Executive Summary

Tip Top Tailors has been one of the oldest retailers of menswear in Canada. The company has been producing menswear for close to 100 years now. The company is looking for ways to ensure that its products and brand get to a more modern target group. There is a need for the company to make the internet, and consequently, social media one of its biggest marketing tools. With the rebranding of the company logo and packaging, there have been some positive changes in its sales, and this only goes to show that it would even do better if the company were able to take advantage of the opportunities that it has. A proper marketing and business strategy are required by Tip Top Tailors to grow its brand to a broader audience.

Introduction

In the recent past, a lot has changed in the world, including the manner of dressing. A few decades ago, the suit was at the top of the list for every man. However, there has been quite a shift as most men now incline towards a more casual look and the athleisure trend. Regardless of this shift in pattern, the suit has not lost all its glory as it still boasts of confidence, sophistication, and the entire class. The corporate world, weddings, and graduations are some of the events where the suit still stands out. Tip Top Tailors is a Canadian retail clothing line that specializes in menswear. Although it has its foundation in Canada, it is a globally renowned company famed for its menswear. The company also houses in-store tailors that custom make clothes for both men and women. They have since their establishment provided men with outwear, sportswear, suits, and even rental tuxedos. According to Angus and Westbrook (2019), through research carried out by Euromonitor, they explain that the twenty-first-century man, especially the younger generation, is quite aware of their body image and the fashion trends. While they have more comprehensive options to choose from, such as athleisure and casual wear, they have not forgotten about the existence of the suit. Even better is the fact that today’s outfit allows for a variety of ways to accessorize it, and even better, there are various kinds of suits in the market for everyone. The quality of fabric has also improved over time (Angus and Westbrook, 2019). For over 100 years, Tip Top Tailors have especially committed themselves to make suits for every man; this, however, has not been amidst a lot of challenges as they try to remain at the top of the retail chain.

How Tip Top Tailors Can Develop its Marketing and Business Strategy

One of the significant challenges that Tip Top Tailors faces is the ability to attract the next generation to shop still and wear their suits and other menswear. The modern young man might look at the store as some “old school” store. Tip Top Tailors, therefore, has the responsibility of keeping up with current trends to provide the modern man with suits that suit their taste and preferences. The Chief Executive Officer of the company, owned by Grafton Apparel Limited, acknowledges that indeed, the company had let the world pass them by, and other retailers of menswear in the industry were making strides through new technologies and keeping up with trends. Lance Itkoff, the CEO, explains that their stores had that traditional look that did not appeal to the younger ages. Although the foundation on which Tip Top got based was quite strong, the company had to re-evaluate their brand and their marketing strategy if they hoped to appeal to a broader target market. Their initial branding was only quite useful to the older generation who do not put in too much thought as long as the suit was well made and fit appropriately. The younger man has a lot of variables to consider before settling for an outfit, such as the print, pattern, and texture of the material, how they will accessorize it, and the occasion, among others. The company has a great history, and a little innovation and adaptation were necessary to put it back on the map.

Morgan et al. (2019) explain that the marketing strategy is the principle on which marketing gets formed, and it is also the area in which most of the challenges that face a company arises. It is also known as a company’s game plan seeing as it is how the company can reach out to the target audience and at the same time, sell their values and brand to the prospective consumers (Ferrell and Speh, 2017). One Peter Druker, who has gotten credited as being the founder of modern management, said that the main objective of marketing is to get to know and understand the consumer so well that the products or services getting offered fit their needs so well and sell themselves. One of the ways through which an excellent marketing strategy gets created is through setting out goals. A proper tool to help with setting out goals is the SMART matrix which, essentially means that the goals a company sets out should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (Ferrell and Speh, 2017). These business tools allow a company to set goals that are within their accomplishment range. In the case of Tip Top Tailors, the company needs to develop and improve its marketing and business strategy if it hopes to remain competitive, especially among its business rivals. According to Morgan et al. (2019), one of the benefits of having a strong marketing strategy is that a company will have a competitive advantage over other industries that are in the same line of business. For Tip Top Tailors, here are two opportunities through which the company can get to improve and develop its business and marketing strategy;

1. Social Media Marketing Strategy

One of the most contemporary ways through which companies in the 21st century are marketing their products is through social media. Through various tools that enable social media marketing, a company can be able to drive traffic to their website which helps them to push their brand and ultimately leads to an increase in sales (Felix, Rauschnabel, and Hinsch, 2017). For the longest time, Tip Top has always been selling its menswear the conventional way, probably due to the target market that it previously had. However, with the changing times, there is a need for the company to stay in sync with the technological advancements and make use of them to ensure that they push their brand, reach out to an all-inclusive target market and watch their sales skyrocket. The world has become a global village and marketplace thanks to social media; hence, a lot of the products reach people through these same platforms. Lamberton and Stephen (2016) explain that there is necessarily a considerable discrepancy between the amounts of sales made online in comparison to the number of people that physically walk into stores to purchase products. In any case, even most of those that visit stores physically will usually have used one social media platform or the other to check out the products that they want. Social media marketing tools do not only allow companies to sell their brands and products, but they also let them get feedback from their customers and get inclusively referred to as social media management.

Tip Top is no doubt an icon in its industry with its long and sturdy history. The brand realized that if it did not change the way it was carrying out its operations, it was bound to lose its clientele to the newer retailers in the market; this prompted it to refresh its brand in 2015. The company went all out and got a fresh new logo, original packaging, and point of sale that allowed them to be relevant and relatable to the new generation. The company also came up with a communication strategy, which is an essential part of marketing strategy (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016) to enable them to reach out to this new generation. It is important to note that although Tip Top recognized the need to change up a few things in the company, it still retained the old brand that the older generation was familiar with, making it possible for them to balance out their target market. The rebranding move in 2015 allowed the brand to become a lot bolder in such a way that it was able to catch a lot of new consumers’ eyes. It worked, as the company reported increased sales after these changes in their organization.

Having been in the retail industry for menswear for the longest time, Tip Top has plenty of competitive advantage over the new retailers. As such, this also opens them up to the possibility of many opportunities as they look to expand their brand into the modern era. Through the use of social media, the company can be able to tap into these opportunities. Tip Top has to apply the core pillars of social media marketing (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016).

1. Strategy– by coming up with a plan, Tip Top can be able to increase the awareness in respect to their brand, drive sales and traffic to their platforms and create a chance for the company, its customers and its target market to engage.
2. Planning and publishing– Tip Top should be able to plan the kind of content they want to put out there, and that would appeal to their target market. The content should be something that the target market wants, that they can relate with, and the company should know how frequent to publish it (Ferrell and Speh, 2017).
3. Listening and engagement– growth on social media platforms for Tip Top will mean that they will, at one time or the other, be part of the conversation online. As such, the administrators governing these platforms should listen to the people’s conversations, both positive and negative, and engage them by advising, offering feedback, and handling complaints.
4. Analytics– tip Top also needs to keep track of how their social media marketing tools and strategies are performing. The company can make use of the analytics tools provided by social media platforms or outsource analytics tool to help analyze their data (Ferrell and Speh, 2017).
5. Advertising– the last pillar of social media marketing is advertising. Tip Top has not been huge on advertising since its founding (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016). They had probably built a clientele base that they knew would always come to them. However, with modern management and retailing, advertising is essential. Tip Top can use social media to be able to get out their ads to the right target group based on demographics, behaviors, preferences, and interests. This way, they can be able to target a wider audience than those that are already following them on social media platforms.
6. The Future of the Suit

Fashion has evolved a lot of the years. Some trends come and go while others stand the test of time, only getting better with age. The modern man does not shy away from experimenting with the newest trends in the market, they are bold when it comes to colors, and they dress to express themselves. The suit is one of these trends that are adamant about staying. Although it refuses to fade away like the many other fashion trends that have come and gone, the suit has seen its fair share of challenges over the years. It has gotten threatened by styles such as athleisure, casual, and smart-casual.  It would be significant, at this point, to ask what the future of the suit is. Although all these other trends give the men options, the outfit remains to be quite synonymous with a given degree of masculinity and poise. Having withstood tough times concerning changing trends in fashion, it is safe to say that the suit is here to stay.

Tip Top, having a long history in the making and retailing of suits, can use this opportunity to sell itself more to the people. The company only requires getting back ahead of the game and start producing menswear that is generation-appropriate and timely. A lot of men still want to look good in suits and probably have suits for different occasions. By learning what their consumers and target market want, Tip Top can be able to create suits for every man in this generation timelessly. They also need to push the fact that they also custom make the piece for their clientele. The modern man is competitive in all aspects, including fashion, and if Tip Top can give them something unique and different, they will have found a way not only to market themselves but grow their company.

Conclusion

One of the most significant advantages of Tip Top as a retailer for menswear is the fact that it has been around long enough. Even better is the fact that it was at the top of the retailing industry without putting as much effort into marketing and building a brand. The company, however, needs to adapt to modern trends if it hopes to push its brand. One of the most significant opportunities that Tip Top can make use of is using social media marketing strategies. It should also consider the future of the suit to find out whether making suits is viable for them as a business. If the company can use these two opportunities to its advantage, it can, no doubt, be one of the largest retailers of menswear globally. With proper marketing and business strategies, Tip Top Tailors would make a great brand in the world. Most importantly, it should ensure that the retail products that are timeless and that could attract people from across all ages. Adapting modern management for their business strategy will open them up to more ways of ensuring that they stay ahead of their competitors.

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