Clothing Industry: Gap and Ann Taylor

Gap and Ann Taylor are both big companies involved in the clothing industry. Both are considered as a well-known brand that had been patronized by the American society. However, both companies have differences on their marketing strategies. Gap Inc. has four brands that the company has developed to cater to the different sectors of American Society (www. gapinc. com, 2008). The company does not have any gender preference it caters to both the male and the female. The brand Gap represents the typical American Style that caters to all ages. Banana Republic represents a luxurious picture of the American, this brand is considered a luxury to own.

Old Navy is the brand that goes for trendy stuff. Lastly, Piperlime is the brand that caters for the online ordering of shoes for GAP Inc. On the other hand, Ann Taylor provides the woman style, versatility, elegance and brings out her feminine side (www. anntaylor. com). The company has products like apparel, beauty products and shoes. Unlike Gap, Ann Taylor’s products are specially made for the females. The collection of Ann Taylor has two types of store the “Ann Taylor” and the “Ann Taylor Loft”. The Ann Taylor competes with the affordable brands of its competitors.

On the other hand the Ann Taylor Loft competes in a higher priced market. Both companies had been successful in promoting their products in the American society. The success of the company is evident from the number of stores that the companies had built all over the world. A difference in their styles of product is that recently Ann Taylor had decided to promote an apparel chain for the baby boomer generation. Gap had failed in this area with their stores Forth and Towne, however, Ann Taylor decided to take on the challenge of getting the market of the baby boomer generation Both companies use the internet to promote their products.

GAP Inc believes in social responsibility. It promotes social responsibility and its products in activities that concerns the environment, communities and in its factories. Aside from these, GAP had also partnered with the music industry like MTV to promote their products. Other promotions of the company include sales announcements and trends from GAP. Ann Taylor promotes its product through the use of the Internet, same as with GAP, the company believes in supporting the different causes that matters to the modern woman. An example of the supported organization of Ann Taylor is The Breast Cancer Foundation.

The company gives help to the children, the environment and its business partners and clientele. In order to promote its products on sale, the company also uses its website to show its product on sale, and the new arrivals that would send the trend. One of the factors in marketing strategy is the place where the products are sold and the different channels of distribution being used by the company. Ann Taylor distributes its sales through its website, email and stores around the United States, Columbia and Puerto Rico. The Ann Taylor Brand has 386 stores and the Ann Taylor Loft has 483 store locations (www. anntaylorstorecorp. com, 2008).

The company also has Ann Taylor Factory stores where the stocks are sold at factory price. The company’s website shows the details on how to avail its free shipping promo. Gap has 3,100 stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and other locations all over the world. GAP also uses the Internet for a store locator. (www. academia. emporia. edu, 2007) In terms of Pricing, both Ann Taylor and Gap had created a brand for the upper priced items and the affordable items. Ann Taylor and Gap also posts its sale items in their website to show all the items that they have for sale.

REFERENCES:

Gap Inc. (2008) More About Our brands. Retrieved last 18 March 2008 from Gap Inc. Website: http://www. gapinc. com/public/OurBrands/brands. shtml Ann Taylor, (2008). About Us. Retrieved last 17 March 2008 from Ann Taylor. Website: http://www. anntaylor. com Woollard, D. (14 August 2007) Ann Taylor To Go After The Baby Boomers. Retrieved last 18 March 2008 from StyleDash. Website: http://www. styledash. com/2007/08/14/ann-taylor-to-go-after-the-baby-boomers/ Khokhar, S. (2001) Gap Inc. Retrieved last March 15, 2008 from Emporia State University. Website: http://academic. emporia. edu/smithwil/001smmg443/eja/sarg. html