Business Marketing

"The marketing of good and services to individual and organizations for purposes other than personal consumption"(McDaniel 108). According to the marketing text book, business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or organizations. It allows them to sell products or services to other companies or organizations that resell them. Business marketing is simply the products which are used by companies to manufacture other products. Forever 21 is a clothing company. The company is always bringing in new trends to it's stores. Recently, Forever 21 launched new products in their stores such as, shoes, bags, accessories and lingerie. The materials that the company uses are mostly from China and India. Most of the accessories that are sold in Forever 21, are from India. It is very cheap to manufacture products in the third world countries. Forever 21 is a very small company which is growing rapidly in the world. 


The reason why they are growing is because most of the product they sell aren't good quality. The reason why it is not good is because the materials for their clothing they get are cheap. The cloths they get to make their clothing products are mostly Polyester which is very cheap in quality. They get the cloths, Faux leather, and accessories from China and India.

Segmenting and Targeting Markets

"Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers who have common needs, and then designing and implementing strategies to target their needs and desires using media channels and other touch-points that best allow to reach them" (Wikipedia). Forever 21 uses market segmentation to target their customers in certain area. Before opening any business, marketers research about the areas. The reason why they study areas and about a location before opening a business is because, they want to see if they will be successful with their business or not. Forever 21 tend to open their stores in the city area where the population is more than countrysides. It is because they target women and teens. In the city area most women and teens work, therefore, they have money to spend. The company is growing very fast because of the right decisions they made about the locations of opening up their stores. For example, Forever 21 has stores in India. In India, most women wear traditional clothes but in the city it is different. Women tend to wear western clothing and most women has jobs. Therefore, Forever 21 open their store in Mumbai India. 

Bipasha Basu (Inidan actress)

As the company open up new stores, it becomes more popular. Most teens and young adult knows about this retailer more than any other retailers. It is because, Forever 21 has affordable clothing so no matter where they open up their stores, the clothing will also be low price clothing for their customers. There is another reason why the retailer is growing faster than any other retailers. Forever 21 tend to bring fashion all over the world. The company is inspired by European, Asian and American culture. People can relate to their style and afford their clothing.

Developing and Managing Products

New products are important for a company to increase it's sell. It helps the company to be noticeable in their target market. A company simply creates new products to bring new customers and also keep the old customers interested in the company. Forever 21 is a clothing company where they bring new products to their stores in weekly basis. Their mission is to bring fashion to every corner of the world. In order to accomplish their mission, Forever 21 tend to bring new trends every week. What you may see in the store today, might not be there tomorrow. The company target the teens and young adults the most. To sell their products, the company make the customers to be engaged by bringing in new products. They bring the latest clothing, shoes, bags and accessories to their stores at an affordable price.

Most of the time customers are not loyal to any company. It is because, most of us look for good products in an affordable price or to stay in budge. Therefore, Forever 21 tend to bring the new trends to their stores at an affordable price. When a trend is bit old, the company put those products on sale. They also have seasonal sale which attract costumers. Compare to some of the retailers like H&M, Papaya, etc, Forever 21 gives the best price possible to their costumers. During Fall 2013, The "Bats and Cats collections" which was launch by Forever 21 as the latest collection, were started from $4.80. The clothing and shoes from that collection were between $8.80-$39.80. These prices are pretty low from H&M, Papaya and other retailers. H&M's new Fall Collection 2013, were much more higher than Forever 21. Their New Arrival's were between $34.95-$79.95.

Forever 21 manage their products by putting the clothing and shoes on sale and by bringing new products to their stores. They keep up with the fashion world very well than any other retailers because they are bringing in new trends very week. The reason why customers chooses Forever 21 is because, their products are affordable, and they are always in style.

Social Media and Marketing

The social media has a big impact on the company Forever 21. The company has it's own Facebook page where they post their "New Arrivals". The page is updated every week with the new goods and sales offer. Forever 21 also has videos in YouTube where they promotes their company by the new arrivals. The 3 major social networks that Forever 21 uses are, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The reason why the company uses social media is because most of us are involved in this sites to connect with people. An average person ages 13-40 uses social media at least 3-6 hours a day. Therefore, most of the businesses are engaged to the social media to make more sell by putting the advertisements in the Internet.  

 

There are 1.4 billion Facebook users around the world. Therefore, most small and big companies uses Facebook to advertise their products or services. Besides Social Networks, Forever 21 has applications for iPhone where customers can see the sales offer and new products. They have their own website too. The company also advertises their products through fashion magazines and fashion runways. However, the company do not have a television commercial yet. Forever 21 is not a big company to afford television commercial as other companies such as, GAP, Old Navy, Express, etc. Although it is not a big company yet, but it is growing faster than any other retailers. The company is known as the "Fast Fashion retailer". 

Forever 21 Website:   http://www.forever21.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Forever21
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Forever21
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Forever21Inc

Product Concepts

Forever 21 is one of the fast fashion retailer which is expanding around the globe. They are increasing product lines and opening up new stores every year. Forever 21 has a good collection of clothing, accessories, shoes and bags. Recently, Forever 21 is also selling beauty products in their stores. The retailer usually sell most of their products at a low price. Therefore, the quality of the products are not of a high standard. They do not have a brand name for their products. The retailer tend to make their products in China or India. Also, they buy some of their products from wholesalers in California and attach their Forever 21 tags to them. The retailer does not have any personal style because, they bring the runway designs to their stores by copying the designs. Forever 21 sells their products at a affordable price, and to continue to do that, they copy the designer's original designs with cheap materials to sell the products at a low price. "Forever 21 has faced more than 50 copyright lawsuits for allegedly stealing the work of designers, ranging from Anna Sui to smaller independent designers like Trovata, most of which have been settled out of court, according to a Jezebel report" (Business Insider). 

Even though Forever 21 sells all kinds of clothing and do not have a brand, they do have a trademark. The trademark is used to represent that the products are sold under their company. "FOREVER21 is a registered trademark, service mark, and/or trade name of Forever21 retailer"(Forever21.com). The trademark separate their products from other retailers such as H&M, Papaya, etc. Forever 21 does not have generic product name for their products. Generic product name means to identify a product by its quality or type and not by trademark. Forever 21 has similar products as the other competing retailers but, the only thing that people tend to shop from Forever 21 is because their products are cheaper than the other retailers. The product concept for this company is to make their product cheaper for the customers by providing products that are not of a high standard quality.

Personal Selling and Sales Management

Forever 21 provide details which explains their products when they are released in the market. The company introduces their product by fashion shows and advertisements. Also Forever 21 has a Facebook page where they updates the company's products every week. The company's "New Arrivals" are always introduced to the customers by the internet, posters or fashion shows. Forever 21 aims for teenagers who can be their long-term customers. The company builds their relationship with the customers by providing them with new trends from runways at a low price. Customers are never loyal to any company. People are always looking for better qualities with an affordable price. Therefore, customers are always looking for an alternative. For example, H&M is one of Forever 21's competition. If customers find similar cloths in H&M at a low price, then they will probably buy it from there. However, it rarely happens because Forever 21 searches the market before releasing their products. The company usually tend to lower their prices than the other stores.

Lowering prices keep the customers coming and the customers also prefer Forever 21 over other retailers because it is cheaper. The company also has products for sale on everyday bases and also in several occasions including Thanksgiving Day and Christmas sale.These sales events always keep the customers interested to go to the company's website and see the "New Arrivals". 

New Bat and Cat Collections

Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Forever 21 has a great way to advertise their products. They tend to put their "New Arrivals" on magazines, on the Forever 21 website, posters, website ads, blogs, videos, updates on their Facebook page, etc. They also have fashion shows which promotes and introduces the customers to their new products. For example, the company had a big Runways show in "America's Next Top Model Cycle 18 Finale". America's Next Top Model is a very popular show, hosted by one of the super model in America, Tyra Bangs. It was a big shout-out for the company because, almost all girls know about this show. 

The customers' attitude towards the promotions and ads are based on how well the trends effect the public. If the trend is popular, then Forever 21 consider having the style in their stores. The company tend to study the public very often. They are always updating their stores with the popular and new trends. Forever 21 spreads their ads and, promote their products Fashion Shows. They do not have ads on the Television yet. However the internet gets them customers. As the company's motto is, "Always changing and always in style". Therefore, the company is always promoting and creating ads for their products. 

Marketing Channels and Retailing

Forever 21 is a retailer of women's and men's clothing and accessories. It is very famous among teens and young adults in North America. The company is always improving by many techniques. For example, by making the store available online and  promoting two mobile apps for the holiday season in 2012. "We want to blur the boundaries between fashion and technology,” said Linda Chang. She is Global Marketing Director for Forever 21. The apps are available for download on iPhones and iPads.
Forever 21 is a very successful retailer which makes their profit by selling cheap cloths. However, their is a secret which many people don't know how they are selling such cloths in affordable price. Forever 21 makes their cloths from India and China where the labor cost is very cheap. The company hires school kids who barely knows their employee rights. "A recent class-action lawsuit claims that many of the chain's in-store employees are minimum-wage high-school workers, who don't understand their employee rights. The suit alleges that the company "systematically failed to pay them for hours worked," making them work off the clock and denying meal breaks" (Huffington 1).

The marketing channels for consumer production:
Forever 21 gets their goods from the producers in China and India. However, sometimes they get the goods from the wholesalers as well. The goods that they get from the wholesalers are not made by forever 21. Those goods has different stickers. So Forever 21 just tear off the previous sticker and attach their stickers on the clothing and claim it theirs.
 Forever 21 has many ways to reach to their customers. They make the cloths cheaper and made the stores available from anywhere in the world by the online store. 

Consumer Decision Making

Based on the MKTG text book "Consumer Behavior describes how consumers make purchase decisions and how they use and dispose of the purchased goods or service"(Lamb 80). Consumer decisions depend on how the company offer their goods to the customers. The customers make decision based on several factors. For example, by advertisements, promotions, sales, price, and good costumer service. One way a company can increase their sell is by researching the market and beware of their competitions. Most  teen and young adult girl knows about and most likely shops at Forever 21. This store has made been successful with young women and girls with their up to date trends, fashions and with their low prices. It creates it easier for teens to keep up with trends at school and not spend all their money on outfits.Forever 21 is a very popular store that can afford such low prices because they have a lot of consumers who are faithful and will continue to shop there. Forever 21 mission is to continue providing the customers with latest trends in their merchandise. 

Even when Forever 21 is doing great on the market and almost satisfying their customers, they still have few problems. For example sometimes, customers find the good "Out of Stock", New Products, New want/need, etc. Customers are never loyal to any company. They tent to look for better quality with cheaper price. Sometimes customers look for alternatives in other retailers to see if the price is lower then Forever 21. However, Forever 21 has the best tricks to make their customers loyal by giving them best quality of goods in an affordable price. 

Developing a Global Vision

Forever 21 is one of the fastest-growing retailers in the United States. It is known for its trendy and affordable fashions. Most items cost between $5 and $40. This retailers didn't only grow nationwide but it grew worldwide throughout the years. Forever 21 is spread out in the World including, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Forever 21 has more than 400 stores in the United States, Philippines, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Behrain, China, Thailand, and South Kore. Forever 21 is spreading their stores every year and they are becoming one of the largest retailer in the world by entering several markets. For example, Forever 21 is inspired by the American, European and Asian clothing, therefore they bring all those culture together in their clothing. This mixture of culture keeps people interested in their styles and trends. 

 

Forever 21 has taken over malls across the world with its inventory of trendy clothes at affordable price. The stores design and decorations within United States and other countries are almost same but the names are different in many countries. Current store which are operating, named as Forever 21, XXI Forever or XXI. The stores mostly keep the same atmosphere throughout the U.S and the world. Every forever21 stores launch all new products at the same time, especially new campaigns in the company worldwide.

They make all of their clothes in their factories which are mostly located in China, Vietnam and India. Also some cloths are purchased at wholesale factories in Los Angeles, which they take their tags off and sew their tags on. 

Even when Forever 21 is copying designs, what makes shoppers pick forever 21? 

- New Trends
- Reasonable prices
- Option for online Shopping 
- Varieties of style to choose from
- Clothing, Shoes and Accessories all in one store.

The Marketing Environment

Forever 21 is becoming a sensation among teens and young adults shoppers. Their target is to bring fashion to every ethnic groups. Based on the marketing text book, A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim to sell their products. Every company needs to have a target market and strategies to sell their products. According to an article in Marketing Week UK, MaryLou Costa stated that Forever 21 is the most fastest growing fashion business. "Its strategy is based on speed. What is in store today may not be seen tomorrow, as Forever 21 has new product lines delivered seven days a week and old stock is not replenished" (Costa 1). As you can see, Forever 21 is always keep updating their stores with new trends which keep the customers interested.


Besides stores, Forever 21 has created their website for online shoppers. Most women work in the United States, which means women starting to have more wants and needs. Due to multitasking, women and men don’t really have enough time to stop by places. Therefore, the Forever 21 website is also popular for those who are busy. Forever21 is mostly made for women but recently they have starting to bring out men and children’s clothing. Even though they have collections for men and kids, Forever 21 is still famous among women. Based on the market today, Forever 21 has 78% of women shoppers and 22% others. 

Forever 21 has shoppers from every ethnic groups including Caucasians, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. These people have a desire to keep up with the current trends, but also wish to stay on a budget.The reasons why people choose Forever 21 are, the clothing are affordable, Online shopping is available to everyone , and current trend are coming in every week.

Ethics and Social Responsibility

Ethics is also known as moral principles. It is described as the right and wrong choices that are accepted by our society. Ethics the right choices or decisions that are accepted by us humans. It is more like the law and regulations that keeps our society safe. A business's decisions must be ethical in order to operate in our society. There is a guideline for every business to operate ethically. For example, "the code of ethics" which are the written laws and regulations followed by many business.

Forever 21 is a very successful company. They succeed only because of their right choices to satisfy the customers and operate business ethically. They take care of their customers and also their employees. Forever 21 has employees all over the world, including USA, Europe, and Asia. 

Being a small company, Forever 21 imports their merchandise from overseas. Mostly they get their clothing and all accessories made from China, Vietnam, and India. Forever 21 has hundreds of employees manufacturing goods in many garments factories. They want all of these employees to work in safe and healthy environments. Also to provide products to the consumer safely, which are made by such employees. Forever 21 not only created jobs worldwide but it also donated money to the charities. In 2011, forever 21 donated 9.5 million dollars to many charities around the world. The company is also trying it's best to help out environment in many ways. For example, they are importing their goods by seas instead of airplanes, which reduce the release of carbon in the air. Their new stores are using energy saving lighting systems to cut down on the energy usage and they also recycle all shipment boxes at daily bases.

Strategic Planing for Competitive Advantage

Forever 21 is growing rapidly in the United States and also worldwide. In fact, it is the most popular retailer in United States. Forever 21 became a major threat for most of the other industries in our society. For example, it is a big threat for H&M, Charlotte Russe, etc. According to Analysts Lorraine Hutchinson, Paul Alexander, and Jessica A. Lebo at Bank of America, Forever 21 is the most competitive retailer in the United States. Furthermore, they stated that the other retailers should pay attention to the growth of Forever 21. The analyst Lorraine Hutchinson said that, "Forever 21 is becoming too big for the other retailers to ignore. At the size, rapid growth could have ripple effect on the other retailers as Forever 21 takes more share" (Lorraine Hutchinson 1). According to Bank of America, the estimation of the company's sales is $3.5 billion dollars. They have a large number of teens and young adults customers from ages 13-25. 

NPS- Net Promoter Scores

Forever 21 has a great strategy to get customers. Their motto is "Always changing and always in style". Forever 21 is a company where they sell the latest style of clothing and accessories at an affordable price. This company brings fashionable clothing and styles from all over the world. Forever 21 is inspired by Asian, European, and American style of clothing. People can relation to the style and the clothing because they have varieties of options to choose from. Forever 21 seeks for the customers who wants latest style from runway at a reasonable price.

History and Mission Statement

Forever 21 is an American clothing retailer. It has branches spread out nationwide and worldwide. The Forever 21 stores are located almost in every major cities in America, Europe, Asia, and Middle East. Forever 21 offers fine clothing, accessories, cosmetics and shoes for young women, men, and teens. The clothes imitate Asia, European and American fashion trends. The retailer is originally known as Fashion 21 and it was mainly opened to offer clothing for kids and teenagers. The store was founded by Do Won Chang and his wife Jin Sook Chang in 1984. The first store was opened in Los Angeles California by the couple. As time went by, Forever 21 operated successfully in California and decided to open stores outside of the state. In 1995, Forever 21 opened their first store outside California, which was located in the Mall of Americas in Miami Florida. By 1997 Forever 21 opened more than forty store in the United States. After the successful business in the nation, the retailer opened it's first store outside the U.S in November 2010. 

 

Forever 21 has a mission to bring fashion to everyone. Their mission is to provide shoppers with the latest style and trend with affordable price. The retailer's motto is "Always changing and always in style".

always changing and always in style

always changing and always in style