COMMUNICATION – The act of transferring information from one place to another.
SPOKEN/VERBAL COMMUNICATION – Communication by spoken methods such as; face to face, telephone, radio, television and other forms of media.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION – Communication via body language, gestures, how one dresses and acts or even their sent.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION – Communication by letters, email, books, magazines the internet and via other media.
VISUALISATION / VISUAL COMMUNICATION – Graphs, charts, maps, logos and other visualisations that are used to visually represent messages.
WHAT IS FASHION COMMUNICATIONS
Fashion communications include communication of fashion through forms of imagery, sound, experiences, digital media, static and interactive content and the written word.It addresses the visual, practical, intellectual and cultural demands of a society, that continuously changes, and a dynamic fashion audience. The aim of fashion communications is to encourage the promotion and purchases of fashion products, utilising areas like photography, film, digital, social media, performance, music, art, marketing, advertising and journalism when doing so.
WHAT IS MARKETING
Fashion marketing is the application of a range of techniques, both subtle and unsubtle, that focuses on the customer. Marketers have to think of the right product offer, at the best price, in the best suited location, using the correct promotional method to ensure the core target audience is aware of and buys into the brand. Brand marketing teams are always based in-house and are highly unlikely to be outsourced to an external agency. Marketing is ultimately about raising awareness and generating profitable sales and discovering and giving customers what they want (and did not know they needed). Marketers examine and evaluate the needs and wants of the customer and target them in a way that is appropriate to their lifestyle.
THE POWER OF MARKETING
Marketing is a complicated tool designed to make a customer want something. A great amount of press coverage is dedicated to catwalk shows, ad campaigns, incredibly styled fashion editorials and film promoting fashion. It turns fashion and garments into something people covet and recognises the importance of the consumer in the buying process.
CONTROVERSY IN MARKETING
Controversy in marketing is nothing new, brands sometimes will manipulate this to create a splash and promote their brand, so they get noticed. However, some brands get twisted into controversial issues that they shouldn’t, intentionally doing so or not, this can actually harm their image.
MARC JACOBS – DAISY
The customers would most likely be older teenagers to middle age women, as the price of the product is £40 it is more than likely that the consumer would have a job or a source of income as it isn’t an average cheap perfume. The promotional image lures in potential buyers by its use of bright colour, the bright blue background make the advertisement stand out and the official name daisy with the flower accessory promotes a sweet and pure style making the customer be attracted to and potentially buying the product. The brand promotes itself in a pure and sweet way which would attract more calm and relaxed people due it its use of pale colour in the product and the use of a flower as flowers represent beauty and innocence. To improve the promotional picture further the creator could have made the pink used slightly brighter to make it stand out more and really pop out on a page.
THE ROLE OF A MARKETER
Marketers need to be able to:
Take into account the practical needs of the buyer and the emotional or personal needs of the consumer
Devise Marketing Strategies to Promote the Brand/Product/Service
Increase brand awareness to the public
Project a positive image of the brand to the consumer
Make the brand more desired over their competitors
Encourage new customers to shop from that brand
Drive ‘traffic/footfall’ to the store (physical and online)
Increase retail sales
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MARKETER
WHAT IS PR? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
“Public relations is all about reputation. It's the result of what you do, what you say, and what others say about you. It is used to gain trust and understanding between an organization and its various publics - whether that's employees, customers, investors, the local community - or all of those stakeholder groups”.- The Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA)
TYPES OF PR
Fashion Public Relationsis the developing and maintaining of a positive public image and is part of a Marketing strategy. PR is activity that is direct to media only.The relationships with journalists, stylists and editors are the most important parts of the role. PR’s can either work in-housefor a brand or as part of an external agency. There are two types of PR’s:
In-house PR’s – whom focus their attention on a single brand. They will play a part in a much bigger unit who will liaise more with other internal departments.
Agency PR’s –whom work over numerous brands and work at a distance from the client base. On the whole, the role will be on a strictly PR basis, however PR agencies are offering more full-service specialties above just PR such as creative, photo-shoots etc.
The role of the PR is ultimately to generate editorial coverage within various mediums: magazines, newspapers, online, broadcast, blogs etc. A brand may wish to have a dedicated department to deal with their PR or they may wish to have it handled by an agency to maximize coverage.
PR TACTICS
PR’s use many different techniques as part of their PR campaigns to generate coverage:
Media relations - press calls, selling in/seeding news stories, crisis management, media training
Press appointments / desk visits
Writing press releases
Sending out press samples
Event Management
Brand building & partnership alignment such as brand collaborations, e.g. Lanvin and H&M or celebrity collaborations: Rhianna with River Island
Celebrity Product Placement.
MODUS PUBLICITY
Modus publicity is a creative brand communications agency with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles. They’ve specialised in fashion since 1987 and since then they’ve covered all market sectors from nurturing emerging design talent to advertising international super brands. They are an independent company who is a mixture of brave yet creative which allows them to deliver innovative brand solutions. They design events to fully engage and immerse audiences and communicate brand messages to the best of their ability even with small budgets. On a large scale they are known for creating events with imagination and purpose. They guide their clients on their retail communications strategy to promote their brands image in the most effective way.
WHAT IS STYLING?
Styling an outfit or look means selecting different garments, accessories and shoes that is personal to the clients likes. There is no typical day in the world of a stylist, they are constantly travelling, and it is not as glamourous as it looks as there is still a lot of paperwork and invoices involved in the job. Overall, stylists help their clients to discover their own style. They can do this by researching, making mood-boards and Pinterest boards, and talking to the client to find out what their likes and dislikes are when it comes to fashion. A stylist researches to find the perfect attire for all their customers dependant on the customers budget. A stylist would then recommend products to the client however it is up to them to purchase it. Some stylists offer style development packages which is untraditional as it allows clients who either cannot meet face-to-face or aren’t sure if they want to invest in a stylist just yet. This uses the internet to communicate between the client and the supplier whereas most stylists work face-to-face with their clients. Stylists often make inspiration boards for their clients for when the get dressed so they can stick to their developed style and give a general description of their style as a whole.
COMMUNICATIONS – SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANT
A Social Media Team is responsible for managing and creating content for a brand’s social presences (such as Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram).Social Media Assistants are responsible for the day-to-day running of the various social platforms (from taking Instagram snaps to scheduling tweets). They also write, copy and schedule content across the brand’s owned social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and work closely with the brand’s Editorial Team. Social media assistants write and give weekly and monthly reports of social performance and engage with the brand’s followers as well as, ordering and returning products for social shoots, monitoring competitors and innovations in the industry and communicating these to the wider team within the brand. General day to day admin on the social team is also a part of the long list of jobs a social media assistant completes. An enthusiastic team player with a genuine obsession with social relations is usually the characteristics that are preferred for this type of job. A person who is highly organised and a creative thinker that can turn social copy around swiftly and ensure the brand’s tone of voice is a great candidate for this position who’s across the breaking social media trends, and plugged into pop culture, always looking for fresh ways we can engage consumers in the social sphere. A candidate must have a relevant degree and be social media obsessed, with knowledge on all of the latest social platform updates, strong numerical skills for reporting and analysing stats, copywriting skills – the ability to convey a message in short snappy headlines, a good eye for design and photoshop skills. A great sense of humour, understanding of online content for the fashion forward audience and passion for the brand is also required of candidates for this job role. Social media assistants are usually given a generous salary, bonus and pension matching and huge staff discounts and regular sample sales. The hours for this job however, can be very long dependant on the brand’s size (globally).
COMMUNICATIONS ROLE – INFLUENCER/BLOGGER
INFLUENCERS:
Tend to not have a website
Tend to be valued by how many followers they have
Brands pay them to wear clothes bet 2-5,000 per post but they need to endorse the brand with the hashtag
Examples of influencers are Camille Charriere, Olivia Palermo
BLOGGERS:
Are known mainly for their website, this can be written or a visual blog (YouTube)
Make money out of the blogs through advertising or brand projects
Examples of bloggers are The Blonde Salad, Tommy Ton, Style Bubble
Tend to present their work on Instagram as it is becoming more and more popular.
THE CELEBRITY EFFECT
Facts:
74% of agency respondents are actively working with celebrities
70% of companies are identifying and managing their celebrity contacts in-house, which is a time-consuming task
40% of agency respondents say celebrity marketing is “very effective”
33% of agencies are investing between £10,000 - £50,000 in a one-off campaign.
PREVIOUS CELEBRITY COLLABORATIONS
KENDALL/KYLIE JENNER FOR TOPSHOP
H&M collaborations VERSACE
BEYONCE ‘IVY PARK’ FOR TOPSHOP
GIGI HADID X TOMMY HILFIGER
KARL LAGERFIELD X VANS
NEW INFLUENCER COLLABS
Instagram has changed the way we shop, it is now considered a shop window. Using Instagram, people look for new designers and new brands as they often use it as a platform to promote their brands and lines. A recent survey by Barclays discovered that one in 10 of us admit to buying something for the ‘hashtag moment’. Often posting the moment then sending the item back. As well as this, people are inspired by their group of friends on the app to purchase different goods and follow different brands and influencers.
Recent collaborations between brands and influencers include:
Laura Jackson x Rixo- Sales have rocketed by 500% since the collection went live on Net a Porter in 2017.
Leandra Medine’s shoe line- From the famous Man Repeller blog shoe line stocked at the best stores including Harvey Nichols
Karl Lagerfield X Kaia– Kaia has 3.9 million followers which definitely made the collaboration between her and fashion Legend Karl
LOVE ISLAND X MISGUIDED
This collaboration had a combined audience of 4 million which made it a well selling line.
Megan Barton Hanson and Wes Nelson generated more than 50,000 searches for their outfits over the 2-month TV airing.Misguided’s paid partnership with the show generated a 97% increase in traffic to the website which shows how popular and in high demand the collection was.Dani Dyer’s patchwork crochet mini dress rocketed in sales mini dress by 9,000%. Sales spiked by around 40% between 7pm and midnight (when the show aired) making it the most effective way for Missguided to reach its sales target audience next to Instagram. This was a great way to boost sales as the designers knew it would sell due to love islands huge fan-base, so they would feel compelled to buy their merchandise due to their love of the program.
Primark also tapped into merchandise for Love Island by selling garments with some of the shows key catch-phrases on them, which boosted the brands sales also for the same reason.About £4.2m was spent on Love Island merchandise seen on the show this year which is almost double their fanbase figures. This highlights how much the merchandise is in demand from consumers.
THE TOP FASHION INFLUENCERS
Susie Bubble
Chiara Ferragni
Aimme Song
@pernelleisbaek
@evachen
Zoe Sugg
Vlogging sensations Zoe Sugg (ZOELLA) started her YouTube channel in 2009 and has 9.5 mill followers on Instagram. She is said to earn a reported 50,000 a month and has a net worth of £3m which indicates how influential she is on the public.
MICRO INFLUENCERS
Micro influencers are influencers that have a smaller fan/follower numbers however they have a direct and personal connection with their audience. They have a very intimate sense of who they are, and what they like. They not only understand their audience members but also respect them and are more likely to respond and address each follower as there are less of them.
Micro-influencer marketing is different from having a campaign with one big message as it is more like having multiple smaller messages as well as being less expensive than working with a macro-influencer, so brands and companies are able to work with more than one person for a lot less money.
Depending on what the brand is selling and who their audience is, they might be able to reach more people working with a micro-influencer than if they worked with one big-name influencer.
Some examples of micro influencers are:
BRANDS’ USE OF INFLUENCERS
Versace was one of the most talked about shows of Milan fashion week due to the Iconic ‘Gold’ Supermodel finale which indefinitely boosted engagement of the brand.
Donatella has succeeded in engaging millennials through the Versus lineby successfully using Micro influencers e.g.;
Underground rap artist Tommy Genesis.
American transgender activist Hunter Schafer.
American-born English model Lily McMenamy.
Tokyo-born musician and model Rina Sawayama.
Irish hip-hop producer Rejjie Snow.
English singer-songwriter Cosmo Pyke.
London-born artist and model Wilson Oryema.
American actor and freestyle rapper Judah Lang.
KAIA GERBER
I chose to base my assignment around Kaia Gerber. I looked into the early stages of her modelling career and also looked up her audience and reach. I thought this was important because it can clearly show how influential she is at such a young age. I used Fashion Monitor to look up these facts about her and cited this in my work.
GET THE LOOK
A ‘Get the look’ page is useful because it gives the audience information on how to recreate their favourite celebrities’/influencers’ style for less, for example if they were to wear a designer brand’s top they would show the reader where to go to find a similar look that would be cheaper.
Magazines utilise this because they know that many followers of celebrities want to be like and look like them, therefore they would sell more copies of their magazines by using these influencers and celebrities as a cover image. Many members of the public are influenced by what celebrities wear due to the fact that they admire them or just because they want to be seen wearing similar garments as their idols.
I created two get the look pages for Kaia Gerber sourcing similar garments to what she is seen wearing in these photos and telling the reader where they can get them and how much for. I believe this will be very successful as Kaia’s style is so modern so many people would use this as inspiration of what to wear for the latest trends.
PHOTO SHOOT PREPARATION
I made four Pinterest pages as a part of my preparation for my photo shoot.
The first board I created was inspiration for the locations I would go to, to take the pictures for my photo shoot. I looked at a range of locations such as outside in parks and green areas and outside storefronts. Each of the 10 pins I found are annotated illustrating why I selected them.
The next board I created was based around the hair styles and makeup I was going to do for my models. I looked at a variety of natural hairstyles and makeup because my influencer leaves her hair naturally curly and she wears little to no makeup that looks very natural. To really capture Kaia’s essence, I wanted to stick to this, so the viewer could clearly see the link between my work and her style. Each pin is annotated as to why I picked it.
I then created a board, so I could collect ideas for poses that I wanted my models to do in my photo shoot. I definitely wanted to experiment with different levels, so I can take a variety of different styled pictures, so my shoot will look more interesting. Each pin has a description where I have explained why I would use that specific pose.
The final board I created was to do with my influencers style. I collected pins of outfits that I thought my influencer would wear, and I am going to use this as inspiration of what to dress my models in for my photo shoot. Each pin is annotated with a reason as to why I think Kaia would wear that outfit.
From these Pinterest boards I made two mood boards that I will use when completing my photo shoot, so I can look back for inspiration. The theme of my photo shoot is ‘Around the town’ which is demonstrated through the structures and building you would find in the town with the occasional green area which make the environment more economically friendly.
THE PHOTO SHOOT
This is a collection of my favourite pictures from the photoshoot. I believe that they really show that Kaia is the influencer behind it as they capture her fun and playful side mixed with her professional modelling side and clearly showing her sense of style.
From the photo shoot I took many pictures that I decided against using. For example, I decided not to include this picture because the model’s hair was covering her face because the wind was blowing. This was a problem for me because it looked very unprofessional and I wanted the models whole face to be showing. As a result, I did not use the photo.
BRANDING
WHAT IS BRANDING?
Recognizable identity, name, logo or other symbol which acts as a means of communication between organizations and consumers.
Brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from those of other sellers.”
A company creates desirable products and utilizes third-party channels to distribute them.
Branding is a complex tool designed to make us want something. Hundredsof press-coverage is dedicated to catwalk shows, ad campaigns, amazingly styled fashion editorial and film promoting fashion. Branding turns fashion and clothing into something we covet and highlights something seductive.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The brand name is a very significant part of a brand. It is a trigger for consumers to screen and receive branded communication, for example; the brand name GUCCI communicates a message of exclusive luxury, whereas STUSSY conveys a message of ‘edgy’ urban street wear fashion.
M&S
M&S presents a family image, it has almost everything you can think of from food to fashion. It is quite expensive, but it sells quality products that shout sensible and reliability as all of their products are well made. It is a traditional brand that ultimately illuminates quality over quantity. Online store that comes as its seen, there is no deception about the products that they sell.
THE ‘SUPREME’ LOGO
The ‘Supreme’ logo is very bold and simple due to its bold red and white contrast between the background and the brand name. this makes it stand out, so it is more likely to get noticed by customers. It’s a very simple logo which could suggest that the design of their products are bold and simple also. From the logo you can clearly see that the main colours are red and white.
HOW CAN BRANDING BE APPLIED?
On the outside or inside a product, labels
Packaging when an item is sold bags on tills and receipts
Printed communication, brochures, magazines, window cards
Transport on own vehicles e.g. Tommy Hilfiger air ship
On all advertising
BRAND POSITIONING
An outcome of a company’s marketing/branding strategy
Increasingly based around aspirational lifestyles
Co-branding. Examples of this are H&M their campaigns fromKarl Lagerfield.
BRAND IMAGE AND VALUES
Brand image refers to a particular mental picture and set of feelings that consumers have about a brand.The term ‘brand values’ refers to the values a brand chooses to use to differentiate from the competition, for example The Body Shop focused on their ethics of using socially responsible ingredients, as do Veja trainers
TOP BRANDS OF 2018
[1] Gucci – I have chosen this brand as the top brand because it has become increasingly popular in 2018 specifically with millennials as teens and young adults were mostly seen wearing this brand most often. Gucci produced more and more focused products that younger people wanted which made their brand more successful than its competitors.
[8] Fendi
[7] Versace
[2] Off-white
[9] Nike
URBAN OUTFITTERS
I have chosen Urban Outfitters as my retailer because I feel like their urban, bold and trendy aesthetic perfectly suits my influencer’s style (Kaia Gerber) and matches with my photo shoot aesthetic (urban modern)
The logo of the brand is bold and unique, the use of a simple black and white colour scheme makes it stand out and catch the eye of many viewers. It is different to see that each hole in the letters are filled which emphasises the one-of-a-kind nature of this brand and furthermore portrays a bold character much like the garments they sell. Because they sell such bold and outstanding products I felt as if it fit Kaia’s style and personality perfectly. The fact that she is a model means that she is constantly pushing the boundaries of fashion presenting a variety of different looks of the latest trends. This will work well with Urban Outfitters as they are very up-to-date with the current trends and their style is very youthful and interesting which relates to Kaia’s style. The feature/produce clothes and outfits like the ones I got my models to wear in my photo shoot which will work well when creating my look book with the brands logo and advertising style and aesthetics.
The logo features a bold black and which colour scheme, so I will include this theme in my look book to clearly stick to the branding aesthetics of my chosen retailer (Urban Outfitters)
Urban Outfitters uses simple white shapes to depict different sections and products with simple white outlines. I will use this in my look book to stick to their scheme, so the viewer can clearly see the links between my influencer, my photoshoot and the brand.
The use of the bold, simple white text makes it stand out, so the customer can clearly see what section includes what, so it navigates them around the site, so it is clear and useful to them. The simple font is easy to read and consequently easy to understand which aids to the point of how well the site can navigate the customer. This will encourage them to come back to the website to shop again because they will remember how easy it was for them to find what they are looking for which makes their shopping experience quicker and smoother and therefore more enjoyable.
I went to oxford street and took a picture of the store. The aesthetic of the store clearly emphasises the urban modern theme they have not only in-store but also on their online website. Their use of exposed wood and matte black fixtures and frames clearly portray this theme. I will try to use wooden backgrounds and black outlines in my look book to not only link to the urban modern theme but to also show the direct link between the store and online website aesthetic and my work.
LOOK BOOKS
WHAT ARE LOOK BOOKS USED FOR?
Look books are used to give the customers an introduction to a new season or product launch of collaboration. It should communicate a theme, mood and outfits that relate to one another. Each look book should have the following:
Brand name
Season or theme
Page numbers
Editorial page
Contact details
I looked at this look book and found that it had a great layout. You can clearly see the colour scheme, outfits and information which makes it a very successful look book. It has excellent use of imagery as there are a lot of pictures in different sizes and positions, making it visually attractive and the bold text colour makes it very clear for the reader to read it. On the other hand, the look book doesn’t clearly communicate the brand so if I were to redesign this, I would definitely make this much more clear and obvious. Overall, I would rate this look book an 8/10 as it is very informative and visual, but the branding is unsuccessful, just by looking at these two pages you couldn’t tell what brand this is which isn’t good.
DIGITAL LOOK BOOKS
On Fashionbeans I looked at a look book for Urban Outfitter’s men’s autumn/winter collection for 2018. I saw a clear theme portrayed in each image which was street style as they were all taken outside, and each outfit was weather appropriate. Each outfit looked similar which clearly suggested they were all sold from the same brand which gives a very strong front.
I also looked at an AllSaints look book which had the clear theme of minimalism throughout each image. Their brand as a whole is minimalistic you could clearly tell that it was the brand’s look book without even seeing the title which is very impressive.
As well as these other brands I looked at the Zara look book and straight away I could see the theme of a bold street style. This is clearly all sport styled street-wear, and the colour scheme of black, whites, browns and oranges can be seen immediately. I think this is very successful as it clearly shows the viewer straight away they colours and style of this season from Zara.
Overall, I think that the AllSaints look book is the most successful as you can clearly tell the theme, colour scheme and brand just from the first picture which is a clear example of successful branding. I will use this in my own look book so that the viewers can make a strong connection between my work and Urban Outfitters. The only thing I would do differently would be to use more shapes and text in my work not only to make it more interesting and unique to these examples, but to also make it more informative to the viewer about the brand and outfits used. Using simple shapes and bold colours in my look book will make the viewer clearly identify that my look book is linked to Urban Outfitters as they use this type of branding in-stores and on their online website.
MAGAZINE COVER PAGES
I was stuck with ideas on how to structure my magazine front page, so I decided to research examples of some which helped me to structure my own.
I really liked the use of different coloured texts, fonts and sizes on the covers because I think it is really visually appealing and will definitely attract consumers to pick the magazine up and look at it.
As well as this, a lot of magazines only feature one main picture, so I decided to use my favourite/best picture from the photoshoot as the main image for the front cover.
I also looked at the layout of some magazine pages, so I could use this to inspire my own ideas when producing my work. I liked the balance of imagery and text, so I will definitely try to include this in my own work
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INFLUENCER
For my report on the importance of the influencer I looked at five different articles on a range of different websites to gain a wider opinion and a range of information for this task. While reading these articles I found out a lot of information which will help me successfully write an interesting and insightful piece for my assignment.
I decided to add an image of a barcode on the back cover to make my magazine look as realistic as possible.
