How Zara use the 7P Marketing Mix to their business

Zara SA, stylized as ZARA, is a Spanish apparel retailer based in Arteixo in Galicia, Spain. The company specializes in fast fashion, and products include clothing, accessories, shoes, swimwear, beauty, and perfumes. It is the largest company in the Inditex group, the world's largest apparel retailer.

Zara is one of the most successful fashion retail brands in the world. With the concept of fast fashion, it was able to grab the attention of a broad spectrum of consumers. The Zara brand offers men and women’s clothing, children’s clothing (Zara Kids), shoes and accessories. The sub-brand Zara TRF offers trendier and sometimes edgier items to younger women and teenagers. 

So how does Zara uses marketing Mix to achieve their business objectives by using 7P Marketing Mix ? I'll write that down below ! 

• Product. 

The product includes the quality, its features, values, how frequently designs are changed etc. All these factors of the product are generally determined by the corporate objectives related to the product of a company. Zara, a globally reputed fast fashion brand which is best known as an affordable brand, aims to present its target customers with frequently updated fashion products. To achieve this objective, Zara introduces 12,000 new designs in 20 seasons in 12 months. This implies that the company provides multiple new designs multiple times in stores. Zara has been showing such an aggressive attitude towards products based on the corporate strategy to be people’s first choice of a fast fashion brand worldwide. However, such an aggressive attitude towards introducing new products has a negative impact on the environment, and this issue has led many critics to criticize Zara’s strategy.

On the contrary, Gucci, a competitor of Zara has moved in the opposite direction to Zara. Gucci has decided to reduce the number of styles it introduces to the market every year. The company has decided to divide the year into two seasons only instead of many to bring more positive impact on the designs and attributes it makes. The difference in product offerings between the two companies is embedded in their corporate business strategies. Zara is more inclined to increase the number of new styles. Thus, the company offers new designs frequently. In contrast, Gucci is more careful about the quality of its designs. Thus, they were conservative in introducing new styles and products to the market. 

• Price 

They reported that Zara reduced the pricing of products by 10 to 12%, which implies that the company targeted mass consumers who liked fast fashion at affordable prices. This matches with the corporate strategies of the brand to reach as many people as possible.

On the other hand, Gucci’s pricing strategy is different, and it is mainly determined by the overall corporate business strategy. The corporate strategy of Gucci is not to be the choice of the common people, rather the brand declares itself as a luxury brand. Thus, Gucci prices its products accordingly. and also they reported that Gucci priced its products 6 to 8 times higher compared to other fashion sellers, given that the quality of the products is similar. The report also explained that it happens mainly because of the reputation of the brand and its locations at expensive places.

•  Promotion

When it comes to promotions, Zara introduces itself as a fast fashion brand, thus, the company announces that it brings more than 12,000 new designs in every 12 months. Another evidence of Zara’s mass communication and target to mass consumers is its marketing campaigns in social media and locations in a wide range of places, including emerging and developing nations. All this evidence implies that Zara is truly inspired to be mass people’s fast fashion choice.

In contrast, Gucci shows a much more conservative attitude towards promotional and marketing campaigns. As part of the overall marketing strategies and corporate strategies, Gucci has established itself as a choice of luxury consumers. This is reflected in the promotional campaigns of the brand. It publishes advertisements in expensive magazines such as GQ Magazine, Vogue Magazine etc.

• Place 

Regarding Places, so Zara has about 2,264 physical stores in 96 markets on all the continents of the world. Moreover, the brand sells products in more than 202 markets worldwide through its online channel platform. The above evidence clearly implies that Zara has obvious strategies to reach a large number of customers worldwide, and accordingly, the brand has expanded its business in every corner of the world. To make its locations more attractive, the company has adopted innovative strategies to engage and attract more customers. They also revealed that Zara adopted Augmented Reality (AR) to help the customers view themselves without wearing the dress in stores. These new features attracted a large number of customers in the stores. The situation of COVID-19 has presented the world with new scenarios where people fear coming to stores. In such a situation, brands such as Zara should find alternative solutions to reduce costs and reach more customers.

In contrast, Gucci has only 487 stores, mainly in Europe and North America. The stores are generally located at the centre of cities in expensive locations. Thus, the brand aims to reach the richest people in the world through marketing and promoting high.

• People 

The evolution of digital platforms added a new form of artificial individuals involved making selling on online platforms. However, it is expected that Zara should make the online selling platform more engaging and active. Zara trains the workforce at the stores and at offices so that they can understand the intentions of the brand and make their plan accordingly. Gucci recruits and trains highly sensitive people to manage its sensitive customers in its luxury stores. Gucci is also active in its online selling platform.

• Process 

They reported that Zara’s so-far success can largely be attributable to its use of big data and an agile supply chain. The source also reported that Zara takes only 20 days to bring a product to stores from a sketch in just 20 days. And the brand can deliver major products to all international stores in the shortest possible time. Such agile management of the supply chain and prompt actions have enabled the brand to be a fast fashion company. In contrast, the supply chain of Gucci is not as responsive as that of Zara because Gucci has only two seasons in a year.

• Phyiscal Evidence 

Zara emphasizes enriching the physical evidence by delivering the brand communication message to the customers through packaging, and effective customer communication. As a result, the brand has been able to build a sustainable relationship with its target customers. Gucci is even more successful in delivering the brand message and attracting customers through engagement campaigns.