The fashion industry is beginning to understand the need to move strategically towards sustainability. Yet there appears at present little coordination between global fashion brands and their supply chains to pursue strategic sustainable development and ensure the long term resilience of their business. We asked: What does a fashion brand need to know about its first tier suppliers in China in order to form a strategy towards sustainability? We utilised a scientific, principle-based definition of sustainability and framework to identify the underlying challenges faced by two Chinese garment factories in moving strategically towards sustainability. The challenges enabled us to inform three strategic guidelines that a fashion brand should consider when working with its supply chain towards sustainability. Research draws on literature, interviews among industry experts, interviews with a major fashion brand, and on-site workshops with two of its first-tier garment factories in China. The results of our research indicate: 1) the specific challenges factories face are commonly associated with internal corporate culture, the fashion brand’s directives, and the regulatory environment in China; 2) the fashion brand should aim to broaden its purchasing priorities, generate increased collaboration with suppliers and build awareness towards empowerment and ownership of sustainability and associated strategies and actions.

There are a lot of different business strategies for any company. However, in the fashion industry, the best way to become successful is to develop the brand using special branding strategies. Hence, a brand is the main weapon for fashion companies, which helps to launch international market and to create loyal customers around the world. Nowadays, due to the difficult current political situations and the collapse of oil and the dollar a lot of companies in different industries have to change their business strategies. It is especially true for fashion companies, because they depend on consumers ' income and their purchasing power. In the case of the fashion industry, branding strategy development can be more effective, than just business strategy. Hence, this thesis discusses the following problem: What branding strategy should Russian and Swedish fashion companies choose in order to build a strong brand and enter the international market.  The purpose of this thesis is to analyze various branding strategies of Russian and Swedish fashion companies during the process of entering foreign markets. At the end of this thesis, practical contribution in their process of international branding strategy creation will be discussed. In order to answer research questions more broadly and accurately, the mixed research method, using quantitive and qualitative study through interviews and survey was chosen. Semi-structured interviews were made with the CEO and brand managers of Russian and Swedish fashion companies. Moreover, the survey was made with two different questionnaires: for Russian and for Swedish customers. In the case of qualitative research, the author found that fashion companies from Russia and Sweden have got not just some features and differences, but also common aspects. The primary data from interviews allowed the author to understand the specifics of brand management in the fashion industry. It was found, that there are some useful aspects in Swedish strategies, which can be used by Russian companies to develop their brands on the international market. In the case of quantitative research, preferences of consumers from Russia and Sweden were analyzed and also some features were identified. Survey results provided the author with a common understanding about purchase habits, attitudes and perceptions to fashion brands. According to these, some hypothesizes, which are formulated in the first part of the thesis, have been proven or disproven. It was found, that preferences of Russian and Swedish people are pretty the same, however Russian customers do not like to risk with new brands and prefer well-known and trusted brands while Swedish customers are open for any brand, which can satisfy their tastes.

Submitted by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-08T11:46:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FILIEP DE OLIVEIRA COSTA.pdf: 34744343 bytes, checksum: 71634fee97ac357a57fe6a65745efe6e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-08T11:47:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FILIEP DE OLIVEIRA COSTA.pdf: 34744343 bytes, checksum: 71634fee97ac357a57fe6a65745efe6e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Cristina Ropero (ana@espm.br) on 2017-11-10T12:15:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FILIEP DE OLIVEIRA COSTA.pdf: 34744343 bytes, checksum: 71634fee97ac357a57fe6a65745efe6e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-10T12:15:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FILIEP DE OLIVEIRA COSTA.pdf: 34744343 bytes, checksum: 71634fee97ac357a57fe6a65745efe6e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-27 / This research has as its theme the fashion shows as communicational ambiences, consumption of memories, experiences and also spaces of performances. The theoretical object is related to the uses of places of memories of the city of São Paulo as a way of intensifying the communicative strategies for the consumption of the institutional discourse of the brand that circulates in each parade. The empirical objects are the Ellus brand parade, namely: Winter 2008, Summer 2012, Winter 2013, Winter 2014 and Winter 2016. The question that guided the research presupposes that fashion shows are already consecrated advertising strategies as a way of publicizing brand. But for this research these parades also behave as a process that communicates the city and its places of memory (spaces and characters) through the performance that the parade itself performs. We seek to investigate whether the parades so understood convert the memories into a strategy for the symbolic consumption of Ellus' institutional discourse, which translates as sophisticated, urban and transgressive. The general objective is to identify and analyze how Ellus brand fashion shows that use the city and its memories (spaces and characters) communicate and convert memory into a strategy for the symbolic consumption of the brand's institutional discourse. The specific objectives are: to recognize the strategies of the production of the symbolic consumption of the values ​​enunciated in the narrative of the advertising brand Ellus by means of the analysis of the selected parades (Winter 2008, Summer 2012, Winter 2013, Winter 2014, Winter 2016); to identify the places of memory of the city of São Paulo, its characters and the game that is established between the representations of memory and its characters presented in the selected parades; to analyze the parade as performance (gesture, body, soundtrack and the circumstances of its accomplishment, like time and space). The theoretical reference includes authors such as Maria Aparecida Baccega, Everardo Rocha, Don Slater, Ana Paula de Miranda, Mary Douglas, Baron Isherwood, Claudia Pereira, Andreas Huyssen, Michel Pollak, Pierre Nora, Monica Nunes, Iuri Lotman, Paul Zumthor, among others contribute to the discussions. As methodological procedures are carried out bibliographical research in authors of the semiotics of culture, memory, consumption and fashion, and documentary research in videos of the parades and institutional of Ellus and graphic pieces of advertising campaigns of the brand. In addition, we refer in speeches of journalists specialized in fashion news, who were relevant allied to some theoretical aspects. The research corpus includes the analysis of photographic images and frames of the parades (urban spaces, clothes, gestures, soundtracks, temporal marking and construction of the elements that mark the spaces of the parades like scenography, lighting). The results indicate that there are strategies to provide the symbolic consumption of the memories of the locations of the parades in a way that will result in the loyalty of brand clients and symbolic consumers of the repositioned memories not only of the city of São Paulo but also of large urban spaces according to the urban, transgressive and sophisticated institutional discourse of Ellus. / Esta pesquisa tem como tema os desfiles de moda como ambiências comunicacionais, de consumo de memórias, de experiências e também de espaços de performances. O objeto teórico é relativo aos usos de lugares de memórias da cidade de São Paulo como forma de intensificar as estratégias comunicativas para o consumo do discurso institucional da marca que circula em cada desfile. Os objetos empíricos são o desfile da marca Ellus, a saber: Inverno 2008, Verão 2012, Inverno 2013, Inverno 2014 e Inverno 2016. A questão que norteou a pesquisa pressupõe que os desfiles de moda são estratégias publicitárias já consagradas como forma de divulgação de marca. Mas, para esta pesquisa estes desfiles também se comportam como um processo que comunica a cidade e seus lugares de memória (os espaços e os personagens) por meio da performance que o próprio desfile realiza. Buscamos investigar se os desfiles assim compreendidos convertem as memórias em estratégia para o consumo simbólico do discurso institucional da Ellus, que se traduz como sofisticada, urbana e transgressora. O objetivo geral é identificar e analisar de que forma os desfiles de moda da marca Ellus que utilizam a cidade e suas memórias (os espaços e os personagens) comunicam e convertem a memória em estratégia para o consumo simbólico do discurso institucional da marca. Os objetivos específicos são: reconhecer as estratégias da produção do consumo simbólico dos valores enunciados na narrativa da marca publicitária Ellus por meio da análise dos desfiles selecionados (Inverno 2008, Verão 2012, Inverno 2013, Inverno 2014, Inverno 2016); identificar os lugares de memória da cidade de São Paulo, seus personagens e o jogo que se estabelece entre as representações da memória e seus personagens apresentados nos desfiles selecionados; analisar o desfile como performance (gesto, corpo, trilha sonora e as circunstâncias de sua realização, como o tempo e o espaço). O referencial teórico inclui autores como Maria Aparecida Baccega, Everardo Rocha, Don Slater, Ana Paula de Miranda, Mary Douglas, Baron Isherwood, Cláudia Pereira, Andreas Huyssen, Michel Pollak, Pierre Nora, Mônica Nunes, Iuri Lotman, Paul Zumthor, entre outros que contribuem para as discussões. Como procedimentos metodológicos são realizadas pesquisas bibliográficas em autores da semiótica da cultura, memória, consumo e moda, e pesquisa documental em vídeos dos desfiles e institucional da Ellus e peças gráficas de campanhas publicitárias da marca. Além disso, nos referenciamos em falas de jornalistas especializados em notícias de moda, que foram relevantes aliadas a alguns aspectos teóricos. O corpus da pesquisa inclui a análise a partir de imagens fotográficas e frames dos desfiles (espaços urbanos, roupas, gestos, trilhas sonoras, marcação temporal e construção dos elementos que marcam os espaços dos desfiles como cenografia, iluminação). Os resultados indicam que há estratégias para proporcionar o consumo simbólico das memórias das locações dos desfiles de forma que resultem na fidelização dos clientes da marca e consumidores simbólicos das memórias ressignificadas não apenas da cidade de São Paulo, como também de grandes espaços urbanos de acordo com o discurso institucional de urbana, transgressora e sofisticada da Ellus.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-07-11T12:45:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Vera Lucia da Silva Azeredo Pereira Barretto.pdf: 326063700 bytes, checksum: 735e663ee454115277d7e27f66ae8b79 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-11T12:45:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vera Lucia da Silva Azeredo Pereira Barretto.pdf: 326063700 bytes, checksum: 735e663ee454115277d7e27f66ae8b79 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-28 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / This research project sets out to investigate how brands as addressors in the sports fashion universe organize their discourses so as to exhibit new ways of life in stores. In situ observation is the basis for an endeavor to understand the discursive mechanisms — enunciatory, thematic, figurative and plastic — deployed to foster belief in these enunciations as verdictive, so that credibility leads to their being taken up as life aspirations. Discursive strategies and types of interaction are mapped, and these constructions are then systematized in a typology comprising types of interactions and types of store and consumer. The choice of stores in the sportswear segment is motivated by the action of these addressors, which transcend the role of proposing forms of dress to present contemporary ways of urban life, in a move aligned with the growing importance of everyday physical activity for people who live in São Paulo. Observation leads to a corpus consisting of four stores — Track&Field, Adidas, Nike and Asics — which together form the sports quadrilateral of Rua Oscar Freire, São Paulo’s emblematic upmarket shopping street. The theoretical and methodological foundations range from the semiotics of Greimas, particularly as developed in Landowski’s sociosemiotics, highlighting sensitivity, visibility, public versus private, and the role of interactions in the apprehension and construction of meaning; to Oliveira’s developments regarding enunciations in discursive interactions, meaning apprehended in action, esthesia, and syncretism; and the semiotic contributions to marketing, brand management and consumer behavior studies of Floch, Pezzini, Cervelli, Semprini, Ceriani, and Ciaco. The analysis of store plasticity follows research on window displays by Oliveira and Demetresco. The investigation shows that the discourses of sports brands across all communication channels evidence a certain distancing from the concept of sports linked solely to performance and a tendency to highlight values closer to people’s everyday lives such as well-being, health, fashion, and beauty. Brands in this segment enunciate ways of living that reiterate these values as lifestyles, and when these lifestyles are displayed in the valuable space of a store on an iconic street like Rua Oscar Freire they acquire prescriptive force, leading individuals to believe in the need to adopt and appropriate this axiology as essential to their participation in contemporary urban life. The study also aims to link semiotics to brand management and visual merchandising, offering a rigorous scientific framework for brand communication strategies / Esta pesquisa investiga como os destinadores marcas, no universo de moda esportiva, organizam seus discursos de maneira a expor nas lojas novos modos de viver a vida. A partir da observação in loco, busca-se compreender quais são os mecanismos discursivos empregados — enunciativos, temáticos, figurativos e plásticos — para fazer crer nesses enunciados como veridictórios, de modo que, credíveis, passam a ser seguidos como lema de vida. Mapeadas as estratégias discursivas e os tipos de interação, essas construções são sistematizadas numa tipologia tanto dos tipos de interações, quanto dos tipos de lojas e de consumidores. A escolha por lojas do segmento de sportswear é motivada pela ação desses destinadores, que ultrapassa o papel de propor modos de vestir e passa a apresentar modos de viver a vida urbana na contemporaneidade, movimento alinhado à crescente importância da atividade física no cotidiano, recortado no estudo do paulistano. A observação levou a um corpus constituído pelas lojas: Track&Field, Adidas, Nike e Asics, que juntas formam o quadrilátero esportivo da Oscar Freire, rua emblemática do consumo paulistano. A fundamentação teórica e metodológica é da semiótica de Greimas, particularmente seu desenvolvimento na sociossemiótica de Landowski, com aprofundamentos do sensível, visibilidade, público e privado e ao papel das interações na apreensão e construção do sentido; as elaborações de Oliveira acerca da enunciação nas interações discursivas, do sentido apreendido em ato, da estesia e do sincretismo; as contribuições semióticas ao marketing, à gestão de marcas e ao consumo de Floch; Pezzini; Cervelli; Semprini; Ceriani e Ciaco. A análise da plasticidade das lojas seguirá estudos sobre vitrinas de Oliveira e Demetresco. A investigação apontou que os discursos das marcas de moda esportiva, nas diversas mídias, evidenciam um certo afastamento do conceito do esporte ligado apenas à performance e passam a dar visibilidade a valores de bem-estar, saúde, moda e esteticidade aproximando-se do cotidiano dos indivíduos. As marcas desse segmento enunciam modos de viver de maneira a reiterar esses valores como estilos de vida que, ao serem apresentados no espaço valorizado de uma loja de rua icônica, ganham força de prescrição, levando o indivíduo a acreditar na necessidade de adoção e apropriação dessa axiologia como aspecto essencial para sua inserção na vida da urbe contemporânea. Esse estudo promoveu uma aproximação entre semiótica, gestão de marcas e visual merchandising, oferecendo um arcabouço científico rigoroso às estratégias comunicacionais das marcas

The masters' project is focused on the issue of working conditions in the field of graphic design and its critique. I was searching for ways how to work (economically) sustainable and how not to be dependent only on work for clients. I was developing my own projects to diversify the way I work.

The diploma thesis concerns with the specifics of fashion industry and marketing of fashion brands, with a closer focus and attention on a Spanish clothing brand Zara.The purpose of this work is to offer the reader an overview of marketing methods and tools used by fashion brands to reach, get and keep customers and to specify the actual forms of marketing communication used by the renowned Zara. The goal of the thesis is to find out the awareness of these marketing tools among Czech customers, what they think of the brand itself and then provide suggestions to improve its existing image. The first part gives an overview of available theory on fashion industry and marketing, and it describes and characterises the marketing communication of Zara. The second part is based on own marketing research with the purpose of defining the activity of the brand in Czech environment and unveiling the marketing goals of Zara in the Czech Republic. The aim is to find out the impact of the brand on Czech consumers and whether its idea of own positioning corresponds with the outcome of the consumer reasearch.