Executive Summary
This analysis is the result of research and interviews targeted to identify consumer retail shopping preference and brand perception of college students. We segmented our interviews based on personal values, current shopping habits, and perceptions of the Aeropostale brand versus the competition.
Our research has evaluated a common theme among target shoppers of Aeropostale, which is reflected in the following positioning statement that we have developed to attract this market segment: To young shoppers, Aeropostale is the brand of casual clothing that provides affordable style for you to express yourself by wearing the latest trends in fashion, representing your individual unique lifestyle.
We established four segments of shoppers through our analysis. These include Expressers, that purchase professional clothing, Conscious Ones, that purchase based on the premium feeling,
The Postelers, that purchase style based on price and rationalize their purchases for value, and
Pleasure Seekers, that want an overall shopping experience to suit their needs.
Our focus of positioning for Aeropostale is on the Postelers Segment. This market segment is in the early twenties age group with common values driven by individualism and price. The
Expressers are generally shoppers that work as business professionals and want to convey that image, which is not aligned with their perceived categorization of Aeropostale in the casual clothing segment. The Conscious Ones are shoppers that purchase high-end brand names, therefore disqualifying this group from our focus. We may be able to capture a portion of the
Pleasure Seekers as they look for a variety of choices accompanied by service, quality, and price.
The Postelers share common values that we determined in our interview analysis. Aside from their common age group and associated budget constraints, the most significant similarity is that this segment collectively value their individualism. All of these interview respondents described this behavior by rejecting the need to belong or gain acceptance. This mindset is also extended to their common choices of preferred places to shop, which offer a wide range of options. Our marketing strategy recommends that Aeropostale increase their product range to secure this shopping segment.
All respondents associate the Aeropostale brand with a young demographic of shopper. Most of our target segment shopped at Aeropostale as younger teens. They perceive the brand to be part of their youth and not as having appropriate options for their current stage of life. Our marketing strategy is focused on renewing the interests of these shoppers so that they realize Aeropostale has grown up with them and offers great styles and trends suited to each individual.
We can secure the Postelers by promoting the message that Aeropostale has grown up like they have and offers a wide selection of unique styles and trends that fit their individual personality and budget.
Target Market
Based on the Interviews given to our team, we have come up to a common conclusion of dividing the people into 4 different segments which have some different attributes associated with every segment. In every segment there are some people which show some common behavior when it comes to purchase clothing and all of them belong to a same segment. To decide the segments of the interviews we have considered the following factors
Variables to segment on- Price (Affordable vs Premium), Quality (Matter vs doesn’t
Matter), Store Experience, Fashion (Up-to-date vs old), Customer Service, Brand
Association.
Number of Segments- Five, namely
1. Segment 1- The Expressers
2. Segment 2- The Conscious One
3. Segment 3- The Postelers
4. Segment 4- The Pleasure Seekers
