Breaking the Irish Market

Ruthy85

Hi,

I work for a work wear company that has only been a year in Ireland. The brand aims at the younger generation(18-35) with lower waited trousers, cool colours, casual/stylish/comfortable yet functional...The product is outstanding (I don't just say that because I work here:D) and we defiantly believe there is a market for it here in the emerald isle.....We have some large competitors that have successfully dominated the market for over ten years...We have been dripping our way slowly into the market with 50 retailers stocking our product...We have done ten newspaper articles and created a web site over the year our product has been on the market to try and develop the brand further...I am now wondering whether this is the way to go....Although we obviously have a budget, would the big bang approach me more suited? Should we continue to slowly tread our way in or should we just bombard the public with billboards, radio and newspaper adverts? Has anyone in the brand development sector got any advice on the right approach? Any words of wisdom would be highly appreciated

TutuKaka

Hi Ruthy,
you say its a work wear company. Are you talking about retail or construction type clothes?

I don't know if billboards would be your best bet as they are aimed at a mass market whereas you might be better focusing your efforts at industry specific publications.

Ruthy85

We are aiming at both actually...We have advertised in a lot of trade mags but at the end of the day we are looking to introduce the brand to both suppliers and consumers...its a tough one

growler

doesn't seem to be a great deal of sense in spending on a consumer campaign if your products are only in 50 shops, you need more stockists and you're going to have to offer them better margins and incentives to give you shelf space + you should back this up with some good point of sale materials.

I guess you'll have done some detailed competitor analysis and have made a decision on how to best compete with them in each market?

I'll admit i'm a bit uncertain what casual stylish workwear actually is

but you need to start being stocked in more places so customers can buy your products, get retailer support in stocking your products and educating them as to your USPs and incentivising them to sell / push your brand to customers, give them good POS material so that customers can understand what you offer and be tempted away from their usual brands, i'd alos look for some cheap PR options in some targetted press (for whoever is the market for casual workwear) ie. a competition to win $$$ worth of your gear etc

Ruthy85

Thanks Growler...We actually just finished a promotion that was exactly like that! lol
Its a bit of a catch 22...People are reluctant to give us shop space as an unheard of brand...(though they are the market leader in denmark) We have quite a few reps on the road trying to plug the product and offer loads of POS material....The stockiest we currently have are selling the brand quite well and we are getting contestant and steady re-orders.
But competing with well-known brands such as snickers we have to stay ahead of the game...
Thanks for your advice...What they teach you in college and actually being in the game are two very different things lol

PS Casual work wear (as we call it) is a mix of work wear and the high street you could say

yellow

Hey Ruthy just sent you a PM!!