Colour Samples

Example of colour sampling from S/S13 Ready To Wear Collection.

Mood Board S/S13 Glamour Inspired

S/S 13 inspired Mood Board, focusing on modern glamour, textures and colours.

Here is my second attempt at creating a mood board, images are from the Ready To Wear shows at the S/S 13 London Fashion Week. Images were taken from Style.com, and the designers featured include: Bottega Veneta, Valentino and Louis Vuitton. These styles particularly caught my attention due to the careful embellishing, sheer flowing gowns, draped materials and flawless shapes. I chose colours which are neutral and simple. However I think they link to the glamour theme in a contemporary and refreshing way, putting a new spin on the classic regal colour palette, but also in keeping with the traditional Hollywood silver screen styling of the 30's and 40's. 

What makes a brand?

On Friday we were lucky enough to have guest lecturer Joe Baker come in and spend a couple of hours with us, the basis of the lecture was to talk about what makes a brand. It was so helpful to have Joe talking to us about the industry which he has and works in today.

The main points that he mentioned were:
Logo- Levi, individual
Ownership- No other brands or name similar.. Apple Mac/ Mackintosh rain coats
Colour- Heinz, teal colour is identifyed with Heinz, stands out on the shelf
Graphic Style- Font, Coca Cola is very recognisable just be the font
Shape- Cars: Audi, BMW- what defines it?
Smell- Abercrombie & Fitch, Starbucks. Tailoring for the customers needs
Touch- Materials used, quality,
Taste- Food, better quality?
Sound
Location- Where is it on the high street?
Association
Look- Dyson, different, innovative design
Uniqueness- What makes it stand out?

We were also asked to look at brand which we feel represents itself well, I chose to look at Levi Strauss & Co. The key brand characteristic's which stood out for me were:

Levi Logo- Recognisable, red square is it's identity:

Vintage Clothing- Rise in popularity, accessible in vintage stores such as COW, or online on sites such as eBay.
International Brand- Recognised in many countries, Founded 1853, with 16200 staff employed worldwide in 470 stores.
Eco Friendly- promotion of Levis being eco friendly is huge, 'Wash Cold, Line Dry', they also have launched the Water Less range which is extremely environmentally friendly.

Accessible/Interactive- Online store which has a section called curve ID, which lets you try on jeans interactively and find the 'perfect' fit without having to go into a store.
Online Store- Expanding this point e-commerce, well designed website.
Strong Advertising- Go Forth campaign, TV ads and magazine ads

Collaborations- Levi have recently teamed up with Nike to create a skateboarding range
Durable- Renown for their quality and value

I'm pleased that I picked up on several of the same/similar points which Joe has identified, I've realised that I I am able to analyse and recognise good points about the brand and which maintain and show that they can deliver to their consumers. Looking at faults of a brand and instances where they have not performed as well definitely increases my knowledge on analysing key characteristics of brands.

First SWOT Analysis

Last week our group completed a SWOT analysis on the brand Maybelline, we will be working very closely with this brand over the next couple of months and decided to find out what basic information we already had. To our surprise we had various points which we thought we could analyse to kick start the research on what it represents and it's products.

signature brand identity

Strengths
It's reliable
It is in all retailers- Superdrug, Boots
International
Catchy Slogan: 'maybe she's born with it, maybe it's maybelline'
Strong advertising and celeb endorsement with catwalk models
Established
Offers on products

Weaknesses
Brand positioning
It has so much competition- Rimmel, Borjouis, L'Oreal
Doesn't stand out
Lack of advertising at the correct market?
Packaging- Mascaras pre-packaged. Consumers then can't touch the products
Lack of retail presence
No consumer experience
Confusion as to who it is marketed at
E Commerce, Online presence?

Opportunities
Make it accessible
Stand out: re brand packaging
Blogging, testers and online market
Engage teenage girls
Lowering price to suit target audience?
Focus on a signature product
Skincare range to stretch out to new audiences
Free gifts?

Threats
Environmentally friendly?
Not having a strong online presence
The danger of not doing anything to resolve it's issues

Next stages for us to continue research: Look to America, is it successful there? Compare sales.

Visual & Cultural Influences: Mood boards

In my seminar today we were introduced to Photoshop, I have previously used it before and therefore had some background knowledge on the programme. Our seminar tutor, Millie, wanted us to begin to understand how to layer, merge, shape, re-size and crop a collection of images to form simple but graphically effective mood boards. I learnt how to use rulers and grid lines to set a series of structures to help place images in an appealing way.

Below is my first attempt, the images were provided by Millie.

Mood board, Seminar 2: Visual & Cultural Influences

MARKS & SPENCER

Marketing Mix- The Four P's

Price, Product, Promotion and Place.

In a recent seminar for an introduction task we were asked to analyse Marks and Spencer in relation to the marketing mix.

Mission Statement: "We offer stylish, high quality, great value clothing and home products, as well as outstanding quality foods, responsibly sourced from around 2,000 suppliers globally. We employ over 78,000 people in the UK and abroad, and have over 700 UK stores, plus an expanding international business."

Promotion: Marks and Spencer use celebrity endorsement very well. Rosie Huntingdon Whitely has recently launched a luxurious lingerie range. Take That, Lily Cole and Twiggy have also been featured in TV and magazine ads. Marks & Spencer advertising is well constructed and the consumer instantly knows it's related to the brand, they use promotion and the reliability of their brand to deliver a strong marketing promise.

Product: M&S offer many products, almost like a department store- they have thousands of lines covering children's wear to home wear. It's a fundamentally reliable, trustworthy, good value product. In our group we discussed that although the brand tries to cover all age ranges they seem to distinctively lack a range for young women, this is something that they could possibly try to improve by focusing on introducing something new for younger adults.

Price: The product is marketed at a mid-price range. Its re known for it's high quality and reliability. They could maybe consider introducing student discounts or offers to entice a new type of consumer to shop in store. They pride themselves for being the number one provider of womenswear and lingerie in the UK, offering stylish alternatives to the majority of the high street.

Place: Marks & Spencer's stores are usually found on the High Street however they also have super stores outside of city centres and outlets to match this. It is an international brand with stores in over thirty different countries and 703 stores on the High Street and UK retail parks. They have a vast online presence with an easy-to-use website and an app so you can shop on the go and allows them to market themselves to a wider market.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH..

Boots have several make up brands which they launched within the company. No7 is their deluxe make up range which originally began as skin care products in the 20's, but has evolved into an extensive array of quality cosmetics. Recently No7 have re branded, concentrating on ensuring the range meets the needs of the consumer.

The cosmetic industry is very competitive and No7 have listened to their consumers by re launching a new slicker, stylish and luxurious variety of products. They have identified a common issue which occurs when women purchase make-up; trying to match a foundation with your skin tone is a very tedious task. They have listened to their market and understood what they want from a product- it's revolutionary, innovative and contemporary.

No7 and Lisa Eldridge have spent three years researching, they asked around 2000 different women across the UK to find out about developing a foundation that works. Lisa Eldridge is a top make-up artist and now Global Creative Director for No7 at Boots, she focused her time working and reconstructing the existing range and updated the key brands messages. After two years of continuous hard work, the new range has been launched.

Lisa Eldridge Boots No7 Consultancy