Reference no: EM131755141

Competitive Advantage:

Feedback: You do a nice job of describing what makes Poshmark unique and special. But this section is written in a way that is completely blind to the competition and what these companies are actually doing to steal customers and market share away from Poshmark. In fact, this section really doesn't address much of what question 3 in the assignment is asking for (maybe go back and read it?).

What I am looking for in this section is that for each tool that you choose (i.e. social media, banner advertising, print advertising, and radio advertising) is to compare and contrast your proposed efforts with how your competition (e.g. ThredUP, eBay, and Depop) is using these tools.

In this section, you shouldn't group all of your competitors together, but rather address each individually. Tell me what each of them is doing in the realm of radio, print, banner and social media advertising. Compare and contrast their efforts and then communicate exactly what makes your ideas different and better.

The main challenge that Poshmark faces today is in customer awareness and willingness to use its service. Today, more women than men are aware of Poshmark's services and are using them. Men, however, are not aware of the company's services that are available to them. Poshmark has mostly focused its campaigns on women, leaving men out of the picture. Therefore, there are not enough men to purchase the company's products and services.

Also, many of the people who know about Poshmark may hesitate to use the site since they feel that the process of buying and selling from other users is hard to follow. Poshmark is now attempting to combat these issues through an integrated marketing communication plan, which surpasses that used by its competitors.

Poshmark, unlike most of the competitors, focuses on millennials. It seeks to empower college students, as well as middle-income earners to make money selling clothes and buying them at better prices. Targeting both genders has made it sell its product widely and to middle-class earners due to their positioning as a cost-efficient clothes shop. Poshmark has positioned itself in a manner that shows its clients (low and middle-income earners), how easy and possible it is to sell clothes from their houses. Shipping and receiving of products is also made easy for its clients. Many public figures prefer to use Poshmark rather than their competitors Depop, ThreadUP, and eBay because of their price, quality, and their wide range of products.

Poshmark has adopted the Theory of reasoned action (TORA) model for its customers to see how the company is ranked. As much as price is always viewed as the determining factor when it comes to competition in the market, Poshmark allows individual sellers to determine the price of items.

In this, they choose to beat their competitors by offering new quality clothes while their competitors sell worn-out clothes to their customers. Poshmark is keen on user-friendliness to avoid communication breakdown with its customers since this would make it lose a great deal to their competitors. Also, the company is using the cognitive response model, which shows how the response is for its

campaigns and the advertisements.

Poshmark has also managed to outdo its peers through its celebrity endorsement strategy. It utilizes pop culture artists such as Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik to increase the number of millennials who love Poshmark products and services.

The use of high profile figures has helped Poshmark develop an edge against competitors such as ThredUP, eBay, and Depop. The two celebrities, who have a vast group of followers on social media have promoted the public's knowledge of Poshmark and its services. Poshmark's use of social media has helped provide direct live tutorials and promotional offers to first-time customers. This has made the company more popular than its peers in the clothes industry.

Zayn and Gigi have also played a huge role in attracting male customers to the company. Furthermore, the company uses radio, as well as print ads to promote campaigns on the steps of using the service. The ads spread testimonial messages on how current customers have had fast and easy time with Poshmark. For instance, Gigi and Zayn testimonial messages have given users confidence about Poshmark.

In conclusion, Poshmark is the highest top-ranked among its peers. It has been able to acquire a lot of customers through its integrated marketing communication plan. This communication plan constitutes the introduction of a wide range of products that meet the needs of both men and women, the use of print and radio ads, and use of high profile individuals. The company, through its plan, has also brought the young people on board by empowering them to earn money through marketing its products. The plan has helped the company gain a competitive edge over its peers and retain and acquire a new customer, thus becoming one of the most successful companies in the fashion industry.