C&A strengths image to face competitors
Valor Econômico 03/23/2009
In order not to risk loosing its historical leadership in the fashion retail in Brazil, C&A started the year with an aggressive marketing campaign, the most exuberant since the hiring of Gisele Bündchen, between 2001 and 2003, and it decided to give its stores a new look. This time, the faces chosen are those of the top models Carol Trentini, Emanuela de Paula and Alessandra Ambrósio, whose initials are the same of the C&A brand. The campaign starred by Gisele Bündchen is considered a landmark and it helped build the image of the retail company in Brazil, where its presence is stronger than in some European countries.
According to analysts of the sector, the Brazilian subsidiary is the most successful of the group in the world. In Europe, C&A faced the competition of the new world retail companies, like the Spanish Zara and the Swedish H&M, which ended up by taking over the leadership in such market. And this is the risk the retailer does not intend to have in Brazil. DM9 is in charge of the advertising campaigns. It was contracted in May 2008, when C&A gave up producing itself the advertisement of the brand, thus abandoning an old practice. In order to modernize the stores in Brazil, C&A contracted the American design office Chute Gederman. According to Elio França, C&A marketing director, at least 15 of the current 168 stores of C&A in Brazil will be converted into the new model. After inaugurating 55 stores in the last three years, the company will keep its expansion plan, in spite of the economic crisis. For 2009, there are 10 inaugurations planned, says França. Since 2006, competitors Marisa, Renner and Riachuelo accelerated the expansion and exceeded the mark of R$ 2 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) of annual income in 2008. But, for now, the leadership of C&A is not threatened. In a report released in 2008 about the clothing retail in Brazil, the Credit Suisse bank estimates that the sales of the retailer exceeds R$ 4 billion (US$ 2.19 billion) in Brazil. No number related to the operation is revealed by C&A in Brazil, which does not reveal its financial results in Europe either.