The University of

Northampton.
MKT3039 AS1-Report.

A+ SAMPLE
Executive Summary:
Introduction:
This report is a digital marketing recommendation plan for a clothing boutique named
“Berties clothing” which is based in Northampton.

Situation analysis:
The company has an online and physical store. The brand uses social media platforms.
Berties clothing is active on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Also, the company has a
Youtube channel however the last video uploaded was 5 months ago. The competition
analysis shows that Berties can differentiate themselves in East Midlands (UK) market as
they offer high quality and sustainable clothes.

Objectives:
See the report for the objectives.

Strategy:
The company will target millennials as they are the main social media users. (Mohsin, 2020)
Berties clothing will start focusing just on Facebook as it is the main platform in the UK.
(Statista, 2018). The brand will highlight the product quality and sustainability. They will use
user-generated content. It will help to engage with the consumers and create a community
that cares about how and where their clothes are made.

Tactics and actions:

To increase engagement with the consumers Berties clothing will create a campaign called "I
CARE BY BERTIES". The main idea behind this campaign is to create a community and
highlight sustainable clothing importance. The brand will introduce the reviews option to its
website. It will help the brand to create a stronger reputation and find new consumers. Also,
the brand will improve email marketing. The consumers will receive emails not just about
the new collection, new blog posts and promotions. Also, customers will receive discounts
for their birthdays.

Control:
The company will have meetings every 3 months to review if the recommended tactics are
working. Berties clothing will look if the UGC strategy is successful and if the customers are
getting involved. Also, the company will look at how many reviews they are receiving and if
it helps to create a better brand reputation. The brand will KPI and analytic tools to see if
email marketing is working and if they are receiving a positive outcome from it.

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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................3
Situation Analysis...........................................................................................................3
The fashion industry.........................................................................................................3
Consumers....................................................................................................................... 4
Competitors......................................................................................................................4
Company analysis:............................................................................................................5
TOWs matrix:....................................................................................................................7
Objectives......................................................................................................................7
Strategy..........................................................................................................................8
Segmentation:.................................................................................................................. 8
Targeting.......................................................................................................................... 8
The marketing mix and recommendations:......................................................................8
Tactics and Actions.........................................................................................................9
“I CARE BY BERTIES”.........................................................................................................9
Consumer reviews..........................................................................................................10
Email marketing:............................................................................................................ 11
The marketing mix and tactics........................................................................................12
Action plan:.................................................................................................................... 12
Control:........................................................................................................................13
Future Development.....................................................................................................13
Conclusion....................................................................................................................14
References:..................................................................................................................14

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Introduction.
Nowadays social networking is so popular that by 2021 there will be 3.02 billion active social
media users according to Statista. (Statista, 2019) Social media created an opportunity for
brands to sell, promote and advertise their products. A lot of well-known companies use
digital marketing tools to increase their sales and engage with consumers. Dave Chaffey
defines digital marketing as “achieving marketing objectives through applying digital
technologies.” (Fremont College, n.d.) Digital marketing can benefit the business and help
them to identify, anticipate and satisfy the consumers needs. (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick,
2019, p.14) This reports purpose is to create digital marketing recommendations for Berties
clothing boutique. The boutique is founded in 1993. It is an independent-clothing boutique
specializing in women's fashion. The store is based in Northampton. The company has an
online and physical stores. They offer the finest designer clothes from all over the world. As
they say they want to: "bring high-quality ladies clothes that make women not just look
good but also to feel great." (Bertiesclothing.co.uk, n.d.) For this report, SOSTAC structure
will be used. The structure was created 1990s. Even today this structure is used as it helps
managers to: "recall the key components of a marketing communications plan." (Smith and
Zook, 2016, p.268)

Situation Analysis.
The fashion industry.

Independent fashion retailers are having a crisis in the UK. According to Drapers,
independent business is currently struggling to survive in high streets and they are not
profitable. The business like Berties clothing are facing political and economic challenges.
The main issues are high rent prices, high business rates, Brexit, parking charges, homeless
people on the streets. (Whelan, G. and Fish, I. 2019).

Whelan, G. and Fish, I. (2019)

Whelan, G. and Fish, I. (2019)

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Consumers.

Consumer behavior is changing towards the fashion industry. Mintel found that 27% of
fashion consumers are buying clothes online and just 24% of customers shop in a physical
store. UK consumers behaviour is changing. They often looking for better quality products
than a well-known fast fashion retailer can offer. (Hughes, 2019) This a great thing for
retailers like Berties clothing who are offering high-quality clothes. Also, search engines like
Google have become an important tool for consumers in the UK. According to Mintel, 58%
of people who bought clothing used a searching engine to find products from different
brands or retailers. (Mintel, 2019)

Competitors.
High Price
East Midlands
Designer Outlet

Berties
Clothing
32 The
Guild
Voni Blu
Low High
Quality Quality
The Wootton
Village Boutique

The Little Botique

Low Price

The positioning map above shows the main independent fashion competitors in the East
Midlands. The main competitors for Berties clothing are Voni Blu and 32 The Guild. All of
them are based in Northampton. All three companies are offering high-quality products. The
32 Guild was awarded as the best 50 boutiques in the UK by the Telegraph readers. (32 The
Guild, n.d.) The Berties clothing differentiates from the competitors by offering free delivery
and a free stylist consultation. Also, brands differentiate themselves by talking about
sustainability. The brand offers high quality and ethnical clothes. They aim to make their
customers to consume less by buying better quality clothes. (Bertiesclothing.co.uk, n.d.)

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Company analysis:
(Examples are from Berties clothing Facebook page)

Response time: within one day.

(Facebook.com, 2020)

Customer reviews. Berties clothing has 7338 people who follow their Facebook page,
however, they have just 98 reviews on their Facebook page.

(Facebook.com, 2020)

Communication with the consumers.

Overall Berties clothing has a good response rating. The company always answering
consumer questions and trying to build a relationship with the consumers.

Ethnical guarantee. The Berties Clothing provides an ethnical guarantee for their items.
However, the brand doesn't highlight this enough and there are not a lot of posts like this:
(Facebook.com, 2020)

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(Facebook.com, 2020)

Social media platform

figures:

Facebook: 7,338 followers (Facebook, 2020)

Instagram: 1818 followers (Instagram, 2020)
Twitter: 367 followers (Twitter, 2020)
Youtube: 16 subscribers (Youtube, 2020)

TOWs matrix:

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Berties clothing STRENGHTS: WEAKNESSES:
 High-quality clothes.  Poor engagement f
 Sustainable products customer on social
 Free stylist consultation media platforms.
 Few likes and share
social media platfo

OPPURTUNITIES: SO Strategies: WO Strategies:

 Social media and  Highlight product quality.  More focus on soci
influencers are driving  More focus on the social media media content and
fashion industry. platforms. future collaboratio
(Wilberg, 2018) with the influencer
 Consumer behaviour is
changing. Customers are
looking for better quality
clothes. (Mintel, 2019)

THREATS: ST Strategies: WT Strategies:

 Weak online reputation.  Remind consumers more often  Create an online re
 Low consumer about the free stylist consultation. option for better
engagement  More information about how and reputation.
where the products are made.  Uses UGC strategy
engage with the
consumers.

Objectives.
 Increase engagement and followers by 25 % on Facebook by January 2021.
 Launch a product review option in Berties clothing website by September 2020.
 Build closer relationships with existing and new customers via subscription.

Strategy.
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 Segmentation:
The brand will look at targeting millennial women in the UK. To start, company will target
ladies just in UK. Millennials continue to be the generation who uses social media the most.
(please see Figure 1) (Mohsin, 2020) By targeting this generation the brand will hopefully
grow and see better figures in their sales. Also, the company will focus on Facebook as it is
one of the most used social media platforms in the UK. (please see figure 2) (Statista, 2018)

Figure 2. Statista. (2018).

Figure 1. (Mohsin, 2020)

Targeting.

The company will continue to focus on high quality, sustainable clothing. However, the
brand will start posting and talking more about sustainability. Even 88% of consumers in the
UK and the USA want to make a change in the world and they feel that they can help by
recycling or buying ethically. (Forbes.com, 2018) This is a great opportunity for the brand
like Berties clothing. The company will create a new campaign called “I CARE BY BERTIES”. It
will be user generated content to highlight the importance of the ethical clothes. The
content plan for UGC will be created to help the brand highlight its values, engage
consumers and create a community that wants to change the world for better.

The marketing mix and recommendations:

 Product-Highlight product quality and sustainability.

 Place-Social media, website and blog.
 Price-Discounts.
 Promotion- Awareness regards the products and how they are made.

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Tactics and Actions.
“I CARE BY BERTIES”

The company will create a campaign called “I CARE BY BERTIES”. The brand will encourage
the consumers to take pictures with the clothes they bought from Berties clothing and
upload them to their Facebook page with the comment: “I CARE BY BERTIES”. Also,
consumers will need to follow and tag Berties clothing. The consumer will be asked to write
why they care about sustainability and why they wear ethical clothes. Every month the
brand will choose the winner based on the: style and the best comments. The winner will
receive 20% off for their next purchase. This will help to encourage people to attend the
competition and it will create an ethical fashion lover community where people can get
inspired by each other style and talk about sustainability. User-generated content is very
powerful nowadays. According to Juliet Carnoy, a marketing manager: “Integrating user-
generated content into your SEO strategy is an effective way to boost your brand’s search
rankings and to build social proof for your products.” (Carnoy, 2018)

"I CARE BY BERTIES" plan:

The UGC plan has been created to help Berties clothing to achieve the best and clear
outcome from it. The brand will need to set a clear message about what they expect from
the consumers. It will need to have rules, deadlines, prize and judging criteria. The company
will create a new post on their Facebook platform.

Message example:
"Hey ladies! Did you know that our aim is to make you ladies not just to look good but also
feel great? From the 1st of February till 31st of December 2020, we start our new campaign
called “I CARE BY BERTIES”. To enter the competition you need to post a picture with the
clothes from Berties Clothing. Also, we require you to write why you care about sustainable
clothes and why you choose to wear them. To enter this competition you need to follow and
tag us on your post. Every month our team will choose the winner who will receive a 20% off
for your next purchase!

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 Consumer reviews.

Customer buys an item on Berties clothing website.

Customer receives a receipt of order confirmation.

Berties clothing post the item. Customer receives the email that the item is posted.

Customer receives the products and gets an email from Berties with the confirmation that
the order is received. Berties ask to rate the product. Also, customer can add his/hers
comments about the experience overall.

Once Berties clothing receives

the rating they can share this
Example of other retails rating system:
on their social media platforms.
For example, Berties Clothing
received a review about the
product and the customer was
very pleased. The consumer
rate and gave to the product
5*. Also, left a comment. The
company then shared this on
their Facebook platform or
uploaded it to their Instagram
story.

Greta’s personal email example.

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Email marketing:

Berties clothing will improve how they use an email marketing. This will help them to
connect with their target audience and send the message to the consumer. Email marketing
has a lot of benefits. One of them is the price. Email marketing can help small businesses to
reach their consumer and deliver the message while staying on the budget.
(Campaignmonitor.com, 2019).
Berties clothing will use email marketing and inform the consumers when the company will
have:
• New blog posts. (already existing)
• New clothing collections. (already existing)
Also, Berties clothes will send consumers birthday emails. Customer will receive the email
on their birthday day with the 10% off discount for their next purchase.
Berties clothing will create an easier way for consumers to subscribe their newsletter. Now
the company has two separate links on their website. The first one is for creating an
account. (See figure 1.) Another one for a subscription. It is hard to find where you can sign
for subscription as it is on the bottom of their website. (See figure number 2.)

Figure1. (Bertiesclothing.co.uk, n.d.)

Figure 2. (Bertiesclothing.co.uk, n.d.)

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Berties clothing must link them together. For example, the customer will create an account
with Berties clothing. There will be the option implemented to click the button and
subscribe to their newsletter immediately. Also, the company will ask for more information
than just first name, last name, email address. The more Berties clothing will know about
the customer the better it would be for the company as they will: "identify the right and
most relevant opportunities to reach out with highly targeted and personal
communications." (Hanna, Swain and Smith, 2015, p.67) For example, the brand will ask
consumers DOB and address. Also, e-receipts will be implemented in their business.
The consumer will be asked if they want to receive e-receipt. The sales assistant will advise
the customer that they will use less paper and will help the environment. Also, the customer
will not need to worry about losing their receipt.

The marketing mix and tactics.

 Product-Provide as much as possible information of how and where the products are
made.
 Place- link the Facebook platform with the companies website (e-shop). It will help
to make the consumer journey easier. For example, the consumer sees the pictures
of the products on Facebook and next to the picture there is a link to the website
where they can purchase it.
 Price-20% off for “I LOVE BY BERTIES” campaign. Also, 10% off for customers
birthday.
 Promotion- More videos on the Facebook of how the products are made and where
they came from.

Action plan:

Activity Channel Resource allocation

I LOVE BY BERTIES
campaign.
Customer reviews.
Video contents of how and
where the clothes are
made.
Email Marketing.
Facebook. Internal team.
Website. External professional
experts of websites.
Facebook. Internal team+ professional
video makers.
Email+ online shop. External professional
experts of email marketing.

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Control:

Berties clothing must control and review if all recommended objectives are achieved by
2020. The company should have meetings every three months to review the situation and
see if all the tactics are working. If the company sees that not all the objectives are achieved
by the end of 2020 the plan and actions must be reviewed.

Tactics: How control it?

UGC strategy. Check if the consumers are entering the “I
CARE BY BERTIES” competition.
Customer reviews. Check how many reviews received. If they
are good? Make sure that all inquiries and
complaints are handled ASAP.
Email marketing. Use analytic tools to see:
 How many people opened the
email.
 How many people visited the
website or blog after receiving the
email.
 How many people marked the email
as spam.

Future Development.
Berties clothing has a small team. Hopefully after implementing recommendations above
the company will see growth and they will be able to employ more staff. For future
development the main recommendation would be to create different content for their
social media platforms because every social media platform has a different audience and
expectations. (Lua, 2017)
For example:
 Instagram (existing): Quotes, styling tips, stories, collaborations with influencers.
 Twitter (existing): news, blog posts.
 Youtube (existing): styling videos.
 LinkedIn (new): job adverts, professional content.

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Conclusion.

All in all, Berties clothing should see the growth in sales and consumer engagement if all
recommendations will be implemented. If the company will follow the plan they will build
new and closer relationships with the consumers. The company will differentiate from
competitors if they will highlight how and where the products are made. Digital Marketing
recommendations like user-generated content will help them to build a new community and
also promote their brand. Things like email marketing will grow consumer loyalty. Also,
product reviews will help to increase sales and find a new customer. By targeting millennials
brand will hopefully see increased sales as they are main buyers online.

References:
32 The Guild. (n.d.). About Us. [online] Available at: https://32theguild.com/pages/about-us
[Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].

Academic-mintel-com.ezproxy.northampton.ac.uk. (2019). Sign In. [online] Available at:

https://academic-mintel-com.ezproxy.northampton.ac.uk/display/964096/ [Accessed 13 Jan.
2020].

Bertiesclothing.co.uk. (n.d.). About Us | Womens Fashion Boutique Northampton - Berties Clothing.

[online] Available at: https://bertiesclothing.co.uk/pages/about-us [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].

Campaignmonitor.com. (2019). What Is Email Marketing? Why Do Email Marketing? (2019). [online]
Available at: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/why-email/ [Accessed 26 Jan.
2020].

Carnoy, J. (2018). SEO Ideas: How to Improve SEO with User Generated Content. [online] The Pixlee
Blog. Available at: https://www.pixlee.com/blog/seo-ideas-how-to-improve-seo-with-user-
generated-content/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2020].

Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2019). Digital marketing.

Forbes.com. (2018). 88% Of Consumers Want You To Help Them Make A Difference. [online]
Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/solitairetownsend/2018/11/21/consumers-want-you-
to-help-them-make-a-difference/#3753fb8b6954 [Accessed 17 Jan. 2020].

Fremont College. (n.d.). Def: Digital Marketing, E-Marketing, Internet Marketing, Online Marketing.
[online] Available at: https://fremont.edu/digital-internet-online-marketing/ [Accessed 24 Jan.
2020].

Hanna, R., Swain, S. and Smith, J. (2015). Email marketing in a digital world.

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Hughes, H. (2019). UK shoppers shun cheaper clothes for longer-lasting items. [online]
Fashionunited.uk. Available at: https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/uk-shoppers-shun-
cheaper-clothes-for-longer-lasting-items/2019022241737 [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].

Instagram.com. (2020). Berties (@bertiesclothing) • Instagram photos and videos. [online] Available
at: https://www.instagram.com/bertiesclothing/?hl=en [Accessed 27 Jan. 2020].

Lua, A. (2017). What to Post on Each Social Media Platform: The Complete Guide to Optimizing Your
Social Content. [online] Entrepreneur. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/305168
[Accessed 24 Jan. 2020].

Smith, P. and Zook, Z. (2016). Marketing communications. 6th ed. Kogan Page, Limited.

Statista. (2018). UK: most active social networks 2018 | Statista. [online] Available at:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/284506/united-kingdom-social-network-penetration/
[Accessed 21 Jan. 2020].

Twitter. (2020). Berties (@BertiesClothing) on Twitter. [online] Available at:

https://twitter.com/bertiesclothing?lang=en [Accessed 27 Jan. 2020].

Whelan, G. and Fish, I. (2019). Drapers Investigates: the independent retail crisis. [online] Drapers.
Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/news/drapers-investigates-the-independent-retail-
crisis/7038554.article [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].

Wilberg, A. (2018). How Social Media and its Influencers are Driving Fashion. [online]
Digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk. Available at: https://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/social-
media-marketing/how-social-media-and-its-influencers-are-driving-fashion/4871 [Accessed 14
Jan. 2020].

www.statista.com. (2019). Topic: Social media. [online] Available at:

https://www.statista.com/topics/1164/social-networks/ [Accessed 26 Jan. 2020].

YouTube. (2020). Berties Clothing. [online] Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsvUepXitwWl0GwN4QCSCDw [Accessed 27 Jan. 2020].

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