Effortless Swim - Differentiation & Marketing Mix

Marketing has been the key to remaining a competitive brand throughout much of recent history, especially as the world has leaned into consumerism and disposable income has increased among much of the population. One key to a successful product is product differentiation. As defined by McGraw-Hill, product differentiation is, "A marketing strategy that involves a firm using different marketing mix actions to help consumers perceive a product as being different and better than competing products". The marketing mix are, "the controllable factors that can be used by the marketing manager to solve a marketing problem", (McGraw-Hill). The factors being product, price, promotion, and place. 

Effortless Swim is a small swimwear company located in Maui, Hawai'i. The website advertises Effortless as sustainable, exclusive swimwear that is hand made by owner Tehani Friesen. Small but mighty, Effortless has released six collections in the past decade. Effortless distinguishes the brand by using the marketing mix, all advertised on their Instagram account and throughout the local community.

Product - The primary way Effortless distinguishes the product is through the quality and sustainability. They let consumers know that each piece is designed and handmade by the owner, as well as specifying the material inputs and "care" instructions. They emphasize sustainability through being produced with limited waste, as each piece is made to order by hand. Lastly, the suits have original designs and they are reversible, which is a unique feature that is also sustainable, as it is two swimsuits with the production inputs and waste of one swimsuit.

Price - Effortless suits are on the lower edge of the luxury swimwear market. The suits are wearable but still great quality, and this is reflected in the price. Distinguished from their competitors such as Acacia, they are less expensive and more "every day", as opposed to a resort wear swimsuit brand. Each piece retails at just under 60 USD, which is pricey when compared to fast-fashion options such as Zaful and Forever 21. However, when compared to Acacia, which retails tops and bottoms around 115 USD each, it is clear that Effortless meets the quality of Acacia but is competitive on price. Lastly, Effortless is competitive in pricing because the product is essentially "two suits in one", as they're reversible. 

Promotion - Personally, I think the promotion is what sets apart Effortless from their competitors. Owner Tehani Friehen is a photographer full time and she shoots all of the promotional material on 35mm film in Hawai'i with local friends and models. Friehen has a personal following of around 50,000 on Instagram, and she promotes the suits there. In addition, there is an Effortless Instagram featuring these film photos and "behind the scenes" of different shoots. These photos are distinguished from other marketing I've seen swimwear brands do. Swim brands typically shoot more suggestive photos with flashier hair and makeup. Effortless extends their sustainable, simple brand into their marketing by shooting bare faced, natural hair, and in raw environments. Overall, the promotion is very successful in distinguishing Effortless from their competitors.

Place - The brand is based in Maui, Hawai'i, with free national shipping and paid international shipping. There are no brick and mortar stores, and the suits are not sold through any other retailers. For the size of the brand, the current online store seems to be a good fit. The suits are hand made and made to order by one person, so the operation is small. Because of this, it wouldn't make sense to sell through other retailers or have brick and mortar stores. The owner also mentions that the brand is a passion project for her. Overall, the place aspect fits what the brand is aiming to do. If they wanted to expand, selling through another retailer either in-person or online would be a good starting point.

I hope this has given you a sense of what the 4-Ps of the marketing mix are and how they can be used to differentiate products and brands from their competitors. I've personally purchased from this brand and was very happy with it, so writing about the different marketing mix factors was very interesting, especially having gotten the information from the publicly available information and promotional materials, as this is not a big corporation with articles and interviews written about it.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions or anything to add! Thanks for reading. 

As always, Liv(e) fashion forward.