Strategic Considerations foran ASOS Revision of Current Finland

Marketing Strategy

Jonna Jarvenpaa

Executive summary

• Objective: Rationalize ASOS market strategy for Finland– Currently ASOS is active in Finland– Relative to its peers and other markets, it is an underperforming

segment for ASOS– Lack of market understanding and brand recognition in Finland

• Why Finland?– High disposable income– Increasingly fashion conscious population

• Strategy for market expansion– Creation of a Finnish website dedicated to local consumers– Online PR campaign

• Fashion blogs• Search engine optimization

Why Finland

• High disposable income• Increasingly fashion

conscious• Lack of fashionable retail

options• Designer collections not

available• Increasing online shopping• €/Pound FX advantage

source: Finnish government

International competitors are already active in Finland

• www.topshop.com– High editorial visibility in Finland– Lower cost postage (c.20% of

ASOS)• www.theoutnet.com

• www.hm.com– The most popular online fashion

store in Finland– Sponsors various fashion blogs– Website in Finnish (ASOS only

in English)– Ability to change product of free

of charge (ASOS need to pay shipping)

source: Topshop, Theoutnet, H&M

How to grow in Finland - selected ideas

• Targeting the best fashion and lifestyle blogs• Forward to a Friend-option for emails (as per AVON & Oasis)

– Widens the database– Increases knowledge of local market and of ASOS

• Website in Finnish– Better ranking in search engines when searched in Finnish

• Search engine optimization• Marketing Promotions - To increase the frequency of purchases

– Early stage marketing promotions including free shipping for first three months

– Sign up 5 friends and receive further discounts etc.

source: Oasis, AVON

Blogs

• Increasing importance as main source of fashion information

• Links on Blog’s to ASOS – More traffic to ASOS site

• Interaction between the bloggers and the company Sponsored blog posts– Free samples for bloggers– Gift cards– Discounts– Paid blog reviews– Commission on items sold via the blog link

• Important to be visible in local media so people understand that they deliver there

• Have someone dedicated to monitor global and local fashion blogs to ensure positive messaging for ASOS

• http://youfeelinit.blogspot.com

• http://concoction.indiedays.com

• annijamariela.blogspot.com– not published yet, there

will be a TV program about the blog on one of the main channels

• http://nofashionvictims.indiedays.com

• http://mungolife.blogspot.com

Popular Fashion and Lifestyle Blogs which should be targeted by ASOS

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• ASOS currently not well ranked by Finnish web fashion searches

• 1) Paid marketing via search engines (per click or per search word)

• 2) Unpaid marketing– Ensure content and search word optimization– Via links from fashion and lifestyle blogs– Links of the designer’s web sites on ASOS.com

• Website in Finnish - higher ranking per Finnish searches

How will success into Finland be measured

• Success of marketing strategy will need to be monitored to ensure strategy on track

– Sales and deliveries into Finland– Increased market share relative to competitors– Growth of database of customers compared with now– Increased brand awareness on blogs, media and the population– Increased number of visits to website– Improved natural search position in search engines