Mikli Advertising Campaign Vision for Visionaires Stefan Burgi

Mikli Advertising Campaign
Vision for Visionaires
Stefan Burgi
Parsons School of Design – Spring 2007
Design Management – Prof. N. Salvati
Mikli – Vision for Visionaires
I. Product Synopsis
Mikli Eyewear is the top end brand for luxury eyeglasses. The company is the
exclusive brand that celebrities and design influencers wear. The price is very high
but in regard to the product stays accessible to a broader audience than the upper
income class. The brand is widely known in Europe and Asia but still remains a rather
unknown player to the US mass market. However, it is popular among the insiders of
the design industry in the US. Alain Mikli the founder and senior designer is one of
the most influential eyewear designers in the world and is often described as the
inventor of the eyewear designer position as such.
The brand has an incredible potential to hit the broader luxury and new-luxury market
as the brand that differentiates itself from the mass as innovative, with superior
quality, and exclusive design.
II. Situation Analysis
1. Markets, Target Segments
The primary market for Mikli eyewear has been the luxury eyewear market for design
leaders and influencers in Europe, Asia, as well as the US. In Europe and Asia, the
brand has also an important position in the mass market as the top end brand for
design and fashion sensitive people.
The Eyewear industry is part of the apparel industry that has experienced steady
growth over a long period of time but recently has come to a more stabile state since
the emergence of the new-luxury development worldwide. The steady demand for
luxury goods still remains and the market is very lucrative for innovative and
fashionable brands.
The biggest problem in the eyewear industry is the counterfeit of industry leader
models. These fake frames that are sold worldwide at low prices with low quality get
mixed into the market and are often sold as originals. The global counterfeit industry
of various goods sells an estimated $440 billion, which is equivalent of 7% of global
GDP. Mikli is equally disturbed and affected by counterfeit and at a recent Trade
show in Italy Alain Mikli with support from the Italian police could arrange
confiscate over 74,000 pairs of counterfeit glasses. One of the most affected brands in
the eyewear industry is D&B, or Oakley as the main mass-market leaders in the
industry.
2. Trends and Research
As described the most relevant trend in regard to eyewear and accessories has been
the development of new-luxury markets in various industries. The eyewear sector and
its brands have developed into a mega market with several manufacturer
organizations that license the big luxury names such as Marc Jacobs, Armani, Gucci,
or Chanel. Several of these organizations hold licenses of brands in their corporate
portfolio, which in their original industries, mostly fashion, are direct competitors.
This situation has the effect that the designs across these brands are not very
differentiated and that the market is extremely monotonous. However the advantage
for the consumers is that these eyeglasses are accessible to a wide audience. In return
eyeglasses have become more and more an accessory rather than a necessity for
medical reasons and many people who wear eyeglasses own several pairs. In this
respect the luxury brands have become the average eyeglasses for most young people
since the price discrepancies between luxury brand and unknown brand are at an
extent that makes it affordable to wear eyeglasses “designed” by a luxury brand.
Therefore people with a high sensitivity to exclusive design are the one’s that are not
served well. Since there are no real differences among the brands that differentiate
themselves in other industries, the eyewear industry offers a large variety of
homogenous design, but no exclusive design for key influencers and individualists.
3. SWOT
Strengths:
Mikli has a very good reputation in the industry for its innovative design and use of
special materials, as well as its history as a designer brand that makes and designs for
designers, celebrities and influencers. This reputation among the visionaries of design,
film and music will be a very important part in the promotion of the brand, especially
in the US.
The distinctiveness of the design and the materials is also a way of promoting quality
and excellence compared to the masses of competitors.
Weaknesses:
Mikli is a company that offers glasses at a very high price ($300 and more for a
“normal” pair of glasses) therefore people will need evidence to support the price.
However, the price is not necessarily a weakness since it reflects the superior quality
of materials and research, as well as its exclusivity within the market.
A possible weakness is that mikli as brand cannot be associated with luxury in other
industries such as fashion in the same way other brands such as Gucci, etc. can.
Therefore brand awareness among a broader audience is still low.
Opportunities:
Looking at the strengths and weaknesses, the Mikli brand has a very high potential to
emerge as the leader of the top end eyewear markets for a broader, but exclusive
target market, that is not necessarily characterized by income or status but by
psychographic sensitivity towards design and innovation. The opportunity of
promoting the brand as the new super-hot, must-have accessory for style-oriented
people within the new-luxury, as well as the exclusive luxury market is evident and
highly profitable. The price as a label for quality and exclusiveness will not only
attract rich people but also upper-middle class people that priorities their expenses
according to certain fashionable accessories. Eyeglasses are different from other
accessories in that they can be worn on a continuous basis, and therefore the price is
regarded in a different way than when buying an object that can be worn, carried or
used only on certain occasions.
Threats:
The major threat as mentioned above is counterfeit, and Alain Mikli is highly aware
of this and has invested over $1m in patenting his designs. In order to work against
and diminish counterfeit it is important for the industry to work closely with
authorities on programs that make it harder to produce and sell counterfeit goods.
Another possible threat is the reaction of competitors to the introduction of the mikli
brand and its effect on the consumer market. However, innovation is a driving force
for Mikli, and it is at the forefront in its industry. On the other hand the brands that
hold the mass market consumers will have problems differentiating themselves as one
brand since almost all brands are licensed and therefore the holders of the rights will
apply innovations not only to one of their brands but to all brands within the same
segment.
4. Competition
As for competition, there are two levels of looking at competition: from the
consumer’s point of view, and from the manufacturer’s point of view.
Consumer’s point of view:
For the consumer the brand and the design are the factors that affect the decision
process. Glasses have to be bought in regard to design but also to fit. Certain glasses
may have a great design, but they don’t fit with the form of the face. Therefore, and
regarding the relative small differences in design variation, meaning every brand
offers more or less the same basic design families in their collection with small
differences that can only be seen at a closer look. This has the effect that the brand
loses its value in regard to the decision of the customer. It is more important how the
glasses fit, than what brand it is. And besides, except certain brands such as D&G or
Versace the logo of the brand can hardly be identified unless up-close.
Manufacturer’s point of view:
In the eyeglass industry there are very few but very large corporations that hold the
brand names and design and produce products for them. Mikli does not belong to a
corporation and designs its glasses in-house, and offers signature lines by well known
designers that stand for innovation and differentiate themselves among each other.
For example Phillippe Starck and Issey Myake are lines that each have their
distinctive design element. Phillippe Starck designs glasses that reflect the designer’s
innovative Bio-Design that can be seen in his other products, while Issey Myake’s
glasses go under the theme of Dragonflys and can be folded. Mikli design itself also
differentiates itself from all other brands through its colors, unusual patterns,
materials and forms. Of course Mikli is much smaller than all of the other
manufacturers but it is highly differentiated and unique within the industry. This has
the effect that people value this and feel unique with their Mikli glasses. This has
implications for the promotion of the brand.
III. Marketing Mix Strategy
Product:
The product in itself is perfectly defined in the way it is now. The design is excellent
and the materials are of highest quality. In fact, the product itself is the leading within
its industry. In regard to the new US positioning the product does not need to be
changed at all. There are several different collections and lines that speak to different
styles, and with different materials, from special plastics as well as metals.
Price:
As mentioned above Mikli glasses are superpremium priced because of its quality,
design and the fact that Mikli glasses are not part of a large holding and licensing
manufacturer. According to the different materials there are different prices and
metals such as platinum frames are higher priced than the plastic models. The price as
such is one more demonstration of quality and looking at the product, if the price was
much lower it would almost be suspicious. Therefore the price will be one of the
important factors in establishing the top end position of the brand and undermine the
exclusivity of the product.
Place:
At the moment Mikli glasses can be bought at select dealers throughout Europe and
Asia. The stores that carry the brand mostly have separate product display shelves
designed by Mikli to differentiate them at first glance. The shelves display the
collections according to line, as for example the Red line that, as the name says is
dominated by all-red or partially red frames. This is very important for attracting
customers and to create a fully differentiated display, as well as brand representation.
Currently there is one store in the US owned and operated by Mikli, which is located
in NYC on Madison Avenue. However the store does not live up to its potential and
in regard to location there have to be changes made in order to penetrate the broader
market in the US. An upgraded and larger Flagship store has to be created in NYC,
which will not only portray the products but also host exhibitions and events for
influencers and exclusive audiences. It is also necessary that the major style
metropolises in the US (LA and Miami) are targeted for boutiques in the style
districts. This is also important in New York and boutiques have to be opened in areas
such as SoHo and Chelsea. Apart from Mikli owned boutiques, select dealer outlets
have to found such as the MoMA design store and other high-end design oriented
stores that do not necessarily have to be opticians. At the moment Mikli glasses can
also be bought over Internet for the US.
Promotion:
In regard to promotion Mikli has to build up a substantial program in order to
penetrate the US market in the broader sense. At the moment there aren’t any
campaigns running and therefore it is important to coordinate the campaign with
outlet openings and the opening of the flagship store. The campaign has to be
effective in establishing the brand as a one-brand market, the market of “vision for
visionaries”.
IV. Creative Recommendations
1. Target Audience
The target audience for Mikli eyeglasses ranges in demographics but shares
psychographics. Whereas the income and age of the target market varies and is
accommodated by different models and collections, the main importance in regard to
the customers lays in specific points of ideology.
The most important factor is that the target audience has a very well developed sense
for style, trend, and fashion as well as art and design. These individuals are
influencers for other people and strive for self-actualization, and even more. It is very
important to them that they are at the forefront of consumer trends and share a
common value in creativity in various industries. These people are designers of their
own identity and know exactly how they want to represent themselves through what
they wear, eat, drink, say and think. They do not belong to one social class but to an
intellectual and artistic community of creative minds. Therefore they spend a lot of
money on products that promote their vision of lifestyle. The range in regard to
income goes from middle to upper to upper-upper class. As in regard to age these
people can be young adults that value trendy scenes in the creative fields, and older
more mature people with a statement of style.
Characteristically these people live in urban areas, mostly in the big cities like New
York, LA or Miami. They all have idols that they use to define themselves in order to
become unique themselves, this not by copying them but by admiring their visions.
2. The Copy Platform
Advertising Objectives:
The objective for the Mikli campaign is to create awareness in the target market and
to promote the brand in relation to its extension of stores and outlets.
Advertising Strategy:
The campaign aims at positioning the brand as a top end and exclusive eyeglass
company that makes a statement about the target audience’s personality and identity
within the trend scene of the urban landscape.
The brand stands for people with visions about themselves and about what they want
to represent, therefore the brand and its products enables the customer to establish a
vision of their own.
With Mikli eyeglasses you see things you can’t see with other glasses. It is the
kaleidoscope for a progressive mind to envision creativity and style within.
The Major Selling Idea:
As mentioned above, the product is in its nature for people with a high sensitivity for
style, therefore the main selling idea or key benefit that target customers will gain
from the product is vision. Vision not only as motorical attribute but vision in a
creative sense in order to generate ideas and a vision of the customers own identity in
his environment.
Advertising Appeals:
The campaign will exclusively have an emotional appeal, which will create
aspirational emotions and applied visions of oneself enhanced by the product. The ads
will create emotions that show the user how the product can help change your life for
the better, more productive, more individualistic, and more exclusive life of an
emotional and creative person. The feeling that the advertisements will evoke are
feelings of admiration as well as the projection of this admiration towards one self.
In a way the advertising campaign will combine rational and emotional appeals in a
way that emotions are drawn from the atmosphere and content of the ads, but the
product itself has a very high rational appeal as such since it offers the highest quality
material and the most innovative design. This rational appeal, however will not be
promoted on the conscious level, instead it will be generated through the emotional
bond of the product with the audience.
Advertising Execution Format:
For the campaign the main execution theme is celebrity advertising. However, these
celebrities are not the mainstream celebrities such as Britney Spears etc. These celebs
are visionaries in certain creative fields such as directors, designers, artists, or actors.
They all portray an example of people who had a vision and followed this vision in
order to fulfill their personal self-actualization and beyond. People such as Andy
Warhol or Pedro Almodovar, Tim Burton, Jean-Paul Gaultier, etc.
The celebrities will be selected according to different creative genres, as well as age
defining groups for baby-boomers, as well as gen-x, and early gen-y. This means that
for example, Jean-Paul Gaultier will appeal to people with the major passion for
fashion, whereas Pedro Almodovar will appeal to people interested in Film and
Photography.
This will function according to the meaning principle of advertising in regard to
celebrity endorsement.
Statement:
The campaign will be based on the principle of visionaries. People who strive for
individuality and self-actualization have a very particular view of themselves and of
how they want to portray themselves to others. These people also have idols that they
admire, which they do not copy but take inspiration from. To place contemporary and
iconic idols will connect the individual inspiration drawn from these idols and project
it onto the product. The meaning that the product gains from this transmission has the
effect that the target audience will feel that through wearing Mikli glasses they
undermine and re-enforce their own vision and that they, too, can be idols and leaders
of contemporary urban culture.
Creative Executions:
V. Media Recommendations
1) Target Audience
The target audience as described above will be within the spectrum of design and
fashion oriented audiences.
Mostly 23-50 year old male and females within urban environments.
Income level from upper-middle to upper-upper class.
All ethnicities with emphasize on Caucasian.
2) Media Objectives
Reach Target Market through a combination of media vehicles within the print media
and a combination of reach and frequency.
3) Media Strategy
Use magazines in the fields of fashion, lifestyle and design targeted to both men and
women between 23-50.
Schedule media use to coincide with opening of Mikli stores in New York, Miami,
and LA.
4) Media Plan
Media Mix and Rationale:
The media mix will concentrate on two major parts: Print Media and the opening of
the Mikli stores in New York, LA, and Miami.
Print: The print media is the most important part of the advertising campaign for
Mikli since it will be placed in magazines that are published monthly. This means that
people who read the magazine will be exposed to the ads for a long period of time in
order to let the brand in their consciousness. The readership of the magazines is very
specific and therefore very effective for choosing the right magazine for the right
target market. Geographically, these magazines (listed below) will allow Mikli to
choose exactly which consumers to reach and therefore the waste coverage will be
minimized. Efficiency in cost is also a major reason for choosing print media since it
is less expensive than broadcast in regard to production and media placement. The
print ads will bear the website address and therefore web traffic will be counted as
secondary media consideration.
Chosen Media Vehicles:
WallPaper: (Monthly)
The style bible:
For the past decade, Wallpaper* has championed the best
design. It has become the international authority on the
cutting edge and the classic, the new and the
rediscovered. It’s all about the best. From fashion to
travel, from interiors to jewellery, and from architecture
to motoring, the aesthetic that surrounds you was first
championed by Wallpaper*. With an unrivalled stable of
international contributors and editors, distribution in over
70 countries and unparalleled success in reaching the
design elite the world over, Wallpaper* has gained global
awareness and appeal.
Readers:
Wallpaper* readers are affluent young professionals and voracious consumers with
enormous spending power. They actively buy into the products and services they read
about in the magazine. Research shows they are passionate about design in all its
forms.
They live and breathe architecture, interiors and fashion, and are often
leaders in these fields, looking to Wallpaper*
For the latest news, as well as for inspiration
From our unrivalled coverage of modern design. Rather than being mere spectators,
our readers live in the Wallpaper* world and have access
to a seamless international marketplace, the ultimate consumer dream.
A few reader statistics
60/40 male/female
Median age is 34
43% are single, 29% are married,
28% live with a partner
76% live in the city centre
Mean personal income is £53,816/¤80,410/$102,690
Mean household income is £82,040/¤122,560/$156,555
Two thirds work in creative industries
Rising circulation of +110,000
30% UK
30% Europe
30% US
10% Rest of the world
Rate: Full Page Color
$18,800
V Magazine: (Quarterly)
V Magazine was launched in September 1999, and is
a fashion, art, and lifestyle magazine focused on a
young, sophisticated, and international audience of
men and women who want style, stars, and stories
before they’re news anywhere else.
V reaches the decision makers and Trend-Shapers
who exert influence on Art, Fashion, Music, and Pop
Culture.
V readers like to share with their friends–an average
of 4.2 readers see each issue!
The average combined household income of v
readers is $150,000.
The median age of the v reader is 28.
Demographic breakdown:
70% of v readers are female, 30% are male.
Blackbook: (Bi-Monthly)
Blackbook is a sophisticated, i ntelligent, and visually
striking journal of progressive culture that covers the
arts, fashion, politics, and lifestyle. It amplifies the
more daring impulses in pop culture, tapping into the
underground and bringing it just shy of the mainstream.
Blackbook is a magazine for visually weaned
generation of young men and women who are in search
of an alternative voice.
Age:
21+
18-34
35+
91%
63.2%
36.8%
Median Age: 29
Gender:
Female 61%
Male
39%
Marital status:
Single 80%
Married 20%
Education:
College Graduate 88%
Occupation:
Fashion, entertainment, media, arts
Professional, managerial
59%
41%
Income:
HHI $65,000+ 75.5%
HHI $85,000+ 67.1%
HHI $105,000+ 56.8%
Circulation:
northeast
west coast
midwest
southeast
southwest
international
TOTAL
57,750
41,250
33,000
16,500
1,650
14,850
165,000
35%
25%
20%
10%
1%
9%
100%
Rate: 1 Full Page Color
$16’975, (3 ti: $16’126 / 6ti: $ 15’277)
Time Style & Design: (Quarterly)
The magazine capitalizes on the authority and global
reach of Time magazine. It serves as the readers guide
to the increasingly influential worlds of style and
design.
Rate: $69’750
Scheduling Pattern:
For scheduling the advertising will start in October 2007 on a continuity basis with
placements each month for 6 months-followed by a new campaign in the same spirit
in order to keep a reputation for innovation and evolution.
VI. Budget Overview:
Mikli Revenues int.:
$56’135’000
Advertising Budget US: $1’000’000
VII. Campaign Flowchart
Oct.07
Nov.07
Dec.07
Jan.08
Feb.08
Mar.08
Apr.08
May08
Jun.08
Campaign
Store Openings:
NYC
LA
Miami
Price($):
147'000
209'500
Magazines:
V Magazine
Time S&D
225'000
Wallpaper
183324
Blackbook
Total:
764824
VIII. Measurement and Evaluation
Since it is very hard to measure the effectiveness of advertisements accurately and
with hard proof, increased attention will be laid on the relative increases in sales
according to the new shops, and the time of purchases according to the release dates
of magazines. If one looks at the date when magazines are released and the increase in
sales during the first week, as well as the proportionate increase in sales and its
evolution in regard to the opening of the new stores one can estimate if how much of
the sales are to be accounted for in regard to the new location and how much can be
accounted for in regard to the magazine release, especially to subscribers.
Additionally to these measurements, there will be measurement of visit increase to the
Mikli website since this will be an important part of the campaign success.
IX. Conclusion
The Mikli Advertisisng campaign 07-08 is the campaign to introduce the Mikli brand
to the US market. By using the the high potential of the brand through its history with
Alain Mikli as the innovator of the notion of a “eyewear designer” and his exquisite
designs for several leaders of fashion, music, and art, the brand will be positioned as
the top end style brand for innovators and visionaries. Thus the theme for the
campaign goes under the notion of “Vision of Visionaires”, which attracts highly
individual influencers that know what they want and who they want to be. Mikli
eyewear is there to undermine this lifestyle and offer a kaleidoscope for each
individual’s vision of him or herself.
This can be achieved in several easy but in regard to the U.S. culture and its affection
for idols and icons, the implementation through celebrity endorsement in an
innovative way is most effective. Innovative celebrity endorsement means to pick
celebrities that are not admired by the mainstream but by a very exclusive group of
special interest. These groups in the case of Mikli would be influencers of the design
and arts professions. Everyone has a contemporary idol that he or she looks up to, in
the case of Mikli consumers, these idols are just very particular and more exclusive.
The Mikli products reflect this search for quality and visual excellence and therefore
is placed as a high premium product, which is for people that value these values of the
Mikli brand and products.
X. Bibliography
Advertising Principles- Belch&Belch, Prentice Hall
Luxury for the Masses – Silverstein, Eicke – Harvard Business Review
D&B million dollar database
SRDS – print 07
www.mikli.com
www.blackbookmag.com
www.vmagazine.com
www.times.com
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7151248/new_york_ny/alain_mikli.html
http://www.eyecarebiz.com/article.aspx?article=50796