The Confidence In Of International Brands Dissertation

The Confidence In Of International Brands - Dissertation Example Figure 2: Age distribution in Saudi Arabia (male and female combined). Data sourced from Central Intelligence Agency The Saudi Fashion Market Western brands are very common in Saudi Arabia. Growth in franchising has been estimated at 27% in the Middle East in general, and in Saudi Arabia more than 70% of all franchised operations are American owned. Fashion from UK, Europe and the USA are all experiencing strong growth in the Saudi market, especially in the area of female fashion. While UK fashion initially had a strong hold over the market, there is now increasing trends towards US brands such as Gap, Gucci and Louis Vitton . The fashion market in Saudi is very seasonally based, with sales following religious holidays as well as the seasons. With the relatively young population, there is large potential for the fashion market. The habits of the nation are changing to become more in line with Western culture, a trend that is especially strong in the younger generation. Women are leav ing their traditional roles and many going into work. These trends are driving the boom in the fashion industry . Despite the fact that women wear the Abaya over their clothes, a traditional black dress that covers them, they often wear western clothing underneath . In addition there is a trend of fashion designers producing colored Abayas that are popular, especially for the younger generation. Teenage girls and young adult females have developed ways of wearing their Abayas that reveal their western clothing underneath, such as leaving the front wide open, or tying the edge around their waists, so their tight western jeans can be seen . There are also many different styles and cuts of Abayas and... While malls in Saudi Arabia resemble the western style of malls in many ways, but there is also strong evidence of the strict religious and cultural guidelines that are in place. Images on the front of music CDs are often censored, such as the sleeveless dress that Celine Dion wears on the front of one of her albums was replaced with a black shawl. Other differences are also noticeable, male and female Saudis are only able to work together in hospitals, so all sales people on the mall’s mixed floors are male foreign workers. At McDonald's the women must eat in a separate walled off section, while men eat in the open. The country has large segregation between men and women, so much so that paranoia about men hiding in dressing rooms has resulted in the absence of any dressing rooms in malls. The Kingdom Centre in Riyadh is attempting to turn this into a business advantage rather than a logistical hassle. They offer a female only floor, where all staff and security are female an d females are free to walk around in western style clothing, checking in their Abayas if they wish). Both products and sales are advertised in a wide number of ways, similar to in the western market. Internet advertisements are common, especially with the increasing use of the internet. Blogging has become a popular means of expressing the opinion, especially as media is tightly controlled. Because of this, flash and static advertising are common through blogging sites, although these are mainly for fashion stores in general.