BRAND MARKETING & PROMOTION

*  identifying your target market

*  exploring all the ways of targeting them effectively

*  determining the marketing message you want to broadcast

*  finding the correct way of translating this message for your target market

*  working out the how to transfer your brand's message into the correct marketing initiatives for your target market

*  at every stage we take into consideration your marketing budget and tailor our ideas to this budget

Fashion brands are perfect candidates for what marketers call a “brand hi-jack”. Consider brands and companies, not just in the fashion world, that appear in consumers' consciousnesses seemingly over night. Brands such as Red Bull and the movie “The Blair Witch Project” are perfect examples of how companies are adopted by a group or demographic and then propelled to massive exposure seemingly with very little or no advertising. This type of marketing is hugely relevant to the fashion industry. Seeing as clothes are a statement, an association or uniform for a group then a fashion brand is a prime candidate to be adopted by a group or section of society and so propelled to an iconic status.

The benefits of such a strategy are that not only does it create customers and consumers that are both loyal and passionate about your products but also gives your brand a credibility that further boosts its' popularity with the wider population. In such cases the mass market are the consumers who may not necessarily have been part of the group or demographic that hi-jacked the brand initially but may wish to be associated with the brand due to its “cool status”.

How will you be selling your collection? The unstoppable rise of online shopping means that more and more people now have access to fashion from all over the world, they can buy tees in Australia to wear with trousers from Argentina . Selling online offers itself certain design constraints, but massive opportunities, that affect the look and design of the garments you are selling. Items that need to be tried on, and that require being fitted correctly do not sell well online. Items such as suits and other tailoring are hard to sell and will have a much higher returns rate than items like tee shirts, hoodies and sweat pants. Having said that, provided you make things as easy for people as possible to buy and return online, you can sell anything that you wish over the internet.

What is important is that your clothes are differentiated in two ways. First in the styling and design. Your clothes need to be unique and wearable and appeal to enough people to make your business as successful as you wish it to be, but be warned your clothes still need to be wearable which will mean adhering to certain fashion rules and designs that prevail in your target market at that moment. If everyone is wearing one kind of jean then develop your own, which expresses your brand message. For clothes to be successful they just need to be slightly different and unique. But take it too far and you will lose customers. The clothing and design is half of the garment, the other half comes from the brand image and marketing that communicates your company's ethos to your customers.

Many people assume that selling to stores is as easy as turning up with a case full of samples, an order book and a pen. It is not and it should not be underestimated just how difficult and time consuming it can be just to get a buyer to look at your collection. Fashion is a highly lucrative but highly competitive industry and the store owner and buyer is on the front line, they need good reason to stock garments and products. Every owner, buyer and merchandiser needs to be convinced about why they should take away shelf space from brands and items that they know their customers will buy and from which they can generate revenue, on garments, brands and styles that have never been presented before to their customers, even if they look great and present a compelling image.