The Organizational Strategy

The fashion industry is an ever changing field that requires people to stay on top of their game. One day a designer could be the new "it" designer, and the next they could be out. Therefore, sustaining popularity and a name in the fashion world is something that requires a great deal of strategic planning.

Our text discusses how an organizations decision on where to place themselves in the industry can impact their prevalence to crises. With this in mind, we see that this decision is one that must not be take lightly. It should involve a lot of research and strategic decision making.

An organization can choose to operate within a single industry, in multiple related industries, or in multiple unrelated industries. There are both benefits and drawbacks to both, but it seems to me that when done right, operating in multiple related industries decreases a company's overall risk of enduring crises. I believe that Marc Jacobs has done just that.

As a company, I believe that Marc Jacobs' organizational strategy is to practice in related diversification. This is a term our text book defines as operating multiple businesses in related industries.

Not only is Jacobs a top designer of women's clothing, but he also has a men's line, a couture line, accessories, and various perfumes. Because all of these product lines go together and demonstrate the high quality image Jacobs has become known for, the crisis prevalence could be seen as small.

For example, while other top designers are facing issues due to the failing economy, Jacobs is still prevailing with his less expensive lines like "Marc by Marc Jacobs". This ability to branch out to different demographics has helped the company remain profitable when others are in crisis. I feel that following in the footsteps of Jacobs and diversifying product lines would be beneficial to other designers as well.

Fashion Emergency! Are You Prepared?

Disaster on the runway can occur at any point in a fashion mogule's career. Being the creative director of the prestigous fashion design house Louis Vuitton and the designer of his own successful lines, Marc Jacobs has to be prepared for when trouble arises.

In preparing for a crisis, one of the first steps that must be taken is the creation of a strong crisis management team. When developing the crisis management team, it is important to choose members that can handle stress, listen to the stakeholders and victims, work well in a group and communicate well with publics. If a company fails to successfully choose the members of their crisis management team, the effectiveness of all of their crisis communication efforts will suffer.

Once this team is selected, they will be responsible for developing a crisis management plan to be executed if and when an organization faces a crisis. In my previous posts, I have discussed some crises Marc Jacobs has faced in the past. From recent plagarism lawsuits to his infamous bribery scandal, it seems that the Jacobs crisis management team has chosen a specfic strategy. Keep Quiet.

Understanding the that fashion industry, like any other industry is prone to various crises, it is clear that the Jacobs PR department must get more information into all potential risks to the company and develop strong guidelines on how to react to them. When crises have occurred in the past, representatives for the company have been hesitant to comment or release statements. This is not a very effective way to contain and minimize the damage of a crisis.

Had the company prepared for potential crises and drafted a crisis management plan, they would have had more success in protecting the image of the brand. As Marc Jacobs has seen, it is possible for a crisis to occur in any industry, fashion included, and it's time for major fashion houses to step up and prepare for the inevitable fashion emergency.

New Media Creating a Crisis

As stated in my previous posts, an organizational crisis can come from a variety of outside sources, be it political-legal, economic, social or technological. Although many of there forces can be the cause of crisis, they also present opportunities.

For instance, technological factors include scientific improvements and innovations that create both opportunities and threats for a company. Advances in technology such as the Internet, computers, satellites have proven to be very beneficial to many different industries, the fashion industry included. Today, almost every major designer has an online website that allows customers easy access to their clothing at any time. Also, designers such as Marc Jacobs are taking advantage of new technologies such as live streaming to broadcast their fashion shows online.

While advances in technology has proven to be very beneficial to designers and the fashion world, it can also be the cause of problems. Recently, Robert C. Duffy, President of the fashion house Marc Jacobs created a Twitter account. His tweets, which provide insider information about upcoming lines and shows along with candid photos of Jacobs at work designing his latest masterpiece; became instantly popular gaining over 4,000 followers within two short weeks. While his use of social media has proven to be a very successful promotional tool, it has also caused several issues for the company.

For example, when Duffy released several top executive phone numbers on his twitter page, the company faced an extreme overflow of calls that they were unprepared to deal with. This not only compromised the time of the companys executives, but also tied up their phone lines and prevented important phone calls from getting through. Although this may not seem like an extreme crisis, it proved to be detrimental to the fashion house.

This examples goes to show that no matter how much you may want to, you cannot control what people choose to post on the internet. Although Duffy probably did not think much of it at the time, he created a minor crisis for the organization through the use of his social media page.

To check out Duffy's twitter page, click here!

Get Started Before It's An Issue - Crisis Prevention

It is never a question of if a crisis will occur, but when. This phrase is a cornerstone of crisis communication and has proven time and again to be true. It doesn't matter if you are a Fortune 500 cooperation, a non-profit organization, or the local "Mom and Pop" store, the reality is eventually, your company will face some degree of a crisis.

A crisis is any situation that may effect a company's image, reputation, or integrity and must be dealt with quickly. The best way to deal with whatever crisis may come your way is to prevent it. By developing a strategic approach to crisis prevention, a company can ensure that the come out of the situation in the best way possible.

Most crises have clear warning signals, and by researching and understanding the potential threats to your organization, you should be able to deal with a crisis quickly and effectively. In my previous post I discussed how fashion powerhouse Marc Jacobs could face a crisis caused by either internal and external factors. If left alone, many of these factors I mentioned such as the failing economy and selling of counterfeit Jacobs goods, could potentially turn into crises for the company.

Because Marc Jacobs is such a well-known and sought after fashion line, it is important for the company to have a strong crisis prevention plan in place. The need for crisis prevention was clear when the Marc Jacobs name was dragged through the mud in a 2008 bribery scandal. While it was not reported that the company knew about the use of bribes to attain the Armory for their show during the 2008 New York Fashion Week (the space was booked through an outside agency), they received a lot of bad press on the issue. Even after the news broke, Jacobs did not issue any statements and refused to comment when asked about it. Had Marc Jacobs assesed the potential risks to allowing a different agency to book their venue, they may have avioded being involved in the scandal at all.