MKTG 211

Group Project

Matthew Clare, Seyeon Kim, Victoria Meng, Brian Ng, & Kalyxa Roman
J.Crew Brand
Research Strategy &
Overview and
Methodology Tactics
Problem

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 1.
Brand Overview

Let’s start with J.Crew’s history.

 Brand History
⬗ Founded in 1947 as a retailer for women’s,
men’s and children’s clothing, shoes, and
accessories1
⬗ Rose to prominence in the 1980s1
⬗ Built reputation as a preppy, iconic American
brand

1. Business Insider, March 2011

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 “
In the late 1980s, J.Crew
emerged as a collegiate
catalogue brand rooted in
New England preppy
culture.

”
— Brian Baskin, Business of Fashion

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 The Problem

15 Consecutive quarters of sales decline as of 2018Q21

▪ J.Crew is in disarray and on the edge of bankruptcy with ~$2B in debt

▫ On November 16, 2018, CEO James Brett was forced out after just 16 months
▫ Industry experts believe the company is doomed unless there is a complete turnaround2

▪ J.Crew has tried to introduce more aggressive styles, offer cheap

products, and pivot its brand identity which has confused customers and
failed to substantially improve business

1. The Wall Street Journal, August 2018

2. The Washington Post, June 2018
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 2.
Research
Methodology

Our findings.
1. Qualitative Research - Focus Group

● Engaged seven participants for 1 hour of discussion

● Explored two areas of interest
○ General shopping habits, especially for clothing
○ Perceptions of J. Crew

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1. Qualitative Research - Focus Group

1 Why they no longer shop at J. Crew

●
●
●
“I don’t associate myself as being preppy or conservative”
“Didn’t like the collar or quality of my shirts from J. Crew Factory”
“I wasn’t actively searching for J. Crew”

After browsing the J. Crew website → J. crew lacks consistent products / image
2 ●
●
●
“Confused as to what they are trying to sell. Random styles are placed next to each other”
“Way more colorful than I thought”
“Pretty formal and conservative” vs. “not preppy or classic as I thought”

Thoughts on J. Crew’s current strategy of lowering the price and quality

3 ●

●
“They could lose their reputation for exclusivity and quality which were core characteristics
of the brand”
“Could be helpful in the short-term, but could damage the brand in the long-term”
● “Might attract new customers to try the brand but might lose its core customers who care
about the J Crew brand.” → trade-off

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

● 60 respondents
● 2 categories of questions
○ General shopping habits
○ Specific to J. Crew
● Surveyed diverse group of people
○ Average age: 27
○ 70% Female

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

General Questions
Focus on what these consumers expect from clothing brands.

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

What do you view as most important when shopping for each of the following
clothing items?

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

What do you view as most important when shopping for each of the
following clothing items?

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

What characteristics do you admire in your favorite brands?

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

J.Crew-Specific
Questions
Focus on what these consumers expect from J.Crew.

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

Survey Results: Perceptual Map

Customers lack a cohesive image
of what J.Crew represents

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2. Quantitative Research - Survey

How much do you agree with the following statements about J.Crew?

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 Data Conclusions

Quantitative Research (Survey) Qualitative Research (Focus Group)

⬗ Category-based schema1 ⬗ Consumer Attitudes2
◇ Based on consumers schemas for various ◇ Mainly Adaptive: buy for special
categories of clothing, they look for specific occasions
qualities in each category ◇ Self-Expressive: fit into a persona
◇ J.Crew fits best into the classic, ⬗ J.Crew is still largely seen as an
professional apparel category all-American, high-quality, preppy brand, and
⬗ Brand schema1 is now confusing consumers by trying to
◇ J.Crew’s brand schema: preppy, classic, diversify into a cheaper, trend-focused brand.
quality, expensive

1. Lecture 8
2. Lecture 9
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 3.
Strategy & Tactics
 Strategic Overview
J.Crew should reinforce quality in its core brand and spin off a clearly separated premium
sub-brand, while personalizing the shopping experience using technological tools.

1. Establish upscale
sub-brand
2. Personalize
Redefining shopping experience
Quality
3. Reinforce brand
associations

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 Pillar 1: Establishing a Sub-Brand - “J.Crew Elite”

ELITE

▪ J.Crew’s current strategy has entailed manufacturing lower quality goods for its mainline and
slowly consolidating items with its lower quality “Mercantile” line
▪ We recommend dropping this strategy, which is diluting its brand image and angering
customers, and instead moving in the opposite direction
▪ Our research suggests people strongly associate J.Crew with quality - in line with this schema,
J.Crew should move upmarket to super-premium clothing offerings with J.Crew Elite

1. Lecture 8 21
 Pillar 1: The Value of a Sub-Brand

Sub-branding is effective when seeking differentiation while

maintaining a strong association with parent brand1

▪ A sub-brand like J.Crew Elite would leverage

customers’ schemas of quality far more effectively than
current strategy of low quality fast fashion
▪ Additionally, this new sub-brand would serve to bolster
and restore the image of the core J.Crew brand
▫ May allow core brand to reach new customer
segments

1. Lecture 8 22
 Pillar 2: Personalizing the Shopping Experience

Of consumers said that they are more likely to buy

80% from brands with personalized experiences1

▪ Consumers have finite cognitive resources but complex attitudes about

desired attributes for different categories of clothing
▪ By using consumer data to personalize the online shopping experience, we
can increase consumer motivation to purchase with more personally
relevant triggers and tools that appeal to both satisficers and optimizers

1. Epsilon Press Room, January 9, 2018 23

 Pillar 2: Personalizing the Shopping Experience

Tactic Purpose

Personalized ads that promote To predict what type of clothing consumers are looking for
products based on predicted (e.g. professional clothing, formalwear) and promote those
consumer use cases personally relevant products to increase motivation

Product compare tool that To allow consumers to compare similar items (e.g. blazers with
allows for algorithm to different fabrics and colors), increasing awareness for J.Crew
recommend similar items Elite and appealing to satisficers & maximizers

Personal online stylist to help To make customers feel they are receiving personalized
select items and answer attention from an expert they trust and increase the ease and
questions confidence of purchase

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 Pillar 3: Reinforce Brand Associations
Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory
Survey Results: J.Crew Brand Associations
⬗ Customer Dissatisfaction:
Expectations > Actual Performance

Problem Areas
⬗ Expectation of Clothing Quality
⬗ Traditional J.Crew Associations
◇ Case Study: New Coke,
Consumers own the brand

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 Pillar 3: Reinforce Brand Associations
Janakiraman, Meyer & Morales (2006) Study - The Spillover Effect:
⬗ Unexpected changes in product quality generate consumer anger towards retailers
⬗ Spillover effect decreases demand for other products associated with the brand
⬗ Can trigger a switch of brands and thus loss of a customer for life

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 Pillar 3: Reinforce Brand Associations
Implementation:
⬗ Ad campaign promoting sense of belonging with
traditional J.Crew associations
◇ Identity as mode for persuasion in fashion
advertising (Philips & McQuarrie 2010)
◇ Partner with appropriate celebrity to reinforce
quality associations and introduce J.Crew Elite
◇ Celebrity-audience and celebrity-product fit
⬗ Refine product design under core brand to more
consistently align with classic styling

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Thanks!
Any questions?

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Works Cited

⬗ https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-crew-snaps-15-quarter-sales-slump-1535490824
⬗ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/06/21/rearranging-deck-c
hairs-on-the-titanic-j-crew-mired-in-debt-is-trying-to-turn-around-its-business/?utm
_term=.4c8ecb719ff8
⬗ https://us.epsilon.com/pressroom/new-epsilon-research-indicates-80-of-consumers-
are-more-likely-to-make-a-purchase-when-brands-offer-personalized-experiences
⬗ https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/33/3/361/1891952?searchresult=1
⬗ https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/37/3/368/1826519?searchresult=1#28027678
⬗ https://www.businessinsider.com/the-story-of-how-jcrew-became-the-3-billion-doll
ar-company-everyone-was-fighting-over-2011-3
⬗ https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/professional/the-challenging-emotional
-remaking-of-j-crew

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