Ted Baker Brand

Ted Baker’s background information

Raymond S. Kelvin is the founder and CEO of Ted Baker, one of the world’s most famous retail and wholesale store for clothes and fashion accessories in the clothing business. Born in Middlesex in 1955, Kelvin’s first venture in this business is the Ted Baker itself when he opened it in 1988 at Glasgow, Scotland. Kelvin is known for his unusual sense of humour where you can see in his office images of garden gnomes, a picture of giant lobster above the door of his office and a computerized image of a dog. He is not very fond of interviews, actually and insists that he got the name Ted Baker from his self-made fictional character. According to him, his creation of Ted is not only a promotional brand that would be most familiar with the public but a line of clothing that would suit a Ted on any occasion. Therefore Ted symbolizes the young generation of men who goes for clothes that are trendy, elegant and affordable (Long, 2007).

According to Kelvin, Ted Baker embodies the overall ordinary English lad who loves to go fishing in his simple but trendy clothes, caring for his dogs, travel and party with friends. Since he embodies the usual next boy type, he know what to wear and what to say to people which clearly express the personification of the young male generation. In other words, Kelvin made the idea of Ted Baker as a representation of the young men’s fashion.

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Kelvin started out Ted Baker primarily as a men’s shirt shop because of his love for it. His ambitions were simple. Just sell his shirts whenever anyone likes it. But as a retail shop, one different thing about Kelvin is he does not go with the trend of marketing through media advertising. Instead, he relied on word of mouth selling by explicitly describing his products personally to his customers to which the customers will gain knowledge about the product, buy it and tell other people about the experience. His philosophy is to treat his every customer with importance so that he may go along talking to people about his products and discover from them what people wants. Because people loved personal advertising, this kind of private publicity became the trademark of Ted Baker. Although Kelvin avoids traditional advertising, he relies more on putting the best qualities in his products with a strong image brand and individuality.

What is also interesting in Ted’s shop is his Kevin’s mom who is already 81 years old. From time to time she would visit the shop and helps around assisting customers while wearing the tag that read: “Ted’s Mum”. Although this may seem as a support for his son’s endeavour, it has also become a personal promotional support towards their customers.

After the successful launch of Ted Baker in Glasgow, Kelvin put up another store in Manchester and Nottingham. By 1990 another Ted Baker store opened at Covent Garden, a place that is considered one of the trendiest places in London. He was able to buy out his once partner retailer A. Goldberg & Sons and now Kelvin controls almost all the management of Ted Baker. During this time, he also ventured on apparel and accessories for women and children.

Since Ted Baker’s solid ground establishment in 1997, it has reported a pre-tax profit of 20.7% or 24.5 million Euros. On revenue, more than 149.4 million Euros were reported solely for the 2004 only.

By 2005, Ted continues to launch other branches abroad as he launched his international designer label. He now capitalizes in wholesaling and today more than 100 Ted Baker locations can be found on different department stores in the UK and different countries around the world. From men’s shirts, it now expanded its product lines into different trendy apparel for people of all ages and has ventured into accessories and house wares as well. As of 2007, the company has a capitalisation of 250 million pounds (Guardian, 2005).

•          Information on its design and appeal to customers

The Ted Baker lines of clothes are considered one of the most inventive in the world of people’s fashion. Though previously it relied only on word-of-mouth advertising, its recognition was extraordinary. As Ted Baker occupies nearly all independent menswear stores that promote quality wear for all ages and gender, it has never stopped in creating the best designer lines in the market. Two of the characteristics that Ted has are its trademarks on its designs and quality that speak for themselves. An example is Ted’s popular design of his dress shirts which he himself designs. While most shirts pleasant appearance are recognized only by their elegance, Ted’s shirts are of extremely high quality fabric that are well fitted and perfectly tapered than the usual dress shirts. As of 2008, his latest collection were of a variety of patterned shirts that are an assortment of chequered, zigzagged, broadly striped and flashy coloured solid shirts. The “Binx” style shirt offers a rakish pink in a more traditional white that can be complemented by a sateen finish for superior lustre and it has a cut-away collar for a completely classy yet sassy look.

Furthermore, the neckties are one of the best buys at Ted’s because of their elegant vibrant and attractive hues that can be matched with almost any formal wear. The designs are of randomly erratic, with patterns that are very much unpredictable but show polished and artistic flair. Ted Baker’s neckties are known for their signature characteristics – funky, fun and modern. The styles “Banker”, “Strungo” and “Kensing” are brightly striped crimson and pink ties that would best complement with the “Binx” to make the pairing solid and bolder (Morine, 2008).

When Kelvin was interviewed by The Times on September 2007 and asked how does he run things to make his selling unique and successful, he said he do not actually hang out with the high-street bosses of fashion and does not do valuations nor market research. What he does is creating an attitude other than the usual target market and advertising. The Ted Baker culture is only of unique process - people come into the shop and get Ted-ucated. They are toured around the shops, they ask questions and discover the brands with personal orientation. In this manner, they become more attached to the products and create loyalty to the store (Long, 2007).

Since Ted’s products are all for people, clients who love Ted’s say only nice things about the products. Generally what they like most about Ted’s is its unique shirt designs, the high quality fabrics it has, and most of all, the helpful and friendly customer assistance it provides to its buyers. People look for clothes that are sometimes different from the ordinary but can express the physical beauty of the people and at the same time feel comfortable in buying it. Ted emanates all these things because of the best products it present and the warm treatment the staffs provide to their customers. Perhaps not only the uniqueness of the clothes that makes Ted more popular although it is the first thing that people wants but also making the shoppers feel important is what makes Ted unique and cosy to shop to.

•          The target markets

Because of the passion the people have shown to Ted’s products, Ted Baker has expanded its coverage now with operating stores across the rest of the continental Europe, the Middle East, the United States and the Australasian region. Due to its larger coverage, it needs to continue with the wholesale business thus it now also covers New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Greece, Canada, Spain, the British Isles, Belgium and the Netherlands (Beckett, 2008).

As of January 2008, the company now operates 24 stores, 85 concessions and 10 outlet stores in Europe, 8 in the United States and now there are 7 stores in Dubai, 3 stores in Malaysia and concessions in Singapore, Hongkong, Taiwan and Thailand. Ted Baker refers to his wholesale customers as his “Ted Baker Trustees” (BusinessWeek, 2009).

Ted Baker’s brands are appealing to a broad audience of men and women of any age and therefore they serve as its target market. The company has a strict adherence to their products of high quality, always innovated and have attention to details. They want to impart to their target customers that Ted Baker is not just a brand but a way of life that does have its own distinctive, individualized style that are always loaded with imagination (Minx, 2009).

•          Ted’s current products and ranges

Almost all products worn by trendy people are available at Ted’s. The company has now able to contract to other companies to sell its products online and this became very convenient for shoppers who want to have first hand look at every product. The lists of products with different prices at affordable rates are almost endless but the most popular items among others are listed here and these are the following:

For women: coats from £95 to £150, shoes from £35 to £100, boots from £102 to £180, sandals from £17 to £20, watches from £93 to £150, fashion accessories from £16 to £180, fragrances from £25 to £35, gift ideas from £15 to £35, handbags from £99 to £169, home accessories from £8 to £35, make-up from £12 to £15, bracelets from £55 to £95, cufflinks from £19 to £50, blouses from £52 to £100, chemises from £35 to £45, dresses from £120 to 147, earrings from £35 to £45, evening dress from £117 to £132, necklaces from £75 to £95, perfumes from £10 to£35, skirts from £77 to £150 and swimsuits from £50 to £65,

For men: clothes from £48 to £150, jewellery from £35 to £40, shoes from £55 to £295, watches from £107 to £150, underwear from £16 to £18, belts from £54 to £65, clothing from £33 to £69, T shirts from £25 to £55, trainers from £58 to £65 and wallets from £45 to £60.

For the young generation such as the kids and specifically the boys, there are also different clothes item which ranged from £65 to £100. All prices may vary from each store and state in the UK area. For other countries, the prices are also expected to differ depending on the concessionaries who sell Ted Baker’s products. There are also discount rates especially to those who live around or near the UK zone. In the US, most people usually order their items directly from UK if their selected items are not available in the US (CompareStorePrices.co.uk, 2009).

•          Sourcing (origins of the goods)

For now, there are no specific details with regards to where the products of Ted come from and they do not actually publish their manufacturers and providers of their materials. Inherently, the company ought to think that what is more important is the quality, the significance, the individuality and the reputation of the product. Probably this is due to the fact that Ted Baker has relied on its reputation wherein its products must present itself perfectly to the public and the origin of its products is of no significance. Other popular brands also do not post the origins of their products in order to protect their privacy and the privacy of the manufacturers and designers. The keyword here is quality and the goodness of the items. The only thing we are sure for now is that all Ted’s manufacturers are helping Kelvin represents Ted Baker’s products in the most convenient way. Obviously the people will not make a following if Ted Baker failed in its endeavour of providing high quality products to its customers but right now all good things are being said about this company and its products.

•          Promotional material

Basically Ted Baker has a tradition of promoting its products personally to their customers and does not indulge on multi-media advertising. But since the beginning of its expansion and launching of its international products and gathering concessionaires around the globe, obviously it let other people do the marketing themselves. The involvement of other retailers necessitates Ted’s unification to commercial globalization. Global marketing is the newest trend in retail business and has proven to be the most effective in marketing of products especially of popular brand like Ted Baker.

Today, although Ted Baker is seen as a multi-million Euro industry in the UK, it has now become a multi-billion dollar business if we look at its global marketing and its profitability. Since its expansion, many well-known retailers promote Ted’s products because they are considered the best buys in the market. Some of these popular retail stores that promote Ted Baker’s products offer discounts for as low as 10% such as the Debenhams, Shoe Studio, UnderU, Soletrader, USC, Oli, Fragrance Direct and Discount 365 (DiscountShopping.uk, 2009).

But Ted did not leave out his commitment to his customers as it always reaches out even far for his clients. It has always in his hands promotional device in giving discounts to his loyal customers. Recently Kelvin gathered all his friends to talk to PayPal to create special offers for his clients in the UK. By simply checking out items using the customer’s PayPal account within the UK Mainland address, the customer will not have to pay any cent for the delivery. The customer must only enter the promotion code: paypal and complete the instructions on the checkout portion and the product will be at hand free of charge (TedBakerLondon, 2009).

Ted Baker also has his own websites such as www.tedbaker.com and the tedbaker.co.uk where customers can check all the available clothing, accessories and promotions in the UK and different countries. It also coordinates with domain owners in the UK that specializes in online marketing and providing value promotions, discount codes, discount voucher codes and promotional coupon codes to catch the attention of potential customers. The customer who wants to avail of these promos will just visit the site, input their e-mail address and every time Ted Baker releases its special promotions and discounts the recipient will be notified immediately of the offer (MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, 2009).  Today, Ted Baker’s headquarters is located at The Ugly Brown Building, 6A St., Pancras Way, London.

References:

Beckett, P. 2008, Ted Baker: No Ordinary Fashion Designer. Articlesbase, viewed 12, May 2009, <http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/ted-baker-no-ordinary-fashion-designer-346910.html>

BUSINESSWEEK 2009, Ted Baker plc BusinessWeek - Business Exchange, viewed 12, May 2009, <http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ric=TBK.L>

CompareStorePrices.co.uk 2009, Ted Baker Products. London, viewed 11, May 2009, <http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/by-make/t/ted-baker-fashion-accessories.asp>

DiscountShopping.uk 2009, Retailers Listed Who Stock Ted Baker Products, viewed 12, May 2009, <http://www.discountshoppinguk.co.uk/buy-brands/ted-baker/>

Guardian, T. 2005, No. 89: Ted Baker BusinessWeek. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. viewed 11, May 2009 <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_43/b3956810.htm>

Long, C. 2007, I want to Ted-ucate. Times Newspaper Ltd. Times Online ed., viewed 12, May 2009 <http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article2529681.ece>

Minx, 2009, Ladies. London, viewed 12, May 2009 <http://www.urbanminx.com/designers/tedbakerwomens.asp>

Morine, N. 2008, Men's Designer Fashion ; Style – Ted Baker. Suite101.com, viewed 11, May 2009 ;http://mensfashion.suite101.com/article.cfm/mens_designer_fashion_style_ted_baker;

MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, 2009, Ted Baker Voucher Codes, Discounts ; Deals. London, Markco Media Ltd. Markco Media Ltd., viewed 11, May 2009 ;http://www.myvouchercodes.co.uk/discounts/TedBaker.co.uk;

TedBakerLondon 2009, PayPal Free* Delivery Promotion, viewed 12, May 2009 ;http://www.tedbaker.com/customer-service/paypal/;

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