which means that all marketing channels, including print, social
media, video, blogs, and the like, work together to convey the same message.
Additionally, you must set marketing objectives. How many customers, for
 instance, do you hope to reach through each channel? What degree of
involvement do you hope to reach? By the quarter's or year's end, how many
qualified prospects would you like? And finally, what kind of spending plan do you
have for these initiatives? Additionally, keep in mind that marketing and sales go
hand in hand, and your marketing objectives should take your sales team's
objectives into consideration (Shivani, 2021).
iv. Execute
You essentially have everything you need to make your strategy successful:
a plan, data, a product, pricing. Time to move on to the "go" button. Launch your
strategy after creating a plan for all of your advertisements, posts, and other
promotions (Shivani, 2021).
v. Evaluating and adjusting the strategy
It's time to get marketing software if you don't already have any. In order
to be as effective as possible, you'll need software that can monitor your data and
produce reports that are based on marketing analytics and that you can use to
determine which channels are most effective for you. These reports ought to let
you know which campaigns are successful with customers and which narratives fall
flat. For instance, Netflix, which began by sending DVDs to customers but now
relies almost exclusively on streaming content and even produces its own award-
winning TV shows and films, may be the company that has changed its marketing
strategy the most over the years. Your marketing plan needs to adapt as your
business does (Shivani, 2021).

III. The role and responsibilities of the marketing function in the

context of UNIQLO
UNIQLO is one of the fastest growing clothing brands in Asia. With an existence that contrasts
with all major cities worldwide, the brand is known for producing high-quality clothing that offers
comfortable everyday comfort.
a. UNIQLO marketing strategy
The fashion industry always moves fast in developing fashion trends, and there are
easily hundreds and thousands of fashion companies that are trying to capture the
consumers' interest (Christine, 2022).
 “We don’t chase trends. People mistakenly say that UNIQLO is a fast-fashion
brand. We’re not. We are about clothing that’s made for everyone.” - CEO Tadashi Yanai
UNIQLO (Lutz, 2012).
While other brands are competing to adopt the newest fashion trends faster than
ever, UNIQLO has always prioritized investing in product development by using the
technology and advanced materials, even if it requires long and complex repetition.
(Christine, 2022).

Figure 3: UNIQLO brand mentions in the last 6 months (Christine,

2022)
Here are some examples of what UNIQLO is doing right when it comes to their marketing
and communications strategy.

i. Raising brand awareness and using the product as a

marketing platform
In 2003, UNIQLO introduced its flagship heat-generating clothing line we all
know now as HEATTECH. How this ‘heat technology’ works is that “its fibers
absorb moisture that the body emits, and the fabric itself generates heat.”. Also in
thís year, HEATECH was debuted by UNIQLO, it was the bestselling line of heat-
generating. How this ‘heat technology’ works is that “its fibers absorb moisture
that the body emits, and the fabric itself generates heat.”. The first item that
UNIQLO produced as a resulting from a collaboration with Toray industries, a
Japanese chemical company, was called HEATECH. The materials were developed
from scratch and more than 10,000 prototypes were made to achieve the desired
results. Over the years, the company continued to iterate on their flagship
HEATTECH line, releasing ‘warmer versions’ of the product allowing consumers “to
transform winter from a cold, heavy clothes season to a warm, lightweight dress
season.” (Christine, 2022)
ii. Investing in experiential marketing and in-store training to
deliver customer experience (CX) excellence
 In the 'fast-moving images' campaign, several digital billboards have been
deployed in high-traffic locations, displaying images with codes that can only be
taken by phones. Those who then take pictures can 'discover the code' online
where they can watch a short video about the benefits of the HEATTECH clothing
line and receive a coupon or free UNIQLO clothing. UNIQLO also included an
element of social tradition into the campaign, encouraging participants to share
with their friends via social media. As a result, the campaign reached over 4 million
people and over 35,000 new customers, earning the brand the title of Shorty for
Best Retail and E-Commerce on Social Media. The company always values the
customer's experience because every time you walk in the door, you will definitely
hear the words "Welcome to UNIQLO!" (Christine, 2022)
iii. Marketing sustainability in a fast-fashion world. For UNIQLO,
LifeWear = Sustainability
Lifewear is a clothing concept introduced by UNIQLO, which the company
said that reasonably priced clothing designed for the long term. Many customers
are attracted to and support the responsible use of materials and manufacturing
processes through this philosophy. Lifewear is said to be the company's
commitment to "Achieving a Sustainable Society", which is sure to help foster
these relationships with like-minded military customers. The brand also innovated
to create ECO bags to end global sustainability through a zero-waste lifestyle.
Seeing e-commerce as not just a new format for doing business but also a
marketing channel to boost in-store sales (Christine, 2022)
iv. Seeing e-commerce as not just a new format for doing business but
also a marketing channel to boost in-store sales
While some businesses might view online retailers as a threat to their
physical counterparts, UNIQLO recognizes that customers now interact with
brands across a wider range of touch points than ever before. Accorrding to Yanai
“We have noticed that the more our e-commerce services expand, the more often
customers tend to purchase items from our physical stores”. She said that: “For
example, rather than go to stores to search, our Chinese customers tend to select
products they think sound most attractive based on information they found online.
When we launch a new UNIQLO product, customers actively share information
about the product on social media, spurring sales both online and in our stores”.
Customer behavior is constantly changing. Customers expect more and more to be
able to satisfy their shopping needs when they want it - e-commerce is definitely
the way forward. UNIQLO believes that to succeed, retail brands need to learn
how to run e-commerce and physical stores together. (Christine, 2022)
 v. Collaborations with top influencers help take the UNIQLO
brand to the next level
It is widely known in the sector that Yanai has an aggressive expansion
strategy. His ultimate goal is for the business to dominate the globe. Additionally,
UNIQLO has expanded over the years in part as a result of the numerous
partnerships they have formed. First off, they collaborate with international
ambassadors like Adam Scott, a world-class professional golfer, and tennis
champion Roger Federer. Second, the company also pioneered design partnerships
with various organizations and designers from around the world, producing items
for various. (Christine, 2022)

IV. Marketing influences and interrelates with other functional

departments in UNIQLO
a. Research & Development (Designers/Pattern Makers)
The R&D department is an important part of UNIQLO, which must develop
products that meet customer needs, while identifying new and emerging needs.
Accordingly, UNIQLO's R&D centers always researching global fashion trends and new
materials, working to expect future changes in customer lifestyles. A year before the
intended product launch, the R&D department held a concept meeting with various
models from the sales, marketing, and materials development teams to determine the
 right design concept for the product season. Then our designers begin the process of
preparing the design and refining the template. Even after a design is decided on, its color
and shape can be refined many times before the design is ready to be finalized. Thereby,
it can be seen that the research and development department has a close relationship
with the marketing department. Because the R&D department needs to handle the
essential needs of customers as well as new and emerging needs so that the marketing
department can come up with business strategies that match the needs, to be able to hit
the psychology of the customers. (fastretailing, 2022)
b. Merchandising
In the product creation process, from planning to production, the sales team plays
an important role. Deciding product lines and volumes throughout the year is an
important factor of the department's work. To do this, the sellers liaise closely with the
R&D, manufacturing and other departments to determine the design and materials
needed for each season's product. They manage strategic product launches in close
cooperation with various key departments. Many UNIQLO products are produced in
batches of approximately 1 million units and the sales department monitors the latest
sales conditions, providing guidance on increasing or decreasing production during the
season - another important task of group.Thereby, it can be seen that the sales
department and the marketing department have a close relationship with each other.
Because the marketing department needs to know how much the sales department is,
then it can come up with reasonable strategies to attract customers and increase revenue
for the company. (fastretailing, 2022)
c. Development and Procurement of Materials
UNIQLO is able to guarantee a steady supply of raw materials, as well as large
quantities of top quality materials at low cost, by negotiating directly with material
manufacturers. Our in-depth research and testing creates innovations in the function,
feel, style and texture of UNIQLO clothing. Example: The Company works closely with
Kaihara Corporation to source denim fabrics to specific spinning standards and dyeing
specifications. UNIQLO also partners with the world's leading synthetic fiber
manufacturer, Toray Industries, to create new innovative fibers and materials, such as
those included in the HEATTECH product line. The material development and
procurement department also has a relationship with the marketing department because
when the materials development and procurement department can source raw materials
at low cost, the marketing department can advertise about promotion as well as making
reasonable working strategies to bring products to many different customers from which
the company's revenue also grows (fastretailing, 2022)
References
Christine (2022) UNIQLO marketing strategy, Talkwalker. Available at:
https://www.talkwalker.com/blog/uniqlo-marketing-strategy# (Accessed: November 28, 2022).

fastretailing (2022) UNIQLO business model, FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. Available at:
https://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/strategy/uniqlobusiness.html (Accessed: November 23, 2022).

Forsey, C. (2021) What is Marketing, and What’s Its Purpose?, Hubspot. Available at:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-marketing (Accessed: November 28, 2022).

Lutz , A. (2012) Uniqlo’s Brilliant Strategy Is To Totally Ignore Fashion, Businessinsider. Available at:
https://www.businessinsider.com/uniqlos-success-story-2012-10 (Accessed: November 28, 2022).

Shivani (2021) 5 Steps of Marketing Process | An Introductory Guide, Invitereferrals. Available at:
https://www.invitereferrals.com/blog/marketing-process/ (Accessed: November 28, 2022).

Uniqlo (2019) Fashionabc. Available at: https://www.fashionabc.org/wiki/uniqlo/#History (Accessed:

November 28, 2022).