The next frontier

For a brand that prides itself on a laid back approach to fashion, Esprit Australia has sure struck up some fancy business moves of late, as Assia Benmedjdoub reports.

By all accounts, it was an inevitable decision.

Esprit, a company which has since admitted to an extended period of slipping sales in both the Australian and New Zealand market, finally yielded to the dogged success of its international counterparts.

It was March 2006 and the fledgling local arm officially announced its realignment to the Esprit global business model. Put simply, this spelled the end of locally-driven design and marketing campaigns for the brand.
Barely a year on and one is inclined to think tremors from the overhaul have yet to subside. Esprit general manager Sam Cooper couldn't disagree more.

"We find that the mid mass market globally has a lot of similarities and early signs show that Australian consumers are responding very positively to the new product lines," he says. "The product range will be a lot more targeted and customer focused and we believe that our stock returns will increase as a result of this new focus."

The revamped product collections, first dropped here in September and officially launched at Sydney's QVB building earlier this month, mean consumers will have access to the trend-driven EDC collection for the first time. Tube dresses, skinny leg jeans and bold printed tees are set to join the ranks of Esprit Women, Sport, Kids and Men.
Cooper says because all creative concepts are now formulated by a 200 strong design team in Europe, the product is "fresher and newer" than ever before.

"We've now adopted a quick to market program which enables us to further tap into current trends and update stock on a weekly basis," he adds. "There are still teething problems with this because the business process has completely changed for us but we're optimistic about the future."

So optimistic in fact, the company has decided to enlist high-profile fashion event, Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, as a platform for its new-look collections. Ty"Last year we focused on creating a nice stock build and the past four months success has been based around existing customer activity," he explains. "Now we're looking to drive traffic back in-store with a full mix of marketing and PR activities that ensure we're connected with our customers."
This also includes the enlistment of an external PR company, Arc Factory, several store launch events (the company plans on opening eight stand-alone stores in the next 12 months) and an aggressive outdoor campaign throughout Australia and New Zealand for spring/summer 2007/08.

Cameron is optimistic this combined assault will help drive consumer activity after a slump of 9.3 per cent in sales last year.
"The last five years in fashion retailing has been particularly competitive and I think that our offer has potentially lacked relevance to the needs of the market. Now we feel we are in a strong position to win over more customers.
"Over the next five years, we want to ensure that we align the Australian business to the international direction and really concentrate on effectively doing that."
And if it were to take cue from the latest international interim results - which saw a 28 per cent increase in profits to HK$2.4 billion ($A393 million) - this realignment may just prove to be a lucrative one.