Segmenting and Targeting Markets

It's a fact that those in marketing that to create a product, one must have a specific target market in mind. Guess advertising, public relations and marketing strategy is designed to promote a consistent high impact image which endures regardless of changing consumer trends. While the advertising promotes products, the primary emphasis is on brand image. Its core customer is a style-conscious consumer primarily between the ages of 20 and 35. The company also appeals to customers outside this group through specialty product lines that include MARCIANO, a fashion line targeted to women and men, and GUESS Kids, targeted to boys and girls ages 6 to 12. Guess is focusing on elevating its brand image through in-store events and social media marketing. In-store events such as the summer festival are aimed at attracting more customers with distinct product offerings. Guess is launching a music festival capsule collection for this summer, which includes unique bohemian style handcrafted vintage apparel and accessories. On the social media front, Guess has made significant strides with its Facebook fan following increasing from 1 million in 2012 to 4.6 million presently. Social media marketing can be very helpful in reaching out to a large audience with relatively small investment. Segments The company’s businesses are grouped into five segments: North American Retail, Europe, Asia, North American Wholesale and Licensing. North American Retail Segment This segment includes the company’s retail and e-commerce operations in North America and its retail operations in Central and South America. The company sells its products through a network of directly operated retail and factory outlet stores in North America and through its on-line stores.

Developing and Managing Products

Guess Inc., uses Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines to prepare the report. The GRI is an international organization developed with representatives from business, environmental, and human rights communities. The Guidelines cover environmental impacts, labor practices, human rights, product responsibility, and community impacts, providing a flexible reporting system that allows the omission. Guess is a brand that offers a variety of products presented with a variety of new-product strategy. The brand has been renovating the fall and even spring line and creating products for each kind of person. Guess always presents new products to the market, by this way the store always looks fresh with new products introduction. Almost every month the brand put out new products which is consider the biggest part of the strategy. The brand innovates their products, for this reason the product can obtain an effective life cycle giving profit to the company. A new product must be presented to the market with a excellent marketing strategy with a clear target market and good quality.        

Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing

Guess a nonprofit organization Founded in 1994 called GUESS Foundation supports a wide range of causes whose messages promotes peace, tolerance, acceptance and equality. In order to support this cause Guess promotes denim day which is a global movement that protests violence and raises awareness of misconceptions that surround sexual assault. Peace over violence is a Los Angeles-based non profit organization. It has led the Denim Day movement in North American for the past 15 years.

 Peace Over Violence, (formerly LACAAW), established in 1971 by pioneering feminist activists, is a sexual and domestic violence, stalking, child abuse and youth violence prevention center headquartered in Los Angeles and dedicated to building healthy relationships, families and communities free from sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence. One of the first agencies of its kind in the country, POV has been committed to social service, social change and social justice for 41 years. POV’s innovative programs are comprehensive and include Emergency, Intervention, Prevention, Education and Advocacy services. In honor of Denim Day 2014, GUESS?, Inc. and the GUESS Foundation have made a combined donation of $100,000 to benefit Peace Over Violence in its mission to end sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence.

Product Concepts

Guess Inc. has introduced different products like active wear, handbag, jewelry, swimwear, watches, footwear and so on. The jeans come in different colors, styles, and sizes. These jeans are separately made for both ladies and gents and they have different features respectively as well. Guess jeans brands are easily available in the market and they are of great use and they are made up of pure leather and other material as well, which gives them a proper look which adds more up to the charm of the jeans itself. Guess jeans for girls are made especially for girls they are feminine and trendy. There are also the guess jeans plus size as well this shows that guess reaches a wide variety of consumers. The guess vintage jeans are elegant also the jeans have classic features and along with that it has high quality maintenance is extremely comfortable. Guess is well known name as far as jeans making is concerned. The production of these jeans is for many years now, and they have expanded and grown so much producing spectacular jeans and have received tremendous amount of fame and name all over the world. As for packaging, Guess  designs new shopping bags each season to catch potential customers. Their distributors and international licenses operate 804 stores outside the U.S. and Canada. Guess has grown to become a $2.6 billion behemoth, with more than 1,600 stores worldwide as of 2014.

Personal Selling and Sales Management

Guess among other companies, uses personal selling to persuade a potential customer to purchase its products. This face to face interaction has helped all of us find, and persuaded us to buy a product.  If you were to visit the Guess store, and you were looking to buy lets say a purse, someone that's working that floor would come over to help you pick out and buy purse that best matches your style and they may also recommend accessories  that goes along with it. Guess sales clerk are well trained in encouraging sales, from having the right attitude, the perfect appearance and the specialized knowledge of all Guess product of the season. This year I went to Guess to buy a purse for light everyday use like to run errands and the sales clerk gave me advice on which purse based off my style. I was able to evaluate each purse that was likely to meet my needs. The employee was warm and able to answer any questions I had for each purse and the price as well I took that into consideration. My whole interactive experience at Guess was very enjoyable and informative. This showed me that Guess has promotional mix in personal selling has helped the company not only increase its sales but also boost the potential of developing a long term relationship with their consumers.

Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

CEO and Co-Founder Paul Marciano major goal is the responsibility for the GUESS? brand image and creative vision. All worldwide advertising and promotional material is controlled from the advertising department based in Los Angeles. GUESS Jeans, GUESS U.S.A. and GUESS?, Inc. images have been showcased globally in dozens of major publications as well as in outdoor and broadcast media. Guess ads are known to have focused advertisement placement in national and international contemporary fashion/beauty, lifestyle, and celebrity magazines including Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Elle, W and Vogue. Every company has there own way of selling there product but Guess their ads are usually sexy and racy but it works because it draws many people attention. This is the case  because Guess goes for attention grabbing and their ads usually tell a story without taking to much time from the person looking. By retaining control over Guess advertising programs, they are able to maintain the integrity of their brands while realizing substantial cost savings compared to outside agencies.  Guess advertising, public relations and marketing strategy is designed to promote a consistent high impact image which endures regardless of changing consumer trends. Other ways Guess stays relevant is by taking risks with there new line for the season during fashion week.
Guess signature colors are black and white print advertisements, as well as color print advertisements, have garnered prestigious awards, including Clio, Belding and Mobius awards for creativity and excellence. These awards are generally given based on the judgment of prominent members of the advertising industry. This brand has maintained a high degree of consistency in our advertisements, using similar themes and images. They have lines of   communications with customers throughout their websites such as (www.guess.com, www.guessbymarciano.com, www.marciano.com, www.gbyguess.com, www.guessbymarciano.it, www.guess.ca, www.guessbymarciano.ca and www.shopmarciano.ca). These global media enable us to provide timely information in an entertaining fashion to consumers about our history, products and store locations, and allow us to receive and respond directly to customer feedback.

Marketing Channels and Retailing

Guess INC CEO Paul Marciano one of the Marciano brothers and founder in1981. All for brothers at on point had equal ownership to the company years ago but Chairman of the Board Maurice Marciano owns the majority of  shares in the company today. There is approximately 1908 Guess stores globally. As of January 28, 2012, it had e-commerce available to 26 countries, and in 6 languages around the world. The Company and its network of licensee partners sell its products around the world primarily through six different store concepts, namely its flagship GUESS? retail stores, its GUESS? factory outlet stores, its GUESS by MARCIANO stores, its G by GUESS stores, its GUESS? Accessories stores and its GUESS? Kids stores. The Company also has a small number of footwear, Gc watch and underwear concept stores. The company also owns the line Marciano and is not a franchise business. GUESS has taken an aggressive approach at combining those two channels of in store and online shopping over the past few years to revitalize the shopping experience. Although the traditional ways of shopping are always still available, customers are now presented with alternatives to obtain the desired product. Customers can browse the GUESS website for any item, receive real-time inventory at the closest location to them and put it on hold to pickup within 24 hours. For customers who are picking up an item on hold or shopping in any one of its North America locations, GUESS employees are trained to be attentive to customers’ needs and help them build one item into an entire look. If the store does not have a customer’s size in stock, an employee can now place the order and have the product shipped directly to the customer’s home free of charge. The option to ship an item to the customer from a store was the last Omni-channel segment added during the third quarter last year.