Assignment
Ted Baker Celebrates 25 Years in Retail
http://www.tedbakerplc.com/
Assignment question:
With reference to the attached case study you are required to critically analyse and evaluate the factors behind the growth and increasing globalisation of the Ted Baker retail brand. This analysis should be based on the material presented on the course and your further reading on the topics. It should also consider the extent to which the Ted Baker brand provides evidence of cultural convergence or cultural divergence.
Requirements:
As part of your analysis you must identify at least four relevant sources from the course reading list, plus any additional references of your own, and evaluate their relevance to Ted Baker and the international market for designer fashion brands.
This is an academic piece of work and as such you are required to read widely in respect of the course topics in order to support your arguments with reference to academic texts and journal articles. All material should be properly referenced using the Harvard system. As part of your assignment you should also include at least six academic references from the module reading list (not including those listed above) and also seek additional references of your own.
Assessment criteria – What we are testing in this assignment?
1) Literature search. Your ability to do a literature search and identify relevant materials to address the assignment question.
2) Essay writing. Your ability to summarise arguments/findings from journal articles and other academic literature in a coherent and structured manner.
3) Critical evaluation. Your ability to critically evaluate the themes from academic literature and the concepts and theories covered in the module in the light of the evidence and discussions contained in the podcast and the identified articles.
4) Referencing. Your ability to reference correctly, both accurately citing authors within your discussion and constructing a detailed reference list at the end of your essay.
Maximum Word Length:
Summarising and compressing the information presented in your assignment in a detailed and concise format into the word limit is one of the fundamental academic and management skills that students are expected to acquire, and demonstrate as part of the assessment process.
TED BAKER CELEBRATES 25 YEARS IN RETAIL
Ted Baker is an international clothing retailer. It was established by Ray Kelvin in the city of Glasgow in Scotland in 1988 and initially commenced trading as a specialist men’s shirt retailer. In the intervening years to the present it has established its operations as a global lifestyle brand and has succeeded bucking the recession as it continues to grow its business across Europe, the Middle East, North America, Asia and Australasia. As of the end of 2014, it had representation in over 35 countries, and the number of stores and concessions was 398.
It has expanded its product range across menswear, womenswear, accessories (e.g. shoes) sleepwear and childrenswear. It makes use of a number channels including physical stores through concessions, its own stores, licencing, wholesaling and through the medium of e-commerce.
In the first eight years of its existence the company struggled to survive and largely did so because Kelvin ploughed every penny he had into the business to keep it afloat. It finally achieved a degree of success during the 1990’s. This was the era of “acid house” music. The bright shirts produced and designed by Ted Baker fitted neatly into the lifestyle and aspiration of young males who were into this music. Demand grew exponentially for the shirts and accessories and put the retailer on a firm footing.
On the strength of this success in the UK, Kelvin developed a range of womenswear which took off in the North American market.
In 1997 Kelvin took the company out of its private status and it operated as the “No Ordinary Designer Label Limited”. He still retained a substantial part of the business however.
Ray Kelvin is still CEO of the firm and he describes himself as “the closest thing to Ted”. In many ways he represents Ted’s alter ego and he continuously asks himself the question. What would Ted do? When faced with decisions on new product launches and designs. He is quirky in many respects: covering his face during interviews and demanding that journalists do a number of press-ups if they turn up late for briefings or meetings.
Many of his stores are customised and have unique features. When he opened his store on 5th Avenue in New York, he designed a collection based on his love of fly fishing.
When asked the reasons for the continued success of Ted Baker, Kelvin stated “better product, better design, it’s that simple”. This reflects the obsession that the retailer has with the focus on design, patterns and tailoring. It is perhaps the main reason why it can command higher prices than competitors, appealing as it does to the fashion-conscious individual, who is prepared to pay a bit extra for these benefits.
As it expands internationally, Ted Baker makes the most of the “quintessentially British” emphasis. This is most notably highlighted in its store design, particularly in its Tokyo store where it included a booth fashioned like the back of a London black taxi (cab) to present some of its merchandise. This lifestyle dimension to its brand image was also exemplified when it opened a new store in the Bluewater Shopping Centre in the United Kingdom (2011). The store was styled as the fictional village of Tedbury, complete with a country pub, apothecary, a baker and cake shop. This quirky and “fun” approach to its brand would appear to appeal to its target market. It was one of the first fashion retailers to provide free in-store wifi and touch screens, and interactive installations in its outlets.
It was also one of the first retailers who entered the “e-tail” era in 1999, when it launched a transaction-based web site. It carried out major upgrades to this site in 2009 and also upgraded its North American web channel in 2014. It worked closely with a multi-channel consultancy firm to drive major improvements to this site by creating separate customer journeys for men and women in order to maximise the customer experience.
It has 183 stores in the United Kingdom and has expanded across Europe (Netherlands and Ireland in addition to its existing stores there), the USA, the Middle East, and Asia (including China, Taiwan and Hong Kong). It has launched concessions in South Korea and opened a store on the iconic 5th Avenue in New York City in 2012. At the end of 2014 the total number of stores and concessions was 398.
The New York store was designed along the following lines:
“The store, which is the brand’s largest unit in the U.S., has been designed to replicate a traditional London townhouse of the Twenties. It features Art Deco design details including an elaborate metal staircase with messages written on the steps and bespoke printed wallpaper, along with exposed brick walls, a three-story glass chandelier and an elaborate digital window installation that includes a huge clock with pendulums and moving cogs and a screen that will display movies, photos and animation”. The Fifth Avenue flagship marks the 18th store for the brand in America and its third in Manhattan, following the Meatpacking District and SoHo. Each store is unique and designed to fit into the neighbourhood in which it is located. This store brings to life the company’s interpretation of “Ted’s Grand House.” Shoppers enter the grand hall where men’s and women’s apparel and accessories share the space. Vintage-looking portraits with a twist hang from the walls and include images of women with moustaches or tea cakes on their heads and a young child with a Mohawk.
Menswear has its own home on the lower level in a space designed to mimic a scullery, complete with dozens of butler’s bells on the walls, pots and pans at the bottom of display racks, upside down jelly moulds hanging from the ceiling and a silver service at the cash wrap. The store is opening with the company’s fall collection of tailored clothing and sportswear in heritage fabrics that recall the great English outdoors.
The women’s department is upstairs and is reminiscent of a lady’s boudoir with fans on the walls and a cash wrap that looks like a vanity table. Fitting rooms feature floor to ceiling velvet curtains. The fall women’s collection features a “town meets country” theme and includes everything from the Working Title tailored pieces to eveningwear. (Palmieir 2012)”
Ted Baker’s reputation for being a “fun and quirky” retailer extends to its approach to marketing. It has relied mainly on word-of-mouth and various marketing stunts to drive its brand forward. Two typical campaigns reinforce this perception. Over the course of the Easter period a few years ago it ran a “giveaway” which consisted of a chocolate bunny hotpot to customers who purchased items in the store. During the 2006 World Cup Football tournament it created a range of football cards featuring players. It has not invested (in comparison to its competitors) in traditional advertising media, and instead makes use of “new media” such as YouTube.
http://www.tedbakerplc.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/TedBakerTV
Sources: Adapted from: Retail Week’s 25th anniversary: Ted Baker celebrates 25 years in retail. Holland, Tiffany. Retail Week (Jun 21, 2013): Ted Baker Opens On Fifth Ave. Palmieri, Jean E. WWD204.27 (Aug 8, 2012)
Retail Week
March 20, 2014 Thursday
Ted Baker pre-tax profits hit £40m as it grows its global store estate
Ted Baker pre-tax profit surged 26.7% to £40m in its full year as it grew its global store estate.
For the year to January 25 the fashion brand’s revenue soared 26.5% to £321.9m.
Ted Baker said retail sales jumped 24.6% to £25.1m. That comprised a 20.3% sales increase across the UK and Europe to £198.6m, a 38.1% rise in the US and Canada to £50.7m and a 55.7% surge in online sales to £23.2m.
Wholesale sales surged 35% in the year to £62.8m and licence income was up 18.4% to £8.9m.
Ted Baker exceptional costs totalled £1m relating to store costs.
In the year Ted Baker opened its Gatwick South store, its first stores in Turkey and further concessions in Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the US. A key focus has been Asia, where Ted Baker opened two more stores and concessions in Shanghai and its first concession in Tokyo. It also opened another store in Adelaide, Australia.
Ted Baker plans to open a store in Marseille in May and an outlet store in Paris in March.
Ted Baker chairman David Bernstein said the fashion retailer has started the new financial year “well”.
“We are encouraged by the reaction to our Spring/Summer collections,” he added.
He said Ted Baker plans to open stores in Glasgow and Heath row Terminal Two and relocate its outlet store in York.
Ted Baker will also improve its eCommerce service after relaunching it in November last year. Bernstein said it will be more relevant to the customer experience and drive country-specific localised content. It will also migrate its US site to the new UK platform this year.
Ted Baker founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin said: “This has been another excellent year during which we have continued to build Ted Baker as a global lifestyle brand. We have further developed our presence internationally and invested in markets where we see long-term growth opportunities whilst remaining unwavering in our focus on quality, design and attention to detail that underpins everything we do.
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