Abstract

Table of Content

1. Introduction

1.1 Company Background and its Challenges

Greyhound Company Limited is a Thai firm that deals with designing, manufacturing, and
retailing casual wear fashion products. The firm was founded in 1980. The firm operates a fully
consolidated subsidiary of Fast Retailing Company Limited and established its first store as the
headquarter at Siam Center - the most fashionable mall in Bangkok at the time.

In 1998, Greyhound opened the first Greyhound Cafe, adding another aspect to brand, turning
Greyhound from a fashion label into a cutting-edge lifestyle brand in Bangkok. The company
launched Playhound by Greyhound in 2002, a second apparel line offering younger flamboyant
clothes with modern, casual and experimental street attitude. Today, there are 13 stand-alone and
shop-in-shop boutique stores plus 9 cafe’s and restaurant in Bangkok. The company integrated
internationalisation as one of its strategic actions since 2011 by expanding abroad through
leading department stores and multi-brand boutiques like South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia,
Vietnam, Japan, Switzerland, Austria, Russia and Israel. This move led to the establishment of
outlets in different parts of the world.

However, Greyhound experienced a number of challenges after entering abroad retail industry,
which led to a significant decline in the volume of sales. The fashion industry worldwide has
undergone remarkable growth over the past two decades. Thompson (2012) asserted that the
industry is the most internationalised and fiercely competitive retail sectors, while structural
changes have changed the way fashion retailers do business.

1.2 Greyhound Purpose statements

Chic + Contemporary + Simple but never boring

A wardrobe tots the thoughtful and worldly non-conformist; modem and minimal clothes and
accessories might be enchanted with a trompe l'oeil print or constructed form an unexpected
material. Largely influenced by graphic design – the theory and technique – the clothes have a
cerebral vibe and a sculptural quality. This implicit and explicit use of graphics is what marks
Greyhound out from other fashion house.

2. Environmental analysis

2.1 MACRO trend environment analysis

In a bid to understand the macro environment, it is imperative for marketing managers to adopt
effective and business models such as the PESTLE model. The model aids in understanding the
political, economic, social, and legal factors affecting a business.

2.1.1 PESTEL Analysis

To expand the business of Greyhound in the UK as the previously unexplored market, the
analysis of the fashion business environment in the UK by applying the PESTEL model can be
presented as follows.

 P-Political environment

The performance of businesses in the retail sector is subject to the prevailing political trends and
structure in different ways. The UK is one of the politically stable countries in Europe. Its
stability has arisen from the adoption of a monarchical system of government. Consequently, the
country is characterised by a relatively low degree of political risk, which has made the UK an
attractive investment destination to a large number of foreign investors. On the other hand, the
UK has implemented effective land-planning system, hence providing retailers with an
opportunity to locate their businesses strategically.

 E-Economic environment

Greyhound’s management team should be conscious of the fact that the firm’s operations will be
subject to economic changes. The global fashion industry has undergone remarkable transition
over the past two decades and the UK clothing industry has not been excluded. Some of the
major changes relate to economic uncertainty. Moreover, the consumers’ marginal propensity to
save has increased remarkably compared to marginal propensity to spend. The commitment of
the UK government to enhance the country’s economic recovery is likely to improve the
consumer’s purchasing power and this trend is likely to lead to improvement in Greyhounds’
sales volume in the UK.

 S-Social environment

Firms are also subject to changes emanating from the sociological environment. Some of these
changes relate to changes in tastes and preferences. The changes in consumers’ tastes and
preferences are motivated by lifestyle considerations, which are fueled by change in the
consumers’ beliefs and attitudes. Fombrun (2008) asserts that the ‘modern consumers are a mass
of contradictions, many of which are inexplicable on any rational basis’.

Currently, branded products are more marketable as compared to non-branded products. The
fashion industry in the UK has experienced a remarkable change with regard to the consumers’
tastes and preferences. The customers’ requirements relate to both the service provided and the
product purchased.

 T-Technological environment

Technology has had a significant impact on the UK fashion industry. Firms are increasingly
adopting emerging social networks such as Tout, Flickr, You Tube, Google +, and Facebook in
their marketing communication. Similarly, consumers have embraced technology in the
consumption processes. Therefore, adopting the above technologies will improve the
effectiveness and efficiency with which Greyhound communicates with its prevailing and
potential customers. Integrating these technologies could improve Greyhound’s competitive edge
and hence its position in the UK fashion market.

 E-Environmental influences (50 Words)

 L-Legal environment
The UK government has instituted effective legal structures in an effort to stimulate the
country’s economic growth through entrepreneurship. For example, the government has
established a number of special economic zones in an effort to stimulate economic growth across
the country. Moreover, the UK government has instituted comprehensive intellectual property
laws in an effort to protect innovation. Consequently, investors cannot lose their invention to
counterfeit products. The government also implemented laws that aim at curbing unfair business
competition. Thus, both local and foreign investors are protected.

2.2 MICRO trend environment analysis

2.2.1 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

The Porter’s five forces model is one of the tools that businesses can exploit. The model is
contained of five factors that can be analysed for the UK fashion industry as follows.

 Threat of entry: moderate

The UK fashion industry is characterised by a moderate threat of entry, which arises from the
view that the industry has been dominated by global and local stores. Some of the major players
include departmental stores such as Lewis, Selfridges, and John Lewis. The threat of entry is
further minimised by the existence of supermarkets and individual stores such as Gap, Next, and
Tesco, which have diversified their product offering by selling fashion clothes. Moreover, the
large fashion retailers in the industry have developed remarkable economies of scale, thus
making it difficult for new entrants to succeed.

 Threat of substitute; high

The UK clothing and textile industry has experienced a substantial increment in the volume of
fashion products over the past decades. One of the major challenges relates to the existence of a
large number of local and foreign retailers. The threat of substitute is further complicated by the
existence of counterfeit clothes in the UK clothing industry. Melik (2012) asserts that counterfeit
clothes are increasingly being produced and sold in the UK market in an effort to raise cash for
charity. This aspect presents a major threat in Greyhound’s quest for an optimal market position
in the UK.

 Supplier power; low

According to Kohli and Thakor (2007), high supplier power refers to the ability of suppliers to
influence product prices upwards through raw materials, labour, and other services that they
provide to a particular firm. The UK clothing industry is characterised by a relatively low
bargaining power due to numerous suppliers of the necessary raw materials. Consequently, the
suppliers cannot influence the market price.

 Buyer power; high

The industry is characterised by a high buyer bargaining power due to the intense competition.
Consumers have a wide range of options to select from in the course of making their purchase
decision with regard to apparels. This aspect has provided consumers with an opportunity to
influence the market price of apparels downwards. The high buyer bargaining power has led to
the creation of price wars amongst casual wear retailers in the UK in an effort to develop
customer loyalty (Yee and Sidek 2008).

 Rivalry-high

The UK fashion industry can be described as mature as evidenced by the intense competition
emanating from local and global players and the large number of substitutes. In a bid to survive
in such an industry, it is imperative for Greyhound to ensure that it integrates effective
operational strategies.

2.2.2 Customer Segmentation Analysis to share a summary of current customers/users utilising

segmentation variables. (150 Words)

2.3 Opportunities and Threats for the company (150 Words)

Summarise the macro and micro analyses by clearly articulating what they represent in terms of
opportunities and threats for the company.
2.4 Internal environment capability analysis (200 Words)

Application of McKinsey’s 7S Framework (1980) and Barney’s VRIN Framework (1991).

These analyses should point to the company’s strengths and weaknesses.

3. Proposed Strategy (1,200 words)

3.1 SWOT analysis (4 boxes) which summarises the main findings from your macro and micro
trend analyses. (100 Words)

3.2 Marketing Opportunities (200 Words)

Informed by the environmental analyses, the SWOT analysis will facilitate identification of key
marketing opportunities.

3.3 SMART marketing objective (100 Words)

A single marketing opportunity should be selected and justified applying relevant theory (duly
referenced) and articulated in the form of a SMART marketing objective.

3.4 Strategic marketing plan (200 Words)

Based upon your preceding analyses and informed by your SMART marketing objective,
develop an outline strategic marketing plan for a single marketing opportunity.

3.5 Application of Marketing Mix (7Ps) (150 Words)

You should explicitly apply (and reference) appropriate planning models and frameworks to
develop the outline strategy. By way of illustration, one example of a relevant planning model is
application of the marketing mix.

3.6 Triangulation is required and can be achieved as follows. (150 Words)

Link back the proposed strategy to the content of the introduction.
Does your strategy address the challenge(s) you identified?
How does the proposed strategy exploit the opportunities in the environment and/or avoid the
threats?
How does the proposed strategy capitalise on company’s strengths and/or avoid or remedy the
weaknesses?
Do the resources and competences currently exist to implement the strategy effectively?
If not, can these resources and competences be obtained, and how?
Does the proposed strategy align with the purpose of the company?

3.7 Implementation Plan (150 Words)

The feasibility of your proposed new direction should be considered with an implementation
plan provided which identifies key milestones and resources required to achieve these. You
should also briefly consider risks and how these might be overcome or mitigated.

3.8 Marketing Controls (150 Words)

Insight into the marketing controls that will be employed to monitor & evaluate the relative
success of the strategic marketing plan needs to be provided. As part of this analysis Key
Performance Indicators should be devised which provide some sales projections. The
SMART objective you developed at the outset is also a means to measure success

References

Harvard Style