BACKGROUND

Kate Spade New York is a designer of handbags, baby bags, luggage, glasses, paper, shoes, pajamas, beauty products and small goods. Kate Spade, the sister of comedian David Spade and founder of Kate Spade New York, began her career in fashion small and on her own. Her Kate Spade label has now become a major name in fashion.

Her products are very feminine, very country club, and I suspect her advertising campaigns are presented in a similar fashion. I first heard of Kate Spade because of her handbags, but I also enjoy her shoe line. I am not as interested in her other products.

The Kate Spade label carries a fairly hefty price, as do most well known designers. From personal experience, the average cost of a Kate Spade handbag is approximately $250, and about $200 for a pair of shoes. Her products are not as pricey as some designers, but are definitely more expensive than the average.

1. What is her inspiration for her products, and thus her advertising campaigns?
2. Who is responsible for designing those campaigns? Does she higher an outside ad firm or have people within her corporation? How could one find employment advertising for her?
3. How much does advertising constitute her budget?

My intended audience for this project would be young to middle-aged women. I find it hard to believe a man would be interested in Kate Spade unless buying for a woman. The audience is also mostly upper middle to high class since her prices are high. However, women unable to afford her products might still be interested in browsing" Kate Spade's designs. Readers of fashion magazines and viewers of fashion television programs might also be interested.

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WEB SITES

1. Euro RSCG Marketing Service
Reviews Euro RSCG’s marketing goals and policies.

2. Effectively Marketing to Women: Tapping Into Hidden Profits
Provides details on how to effectively market to women, how a
woman shops, and how to market to women online.

3. Marketing to Women on the Web
Provides information for online retailers as to how to market to
women by keeping information simple, creating a loyal relationship and
understanding how women make purchasing decisions.

4. Media: Advertising to Women
Discusses marketing management, suggesting that the advertising message must reflect what women feel is important. It also provides examples of effective advertising campaigns.

5. Campaigns That Work: Marketing Strategies and Promotions for the Online World
Provides information on how to create “campaigns that work” for the consumer and the retailer and how to maximize Internet ad campaigns.


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WEB ARTICLES (Must be able to access UNC Libraries E Indexes and Databases)

These links only link you to the databases' homepages. Once there, you must search for the article.

1. "Queen of Spades"

2. “Controversy Leads to First Gig"

3. “Kate Spade really digs her designs.”

4. “Kate Spade: The woman and the brand share a flexible nature.”

5. "Kate Spade Aims to Broaden Horizons as a Lifestyle Brand..."

 

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HARD COPY SOURCES

Search these or any articles in the UNC Libraries Catalog.

1. Abramson, Susan. Shops & Boutiques 2000. Glen Cove: PBC International, 1999.
[HF5429 .A29 1999]

2. O’Shaughnessy, John. The Marketing Power of Emotion. Oxford: Oxford University, 2003.
[HF5415.32 .O743 2003]

3. Still Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women. VHS. Cambridge
Documentary Films, Cambridge, 1987.
[65-J217]

4. Popcorn, Faith. Eight Truths of Marketing to Women. New York: Hyperion, 2000.
[HF5415.33.U6 P66 2000]

5. Lee, Michelle. Fashion victim: Our love-hate relationship with dressing, shopping, and the cost of style. New York: Broadway, 2003.
[GT524 .L44 2003]

Suggested Search Terms:

1. kate spade

2. kate spage w4 new york

3. marketing AND women

4. advertising AND women

 

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THE NEW ILLEGAL TUPPERWARE

There is a new kind of Tupperware party in town: the purse party. Instead of gathering to buy the latest Tupperware, women gather to purchase designer purses. But the catch is, those purses are fake. (1) Technically such parties are illegal. But the women don’t want to consider that what they are doing is wrong, and illegal. Vendors on street corners sell fake Oakley’s and fake Kate Spades all the time. Customers and vendors might not see the harm, but the designers do.

Kate Spade’s company, whose purses are one of the most frequently copied, has spent as much as $1 million during a single year to work with law enforcement to stop counterfeiters. (2) Officials say some of the money used to buy counterfeits is going to “criminal activity, narcotics trafficking, and prostitution.” (1) So perhaps those purse parties aren’t as harmless after all.

What makes the counterfeit situation even harder to tame is the Internet. Women who purchase counterfeits online say the quality is good. (3) And, selling counterfeits over the Internet is less risky than selling them on the street. “It is the very ‘faceless’ nature of the digital marketplace that allows both genuine merchants and counterfeiters alike to exploit their respective trades.” (4) The Internet also allows counterfeiters to exude an authenticity that they are not capable of doing on the street. Websites can display authentic pictures to make their knock-offs look like the real thing. Even worse, the Internet can help hide the identity of the counterfeiter, especially when the counterfeiters use fake domain names, making it even harder for police and companies to trace them and bring them into court. (4).

NOTES:

(1) “An Accessory to Crime,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 December 2002, sec. Lifestyle, p. E-1. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis Academic. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>. [30 January 2003].

(2). “Knockoffs knockouts for bargain handbag hunters; Fake purses force name designer to pursue legal action,” The Denver Post, 17 October 2002, sec. F, p.1. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis Academic. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>. [30 January 2003].

(3). “Fashion knockoffs rising in popularity, respectability,” Chattanooga Times, 8 November 2002, sec. Lifestyle, p. E1. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis Academic. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>. [30 January 2003].

(4). Mark S. Sommers and Susan M. Freedman, “Counterfeits in the Internet Age,” Mondaq Business Briefing, 16 August 2002. . Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis Academic. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>. [30 January 2003].

 

Related Websites:

1. Avoiding Counterfeit Products
Gives consumers tips on how to avoid buying counterfeit goods.

2. Prada P.I.: Private Detective pursues the counterfeit purse-makers
Article discusses how similar counterfeit purses are to the real ones, and how one detective can tell the difference

3. The Fakes on Fakes!
Describes counterfeiting, some problems with counterfeit goods and how to spot a fake.

 

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