CONSUMERS WITH BRANDS

How do consumers consume with brands?

• Advertising strategies
• Understanding their demographic
• Understanding emerging demographics
• Keeping and increasing footfall
• Understanding changing and emerging trends in consumption
• For example diversity, ethics, social responsibility- people are not as connected to a brand as they used to be 

Physical and digital branding advertising strategies

• John Lewis was the physical brand example
• Fast fashion retailers
• Brands that rely on word and mouth for example Patagonia
• There are also brands that historically have not advertised heavily

Much has to do with visual communication

• the forums that demographics now link with
• What draws a consumer in and why
• What are the connectors for consumers - price driven?, sustainability?
• Connection to visual information for example short films, teaser campaigns, this connection to the consumer is critical

More abstract methods of advertisement

• Celebrity- getting people to buy cheaper clothing 
• Guerilla-pop ups on the hughstreet, connected to current generations, fresher approach 
• Youtube campaigns eg countdowns
• Subliminal advertising - very controversial

How branding and marketing drive the fashion Industry

• connects to the consumer
• Drives price
• Drives and captures specific demographics, whilst trying to pick up new customers
• Marketing incentives drive consumers for example e-vouchers, buy one get one free driving the price down for a limited period of time, countdowns on social media until offer on product purchase expires
• Pushes consumption by selling product through a specific window of time
• Historically brand identity was king
• Brand attachment locked the consumer In via aspiration
• This is changing now with generational shifts- consumers no longer consume because a brand tells them who to be 

Meeting the consumers needs

• to meet consumers need, you need to understand
• Who they are
• How to react them (physical/digital)
• Where they live, (some times north/south divide in consumer taste)
• Their age
• What they are prepared to pay
• Their likes and dislikes
• Their expectations
• If the production is desirable
• Brands need to research and gather data on their consumers to understand them

That is why research is critical

• good research allows you to undercover all of these aspects
• Through primary and secondary eg. questionnaires, surveys, e-mails, telephone calls, focus groups, photography.
• Set up a social media forum so that you can all keep in touch through the xmas hols

Effective research strategies

• keeping on top of what you are doing, organising hard copy information in files and highlighting information you have taken as research for example
• Keeping records of hard copy sources, photographing book, magazine, journal covers and inside the sleeve to keep a visual record of information
• Digital information, organising files on a USB with titles
• TYPE UP ON BLACKBOARD

Examining demographics and target markets

• Age
• Geographic location 
• Subcultures (who is wearing what and why)
• Earning/spending power reflections of target price points

SWOT analysis

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats 

PEST analysis 

• political 
• Economic
• Social
• Technological

Micro Analysis of marketing strategies 

• Demographics
• Economics
• Social and cultural
• Political
• Technological

4 P’s in relation to different strategies

• Product
• Price
• Placement
• Production
• Is the brand attacking to the 4 p’s in their marketing strategy?

Brand mapping

• assessment of consumer perceptions of brand positioning using diagrams

Investigating Brands

• auditing brands- investigating their current position in the market place

What can struggling brands change or improve to re establish themselves?

• connecting to the consumer, do they need to consider their 
• Advertising strategies
• Their reputation
• How they connect to the consumer
• Their history 
• Brand currency, brands developing a better understanding of generational shifts/cultural shifts, how society if changing