All rights reserved deu Krall, S. (Susanne) 2005 Modebranche; Kommunikations-Mix; Premium-Marke St. Pölten, FH-Stg. Medienmanagement, Dipl.-Arb., 2005 This thesis aims to discuss critically the question, if there is an “Ideal Communication Mix for Premium Brands in the Clothing Industry” existing. This has been done by reviewing past research papers on branding and marketing. Based on this research an empirical study with expert interviews from the clothing industry has been conducted to expose current trends in regards to the communication mix of premium brands. Literature research and empirical studies in this thesis found, that there is no overall premium brand definition existing. Those definitions are varying according to individual views and experience of researchers and experts. The main difficulty is, that there are no universal criteria to when a brand counts as a premium brand. For example, it doesn’t automatically imply that a silk made pair of trousers ranging from 150 to 600 Euros is a premium brand. Literature states that there are some characteristics helping identifying a premium brand. For example further characteristics, additionally to the high price level, can be outstanding quality and a good fit. Generally it can be said, that a decrease in price level implicit a reduction in quality of the product which leads to a depreciation of the brand’s value. The main differences between a premium brand and a luxury brand can be seen in the higher price level and the stronger emotional value of the luxury brands. Further differentiation between those two types of brands is, that premium trends are copying trends whereas luxury brands are creating them. It was found, that the communication mix of premium brands in the clothing industry is heavily depending on the target group and the image of the brand. The empirically study clearly showed, that there are trends in regards to suitable communication tools for premium brands in the clothing industry existing. Thus, of major importance for premium brands is the layout at the point of sale, sales promotion, public relation, advertisement in magazines, the organisation of events events and the usage of internet. Due to the fact that consumers of premium brands are less price sensitive and are not likely to be influenced by economic crisis, the future implies, that premiums brands will keep there importance in the clothing industry. Concerning communication tools it can be stated, that the internet will gain in importance. There is the trend towards the facilitation of website and E- Shopping usage by companies. Whereas the tendency towards a reduction of “Banner”, “Pop Up´s” and other internet advertising tools could have been acknowledged. It is suggested that premium brand companies from the clothing industry are further investigating in creative communication tool, in order to distinguish themselves from their competitors by build up a unique brand image. http://phaidra.fhstp.ac.at/o:860 application/pdf 4018239 bytes Text Kommunikationsmix für Premiummarken der Modebranche