Audit of international fashion marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Audit of international fashion marketing - Essay Example Concomitant with the above stated, it is further important to emphasise that South Korea has been recognized for its economic expansion, which was in a shorter period of time than any other country in modem history (Holstein & Nakarmi, 1995). While economic growth was stalled by the onset of the Asian Financial Crisis, S. Korea has since recovered. It reported GDP growth of 8.8 percent in 2000 and 2.7 percent in 2001 (Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, 2002, pp.1-3). Despite Korea's current economic fluctuation, it is still a major Western export market. In 2001, Korea was the eighth largest overall trade partner of the U.S., up from ninth in 1998 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001, p.8). Korea is the sixth largest market for Western exports (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001, p.8) and the U.S. alone provided twenty percent of Korea's imports for the first eight months of 2001 (Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, 2002, pp. 1-3). With increasing trade between the West and Korea, it is import ant for U.S. exporters who are targeting Korean markets, to understand Korean consumers' purchasing behavior. Proceeding from the above stated, it appears that S. Korea may be receptive to Topshop products, both from the economic and the regulatory perspectives. To ensure positive reception, however, it is necessary that the marketing campaign be based on a solid understanding of the country's fashion market and Topshop's potential customers. 2 Fashion Market in South Korea The market for imported casual clothing is especially important because casual clothing for both men and women has taken up almost half of Korea's total imported clothing market. According to Euromonitor (2005), imported clothing for both men and women held 41% of the total clothing market in 2004. At that time, formal clothing for women (26%). formal clothing for men (15%), clothing for babies and children (4), sportswear (11%), and golf wear (9%) accounted for their respective shares in the import market, as indicated in the graph below (Euromonitor, 2005). Regarding casual clothing, the imports were from, in order, the USA (32%). Italy (33%), and Hong Kong (18%), as indicated in the chart below (Euromonitor, 2005), The biggest market share of imported casual clothing reflects the huge growth potential of the casual clothing market for international marketers and the extent of the threat with which domestic marketers are confronted. The graphs and tables in the above communicate two important facts. The first is that the South Korean economy is receptive to foreign imports, as determined through its economic performance and its regulatory environment. The second is that the casual clothing market is a highly lucrative one, with statistics further evidencing the strong market performance of Western fashion. Within the context of the stated, one can tentatively forward the assumption that the South Korean market will positively receive and react to Topshop products. In further reflection upon the information presented in the above, it is clear that some Western markets have a much higher share of the South Korean apparel and fashion market than do others. The UK is hardly represented at all and the United States is disproportionately so. The implication here is that

Discuss Jean Baudrillard's theory of The society of the Simulacrum. Is Essay

Discuss Jean Baudrillard's theory of The society of the Simulacrum. Is photography one of its mechanism or one of its casualties - Essay Example Furthermore, these images have influence on us and our perception. It is not easy to answer directly the question: Is photography one of its mechanisms or one of its casualties This paper will try to approach both sides of the issue considering the place of photography and images take in Jean Baudrillard's theory of simulacrum; it will also give examples and scenes illustrating the key-point factors concerning photography in the theory. It will help to understand Jean Baudrillard's theory of the society of the Simulacrum and approach to the answer. 2. Jean Baudrillard gave its own sense of the term "simulacra". He explained that this term means hyperreality which takes place while we live and learn the world around us through photography and other visual images: "Baudrillard claims that our society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and that in fact all that we know as real is actually a simulation of reality. The simulacra that Baudrillard refers to are signs of culture and media that create the reality that we perceive" (5). Almost all that we see and know about the world and people is taken by us through visual images created by media and contemporary technologies. Photography also plays a very important role for our world perception. But photography has its own specialities for an observer: "The photograph reproduces what only happens once. It repeats mechanically what will never be repeated existentially. In it, the event doesn't transcend itself into something else" (3). An observer has no abili ty to see an event reflected on photography in action. It reflects reality of events which are already gone. So, a photo picture is not real for us. So, it is related to Jean Baudrillard's theory of simulacrum as unreal world. Photography, as well as some other images which bring us visual information, is the imprint of a past event made by technical means, and has no real relation to the present: "The photography, the film, the novel, the art testify since the 19th century of this emergence of the object, of objects in their matter-of-factness, in their nauseous banality, in their hostile technicity" (3).An operator making a snapshot is a part of the mechanism. He plays an active role in transforming reality into visual images. He stops the instant; he is a moderator of the process. And his function of reality reflecting comes to an end when a snapshot has been done. So, he is not a part of this reflected reality: "In any case, the operator has to disappear at the same time as he m akes his object disappear. This is a part of the magical illusion of the photography. Have you noticed that God is absent from all photographs And why is He absent Because Himself is the photographer" (3). So, Jean Baudrillard makes