In this chapter are put into context all previously presented results that were gained from the online questionnaire and the in-depth interviews. For answering the research questions about perception, in this section, there are used theoretical frameworks for brand image and brand equity which were introduced in the literature review of this thesis.
For the determination of the Hollister brand equity, it is used Customer-based brand equity (CBBE) model, especially the CBBE pyramid from Keller which was introduced in the literature review. The CBBE pyramid has four levels that are divided into the six building blocks which are going to be used for an interpretation of retrieved data, answering the research questions, and in the end for a presentation of a complex picture of the Hollister brand equity.
The first level – Identity
The first building block, known as a fundamental block, is salience that represents a level of awareness and the Hollister brand identity. Beginning with a level of brand awareness, it is divided into recognition and recall. The Hollister brand has a pretty high level of brand recognition which scored 74 %. As it is common, the brand recall reached a lower number than the recognition which was 35 %. Referring to the top-of-mind position among American apparel brands, the Hollister brand reached 13 %. In terms of category identification, a brand-supported association clothing was assigned to the Hollister brand by 87 % of respondents which reflects a strong relationship between the brand and its category. An answer on the first part of the research question “What is a level of brand awareness of the Hollister brand on the Czech market?” is that customers mostly among 19 to 35 years old are aware of the brand and some of them know it as a top-of-mind American apparel brand.
Moving to the brand identity that is involved in the salience block, the Hollister brand maintains a cohesive concept for its identity worldwide. The visual branding consists of a flying seagull in a logo, and a Hollister and California sign written in its font below it.
Its culture is typically American, especially Southern Californian, which induces a feeling of warm summer, beach vibes, surfing culture, and freedom. As was mentioned in the brand identity prism of Hollister Co. in the USA, the brand tends to stand out by providing comfortable clothing in high quality. The Hollister brand personality involves associations such as cool, youthful, sexy, and liberating spirit. It represents
itself by characteristics like fun, modern, and flawless outlook that is supposed to be reflected as youthful, carefree style, and summer lifestyle lovers.
The second level – Meaning
The second level consists of two building blocks – performance and imagery that emphasize the Hollister brand associations, price, design, situations, similarities and differences etc. on the Czech market.
Referring to the performance block the fundamental aspects are primary characteristics and secondary features. As the Hollister brand is mainly an apparel brand that provides clothing for guys and girls, a primary characteristic is a soft and pleasant fabric for wearing, especially by hoodies and t-shirts, which strengthens a key association referring to comfortability. Each piece has a logo and mostly a Hollister sign on it.
The brand keeps consistency in its brand elements which are mostly in maroon, dark blue or white color.
Referring to product reliability, it is considered as a steady brand.
Only a few respondents mentioned that the level of the quality might have been a little bit decreased over the years, however, just by a few pieces of clothing. On the other hand, the durability of products was mostly highlighted when the interviewees were impressed by the long-lasting quality of some Hollister’s products.
The further aspects are style and design that were evaluated as trendy, colorful, and fresh. The brand has a lot of different types of shapes of products and many colors such as ombre, pastel, and tie-dyed that are considered as a typical Hollister’s design.
In addition, the brand reflects this design and the aspects of the brand identity such as summer motives on the shopping bags as well.
The next part of the performance building block is a price. The respondents perceive the Hollister brand as more expensive in comparison to other brands on the Czech market as well as to brands on the American market. On the other hand, the Hollister brand constantly provides sales and promotions that make the clothing affordable. Moreover, the sales and promotions not only motivate customers to buy something, but they also feel smart about the bargain.
Concerning serviceability, the brand provides service in terms of delivery to the Czech Republic because the Hollister brand does not operate with a store in the country. However, the process seems to be very long and costly, so it was rated by interviewees as insufficient, especially when they want to return a product because
of an unfitting size. This also pinpoints the fact that the brand is not accessible enough for the Czech market which has a great impact on other aspects such as sales and so on.
The second building block of the meaning level is imagery that refers to external and more intangible aspects of the brand. Regarding the Hollister brand, most respondents held an impression of a youthful brand (23 % of respondents) because the brand provides mostly colorful clothing and it is comfortable (22 %) due to its soft material, so it is great for chill. In addition, the products are trendy (12 %) and the brand has a large variety of styles and colors. As the brand is stylish but not formal, it is another explanation why it is named as a youthful brand. Among brand associations was mentioned a quality (16 %) as well which pinpointed the fact that the brand stands out also by this aspect. The quality is supposed to be described at a higher level of the Keller’s CBBE pyramid so its definition will be mentioned later. By some respondents was the brand considered as a sporty brand (12 %). However, after the in-depth interviews, the interviewees clarified that it might be meant as a sporty brand only because of the possibility to buy some Hollister products in sports stores. Other mentioned associations that were highlighted especially by interviewees were summer and beach vibes, California, and the logo of a seagull which are an essential part of the Hollister brand culture.
Other part of the imagery are purchase and usage situations of the Hollister brand.
As the brand has only a digital store for the Czech market on the internet, the customers buy it online just exceptionally and if so, it is maximally twice per year when the brand provides sales or promotions. Otherwise, the customers buy products from a Hollister store, mostly when they travel to America which is usually during summer. The reasons for shopping abroad are the possibility of trying the clothing on directly in a store and better prices which are in America lower than in the Czech Republic. Referring to usage situations customers wear the Hollister clothing when they hang out with friends and want to feel comfortable but also casual and cool. Due to high comfort most of them wear it at home for chill as well. However, some pieces are considered sufficiently stylish and classic to be worn to the city or to the cinema.
The next part of this building block are personality and values that consider the brand from five dimensions. The first dimension is sincerity which is viewed as impossible to define because the Czech respondents perceive the Hollister brand as a still-developing brand on the Czech market. However, they assume that the brand has a good reputation.
The second dimension is excitement which the brand Hollister fulfills by its up-to-date
products and assorted innovations such as shining logo when taking a picture of it with a flash. The other dimension that creates the Hollister brand is sophistication.
The last part of imagery are history, heritage, and experiences. Referring to them, the Hollister brand is associated with surfing competitions in California which are sponsored by Hollister. The especially strong position takes experiences which are strongly connected with America and friends because most of the interviewees firstly got into contact with the brand while visiting America. Usually, their friend had already known the brand and took them to the Hollister shop. The Hollister store is unique and original by its features and atmosphere, so it lodges in their minds. As the Czech Republic does not have a Hollister store, the experiences with shopping in-store in America were described as an incredible experience which is memorable as an event. The store experiences were presented as comfortable shopping while which they were feeling relaxed. Referring to a store design, both store concepts were remembered by respondents. The first and original store concept involved beach hacks and palms, and another, the newer one has black walls and a video wall streaming pictures of a sea. Some respondents mentioned scent of nice perfume and playing music in the background as well.
Having the results of the perception in these two building blocks, they provide answers for some of the primary set research questions. With regard to the research question about the Hollister brand associations, the answer was provided in the imagery building block. The Hollister brand stands out especially by its youthful, comfortable, and trendy associations which are perceived by customers as critical. Moreover, the brand is known for its cultural association with California and its related aspects such as seagull, summer, beach vibes, and surfers.
Referring to the further research question about a reflection of the Hollister brand image to the brand identity on the Czech market, it is apparent that the brand communicates the identity right because it is perceived by customers in the same way.
There are just a few differences such as sporty or sexy association that seem to be perceived slightly differently.
The third level – Response
The third level of the CBBE pyramid includes two building blocks judgments and feelings. Judgments refer to customer’s opinions about the brand and an evaluation of the second level called meaning. The first facet of the judgment block is quality.
The Hollister brand products are considered as long-lasting because it maintains great
condition for many years. This is an aspect that is considered when speaking about high-quality products as well. As a high-quality brand, it was evaluated by 26 % of respondents. The vast majority (64 %) consider the Hollister brand as middle quality. However, by a few pieces of clothing was the brand assessed as low quality because of pills on a surface or thinning of fabric. Overall, the brand in terms of clothing quality is seen as a slightly higher-quality brand.
The further judgment aspect is credibility that describes the brand in terms of innovativeness, trustworthiness, and likability. The Hollister brand was evaluated as innovative and keeping up with fashion trends. On the other hand, referring to the trustworthiness, the Hollister brand was evaluated as a weak brand on the Czech market, as the brand is still developing and is not strongly operating in the Czech Republic.
The last aspect that builds the brand credibility is likability in which the Hollister brand keeps its position among slightly interesting and becoming popular brands.
The next part of judgment is the consideration of a possible purchase.
The respondents tend to buy anything from the brand Hollister whenever they are in America because they see it as a great opportunity to buy Hollister products for good prices, or when they are foreign, they at least visit a Hollister store if there is one.
Referring to the Hollister online shop, they consider purchasing something only at that time if there is a sale or a promotion and they buy only pieces of clothing where they are sure about the size, for instance, t-shirt or hoodie.
The last part is brand superiority which describes a level of uniqueness.
In comparison to other brands, the Hollister brand is seen as a unique brand in the Czech Republic. It has its own style and specific characters that differ from others.
The second building block of the response level are brand feelings that are divided into six types – warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval, and self-respect.
The Hollister brand espouses warmth that refers to calm, freedom, and relaxed feelings.
Concerning the fun type of brand-building feelings, the Hollister products induce it through its playful styles, features, and colors. The excitement feelings build the brand through its perception of a cool style and by a surfing culture. Referring to security feelings, the Hollister brand is primarily perceived as a highly comfortable brand.
As a social approval feeling, the customers believe that they look stylish and unique and so do they feel. The last type is self-respect in which the Hollister brand maintains its position by feeling happy and good about the brand. Overall, the Hollister brand is perceived by customers in a positive way which favorably affects customer behavior.
After the determination of each aspect in the third brand building block level, the further research question about perceived quality of the brand Hollister by current and potential customers on the Czech market can be answered. Even the brand has a few pieces that are low quality, most of the products perform a higher level of quality, especially in terms of a long-lasting condition of a shape and a fabric that is supported by a softness of material.
The top level – Relationships
The last level of the CBBE model are relationships, also called resonance, which expresses a relationship level that a customer has with the brand. The resonance has four categories which are behavioral loyalty, attitudinal attachment, sense of community, and active engagement. In terms of behavioral loyalty, the Hollister brand is almost always bought when the customers travel to America. However, considering only the online Hollister shop on the Czech market, the customers buy something maximally twice per year and they buy just the pieces of clothing where they are sure about their size.
The Czech customers are seen as loyal because since their first purchase they have never ended up by not repurchasing another piece of clothing from the Hollister brand. Even, the period among purchases is quite long, the customers usually buy more pieces in one purchase.
The second category is an attitudinal attachment which considers strength of personal attachment. Based on a recommendation question which was especially looking for promoters, the Hollister brand is considered as positive according to the net promoter score. However, its position is not counted among the strongest brands. Some respondents mentioned among their feelings when they wear the brand that they love it and they feel godlike which reflects the promotors attitude.
The next category is a sense of community which is achieved only by providing the loyalty program Cali Club by the Hollister brand on the Czech market which induces a feeling that the customers are a part of the Hollister community. The only communication that the Hollister brand has with the Czech customers is through an e-mail in Cali Club. However, no other platform is provided.
The lack of communication reflects in an active engagement category which is almost impossible to be built when there are any groups or platforms for the Czech Hollister community.
Overall, the setting up of the top level of the CBBE pyramid provides an answer on the research question in terms of relationship referring to a brand loyalty between the Hollister brand and customers on the Czech market. It is apparent that some of the customers are loyal. However, as the Hollister instore is not located in the Czech Republic, the loyal customers repurchase the Hollister products less frequently and mostly in sales or promotions. Those who want to be a part of the Hollister community, are signed up in Cali Club which gives them some advantages in terms of purchases as well.
After a detailed determination of each brand building block of the CBBE pyramid form Keller, the whole brand equity can be assessed. Referring to the last research question about the strength level of the Hollister brand, its performance is rather satisfactory.
However, the lack of communication and missing Hollister stores on the Czech market decrease the strength of the Hollister brand equity. A brief overview of the customer-based brand equity pyramid is presented in Picture 15 below which perfectly captures all key aspects.
Picture 16: Consumer-Based Brand Equity of the Hollister brand on the Czech market
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