Imagery
There are strong and favourable associations with Zara, especially in 'fast-fashion', 'wide range of design' and 'stylish'.
Even though Zara prides itself on its production and quality, consumers do not seem to associate quality as strongly. There is a need to strengthen this association.
Consumers also seem to think badly about Zara in terms of 'value-for-money' and calls the brand overrated. Zara needs better communication to re-position itself in the Singapore market and recreate a value proposition so as to improve consumers' perceptions in this aspect.
Even though there are strong associations, none are unique to Zara. It is crucial for Zara to rethink a unique selling proposition to differentiate itself from its competitors.
Summary of Findings
Zara is strong. Only at the bottom of the CBBE.
Salience
There is no doubt that Zara is a brand that most consumers in the local market are aware of. It is evident from the findings that most usage situations related to Zara would be dressy occasions such as attending performances and important presentation.
A long way to go.
Weaker moving up the pyramid.
Performance
It is good that Zara has fell into the most important quadrant of the P-I chart in 'Price', 'Quality' and 'Design'. This allows Zara to be in the same consideration set as its competitors, yet insufficient for it to be consumers' preferred brand. It is falling quite far behind in 'Price', which is the most important and even its sleek and sophisticated products are not winning in the 'Design' department.
Since price is a tool for signalling, it is important to set the right price for products to match the branding. At the current state, most consumers think that Zara is overpriced and they would expect clothes which are more premium, of higher quality and better designs. Since there is a mismatch in expectations, consumers would prefer going to H&M which offer more reasonably priced clothes. Zara has failed to fulfill its brand mission to deliver quality clothes at affordable prices in the Singapore market and hence the branding is weakened.
Resonance
Our results have shown that there is low loyalty, attachment and engagement towards Zara. It is not an aspirational brand for most consumers and there is no story behind Zara that consumers can relate themselves to.
Scoring low here would mean lower repeat purchase and fewer purchase situations as consumers do not buy Zara goods as a vehicle of expression, simply because Zara does not have much brand characteristics.
For Zara to have continuous and sustainable growth, it needs to work on building strong relationships with its users and develop an attractive personality which will allow consumers to aspire towards owning a Zara piece.
