Chapter 9

Customer profile

I am designing 2 final garments for my Final Major Project which will shown at the end of year fashion show. Before designing, I have created a customer profile so the brand focuses on my customer's needs and hopefully fulfill their needs. I have designed my collection around my customer profile aged 24 years old and upwards. 

My customer profile is structured for my target audience and her name is Priscilla. She is 35 years old and graduated from London College fashion studying BA Hons Fashion Buying. She is now working for as a stylist for Burberry in London. She has bought her own flat and also loves going on a sunny beach holidays.She has alot of disposable income and loves to splurge on herself, she shops alot in the high designers shops around London.

I have chosen this target market as I would like to be designing for a high quality purposes. The quality and effort that has been put into garment should be valued at a high price because of all the hard work, preparations and planning that went towards it. This would be made to fit a client so it would be one of a kind which the value should increase. 

Evaluation

In the duration of studying Fashion Marketing, I personally enjoyed learning the basics of marketing. I was introduced into new job possibilities that I thought never existed in the industry. One of my favourite unit of marketing was looking at the marketing environmental effects. I enjoyed researching and learning new laws in fashion industry especially when it came to the legal matter. I have also learnt research needs to be dug a little deeper to avoid plagiarism and a big chaos about moral issues. Overall, I developed and gained more knowledge about the industry before studying this unit. This has laid a foundation brick which will help in future. 

Chapter 8

Fashion Marketing Environment

Ethics

In the Fashion industry, laws are set by the government to be followed by so the workers are paid fairly and treated well and rights of consumers. Lately, there is a big issue about the this legal matter, as one of the biggest company Sports Direct has been in news lately about these topics. Dispatches Channel 4 has investigated Sports Direct, the truth behind the discounted shops. I found the documentary which I attached below:

After this has been aired, even politician such as Edward Miliband raised awareness in the his labour party speech that he would banish the 0 hours contract as it is a 'Victorian style practices in a 21st century which is wrong". He would change these into permanent contracts for workers who work the same hours each week. This ensure the employees for a job security and the conditions would be much better if there is a contract.

On dispatches, another point that has been highlighted was misleading a consumer is morally wrong and it is against the law to misconception a consumer's thinking before purchasing a product. Sport Direct deliberately swaps there price tag that shows RRP price and the discounted price. There was an example on a hidden camera that a New product of Nike trainers has been launched on the same day a woman wanted to purchase them, however in her surprise it was already on sale. There is a written law that a new product should be on the shelf within 28 days before changing and discounting the price. In my opinion, Sport Direct are originally selling the products on a discounted prices however labelling them with the original RRP with a massive cross and replacing it with a huge discount. Consumers would think that they are getting a bargain. Also, the psychology of retail consumer behaviour, people are more likely to spend on products that are unnecessary because they are cheap.

Law

There are recent news about Versace ripping off a London designer called Kesh. Kesh designed a shirt for American Apparel back in 2013 which Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn both worn after the release of 'Face le New'. She sold her t shirts for £50 on American Apparel.  In March 2015, Versace is seen with a similar styles, silhouettes and colour palette on the selfridges website asking price £440 for a t shirt. Kesh plans to legally pursue this issue as this is plagiarism.

In my opinion, I think she had every right to sue Versace, even though it is a well know fashion brand.  This is because an artist design should not be ignored and uncredited for, especially all that work and research and development for making that shirt for nothing. 

Chapter 7

High end street Vs Designer 

Chapter 6

Trickle Up and Trickle Down

 

The trickle down effects all relies on the hierarchy of the fashion industry. The haute couture designers are the one who sets the trend that is shown on the catwalk, It then tickles down to highstreet shops that would sell similar style, silhouettes and colour palette with a lesser price tag. The trickle up effect are fashion that are innovated from the the streets. This has been adapted usually by lower income groups that becomes popular, For example, back in the 1950's the tennagers were inspired by the teddy boys look which was never seen before on catwalks. However, the style of the teddy boys was very popular.

Chapter 5

Marketing Mix 

What is a Marketing Mix

Businesses use Marketing mix to highlight the considered points when designing a product and marketing the brand. To have a successful product, there are 10 points to acknowledge such as the quality?, purpose? and safety. All these points are very important as they all represent the product however a product would not be successful without a main target market/audience. In my opinion this is a crucial step as without a target audience, a brand identity would not be establish. Finding a type of customer that fits the criteria- such as customer's wants, needs and how much disposable income can they spend on a product. 

Pricing strategy has 2 approach called skimming and penetration. Price skimming focuses more on maximizing profits by charging the consumers a higher price, the effect of this, is that the product can be priced higher to see if it sales but it doesn't, the company can always lower the price to fit the consumer's need. Penetration pricing strategy, when a company launches a low priced product with a goal of securing market share. Companies uses the technique take a penny off, so the consumer thinks its cheaper than it actually is. An example of this, is a price of a  bag cost £50 not alot of people buy it but if the was shown as £49.99, consumers think they are spending less than £50. The psychology of this is making consumers believe the product is cheap, this is a subtle way to boost sales up.

Business uses the push and pull technique when it comes to promoting a product. The push strategy involves taking the product directly to the customer to encourage them to be aware of your brand before purchasing. The pull strategy is motivating customers to come and seek your brand. Some pull tactics can include word of mouth, sales promotions and discount and mass media production. 

A product/brand could never be successful if the geographic location is not in the right place for it chosen target market as the sales would be significantly affected. For example, if the target audience is for customers that shops in high end designer brands , the shop would not be located in a mass product clothing shops such as primark.

The 4P's has shown me that a product and brand cannot be successful without these main points. It has also widen my eye as the marketing industry is more complex and I realised without the 4P's the company would not thrive for success.
Here is a quick video explaining more about the 4P's

Chapter 4

Fashion Calendar

A Fashion Calendar that listed every major fashion events a year ahead. The website gives you a choose to view it monthly with much more details about the events or a year that gives you a summary, I found this calendar on http://www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk/. 

Chapter 3

Trend Prediction

A job role of a fashion forecasters has to foresees the upcoming trends and advise companies for the next season's best sellers. They do this by researching and observing the consumer's behaviors, looking at market conditions and they often assess haute couture collections. Fashion forecasters has to be aware and have some knowledge of the seasonal trend colour themes and fashion silhouettes. Trend Predictors has to be vigilant about their targeted customers when forecasting a brand as they need to know what they want and what they need. 

Where do they get this information from?

Trend forecasters collect these trends from reading fashion related articles or the current news, fashion shows, trade shows, fashion related television and even observing celebrities that could influence fashion trends in the future. They are always 3/4 years ahead of fashion trends as there are so much preparations behind the scenes such as communicating with designers the next trends, which they can put their own interpretation on their collections. Huge companies would invest on a fashion
forecaster for them to create moodboards and design colour palettes, patterns and key styles.


A Day in the Life of a Trend Forecaster by SynapticDigital

In my course, we use trend books to inspire us for our projects. In the libary there are wide range of trend books that is available to view such as Tank and Next Look. Whilst looking through them, there were alot of moodboards that a trend forecaster companies have created. It really made a feel of the theme, as it shouted out the colours and the key styles for each particular seasons. Learning more about being a fashion forecaster has really opened by mind as I never thought It was an actual career in the fashion industry. Also, after knowing the fact that they are 3/4 years ahead of fashion made me realise there are so much organising and planning just before a certain trend hit that annual year. This made me more interested about this particular area of fashion and even looked at our job roles that are quite similar to this and found more opportunities that I never knew existed.

Chapter 2

Pop up store

What is a Pop up store?

A definition of a pop up retail shops are temporary store at a specific areas/venue. The purpose of this is to attract consumers long enough with something new, exciting, innovated products while the company brand gets an exposure and create an impact a larger audience. 

Brief

We were give a 3/4 weeks project to show a group presentation with make believe scenario. The aim was to create a pop up store with a group of 3/4 people with a business plan and to help establish a brand name. At the end of the project we would make a business proposal of why we deserve that £15,000 from our lecturer. As a group we had to create a slide about our brand and also record our daily tasks, targets and opinions. 

I was put in the a group with Janna Dendi, Jade Rose and Arty Gohil. As a group we decided to call our business brand Floral Kanji. This was created as we wanted an oriental influence theme to our product. One of the team member suggested Kanji as it is a name of a language in Japan and everyone in the group agreed to it.

Here is our slide show, Floral Kanji:

As the Video did not show up on the slide show presentation, Here is the video below:

Weekly Process Review:

Week 1

In first week of the small assignment, we have been given a a brief and been put in groups of 3/ 4 people. There are 3 of us in the group. I was really excited about this project  and so as my team members. We all organised and agreed to have separate job roles through out this project and before the lesson finishes we would communicate to each other what we found and at the end of the project, we would merge our information together. We also discuss what our brand name will be and what would be our target market. We named our brand 'Floral Kanji' and our target market are for quirky young, fresh students.

Breje (Me) - Product designer
Jade- Visual Merchandiser

Arty- PR.

Week 2 

In the second week, Janna joined our group and we decided she would help us around which was helpful. This week, we did our research by looking on Pintrest, Google, WGSN and Ebay. An hour before the lesson left, we reported to each other what we found. From my research I have found out that festival goers would spend alot of their money on food rather than clothes. Another thing that I found that the weather is predictable so certain days, we might not have a sell out, this would not work with our product as it is designed only for sunny weather.

Week 3
On the third week, me and Janna discuss it would be cheaper for us to make the garments and sell them as it would save us alot of money instead of shipping them or buying in bulk from a whole trader place. Also, it being all manually made by us, each garment would be different therefore, it would be more special and one of a kind.

Week 4
From the original idea of the manually making each garments, I thought it would be ridiculous as the amount of labour time that would have been invested in would be to consuming.But everyone insisted of doing it manually. I looked online and found a website called Ali express which is an online whole trader which they offer free shipping to UK on certain products.

Presentation- I was nervous during the presentation. I didn't speak much in front of everyone as I was too nervous. However, I did brought homemade flowery hairbands and kimono to show everyone the product image we are going for. Our organisation with the slides needs to be improved in the future as it was incomplete and also time management and communication needs to be better, to be able to deliver.

Through out the project, I felt it lacked team worked as not some of the team member were absent which slow down the process of the project. There was a lack of communication and time management through out the process which I personally felt confused in the duration of the planning. However, I felt that I and some other team members worked well as we would exchange email and we would meet up on our break to plan this. Overall, I would of like to worked by myself than working in the team even though I liked the idea of everyone communicating and sharing ideas.

Chapter 1

Scale and Diversity of The Fashion Industry

There are 8 different categories in the scale and diversity of the fashion industry. These means each individual Company brand falls into a group that has a similar/same business structure. The top of the fashion industry chain are HAUTE COUTURE designers who are the inventors of the latest trends, the establish the next season colour palate and silhouettes.

What is a HAUTE COUTURE?

Haute Couture derived from the French meaning "high fashion" or "high sewing".  This is a creation of an exclusive custom fitted garment. Haute Couture fashion are constructed by the best dressmakers by hand start to finish, usually made with the best quality materials, extreme attention to details and finished off in a high adequate standard. It is often made for a client, tailored specially for the wearer's measurements and body. A one off Haute couture piece are very time consuming and the garment is so intricate that a price for one. There are 72 fashion designers on the official Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture calendar including designers such as Manish Arora and Guy Laroche.

Who BUYS Haute Couture?

During the 1950's the face of Haute Couture were society ladies such as Grace Kelly, Babe Paley and Marella Agnelli are a few who were couture customers. In today's generation Haute Couture clients are likely from China, Middle East or Russia. Public awareness for Haute Couture became to increase on huge Red carpet events. Now it is de riguer for celebrities to be dressed in a Haute Couture for important red carpets events. 

Manish Arora's collection Spring/ Summer 2015

8 Categories

These are my personal opinion of the the Mail Order. High Street fashion at the bottom to Haute Couture fashion.

High Street Fashion- I feel the high street shops varies on the prices. Some people would arrange high street fashion somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I decided to place this at the bottom as high street fashion is very cheap and affordable to the public. The shops such as New look, River island and H&M have a very similar style of clothes and very affordable so a working class person to students can easily afford these fashion trends. 

Mass Market - A mass market is when a company that sells affordable priced products that appeals to a wider variety of consumers. The mass market has the same tactics as high street fashion as they are not necessarily known for selling durable, high-quality merchandise or for having exceptional customer service but they meets the consumers needs at a reasonable price- this is also know as "throw away fashion". I decided to place mass market near the end, a company such as TK MAXX sells "high end designers" with a huge discounted price and the overall atmosphere of the shop I thinks its more than a high street.

Local- These are small niche business that can only be found locally. I have placed this third on the table as local can usually price their products cheap but because it is a niche market and not mass produce, they can sell it for a high price in comparison to a mass market or a high street fashion. 

Street Fashion- Street fashion are the quirky small fashion stores/boutiques that usually have one off items. The type of garments they sell doesn't follow the fashion trend and are aimed for fashion lovers who likes to be individual and free from the fashion trend norm.

Mail order- Shopping in the own comfort of your own environment through a digital device eg a phone, a laptop or an iPad whilst being at home. 

Global- Other company/ fashion brands falls under this category as they are an international brand not just a national known brand. These are iconic brands where their logo would be recognizable in every country, such as NIKE and ADIDAS. They would usually have their product sold in each town and have their headquarters stores in major cities.

Elite Chain stores-  Elite chain stores are very similar to high street chain stores. The difference is that Elite Chain stores have a higher prices and has more business goals and inspirations to expand the business. The brand are very exclusive and are only on selective stores. An example of this is the brand Ted Baker would never be sold in Urban Outfitters but would be in John Lewis. Their target market are people who has alot of disposable income and who likes good quality products.

Haute Couture- These are very expensive one off garments that were designed and produced by the leading fashion houses. 

Introduction

What is Fashion Marketing?

An early introduction to fashion marketing is trying to understand the meaning of the subject. Fashion Marketing is the development process of managing the flow of products from the original selection of designs. A presentation of products has to be produce for the retail customers, with the initial goal to maximize a company's sales and profitability. 

Social Media

More than 2 BILLION people uses their internet on their smartphones, Ipads, laptops.... you name it! surfing Social Network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. In today's society modern Internet users such as myself check their phone on a regular daily basis to find out the biggest news, uploading photos and statuses. The social Media has been going on for less than 30 years. Lets just pause and think about that. Technology and the high demand of the internet for the last 30 years evolve to  "Let's take a selfie! No let's tag, like and share this post," which are some of the most use phrases of today's media world. The boom of the social median is even more recently pervasive in The Tens (2010- 2019). This all results to The Fashion Industry is embracing and taking advantage of the Social Media. There are more way to advertise a fashion campaign in the internet such as Blogs, Live stream and Networking sites Here's a quick link for more information for the social success.  http://mashable.com/2010/02/13/fashion-industry-social-media/

Visual Communication

Marketing a merchandise would consists of a visual intake to advise and to sell a brand/product to the people. There are 9 sections to think about when it comes to visual Communication which are:

• Store atmosphere - It plays a factor to the whole business structure and image. The display design, flooring, wall coverings and other elements of the store's ambiance. This can be controlled by a retailer to influence and set the consumer's buying mood. 
• Sale - Sales technique are require to 'grab' consumers' attention. The end of season sales, RED bold fonts are used to spell out SALE or  25%,50% OR even 75% off for our subconscious brain would automatically trigger to go to the store, check it out and probably spend more than usual because its on sale.  
• Billboards- A large outdoor board for displaying advertisements.
• Promotions-Using a set of activities to communicate/relate with the product, brand or service to the user. The idea of this is to make people aware of the company and make them attract and induce to buy the product preference over others. This can be done by freebies, discounts, free service and even free tickets.
• Adverts- This is an activity of showing to the consumers the  
• 
  
• Activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services.  
• Branding- This involves creating a unique name and image for a product for the consumers mind. These usually portrays through advertising campaigns that has a consistent theme. It usually aims to establish compelling and individualize presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.  
• Magazines- A publication containing articles and illustrations often on a particular subject or aimed at a particular audience reader. An example of this are; Garage and Look magazine. Garage Magazine contains high fashion covers, deeper political/social issues and higher end fashion designers is use through out the magazine. Look Magazine contains celebrity gossip, high street fashion and the cost of the magazine is very cheap.  
• Visual Merchandising- This is a manipulation of drawing attention to the sale displays and retail floor plans to grab customers and help increase sales activity. Products are displayed in a way it would attract customers by drawing attention to its best features and benefits. 
• Display- A few key seasonal items displayed in the company shop window that would attract consumers to come inside. 

Endorsements/Collaboration  

This is a form of advertising campaign that involves a celebrity, using their fame to help promote a product or a service. In the Fashion Industry, perfumes and clothing brands are the most common users of a classic celebrity endorsement techniques, such as television ads, launch event appearances and many more. Not only just famous people are use to promote a collection but also well known brands such as Commes De Garcon collaborating with Supreme. This helps increase sales and it's usually has a limited period which the company can charge more for an item.