1. Visit H&M’s Web site at www.hm.com . What are the characteristics of H&M’s global market segment(s)? How does H&M position itself in the minds of target customers around the world?
2. How does management at H&M use global branding and global product development to create and offer its fashions? How does the firm use marketing mix elements to market its offerings around the world?
3. A key aspect of H&M’s strategy is to provide value to customers by maximizing perceived product benefits, minimizing prices, or both. Given this, how can H&M further increase the value of its offerings to customers? That is, what steps can management take to increase the benefits and reduce the prices that its customers encounter when shopping for H&M products?
4. How does H&M strike a balance between standardization and adaptation of its marketing program? What advantages does H&M gain from standardization? From adaptation? What factors drive management to adapt offerings in particular markets?
5. Increasingly, H&M targets emerging markets like China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, which are often characterized by distinctive cultures, lower incomes, and inexperience with leading-edge fashion. Thinking in terms of marketing program elements, what can management do to ensure H&M succeeds in these markets?

H&M is a Swedish clothing retailer specializing in “fast fashion” and “cheap chic” styles for men, women, and children. The firm generated around $8.5 billion in global sales in 2009, making it the world’s third largest fashion retailer, after Gap Inc. (#1) and Zara (#2). When H&M opens a new store, it is accompanied by much attention and interest. From New York to Berlin to Tokyo, store openings typically receive massive media coverage. The Pasadena, California, store launch was covered from news helicopters, and numerous people slept outside the store the night before it opened. Such excitement is typical of H&M store launches worldwide.