CASE STUDY

Integration of Product Departments for a Customer-Focused Brand Experience at a Major Central and Eastern European Fashion Group

Through strategic integration and alignment, the brand successfully transformed its operations, delivering a more cohesive and customer-focused experience that drove growth across all product categories

The Situation

Five large departments functioned in a fragmented way, each following its own strategy and featuring different trends.

This market leading Central and Eastern European brand was operating with five large departments—Womenswear, Menswear, Kidswear, Accessories, and Home—that functioned in a fragmented way, each following its own strategy and featuring different trends. This lack of coordination led to marketing resources being disproportionately focused on the largest and most profitable department, Womenswear, while the other departments struggled to gain visibility. The result was a fragmented brand experience that did not fully meet customer needs across all categories.

The Challenge

How can the brand integrate its departments to create a cohesive, customer-focused brand experience that enhances visibility and sales across all categories?

Approach

To address the challenges, we implemented a comprehensive strategy to improve coordination, streamline processes, and align the brand’s messaging and product offerings across all departments:

Comprehensive Analysis: We began by analysing the current strategies of all departments, conducting store visits, and evaluating the online brand experience. We also gathered insights from product, visual merchandising, and marketing teams and conducted research on competitors and market-leading brands.
Coordination of Product Development: We organised interdepartmental workshops focused on trend research and analysis during the early stages of product development and collection planning. By aligning common trends and themes across all departments, we ensured that each collection was cohesive and complementary, regardless of the product category.
Common Planning and Calendar Management: We implemented a unified planning process with common dates for key brand communication events, such as Christmas, Wedding Season, Back to School, Office, and Denim campaigns. This allowed for synchronised marketing efforts across all departments.
Coordinated Delivery Timing: We facilitated regular meetings between buying teams from different departments to ensure that product arrivals were timed correctly. This synchronisation enabled more effective communication of trends and events, enhancing the overall brand experience.
Seasonal Presentations:
- Product Teams: The outcomes of our workshops, including the most important seasonal focus points, were presented to the entire product teams. This fostered a common understanding of trends and key seasonal themes.
- Marketing Teams: Before each season, we presented the key trends and important dates to the marketing and visual merchandising teams, allowing them to plan their campaigns and visual strategies effectively.
- Sales Teams: At the start of each season, we provided sales and store teams across all countries with detailed presentations on the key trends and focus points. This enabled them to educate customers effectively and align their in-store strategies with the overall brand direction.

Through strategic integration and alignment, the brand successfully transformed its operations, delivering a more cohesive and customer-focused experience that drove growth across all product categories.

Results

The integration of departments created greater synergy, enhancing brand visibility and customer experience while driving increased sales across multiple categories.

The implementation of this strategy led to a series of positive outcomes:

Increased Synergy: The integration of departments led to more synergy across the brand, significantly boosting the efficiency and impact of marketing efforts.
Enhanced Visibility: Menswear, Kidswear, Accessories, and Home departments gained more visibility in the brand’s marketing efforts, leading to a more inclusive brand experience.
Customer-Centric Experience: The brand experience became more holistic and customer-focused, catering to the needs and preferences of a broader audience rather than predominantly focusing on Womenswear.
Sales Growth: The integrated approach contributed to increased sales across the Menswear, Kidswear, and Accessories departments, demonstrating the effectiveness of a unified brand strategy.