Communicating with your target audience is key. You must cater to your audience's needs in order for them to have an interest in your products. You should aim to have a good relationship with your customers and be interactive.
I have chosen two retailers to compare the ways that they communicate with their customers and audience.
Ted Baker is my first choice as it is a personal favorite of mine. Many people do not know that Ted Baker do not advertise their brand. This is why you would not have seen an advertisment on the television for Ted Baker. Ted believes that the brand should be discovered by word-of-mouth and has firmly stuck by that since starting in 1988.
To compare to Ted Baker I have chosen River Island. They have built up a social media with an audience larger than the population of Uruguay which is pretty impressive. River Island primarily use Twitter to promote their Style Insider blog content and this gets updated about five times a week. They also include shoppable content to make it easier for people to buy their products. They often publicly engage with magazines, fans, bloggers, and celebrity advocates to promote the brand.
Emma Goble, Social Media & Marketing Editor at River Island - “Social media is a backbone of our marketing as it’s so widely used among our 18-25 year old target demographic. Everything that happens in marketing, press, and eCommerce will filter through the social team at some point."
“He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.” - Lao Tzu
Ted Baker - "Our mission is to build a thriving company through the creation of a leading designer brand, by conducting ourselves in an efficient and courteous manner and by maintaining Ted's high standards and integrity"
River Island - "We aim to produce fashionable clothing for men and women on a concious budget. Our mission statement is that we are driven to provide the hottest new looks for our customers."
So how does each retailer communicate with their customers?
Well, we already know that Ted Baker do not advertise and they are strict on that rule, however they do advertise through social media.
River island is quite different, they advertise through social media, online and on television to gain the most customers that they possibly can.
Both retailers use celebrity indorsement to promote their brands and they both have popular social media accounts with over 1 million followers on each account.
The differences are that Ted Baker do not advertise their brand whereas River Island do. River Island is a high street shop however Ted Baker is more high end yet still affordable.
To Sum up, River Island communicate with their target audience more than Ted Baker do, however they both achieve a similar net worth/income.
Communication Is Key
The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said