Presented by B Edwards Northwestern University Content Strategy MOOC

SHENSHI BRAND SUMMARY

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Shenshi is a popular Chinese mens clothing retailer with over 300 stores (117 owned and operated
stores and 194 franchised stores) located in eastern China, with headquarters in Fujian Province. The
word Shenshi translates to gentleman. While Shenshi has flagship stores in some of the major, tier
1 cities where the competition is intense and the fashion culture is strong, the majority of stores are
located in smaller tier 3 and tier 4 cities.

Shenshi practices fast fashion, which was pioneered by international chains such as Zara and H&M.
Shenshi designers observe the latest fashion trends and create their own versions of those designs.
Shenshi realizes that it is necessary to increase its customer base. At present, 64.3 percent of Shenshi
customers are between the ages of 25 and 40, and on average purchase 2.19 products per year.
Shemshi expects that percentage of young middle-class consumers and number of annual purchases
to rise.

Given the size of the enormous, emerging middle class in China, Shenshis rapid growth should
continue.
Shenshi will open 500 additional stores in the next two years, targeting growing middle-class cohorts in
North America and Western Europe where there are large groups of consumers who are struggling to
remain in the middle class. Shenshi wants to link Shenshi clothing to middle-class success.

BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT For younger men who dream of a brighter future, the Shenshi
brand of trendy but affordable fashion makes men feel and appear more successful to others than they
are.

SITUATION ANALYSIS
Shenshi is opening 500 new stores in North America and Western Europe
Shenshi is focused on Men
Shenshi is focused on Values of Making it in the Middle Class
Core Strategy is focus on Content Marketing Strategy to supplement Loyalty
Club Consumer Acquisitions
Increase following in target markets Eastern Europe, United States and
China by 20,000 individuals
Increase Shenshi Man newsletter subscriptions in target markets
Fast-Fashion and Manufacturing - rapid turnover of styles creates a cutting-
edge feel for the brand and compels customers to urgency to buy
immediately.
Engage with 1,000 response videos to Shenshi Man Challenge in each target
market.
Shenshi Consumers will increase their annual product purchases.
SHENSHI MARKETING AND TARGET
Shenshi offers affordable luxury clothing for men. Shenshi clothing is for men who desire to excel in
their industries and move up the ladder. The Shenshi brand wants to become synonymous to success
and achievement by engaging with its customers and communicating with them how to dress and
become successful.

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE: 20-40 year old men in North America and Western Europe

PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILE: Shenshis segmentation has been hardest hit by world- economic
recession. The target consumers are men who do not enjoy shopping in large unisex clothing shops
where their personal interests are over-shadowed by womens fashion market. Men who do not know
how to combine styles and create a successful, polished look. Men who are are frustrated with lack of
career advancement opportunities.

WANTS AND NEEDS:
Shenshi Customer Survey Statements:
I like clothes that make me appear successful
I want to be considered fashionable by others
I pay a lot of attention to how people think of my dress style

Shenshis customers want luxury style for a fraction of the price. Shenshi provides:
Affordable Pricing structure will provide quality clothing in a competitive market
Identification Shenshi is a clothing brand solely for men and speaks to the sensibilities of its customer
target.
Selection Shenshi provides a wide choice of formal and business causal clothing that is chic, hip and en-
trend.

SHENSHI CAMPAIGN SUMMARY
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THE SHENSHI MAN: YOUR FUTURE IS FOR THE TAKING

GOAL: Engage with Consumers inviting an exchange of their personal career stories, career tips and success strategies.

INSPIRATION EXPERIENCE: The inspirational experience is key to the success of the marketing strategy. The first phase
of the campaign with a video. Which will launch the content campaign. The video will not at link to the Shenshi brand at first.
It purpose is to go viral, to create questions and inquiries by the target audience: similar to Cadbury Chocolate hidden ad in
the Proposal Gone Bad Video.

UTILITAIAN EXPERIENCE: Clothing advice that points to quirky success idioms and career advice.

IDENTITY EXPERIENCE: The website will have monthly video contests for the target audience to create "I quit videos" to
post on the website. The best I Quit video will win a months worth of Shenshi clothing for the man whose "future is for the
taking.

An interactive website that will launch with a call-to-action online video taking a cues from success of brands like
experiential-identification of Dove Beauty campaign videos and Poo Pourri video that is funny and almost unbelievable.
Shenshi's campaign addresses the needs of underemployed and combines the tactics of experiential-identification and
humor.

Why is this appropriate example? Takeshi is tired of being undervalued and not living the life he worked hard. This content
provides an outlet for him to vent and actually quit his job while giving him tips to find success.

Shenshi will have a new dedicated blog that will provide opportunities for men to vent via video of how they can take control
of their lives and have the future they have worked hard to have but not grasped. All content for Shenshi will create the
desired experience for its target consumers.

CONTENT POSITIONING STRATEGY
S H E N S H I

1. Sensible and economic
alternative to high end
clothing stores
2. Shenshi competitive
advantage as a mens
clothing store addressing
the needs of men.
3. Clothing lines are directly
correlated with
achievement and success
stories of Middle-class men.

C O M P E T I T O R S
H&M Zara
1. Similar price points as
Shenshi and Fast-
Fashion/Manufacturing
approach
2. H&M, Zara are not soley
focused on the fashion
needs of men.
3. H&M provides a fashion
magazine and style tips
but does not address
our target audience
needs.

BRAND RELEVANCY
THEME: Shenshi creates the change you need to find your successful future.
BRAND RELEVANCE: Shenshi brand has targeted the burgeoning Middle-Class
Chinese audience that has spending habits that reflect the desire to look successful.
This Middle-Class target audience wants to buy luxury at a lower price, they are tech
savvy and desire resources and competitive comparisons immediately. While the other
countries do not have as much expendable cash as the rising Middle-Class Chinese.
Their spending habits are similar. They want to have luxury and professional looking
clothing at a fraction of the cost. Shenshi wants to lead the menswear market as a
inexpensive alternative to fashion house clothing. The worldwide desire of Shenshis
segmentation are men who want to feel and look successful in the professional world.
The website and brand will give insights to men so they no longer feel they are at a
dead end in their life and will empower can take control of it.

References:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90778/8272768.html
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1118350/how-chinese-middle-classes-are-
becoming-foodies-and-c...
MEET THE SHENSHI MAN
Takeshi
Age: 26
Career Industry: Finance
Country: United States
Market: North American - New York City
Meet a Shenshi Man:
Takeshi is a 26 year old man living in New York City. He comes from a middle-class family in the Midwest. He
graduated with top honors from a small liberal arts college. He moved to New York in hopes of finding a successful
career in finance and marketing. Unfortunately, Takeshi has been impacted by the great recession and cannot find
suitable work or pay within his field and does not have expendable money for extra purchases. He has been
underemployed for a long time and makes a living with small freelance jobs and tutoring, as he describes, rich
High School students SAT Math lessons. Takeshi, like many disenfranchised GenXers, feels his American Dream
has been robbed. He feels weak and not in control of many things in his life. He feels he has paid his dues and
works hard. He wants to find success and be respected professional in the Finance industry. His talents are
undervalued and under-utilized. He does not like to appear poor and he tries to maintain a New York City standard
of professional dress. He looks down upon the Williamsburg hipster whom he generalizes as trust fund artists who
get success in everything which they did not earn.
Explanation of Persona:
Takeshi is an example of the target audience in countries such as the United States, South America and Eastern
Europe that has been greatly impacted by the world's recession. Shenshi wants to expand to this market and will
target the disgruntled educated and dissatisfied man in his 20's-30's that wants to find success and dress the part.
This target audience feels they have paid their dues and should have success. For younger men who dream of a
brighter future, the Shenshi brand of trendy but affordable fashion makes men feel and appear more successful to
others than they are.
PLATFORMS
Traditional Social Media Networks: Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, BuzzFeed
Content Distribution types: Video, Blog posts, Infographics,
Newsletter, Loyalty Program subscriptions, Shenshi Website
PLATFORM CONTENT SAMPLES
PLATFORM CONTENT SAMPLE
Interactive Images for Newsletters and Posts

Shenshi Men scroll over dynamic Shenshi Clothing
line to view videos, information tags, calls-to-action
and images.

Sample Utilitatrian Experience Content for
Shenshi
What if you could have it all?
Content exemplifies achievements and success
strategies of Sun Tzu Art of War and JFK tying
these prolific men to Shenshis style sensibilites.
https://www.thinglink.com/scene
491564730620575744
INTERACTIVE CONTENT SAMPLE
thinglink.com/scene/491564730620575744
TONE AND VOICE
Inspirational tone that also has the edge of the dissatisfied and
disenchanted male by using humor to point to the things he does
not like about his life. This edge is snarky, quirky and
humorous. The purpose of that this tone is more effective when
looking at the dead-end life alternative of not embracing the
possibilities that wearing Shenshi can provide.
The voice of the website is relevant to today's audience experience
needs to make public decorations of their dissatisfied and
disenfranchised experiences in the job market. I Quit videos are a
creative outlet to feel successful in having the last word. Examples
of the individual public quitting via video phenomenon include
Marina Shiftins SuperBowl Ad 2014 and Michael Peggs I Quit
Google video.
BLOG POST CONTENT SAMPLE
DISTRIBUTION PLAN
The website will be user driven with accounts that can be synched to social networks. The user experience is
accessible via mobile or website and they can view feeds of the website via their synched Facebook, Twitter,
Instragram, etc. All content posted by Shenshi will appear in the users feed on the website and on their
synched social network. Users can follow each other and like Shenshi official content the user can view on
their synched social networks. The purpose is not require users to always visit the website to consume
content rather the content comes to them on their preferred social network and they have the option to view
on the website if they choose.

The website will have three large components: clothing style options aligned with advice page, video posts
and audience created blog feeds that are short no longer than 200 words and looks similar to a SMS text or
SnapChat or Twitter feed (user name and response).

The website clothing page will play on the old catalog style look similar to 1980's JCPenny (because the target
Middle-Class audience loves retro) but using an interactive image or infographic will provide information for
the audience to find success tips.

The website will have a heavy video component for community interaction. Blog posts series that audiences
can contribute in by filling in the blank. Such as, horrible work experiences: "And you thought your dead-end
life of was bad.... ", "If I told my boss to shove it, I would prove my life would be better than his by....." which
will allow audiences to share and rate each others short answers. The large draw to the website will be the "I
quit" video posts.
ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY

Keyword: Shenshi, Mens Clothing, High Fashion Low Costs, list our
Competitors, Shenshi Man, Iquit



Paid online Advertising Strategy Promoted Posts
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube
CASE STUDY
Peer Feedback:
Peer 1 This project is very in tune with the Zeitgeist.
Peer 2 The platform showcased excellent integration.
Peer 3 The intuitive representation of your "Shenshi character": the disillusioned, underemployed Gen-Xer,
wanting more. It ties perfectly with your subsequent explanation on how the Shenshi brand position "synchs" with
this target audience. I could clearly identify with Takeshi. Also love the Sun Tzu concept; positively brilliant how
you've captured the bitterness, the disillusionment your target audience might feel, infused edgy, quirky,
popculture cool that tempers this desperation and then, there's the inspirational/utilitarian aspect providing
nuggets of self-help advice so your audience doesn't wallaw in self-pity for too long. This balance you've
achieved is no small feat; it's the perfect storm for going viral!
Peer 4 I am blown away by the thoroughness and creativity that went into thinking up this content strategy.
Overall, each piece fits in perfectly to advance the Shenshi positioning statement. It is strategic, detailed
and well conceived. You articulate not only the "what"...but the "why" and "how". The client (Shenshi
execs.) would derive much enthusiasm from this effort if it were an actual presentation...particularly how
you've interspersed examples of what the content would look like. Bravo; simply well done!
This Case Study Assignment was presented by B Edwards for Northwestern University Content Strategy
for Professionals Engaging Audience for the Organization MOOC