1. What is fashion branding? How does branding establish a products identity?
Fashion branding is “the cumulative image of a product or service that consumers quickly associate with a particular brand, it offers an overall experience that is unique, different, special, and identifiable.” (Hancock, 4) Branding establishes an identity for a product by giving the consumer a way in which to view the product. For example, there are a myriad of black leather handbags on the market, but a handbag that is quilted and bears the double c logo of Chanel makes the bag stand apart from all the others because consumers are quickly able to recognize the brand and understand that a brand such as Chanel means high quality and high fashion.
2. How are companies able to sell items like T-shirts, jeans, and sunglasses at high prices? Can you give an example of another item sold in the luxury market that might not have been traditionally perceived as a luxury good?
Companies are able to sell these goods at such high prices because they have done an extremely effective job of branding. Take for example Dolce and Gabbana, the Italian fashion house has been able to sell underwear and denim to the more affluent crowd at higher prices because they ARE Dolce and Gabbana. The brand has built itself up to represent a sexy Italian attitude and it caught the eyes of fashion editors enough to be written about in magazines and put in movies and thus became a very well known brand that is able to charge almost anything they would wish for their garments. Another item that may not have been seen as a luxury good that is now emerging is cell phones. Years ago Dolce and Gabbana licensed their name to Motorola to make a gold RAZR, then came the Dior Phone, the Prada Phone, and most recently (Oct 7) the Jill Sander Phone will debut in Europe.
3. Race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation play a part in purchasing decisions. Identify three consumer groups that are different from you. In your opinion, do they differ from each other with regard to fashions and the types of brands they purchase? Why or why not?
One obviously different consumer group than myself would be females, two others include the elderly as well as individuals who consider themselves straight. I think that all consumer groups purchase differently from all others. I mean I obviously purchase differently than those three named above (I do not purchase dresses like females would, I do not spend much time in the pharmacy aisles of stores like the elderly, and unlike straight males I spend much more money on beauty products) but each of those groups while different from me are also different from each other. I think that each group needs and wants certain things from companies that the other groups do not need or want. There are some overlaps of course (I buy foundation as well as straight women) but for the most part many purchasing decisions vary greatly between all different consumer groups.
