Management PaperDesign & Arts Management (PROFES2)

An Overview of their Management and Company

Submitted by:

Baligod, PatriciaChingkiat, Denise

Dee, IsabelleNamalata, Lorenz

Palaganas, EsmeraldaReyes, Alexandra

AB-FDM

DAM3

Submitted to: Ms. Anna Yu-AsensiSubmitted on: 13th March 2012

Company Background

BENCH™ started out as a small business selling men’s t-shirts consigning at

department stores like Shoemart and Landmark back in 1987. This was common at that

time wherein a brand would be known for just one item alone and when with underwear

you think of JOCKEY™, the same was true for t-shirts you thought of BENCH™. The

brand is actually a contraction of its founder’s name, Mr. Ben Chan, who is currently the

company’s Chairman and Chief Creative Director. Back then, he was solely responsible

for the designs of the t-shirts and oversees the production of these garments. He runs this

company along with the help of the couple Mr. Virgilio and Mrs. Nenita Lim until now

(the latter being his sister). Mr. Virgilio Lim is in-charge of System and Operations while

Mrs. Nenita Lim manages the company’s finances. Also in the executive board is the

couple’s son Mr. Brian Lim and the company’s Over-all General Manager, Mr. Jude

Ong.

BENCH™ established their first store

at the “Quad” which is now more popularly

known as Glorietta in Makati while another

stand-alone store was built in SM North Edsa

eventually. At that time BENCH’s logo was

of much literal take with an actual bench

integrated on the logo’s design. Later on, the

“bench” was dropped and the brand name

stood by itself but not for long. Around the

latter part of the 1990’s, before the internet

became a global phenomenon, BENCH™

joined in on the technology craze adding a “/” (slash) to their trademark signifying its

forward and futuristic vision for the brand. The logo in proliferation now is of the word

or brand name “bench/” in white color placed on top of a red rectangle.

During BENCH’s early years, there were still no major local fashion brands that

existed. PENSHOPPE™ did join the market later on and became one of their early

competitors but BENCH™ grew at an unparalleled rate. They were the pioneers in the

use of celebrity endorsers. Their first endorser was the then relatively unknown actor

Richard Gomez and it was of mutual benefit as their partnership both made them into

household names. It is BENCH’s strategy to tap up-and-coming actors to promote the

brand. BENCH™ was also aggressive in publicity being the first fashion brand in the

country to use television advertisements and utilize giant billboards for their exposure.

Due to this, every company first was also a first for the entire industry as a whole.

To date, BENCH™ is known as the Philippine’s most successful crossover in

fashion and lifestyle. It adapted the global trend of fashion houses and labels reinventing

themselves as lifestyle stores. From its humble beginnings, BENCH™ has now a wide

range of products including Bench Tweeners for budding teenagers, Bench Body and

Bath specializing in bath and fragrance products, and now HerBench offering a complete

women’s line, including fragrances and cosmetics. They also have a distinction of being

virtually present in every retail space in the Philippines and have a vast network of stores

and outlets that have also expanded worldwide, reaching as far as the United States, the

Middle East and with concentrated efforts in mainland China.

Creative Industry Trends

ADVERTISING

BENCH has always been known for their

humongous billboards plastered on all the major

thoroughfares all over the metro and country. It

also their company’s strategy to bank on these

up-and-coming stars from major television

stations to endorse their brand to keep it fresh

and current if you will.

The company focuses much of their attention on billboards and on newsprint, not so

much on radio as a medium. They advertise frequently on all the leading magazine titles

that are related to fashion and work with various advertising agencies to help

conceptualize on their next advertising tactic. It is BENCH’s primary objective to keep

their ads creative and attractive. They keep tabs on the latest and they do follow trends.

More recently they have asked international stars like Michael Trevino of the Vampire

Diaries, Lucy Hale of Pretty Little Liars and popular singer-songwriter Bruno Mars to

endorse the brand in line with their positioning as a global brand.

ARCHITECTURE

Not shy away from

admitting that they follow

trends, BENCH manages to

infuse what’s going on in

worldwide retailing

standards because of Mr.

Ben Chan’s and his team’s

travels abroad. They

constantly seek inspiration

by visiting other establishments while they also have an in-house architect and

designer who works for them in doing the lay-out, interiors and exteriors of their

branches and stores.

The current trend that BENCH is leaning towards is on the vintage, Americana vibe.

They are geared more on the classic appeal of wood, complete with wooden floorings

and vintage wallpapers for decorations on the walls

FASHION DESIGN

Aside from having a team of in-house fashion designers and graphic designers and

their constant collaborations with the biggest names in fashion design in the

Philippines, BENCH prides itself with simple yet fashionable items. Everything has to

go through Mr. Ben Chan before released in the market.

Mission and Vision Statement

VISION

“To be a recognized world brand

among the best world brands.”

Basically the vision of the company is to be a globally recognized Filipino brand that is at

par and holds its own in the global and vast market in the world. It is without contestation

that their vision is clear and focused so much so that judging from their 25 years of

existence in the market; they have truthfully abided by their vision with the hopes of

adding more feathers to their otherwise well-decorated cap.

MISSION

“When we create, we inspire,

When we make, we innovate,

When we lead, we serve.”

BENCH’s company mission is as concise and inspiring as it can get. It arouses

positive feelings and emotions, motivates readers to action, and generates the

impression that the company is worthy to be supported because it has a purpose.

Although considering the 9 characteristics of a mission, the BENCH mission

statement is highly philosophical and does not elaborate and specify on its customers,

its market and such. It’s very broad but is a reaffirmation of what should be expected

of them.

4P’s in Marketing

PRODUCT

As we all know, Bench offers a wide variety of products, from clothing pieces, cosmetics, lingerie, accessories and even snacks. Though the company caters to both class B and class C, they have a quite strict quality control. They make sure to provide the mass high/good quality pieces for affordable price range. Even to their sub-contactor’s factory, they station strict quality control personnel to make sure the production is well-guided.

When it comes to the design of their products, Bench invests on their creative team by sending them different International fashion weeks to gather up from the latest trends and try to produce as much designs as they can, while Ben Chan himself makes the final say if it’s a go or not.

Since Bench opened their doors to the international market, they also provided few adjustments to the size charts. Which the original size chart is specifically made for their Filipino consumers.When it comes to their packaging, Bench is starting to adapt the “no plastic” rule by only allowing paper bags every Wednesday. The company supports eco-friendly campaigns and trying their best to influence the Filipino mass on doing the same thing.

PRICE

Price is what bench standout from their competitors and that’s what keeps their competitors in bay. Since they cater to class B and class C, their prices don’t go overboard; Bench maintains the affordable price range for the mass. Though they won’t spill how they arrive to the price mark-ups, they make sure that it’s still light on the pocket.

For the quality Bench provides us and the affordable prices, that makes Bench’s merchandise worth every penny and this is one possible reason why they are still leading the local market.

PLACE

As of now, Bench has opened over 300 branches worldwide and has their brand in almost every mall here in the Philippines. Regarding with where they manufacture their products, they have several factories (sub-contract) in India, China and here in the Philippines. All distribution points are centralized, they try to rotate and replenish their stocks as much as they can. As of attracting more customers, Bench’s creative team tries to keep up with what’s new and develop more innovative ideas on new interiors to their stores. They update and refurnish from time to time to catch people’s attention.

PROMOTION

Promotion is considered as of the most important branch of the 4P’s. Bench invests more on what they think is the most effective advertising medium, which is putting up billboards around the city. The company chooses wholesome personalities to promote their line. To be exact, they choose the up and coming and the “It girls and boys” in the industry. They trend to steer away from personalities with bad reputation and issues. In short, they play on the safer side of the boat because they want to keep their brand’s “wholesome” image.

Bench also started to utilize their promotions by the use of the internet. Like other brands, Bench also provided their customers with online shopping to their website. So people can easily access their products and their latest events. When it comes to the percentage of their income spent on advertising, they are willing to spend 3% just for it. Investing too much on promotion can be risky but then at the end of the day, it is worth every penny spent.

McKinsey’s “7S”

SHARED VALUES

All companies out there have a mission statement and a core value structure that they hold to. For the Bench Company, Loyalty, Commitment, and Integrity-these are the values that keep the employees working towards a common destination as a team and are important to keep their business alive. He believes that it is important to have the right core values in an organization in order to achieve excellence.

STYLE

There are many ways to lead and every leader has their own style. But for Bench, the style of their company is participative, which for them it is very effective because they follow a certain procedure or a policy that everything must be done accordingly. They are performing routine tasks over and over. It allows the team to provide input and opinions before making a decision, although the leader which is Ben Chan has the final say, but he gathers information from the employees before making the final decision. Every important tasks or projects it needs Ben Chan's approval first.

STRUCTURE

The Bench Company is a family run fashion and lifestyle business under a sole proprietorship type of business structure with Ben Chan, chairman and executive creative director, spearheading the company. Bench, which consists of 4,000+ employees, is divided into 15-16 departments such as Finance, Creative, Legal and Visual, etc. The company’s organizational structure is a mix of flat and hierarchical, where the top part of the structure is flat (wherein

the CEOs of different departments are equal) and further down it is in a hierarchical structure (managers & staff).

The decision making and controlling of the company is centralized with Mr. Ben Chan as a very participative and collaborative head, all decisions should be administered and approved by him. Memos and emails are the main lines of communication of the company.

STAFF

There are around 4,000+ in the company, from CEOs to department heads and outlet/branch staff. It differs in requirements when the company gets employees for their outlets and offices.

In terms of getting new employees, there’s a higher requirement, in terms of experience and academic background (should be a college graduate, etc.,) when for their department offices but when it comes to getting employees for their branches (branch managers, sales clerk) there’s only a rigid physical requirement to meet. High school graduates are allowed to fill branch positions as well. Bench efficiently trains their employees to close the gap in required competencies.

SKILLS

The strongest skills represented within the company are creativity, loyalty and the ability to further innovate. The company is known for being budget friendly, especially against its competitors who have a higher price range such as Penshoppe and Folded & Hung.

For Bench, they treat their employees as their best investments. Employees attend a Bench culture orientation and go through trainings as they grow in the company.

SYSTEMS

Bench had always outdone their competitors because of their budget friendly prices and their accessibility to the consumers. The company assures that their prices will always be easy for all intended markets to afford without sacrificing quality. Bench, who had launch their website 8 years ago (2004), proudly boasts their accessibility to consumers by making them experience shopping Bench without leaving the house. The company also has their own Twitter and Facebook accounts, taking to account that social networking sites are the fastest way to connect with the consumers.

STRATEGIES

Bench has been spearheading innovation in the clothing industry throughout the years. That’s the reason why they have lasted for 25 years while their competitors have slowly waned down or completely shut down in the market. Bench always produces products that are branded as items customers must own and they always know how to market it as the hottest commodity for their consumers. They keep the brand fresh by always collaborating, always creating a buzz around them and mainly because they know how to satisfy their market.

SWOT Analysis

Strength

- Strong brand image- Diversified company - Well positioned stores- Good promotional strategy- Goal oriented company - Captured a great amount of local market share

Weaknesses

- Low brand recognition with high class citizens - Their products doesn’t appeal to Class A citizens

Opportunities

- Capture more market share annually - Open up new branches in other countries- Have a better brand recognition with higher class citizens- Create new services - New clothing line

Threats

- New clothing line of other competitors- New competitors both local and foreign- Economic threat in the Philippines- Rapid change in fashion

Conclusive Recommendation

One of the surprising things we learned during our interview with Mr.

Jude Ong was how BENCH was a family run business and that there were no

partners and other investors involved. He told us that they really wanted to

keep it this way to keep the executive decisions to them and to fully control

where the company is headed to.

Although there is nothing wrong about having sole proprietorship and

having Mr. Ben Chan as the sole creative drive in the company, we think it is

high time for the company to consider having investors and shareholders take

part in their company. Especially in their quest into becoming a global brand,

it is highly recommended for them to look for interested and more established

partners here and abroad to help them in this endeavor. Gaining a partner to

help BENCH have a steady foothold in the international scene is risky, but in

the end it is helpful and beneficial for them as well. With BENCH already

capturing a great amount of local market share and a strong brand image,

collaboration with another top retail line of international caliber should

eliminate other local competitors.

Bench is a relatively tight-knit unit and they really work closely in

giving their market the best products, fashionable clothes and newsworthy

events. In this aspect, Bench has always succeeded and their achievements

have made them incomparable in the industry. Filipinos have long

acknowledged them superior to the rest of the local clothing brands and they

do not rest on their laurels in continuing their excellence and they are not

complacent.

But when asked if they survey their market and ask for insights on what

they feel their market still needs or is lacking off, Mr. Jude Ong realizes this

as their weakness. Bench does not really have a system to address their

customers’ needs and wants and just rely on Mr. Ben Chan’s gut feel on what

to provide and offer for their market.

Truthfully so, Bench may know the pulse of what their Philippine

market wants but if they are committed to providing to the international

market amidst all the foreign competitors and fashion labels, they need to

dedicate efforts into producing a research team that will dictate trends, advise

them on strategies and guide them as to how to penetrate steadily and not

haphazardly.

The international stakes are high and Bench is already at the pedestal of

becoming the first internationally recognized, adored and patronized

Philippine brand. All that Bench to do now is to have the sufficient resources,

skills and game plan if they really in it to win the global market. Product

quality, pricing and advertising are areas Bench have to increase focus on to

compete in the highly competitive and ever changing retail industry.

Pleasing the Philippine market is one thing while becoming a global

clothing company is another. Bench is more aggressive than ever in this goal

but everyone is behind them, everyone is a supporter for that Philippine brand

that is soon-to-be synonymous to world class fashion.