Analysis Of Outer Forces Influencing Herschel Supply Company

Introduction

The backpack industry was one that had been left untouched for many years with only the single use of carrying your belongings. With the opportunity to create a brand and a line of backpacks that are both fashionable with quality, Herschel was able to dive right into success during their launch in 2009.

Brothers Lynden and Jaime Cormack Founded Herschel and were lucky enough to be successful from the start, but, with the success they must continue to evolve and keep up to date with the trends of the Environment. There are six main forces that companies are affected by which are economic, technological, regulatory, competitive, socio-cultural, and demographic. The environment has many forces that can either be a benefit or negatively impact a company. Organizations must stay aware to all of these forces and what they can focus on to do which will generate the most success for their company.

Demographic

With such a large following, Herschel Supply Company must have known who they wanted to target to buy their product in order to have as much success as they did in such a short period of time. They knew who their target market was, the size of the market, and what the trends were at the time when they started their company in 2009. Herschel knew they wanted the youth to be their market; “with messenger bags (too geeky), briefcases (too corporate), and canvas totes (too literary) as the go-to among urban commuters, there was no company with style”. They understood that there were no backpacks that had any style to them which leaves the whole market of the youth open. When they were in the process of launching the company they thought of who would buy their product, “They saw their customer as a 15- to 28-year-old who wants clothes that express an allegiance to some sort of style cohort”.

They know the age range of the people buying their products and they know they are looking for stylish bags and backpacks. The demographics have a positive influence on Herschel because all the aspects of demographic forces plays into the success of their company. The Herschel Supply Company because has a clear age range that spans from 15-28 year olds, a clear target market which is the youth, and they know the trend the youth is looking for is a stylish backpack.

Socio-Cultural

Before researching any trends going on, the brothers wanted to build a brand that was nostalgic and modern. Along with that, they knew that fashion was always going to be a trend, and just by luck, there was a high increase in purchases of backpacks and bags as sales rose 33 percent in 2014. This created an opportunity in the environment for Herschel to make the most of their marketing as to why their brand is the brand to buy. As one brother said, “We decided that 'utilitarian nostalgic, but really modernized' was where we wanted to go; we didn't feel the bag market had gone there. It just somehow got neglected in the whole stream of things". They created and also developed their bags into the trend of nostalgia but modernized while also capitalizing off the opportunity of bags being neglected in retail fashion. Socio-Cultural trends certainly had a positive impact on the company since Herschel essentially created their own trend of nostalgic but modernized bags. This environmental force is constantly changing and could end up having a negative effect on the company if Herschel does not continue to evolve and keep up with societies changing ideas, values, beliefs, and attitudes.

Competitive

Becoming successful so quickly in the market poses a threat to many other companies as well as Herschel now having many other competitors both present and potential. Some competitors in the backpack market such as Guess, JanSport, Nike, and any other companies all have their own product that they believe and want every consumer to believe is that their product is the best. Herschel was successful since the launch of their company because, “they launched a brand instead of a product”. As for all the great companies it is known that the single most important factor for success is not how good your product is, but the core values of the company. Herschel launching a brand and not just another backpack to its consumers is what separates itself in such a competitive environment. JanSport, one of Herschel’s biggest competitors, is a 50-year old company known solely for their backpacks.

A company with that lifespan and reputation is a direct competitor that Herschel is always facing. In 2015 JanSport’s website was, “revamping to meet its young consumers’ high expectations”. The competition in the environment is even higher whencompanies are using technology and following trends that meet consumer needs that could be buying from Herschel.