Branding Task 2 - Physical representation of a brand- ASOS.com

ASOS.COM

Asos.com is a pureplay, e-retailer who through the current credit crunch has appeared in all major fashion journals and the popular press as having almost doubled their profits since last year. There main target market is 16-25 young girls/women who enjoy fast fashion. They initially began with own brand clothing, shoes and accessories that took inspiration from celebrity fashions (As Seen On Screen) they then expanded and and now sell most major high street brands, a small selection of new and contemporary high fashion labels and some independent labels also. their own clothing is fairly priced, well made and reflects the major trends of its times. Their only current physical presenece to its consumers other than the website is their magazine which is only sent to current and previous customers.
I believe that ASOS now has a good ground to spread its presence into the stores it sells for, this could be through the use of their names on receipts or bags or even a small capsule collection in those stores, this would be the most basic path to take and would also leave them in the shadow of those brands. The way i would love to see ASOS become more of a physical brand would be through the opening of Guerrilla stores, this is based on the idea that the brand takes over an old site or shop randomly around Europe (the countries that they sell in) and vacate it with small capsule collections from their own brand clothing for 2-6months at a time. this idea is currently being used by Dover Street Market who have three permanent stores and a number of Guerrilla stores that open one after the other.

This would give ASOS a very edgy image which would start to attract more niche market also, they currently sell to the majority of the young female market, therefore can afford to concentrate on smaller niche's if desired. Stores could be decorated in keeping with their current environment giving it a rough and cliquy image, the opening of the stores would be on the website and posters would be put up in areas of residence of the target markets. Internet virals could also be produced giving the brand a very underground and exclusive feel.