Brand Audit Report:

Ralph Lauren Corporation

Amit Patel

INB 380: Global Brand Management

Spring 2015

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Table of Contents

1. Background Information............................................................................................................4

1.1. The Brand……………………………………………………..………………………….4

1.2. Corporate Structure……………………………………………………………………….4

1.3. Key Figures……………………………………………………………….........................5

1.4. Industry Analysis………………………………………………………………................5

2. Consumer Analysis………………………………………………………………....................5

2.1. Target Markets and Segmentation………………………………………………………..5

3. Brand Inventory……………………………………………………………….........................6

3.1. Brand Elements………………………………………………………………...................6

3.1.1. Brand Name……………………………………………………………………...…6

3.1.2. Symbols……………………………………………………………….....................6

3.1.3. Retail Concept……………………………………………………………………...7

3.2. Current Marketing Mix…………………………………………………………………...7

3.2.1. Product……………………………………………………………….......................7

3.2.2. Pricing……………………………………………………………….......................8

3.2.3. Place (Distribution)………………………………………………………………...8

3.2.4. Promotion………………………………………………………………..................8

3.3. Points of Parity and Points of Differences……………………………………................10

3.4. Brand Strategies………………………………………………………………................10

3.5. Product Portfolio Analysis………………………………………………………............11

3.6. Competitor Analysis…………………………………………………………………….12

4. Brand Exploratory………………………………………………………………....................12

4.1. Brand Awareness and Brand Image…………………………………………………….12

4.2. Brand Positioning..……………………………………………………………………...14

5. Brand Equity Analysis……………………………………………………………………….15

5.1. Ralph Lauren Corporation’s Brand Equity………………………………………….......15

5.1.1. Brand Awareness………………………………………………………………….15

5.1.2. Brand Image…………………………………………………………………...….17

6. Strategic Brand Management Recommendations……………………………………………20

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6.1. Expanding International Presence………………………………………………….…...20

6.2. Decreasing Amount of Line Extensions………………………………………………...21

7. Supplemental Material…………………………………………………………………….…22

7.1. Appendix I: Designer Brand Awareness Survey………………………………..………22

7.2. References……………………………………………………………………………….24

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1. Background Information1.1. The Brand

Ralph Lauren Corporation is a brand that sells apparel, accessories, fragrances, and home

furnishings worldwide. In 1967, Ralph Lauren, an American designer, founded the company,

Polo Ralph Lauren. Polo Ralph Lauren is the corporation’s flagship brand. The Corporation also

manages several other brands including Ralph Lauren Black Label, Ralph Lauren Purple Label,

Ralph Lauren Golf, and many more. The Company went international in 1981. By 2007, Ralph

Lauren had over 35 boutiques in the United States and other countries (Business of Fashion,

2015). The Company’s products are sold in over 11,000 department stores, such as Macy’s and

Bloomingdale’s, and has over 380 retail stores in the United States and internationally (Reuters,

2015). Additionally, Ralph Lauren Corporation has opened restaurants in New York, Paris, and

Chicago.

Strengths Weaknesses

Ralph Lauren sponsors major sporting events, such as Wimbledon, and professional golfers, such as Luke Donald

Products are offered globally Brand is highly recognizable

Ralph Lauren Corporation does not have a slogan.

Ralph Lauren barely advertises its products

Opportunities Threats

Building more stores internationally, and selling products in more countries such as developing countries

Creating a new product line to interest and attract customers

Products are not sold in China nor India Exchange rates can negatively impact

sales Counterfeiting of Ralph Lauren

productsFigure I: Ralph Lauren Corporation SWOT Analysis

1.2. Corporate Structure

The corporate officers of the company include Ralph Lauren (chairman and Chief

Executive Officer), Jackwyn L. Nemerov (president and Chief Operating Officer), Christopher

H. Peterson (Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and Chief Financial

Officer), Valérie Hermann (President, Luxury Collections), and Mitchell A. Kosh (Executive

Vice President, Human Resources).

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1.3. Key Figures

Ralph Lauren Corporation is headquartered in New York, New York. In 2014, Statista had

reported that 23,000 employees worldwide work for Ralph Lauren Corporation (Statista, 2014).

In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014, net revenues increased 14% to $1.9 billion, which was

caused by double-digit growth in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and beat financial analysts

predictions. Ralph Lauren, chairman and CEO, has stated that fiscal year 2014 was a year of

achievements, which include “the establishment of a new global leadership structure, creating

greater clarity around our global store development efforts and innovating with new products.”

Jackwn Nemerov has reflected on the fourth quarter results by stating “Our strong sales growth

in the fourth quarter and full year Fiscal 2014 periods is a clear demonstration of the tremendous

appeal of the Ralph Lauren brand and the diversity of our operating model across channels,

regions and merchandise categories”.

1.4. Industry Analysis

Consumer spending on luxury goods has been on a downward trend since 2011, but has

been on upward trend since October 2014. Growth in global luxury goods sales will stabilize at

around 5% at constant exchange rates, with the United States and Japan being the biggest

drivers. Bain Capital predicted that the total revenue from the personal luxury goods industry

should be about $282.7 billion (Wendlandt, 2014). Political instability, such as protests in Hong

Kong, and currency issues has plagued the luxury goods sector. The recent decline in oil prices

may encourage consumers to consume more luxury goods. (Mallevay, 2015)

2. Consumer Analysis2.1. Target Markets and Segmentation

Ralph Lauren is a highly recognizable designer brand throughout the world. Currently,

66% of its sales come from the United States, while 20% of its sales come from Europe (CSI

Marketing, 2014). The main target market of Ralph Lauren is a middle-class to upper-class

consumer of any age. Celebrities, such as David Beckham and Channing Tatum, are known to

wear Ralph Lauren Black Label tuxedos. The Company offers apparel, accessories, and

fragrances for men, women, and children, as well as offering home furnishings. Ralph Lauren

apparel exemplifies luxury and timeless designs. By offering Ralph Lauren’s products only

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through retail and department stores, it maintains the exclusive image of the brand. Ralph Lauren

competes against other designer brands such as Lacoste, Vineyard Vines, and Brooks Brothers.

3. Brand Inventory3.1. Brand Elements

3.1.1. Brand Name

Ralph Lifshitz changed his last name to Lauren because his cousins in California changed

their last name to Lawrence (Oprah, 2015). Ralph Lauren chose this name because it was easier

to pronounce. Ralph Lauren Corporation’s flagship brand, Polo Ralph Lauren, is sometimes

confused with the brand U.S. Polo Association because people call Polo Ralph Lauren ‘Polo”,

for short, thus causing the confusion of sounding similar.

3.1.2. Symbols

The brand uses one symbol on its products and advertisements. The logo is of a person

playing polo, and is one of the most popular logos in the fashion industry (Figure II). The Ralph

Lauren logo is a perfect example of the rich, proud American look, and tradition. The company

chose the polo horseman as its symbol because it induces feelings of pride and elitism. Not only

does the U.S. Polo Association brand (Figure III) sound the same as Polo Ralph Lauren, it also

has a similar logo. Both logos feature a man playing polo.

Figure II: Polo Ralph Lauren Logo

Figure III: U.S. Polo Association Logo

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3.1.3. Slogans

The brand rarely advertises on television or any other type of media where slogans are

used, therefore the Ralph Lauren Corporation does not have any slogans.

3.1.4. Retail Concept

For the most part, the interior design of all Ralph Lauren stores and boutiques in

department stores is similar. All stores have hardwood floors, walls are painted white, ambient

lighting, and are sectionalized by women’s apparel, men’s apparel and children apparel (Figure

IV).

Figure IV: Interior of a Ralph Lauren Store

3.2. Current Marketing Mix

3.2.1. Product

Ralph Lauren provides a wide range of products, such as apparel for women and men,

accessories, and home furnishings. Ralph Lauren products are made of high quality fabrics.

Ralph Lauren is most famous for their polo shirts, which were released in 24 colors in 1972;

however, Ralph Lauren did not invent the polo shirt. Additionally, Ralph Lauren Corporation

opened three restaurants in Chicago, New York, and Paris, all of which serve high quality dishes.

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3.2.2. Pricing

Ralph Lauren Corporation is a luxury brand, which has many different collections. For

both men and women, Ralph Lauren offers the following collections: Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph

Lauren Black Label, RLX, Denim & Supply, Polo Golf, and Polo Tennis. For men, Ralph

Lauren offers the Purple Label brand, and for women, they offer the Ralph Lauren Collection.

Both Polo Ralph Lauren and Ralph Lauren Black Label offer both formal and casual apparel.

RLX offers athletic-like apparel for winter sports and such. Denim & Supply offers jeans and

other denim apparel. Ralph Lauren Collection offers both casual and formal clothes. The prices

of the Polo Ralph Lauren collection are between $30 and $2000. The prices of the Black Label

collection are between $90 and $5000. The prices of the RLX collection are between $45 and

$600. The prices of the Denim & Supply collection are between $30 and $500. The prices of the

Polo Golf collection are between $75 and $400. The prices of the Polo Tennis collection are

between $45 and $100. The prices of the Purple Label collection are $100 to $7000. The prices

of the Ralph Lauren Collection are between $600 and $12,000.

3.2.3. Place (Distribution)

In 2005, Impact-21 was the Ralph Lauren ready-to-wear license holder in Japan with

retail value of about $260 million. Internationally, regions have been provided with the right to

sell Ralph Lauren merchandise and operate branded stores: Australia/New Zealand (Oroton

Group), Central America (PRL Enterprises), Korea (Doosan Corporation) and Hong

Kong/Southeast Asia (Dickson Concepts). Ralph Lauren operates all domestic Ralph Lauren

stores. Ralph Lauren products are distributed to their retail stores, factory stores, and upper-tier

department stores.

3.2.4. Promotion

Ralph Lauren Corporation uses different channels to reach consumers, which include

advertisements in print, online, and occasionally television. Ralph Lauren advertises in mainly in

fashion magazines, such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan. In addition, the company has its own

magazine called RL Magazine, which has the following sections: Art & Design, Interviews,

Sports, Travel and Philanthropy. Occasionally, Ralph Lauren advertises their fragrances on the

television, which is paid by Macy’s.

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Polo Ralph Lauren uses promotional offerings to attract customers, such as in-store and

online sales. End-of-season sales are normal in the fashion industry.

Ralph Lauren Corporation also sponsors major events and athletes. In 2006, Polo Ralph

Lauren became the first official outfitter of Wimbledon (Figure V). In addition, the company

sponsors the United States Olympic Team. Also, the company sponsors professional golfers such

as Webb Simpson and Luke Donald.

Polo Ralph Lauren is also involved in philanthropic projects. For example, Pink Pony is

Ralph Lauren’s worldwide initiative in the fight against cancer. Our mission is to reduce

disparities in cancer care in medically underserved communities and ensure that treatment is

available at an earlier, more curable stage. In the United States, 25 percent of the purchase price

of Pink Pony products benefits the Pink Pony Fund of the Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation to

support programs for screening, early diagnosis, treatment, research and patient navigation. The

company has also partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help families in need of decent,

affordable prices to live. Recently, Ralph Lauren, has agreed to sponsor the Royal Marsden and

donated money to build a new cancer clinic at the hospital (The Economist, 2015).

Figure V: Ralph Lauren’s partnership with Wimbledon

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3.3. Points of Parity and Points of Difference

To determine the brand equity of Polo Ralph Lauren, it is important to identify the points

of parity and differences, which are outlined below (Figure VI).

Point of Parity Point of Difference

Designer brand American brand

Premium pricing Restaurants

High quality materials Most popular designer brand among others

Figure VI: Points of Parity and Difference of Ralph Lauren

3.4. Brand Strategies

Polo Ralph Lauren’s brand strategies can be described by the company’s line extensions

and brand extensions. Line extensions include the creation of a new product line or collection of

apparel and accessories, such as the Black Label or Purple Label of Ralph Lauren. Brand

extensions include the creation of any extension outside of apparel and accessories, such as the

restaurants.

Figure VII: Ralph Lauren Brand Strategies

Product

Existing New

Brand Name

Existing New

Line Extension

Extensions into other

apparel-like categories

Brand Extension

Extension into fine dining

Multiple Brands New Brand

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3.5. Product Portfolio Analysis

Polo Ralph Lauren’s offers many types of products. The table below shows the types of

apparel and accessories that Polo Ralph Lauren offers. An “X” signifies that Ralph Lauren offers

that particular product.

Product Line

Consumer Category

Adult Children Baby

Male Female Male Female

Outerwear X X X X X

Sweaters X X X X X

Shirts X X X X X

Blazers X X X X

Suits X X

Dress Shirts X X X X

Polos X X X X X

T-Shirts X X X X X

Shorts X X X X X

Pants X X X X X

Dresses X X X

Sleepwear X X X X X

Beachwear X X X X X

Jewelry X X X X

Accessories X X X X

Figure VIII: Product- Consumer Category Matrix of Ralph Lauren

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3.6. Competitor Analysis

Polo Ralph Lauren competes against many designer brands, domestically and

internationally.

Brand Point of Parity Point of Difference

Brooks Brothers Designer Brand

Oldest men’s clothier in the United States

Known for introducing the ready-to-wear suit

Vineyard Vines Designer Brand Company uses student

ambassadors to promote/advertise brand

and its products

Lacoste Designer Brand

Began as a tennis apparel company

Created the first poloshirt.

Figure IX: Points of Parity and Difference of Ralph Lauren’s Competitors

4. Brand Exploratory4.1. Brand Awareness and Brand Image

A survey was conducted to measure the brand image, brand awareness and brand image

associated with Ralph Lauren and along with other designer brands (Appendix I for survey

copy). The results obtained from this survey were a convenient sample, which means it is not

necessarily representative of the entire population. Most of the respondents were between the

ages of 18-20 (Figure X) and from the United States (Figure XI). The purpose of this survey was

to quantify brand awareness of Ralph Lauren Corporation and its competitors. Respondents were

asked if they recognized the logos of Lacoste, Brooks Brothers, and Vineyard Vines, and were

then asked to recall the names of those brands. There were 32 male respondents and 15 female

respondents (Figure XII), and both males and females were able to recall the Ralph Lauren and

Lacoste logo the most, which can be seen in Figure XIII. Furthermore, there were 38 people

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from the United States and 9 people that were international, and both people from the United

States and foreigners were able to recall the Ralph Lauren logo the most, which can be seen in

Figure XIV.

Figure X: Pie Chart of Age Distribution

Figure XI: Pie Chart of the Respondents’ Place of Origin

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Figure XII: Pie Chart of Gender Distribution

Male Female

Ralph Lauren 81.25% 100%

Lacoste 81.25% 100%

Vineyard Vines 78.13% 86.67%

Brooks Brothers 53.13% 13.33%

Figure XIII: Recall Rates of Ralph Lauren between Males and Females

United States International

Ralph Lauren 89.47% 77.78%

Lacoste 84.21% 66.67%

Vineyard Vines 84.21% 55.56%

Brooks Brothers 42.11% 11.11%

Figure XIV: Recall Rates of Ralph Lauren between U.S. Resident and Foreigner

4.2 Brand Positioning

Since 2000, Ralph Lauren Corporation has undertaken a plan to enhance the growth of its

worldwide luxury retail business and increase the overall profitability of the premier global

luxury company. Ralph Lauren has stated that Ralph Lauren Corporation has built the largest

luxury design business in the world including men’s and women’s apparel collections and

because of the ever increasing global demand of Polo Ralph Lauren products, Lauren has also

stated the brand will expand and create stores in major cities, as well as closing down stores that

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are not performing well. Lauren continues by saying that the reason why Ralph Lauren

Corporation is one of the top fashion companies in the world is because of the company’s ability

to create new brand names, such as Ralph and Polo Jeans Co.

5. Brand Equity Analysis5.1 Ralph Lauren’s Brand Equity

Ralph Lauren Corporation has made the Forbes’s “World’s Most Valuable Brands” list at

the 84th spot. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a market cap of $14.67 billion and sales of $7.23

billion with a profit of $750.2 million (Forbes, 2014).

The Consumer-Based Brand Equity Pyramid makes it easier for qualitative brand equity

evaluations, which are outlined below.

Figure XV: Consumer-Based Brand Equity Pyramid of Ralph Lauren

5.1.1. Brand Awareness

Based on the results from the survey, 96.36% of the participants were able to recognize

the Polo logo, while 89.09% of them were actually able to recall the Ralph Lauren brand name,

both of which were the highest rates out of all the other brands (Table XVI). Brooks Brothers, on

Resonance

Judgments Feelings

Performance Imagery

Saliency

Loyal customer base

Ralph Lauren is associated with a lavish lifestyle

Ralph Lauren represents a luxurious and fashionable

lifestyle

Ralph Lauren identifies itself with the luxury goods market

Premium pricing, stylish, and contemporary design

High quality goods, characterized as a classic,

American brand

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the other hand, was not as highly recognized as I thought it would be; the majority of the

respondents were not able to recognize the logo and recall the brand name. Though the sample

size of this survey is rather small, further research is required to assess the validity of these

results. Google Trends has been measuring interest of any topic based on search queries since

January 2004, which shows that Ralph Lauren has been searched the most out of its three

competitors: Lacoste, Brooks Brothers and Vineyard Vines (Figure XVII). In addition, Google

Trends’ Regional Interest Map shows that United States and Europe have the more search

queries than the rest of the world (Figure XVIII).

Recognition Recall

Ralph Lauren 96.36% 89.09%

Lacoste 92.72% 87.27%

Vineyard Vines 87.27% 81.81%

Brooks Brothers 40.00% 36.36%

Figure XVI: Recall and Recognition Rates of all respondents

Figure XVII: Google Trends’ Interest Graph of Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Brooks Brothers, and Vineyard Vines

Ralph LaurenLacoste

Brooks BrothersVineyard Vines

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Figure XVIII: Google Trends’ Regional Interest Map of Ralph Lauren Corporation.

5.1.2. Brand Image

Respondents have also described Polo Ralph Lauren as high-end, quality, wealth,

traditional and classy, which can be seen in the word-cloud below.

Figure XIX: Word-cloud of adjectives for Ralph Lauren

Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that collects user-generated

content from across the universe into a single stream of information and allows an individual to

track and measure what people are saying about any topic. Social Mention monitors over 100

social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Google. The dimensions

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that it uses are strength, sentiment, passion, and reach. Strength measures the likelihood that a

brand is being discussed on social media. Sentiment is a ratio of mentions that are positive to

those that are negative. Passion is the likelihood that individuals talking about a brand will do so

repeatedly. Reach measures the range of influence. Below are the Social Mention results of

Ralph Lauren Corporation. Overall, the sentiment of the brand is neutral.

Figure XX: Social Mention results of Ralph Lauren

In the survey, I asked the following question for each brand “What are your opinions on

Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Lacoste, and Vineyard Vines?” using a Likert Scale, Strongly

Disagree to Strongly Agree. Results from the survey conclude that Ralph Lauren Corporation is

the following: quality, fashionable, luxurious, and expensive. The graphs below show Quality

Brand versus Expensive Brand (Figure XXI), Quality Brand versus Luxurious Brand (Figure

XXII) and Quality Brand versus Fashionable Brand (Figure XXIII).

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Figure XXI: Quality Brand vs. Expensive Brand

Figure XXII: Quality Brand vs. Luxurious Brand

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Figure XXIII: Quality Brand vs. Fashionable Brand

6. Strategic Brand Management Recommendations6.1 Expanding International Presence

Currently, Ralph Lauren products are sold in 38 countries, and planning on expanding its

international presence, mainly in Europe and Asia. There are Ralph Lauren Stores in 9 Asian

countries and 14 European countries. As of now, there are no stores in India and could

potentially be beneficial for the company to add stores there. In 2014, luxury goods in India

outperformed the growth from the previous year as consumers showed a willingness to spend. In

addition, the economy in India has shown signs of recovery, thus causing consumers to spend

money on luxury goods. Another country in which Ralph Lauren can expand its presence is

Poland. Since the economic recovery in Poland in 2013, retail sales of luxury goods in Poland

increased in 2014. The number of affluent consumers has increased and positively influenced the

development of luxury goods market. Furthermore, the increased availability of luxury brands

had a positive impact on growing awareness of luxury companies among consumers. Since the

area remains unsaturated, luxury goods companies have potential for further growth

(Euromonitor International, 2015).

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6.2 Decreasing Line Extensions

Although Ralph Lauren Corporation has stated it has attributed its success to the multiple

collections it offers, I believe that they should reduce the amount by combining some of them

because overall, it confuses customers when companies have multiple collections. The company

offers seven clothing collections for both men and women. For example, for men, there is the

Purple Label and Black Label, and both offer the same type of apparel, thus I believe they should

combine the two.

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7. Supplementary Material7.1 Appendix I: Designer Brand Recognition Survey

1. Do you recognize the brand logos above? (Y or N) If so, name them.

A. ___________________________

B. ___________________________

C. ___________________________

D. ___________________________

2. What comes to your mind when you think of the brand Ralph Lauren? (Please give at

least three words) Do you own any Ralph Lauren apparel?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. What are your opinions about Polo Ralph Lauren?Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Not Sure

Quality Brand

Fashionable Brand

Luxurious Brand

Expensive Brand

4. What are your opinions about Brooks Brothers?Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Not Sure

Quality Brand

Fashionable Brand

Luxurious Brand

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Expensive Brand

5. What are your opinions about Vineyard Vines?Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Not Sure

Quality Brand

Fashionable Brand

Luxurious Brand

Expensive Brand

6. What are your opinions about Lacoste?Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Not Sure

Quality Brand

Fashionable Brand

Luxurious Brand

Expensive Brand

7. Are you male or female?

a. Male

b. Female

8. What is your age?

a. 17 or younger

b. 18-20

c. 21-29

d. 30-39

e. 40-49

f. 50-59

g. 60 or older

9. Where are you from?

a. Northeast

b. South

c. Midwest

d. West

e. International

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"Ralph Lauren | Discover Ralph Lauren's Company Page | The Business of Fashion." Ralph

Lauren's Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

Wendlandt, Astrid. "Global Luxury Goods Sales Growth to Stabilize in 2015: Bain." Reuters.

N.p., 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

Grant, Nick. "25 Things You Didn't Know About Ralph Lauren." Complex. N.p., n.d. Web. 24

Mar. 2015.

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"Ralph Lauren Philanthropy - Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation - About Ralph Lauren."

Www.ralphlauren.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.

Winfrey, Oprah. "Oprah Talks to Ralph Lauren." Oprah. N.p., n.d. Web.

"Market Research for The luxury Goods Industry." Euromonitor International. N.p., n.d. Web. 20

Apr. 2015.

"Number of Employees of Polo Ralph Lauren, 2014 | Statistic." Statista. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May

2015.

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"Google Trends." Google Trends. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2015.