WEEK THREE | FURTHER BRAND RESEARCH AND HISTORY

Overview of your chosen brand

A mainstream fashion brand that offers a vast range of products from basic collections to evening attire for men, women and children. H&M are recognised for their association with sustainable values and they have their own sustainable collection. 

“The brand H&M offers fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way for women, men, teenagers and children. The range includes everything from sparkling gala outfits and exclusive designer collaborations to everyday basics and high-performance yoga wear to help fashion fans across the world dress their personal style.” (hm.com, 2018)

Looking at the market segment of your brand (positioning map)

H&M is positioned as a mass market and affordable brand with a sense of quality. In comparison to its competitors it is a much cheaper brand but associates itself with a sense of fashionability and quality that makes it a rival to brands such as Zara and Abercrombie & Fitch.

Figure 1

Brand research (historical)/ previous campaigns (successful and unsuccessful)

“In 1947, the womenswear store Hennes opened in Västerås, Sweden. Today, the H&M group is a global fashion and design company with 47 markets of 70 markets offering both store and online shopping.” (hm.com, 2018)

H&M was founded in 1947 by Erling Persson in Sweden, originally called Hennes (Swedish for “her”) and was solely a womenswear brand. In 1968, Hennes acquires the hunting and fishing apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss. From then onwards the brand is called Hennes & Mauritz and men’s and children’s clothing are now available.

H&M have been successful in campaigns such as their ‘Bring it on’ and ‘Close the loop’ campaign, promoting and encouraging recycling clothes and closing the loop in the fashion industry. These clothes are then recycled to create a new H&M collection. H&M value being a sustainable brand as much as possible as well as being considered mass market/fast fashion.

H&M collaborate with a designer brand each year and create a ‘high end meets high street’ collection. These collections have often been successful because it offers a designer brand at a more accessible price point for the mass market consumer. These include collaborations with Balmain, Erdem and Comme des Garcons. Balmain was seen to be one of the most successful due to how quickly it sold out both online and in store. On the other hand, some consumers were disappointed with how stock ran out so quickly and there wasn’t “enough” stock for everyone. Bibby Sowray stated that an unhappy customer said:

“…your website crashed making it impossible for anyone who actually has a Monday-Friday job to get any of the collection. The few pieces that I want are now going for 3-5 times the retail price on eBay. The collection went from affordable to unobtainable.” (Sowray, B, 2018)

H&M caused controversy when they released a children’s jumper which had the words “the coolest monkey in the jungle” on it, modelled by a black child model. Many consumers and celebrities (The Weeknd, G-Eazy) were shocked and offended by the racist connotation this image had. In light of this, H&M sincerely apologised and removed both the image and jumper from their website.

H&M have also previously created a gender-neutral campaign, but only in their denim collection, so I wanted to expand this into a wider collection. The denim collection campaign was seen as a success due to gender-neutral fashion being a current subject in the industry and so H&M are seen as a contemporary, forward thinking and inclusive brand. The campaign was also well executed, with a fun and quirky advert.

Brand identity – what is its USP/reputation

I believe the unique selling point of this brand is how they create the best quality they can while remaining an inexpensive and low-price brand. There collaborations with designer brands also is a USP of the brand, as it associates H&M with high end labels and allows the consumer to access the designers work through an affordable collection.

Design philosophy

“The innovation behind sustainable materials never ceases to amaze. Recycled silver is made from scrap metal with minimal environmental impact and ECONYL® is a 100% regenerated nylon fibre from nylon waste that support clean oceans. The way the materials feature in our Conscious Exclusive collection shows how the latest technology can be incorporated with time-honoured techniques for spectacular results,” (Johansson, A, 2018)

H&M’s values and principles are very much based around sustainability and diversity. They have a conscious collection which are solely created from recycled materials and new technologies. Their goal is to be a part of the movement towards a circular and renewable fashion industry. 

             Figure Two

Competitors (aspirations)

H&M’s competitors include brands such as Zara, Gap, Uniqlo and Abercrombie & Fitch. What these brands have in common are their sense of quality at a mass market and more affordable level. They have similar price points and target a similar consumer, the young adult predominately female. 

H&M have collaborated with a wide range of designers, and therefore associating themselves with the designer’s work. H&M aligns themselves with these brands as they aspire to be like them and appreciate their work. By working with designers H&M are able to bring a luxury high end designer brand to the mass market at a more affordable and accessible level.

How is film used/if at all? (in your chosen brand and competitors)

        

H&M use film very frequently, from fashion films revealing a designer collection collaboration to promotional film to encourage sustainability in the fashion industry. They come across as a very creative brand who enjoy producing artistic and visual advertising. They also seem a very forward-thinking brand and engage in important matters and issues. For example, they created a fashion film for AW18 about empowering women and addressing the idea that a woman is supposed to act “ladylike”. 

Figure List

Figure 1

Wilson, N. (2018) Brand Positioning Map for H&M. [image].

Figure 2

About.hm.com. (2018). H&M group | Vision & Strategy. [online] Available at: https://about.hm.com/en/sustainability/vision-and-strategy.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].

References

About.hm.com. (2018). H&M group | H&M. [online] Available at: https://about.hm.com/en/brands/hm.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].

About.hm.com. (2018). H&M group | Market overview. [online] Available at: https://about.hm.com/en/about-us/markets-and-expansion/market-overview.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].

Sowray, B. (2015). Balmain is H&M's most successful designer collaboration yet. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/brands/balmain-hm-most-successful-designer-collaboration-ever/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].

Fumo, N. (2018). A Racially Insensitive Product Photo Just Cost H&M A Major Celebrity Partner. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolafumo/2018/01/08/a-racially-insensitive-product-photo-just-cost-hm-a-major-celebrity-partner/#5c97b5cc7fb3 [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].

About.hm.com. (2018). H&M Conscious Exclusive continues to show proof of sustainable fashion innovation. [online] Available at: https://about.hm.com/en/media/news/general-news-2018/h-m-conscious-exclusive-continues-to-show-proof-of-sustainable-f.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].