Persona Development Report FOREVER 21 Persona Development Report Jade Saunders-Social Media Marketing

TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Analysis of Primary and Secondary Venn Diagram Personas

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Founded in 1984, Forever 21 has grown to be the 5th largest retailer in the U.S. Despite Forever 21’s vast growth and operation of over 600 stores, it still remains a family owned business. Forever 21 donates a lot of their merchandise to charities and also focus on energy efficient, recycling and other green endeavors. PRODUCTS Forever 21 offers a wide variety of clothing apparel, accessories, and beauty products for men, women, girls, boys and even plus sized customers. Forever 21 offers trendy, up-to-date runway fashions at an affordable cost. Anywhere from business casual to going out on the town, to hanging around the house, Forever 21 will have what customers want to look their best. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING Forever 21 social media allows them to not only keep their already loyal customers up to date on their latest fashions, but also allows them to reach a vast amount of potential customers as well. Forever 21 publisizes all of their social media links on their website. They also make it easy to shop on their social media feeds by posting real customers in their merchandise. Forever 21 encourages their customers to show them their personal Forever 21 style so that Forever 21 may post pictures of the customer in their merchandise on Forever 21 social media sites. Their goal is to increase sales and customer involvement through their social media sites.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CONTINUED TARGET AUDIENCE Forever 21’s target audience are those who want the most fashionable trendy styles but can’t seem to afford to spend a lot of money to get them or come from homes with less than 20,000 income. Forever 21 targets mostly females but they target all members of the family. This is obvious especially on their sites because all of the pictures on their main pages are women. But, they also target as a whole young adults from ages 17-24, teenagers ages from 13-16, pre-teens ages 12-13, and fashion directed/ models. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY Forever 21 takes advantage of the opportunities social media sites and websites bring to them. They have a global market that includes the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Korea, China and Europe. Forever 21 makes a point to target each of these markets with different websites that are not only in the appropriate language for that area, but that also offer clothing styles that appear to the different local customers needs and styles. They also offer different promotions to appeal to each region of the world. Throughout every site, they encourage their customers to interact with them on all of their social media sites and show them their Forever 21 personal style.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CONTINUED CREATING BUZZ Forever 21 is creating buzz among its competitors. Considering they are growing rapidly even as a family owned business, they are posing as a huge threat to competitors. It is hard for competitors to compete with the quality and prices that Forever 21 offers. CREATING COMMUNITY Forever 21 is very active in contributing to keeping the Earth green. For instance, all of their plastic and paper bags are 100% reusable and recycle. Their new stores are energy efficient and they transport their products via sea to reduce carbon emissions. They also hold donation drives for local community organizations. In 2016 alone, Forever 21 donated $11.5 million of merchandise to organizations like DonorsChoose.org and Keep a Breast. POSITIONING Forever 21 positions themselves by encouraging customer interaction within all of their medias. They even post tutorials such as how to achieve “lasting lips” and outfit ideas and inspiration. They encourage their customers to send in what outfits they have put together or their favorite uses of their cosmetic products. They also are constantly updating their customers on new arrivals, flash sales, etc. Conclusion Throughout Forever 21’s success, they have created and managed a large social media presence that is interactive and appears to their market. They have created a brand that offers trendy fashions and styles quickly and at an affordable price which their competitors find hard if not impossible to do at the level Forever 21 has achieved. This unique characteristic of Forever 21 and their efforts for expanding their customer base as well as their brand will continue their growth and success they have already established.

SOURCES http://www.forbes.com/companies/forever-21/ http://www.slideshare.net/brittanyspeaks/forever-21-strategy-and-analysis http://www.slideshare.net/Pengxuef/forever-21-digital-marketing-strat?next_slideshow=1 http://forever21casestudy.weebly.com/target-market.html http://www.businessinsider.com/forever-21-dominating-teen-retail-market-2013-3 https://kaylathorn.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/account-planning-briefing.pdf https://fashionaholic2013.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/forever-21s-networking-strategy-and-brand-extension/ http://www.forever21.com/

ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY & SECONDARY The target audience of Forever 21 is continuing to extend to new audiences. Their target audience is primarily women who are in college or just recently graduated. As a whole, they target audiences ages 18-34 years old with low income. Recently, Forever 21 aims to appeal to everyone in the family including men and children. Forever 21 makes it easy for these college students and families of low income to have access to the most fashionable and trendy styles for a price they can afford. When these parents of low income shop for themselves, they buy for their children because those children are influenced by the older members of their family.

ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY & SECONDARY PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE 18-34 years old Lower-middle income Both male and female (primarily female) Interested in the most fashionable and trendy designs for an affordable price. SECONDARY TARGET AUDIENCE Children and teens between the ages of 10-17 Influenced by their older siblings and parents style

VENN DIAGRAM Personas with NEED that Forever 21 can satisfy Personas influenced by parents and older siblings have Personas who want trendy styles for cheap. PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONA:COLLEGE GIRL TYPE:LOYAL CUSTOMER SECONDARY TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONA: MINI ME TYPE:JOINER PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONA: THE “COOL” MOM TYPE:CONNECTED CUSTOMER PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONA: STYLE SEEKER TYPE:SOCIALIZER SECONDARY TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONA: BROTHER’S IDOLIZER TYPE:SPECTATOR

OPTIMAL TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONAS OPTIMAL TARGET AUDIENCE

COLLEGE GIRL “I am a college student and I waitress on the side. Staying in style is very important to me, I want to look my best at parties on the weekend, but my wallet is very thin. I love shopping at stores that offer me the trendy styles I want without having to spend a lot of money.” MOTIVATIONS Make money to pay for student loans and food Cute affordable clothing is necessary Always look in style and cute GOALS Try to save money on trendy clothing Get a variety of casual and going out clothes PAIN POINTS Can’t afford to spend a lot of money on the latest trends It is important for me to dress cute in college Behaviors Studies a lot Does not have time to go searching for low prices Goes out on the weekends with her friends CLIENT:FOREVER 21 PERSONA NAME: COLLEGE GIRL NAME: TAYLOR TYPE: LOYAL CUSTOMER ROLE: PR MAJJOR

STYLE SEEKER “Creativity plays a huge role in my job and future career. I love trying out styles and trends that are on the edge and make an impression. As a young photographer who hopes to own my own business after graduate school, I am all about risks. I am trying to make a name for myself and make impressions. A huge way I can do that is making lasting impressions on potential clients with how I express my creativity with my clothes. MOTIVATIONS Trying to build a reputation to further my career and future business Need to help my parents pay for graduate school Surround myself with my skater, and artistic friends that are all about style and trends GOALS Make good impressions on the clients I have Be noticed by potential clients Look stylish and together PAIN POINTS Its hard to afford stylish clothes while paying for graduate school with a beginner photographer’s salary` I need different clothing styles to impress different kinds of clients BEHAVIORS Reads catalogs often Enjoys photographing his friends skating and his family photos Enjoys dressing up for special occasions and for special people CLIENT:FOREVER 21 PERSONA NAME: STYLE SEEKER NAME: TYLER TYPE:SOCIALIZER ROLE: PHOTOGRAPHER IN GRADUATE SCHOOOL

THE “COOL” MOM “Just because I am a mom doesn’t mean I have to dress boring right? I love dressing fashionably, but I hate spending a lot of money on myself when I have two kids to provide for as well. I don’t want to look like I am trying to dress like I am 18, but I am not ready to give up my style quite yet. I work at a bank and like to receive compliments on my style while also staying professional.” MOTIVATION Make money to provide for my two children Provide my children with the clothes and the things they want Always look cute but not like I am trying to be 18 again Get the trends I love for the cheapest possible GOALS Spend what you can afford for the latest trends and fashions Provide trendy clothing for my whole family they feel confident in at school/work Buy clothes that I actually like and are trendy but that I can wear to work PAIN POINTS Does not make enough money to buy top of the line clothing brands and provide my kids with all the stuff they need for their extracurricular activities No time to bargain shop with two kids keeping me busy BEHAVIORS Always tries to avoid spending a lot of money Focuses all free time on running the kids around Reads magazines often CLIENT:FOREVER 21 PERSONA NAME: THE “COOL” MOM NAME: CHRISTIE TYPE:CONNECTED CUSTOMER ROLE: WORKS AT A BANK

SECONDARY OPTIMAL TARGET AUDIENCE PERSONAS SECONDARY OPTIMAL TARGET AUDIENCE

MINI ME “My mom buys me and my older sister the cutest clothes. We sometimes end up getting similar outfits and matching! My friends get so jealous of my trendy looks. I feel like my style is how I can express my spunky personality and feel pretty.” MOTIVATIONS: Hanging out with my mom and older sister Dressing cute like my mom and sister do Being able to play in my clothes GOALS Wear clothes my mom and sister like too Have clothes that I can wear with my favorite pair of red converse To make the soccer team PAIN POINTS Its hard to find pants that are not too short and that fit me in the waist Have a hard time deciding what colors do not look good together BEHAVIORS Happy Excited to develop a style like my mom and sister’s style CLIENT:FOREVER 21 PERSONA NAME: CALLIE TYPE: JOINER ROLE: ELEMENTARY STUDENT

BROTHER’S IDOLIZER “My older brother is so cool. He is in college, but he hangs out with me and takes me shopping for cool clothes like he has! He also tells my mom where to find cool clothes that I would like.” MOTIVATIONS My brother picks out cool clothes for me The clothes are comfortable enough for me to skate in My brother helps my mom know where to go to find me cool clothes GOALS Dress like my older brother Wear clothes that are like the clothes my brother wears PAIN POINTS Growing out of clothes too quickly Sometimes my mom wants to dress me how she wants to rather than how I want to BEHAVIORS Love to play outside Love spending time with my older brother CLIENT:FOREVER 21 PERSONA NAME: BROTHER’S IDOLIZER NAME: JAKE TYPE: SPECTATOR ROLE: SKATEBOARDER