Business Administration

Names:

Fashion & Marketing

Introduction:
Fashion is a hyper-competitive industry. Talent is readily available, so having
a well-designed and a high-quality product is simply the price of entry. What
ultimately separates a successful fashion business from the rest is often how
the brands story resonates with consumers.
In the pre-digital age, brands were built with classic marketing strategies,
using traditional media like print and TV to 'push' their latest campaigns at
consumers. While these traditional tactics may never completely disappear,
todays Internet-era consumers have more power than ever before and
interact with the brands they deem worthy of their time via a number of new
channels. With the proliferation of digital and social media, the rise of 'ondemand' content and services, and the growth of micro-targeting techniques,
people increasingly expect products and services to speak directly to their
individual needs.
The most successful fashion brands will embrace a blend of both traditional
and new media to communicate a consistent and authentic message across
multiple channels in a manner that both piques customer interest and creates
long-term brand value.

Defining Your Brand Story:

Before marketing your brand, it is crucial to define what it is and what it

isnt. In the most simple form, brands should think about key descriptions of
any design or aesthetic features, define their pricing or market segments, and
identify exactly who their customer is, factoring in elements like gender, age,
geography, interests and anything else that helps describe their lifestyle and
preferences. By the end of this exercise you should be able to clearly articulate
a simple brand equity statement in one or two sentences, for example:
Brand X is a contemporary American work wear collection featuring
traditional fits and luxury fabrics for professional women ages 40-50. Brand X
is unique because it offers exceptional quality at accessible prices.

The Classic Marketing Framework:

In the classroom, the 4Ps (Product, Place, Price, Promotion) has become a
straightforward, foundational framework through which to think about marketing.
There are many other frameworks available, but the 4Ps is a good place to start. Its
important not to be too rigid within any one framework, however.

Product:
In fashion, having a great product is the essential foundation of a great business. In
the classical marketing framework, product is defined as an item or service that
meets a consumers need or desire. But it's worth noting that, in fashion, we are often
designing products that people dont yet know they want, then using our various
marketing strategies to unleash their desire.
There are many business and trend considerations involved in the development of a
collection. Likewise, when planning marketing initiatives, its important to consider
whether they will be aiming to promote the brand or specific products. There is a
place for both, but whenever possible, it is advisable to feature actual product, as this
can directly help to drive sales and awareness of key items.
For example, is there an iconic piece from your collection that conveys your message
best? Are there unique design or functional features to call out or focus on? Is there a
particular lifestyle or activity that you want to associate with your product or brand?
Is there a specific person or archetype you want to associate with your brand? What
colours are important to the brand DNA, year round or seasonally?

Price:
In fashion, price is not only a reference to the nominal amount of money being
charged for a product. It can also refer to the value equation that the brand
creates in a consumers mind. For a price being paid, what qualitative benefits
and functional utility is the consumer getting in terms of design, quality,
goodwill?
Keep in mind that the resulting value equation will have a sizeable impact on
how your brand is perceived. This should be considered before any price
tickets are printed.

Place:
Fashion brands have multiple sales channels through which to reach end
consumers. In this framework, place refers to selling the right product at the
right price (value) in the right place.
Where you sell influences which customers you reach and how your product is
perceived. Therefore, picking the right accounts can have a major impact, not
only on your financial results, but also on your brand image. Some brands
may even justify selling or consigning to an account that is known to pay late
(or not at all), simply for the marketing value. While we dont recommend
working with retailers on this basis, you should always consider the brand
equity you can create or destroy by working with certain retail partners.
If you own direct-to-consumer sales channels (a physical store or a commerceenabled website, for example), you have the benefit of controlling the
environment and experience. This gives you an opportunity to tell the story
exactly as you want it, which may well be the most powerful marketing vehicle
of all.
Regardless of whether you sell online, its important for every brand to have a
website. This may only require a small investment of time and money, but will
be a crucial way to capture the traffic that you generate when you create
interest in your brand. Think of your website as the first window into your
brand and your world.

Promotion:
There are many promotional techniques available to brands, ranging from the
traditional to the cutting-edge. All are effective in their own way.

1. Advertising
Perhaps the most traditional promotion technique is advertising: in print, TV,
radio and, now, online. This is also known as paid media. This is often one of
the more expensive methods of communication, especially in print, but can
reach a large audience and can bring prestige to your brand. Many new
magazines will run ads for young designers and very low costs, or sometimes
for free, as long as the creative elements are strong and in line with the quality
of the rest of the magazine. Online advertising can be more affordable, though
there is much debate about the effectiveness of traditional banner ads. But
deployed intelligently, with specific goals, online advertising can help drive
sales, especially to your own e-commerce site, and can be targeted and
measured much more effectively than print ads.
2. CO-OP
Many retail accounts will offer (or require) brands to promote your designs in
store or in distributed marketing collateral, such as catalogues and store
advertisements. This usually comes with a fee attached and can be executed by
the brand or the store. Signage can be very effective in drawing a customers
attention to your product in store, especially when it is competing against
other brands.
3. Public Relations
A strong PR strategy can lead to extremely helpful organic media exposure
and influencer endorsements via celebrity placement, gifting, wardrobing and
personal appearances by the designer or brand representative(s). One of the
big questions most young brands wrestle with is whether to hire a PR firm or
to keep PR in house. If you do decide to hire an outside firm, it is important

that you spend time first setting a strategy with clear benchmarks for success
and meet regularly to review progress.

4. Social Media
With so many new online platforms and technologies available to brands, it
can be hard to know where to focus. In general, it starts with understanding
your customer. If you are selling designer dresses, platforms like Facebook
may or may not be the best place to promote your brand. As it stands today, it
is usually in a fashion brands favour to focus on highly visual social media
platforms, such as Instagram and Pinterest, where they can demonstrate the
beauty and design of their products. Instagram, which has really caught on in
the fashion industry, is an excellent platform for small brands, as it is highly
visual and enables you to demonstrate the essence of your brand, even
thought it's a hard place to drive sales as Instagram does not currently allow
live links in image captions.
No matter which social media platform(s) you decide to use, choose carefully
and make sure you have the resources to keep your accounts active and engage
your followers. Somebody on your team must be dedicated to posting
regularly, monitoring reactions and responding in a timely fashion. And
remember, these platforms are conversational not bullhorns so make
sure to also use your social media presence as a way to listen to your followers
and gather important feedback.

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