Uniqlo: Breaking Into the U.S.

As some of you know, Uniqlo is a clothing company based out of Japan that offers fashion basics.  In 2006, they opened their flagship store in New York City and just within the past few weeks, Uniqlo has also opened another store in San Francisco.  It appears as though the company is facing strategic issues with it's recent plan to branch out in the United States.

After researching the company and looking into their strategies, I think their biggest problem thus far is creating awareness for the brand in the U.S.  Many people outside of New York and California don't know much about Uniqlo.  New York and California are not only the two states with the only Uniqlo stores in the U.S. but they are both home to some of the most fashion-forward cities in the world.  I've asked around and most people said they have never heard of it.  So how does a Japanese company extend their brand into the U.S.while creating awareness?

There are a few obstacles that they have to overcome.  For one, they are a Japanese company and as most know, Japanese fashion and culture are very different from the United States.  How does Uniqlo communicates their values to a foreign culture?

I think their first move is to change their message or tagline.  Uniqlo's current tagline is "Made for all".  I find a few problems with that.  First, everyone has a different style and there is no one style or brand of clothing that every single person likes.  I think that is a universal concept and there won't ever be a style that everyone wears.  Clothing is a form of expression and having a clothing made for everyone takes away from that idea.  Secondly, in an article I read about Uniqlo, it's founder kept mentioning Apple.  The founder really admired Apple and the idea of having a product that was universal for everyone; however, you cannot bring that concept into fashion.  Everyone cannot be their target audience.

Uniqlo needs to narrow down their target consumer.  Perhaps targeting people who are still looking to be trendy and fashion-forward.  They should target their brand towards young adults, people who want to be fashionable within a budget.

Uniqlo is known for their fashion basics at affordable prices, from my understanding.  A better way to send that message across may be using a tagline like, "your everyday fashion" or "basic is fashion" or "fashion that fits you" or "made for everyday".

As far as creating awareness, I think Uniqlo should focus on the success of the stores in the United States and continue to slowly branch out to other cities.  They should change their message and continue with their strategy of opening popup stores in other cities to create buzz and awareness.  However, I do think an important strategic move is to change their message to something people can connect with better here in the United States.

http://www.uniqlo.com/us/

Wieden + Kennedy's Success

So as many of you know, Wieden + Kennedy is one of the world's largest independently owned ad agencies and is responsible for the advertisements of many big name companies such as Nike, Facebook, Old Spice, P@G, Levi's and Coca-Cola.  The company is most well known for their long standing relationship with Nike which began back in 1980.  Nike was W+K's first major client and has contributed to a major part of their success.  This is W+K's most recent work with Nike...

Another video commercial that W+K did for Nike that I thought was clever was...

The company did their research and played off of everyone's excitement for Lebron and the Heat to finally win a ring.  They found something people took interest in and made an ad people could stand behind.

I think W+K has produced some great work.  Without their work with Nike, I wonder how the company would have taken off.  I would like to ask the telling questions...  Would W+K be one of the largest independently owned advertising agencies today if they never did work for Nike?  W+K have acquired many big name brands in the past, but is that because of their success with Nike?  Whether Nike played a big factor or not, W+K is one of the most prestigious and successful ad agencies today.  I really enjoy their work... As of now, I will continue to follow them and post about their work.

Today's Inspiration...

So... life after college, a career, living on my own, it's all so exciting and yet so scary!  As a college student, it's a constant struggle between managing work and classes and as an added task, trying to figure out what I want to do after college.  I'm currently a marketing and management double major.  The thought being that if I graduated with two broad degrees, I could definitely manage to get a job and one day make a career for myself.  From day to day, I am so busy that I sometimes forget what the major goal is! A career!  I have always considered myself creative and an outside thinker.  I like to do things differently and I really can't imagine myself with a desk job in a stiff career.  It's just not me.  So what are my options?

Today we had guest speaker, Brandon Thornton, come in and speak to the advertising students about his career and what brought him there.  Brandon is a strategic planner at Wieden + Kennedy for their Nike Basketball account.  After listening to his journey to Wieden + Kennedy, I became so inspired.  It was great to hear a success story from someone within advertising who started in the same position I am currently in. He worked hard for his place at Wieden + Kennedy, but it seems well worth it.  It made me realize that advertising would be a great avenue for me to express myself and let the creative juices flow!  It seems as though advertising is a competitive industry; however, the ideals behind it fit well with how I think.  Brandon mentioned how the advertising industry encourages taking risks and occasionally failing so you can learn from your mistakes.  It's also an industry where individuality and differences are important.  They want people with different opinions and perspectives.  Everyone can bring something different to the table and help to create something great.  As long as you can provide an opinion and work that is unmatchable by others, you're an asset to any ad agency.

Wieden + Kennedy has produced some amazing work with some big names such as, Levi's, Nike, Kraft, Converse, Old Spice, and P&G.  This is a recent Levi ad that I thought was really creative.

With all that being said... I think I'm going to start my creative journey to something great.  Advertising or not... I'll find some way to leave my creative stamp on the world.

Blast from the Past

If there's one distinct advertisement that I remember growing up, it would definitely be the Tang ads with the orangutan.  Do any of you 90's kids remember?

I always grew up drinking Tang and I can never forget their ridiculous ads.  I always thought they were funny at the time, but when I watch them now, they seem so goofy!  It definitely stuck because of the orangutan doing karate.  Even though the ads are extreme and goofy, the orangutan doing something human was a clever idea!  The concept caught on and every time I saw Tang or drank it, I thought of the orangutan.