Marketing A concise executive summary. This should define a) the context in which the decision must be made, b) the most important problems facing the company, c) your quantitative and qualitative goals, and d) an outline of the recommendations.

Renzo Rosso of Diesel needed to make tough decisions about the branding strategy of his new line and he needed to make these decisions in a hurry. StyleLab was the new upscale product line of Diesel SpA, the Italian casual wear company famous for its cult Diesel jeans and controversial advertising. StyleLab would be considered creative, and would target the luxury segment market that was interested in casual wear. Renzo Rosso, Diesel's president and founder had the Renzo Rosso, Diesel's president and founder, but he was still unsure what the appropriate branding strategy for the new line should be.

Renzo Rosso had 3 alternatives:

1.sub-branding (e.g., DieselStyleLab)

endorsement (e.g., StyleLab by Diesel)

independence (StyleLab with no reference to Diesel).

The most important problems facing the company

Renzo Rosso had 2 problems:

a. Which one of the three branding options should he choose?

b. How should he implement the new branding strategy to achieve the objectives assigned to StyleLab?

Quantitative and qualitative goals

The quantitative goals would be to convince enough consumers to spend $150 on a pair of casual pants.

The qualitative goal would be to counterbalance the increased diffusion of the D-Diesel denim products and to prevent any possible commoditization of the brand. In other words that this new brand would retain its special identity and not merge into -- or be swallowed by the multiple horizontal other offerings of D-Diesel. Also, they wanted to retain uniqueness and too high a diffusion would decimate its identity. In other words, Rosso wanted to keep this brand unique, slanted for a specific market.

Outline of the recommendations

a. The first recommendation would be to have a clear idea of the target market for this new brand and to know their reasons for creating this new brand.

b. StyleLab lines would have to be clearly differentiated while retaining a common link with Diesel's core identity. Consequently, the marketers would have to first define StyleLab's identity before they proceed to define Diesel's core identity. And then see how they can differentiate StyleLab from Diesel whilst still connecting StyleLab to the parent company

c. All the characteristics of the brand and of Diesel itself make it seem as though the hipster market is the targeted market. Diesel would then have to do research into that particular market and brand the product accordingly.

d. Positing that the hipster segment is the target market, Diesel would run an experimental few months in selling their product to that market and match their success according to both their qualitative and quantitative goals. If they fall behind, they can always re-slant their product for a new market

e. Assessment of goals according to qualitative and quantitative benchmarks should be done regularly. Diesel can match results according to its qualitative and quantitative goals and see if StyleLab has succeeded in its economic goals and in cutting its own niche whilst still remaining loyal to the Diesel name.

2. Recommendations

a. This should start with a statement of the quantitative and qualitative marketing objectives (including timetable).

The quantitative goals would be to convince enough convince 100 consumers to spend $150 on a pair of casual pants. And to do this within the space of 3 months.

The qualitative goal would be to have StyleLab cut its own niche and differentiate itself whilst still remaining loyal to the Diesel name.

b. The marketing strategy recommended to achieve this goal comes next (i.e., the positioning statement).

The company wishes to zone in on a limited luxury market, to be creative with their new fabrics and patterns, and to keep their product unique.

Rosso also does not want StyleLab to be differentiated to any particular age. Rather, he wants it to appeal to all types of classes, professions,...

In general, StyleLab consumers would be more design-conscious than the typical D-Diesel buyers, are not fashion conscious and are attracted to original and trendy design.
Rosso, therefore, would have to make plans to target that specific consumer and then conduct qualitative and quantitative research to test the success of his plans.

c. The action plan comes next (i.e., specific changes in the marketing mix). It should include detailed and actionable solutions.

a. The first recommendation would be to have a clear idea of the target market for this new brand and to know their reasons for creating this new brand.

The three main reasons for launching the StyleLab brand are the following:

To enter the new and attractive market of high casual wear.

To create an aura of prestige and fashion around the D-Diesel brand.

To give Diesel designers an opportunity to experiment with new fabrics and cuts

b. The objective is to differentiate StyleLab lines while retaining a common link with Diesel's core identity. The marketers would then have to define Diesel's core identity and this is the following: it is famous for its cult jeans and hipster casual wear.

c. Diesel would then have to do research into that particular market and brand the product accordingly.

Since Diesel wants this product to be unique and since Diesel's reputation is of an expensive hipster authentic original quality, we would consider hipsters to be the target market. But hipsters who come from a certain luxury segment and are willing to pay well for a pair of jeans.

I have arrived at this particular segment particularly because Style lab is gearing for creative fabric and cut, does not want their product to be diffused, and wants to retain its smallness and uniqueness.

Rosso also does not want StyleLab to be differentiated to any particular age. Rather, he wants it to appeal to all types of classes, professions, and ages and to people who would like to structure their own looks. In general, StyleLab consumers would be more design-conscious than the typical D-Diesel buyers, are not fashion conscious and are attracted to original and trendy design.

d. Positing that the hipster segment is the target market, Diesel would run an experimental few months in selling their product to that market and match their success according to both their qualitative and quantitative goals. If they fall behind, they can always re-slant their product for a new market.

Rosso intends that StyleLab products would be distributed only through specialized fashion stores, boutiques and high-end department stores, such as Joyce in Hong Kong, Barneys in New York, and Selfridges and Harrods in London. The customer service guidelines for StyleLab retailers indicated that staff should be, or look, more mature than those of a typical D-Diesel store.

Both qualitative and quantitative research could be conducted by surveys, observations, questionnaires and other methods with observers and researchers situated in these stores and both asking and speaking to customers and measuring reaction to store merchandise as well as quantity of material sold.

e. Assessment of goals according to qualitative and quantitative benchmarks should be done according to qualitative questions that would assess whether StyleLab has cut its own niche whilst remaining loyal to the Diesel brand.

At the same time, quantitative research would be invested in order to determine whether at least 100 consumers have separately bought the $150 priced casual pants

d. The expected benefits of the recommended solution.

Rosso would not be wasting time, expense and energy in recklessly selling his product to any single consumer. By spending this time in differentiating his product and in conducting the research, Ross would be differentiating the product sufficiently to attract it to the right match. This would not only grant the product a certain uniqueness and niche -- by giving it its own identity -- but Rosso would be also able to assess whether his ideas have been successful, how he can modify them if need be, and which aspects need modification in order that he can…