Chapter 7: Business Marketing

Typically Abercrombie & Fitch isn't a company that associates much with other companies. They don't believe in their items being resold buy distributors such as department stores, because they feel it ruins the unique shopping experience that the consumer receives when they purchase items in their store. In a way that works against the company, being as how they lose out on a ton of sales by not having their items be reachable through a reseller or a third party. It would also help to get the company name out there more and possibly broaden their target market. If someone entered a Bloomingdales not really looking for anything in particular and they happen to stumble across and Abercrombie & Fitch item that they like, it would definitely cause that consumer to continue to come back and purchase items from the company without having to purchase them solely from an Abercrombie & Fitch store.

But there's definitely an upside to Abercrombie & Fitch staying away from business to business selling and resellers. As a consumer you know that of you see an Abercrombie item for sale anywhere besides an actual store, that it's not authentic and you're not getting exactly what you think you are. Which is why Abercrombie is so big on loss prevention and brand protection, because they want to make sure, for the consumers sake that the only place they can purchase Abercrombie items is in an Abercrombie & Fitch store.

Chapter 8: Segmenting and Target Markets

Over the years Abercrombie & Fitch had one consistent target and generally catered to them. but over time as due to the change of many variables, Abercrombie has not only broadened their target market, but have segmented it as well. A good example would be Abercrombie's usage of geographic segmentation. For example here in New York City, Abercrombie & Fitch only has 2 stores, one of which is a flagship store the other a tier 1 store. Both those stores are very limited when it comes to the items they have on sale and the in store promotions that they have. Where as the stores located in New Jersey and Long Island fall lower on the companies totem poll. Not only do they carry a ton of sale items, but almost every week they have an inshore promotion offering at least 20% off all items Thats an example of geographic segmentation because the outer city target market widely varies from the inter city. A city as popular as New York brings in a lot of tourist, which definitely falls into Abercrombie's target market. Not only that, but over time the company has seen that the inner city target market is willing to spend more money which is why constant in store sales promotions and clearance sections aren't necessary.

With this holiday season Abercrombie has also shown examples of concentrated targeting strategy. For instance, since the company knows that the outer city target is the target looking for sale items and sales promotions, for black friday this year Abercrombie & Fitch are heavily promoting their stores in New Jersey and Long Island, even going as far as to open those store at midnight for the first time in company history. Although they would rather have people go to their stores to purchase full price items, they know that this is the time to largely promote to those who will purchase a lot of sale items an get them in the stores.

Chapter 11: Developing and Managing Products

A new product that Abercrombie & Fitch has released recently is their new outerwear introducing their new faux fur. Although this product may not seem new to Abercrombie's loyal consumers, it's a completely new design and new type of faux fur that they are using for their products. Outerwear featuring fax fur isn't exactly something new to the world, but Abercrombie's redesign of their original product is something thats new to the seller as well as their target market. When first marketing a new product, based on the textbook definition it's "a limited introduction of the product", which is almost the exact opposite of what Abercrombie & Fitch chose to do. Not only are they releasing their faux fur in their classic mens and women's outerwear, but also including it in some of their vests, hoodies as well as winter wear items such as hats and scarves. They have decided to go all out in their release of their new product. Usually the winter season brings out one or two faux fur lined/trimmed hoodies, but this season the company has released 16 different hoodies containing the brand's new faux fur in some way.

The massive release of the all of their new faux fur products, may actually do good for the company in a lot of ways. Their target market is traditionally men and women between 16 and 24, so if for example someone purchases a faux fur lined hoodie from Abercrombie, more than likely the word of how soft and comfortable the product is will pass on to more people in that target market causing them to ow also purchase something faux fur related from Abercrombie, whether it be a coat or a scarf. By changing up their original low quality faux fur design the company was being innovative and introducing something new, at least to their target market. By featuring the new product within so many of other products it makes it easy for the product to be diffused widely amongst their target market.

Holiday Season Plans

For the holiday season this year, Abercrombie & Fitch is doing something they've never before done. They have created gift box sets of some of their popular winter items, such as a hat and scarf set, pajamas for men and women as well their signature fragrances for each gender.

You can also tell when the holidays have arrived at Abercrombie & Fitch stores because their marketing and store packaging changes. A splash of red is added to their typical grayscale shopping bags and marketing. They also add festive red bows to their in store presentations and change up the music played in the store. For one month out of 12 they ditch their loud techno beats in favor of more festive holiday music. Along with that, right before Christmas, Christmas Eve to be exact Abercrombie has its biggest sale of the year, just in time for the holidays.

Chapter 16: Integrated Marketing Communications

In terms of product promotion there is one product that Abercrombie & Fitch heavily promotes, and that would be their fragrances, especially their number one fragrance Fierce. Their promotional strategy for promoting Fierce consist of a variety of techniques that they use to get the scent out there. For starters fierce is used as Abercrombie & Fitch's signature scent. At one point, sales associates would be designated to only spritz and pass blotter cards out to the customers in the store, but also spritz each item of clothing every have hour to 45 min every day. Now Abercrombie & Fitch uses a different technique to get the consumer to smell Fierce. In most of their stores worldwide, they now have automatic spritzers. Machines attached to the ceiling solely for the purpose of spraying the store with Fierce heavily enough that you can actually smell it from quite a distance.

They have also incorporated the product in their "tag lines", things the sales associates say to costumers as they enter and leave the store as well as check out. whether its "Get Fierce" or "Have you checked out our fragrance Fierce yet?" it's a way to get the product or at least the idea of the product into the consumers head at all times and that has really helped it become one of the rated fragrances worldwide. The company even created publicity for themselves by challenging the one and only Beyoncé. When the superstar was determine to release a fragrance names after her equally as famous alter ego "Sasha Fierce" Abercrombie & Fitch went to great lengths to make sure that she wouldn't be able to use the name fierce in relation to any fragrance, and they actually one, which definitely created more hype for the the already popular fragrance.

I believe a lot of the stuff that i mentioned before fits into Abercrombie & Fitch's AIDA concept. The attraction would be the smell in the air that draws in a lot of consumers, who once in the store usually do purchase the Fierce fragrance among other things. The interest would be all of the associates in the store talking about it with the consumer and sparking interest in them about what exactly the fragrance is. The desire would be when they get home and smell this great fragrance thats all over their clothes and actually being able to smell it in a setting that isn't an Abercrombie & Fitch store, is enough to cause a consumer to take action, by returning to the store and purchasing it or purchasing it online.

Chapter 10: Product Concepts

When it comes to Abercrombie & Fitch, most of their products can be seen as shopping products. In comparison to a lot of Abercrombie's competing brands, Abercrombie definitely stands out as the more expensive brand. It can also be found in a few stores. For example, there are only two Abercrombie & Fitch stores in New York City. It falls under the heterogeneous shopping product category, because all items sold by Abercrombie & Fitch are solely bought due to consumers individual preferences. There are any other brand that offer the same or similar products, some at a lot lower prices, yet the consumer purchases Abercrombie products due to personal preference. For example, now that I no longer work for the company, and don't receive a discount, I still insist on purchasing Abercrombie & Fitch jeans because I personally love how they fit on me.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, Abercrombie has recently released their new 2012 line of jeans, which they describe as a completely redesigned product, with lots of aspects such as softer denim and a "perfect" stretch that will definitely appeal not only to loyal regular customers but as well as brand new consumers. That is a rime example of Abercrombie using product modification to attract as well as keep consumers. They also showed an example of product line extension, by adding a straight leg fit, as well as jeggings to their already broad product line of denim. The two additional styles added, are styles that are very in fashion lately, and helps the company to maintain and obtain consumers.

Chapter 18: Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

Nowadays Abercrombie & Fitch is well known by consumers as a store that offers many sales and promotions but it wasn't always that way. Years ago Abercrombie & Fitch never ran any tie of promotions because it was exactly needed to sell their items, but overtime with the decline of the economy and other chain stores opening and selling similar items at lower prices, Abercrombie & Fitch has started using sale promotions more than ever before, and quite often. Just the other day while shopping in an Abercrombie store, I used a promotional code I acquired online to get 25% off of my total purchase, which I thought was incredible but t make it even better I was given an additional 25% off coupon to use on my next purchase. Abercrombie is not only using promotional sales to get people to actually come in and shop, but they also use it to get consumers to comeback and continue to shop.

By looking at the website, it also seems that theirs always a deal at Abercrombie. One week you get 25% off your total purchase, and when that promotion is over another one starts offering an additional 40% off of sale items. Now I know from having worked there for years, that they quite often tend to offer extreme discounts on already discounted merchandise, mainly to get rid of old merchandise and make room for new stuff, but that definitely seems to work in the consumers favor. They've also just started doing instant rebates, where if a certain amount is spent, they offer a percentage off which is something new for the company. Right now it's only for online purchases but it probably won't be long before its an in store promotion as well.

In terms of personal selling, according to the textbook Abercrombie & Fitch isn't a company that takes part in personal selling, but given how much their sales promotional techniques have changed, who can even predict where Abercrombie & Fitch will be with personal selling in the future.

Chapter 15: Retailing

Abercrombie & Fitch is a prime example of retailing mainly because it is a retail store. The store itself falls under the category of a chain store as well as the other stores that fall under the company’s general umbrella. There has been discussion about franchising and many people have been interested in opening Abercrombie & Fitch franchise stores but Mike Jefferies, the company CEO has decided that in order to ensure the consumer has the Abercrombie & Fitch experience, all stores should be run by the company in every aspect. In terms of service I would have to say from experience that Abercrombie & Fitch falls in between full service and self service. There are sales associates located all around the store to help the customers find sizes and items. Since the company attracts a lot of European customers, sometimes they expect associates to act as personal shoppers when assisting them, which isn’t something that isn’t done often, so consumers aren’t always receiving the service that they enter the store for.

There’s also a self service part of retailing that Abercrombie & Fitch provides which is their online store. They provide all of their items, including their specialty flagship items and sales items online. They also provide special discounts for online use only to give those that shop online the best deals. Within the last year Abercrombie & Fitch has also created Apple App for the iPhone for both the Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister store where consumers can now purchase items on the go straight from their phone, as well as see what items are new and where the closest store location is.

screenshots of the Abercrombie & Fitch App for iPhone

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

Abercrombie & Fitch over the years has used perception to get consumers to make purchases. They brand themselves as being this casual luxury clothing line and the people that buy truly do perceive it as that. I remember being in High School and seeing the girls I thought to be "cooler than me" all wearing Abercrombie & Fitch which led me to believe that if I wore that specific brand I too would be cooler. Of course non of that was needed to actually make me any more of a popular person, but after discovering the brand and seeing how well their jeans fit and how comfortable the sweatshirts were I continued to shop there. Its the perception of being cool that brings consumers in and the actually clothing itself that keeps consumers coming back. If i felt like that growing up in New York City, i can imagine how High Schoolers in more rural areas feel, places where Abercrombie & Fitch is much more popular..

That has much to do with the reason Abercrombie & Fitch got into a dispute with the cast of the Jersey Shore, when the company offered the cast money to stop wearing the brand. Perception played a big part in that because in the summer of 2010 when Jersey Shore was the biggest thing ever, Abercrombie & Fitch released a set of men's graphics tee shirts using popular Jersey Shore phrases, such as "GTL" because at that time it attracted consumers to have anything Jersey Shore related. Fast forward a year, now societies thoughts on the Jersey Shore cast has changed, and Abercrombie want to distance themselves as much as possible from the cast, even paying them to stop wearing the brand. All because now the company no longer wants to be associated with something seen as trashy and goes against its idea of casual luxury. Its all about making use to give the consumer the best perception at literally any cost.

Chapter 5: Developing A Global Vision

Abercrombie & Fitch has actually done a lot globally from recieving exported merchandise from countries in South America and Asia to opening stores all across Europe and Asia. One thing I've seen first hand as an example of the global effect of the company was the pricing and the exchange rate between the US and Europe. Although there are Abercrombie & Fitch stores in London and Milan and Hollister stores located all around Europe, the Abercrombie & Fitch store in New York City attracts a lot of European customers. One reason being the exchange rate between the US dollar and the British pound and the euro. Customers raved about how much money they saved purchasing items in an American store that they would buy many items in bulk. Another reason for a heavy International following is because although Abercrombie & Fitch maybe seen a certain way in this country, internationally they love it. So for people that don't have access to a store where they live they purchase many things in buy for their friends and family back home.

Abercrombie & Fitch also tapped into the globTheal market by choosing to open up stores internationally. Something that greatly helped bring in more business for the company, while providing more internal jobs aside from merchandise production. Opening stores internationally also help get the company name out there and allow people internally access to something that for so long was so limited.


The Abercrombie & Fitch store in Ginza, Japa

Chapter 4: The Marketing Environment

This chapter was all about the many factors that marketers must pay attention to and really play a big part in the business industry. The biggest factor that relates to Abercrombie & Fitch would have to be the economic factors. there once was a time when Abercrombie would sell their usual basic items at their usual price, such as $98 for jeans and $58-$68 for a sweater and people would easily buy these slightly overpriced items because they were buying the luxury and style that the Abercrombie brand has. but once the economy started to go south Abercrombie started to do things that were unheard of for the brand such as supply sale clothing. When i began working for the company in 2007 sale was a rare thing and it strictly contained items from seasons way passed that were at $19.90 price points and still not selling. Now with the drastic change of the economy resulting in an overall decrease of company profit Abercrombie have began new marketing tactics to help draw in consumers. They now offer from time to time promotions that offer up to 30% off an entire purchase, and additional 40% off all sale items with offer codes to be used online or in store. and even around the holidays they are now known to give a $25 gift card for every $100 spent. it's more than obvious that Abercrombie & Fitch realize the economic factor and are trying many things that aren't like the company to make sure to keep consumers happy and coming back.

Chapter 3: Ethics and Social Responsibility

Abercrombie & Fitch actually has a website devoted to all of their social and ethical contributions. First listed is their commitment to diversity, and after working in the company for over three years I have seen first hand that this is something that has become passionate about. They write on their site "At Abercrombie & Fitch, we are committed to promoting the diversity of our associates and management throughout our organization. We define diversity through what is "seen" and "unseen"." Personally I know this is actually be a lot different than they make it sound. yes they are passionate about being diverse, but only because in the past they haven't been and it has resulted in multiple lawsuits against them for discrimination. So does Abercrombie as a company strive to be diverse, yes. But is it because they want to or because by law they have to?

The next topic they discuss are human rights and how they work hard to ensure that no one's human rights are being violated. They say " Abercrombie & Fitch is proud of our commitment to international human and labor rights, and to ensuring that our products are only made in safe and responsible facilities. We partner with suppliers who respect local laws, and share our dedication to utilizing the best practices in human rights, labor rights, and workplace safety. Abercrombie & Fitch believes that business should only be conducted with honesty and respect for the dignity and rights of all people." thats another very ambiguous commitment that they've made. Yes of course it would be a lot easier to have their products made at a factory that provide cheap labor or even child labor, but if that ever got out in the open image how many consumers they would lose instantly. so it really makes you wonder if they are worried about protecting the human rights of everyone involved in anyway with their company or if they are just more concerned with protecting themselves and making sure that they continue to make money?

Under the topic of philanthropy they say "Abercrombie & Fitch is committed to giving back and making a positive impact on the communities where we do business. We show our commitment through monetary and product donations, as well as countless hours of volunteer work that our associates give to a host of great causes. Additionally, our Stores Organization hosts an annual fund raising event that benefits many different recipients, some of which have included store employees. Over the last several years the annual charity has raised over $100,000 for those in need." That statement really strikes me as odd because right away I think of the four total store Abercrombie & Fitch have in New York City alone (including two flagship Hollister stores) and I haven't really seen them do anything positive in this city, but as i read on further I did find out about the philanthropical things Abercrombie is doing, such as:
-Joining the Room to Read program, which has helped build over 765 school, 7040 libraries, donating over 2.5 million books, funding over 6500 scholarships all in developing countries

-Donating to multiple hospitals in the Columbus, ohio area (Nationwide Children’s Hospital & The Ohio State University Hospital/The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital of The Ohio State University


A lot of Abercrombie & Fitch's philantropical activity seems to take place near the company's headquarters in Ohio, but it is nice to know that a company I didn't even expect to be that socially responsible is at least making an effort as a lot of ways.

For information on how Abercrombie & Fitch gets involved and how you can help check out their site

Chapter 2: Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Over the years Abercrombie & Fitch has managed to reach the same target market, though each group has evolved much from the last. they've been able to do that by making sure they stay in tune with whats in trend and what people actually want to buy, while still making sure that they are staying true to the Abercrombie brand and providing their target market with what they know and love from the company. Abercrombie and Fitch started by creating a strategic business unit (SBU) by forming the brands, Hollister, Abercrombie Kids, Gilly Hicks and Ruehl all under the umbrella of the Abercrombie and Fitch organization. each reaching out to a different target market, but not all being so successful. Ruehl was forced to close all its stores by January 2010 due to low sales leaving the company to focus on their more flourishing brands, with emphasis on their main brand, Abercrombie & Fitch. Recently Abercrombie & Fitch began a product development strategy by releasing what they called "Redesigned 2012 Jeans".x Jeans that are designed to fit much better than the original while providing more stretch and better quality. A change as major as that to an Abercrombie staple like their jeans is sure to make all of their present consumers happy as well as bring in more consumers. Along with their new and improved jeans some of them are debuting on Abercrombie's website already on sale which i'm sure speaks loudly to many consumers, including myself.

Chapter 1: Brief History & Mission Statement

Abercrombie & Fitch was founded in New York City in 1892 by David T. Abercrombie and Ezra H. Fitch. Originally a sporting goods store, Abercrombie and Fitch was known for their expensive hunting and camping equipment such as shot guns, fishing rods and tents as well as much more. By 1977 the company had gone bankrupt and filed chapter 11 forcing them to close their manhattan flagship store. From 1978-1979 the company went on to be owned by a Houston based sporting goods company, which opened up stores in Dallas, Beverley Hills and reopened a store in New York City, before selling the company to The Limited, a clothing brand based out of Ohio. Under The Limited, Abercrombie & Fitch became controlled by Michael Jeffries who evolved the brand from a sporting good and novelty store, to a clothing store selling an "experience" that fit the company's new casual luxury lifestyle. Under the reigns of Mike Jeffries as CEO the company has gone on to open many flagship and mall store around the country as well as internationally.

Abercrombie & Fitch list their mission statement as, "We are committed to providing comfortable and long lasting clothes that look good"