#bofeducation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3u-92jpuaQ&list=WL&index=50

How Do You Create Brand Awareness:

Three Elements:

1. Target Customer- the more you know about how your target customer lives her life, the more you can get a sense of how you might meet her (wardrobe) needs in her everyday life - her lifestyle, where she lives/work, what is important to her - helps you to engage  target customer to create awareness about your brand

2. Brand Story - resonate with consumer, the story that buyers/press/consumers will talk about when they think about your brand - who you are, what you are providing/doing, why its unique, why it matters

Competitive industry + Readily available talent = Well-designed + High Quality product is Price of Entry, i.e. Table Stakes

Example of strong brand story: Alexander Wang and the model off-duty aesthetic - instantly gets a sense of who AW is dressing and the aspirations of the woman he is dressing, summarized in a short sentence (people instantly understand what it is + phrase gets tossed around amongst buyers/press/consumers)

3. Marketing Mix - Alignment of 4Ps

Pricing: many young designers assume they need to operate at the luxury end of the market, but by pricing at a more accessible price point there's a bigger market opportunity (also allows consideration about materials you can use, places you can sell)

Pricing effectively positions you in the market and helps you understand who the adjacent brands are that you're competiting with)

Place:

Consider: Your product is available where your target customer naturally shops, place which is consistent with the positioning of your product from a price standpoint

Promotion: Type of magazines/boutiques that your target customer interacts with on social media

As the designer/creative designer, you're overseeing several elements of the marketing mix (i.e. developer/manufacturer is not the same person as the one who is doing the promoting/advertising while in a fashion brand, the person in charge often is the one person taking care of different aspects)

Advertising/PR: As a young brand you have a smaller budget but you can make powerful imagery (campaign/lookbook images - some magazines might give you some placement in the magazines for free if you have interesting, powerful images) that can be used online for new media marketing or social media marketing to build awareness about your brand

When someone hears about your brand, they're going to look you up on Google and if what comes back is not a clear representation of who you are as a brand, your promotion/communication about your brand is no longer controlled by you.

Important to have a website/social media platform that: shows who you are as a brand, showcases your products, makes it clear about what you're offering to the market, allows you to participate in the conversation about your brand, especially as fashion is a growing market online

Build relationships with the press, especially those who have a genuine interest in your product

Invest in platforms that you have enough resource and time to manage properly, because followers will expect regular delivery of communication and interaction with them