H&M promotion strategies and analysis

H & M. Promotional Strategies

H & M. is a clothing store that operates in 38 countries and has about 76,000 employees. The motto of the organization is to bring fashion and quality to the customers at a reasonable price (H & M, Facts about H & M, 2010). H & M. is very popular in the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (U.K.) as well as other parts of the world. This company sets itself apart from the competitors with its promotional strategies and keeping ahead of the competitors, using the marketing 4p's: price, product, promotion and place (Larenaudie, 2004).

H & M. takes advantage of all the available technology and new media social networking websites to promote their products. H&M have their own magazine which is used as a direct marketing tool to market their product. The organization also utilizes the press to give them free marketing, by inviting the press to their events (Fashion Retail Promotion 2009-2010, 2009). In the UK the company invites well-known bloggers that will write about their events and clothing line, giving free advertising to customers all over the world. H & M. utilizes social media networking such as facebook, twitter, Youtube, lookbook and blogs. H & M. targets the younger population, so utilizing social network sites to attract their target population is very effecitve.

One of the major promotional strategies that H & M. embarked upon was creating a partnership with the local cell phone companies, where they delivered branded impressions to the customers. This was a very successful marketing strategy, because it reached 10.6 million customers (H & M. Delivers 10.6 M. branded impressions via MyTown promotion, 2010). The company had aimed to reach less than 1 million customers, and this generated traffic for H & M.

In the UK the company also encourages that the customers check out the website regularly, where they can read press release and see any photos of new items. The company also encourages customers to get on their email list, where they can be contacted about events at H & M. The customers are kept information about what is happening with the company and know when there would be a new release of clothing. H & M. is currently doing their Christmas branding campaign, their line of festival clothing and photographs of famous people in their excusive clothing (X-mas Campaigns, 2010). Their seasonal campaigns are also very successful.

Marketing 4P's

H & M. offers a recognized brand of clothing at a reasonable price. Most of the competitors of H & M. have prices of 30% - 50% higher (H & M, Facts about H & M, 2010). The company has stores located throughout the world and clothing can be sold online. This company has stores in many of the major cities of the world, like New York City, London, Paris and other fast pace cities. One of the main reason H & M. is able to set itself apart from its competitors is because of the product turnaround time. The company can move a product from design to hanger in only 20 days which much less than the competitors except for Zara, whose price is much higher. The company can make changes easily, such as add new looks, change looks based on demand. H & M. can increase supply and get it to their store locations very quickly. The main form of promotion that is utilized by H & M. is the social media networking online sites. This is a great way for the company to reach their target audience, and keep marketing cost effective.