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Miller International

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Submitted By ladiekat
Words 1980
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Miller International, Inc.

Strategy Recommendation

Introduction
History
* I’ve chosen to focus my strategy recommendation on Miller International, Inc. I’m particular interested in this company due to the fact that, I, myself am a consumer of their products, particularly their Cruel Girl brand. This brand is crafted for woman and girls. And being a country girl, there is nothing better than a good pair of jeans. Miller International, Inc. is a Denver, Co based manufacturer and marketer of apparels that was formed in 1918. It owns and distributes major premium clothing brands such as Cinch, Cruel Girl, and Rockies. These brands offer high-quality jeans and other western wear for men, women, and children. Over the years this company has evolved to keep up with the ever-changing needs of their customer base. Phillip Miller, the founder, started as a door to door hat salesman. When the need arose, he expanded to a catalog company. With the emergence of retail stores, in 1950, he opened his first brick and mortar store. And now, as back then, the Miller International, Inc. company is continuing to provide their customers with the product and accessibility they require. So in these days of cutting edge technology, they are proving to remain amongst the leading western wear retailers with e-commerce websites and through social media.
Competition
One of Miller International, Inc.’s major competitors in the western wear industry is Wrangler. Wrangler has been around since 1904. They also target a style that is mostly associated with a western-style. The Wrangler brand targets men, women, and children around the world and with their product being sold in 1 of every 5 pairs of jeans that are purchased. Wrangler, as most other retailers, offer an e-commerce website to allow purchasing of products online. The Wrangler site incorporates a lot of dynamic visual elements, as it is important for any kind of business to have effective visual elements involved both in a brick-and-mortar and e-commerce. Visual effects are pleasing to look at and therefore create a more positive buying experience. These elements make the shopper happy and therefore they will purchase more items, and with that being said, this has proven to be very profitable for Wrangler.
Current Usage A. Internet
As mentioned earlier, Miller International, Inc. currently hosts a webpage. On this site they provide various items. They have general company information, as well the background of how they got their start. Other items found on this main site is media and press releases. In some of these press releases they furnish information such as rodeo standings and awarded scholarship recipients. Another feature of this webpage is that it is a login site for their retailers. From this site retailers are able to view items for purchase to display in their physical locations. The main site also provides links to their various brands webpages. Once on the individual webpages, you’ll notice that these are their e-commerce sites for that particular brand. Since customers enjoy online shopping because of its convenience, selections, and competitive pricing, Miller International, Inc. take advantage of this higher profit margin means of sales (Jarvenpaa & Todd, 1997). B. Social Media
Social media refers to interaction among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. It has become a wildy popular form of communication and connectivity. A few of the more popular sites include Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. Currently, Milller International, Inc. has a presence on the social media scene. Each brand hosts their own individual Facebook and Twitter accounts. For content contributors, such as Miller International, Inc., the benefits of participating in social media have gone beyond simply social sharing to building reputation and bringing in career opportunities and monetary income, as discussed in Tang, Gu, and Whinston (2012).
SWOT Analysis A. Strengths
Social media is now used as a form of advertising. According to Tang, Gu, and Whinston (2012), the advantages of using social media include lower costs and more frequent interaction with customers. It’s a much less expensive alternative print ads and television commercials. The brands of Miller International, Inc. are able to put out photos of their current line of clothing to peak their customer’s interests. And with sites such as Facebook, Miller International, Inc. brands are able to attach links back to their webpage for online sales of those items. Social media also helps you reach new and existing customers, alike, remind them to come back, and share as easy as pressing a “Like” button. B. Weaknesses
Although there are a number of positive effects of social media, there are also negative effects as well. According to Gottesman and Robinson (n.d.), one weakness posed by social media is that companies have no way of controlling the information that gets disseminated. Most social media sites do not allow companies to delete comments, posts or other information being publicly posted. Users of social media are free to post information not verified by the company, regardless of its validity. C. Opportunities
There are many opportunities created by social media for retailers like Miller International, Inc. One of these opportunities come by allowing the retailer to engage with their customer base. Being able to correspond with you customers allows for sharing of ideas and receipt of customer suggestions. Social media outlets allow Miller International Inc. to find out the latest trends and what their average customer thinks (Brin, 2011). Retailers are able to get constant feedback from their customers, which is a great tool to determine what to do in their upcoming retail season. D. Threats
According to Higuera (n.d.), new methods of social media can make customers search for products rather than hear about them from different traditional methods such as, such as newsletters, billboards, flyers and newspaper print ads. These particular actions pose a threat to companies like Miller International, Inc., as this can lead to those customers to come across competitors which can cause them to purchase from another retailer and eventually forget about you. Another threat they must also be certain to avoid is false advertising and claiming responsibility of any mistakes or mishaps that are results of their online marketing campaigns (Neher, Barker, M., Barker, D. & Bormann, 2013).
Ethical Aspects A. Dishonesty and Distortions
The internet is not a resource that retailers can ignore, but is it friend or foe? On one hand, the internet enables retail businesses to promote brand awareness through easier channels than just through their physical stores. But, when talking about the benefits of the internet, it’s important to consider that since information spreads quicker than other media sources, that certain statements or news that might be inaccurate or false will spread just as quickly. Social media intends to be a transparent form of communication, but erroneous claims or untruthful comments can jeopardize the long-term reputation of a company with an unmanageable number of message recipients. B. Invasion of Privacy
When things unwittingly encroach on the privacy of social networking participants, it should be deemed unethical if it can possibly harm an individual’s personal and professional credibility. This includes any and all unauthorized actions taken by marketers to reveal profile information as well as the sharing of sensitive personal information through channels that could exploit or otherwise damage an individual. Behavioral targeting is a perfect example which puts social media ethics into question. Advertisers are able to record the online retailers you make purchases from and browse from “click-through” ads. But according to Vinjamuri (n.d.), even when these breaches are unintentional and not malicious, they scare consumers away.
Recommendations
A. Allow Retailers to Order Products for Stores Online
Majority of B2B procurers would opt for a supplier that offers an online ordering option over an equal supplier that only offers print catalog ordering. As of right now, retailers of Miller International, Inc. brands products are not able to order product for their stores online. Retailers are able to view the current catalog online, but must place their order via, fax, phone or email. Creating an online portal to accept orders from retailers will be much for efficient for both parties involved. B. Poll Facebook Followers for Ideas
As stated earlier, customer participation is a great way to gain insight on the needs and wants of your customer base. Miller International, Inc. should use Facebook’s Questions feature to poll their fans for their opinions on new designs. This will give the company to sort of get an idea of what items will be top sellers and what items they should limit production of. C. Provide More Social Media Fan Contests/Events
Miller International, Inc. can post events for their fans to show appreciation to their customers for their loyalty and participation on their social media sites. Also they can make a contests and reward those who referred their page to most people. As a reward Miller International, Inc. can offer some coupons or rebates on for their online shopping sites. They can also run “fans only” contests, so more people tend to join and like their page.
Conclusion
In conclusion, based on the fact that the world is ever changing, it is imperative for retail companies to acclimate to these changes and use the Internet as a means to expand their businesses. However, the constant exposure can sometimes be a ruin when information is publicized incorrectly. Also within a company, the people who usually monitor social media channels, aren’t the same people who make decisions about the direction of the company. So lots of valid ideas and thoughts through social media are often never heard or considered. To completely gain leverage from social media sites, a system needs to be put in place to make sure the ideas coming from consumers over Facebook and Twitter are passed along to the appropriate decision-makers. Proper communication is essential in order for feedback to be effective. Also, once consumers recognize their ideas are being used, they’ll be more apt to dole out other suggestions. The best thing about the emergence of the internet and social media is that it’s a wide open forum for trying new things and connecting in ways never thought possible. Much like everything else, there is always be positive and negative factors that businesses will have to keep an eye out for, but with the boom of retail businesses, if they cannot figure out how to navigate the use the internet as a method of expansion, they will more than likely fail against other retail businesses that are already have online strategies. I feel the above listed recommendations will greatly aid Miller International, Inc in the future uses of the internet and social media, bringing in more clientele, money, and loyalty among their current consumers. *

References

Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Todd, P. A. (1997). Consumer Reactions to Electronic Shopping on the World Wide Web. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1, 59–88.
Tang, Q. and Gu, B. and Whinston, A. B. (2012). Content Contribution for Revenue Sharing and Reputation in Social Media: A Dynamic Structural Model. Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 41-76.
Robinson, K. & Gottesman, R. (n.d.). The Emerging Risks of Social Media. The Institute of Internal Auditors, pp. 17-18.
Brin, D. (2011). Social Media Presents Opportunities, Dilemmas for Retailers. USA Today. Higuera, V. (n.d.). Advantages and Disadvantages of Traditional Marketing. The Houston Chronicle.
Neher, K., Barker, M. S., Barker, D. I., Bormann, N. F. (2013). Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach (1st Ed. ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. pp. 76–78.
Vinjamuri, D. (n.d.). Ethics and the Five Deadly Sins of Social Media. Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2011/11/03/ethics-and-the-5-deadly-sins-of-social-media/

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