that it is seeking an aggressive growth rate in this segment, with the goal of having a 30 percent contribution to sales by 2013. Entry into the women's market was only completed a few years ago, and the transition has not been easy. The company has shifted its women's headquarters from Milan to Metzingen, and the line has undergone complete redesigns several times in its short history. However, the company believes that in the long-term, the women's market will be critical to the success of Hugo Boss.
Zegna has not invested in a line for women, nor has it expressed any desire to do so in the future. Instead, it is focusing on the high-end fashion consumer--recognizing that women are often influential in men's clothing purchases--and has added shoes and accessories as well as made-to-measure clothing to its traditional line of suits and sportswear. In this way, Zegna continues to focus on its traditional target market rather than expand to include a women's line.
Zegna uses a variety of promotional strategies, but relies heavily on print advertising for its promotion. In addition to print advertising, the company also uses its Web site and relies on in-store selling by its own representatives in its stores, as well as by non-Zegna personnel in other retail outlets. In late 2002, Zegna introduced a new promotional campaign in which the company used a series of black and white portraits of recognizable men wearing Zegna clothing. The advertisements featured men such as Giuseppe Cipriani, a restaurateur, and Dario Franchetti, a racecar driver. The advertisements themselves ran in magazines that reach the Zegna target market, including GQ, Vanity Fair and the Financial Times.
Hugo Boss has adopted a much higher profile than Zegna using television ads to build support for its fragrances in Europe, and sponsoring a racing boat that it then spotlights in a special television program. Hugo Boss also uses print advertisin...