Viktor & Rolf“An Escape from reality”

Brand Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning And Repositioning

By Aaliya Gujral

FSID– Level 2,Section A

Viktor & Rolf

What happens when you combine art, surrealism, and fashion into one? You get Viktor and Rolf. Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are the creative directors of the fashion house based in Paris

Birthplace: Viktor: Geldrop, Netherlands / Rolf: Dongen, Netherlands

Nationality: Dutch

House Inception: 1993, Milan, Italy

Debut Haute Couture Collection: January 1998

Title: Couturiers

Labels: Viktor & Rolf (Prêt-à-Porter, Haute Couture 1998-2000), Viktor & Rolf Monsieur (menswear division), Viktor & Rolf Parfums, Viktor & Rolf Eyewear.

Education: Both met while studying at the Arnhem Academy of Art & Design in The Netherlands

Inspirations: The duo have stated inspirations are drawn from dreams which are brought to fruition through the art of fabric and design. Renowned for their concept-driven shows, Viktor & Rolf's runway presentations deliver incredibly intricate designs through the deconstruction of fragile fabrics such as tulle and chiffon. They are also quite keen advocates of a-symmetrical designs.

Classifications: Haute couture (For the few years of 1998-2000, Viktor & Rolf were invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to be corresponding guest members), prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear), menswear, accessories, beauty & fragrance, eyewear.

The Origin

Viktor & Rolf 's first collection won the grand prize at the Salon européen des jeunes stylists (1993), a fashion festival in the southern French city of Hyères.

When deconstruction was the trend, Viktor & Rolf reconstructed by piling layers of men's button-down shirts to form ball gowns.

The following year they suspended flashy gold garments adorned with oversized ribbons and excessive decorations from the ceiling in their installation L'Apparence du vide (1994) at the Galerie Patricia Dorfman, Paris, which sought to critique the aura and hype surrounding fashion.

In another experiment, sleek marketing for Viktor & Rolf, le parfum (1996) served to critique the superficial, banal beauty of fragrance advertising. The neatly packaged, limited-edition (2,500) perfume bottles were deliberately designed so that they could not be opened. The bottles sold out at the Parisian boutique Colette. InLaunch (1996), presented at the Torch Gallery in Amsterdam, Viktor & Rolf's dream world of the fashion process was realized on a small scale.

They explained that, with a doll-sized runway, sketch and draping session, and photo shoot setup, "we created the ultimate goals we wanted to achieve in fashion (but felt unable to). These miniatures represented some of the most emblematic situations in fashion we wanted to become reality”.

The Haute Couture Collections

Viktor & Rolf brought an intellectual approach to the fashion process via art. They pursued haute couture because they found it to be "the most sublime" aspect of fashion.

With Dutch government support and the Groningen Museum, the Netherlands, as their sole client, Viktor & Rolf were able to develop creatively without the pressure of maintaining profitability that most young designers experience.

In their second spring/summer 1998 collection at the Thaddeus Ropac Gallery in Paris, Viktor & Rolf created their signature "atomic bomb silhouette"-exaggerated on top and pencil-skinny on the bottom. The clothes were dedicated to the millennium (fit either for the biggest celebration ever or apocalyptic destruction) and were deformed with silk balloons, streamers, and other brightly colored party elements.

The Viktor & Rolf label was recognized by the Federation de la couture, the umbrella organization that over-sees the Parisian haute couture houses and their events. This prestigious invitation for inclusion occurred even though Viktor & Rolf did not conform to the organization's rules and guidelines.

Viktor & Rolf presented their entire fall/winter 1999-2000 collection on the shoulders of one model, Maggie Rizer. As she stood on a revolving platform, Viktor & Rolf layered, in nine successive stages à la Russian-doll style, precisely-engineered jute dresses decorated with Swarovski crystals. Through this mechanism they attempted to showcase their feelings about haute couture as a precious and unattainable jewel.

Viktor & Rolf in the Twenty-First Century

In subsequent years, they layered on more serious business components.

Launching women’s rtw in 2000, men’s wear in 2003 and an array of signature fragrances with L’Oréal, ignited by the hit Flowerbomb, introduced in 2005. They followed up with scents including Eau Mega, Antidote, Spicebomb and most recently Bonbon, housed in a striking bow-shaped bottle.

When the latter scent was unveiled in January 2014 at a Viktor & Rolf couture show featuring dancers walking en pointe in flesh-toned latex dresses, L’Oréal estimated Flowerbomb to be among the top 16 prestige women’s fragrances worldwide.

In 2006, they teamed with H&M for a onetime collection hinged on wedding dresses that unleashed pandemonium in stores.

The fashion media's attraction to their exaggerated silhouettes and noteworthy runway performances has always played an integral role in the shaping of the Viktor & Rolf brand identity. With no advertising campaigns, no self-standing boutiques, and no mass-produced clothes to sell, their early relationship with the public depended heavily on the generous amounts of press coverage they received each season.

The media's acknowledgment of Viktor & Rolf as a leading Avant Garde haute couture label was instrumental to the commercial success of their ready-to-wear line. Their first collection sold immediately to sixty stores worldwide during its launch in February 2000.

Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren understand that a fashion designer's public image is nearly as important as the clothes that are created. Oftentimes referred to as "the Gilbert & George of fashion," the two present themselves as mirror images of each other: matching dark-rimmed glasses, closely trimmed dark hair, and a serious demeanor despite the humor in their shows.

They performed a tap-dance finale with tuxedos, top hats, and canes to "Putting on the Ritz" and "Singing' in the Rain" for their spring/summer 2001 collection.

Additionally, they used themselves as models for the launch of their fall/winter 2003-2004 men's wear collection, Monsieur, as they synchronized changes into looks depicting clichés of traditional men's wear.

Viktor & Rolf continue to push the boundaries of fashion in ready-to-wear by using the catwalk as a stage for performance art. Models were cast as walking shadows, for example, in their "Black Hole" collection (fall/winter 2001-2002) when they were covered head-to-toe in black silhouettes and black makeup. Two years later (fall/winter 2003-2004) their models appeared as fair-skinned, red-haired clones of the actress Tilda Swinton.

Through their shows Viktor & Rolf try to bring fantasy, beauty, and magic back to fashion as they forge a path for the viewer to enter their dream. "For us," explains Rolf Snoeren, "it's always about escaping reality, so in that sense the clothes are meant to show beauty first. Beauty and hope. Because cynicism, you know, kills everything."

Marketing Strategy

A market consists of 5 elements – buyer , seller , product , financial institution and competition.

A product is anything that has utility and is offered for sale.

Marketing is about communicating the value of a product, service or brand to customers or consumers for the purpose of promoting or selling that product, service, or brand.

Marketing techniques include choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer behavior and conveying a product's value to the customer.

The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements called the 4 P's of marketing:

1. identification, selection and development of a product,

2. determination of its price,

3. selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's place, and

4. development and implementation of a promotional strategy.

The job of a marketer is not to find the right customer for the product but to find the right product for the customer.

Marketing strategy differs according to the market segmentation and the target audience.

Segmentation Market segmentation

It is the division of the market and it is the building blocks of marketing.

Market Segmentation – Aggregating prospective buyers into those that

1- Have common needs

2 -Will respond similarly to the marketing action.

Market segmentation pertains to the division of a market of consumers into persons with similar needs and wants.

For instance, Kellogg's cereals, Frosties are marketed to children. Crunchy Nut Cornflakes are marketed to adults. Both goods denote two products which are marketed to two distinct groups of persons, both with similar needs, traits, and wants.

It is a marketing strategy which involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers, businesses, or countries who have, or are perceived to have, common needs, interests, and priorities, and then designing and implementing strategies to target them. Market segmentation strategies are generally used to identify and further define the target customers, and provide supporting data for marketing plan elements such as positioning to achieve certain marketing plan objectives. Businesses may develop product differentiation strategies, or an undifferentiated approach, involving specific products or product lines depending on the specific demand and attributes of the target segment. Generally a market is segmented on the basis of the following-

• Geographic segmentation

• Demographic segmentation

• Socioeconomic segmentation

• Psychographic segmentation

Market segmentation allows for a better allocation of a firm's finite resources. A firm only possesses a certain amount of resources. Accordingly, it must make choices (and incur the related costs) in servicing specific groups of consumers. In this way, the diversified tastes of the consumers can be served better. With growing diversity in the tastes of modern consumers, firms are taking note of the benefit of servicing a multiplicity of new markets.

Market segmentation can be viewed as a key dynamic in interpreting and executing a logical perspective of Strategic Marketing Planning. The manifestation of this process is considered by many traditional thinkers to include the following; Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning.

Groups Resulting from marketing segmentation process are called market segments. They are a relatively homogenous collection of prospective buyers.

Segments – They are the separate sectors being catered to i.e. the different target audience.

The degree to which you segment a market determines the approach to marketing you would take be it mass marketing, segment marketing , niche marketing or micro marketing.

segment marketing - One where the company decides to provide separate offerings to each different market segment that it targets. It is also called multi-segment marketing and as is clearly seen that it tries to appeal to multiple segments in the market.

Each segment is targeted uniquely as the company provides unique benefits to different segments. It increases the total sales but at the expense of increase in the cost of investing in the business.

Targeting

Targeting is the 2nd stage of the S.T.P process . After segmentation the marketer will select a segment or series of segments and target it/them.

A target market is a group of customers a business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise towards.

A well-defined target market is the first element of a marketing strategy. Product, price, promotion, and place are the four elements of a marketing mix strategy that determine the success of a product or service in the marketplace.

All resources and efforts are then targeted at the selected segment.

Criteria for Target Market –

• Size

• Expected Growth

• Competitive Position

• Cost of Reaching the Market

• Compatibility with the organizations objectives and resources

There are multiple approaches of targeting a market – single segment concentration , product specialization , full market coverage.

Brand DNA

PhysiqueStructured

AndrogynousMeticulous

tailoringDistorting

Proportions

Personality:Avant GardeProvocative conceptual

unconventional

Reflecton:Edgy

individualistic

Strong

Relationship:Extroverted

Witty Assertive

Physique:Structured

AndrogynousMeticulous

tailoringDistorting

Proportions

PersonalityUnique Fashion-Forward

Confident Individualistic

Men55%

Women25%

Women (25-45)11%

other income groups7%

Urban Affluent Women2%

Men Women Women (25-45) other income groups Urban Affluent Women

Urban women

The target female consumer for Viktor and Rolf would fall under the client profile of Tilda Swinton

Some famous personalities to frequent Viktor and Rolf are Tilda Swinton, Tori Amos, Kelly Osbourne, Mischa Barton, Gwen Stefani, Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel McAdams, Anne Hathaway, Christina Milian and Eva Mendes.

Viktor and Rolf design for an upscale, luxurious, designer market. I imagine their target customer would be a high-class woman, in her 20s-40s who seeks to dress both in current high fashion trends, while mixing in surrealist elements.

She would have a taste for art, and showcasing herself in unique clothing.

Although Viktor and Rolf will have competitors like their inspiration Balenciaga, or other designer brands like Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Pucci, or Vivienne Westwood, V&R have a competitive edge over the rest with their fearless artistic take on pushing the limits in fashion and conceptual fantasy as well as appealing to a younger target market.

Viktor and Rolf’s designs can be purchased from retailers like Iris, Barney’s in New York, and Bloomingdales. V&R price points for R-T-W items in stores range from $500-$1500 a piece.

The price points for the basic R-T-W items reflect the target customers that V&R seeks to serve: a luxurious, fashion conscientious, avant-garde oriented powerful and successful woman.

Positioning

Product Positioning

The Place an offering occupies in the consumers minds on important attributes relative to competitive offerings.

Approaches -

1. Head to Head positioning

2. Differentiation positioning

The Dutch saying, Doe normaal, dan ben je al gek genoeg (literally, Just be normal, then you are crazy enough) sheds light on the work of design team Viktor & Rolf.

Bridging the label between couture and art, their runway presentations are typically high on concept, showmanship, and wit. A few (out of many) examples of their unusual approach: an entirely topsy-turvy show with upside-down dresses and an ear-splitting backwards soundtrack, a provocative all-black show (including the models' faces), and a presentation featuring, on a revolving turntable, a single model who was layered in look after look like a Russian doll.

Mixing the drama of grandly staged opera with the precision-chic of Paris couture, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are some of the industry’s most famous—and often—unpredictable—showmen. Too arty to place in the just-fashion category and too fashion-y to simply be called artists, they meld the two like few others. Collections are never boring affairs, and shows employ fantastical techniques, whether it’s models wearing their own cumbersome lighting structures or clothing presented upside down.

Renowned for the cut and proportion of their designs they turn recognizable, classic forms into unfamiliar features, such as oversized shirt collars, sleeves and jackets.

Viktor & Rolf Positioning – Daring, fresh, artistic, confident, luxurious

Their silhouettes range from a tight, pencil skirted figure to over exaggerated headpieces and voluminous skirts. The design house has been acknowledged for their incorporation of structure, architecture, and fine art in their designs. Their collections offer a dream-like feel to them, as you are usually taken out of your everyday mind and transported.

Not only do they design women's RTW accessories, apparel and shoes, but they have created several books and fantastic fragrances. Their perfumes are Flowerbomb and the newer, Eau Mega. Both have their own distinct personality, with Flowerbomb being floral yet sultry, and Eau Mega being ultra feminine and floral.

In addition, they have created several other inspiring side projects, including their dolls and retail store. Their retail store opened in April 2005 on Milan's Via Sant'Andrea and is designed to look upside down. It looks like an illusion, but is really a step over, climb through, crown molding-on-the-floor design plan. It is refreshing and an important piece for Visual Merchandisers to admire today.

I think that Viktor and Rolf's bold retail and product design has brought he brand prominence. For example, their flagship Milan boutique has definitely put them on the fashion map. The original, fantasy-like upside down plan has caught the eye of the entire industry. It is a beautiful sight, and I believe the unique store design helps consumers remember this company.

Next, I believe Viktor and Rolf's differentiation in design aesthetic brings them more attention in the market and industry. Their designs are infused with surrealism and fine art, which sets them apart from other designers in the industry. There are only a few designers who I believe fall into the same category as Viktor and Rolf, with ideas such as light fixtures attached to models, pulling at the garments they're wearing.

Repositioning

Repositioning refers to the major change in positioning for the brand/product.

To successfully reposition a product, the firm has to change the target market’s understanding of the product. This is sometimes a challenge, particularly for well-established or strongly branded products.

Firms may consider repositioning a product due to declining performance or due to major shifts in the environment. Many firms choose to launch a new product (or brand) instead of repositioning because of the effort and cost required to successfully implement the change.

If a product is not selling as well as might be expected, or if its performance has declined from previous rates of success, it may well be that the brand positioning strategy needs to be reconsidered, in order either to promote the product more effectively to its target audience, or to identify a new customer segment to whom it might be better suited.

“We had big ambitions,” says Viktor Horsting on creating fashion house Viktor & Rolf with Rolf Snoeren. “From the very beginning we wanted to start very high,” he says, indicating the absolute apogee of couture elegance: “Start at the top, and everything else would fall into place after that. It was a very emotional ambition, not just in terms of the size of the business or wanting to be like a certain designer. It was more about fulfilling creative ambitions and working at the highest level possible.”

In the years that followed, Viktor & Rolf became famous for making clothes that no one bought and no one could wear. But they soon realized the limits of this approach. They made a move from haute couture to ready-to-wear and, in 2000, launched their first collection, which appropriated America’s stars and stripes to underline the show’s commercial motivation.

The success of the show confirmed that couture was not the only route to acclaim. Today, the designers have diversified the Viktor & Rolf brand to include every logical extension: menswear, eyewear, footwear, accessories and now a fragrance, Flowerbomb .

Subsequent collaborations have included work for L’Oreal, Dutch department store De Bijenkorf, luggage maker Samsonite and the champagne brand Piper-Heidsick — not to mention the duo’s striking costume designs for the opera, a jewelry line for crystal house Swarovski, couture eyelashes for Shu Uemura and a partridge in a pear tree. In 2006, Viktor & Rolf designed a special collection for the Swedish megastore H&M, broadening their appeal and reach.

But their shows continue to grab the headlines. When asked are the shows still what they want to be known for? Rolf responds “No! We just do both now. We make clothes that people want to wear – and then we make special pieces that we call couture.” But Rolf wants to be absolutely clear: “For us still it’s the shows, the performance, that’s the real work that we make.”

These projects, Horsting says, “were very instinctive. We knew we had to do ready-to-wear, but we had no idea how to organize it all. But we knew it would be a logical follow up. We knew it wouldn’t be us organizing it, we knew we would have to find a partner.” Indeed, the label has a growing consumer base and their performances capture the pattering hearts of the fashion set who go wild for their theatrical showstoppers which have previously included guest performers like Tilda Swinton, Rufus Wainwright and, most recently, La Roux.

When Rosso’s OTB acquired Viktor & Rolf in 2008, revenues were about 10 million euros, or $12.2 million at current exchange rates, and the plan was to expand the product offering in RTW and pursue brand extensions via licensing, much as OTB did with Maison Martin Margiela.

At the time of the deal, Snoeren said he hoped the partnership would release him and Horsting from excessive business pressures, leaving them free to focus on design.

The designers’ frustrations with the endless deadlines of fashion were voiced loud and clear on their fall 2008 runway, with clothes declaring in protruding 3-D letters: “No.”

Some of Viktor and Rolf’s current collections include their Spring R-T_W avant-garde tulle collection from 2010. V&R took a completely new conceptual direction where instead of playing it safe, cut holes in blatant areas in tulle gowns. They provided the audience a conceptual execution, mixing masculine tuxedo tops with conceptually formed feminine pastel plisse’, decorating the bodice like a flower.

Their most current collections fit well in the R-T-W markets. For pre-fall 2012 V&R launched a dark and moody collection. Dolls have been a reoccurring theme for V&R, this time porcelain Victorian variety inspired the collection. The words of Sigmund Freud describing the sexual life of an adult woman as a “dark continent” resonate with V&R as well. V&R wanted to seek a secretive quality that they describe as “A Victorian women, discreet, moody, rich, and luxurious”. They felt that the studied, dressy oddness would appeal to their target customer. The collection includes stretched, puffed, shrunk, draped, fringed, and ruffled silhouettes in a dark -color scheme.

Viktor and Rolf’s Spring R-T-W 2012 collection featured a pastel doll theme. V&R decided to go in a different direction from their previous red face pant of last season; amping up the feminine qualities with synthetic pink lashes and models who were made to look like walking dolls. They used girlish silhouettes, oversized prints, blown up proportions of stitching, and naïve quality of lacing.

The next few years were not their best fashion wise, with critics not shy from expressing their luke warm feelings towards their collections in 2011, the NYTimes.com critic in particular saying the pair “live on their own planet,” So the pair attempted to move towards a more mature collection with a 1930s-inspired fall set, sending models out in printed silk pajamas and Veronica Lake waves. But conceptual cohesiveness remains a problem, as old motifs make less successful return appearances. Although they strive to not be part of the main stream fashion cycle it seems they have fall victim to their own enemy.

The duo returned to couture after a 13-year absence in 2013, but was playing to a smaller niche audience. Their most recent collection was devoted to floral babydoll dresses that exploded with 3-D embroideries hoisted on giant straw hats.

Today, Viktor & Rolf ships its RTW collections for men and women to about 100 specialty stores, and has an eyewear license with Japan’s Murai, plus a sublicense to Paget for European markets.

In December 2013, when the designers christened their 5,400-square-foot Paris store, it was to set a template for future expansion, with the designers calling it the first of “at least five” Viktor & Rolf stores to come and listing New York, London, Tokyo and Los Angeles among initial priorities.

However, fresh off a well-reviewed couture show, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have announced that they'll be pausing their ready-to-wear business following their fall 2015 collection. The designers sounded sanguine about the end of their dalliance with RTW and retail.

In terms of their clothing line they have decide to change their approach from that of segment marketing ( multi segment marketing ) to one of niche marketing.

A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact. It is also a small market segment.

Every product can be defined by its market niche. The niche market is highly specialized, and aiming to survive among the competition from numerous super companies.

The designers, who've been in business for 22 years, told Women's Wear Daily that they would instead focus on couture, fragrances, and licensing— similar to the approach Jean Paul Gaultier took when he exited the RTW business last year.

Renzo Rosso says the move was "a strategic decision to position the Viktor & Rolf brand in the highest luxury segment of fashion.”

Horsting framed the move as a creative decision. “By letting go of it, we gain more time and freedom,” Horsting and Snoeren said. “We feel a strong need to refocus on our artistic roots. We have always used fashion to communicate — it is our primary means of artistic expression. Ready-to-wear started to feel creatively restricting. By letting go of it, we gain more time and freedom. ”We are extremely excited to push the boundaries of our vision in new, unexpected territories,” they added.

A fast pace, many deadlines and fierce competition. That’s how Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren describe today’s designer ready-to-wear business, and their rationale for halting the Viktor & Rolf women’s and men’s collections, leaving them to concentrate on couture, fragrances and special projects.

When asked - With the brand evolving and diversifying, can they still pin down the essence of their product? Eventually, Viktor speaks, “Well, conceptual glamour comes to mind.” “But escape from reality is also a phrase we keep using.”

Viktor and Rolf Decided to relocate to Paris in 1998 to move away from the “blend-in” mentality of the Netherlands.

They then gradually transitioned from exclusive exhibitions and collections to ready-to-wear in 2000. Partnered with multiple businesses like L’Oréal (fragrance line), Murai (eyewear), Paget (eyewear) & Swarovski (jewelry) and H&M.

However this resulted in an originally avant-garde collection brand losing its edge and unique factor that defined them initially in Paris.

Their once creative and surrealistic collections, that bent more towards pieces of art than fashion started becoming more mainstream.

Dissatisfied with these results their objective now is to reposition Viktor & Rolf as an avant-garde luxury fashion haute couture Label all over the world.