PESTEL Analysis

Why is PESTEL important in Fashion Marketing?

Comprised of six external factors: Economic, Social, Legal, Environmental, Technological and Political,  the Pestel business system is very important to a Fashion Marketing and Communication report. The tool analyses the Macro Market, whereas a SWOT analysis analyses the Micro Market, to find out what external factors in the wider fashion market, will affect the brand's success. This therefore helps to minimise the amount of external threats to the business, and reduces mistakes for the brand,thus hopefully giving an increase in brand sales and popularity with their chosen target market.. All brands will carry out a PESTEL analysis when starting out in their chosen market level, and will carry them out throughout the year, every year. 

As an example, here is a PESTEL analysis for Jack Wills, the quintessentially British Brand,which was carried out by myself for my Jack Wills brand report. 

Political

•Changes in trading laws due to government bills like Brexit, could affect the business in US stores and Hong Kong stores.

•This is due to the fact that tax and export and import rates and rules could change and increase, therefore meaning that trading between counties could become more difficult. For Jack Will this could become especially difficult as much of their merchandise is produced in China, so new rules could make transportation of goods difficult. (Financial Times.com January 2017)

Economic

•The recession in the UK and US in 2009, although it was eight years ago, has had the knock-on effect making people much more careful with how they spend their money.

•This could therefore lead to Jack Wills missing their target market, as students have large tuition fees, meaning they may not be able to afford the brand. This consequently lead to the closure of Aubin and Wills in 2012, and the need to open more outlet stores and host more sales in order to sell products. (Financial Times.com October 2012)

•The target market loss may also not have been helped by an increase in unemployment amongst young people in the UK, so their disposable income will be low, thus deterring them away from Jack Wills as prices are high. Employment rates for 16 – 64-year olds in 2017 is 75%, however this is an increase from last year’s employment rate of 74.4%. (Office for National Statists September 2017)

•However, as of November 2017, interest rates are set to increase by 0.5%, following the drop-in interest rates in previous years, thus perhaps giving consumers a slightly higher disposable income. (Money Saving Expert 2^nd November 2017)

Social

• There is an increased focus on health and leisure in the fashion industry, so now more than ever before, sportswear makes large amounts of money for brands. This is evident especially in Victoria’s Secret, and Jack Wills could promote this part of their brand further.

•However, there is also a greater interest in having plus size models and ethnically diverse models, in order for brands to achieve global sales. Jack Wills could use plus size models in their campaigns.

•Adding to this obesity rates are still rising, with a size 16 being the new women’s average size. (Evening Standard March 2017) Many brands however, do not supply sizes to fit larger women, like Jack Wills, so often loose sales in that respect.

Technological

•Virtual changing rooms and mirrors are on the increase, with Charlotte Tilbury introducing a online mirror to the website so consumers can try before they buy. This could be a marketing avenue Jack Wills could move towards.

•New styling websites are emerging. For example: Deressipi.com is a new website that creates a virtual fashion footprint for customers. This then enables the site to generate styling advice based on the user’s body type and image. It collects garment from sites across the internet and allows users to buy clothing online they know will fit them. (Dressipi.com 2017) Jack Wills could consider this.

Environmental   

•There is a greater need to recycle fashion products after use or rework fashion products, and purchasing products with longer fashion lifecycles has become important especially for the older generation.

•There is a greater understanding that cotton products are harmful to the environment due to pesticides used which can affect water sources and soil, so new sustainable fabrics are being manufactured. These include: Bamboo, hemp and banana woven fabrics.

Legal

•All designs have to be legally trademarked, to prevent illegal copying of the designs (Gerben Law.com October 2014)  

Until next time

Anna xx

Image references:
https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---pestel-analysis
http://www.boemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Jack-Wills-1050x627.png

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/06/01/asa-bans-jack-wills-underwear-catalogue-ads-over-sexualised-and-inappropriate-images