Not only luxury brands, but also fast fashion brands such as ZARA and H&M have successfully opened flagship stores in prime locations such as Ginza, Tokyo. The market-entry strategy via flagship stores appears to be successful, as numerous companies have adopted it. However, for this strategy to work, it is important to consider and verify not only the place, but also the product, price, and promotion aspects. This study systematically investigates the flagship store strategy by comparing the strategies of luxury brands, represented by Chanel and Louis Vuitton, and those of SPA (Specialty store retailer of Private label Apparel) brands, represented by ZARA, developed by the Spanish Inditex Corporation.

Effective branding strategy requires systematic management of brand identity and brand image. Brand identity refers to the company’s plan with regard to what associations consumers hold for the brand, whereas brand image refers to the associations consumers actually hold for the brand. According to Aaker (1996), brand identity consists of brand essence, core identity, and extended identity. Brand image, on the other hand, consists of attributes, benefits, and attitudes (Keller, 1993). Given the nature of brand identity and brand image, branding strategy aims to strengthen congruence, but lessen discrepancy among the components. The strategy can be either manipulative or reflective, i.e., changing brand image to correspond with brand identity or changing brand identity to adopt brand image, respectively. Branding strategy of SPA (Specialty Store Retailer of Private Label Apparel: i.e., fast fashion) brands is not an exception. However, SPA brands are characterized as quick response production capabilities with enhanced design capabilities to produce "hot" products that capture the latest consumer trends and exploit minimal production lead times to match supply with uncertain demand (Cachon & Swinney, 2011). Consequently, branding strategy of SPA brands is expected to be more reflective than manipulative. The primary purpose of this study is to verify the expectation, analyzing the branding strategy of the big 3 SPA brands: ZARA, Uniqlo, and H&M. All being SPA brands, the big 3 brands still need to differentiate from the competitors. From the perspective of this study, the differentiation strategy is expected to be manifested in the components of brand image to reflect, i.e., more emphasis on the reflection of attributes, benefits, or attitudes. Accordingly, this study also examines how the details of branding strategy differ among the big 3 SPA brands in this regard.

The advent of Web 3.0 and mobile device is expanding the usage of SNS in terms of response rate and real-time event. SNS advertising is an effective marketing strategy that facilitates productive communication between companies and consumers. With the development of SNS channel, companies, which simultaneously manage hashtag, are increasing. Recently, there is an increase in fashion brands that use hashtag, due to the higher advertising effect, such as consumers’ electronic Word-Of-Mouth (e- WOM). However, despite the increasing importance of hashtag and SNS advertising, only few of previous studies have been conducted. There is a need for in-depth research on advertising attributes that cause the practical view of marketing strategies for fashion brands. This study aims to extract keywords of SPA brands by marketing activities, also as kwon as 4Ps (Product/Place/Promotion/Price) and examine the effects of these attributes on advertising value and advertising effect. In order to achieve objective of this study, a preliminary study and main survey were conducted respectively. In preliminary study, keywords related to marketing activities of SPA brands through social big data and in-depth interview. In main survey, the effects of hashtag and marketing activities on informativeness, enjoyment, interactivity, attitude towards advertising and e-WOM were analyzed. An experimental model of 2 (hashtag/no hashtag) x 4 (product/place/promotion/price) is designed. A total of 782 males and females in 20’s and 30’s are surveyed online and their responses are ranked on a 7-point Likert scale. These results are analyzed using SPSS 21.0, combined with a two-way ANOVA and a multiple regression. Preliminary study reveals that consumer-based keywords are mainly derived accordingly to marketing activities. Most keywords are held with the goals of reviews of products and comments of reasonable price. Eight types of SNS advertisements by SPA brands are used as a stimulus to quantitatively verify the effectiveness of SNS advertising. The results unveil the following. First, hashtag has a significant effect on advertising value and advertising effect. Second, there is an interaction between marketing activities and the hashtag. In addition, results show that the advertising value and advertising effect are significantly different according to various types of SNS fashion marketing, broadening the scope of existing research studies that merely focus on the impact of SNS in the marketing environment. Third, advertising value and interactivity affect advertising effectiveness. It is also confirmed that informativeness, enjoyment, and interactivity have a positive impact on advertising. This study provides an important resource for SNS advertising by examining the effect of hashtag and marketing activities, especially focusing on SPA brands. Moreover, it is expected to make a significant contribution to provide practical implications for companies to achieve positive brand image and effective e-WOM.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of store attributes on brand equity of and brand attitude toward Korean SPA brands. Data were collected from women living in Seoul in ages from 18 to 39 with purchasing experience at Korean SPA brands. A total of 554 questionnaires were used in the statistical analysis including factor analysis and structure equation analysis. The results were as follows: For store attributes, 8 factors were extracted: product assortment, fashionability, price, quality, store environment, service, convenience in location and advertisement. Two factors, brand awareness, brand image were extracted for brand equity, and brand attitude was derived as a single dimension. Product-related store attributes such as product assortment, price, quality have positive effects on brand awareness, brand image and brand attitude. Other attribute such as store environment has positive effect on brand awareness and brand image, Attribute such as advertisement has positive effect on brand awareness and service, convenience in location have positive effect on brand attitude. Moreover, brand image and brand awareness have positive effect on brand attitude. These results indicate the product-related attributes are important factors to consider for improving brand equity and brand attitude for Korean SPA brands.