Case Study on MICO
Relevant Facts
MICO is a high-end boutique which caters in promoting and selling specialized garments. Owned by Mia Urquico, which was established in 1987 after she took over her brother’s shop. Mia started her styling and designing venture back in college where she would work on her classmates during breaks. She started getting inspired by ideas she’d see from magazines but eventually developed her own style and the designs would just come to her. She also got inspired with designs from different countries and cultures that she get exposed to from all of her travelling.
The main branch is located at Shangrila which happens to be their first shop as well. Soon enough, they expanded their reach by opening a store at Festival Mall Alabang and Eastwood Quezon City.
MICO sells a variety of clothes: ranging from dresses, blouses, evening and prom gowns to blazers, sleeveless and long-sleeved shirts, suits, barong and wedding gowns. Although, their flagship product was the party dresses which happen to sell more to their customers.
MICO’s visibility to the public was most likely due to word-of-mouth. Mia already worked on designs for different high-end clients, one of which was Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
MICO thrives on uniqueness for their brand. Materials are often bought outside the country during her trips abroad making their designs truly one-of-a-kind.
When it comes to cost consideration, their prices would considered to be lower compared to different high-end brands selling around the metro.
Statement of the Problem * Limited reach and customers. * Limited visibility and is less known compared to other brands.
Objectives
* To expand target market and increase sales. * To improve on marketing and making the brand more known around the Metro.
Analysis
Strengths | Weaknesses | * Materials being bought outside the country making product unique which remains the brand’s strongest selling point. * Variety of product sold. * Previous transactions with high-end people that would help MICO extend its network of customer as possible. * Main branch located at the middle of Ortigas district. | * Still a bit pricey for regular people. * Limited number of stores. | Opportunities | Threats | * Limited advertising to help the brand be known to a greater number of people. | * Growing competition between other brands. |

Core Concepts
To effectively know your strength and what makes you better than your competitor is a good strategy in all kinds of business. If you know what makes your business stand out, you can use that in your advantage and invest more on your strengths to make your brand well known. In the case of MICO, it’s already established that they are selling one-of-a-kind items which I personally think is good because they can convince people to buy them due to the fact that no one or a less (by less we mean at least 3 heads) percentage of people would have the same design as theirs.
However, the challenge I am seeing is that MICO is not a household brand. To improve on their sales, they have to take risk and invest on marketing strategies that would make them more visible which would eventually lead to expanding their network of customers.
Alternatives
A. Invest in Advertising such as TVC, billboard etc.
Advantages:
* Would increase visibility of the brand to the masses * Easiest way to get people’s buy-in compared to “just” depending on word of mouth
Disadvantages:
* Costly: Considering getting an endorser and paying for the production of the material.

B. Invest in adding stores in highly commercialized malls such as SM and Robinsons.
Advantages:
* Would increase visibility of the brand to the masses * Stores will become more accessible compared to being limited to three shops only
Disadvantages:
* Brand will be too commercialized * Can also get costly C. Go on sale. Offer discounts.
Advantages:
* Best way to get people’s buy-in * Increase number of customers
Disadvantages:
* Slow profit return D. Create a website where people can purchase their items online.
Advantages:
* Increase visibility of the brand * Convenient for many customers
Disadvantages:
* Risk of getting bad comments online which can affect people’s perception about the product
Recommendation
MICO is already a brand that can produce quality goods so that’s already a go. But in order for them to increase their sales, MICO has to be more visible first. The best possible action to take from the alternatives above is to invest on different advertising tactics. Once they gain customer’s interest, a lot of people will then visit their store with one mind-set in mind: In order for them to get that one dress that is unique and would fit well.
Roll-out Plan
By now, I would like to assume that Urquico already has connection to different people who can help her with advertising. Given that most of the people that she’s dealing with are business executives, she can start printing out flyers which can be placed at these customer’s workplace. Also, with a strong connection to influential people, she can probably get an endorser to work on her TV commercial or billboard ads with an affordable price.
When they get the return for the losses they incur due to advertisement, she can plan a sale to entice the masses to buy their product. Soon, the brand will become a household brand. Eventually, if everything pans out right, she can start investing on opening branches to different commercial shopping centres to make her shop more accessible to the public.