Elements Of The Marketing Process

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Nowadays there are over two thousand definitions of "marketing," which is caused by different points of view in relation to this phenomenon. According to the famous scientist Kotler(1980) a general definition of marketing is: "Marketing - a human activity aimed at satisfying the needs and wants through exchange process."

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CIM's Definition of Marketing" Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. [1] 

Marketing - a movie in which the main character - the product (Jack Trout)

And you can continue and continue this list because there is not correct answer what does mean marketing. However to be simplified marketing is the delivery of customer satisfaction at a profit.

Source(http://www.expertsmind.com/topic/marketing/simple-marketing-system-93222.aspx)

Its only purpose (as, by the way, and many other "features" of the company) - create profit by increasing sales and reducing costs. If not, then marketing is useless and even harmful, because it does not pay the cost of it. Marketers make the company profit, creating a "ready-to-buy consumer" and thus increasing sales.

Marketing process - an ordered set of steps and actions associated with the search and selection of ideas, new needs and translate them into a product or service development and marketing of these products in the relevant market or distribution network.

Steps:C:\Users\Навруз\Desktop\Новая папка (10)\Marketing-Process-1363.jpg

The first phase is the selection of a particular goal - is the stage of marketing activity that precedes the creation of any product. It is necessary to segment the market, select a specific segment, set goals and objectives. As soon as the company opted for a particular value, it is getting ready to bring it to the market.

Source(http://www.auto-seo-system.com/tag/marketing-process/)

Analysis: market research, customer, product structure;

Marketing strategy. Once the best opportunity to satisfy unfulfilled customer needs is identified, a strategic plan for pursuing the opportunity can be developed. Market research will provide specific market information that will permit the firm to select the target market segment and optimally position the offering within that segment. The result is a value proposition to the target market. The market strategy then involves:

Segmentation

Targeting

Positioning

Value proposition to the target market

Management and control: the organization's strategic and operational planning at the enterprise, information, organization of communication and control of marketing.

A company which I have chosen for this assignment became very famous brand from little enterprise to worldwide brand with the help of an excellent marketing. Diesel is an Italian design company. The company was founded by Renzo Rosso in 1978, beforehand he had begun to make his own clothes after graduating from textile school. He had no experience in marketing and advertising, but he has stated that they learnt much of their marketing techniques from the US, creativity from Italy, and systems from Germany. According to official statistics (2009) the company now employs some 2,200 people globally with turnover of 1,3€ billion (2009) and its products are available in more than 5,000 outlets. Diesel known as a company with a unique mindset which puts sales and profit under building something special, something unique, cool and something which can change the world through fashion. UK as a one of place where fashion business is very developed has got great interest from Diesel. There are more than 37 official stores across Great Britain and the amounts of them increase. Further I will describe how marketing helped to Diesel to became worldwide brand from little unknown company in short time. This is a good example of how is important marketing process to become successful and more important profitable company especially in fashion business where today there is a high competition. By the way despite recession in world economy according to Forbes (2011) there was seen an increase of sales in major fashion retailers.

1.2

Evaluate the benefits and costs of a marketing orientation for a selected organisation

Today companies can develop new products based on either a marketing orientated approach or a product orientated approach. Marketing-oriented organization focuses on the discovery of customer needs and the implementation of these requirements to achieve their goals. That means that main focus of company is learning the known and undiscovered needs of its customer market and attempting to provide for them .

Such organization has significant competitive advantages. This marketing concept involves three essential steps in being customer-focused. First, the wants and needs of the customers are researched and identified. Then, the research outputs are studied by the marketers and new products are created based on the consumer needs. Finally, customer satisfaction is aimed after public awareness and introduction of the product is made. [2] 

However marketing oriented approach needs a lot of research and time which cost a lot of money no result in some case. Moreover there were a lot of researches that people even don’t know what they want and preferences always change. Today they want pink phone tomorrow they want blue one. So the companies should pay attention to this point as well.

As I told earlier Diesel known as a company with a unique mindset which puts sales and profit under building something special, something unique, cool and something which can change the world through fashion. That means the company oriented on their customers more than taking from them money.

Diesel sells nice jeans. The reason Diesel has grown is because it knows it is about a lot more than selling nice jeans. Diesel is a lifestyle: if that lifestyle appeals to you, you might like to buy the products. Renzo describes this as an end of the "violence" towards the customer forcing them to buy and rather an involvement in a lifestyle.

I as a new chief of marketing will continue pay enormous attention to our customers and increase products based on customer preferences. Moreover I am going to expand research department. Our researchers and analytics work up to the collar, everyday they collect information about preferences and feedbacks from our customers. The most difficult part of research for our company is how to get appreciated information from our clients without causing inconvenience. For example I am going to implement the system by which we can get information about customer service in all our shops. The thing is that we allocate 2 types of bins for receipts in a main exit in all shops. One is red and the second is green. That means when customers drop their receipts to red their feedback is negative and to green – positive.

Diesel products have unique design. We do not copy podium ideas but always, and create exclusive models, based on trends.

Show macro and micro environmental factors which influence marketing decisions

There two environments which face enterprises when they make marketing decisions. What does environment mean in marketing? Environment can be formulated as a set of factors which directly or indirectly influence on sales. As I said earlier there are two types of environments the first one is micro and the second – macro.

Micro environment a set of internal and external factors, controlled or partially controlled by the company that influence on marketing decisions and strategy. There are a lot of factors but most common:

Micro environmental factors are internal factors close to a business that have a direct impact on its strategy. These factors include:

Organisations survive on the basis of meeting "customer needs and wants" and providing benefits for their customers. Failure to do so will result in a failed business strategy.

Employees

Employing the correct staff and keeping staff motivated is an essential part of an organisation's strategic planning process. Training and development play a critical role in achieving a competitive edge; especially in service sector marketing. This is clearly apparent in the airline industry, where customer services is crucial in obtaining a competitive edge.

Suppliers

Suppliers provide businesses with the materials they need to carry out their business activities. A supplier's behaviour will directly impact the business it supplies. For example if a supplier provides a poor service this could increase timescales or lower product quality. An increase in raw material prices will affect an organisation's marketing mix strategy and may even force price increases. Close supplier relationships are an effective way to remain competitive and secure quality products.

Shareholders

As organisations require inward investment to grow, they may decide to move from private to public ownership and list on the stock market. The introduction of public shareholders brings new pressures as public shareholders want a return from the money they have invested in the company. Shareholder pressure to increase profits will affect organisational strategy. Relationships with shareholders need to be managed carefully as rapid short term increases in profit could detrimentally affect the long term success of the business.

A good example how micro environment impacted on my company. Before 1991 Diesel was a typical young design company. It focused all its energy on launching new products (about 1,800 new references per year) and did not even have a consistent brand logo. Starting in 1991, Maurizio Marchiori, the newly-appointed advertising director, developed a global branding campaign in-house with the help of Paradiset, a Swedish advertising agency. The campaign appropriated the "products make better living" theme popular among advertisers in the 50s and turned it on its head in the "Diesel for Successful Living" campaign. Diesel’s vision of consumer paradise was to be interpreted ironically; the standard promise of "success" was exaggerated, made absurd, even mocked. Serious themes seemed to be lurking everywhere in the adverts but were undercut by a final admission that it was all just a joke.

Macro environment is a set of global unmanaged factors operating across the market mechanism and not dependent on corporate marketing efforts. The Company is not able to control changes in the environment, but it can change its marketing policy. Therefore it is necessary to follow the changes in the macro environment. Sources of information are newspapers, magazines, television, official statistical data, materials of special studies, etc. C:\Новая папка\environment.gif

Source (http://finntrack.co.uk/learners/kotler.htm)

There are six main macro marketing environment forces

Political

Economic

Demographic

Technological

Legal

Environmental

People make up markets so the demographic changes directly affect the marketing opportunities.

Demographic factor includes human population,sex;age; race;location and so on. Here I

give 2 examples:

a)World population increasing. Every 33 years population of the world doubled in size. Essentially, this means that the markets also doubled during this period. Consequently, the marketing opportunities are increasing as well.C:\Новая папка\pop_005.gif

However, as the purchasing power of many people in the world remains very low, then, along with the new features, there are certain dangers like civil unrest, war, etc.

Source(http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/population/population_change_structure_rev1.shtml)

b). Echo boomers (baby boomlets) are the large growing kid and teen market. This group is used to affluence on the part of their parents (as different from the Gen Xers). One distinguishing characteristic is their utter fluency and comfort with computer, digital, and Internet technology (sometimes called Net-Gens).

Political .These are the laws, regulations state institutions, demand by the public, have an impact on the various organizations and individuals and limit their freedom of action.

Environmental.Changes in the environment and the impact on goods that manufacturers produce and offer to the market. Activities of the company depends on the conditions, which makes the natural environment, such as:

Shortages of some types of resources and raw materials. Water and air can seem inexhaustible types of natural resources, but there is a serious threat of pollution. Food supply may become a major problem, because the size of agricultural land is limited. Acute problems arise due to the depletion of non-renewable resources, such as metal, ores, platinum, zinc, copper, lead, silverC:\Новая папка\5.jpg

Growth of environmental pollution. Industrial activity is almost always harms the natural environment. There are problems of dangerous levels of chemical contaminants in soil and foods, radioactive contamination, contamination of packaging materials, non-biodegradable. Alternatively, the negative trends of the market created to combat environmental pollution.

Economic Environment

The economic environment includes those factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. For example Major economic trends in the United States include:

1). Personal consumption (along with personal debt) has gone up (1980s) and the early 1990s brought recession that has caused adjustments both personally and corporately in this country. Today, consumers are more careful shoppers.

2). Value marketing (trying to offer the consumer greater value for their dollar) is a very serious strategy in the 1990s. Real income is on the rise again but is being carefully guarded by a value-conscious consumer.

Technological Environment

The technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic forces now shopping owndestiny. Technological environment involves forces that create new technologist creating new product and marketing opportunities.

An example of technological impacts on Diesel how the company which is based on fashion took a part in video games. Diesel was one of the first clothing companies on the Internet, opening the www.diesel.com site in 1995. The site contained information about Diesel clothing collections and its licenses,a complete archive of its advertising, extensive coverage of D-Diesel’s seasonal fashion shows and a virtual store. Also Diesel participated in the production of video games for Sony PlayStation, Nintendo and personal computers. It contributed the Diesel for Successful Living logo and other creative content to new video game releases, such as Psygnosis’ hits "G-Police I & II", Acclaim’s "Shadow Man" and "Extreme G II".

b) Propose segmentation criteria to be used for products in different markets

Market Segmentation is a splitting of market into separate parts (segments) according to a set of criteria and factors. It means that company divide market into several groups (segments) to highlight that part on which the company will focus all its efforts and attract consumers. Market can be divided into Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral. division of the market according to such variables as age, gender, family size, family life cycle, occupation, income, education, ethnicity, religion. Segmentation based on demographics most often used by companies in market research, it is because the reaction of customers to a particular product more dependent it is on the demographic variables.

Segmentation by geography is a division of the market into different geographical units, region, area, city size, density. After this segmentation company must decide where its marketing efforts will be most effective. For example the numbers of Diesel stores in Japan more than in UK so there have to be more aggressive marketing there.

Country

number of stores

Japan

75

Italy

67

USA

50

UK

37

China

31

France

29

Israel - South Korea

22

Source(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_(brand))(2010)

Psychographic based on the basis of values, interests, attitudes, personality traits and lifestyle.

Demographic is a division of the market according to such variables as age, gender, family size, family life cycle, occupation, income, education, ethnicity, religion. Segmentation based on demographics most often used by companies in market research, it is because the reaction of customers to a particular product more dependent it is on the demographic variables. Mostly Diesel produce their products for teenagers who’s age is 18 -25. However there are a lot of products for 35 -50 but this segment is not important as the first one.

Behavioral segmentation divides a market based on their behavior;the way the population respond to;use or know of a product. Consumer behavior is a subject studied in depth over time in marketing management. This is mainly because there are several factors which a consumer takes into consideration before taking a decision. Thus consumer decision making is affected by his behavior and that is exactly how the behavioral segments are targeted.

Choose a targeting strategy for a selected product/service

Targeting

After segmenting the market based on the different groups and classes, you will need to choose your targets. No one strategy will suit all consumer groups, so being able to develop specific strategies for your target markets is very important.

There are three general targeting strategies:

Undifferentiated marketing

Differentiated marketing

Concentrated marketing

Undifferentiated targeting views the market as one group with no individual segments. This means company produce one product for whole market. This strategy may be useful for a business or product with little competition where you may not need to tailor strategies for different preferences. Also this strategy is useful for uniform products such as grapefruit or steel. Costs for advertising in an undifferentiated marketing low. No need for market research market segments and planning by these segments to reduce costs for market research and management of production of goods.

Firms which use undifferentiated marketing typically creates a product designed for the largest segment of the market.

Differentiated. In this case the company decides to act on several market segments and designs for each individual proposal and the related marketing program. The extensive range of products, allows for the growth of sales and deeper penetration for each of the market segments reclaimed. A classic example of differentiated marketing can serve as the division into classes flyer passengers. Currently, the practice of differentiated marketing uses an increasing number of firms.

Concentrated Targeting.This approach focuses on selecting a particular market niche on which marketing efforts are targeted. Your firm is focusing on a single segment so you can concentrate on understanding the needs and wants of that particular market intimately. Small firms often benefit from this strategy as focusing on one segment enables them to compete effectively against larger firms.

The table(12) below shows two different types of Diesel products one is D-Diesel and the second one StyleLab. D-Diesel and StyleLab have roots in common (creativity, freedom, global outlook and thoughtfulness),but different targeting, positioning and price strategy.(see table 12 below).The clothing industry in the mid and late 1990s experienced increasing market segmentation. In particular, some consumers were now willing to spend large amounts of money not only on smart clothes but also on casual wear. Being a good trend spotter, Renzo Rosso quickly identified a new market opportunity in high casual wear. He observed the increasing appeal of casual clothing, both in the workplace and during leisure time. Even bastions of formal business attire such as investment banks and consulting companies were starting to allow their employees to relax in khakis and polo shirts on "casual Fridays". To be trendy started to mean to be dynamic, lively, mobile and casual. Renzo Rosso decided to seize the opportunities in high casual wear with a new line, StyleLab. His decision was almost entirely based on gut feeling as he simply did not believe in market research for predicting future fashion trends. Nevertheless, he knew that the prospects for a profitable market in high casual wear were unsure. Diesel would have to go a long way to convince enough consumers to spend $150 on a pair of casual pants. Another objective assigned to StyleLab was to counterbalance the increased diffusion of the D-Diesel denim products and to prevent any possible commoditization of the brand. This concern was particularly strong because the advertising campaign for Diesel in 1998 emphasized denim and product attributes such as the availability of different fits, the softness and strength of the fabric, etc.). Of course, these functional qualities were communicated the Diesel way (see Exhibit 7 for the advertising campaign and Exhibit 8 for examples of the Spring/Summer 1998 collection). There was also a concern that the multiple horizontal extensions of D-Diesel could dilute its identity. More importantly, the management team was concerned that Diesel would suffer from its success. In particular, that too high a diffusion would erode the exclusive and unconventional image of the brand. In Germany, for example, there were concerns that D-Diesel had started to loose its edgy, rebellious appeal because of its success with older consumers. There was indeed a growing gap between the irreverent image communicated by its advertising and the image reflected by the somewhat conservative, 35-year old, BMW-driving professionals wearing Diesel jeans.

Table 12

Target Customers of D-Diesel and StyleLab brands

CRITERIA

D-DIESEL

STYLELAB

GEOGRAPHIC

Region

International

International

Density

Urban

Urban

DEMOGRAPHIC

Age Focus

on 16-25

Focus on 25-34

Gender

Male-female

Male-female

Income

Medium/ medium-high

Medium-high

Occupation

High school/ college students/ young

professionals

Professionals; managers

Generation

HIP generation

Generation X

Social class

Middle class/ upper middles

Upper middles/ lower uppers

PSYCHOGRAPHIC

Lifestyle

High media exposure

High media exposure

Shopaholic

Traveler

Neo hedonist

Worldly

Tribe member

Trend follower

Personality

Open-minded

Independent

Independent

Visually educated

Innovation receptive

Fashion perceptive

Curious

Culturally aware

Curious

Demonstrate how buyer behaviour affects marketing activities in different buying situations

According to Jim Riley (2012) "Research suggests that customers go through a five-stage decision-making process in any purchase". Diagram below shows it:

Buying PROCESS (http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/buying_decision_process.asp) C:\Users\NARIK\Downloads\buying_decision_process.gif

At the first stage, consumers recognize a problem or need (e.g. I am hungry, I have toothache, we need a new Tv) or responds to a marketing stimulus (e.g. you pass bakery and are attracted by the aroma of cakes and breads).

Next step is searching information. In this stage customers start to find more about product, service. They start collecting information and reviews. There are several ways according to Jim Riley (2012) how to obtain information:

• Personal sources: family, friends, neighbors etc

• Commercial sources: advertising; salespeople; retailers; dealers; packaging; point-of-sale displays

• Public sources: newspapers, radio, television, consumer organizations; specialist magazines

• Experiential sources: handling, examining, using the product

In the third stage Evaluation Alternatives, customer compares and chooses between alternative brands, goods or services.

Purchase or decision is a stage where customers stop choosing and comparing goods/service/manufacturer , here they buy.

And the last one , is post purchasing evaluation. In this stage after purchasing consumer is implicitly or explicitly assess their choices.

Buyer/consumer behavior is a set of indicators and factors that characterize the action of buyers, including the demand for goods and services, consumer preferences, consumption and uses of income.

Customer behavior, according to the list Assel(ND), divides them into three groups:

Habitual

Variety Seeking

Dissonance Reducing

Habitual consumers buy the same products in the same stores, the same way. This is a product that consumers purchase often and they will typically buy a particular brand out of habit. One example is salt. While most salt products are essentially the same, a consumer might buy Morton because they have always bought Morton. Moreover company which I have chosen can obtain a lot of benefits from Habitual consumers. First of all fashion people tend to be habitual in choosing brand. They are loyal to their brand they trust and they never give up. So marketing strategy can be not so "aggressive" and the company cannot spend too much on marketing. Company just needs initially marketing to attract and satisfy consumers twice and more and they can soft marketing strategy and target to another things.

In variety-seeking behavior, consumers have low involvement, but the brands have significant perceived differences. Consumers might switch brands often as they will try a brand and then make their own evaluation. Consumers might choose a new brand based on their evaluation or they might simply get a new product to try something new. Marketing strategy has to be developed very carefully for them because it is too difficult to attract them and more difficult to make them permanent consumers. That’s why Diesel promises to entertain and to introduce customers to new, experimental experiences. Its product line now goes far beyond premium jeans and includes fragrances, sunglasses and even bike helmets.

Dissonance Reducing consumers are clearly aware of their needs, and are in constant search for the best price. They always try to buy cheap with high quality. They do not care about brand. Diesel is not interested in such customers but they can attract them by marketing strategy as well. Especially in events like box day or black Friday by ads where usually u can see discount more than 30 %.

Propose new positioning for a selected product/service

Positioning a set of measures by which the minds of target customers in this product has a proper place in relation to other similar products. Positioning is owning a piece of consumers’ minds. Positioning it is not what you do a product – it is what you do the mind of the prospect. ( Ries & Trout)

A positioning strategy consists of 3 steps: to reveal possible competitive advantages to create a positioning, to select the right competitive advantages and to choose a comprehensive positioning strategy. Later, the company should provide effective communication and distribution to market regarding the selected position. [3] But positioning is not arbitrary. We would not make people believe Hyundai is the last point in cars. In fact, the product should be designed with a planned position in mind; positioning should be decided before production.

The D-Diesel brand was positioned at the upper end of the "denim and leisure clothes" segment. It competed with Armani Jeans, Levi’s, Mustang, and Calvin Klein Jeans. StyleLab was positioned at the lower end of the "high casual wear" segment, competing with the likes of Miu Miu, Prada Sport, CP Company and D&G (see picture 13).

Picture 13. Positioning and distribution of D-Diesel and Stylelab

When company decides to produce something new the company must think about positioning before. As I stated before first step is based on advantages of goods. For example in my opinion we can position new product before launching it. A lot of technology companies use this strategy. For example before being launched Iphone 5 there were a lot rumors, discussions, prediction and arguments about it. We can use this strategy as well for jeans or whatever we want. For example Diesel wants to produce new jeans for premium class. Customers must know about your product before production. Now I media world information goes very fast. So we can use them. We can say them that we are going to show something new , fascinating in fashion show in next month and people will discuss your product during all month without being aware of about it. It is magic. And even from this arguments you can get benefits because they discuss and predict what are you going to produce and at same time they giving you more information about what they want to see in your new product. The next step is ads. We have to advertise our jeans as well as we can, show why our jeans are not the same which produce zara or prada. Also we have to find a "face" of our label. Favorable it should be a famous person. And the last step more important one is distribution. We have to choose an appropriate way how to deliver our products! By boutiques , distributions agencies or online or mix them. C:\Users\NARIK\Desktop\zdsfds.png

explain how products are developed to sustain competitive advantage

Because of rapid changes in tastes, technology, and the state of competition a firm can not rely only on the currently existing products. Consumer wants and waits for new and improved products. And competitors will do their utmost to provide goods with such innovations. Consequently, each company must have a program how to develop new products. New product development tends to happen in stages. The number of stages depends on company. Company can miss some stages or add some new, depends on product. I am going to discover the most important stages how to develop a competitive advantage product.

Idea generation.

The development of a new product begins with the search of ideas for new products. These searches should be carried out systematically, and not on a case by case basis. You must create a clear strategy for the development of new products. Management must determine which products and which markets to focus primarily.

Ideas for new products can be obtained from basic research using a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats). C:\Users\NARIK\Desktop\swot.png

The most logical starting point in the search for such ideas are the consumers. For their needs and requirements can be monitored through customer surveys, group discussions, incoming letters and complaints

SWOT Research (Diesel) Innovative product gives a lot of advantages nowadays in competitive market.

For example in last decade Deisel was one of the first company who was producing and still producing non-iron shirts. However their competitor was not allowed doing it. So creating and searching innovative ideas is the first step for successful product.

Idea Screening/selection. The stage where company chooses most appropriate ideas and reduce unsuitable ones. The purpose of selection - as early as possible to identify and weed out unsuitable ideas. Here company should put several questions :

• Will the customer in the target market benefit from the product?

• What is the size and growth forecasts of the market segment / target market?

• What is the current or expected competitive pressure for the product idea?

• What are the industry sales and market trends the product idea is based on?

Concept Development and Testing

The organisation may have come across what they believe to be a feasible idea, however, the idea needs to be taken to the target audience. What do they think about the idea? Will it be practical and feasible? Will it offer the benefit that the organisation hopes it will? or have they overlooked certain issues? Note the idea taken to the target audience is not a working prototype at this stage, it is just a concept.

Marketing Strategy and Development

I have told about it too much above (see 2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 2.4; 2.5). Also it includes price, distribution, promotion, place. Further I will discover each step by step. Here also I can add that significant role plays competitors. The company must choose the strategy which can attract customers more than their competitors can.

Test marketing

Launching a product in small geographical area.

A field experiment in realistic market setting

Realizing the product into small but reprehensive market where consumers reactions can be assessed and marketing mix checked and adjusted

Aims

To forecast likely results of national launch

To identify possible problems

To asses consumer reaction

According to learnmarketing.net the last stage is:

"Commercialization

If the test marketing stage has been successful the product will go for national launch. There are certain factors that need to be taken into account before a product is launched nationally. These include:

timing of the launch,

how the product will be launched,

where the product will be launched,

will there be a national roll out or

will it be region by region?"

Explain how distribution is arranged to provide customer convenience

Distribution has a significant effect in enhancing the convenience of the customers therefore; distribution system of a company can appear as a major competency for the company. There are four elements of marketing mix:

Product

Price

Promotion

Place

The distribution comes under the place category.

Initially, D-Diesel products were distributed only through multi-brand teen-oriented stores and corners in department stores. In the early 1990s, Diesel opened flagship stores in New York, Chicago, London, San Francisco and Rome and single-brand stores in many large cities around the world. It used the flagship stores as vehicles to bring the D-Diesel brand identity to life in its entirety. For example, visitors to the D-Diesel store near Chicago’s Magnificent Mile were offered bottles of trendy soda whilst listening to alternative music. They could also buy cutting-edge CDs of a current "trip-hop" album. D-Diesel products were also distributed by mail-order or through the internet. StyleLab products were to be distributed only through specialized fashion stores, boutiques and high-end department stores, such as Joyce in Hong Kong, Barneys in New York, and Selfridges and Harrods in London. The customer service guidelines for StyleLab retailers indicated that staff should be, or look, more mature than those of a typical D-Diesel store.