NOVEMBER 2021 ANDREEA POPA

CATINCA MARIA NEGUT

L6, 2019-2022
6FAMK002C
INTERNATIONAL BRANDING
AND SUSTAINABILITY
CWK1
TEACHER CRISTINA
LASTRA
Contents
1. RESEARCH
1.1 WHY Vivienne Westwood?
1.2 Key Research Questions

2. ANALYSIS
2.1 Brand History
2.2 Mission, Vision & Values
2.3 Moodboard
2.4 Brand Identity
2.5 Company and Distribution
2.6 Consumers
2.7 External Environment
2.8 Competitors

3. OPPORTUNITY & OBJECTIVES

3.1 COTSWA
3.2 KSFs
3.3 KPIs

4. STRATEGY
4.1 Research Conclusion
4.2 Top Business Opportunities 2022

5. ANNEX

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Fig. 2: McLaren and Vivienne Westwood wearing iconic “God Save the Queen” t-shirt,

1970s

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 The choice of Vivienne Westwood as the focus of the research and strategy im-
plementation is supported by its cult characteristic, defined by a strong heritage
and comprehensive history, influencing the entire fashion agenda through aes-
thetic and identity values, innovations. Simultaneously, the competitive advan-
tage of strong identity and influential past can represent a challenge in adapt-
ing the brand to contemporary times, trends and technological aspects, without
altering its core or going against its values. The apparently ‘gorilla-style’ aesthet-
ic, statement actions of the brand and of Vivienne Westwoodherself, as represen-
tative fashion icon, are defining a successful ‘against the wave, authentic journey
and creative stamp, implementing the perfect foundation for future developments.
RESEARCH

Fig. 3: Vivienne Westwood via i-D.com

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1. WHO IS VIVIENNE WESTWOOD?
1.1 The Story Behind Vivienne Westwood
1.2 Mission, Vision, Values
1.3 Brand Identity
1.4 Message

2. HOW DOES VIVIENNE WESTWOOD SELL ITS PRODUCT?

2.1 Company & Distribution
2.2 Consumers

3. WHAT ARE THE MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE BRAND?

3.1 External Environment
3.2 Competitors
3.3 Identifying the Opportunities through analysing COTSWA and KSFs
3.4 The KPIs used to evaluate progress

4. WHAT WOULD BE A RELEVANT STRATEGY IN ORDER TO REACH

THE SET OBJECTIVES?
4.1 Research Conclusion
4.2 Top Business Opportunities 2022

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 ANALYSIS

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 Fig. 4: Vivienne Westwood, 2005

MISSION, VISION & VALUES

“A brand is created out of a total package including not only the garments, retail environment, packag-
ing, and advertising but also the meanings, values and associations that consumers ascribe to the brand”
(Posner, 2015). Vivienne Westwood’s mission is to humanize fashion by adding socio-cultural substance
to her brand. Environmental issues, human rights and political controversies are some of the main in-
terests in the Vivienne Westwood brand and these concerns and ideologies are seamlessly communicat-
ed through her designs. Unlike many other brands, the designer’s ability to communicate comes across
as authentic to consumers precisely because her actions are rooted in strong personal beliefs of philan-
thropy. The motto “Buy less, choose well and make it last” strongly suggests the change Vivienne West-
wood wants to make with the help of her homonymous brand. The message of ‘quality over quantity’
is very apparent and fights to change the habits of consumption in the current problematic ecosystem.

As stated by the company in the description of the Vivienne Westwood approach on the official web-
site, they represent one of the last independent fashion houses globally. Therefore, there is more free-
dom of choice in how they choose to represent their values: all of Westwood’s collections, collabora-
tions and catwalk shows promote innovative designs and act towards global change and philanthropy.

The Vivienne Westwood house is dedicated to benevolence and ethical justice, therefore their ac-
tivism in this direction is regarded with great attention and detail. All actions against climate
change and animal sourcing are transparent to the consumers and specified on the official web-
site: viviennewestwood.com. General principles in regards to fabric use in the designing of their
collections are strongly suggesting commitment and also help build a powerful modern brand.

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 MOODBOARD

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BRAND IDENTITY
Vivienne Westwood highly focuses on British heritage, having her packaging and shop design resem-
ble these values well​​: “Vivienne Westwood has flown the flag for Britain across the universe”. When
consumers visit the dame’s shops they are immediately transported into England. All the elements that
create a strong identity: the atmosphere, the music, colours, prints and general style of the shop are a
representation of English vintage, and can be identified from the window display to the dressing rooms.

The name “Vivienne Westwood” correlates the company with the designer and creates a perfect sym-
biosis since the designer typically reflects herself in her work. She is seen as the endorser of her own
brand, proudly wearing all of her own designs and promoting her campaigns with the same en-
thusiasm: “To me, they are for somebody who doesn’t necessarily want to stand out – I do – but who
wants to walk tall, you know, to look good. Important, even. The key is that they’re really heroic”.

The orb has become an iconic emblem of the brand since the 1980s, instantly recognizable as a Vivi-
enne Westwood trademark, even without the accompanying name. As an element of visual brand-
ing, the orb was inspired by the royal iconography of Britain and intended to represent the impor-
tance of the past, while the rings of Saturn signify the future. The logo helps convey the brand’s
identity, the font is often used in metallic gold and transmutes the elegance and heritage of the brand.

The royal and goth fonts are present not only in the logo,
but also on some of the slogans used in designing T-shirts
and other particular garments in the various Vivienne
Westwood collections. Red, black, white, gold, grey and
striking colours are predominant in the Westwood anar-
chist designs. The gold, also used in the logo, displays the
luxurious facet of the brand, while white and black repre-
sent neutrality. The striking colours are usually the ones
chosen to represent specific campaigns and collections.

As described before, the tagline “Buy less,

choose well and make it last” desires that
consumers shop consciously and prefer
quality over quantity. The tone of voice al-
ways suggests strong determination: it is
extravagant, direct, honest and educational.

The brand is unique in the fact that it is

offering cutting edge alternative designs
that entirely reflect Vivienne’s eccentric
personality. Her ideals for the brand have
never been commercial success, despite
some of her designs having drifted to-
wards the mainstream. Vivienne West-
wood’s authentic design is communicated
through British tailoring and dressmaking
techniques featuring fabrics such as Har-
ris Tweed, Scottish tartans and Irish lin-
ens and wools. Also, Westwood came up
with her own officially registered tartan
fabrics named ‘Westwood MacAndreas’.
Fig. 5: people outside “World’s End shop, 1988

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COMPANY & DISTRIBUTION
Internally, Vivienne West-
wood’s company organiza-
tional structure includes
multiple differen depart-
ments including Produc-
tion, Sales and Marketing.
Before being sent out to
the customer, all products
are carefully ran through
Quality control and made
sure to follow the brand’s
ethical responsabilities. .

Externally, the global dis-

tribution of the brand
includes 12 stores in the
UK and 63 stores world-
wide. Online , Vivienne
Westwood designs, both
womenswear and mens-
wear, are sold over more
than 50 different retail-
ers distributed to a di-
verse range of consumers

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CONSUMERS
The vast majority of the IT brands of 2021 are still riding the wave of ephemeral designs, following constant-
ly changing trends and engaging the mainstream fashionistas. In contrast, Vivienne Westwood goes against
the status-quo, rather attracting consumers who put value into individuality, tradition, heritage, quality,
consciousness and meeting their needs of displaying an edge. The distinctive values and recognisable visual
identity of the brand are outlining the mindset and representative aesthetic of the desired customer and vice
versa, both evolving and changing complementary, motivated by times and socio-cultural contexts. The
brand’s consumer profile is encapsulating pelicular individuals, alternatively segmented by interests and be-
liefs, nor by race or gender. Since Vivienne Westwood is acknowledged as an inclusive and diversity-orient-
ed label, fighting for justice and design-wise, revolving a more asexual cut and shilouette since the 2000s, it
is attracting woman, men and non-binary adopters. The act of purchasing a cult-brand serves as a language
of personal status and as a tool of identification, as the designer states: “clothes give you power, because you
are able to play with your identity”. The Vivienne Westwood clientele aims to be associated with the alterna-
tive aesthetic of the brand, projecting it upon its personal style and connected to the core mission, vision and
values, as an extension of their own personality and beliefs, ultimately enriching awareness towards them.
The humanitarian approach of the brand, as well as its use of historic connections strives to a customer with
a higher level of education, able to understand and decode its way of communication. By creating lines of
diverse price ranging and design alternatives, Vivienne Westwood is incorporating a varied age-range of cli-
ents. The collections of Anglomania and Red Label are addressing the younger public with a more casual style
and a slightly more affordable cost, while the Gold Label, presenting royal inspirations and interpretations
of classical garments such as suits, is preferred by the more mature clients, with a higher purchasing power.

The targeted Vivienne Westwood consumers are

not bounded by age, location or ethnicity, but rath-
er by the sense of fashion and moral consciousness.
Frida represents the ideal, primary target, a fash-
ion and art lover who prefers standing out from
the crowd, does not follow trends, takes quality
into account when making a purchase and is not
necessarily interested in heavily branded products
and has knowledge about culture, history and so-
cial movements. When it comes to the moral side
of her buying decisions, she is trying to choose
contemporary inclusive brands, with strong,
outspoken values and care for the environment.

On the other hand, Briana represents the second-

ary target, the occasional Vivienne Westwood
customer, the mainstream fashionista, whose
choices are trend-driven. The typology does not
present a defined personal style, is easily influ-
enced by social media and buys seasonal IT-piec-
es, without taking into account any effects of its
buying decisions upon the environment or social
context. The category will only buy recogniz-
able, branded Vivienne Westwood items, from
the desire of being recognized as belonging to
the previously described typology, of alterna-
tive creatives with strong personality and beliefs.

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EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
In an environment in which globaliza-
tion and digitalization are shaping the
21st century consumer as challenging
to surprise, engage and difficult to sus-
tain; the pandemic scenario demanded
an even more unpredictable, massive
change, affecting all of the industries, in-
dividuals and reshaping behaviors of the
already volatile consumers. During 2021,
the fashion industry experienced dis-
ruption on every level: from production
and supply chain to marketing and sales,
forcing the label to primarily adapt for
survival, rather than for success. Com-
ing from a recent history of loss in 2018,
only returning to profit and growth the
following year, the Vivienne Westwood
company, one of the few independent
fashion brands among its competitors,
was affected by the pandemic, as stated:
“sill under pressure due to the nature
of wider retail conditions; The compa-
ny experienced the profound impact of
the Covid-19 pandemic; The full effect
on the business is still unknown but the
company believes its cash reserves and
careful cash flow management will mit-
igate any major repercussions”; scenario
The Mega-Trends shaping the businesses and consumers
leading to “undergoing a strategic review
of today:
to create a new operating structure; to
optimize processes and the overall effi-
ciency of the business” (Hughes, 2020).
The context is also leading the brand to
improve its online shopping experience
and “better convey the brand message
and improve the customer journey to
boost online sales” (Halliday, 2020). In
the current framework, Vivienne West-
wood will have to adapt and follow the
current consumer mega-trends, most
of which were already existing prior the
pandemic, currently being accelerated
by it, as shopping shifts to digital and
customers demand even more justice,
transparency and brand consciousness.

via Trend Watching

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COMPETITORS

SWOT Vivienne Westwood

The price-point, level of quality and heritage is positioning Vivienne Westwood in the high-end, luxury seg-
ment; while the style and distinctive aesthetic are contributing to its belonging to the alternative niche. Ad-
ditionally, the communication strategy, mission and vision of the brand, as well as the actions of the designer
herself are granting its recognition as a conscious company, supporting moral causes and taking sustainable
actions. Vivienne Westwood remains one of the few independent fashion brands among its competitors, not
selling its stakes to fashion corporations such as Kering and LVMH, benefiting from entire decision freedom.

Stella McCartney can be con-

sidered as one of the clos-
est competitors of Vivienne
Westwood, by virtue of its
segmentation, belonging to
the luxury market, as well as
by its vocal sustainable ap-
proach, which is as well en-
dorsed by the designer herself,
but communicated in a more
conventional way. The sec-
ond closest competitor of the
brand is Marine Serre, with
which Vivienne Westwood is
sharing both the luxury al-
ternative approach and con-
sciousness of the company.

The statistic proves that heritage is a key-point for the british consumer decision-making process, among
the 10 most successful brands in Great Britain, only 3 being established post 2000s (Erdem, Christopher
Kane, J.W. Anderson).

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Fig. 6-10: Marine Serre (6-8) and Stella McCartney (8-10) advertisements

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OPPORTUNITY & OBJECTIVES

By reasonably analysing the COTSWA and identifying the Key Suc-

cess Factors behind the main challenges of the brand at the current time,
we found the following objectives to be the most relevant in improv-
ing the brand’s communication, retail and relationship with consumer:

- INTEGRATION OF CONSUMER IN THE BRAND’S ETHICAL JOURNEY

- IMPROVEMENT OF BRAND COMMUNICATION IN REGARDS TO SUSTAINABILITY
- INNOVATE RETAIL STRATEGY BY FOLLOWING CONSUMER MEGA-TRENDS
- OPTIMISATION OF PROCESSES AND EFFICIENCY
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 KPIs
- Key Performance Indicators measuring the progress of the strategy –

• Boost credibility of brand ethical values and engage

consumer in “the change”, through actions and events

- Media Coverage Sentiment

- Media Outreach
- Earned Traffic
- Social Shares of related social media
posts
- Media articles Share of Voice
- Advertising Value Equivalent

• Establish new operational practices, optimizing

processes and efficiency

- Quick Ratio after implementation

- Operating Profit Margin
- Net Profit Margin
- Consumer Satisfaction (through post-order
review buttons)
- Employees Satisfaction
- Space Utilization and Storage
Productivity
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 The core of Vivienne Westwood as a brand is strongly bonded to the same core
since its establishment during the 80s, not allowing time and shifts in the exter-
nal environment to alter its persona. Along with the activist focused brand iden-
tity, Vivienne Westwood is able to stand out, retain its strong player position and
relevancy inside the fashion landscape. The tone of voice, behaviour and market-
ing campaigns align with the USPs and product, ensuring consistency and enhanc-
ing customer loyalty. In order to preserve its defining foundation, the strategy will
be carefully aligned with the already established characteristics of label and busi-
ness model, following the concluded objectives and reflecting the POES channels.

After having analysed the brand’s identity, positioning and competitive environment,
we can conclude that establishing a foundation in the name of the brand, with focus
on activism and sustainability measures will represent an effective choice for its devel-
opment and long-term reinforcement. The foundation will focus both on actions in-
side and outside the brand, actively involving its customers and general public by tap-
ping on essential KPIs. Through it, the USP of Vivienne Westwood will be renowned
as community meeting points including the following characteristics: authenticity in
regards to activism and philanthropy, positive and creative outlook on drama and con-
troversy and strong dedication to the brand’s British heritage and sustainability beliefs.
Moreover, non-profit activist events and donations campaigns will take place, blending
the lines between the brand, Vivienne Westwood foundation and the global objective
of making the world a better and more genuine place. The strategy will directly im-
prove the credibility of the label, positioning it as a truthful advocate of topical issues.
STRATEGY

Fig. 11: Vivienne Westwood Fall 2017 Ad Campaign

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TOP BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES 2022

As a brand with history and heritage, Vivienne Westwood ascendancy will require a custom-
ized strategy, in harmony with the brand aesthetic, moral conceptions and business model. As es-
tablished by the Mckinsey State of Fashion 2021, it is expected that the economical crisis, togeth-
er with the pandemic will continue to represent the biggest challenge for the fashion industry,
followed by the changing consumer needs, practices and the fall of the traditional physical stores.
When it comes to opportunities, digital will remain the most important, followed by sustainabil-
ity; offering the adequate context for the expansion and strategy improvement of Vivienne Westwood.

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