Founded in 1970, Joyce is recognized as a pioneering tastemaker in the fashion world, continuously representing designers who transcend creative boundaries, and focusing craftsmanship and creativity. It offers women’s and men’s ready-to-wear that reaches beyond standard seasonal trends. The uniqueness of Joyce not only affects the fashion world but also applies in business concept.
The success of Joyce can attribute to the long tail marketing. Anderson (2006) stated that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of mainstream products. Back in 1970s, the founder Joyce Ma made use of her expertise and experience in Wing On department store and founded the first Joyce Boutique at Mandarin Oriental in Central. Joyce not only carried mainstream fashion brands but also introduced a number of up-and-coming western fashion brands to Hong Kong including Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Comme des Garçons and so on so forth. The unusual and innovative fashion brands successfully drew local attention and major popularity. Although the establishment of Joyce was long before the long tail theory, Joyce managed to use the “niche” products to attract consumers and soon became one of the largest fashion enterprise in the time. Joyce became a listing company in 1990s.
In the early 90s, Joyce extends its business outside the fashion world. Joyce founded “The World of Joyce” included “Joyce Living” and “Joyce café” in Central to offer home décor products and beverage. The brand further established “Joyce Flowers” and “Joyce Beauty”, it created a brand new retail business model to help build create brand loyalty of customers. Purchasing in Joyce became a social status and it also reflected in popular culture as well. Rap duo Softhard (軟硬天師) mentioned Joyce in its song “川保久齡大戰山本耀司” – “去搵川保久齡定係山本耀司 梗係摸左落去中環既JOYCE” (You must go Joyce for Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto). This reflected the importance and influence of Joyce by the time.
Joyce moved beyond for just placing advertisement in media outlets but publishing “Joyce Magazine”. It produced editorial feature with designer brands Joyce carried in order to engage with consumers directly. The brand has created a dual product market (Picard, 1989). Just like the usual magazine, Joyce magazine consists of editorial feature and advertising spot for brands. Joyce created the content to consumers while the consumers may influenced by the content and purchase the items from Joyce.
Until today, although some of the branch business is closed down, Joyce are still implementing the long tail marketing strategy and known for offering a complete assortment of brands, from leading brands to niche brands, to the fashion crowds.
However, the e-commerce platform like Farfetch and Mytheresa has dominated the fashion e-commerce market in recent years. Physical select store like Joyce are facing a challenging situation. Joyce has closed down their Central flagship store in 2022 and merged with Lane Crawford group. As a fashion public relations specialist myself, the legacy of Joyce is irreplaceable - its cutting-edge selection of brands and legendary window displays. Would you guys prefer shop in physical store or e-commerce platfroms for clothes?
Reference:
Anderson, C. (2007). The long tail: How endless choice is creating unlimited demand. Random House.
Picard, R. G. (1989). Media Economics: Concepts and Issues
Chan, S. (2020, July 10). Joyce 香港風尚最美麗的名字. Art and Piece. https://artandpiece.com/fashion/joyce-%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E9%A2%A8%E5%B0%9A%E6%9C%80%E7%BE%8E%E9%BA%97%E7%9A%84%E5%90%8D%E5%AD%97/
Cheng, S. (2022, August 13). 屹立數十載的 Joyce 中環店將移師至金鐘太古商場， 背後反映著什麼？: Fashion. Madame Figaro Hong Kong. https://www.madamefigaro.hk/fashion/joyce-%e4%b8%ad%e7%92%b0%e5%ba%97-102301/
YouTube. (n.d.). 川保久齡大戰山本耀司. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHyzYZSlf9c
I appreciate the advantages of offline stores and e-commerce platforms. Offline stores like Joyce offer an irreplaceable experience, just like you can touch the texture of your clothes and check their fit in real time. In the case of high-end boutiques, personalized services will be provided to create an immersive shopping experience that is difficult to imitate on the online platform.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the reason that I will also choose e-commerce platforms often as well as they offer a wider range of options and at a lower price then the physical store. In addition, many online platforms offer virtual fitting rooms and return policies to reduce the risk of online shopping.
As I know, there are some fashion retails combine this two business models, where it creates the advantages of each model and provide a comprehensive shopping experience, in order to satisfy different consumer preferences and shopping habits.
Hey Thad! I think your analysis of Joyce is comprehensive and insightful, however, while reading your essay, I also have a question about whether the long-tail marketing strategy is appropriate for analyzing Joyce’s success in the initial stage.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned, Joyce introduced many Western fashion brands including Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent to Hong Kong in the 20th century. However, it should be noted that these brands are luxury brands that normal people couldn’t afford. Back in the 20th century when luxury brands were not available in Hong Kong, there was a gap in the market for luxury clothes, and Joyce served as the first retailer to fill the gap. Therefore, I would argue that the success of Joyce should be attributed to its blue ocean strategy, capturing the unexplored market area. However, I think using the long-tail strategy for analysis also makes sense and probably we are just standing from the different perspectives.
As for your question, I prefer shopping on e-commerce platforms like Taobao since they provide many choices, and the clothes on Taobao are relatively cheap compared with physical stores even if it is the same brand. Besides, shopping online is very convenient, I can purchase clothes anytime I want. Whether choosing to shop online or offline is influenced by many factors including price, number of choices, efforts needed to be paid, shopping experience, and even personal characteristics (e.g., those who prefer to stay at home may be reluctant to go shopping in physical stores).