H&M: Marni Collection

What would one do, when one of his favourite brands ties up with a top designer to launch trendier designs? Of course, queue up from morning to get the hands on the product before anyone else does. Well, that’s what I wanted to do last Thursday when H & M launched its Marni Collection. But unfortunately I had to be at work by 8 am. On my way to work, I was envying everyone queuing outside the H & M flagship store in Regent Street, and it was the first topic of discussion with my Italian colleague in my office.

H&M has been known for collaborating with famous designers to produce special limited edition lines. In 2004, H&M collaborated with German designer Karl Lagerfeld, followed by Stella McCartney, Madonna, Roberto Cavalli, Matthew Williamson, Jimmy Choo, Lanvin and Versace to name a few. The special edition lines have been actually integrated to the style of H&M, only making it sexier and in some cases bolder. The commercials of the collaboration have a same format compared to the in-house line of H&M – an artistic colourful video displaying the line of Collection and with the Marni Collection directed by Sofia Coppola (who had previously directed commercials for Dior) appealing to the young and colour loving loyalists.

In an innovative way, H&M is a success story of collaborating with international designers in the field of fashion. During my break at work, I and my Italian colleague tried to shop something from the Marni Collection online without success, because by the time we tried to check out our shopping basket, the products were already sold off. I did pay a little visit after work to get my hands on a shirt from the collection, but was disappointed as all the size ‘S’ was sold off and other sizes are too big for me. So finally, I and my colleague have decided that one of us will take off work to get our hands on the next new collection by queuing up since morning. The next time I blog about a new H&M collection, I’ll have a happier story to tell!

I'm lovin' it, McDonalds!

It’s snowing on my way back from class. It is cold, it’s late, with work early tomorrow morning; but I need my dinner. Then I saw a big illuminated ‘M’ and immediately thought to myself – “McDonalds to the rescue!” Yes! It’s McDonalds. Quick, cheap and filling! McDonalds is a life-saver, especially if you’re a drunk student coming out of a club late at night. Now even my colleague would vouch for that, as he was still hungry and unsatisfied after a Korean dinner gone wrong. We ordered a seafood hotpot, which had left a lot to be desired. And then, there was McDonalds to the rescue!

McDonalds’ story goes all the way back to 1940 as a barbecue restaurant and it remained the largest fast-food chain restaurant in the world until Subway took over in 2011. McDonald’s is a perfect example of a successful franchise, where only 15% is actually owned by the McDonald's Corporation. The McDonald’s slogan “I'm lovin' it!” is consistent throughout the world along with its logo and the theme. The slogan was created by McDonald's long-term advertising agency Heye & Partners from Unterhaching, Germany. McDonald's sponsors events, uses celebrity spokespersons, and has adapted social and interactive media full-fledgedly by prominently using tools of integrated marketing.

However, the course for McDonald’s hasn’t always been smooth. It has been in the eye of the storm far too many times for its own liking, with a history of numerous lawsuits and controversies. There have also been several instances of McDonald’s taking legal action against any restaurant using the word “Mc”. And quite contrary to my opinion, my father can’t stand the sign of the yellow ‘M’, after seeing its presence nearly everywhere, which he believes is a strong overdose of McDonalds. For all its flaws and lack of finesse, McDonalds is a NYSE listed company that has created more than 400,000 job opportunities, especially for the youths, and almost always saves the day when you’re in a dilemma or can’t find a place to eat!

Fashion loves Celebrities?

As a bonus, for my team performing so well, my office decided to give everyone of us some vouchers to spend at Debenhams worth £85. I found it extremely hard to decide how I'd spend £85 at Debenhams (not my kind fashion)! Finally, ‘eureka’! I thought I'd invest the entire amount in perfumes. Now for £85, I can get myself a bleu de Chanel especially after I saw its commercial featuring Gaspard Ulliel (Ya, the French kid in Hannibal Rising), with the tag line ‘be unexpected’. BOSS also caught my attention and I thought I could buy two perfumes from BOSS after watching Ryan Reynolds in Boss Bottle Day X Night. 

 

 No wonder most famous celebrity endorsements are placed in clothing and fragrances. It is suggested that three components make up the credibility construct: knowledge or expertise, trustworthiness, and appearance or attractiveness when it comes to a celebrity. It is the appearance, which is most appealing to consumers.  Physical appearance seems to induce positive feelings toward the product. In the field of fashion, there is a high correlation between appearance, knowledge, liking, credibility, advertising believability and purchase intentions, which affects the consumers.

Does celebrity endorsement work? It sure does. Consumers feel celebrities are much more attractive than non- celebrities, which intern improve the brand image. The Chanel and BOSS ads were enough to take me to the perfume section of Debenhams.  Did I buy them? No. They didn’t smell anything like I expected it to be.  In fact they smelled too strong for my taste. But I am sure there are many men out there using Chanel and BOSS regularly.