Building a Brand for Fabletics through Social Media

Marketing Strategy Plan 

Executive Summary 

Fabletics is unique active wear and accessories (work-out attire) company that offers its members outfits which are personalized and chosen for them depending on their fashion preferences and lifestyle, and inclusive of all range of sizes. Fabletics does not just sell sportswear products but provide quality and unique outfits at affordable prices, which is almost half the price of the competitors in the industry and is also committed to customer service. 

The company has one unique strategy that has facilitated its growth; the data-driven business approach, which communicates to them the customers’ response on social, the product quality they need to produce, and the type of inventory to be designed. This approach results in products that are appealing, unique, perfect and fashionable outfits which fits the preferences of customers. Making fashionable, quality, unique and work-out outfit at affordable prices to women is an issue, but Fabletics has a solution to this group. 

The objective of Fabletics marketing strategy is to increase the visibility of the brand and loyalty of consumers. The goal is to inspire consumers to think of Fabletics as the market leader in work-out attire that is affordable, quality, durable and fashionable. Fabletics targets women of all ages, sizes, and shapes as their main customers. It plans to achieve its marketing strategy through the celebration of the product relaunch and demo, planning and hosting events throughout the country and hire attractive models to wear apparel at events, creating blog posts, ads from search engines, and landing page on sites. Also, through social media such as ads on Instagram and Facebook which directs traffics to site and blog, and hiring press both national and local to cover the events and relaunch. Through the marking strategies, Fabletics aims to achieve increased sales and production, and increase visibility and build its brand. 

Company Overview 

JustFab Inc. Co-CEOs, Don Ressler and Adam Goldenberg, launched Fabletics with Kate Hudson after they saw a gap in the active wear marketplace: there were plenty of luxury brands, but none offered stylish and high quality gear at an accessible price point. These three unstoppable innovators joined forces to create the Fabletics brand in 2013. 

Mission 

Fabletics mission is to create clothing that inspires one to stay active, whether that means sweating on the studio, competing in an iron (wo)man competition, or chasing after the kids. Their on-trend designs are of high quality at affordable prices is where Fabletics inspiration starts. Beyond the clothing, the company fosters a community of people who embrace their mantra- “To live your passion every day”. 

Marketing Objective/Goals 

To identify and target audience to increase the awareness of the brand and increase new customers on a monthly basis. 

To revamp the website to improve product advertisement and awareness. 

To revamp packaging to promote brand and sales of the product. 

To enhance promotions and giveaways to boost sales while achieving the status quo. 

To reinforce positioning of branding to establish brand awareness among consumers. 

Financial Objectives 

To increase revenues by 35% every year for the next three years and decrease the marketing expenses by 10 percent annually. 

To decrease the variable costs through gains in efficiency 

Situation Analysis 

Company Analysis 

Fabletics Company was launched in 2013 to fill the gap in the active wear market where there were stylish brands, but none of the brands offered high quality and stylish brand at an affordable price. Therefore, the major aim of its launch was to offer personalized, high quality and stylish brands at half the price of competitors. Since its launch, Fabletics has been thriving well in the market and has outgrown its major competitors such as Lululemon, Nike, Adidas, and Athleta. The company’s unique feature for the faster growth rate is the technology data-driven business method and the membership model. 

The data-driven approach allows Fabletics to offer services that are personalized and on-trend fashion at affordable prices while the membership model entices the customers to buy repeatedly once they subscribe because of the offer, and this has turned most of the sales which accounts to 85 percent, as repeated sales. The company focuses on style and fashion and are committed to offering customers what they love most whether online or offline. The company operates a total of 22 brick-and-mortar stores and has expanded its sales from America to other European countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia. It aims to expand and increase its sales more than the projected 35 percent annually through online advertising, marketing, and promotions. 

Joint Ventures and Partnerships 

Fabletics has partnered with pink capsule collection to support the awareness of breast cancer and also collaborated with singer Demi Lovato in support for the campaign of the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up. Demi Lovato has designed a clothing line for Fabletics brand. These partnerships and collaborations work towards establishing Fabletics brand among its consumers. Fabletics is also partner with its parent company called the TechStyle Fashion Group, which it shares resources with such marketing team, funding, and design staff hence, fueling the growth of Fabletics. The company has the largest market share among its competitors which accounted for over 80 percent in 2017. 

Climate (SWOT analysis) 

The SWOT analysis entails analysis of the strength and weaknesses which are internal, and opportunities and threats which are external to the company. The company focus to optimize its strength to minimize its weaknesses and to gain the market share. 

Strengths 

Partnering with its parent company to share resources such as design staffs, marketing team, and funding . 

Data-driven technology business approach, which enables the company to respond to customer needs through designing stylish, personalized, affordable active wear which customers love. This is the unique feature for Fabletics that has elevated their growth. 

Membership subscription model which allows customers to become repeated monthly buyers . 

Strong brand recognition nationally and worldwide through online marketing and social media advertisements. 

The inclusion of women of all body types has helped Fabletics build a wide range of customers from all over the country. 

Expertise- a dedicated and hardworking team who works closely with the co-founder Kate Hudson in the design process to ensure styles remain fresh in their store. Kate is also dedicated to reviewing budgets and picking a social media strategy for their marketing and advertisement. Through the weekly reviews, new collections are launched every week in connection with the data-driven technology approach. 

Showroom as a service to the customer which help in building strong customer relationships and maintain customer loyalty. 

Weaknesses 

The problem with some customers failing to understand the membership model especially complains about billing/collections. 

Opportunities 

Gym rat dressing has become a lifestyle trend in the US where the work out attire has been turned into outfits for walking around the town, going for shopping and household wear. This signifies a potential growth for active wear market. 

International market growth of sportswear products. 

Brand extension into new lines such as the new branch of men’s active wear FL2. 

Threats 

Competition- Fabletics is facing stiff competition from other activewear companies such as Lululemon, Nike, and Athleta. All these companies offer stylish and luxurious products but at high prices . 

Negative press from other celebrities such as Cher and some on social media who think that the membership model for Fabletics is scam. 

Critical Success Factors 

Fabletics should clarify on how the membership mode works and how clients can cancel their membership anytime they want to. As a result, the company will shun away the negative press thoughts from social media and other celebrities. Additionally, Fabletics should optimize their strengths to venture into the growing market and demand of the active wear attire to increase their sales and demand of their products, through opening up more branches in different countries and enhance their shipment methods to those countries. 

Target Market 

Fabletics target market is women of all ages (but mostly 21-32), sizes and shapes, who make an income that ranges from middle to high. A healthy lifestyle is essential to this targeted group and working out is a priority to them. These women are stylish and career women who probably exercise in the gym where they have membership, and they always want to go there in a stylish workout outfit. The company also targets other potential customers from other countries such as Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Australia through online marketing and shipping. 

Positioning 

Fabletics will position itself as an active wear company that sells personalized, stylish and high-quality products at affordable prices, which motivates customers to stay fit. Fabletics positioning will leverage its competitive advantage: 

A unique approach to meeting customer needs and preferences is the use data-driven technology approach to conduct its business. Through the approach, Fabletics will be able to produce stylish, high quality and affordable goods, and unleash new styles and fashions weekly unlike their competitors who wait for seasons to showcase new styles. 

The approach is a competitive edge since most active wear companies offer luxurious and stylish products at higher prices. Fabletics will be distinguished for its fashion-trend and affordability. 

The company will also be distinguished by its commitment to customer service and value, which enables it to offer personalized goods that fit the needs of customers and are loved by all clients. 

Marketing Strategies 

Budget 

Fabletics should incur 30 percent of the sales to market its products in the first year. This budget expense is expected to remain constant in the first year and decrease annually as the brand awareness increases and establish among the targeted customer. 

Marketing Materials 

The company will use the following platforms as their medium for advertising and increasing brand awareness as well as sales: 

Product Relaunch Celebrations and demos- Fabletics will organize events for relaunching celebration events for their new fashionable products where targeted customers who come to their cards which will help in locating the stores. The relaunch will also assist to establish brand awareness as well as keeping the existing customers updated with their new trendy and fashionable styles ahead of the competitors. 

Plan and Host Events throughout the Country - the company, will organize to host events such as fashion shows in universities and colleges among other social events in the country. Through hosting such events, Fabletics aim to reach the target customers through branding of their names in the logos of the event to increase its brand awareness. Also, by hiring attractive models of all sizes to wear apparels at this events to show off their products to customers. This will enable Fabletics to reach more targeted customers offline. Create blog posts, a landing page on sites, and search engine ads. The blogs will target internet readers across their target market region both nationally and worldwide. 

Social Media - Fabletics will enhance their advertisement through ads on Instagram and Facebook which will help in directing traffic to site and blog. Showcase of the new style and outfits available will be included in those social media ads and some information that support the image of the brand. This strategy will be the most effective one because of the advancement in technology, many of our target customers are assumed to digital women who have to be either in Facebook or Instagram, and this will enable the company reaches them easily. Other social media alternatives include YouTube, where it can upload its products and additional information related to price, how to reach the company among other essential product information. 

Hire both Local and National Press to cover the Events and the Relaunch , to enhance advertising through watching televisions. The coverage should also entail testimonials from clients who are satisfied with the products that Fabletics offer. In all the websites that Fabletics use, helping information such guides, customer reviews, price comparison and social sharing should be included. 

Promotional Strategy 

Fabletics should improve its membership model where new members who subscribe should be given better services such as a good deal of 55 percent from the existing 50 percent off regular pricing and should also earn points towards items that are free loyalty. Additionally, the goods should be shipped to the clients who buy online. Through becoming a member, clients become repeated buyers. 

Secondly, Fabletics should enhance the coupons and schemes for selling their products such as better discounts for customers who buy in bulk, and a good coupon for customers who bring their friends to try Fabletics products. Additionally, Fabletics should continue with the partnerships and collaborations to promote its brand awareness for its target market. Also, it should devise some giveaways and offers at the events they plan to host throughout the country to increase access to the products. 

Retention Strategy 

This strategy will help to retain already existing customers and in turn, increase the sales. In addition to the membership model, Fabletics should design a customer loyalty program for frequent buyers who have not subscribed to the membership program. This program can be in the form of giving 2% regular price offer for repeated clients twice in a year. 

Marketing Mix 

Products 

Fabletics product includes active wear such as outfits, shoes, and accessories. The company should continue to provide unique and personalized quality products through data-driven technology approach. Additionally, it should also continue to innovate other fashionable and quality products to attract a new base of customers. The company also needs to maintain shipping the same quality and affordable products to the other countries they plan to expand to and the existing one too. This will enable Fabletics to establish a good personal relationship with their clients abroad. The intangible attributes such as data-driven technology and commitment to meet customer needs are difficult for the competitors of Fabletics to copy, thereby giving the company a unique feature as its competitive advantage. 

Price 

Fabletics provides high-quality and fashionable products which are based on the needs and preferences of its consumers. These products are just of the same quality and style as those of its competitors like Lululemon, but Fabletics sell at a relatively low price. The offers and discounts given to the clients who both subscribe to the membership model should be maintained. However, Fabletics should be sensitive to the elasticity of the price of its products and the overall demand of their consumers. It should also be keen to monitor the change in price from its competitors and adjust accordingly, for instance, if the price of its competitors goes down, it must also find a way to adjust its pricing. This strategy of lowering pricing relative to Fabletics competitors will be tailored towards retaining customers and increasing its sales. 

Promotion 

Since almost 80 percent of sale comes from reorder of customers who have subscribed to the membership model, the major part of the expenditure to be spent on promotion should be focused on the social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and direct emails to remind clients of their new stocks and the offers available. The social media should also be improvised to focus on attracting new target markets since the assumption is most of the targeted customers are on social media. The remaining part of promotional expenditure could be focused on the other platforms of promotion mentioned above. Additionally, the company should also focus to continue with partnerships and collaborations with famous artists or established organizations to enhance the promotion its brand. All these promotional strategies set to be implemented is projected towards increasing the sales estimate of 30 percent or more per year. 

Place/distribution 

Fabletics will be strategically placed in all the stores opened throughout the country for the customers who wish to visit physically. More store should be opened to increase the physical access. The company should maintain direct shipping from the central location to the clients who buy online. The fact that Fabletics can ship to various locations for every customer is an asset in its product selling. Direct shipping is also a good way to establish good customer relationships. Additionally, the company will position itself to its potential customers as the most affordable company offering on-trend and quality products. 

Marketing Research 

Fabletics needs to conduct marketing research which should aim to cover competitive analysis. This should be done by analyzing new trends of products and prices charged by the competitors. Also, the research should focus on knowing the active wear market and major players in all the target countries the company plan to ship its goods, and access the kind of goods they offer and the prices they charge consumers. Additionally, the research should also cover the emergence of new competitors both within the US and the targeted countries, new trends in technology and fashion. The outcome of all the research will give Fabletics a better opportunity to know the active wear market trends and adjust accordingly to outperform their competitors in the market. As such, the company will be able to maintain a large market share in the industry. 

Implementation Activities 

The general marketing activities mentioned above will be headed by the company’s sales and marketing manager who will then report to the director of marketing. The sales manager will monitor the work of each segment; the group charged with the responsibility of conducting research, and the marketing and promotional group who will be committed on the data-driven approach to meet customer needs. Each of these group must make decisions in consultation with the sales manager. All the implementation activities must begin at the beginning of the fiscal year of the company. 

Financial Projections 

Sales Forecast 

Sales are expected to increase yearly by 30 percent because of the online market, and social media advertisement and promotional strategies. Through advertising expenses, the VIP membership model is projected to grow by 20 percent annually in the next three years, and other customers by 25 percent. The growth in customer is associated with the forecasted sales increase through adverts and online marketing, which will result to increase the visibility and build the brand of Fabletics. The projected sales increase is also related to increasing the production of the company. 

Evaluation of Results 

To analyze Fabletics marketing plan effectiveness, it will be necessary to do a comparison of its actual performance with the marketing objectives. To enhance this analysis, monitoring activities should be developed to enable the execution of the marketing plan. These activities involve the following: 

A component of project management team should be used to evaluate marketing plan implementation by establishing the needs of human resource, time requirements, and budgetary expenditure. 

Continuous comparison of planned and actual activities will be done on a monthly basis for the initial year of implementation and quarterly for the rest of the implementation phase. The result of the comparison should be directly reported to the president of the company.