A Strategic Analysis of Kitson LA

As an upscale celebrity boutique, Kitson’s public relations objectives are slightly different than that of a typical department store. Kitson relies heavily on its media relationships and high profile clientele. Therefore, Kitson’s overall public relations objective would be to sell their products by attracting positive media attention. If Kitson were to create a SWOT analysis plan, I think it would like this…

Strengths: Kitson has developed strong ties with A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The company’s relationship with the media is pretty tight as well.

Weaknesses: Fraser Ross and his publicists need better media training when it comes to making public statements (i.e. Line failures and Lindsay Lohan mental breakdowns).

Opportunities: Kitson is located on Roberston Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. This setting is ideal for attracting celebrities living and shopping in the Hills.

Threats: The media can do major reputational damage in general, let alone to Kitson. If the company and a tabloid are clashing, the result could end in negative publicity for Kitson.

Kitson is already in cahoots with Hollywood, so getting publicity is easy.

However, as Marilyn Monroe once said, “Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”

For Kitson, the danger of the paparazzi and negative publicity is always going to be a common threat. Accordingly, the company’s public relations team has to always be on top of their game. Kitson’s weaknesses can be easily fixed with a little media training. Overall, the company’s SWOT anaylsis plan is right on track. Keep up the good work Ross and crew :)

Peace, love & fashion!!

Making The Cut

Apparently it is an unspoken rule that once you become a celebrity you must come out with a clothing line. From Miley Cryus to Beyonce, everyone is doing it. However, just because a celebrity can sell out the box office, it does not mean that their clothing line well be as successful. Last week I talked about how Camila Alves’ handbag line bombed at Kitson. After doing a little research, I found out that she’s not the only celebrity whose fashion line wasn’t making the cut.

The Hills reality star Lauren Conrad and Kitson made a clothing line deal back in 2008. Although her popularity in Hollywood was at a peak, her clothing line lacked sales. At the same time Kitson dropped Conrad’s line, they opted out of carrying Victoria Beckham’s dVb menswear line. Fraser Ross, the owner of Kitson, told OK! Magazines that Conrad refused to promote her line and would not make a public appearance at Kitson. Ross said, "They need to realize it's no different than selling your album, your TV shows, your movies, you have to keep promoting it."

Ross was right. The success of a product, whether it’s a handbag or skinny jeans, is a direct result of how it is promoted. If the product turns out to be a total flop, was a crisis plan intact? Have Conrad and Beckham’s publicists forgotten to make a strategic plan? A successful public relations practitioner would focus on preventing crises and mitigating when a problem occurs.

Building relationships with the media before a crisis is essential. For years Kitson has used the media to promote their products. Their relationship with the weekly magazines has been a win-win. Kitson frequently receives media attention, while all the tabloids get their daily fix of celebrity photos.

However, when a crisis does occur the company must contain the crisis and resume operations as soon as possible. For Kitson, dropping a line can cause a media frenzy. To limit negative publicity, Kitson should contact their media connections and make a public statement. This will manage the reactions of their stakeholders. Then it is time to forgive and forget the clothing line that couldn’t make the cut.

Peace, love & fashion!!

Crises and the Industry

As industries develop and change over time, competitors constantly change too. Therefore, the nature and structure of an industry will also change. As it matures, its markets are redefined. Ultimately this influences the nature of competition and profitability amongst competitors in the industry.

When the industry is young, output remains low, while product awareness is still developing. Most purchasers are first time buyers, risk tolerant and innovative. However, as the industry grows and higher production takes place, the market will soon meet saturation. The amount of first time buyers diminishes, and purchasers are upgrades or replacements.

In the fashion industry, every designer is trying to outdo their competitors. This healthy competition usually leads to profit for the manufactures. However, when sales reach a decline, due to influences like the current economy, a trend occurs when consumers run to more convenient, safer or high-quality offerings from firms in substitute industries. Therefore, some companies will try to divest their business units or “reinvent” themselves. Others become weaker and more prone to crises.

The current economic crisis has hit Americans check books hard and forced them to be more sales conscious. When it comes to designer names only the rich can afford to keep up. Therefore, when Kitson decided to team up with Camila Alves and her new line of Brazilian handbags, they were taking a huge leap of faith.

With the economy plummeting, consumers are going to shop for convenience, whether that means settling for non-designer bags or hitting up TJ Maxx for the next best thing. While the wealthy will stick to the safest bet, Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags, to get more quality for their buck.

Therefore it is no surprise that Camila’s handbags were a flop. Kitson claims to have spent $50,000 on Camila Alves Muxo handbags and ended up with a $25,000 deficit. Kitson also believes that Camila is pricing her bags too high. Although she may be the mother of Matthew McConnaughey’s children, she isn’t famous enough yet to not have to promote her line. Although I did see her on Chelsea Lately about a week or so ago, that was the first time I have ever heard about Muxo handbags.

Kitson may soon be facing a cat fight with Ms. Alves. I say avoid the crisis and get out while you still can!! Stick to the labels you know are selling like House of Harlow. For more juicy gossip about this topic, check out this article at celebrityclothingline.com!

Peace, love & handbags.... lol

A Strategic Approach to Crisis Management

A crisis is any situation, be that a legal dispute, theft, accident, natural or manmade disaster, that could threaten the integrity or reputation of a company. Additionally, a crisis can occur if the media or the general public believes a company did not react to a situation in an appropriate manner.

Most crises do not occur out of the blue. However, that does not make dealing with a crisis any easier. When faced with a crisis, a company can view it as an obstacle or an opportunity. Obviously the better option would be to turn the crisis into an opportunity, and if handled correctly the damage to your company can be minimized. Having a crisis communication team intact is crucial. This could include the CEO, the head of the Public Relations department, safety and security office and legal counsel. The job of the crisis communication team is to decide a plan of action and select a company spokesperson.

The best action to take when faced with a crisis is to remain calm, tell the truth and tell it in a timely manner. Never ignore a situation because that will only make it worse. Put yourself in the situation of whoever is in the crisis and try to view it from their perspective. Then decide how to best position your company to the public eye. Remember that the goal is to protect the integrity and reputation of the company.

Being in the public eye can have its advantages and its drawbacks, and Kitson is no exception. Being one of the most celebrity-saturated boutiques in Hollywood, Kitson gets a lot of media attention. However, not all media attention is positive and sometimes being in the limelight can be inconvenience.

In 2006, Kitson was in an ugly legal dispute with the tabloid Us Weekly. Kitson declared that Us Weekly was intentionally omitting any mention of the store in its issues because of prior legal disagreements. The quarrel between the two parties began early in the year when an Us Weekly editor threw a private charity party at Kitson and never paid for it. The feud finally went public when the magazine called the boutique a snob.

The crisis: the lack of publicity in Us Weekly was costing Kitson $10,000 a week.

How should the company have dealt with the situation? Kitson should have used the lack of exposure in Us Weekly as an opportunity to reach out to other media outlets. By granting VIP access to launch parties and celebrity appearances, Kitson could have improved relations with the other tabloids. Acting proactively could have saved Kitson a lot of stress and money.

The benefit of dealing with a crisis is learning from the experience. In the future, if Kitson has to go to battle with another tabloid they will already have a crisis plan intact. To read more juicy gossip between Kitson and Us Weekly click here!

Peace, love & fashion!!