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T he Wax Br and Over vie w
Mini P r o jec t #1: P r o d uct
Mini P r o jec t #2: Po p -up s
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Mini P r oject #4: Wax Fes t i v al
P.79 Meas uring Succes
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Mini P r o jec t #3: ins t a g r am
Mini P r o jec t #5: P ublic at io n
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wax
issue #1 : brand overview
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Wax is a new label born from the creative feminism movement emerging on the Internet and is shaped by their communal, supportive and creative attitudes. Wax is a brand for forward thinking millennial and members of generation Z who are looking for a brand that reflects their values.
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building a community Wax values include creating a supportive brand focused on building a community between itself and the customer. For this reason Wax will focus on building relationships with brands, magazines and Zines with similar values as a way of placing it within this market area. Wax also hopes to build relationships with organisations listed opposite in order to present itself as a brand that builds supportive relationships with similar brands rather than placing itself in competition to them. Creating relationships will also enable Wax to target the customer more effectively by advertising and being mentioned where the target consumer already exists.
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Creative Adjective Meaning: Using the ability to make or think of new things, done in an unusual and often dishonest way.
Creativity is at the heart of the brand. Wax encourages creativity and seeks to create a brand, and connect with customers in creative ways. Wax aims to build strong relationships with the customer, building a partnership rather than a typical customer/brand relationship. Wax will create platforms for artists to share work through a variety of channels; online in pop-ups and in the wax Zine style publication.
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anti-fashion Adjective Meaning: Opposing mainstream fashion.
Wax aims to produce a brand that is in contrast to how high-street brands run on each level operating in innovative and creative ways, from production to advertising and marketing. Wax’s goal is to build a genuine relationship with customers, and operate under a slow fashion model; selling products that are current long lasting, and that are sourced sustainably and ethically. Wax aims to provide a more democratic style of fashion brand, working on a smaller scale to affect real change. Wax intends to achieve this through creating a community and focusing on localised marketing techniques.
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Creative, Experimental, Inclusive, Feminist but not Exclusive, Non-Conforming, Quirky, Individual, Community, Supportive, Empowering, Encouraging, Diverse, Unfiltered, Sex-Positive, Unapolagetic, Transparent, Female Gaze, Long-Lasting, Slow-Fashion, Fun, Ethical, Sustainable, SweatShop Free, Curious, Thoughtful, Create Experience, Informative, Encourage Creativity, Communal, Fan-Girl, Diverse Beauty, Artistic, Feminist Space, Updated Vintage, Nostalgia, Aspiration/ Inspirational Advertising, Mindful-Consuming, Partnership.
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Essence: Creative/Anti-fashion Values: Supportive/Socially responsible/Community/ Transparency Personality: Inclusive/ Individual/ Nonconforming/ Trustworthy
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WAX brand aims • Wax aims to build a strong relationship with the customer that has the sense of a partnership through inspiring creativity in customers and providing a platform for creativity through Wax's marketing channels. • To embody a different way of consuming in comparison to typical highstreet brands, focusing on remaking and renewing and employing a slow fashion approach. Wax's objective is to produce individual clothes of quality that can be worn for a long time. • Wax aims to build trust with the target customer through creating a transparent brand with a social conscience and that hopes to practise this through all aspects of the brand.
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WAX COLOUR SCHEME
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The Wax brand colour scheme is made up of blue pink green and purple hues. Seperately they appear to cater towards the stereotypically more feminine but when placed together as with the melted wax and in the rose logo the colours feel subverted into something other than feminine.
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Wax’s logo takes it origins from the aesthetic of a classic rose tattoo but with a Wax makeover. Wax identifies as a feminist brand and so we wanted to represent this through a logo. The rose tattoo style has been reinterpreted to look like a vagina, with this Wax aims to convey some of the brands personality both as feminist and fun. The logo is made up of colours that run though the brand.
Another distinctive sign of Wax’s is the purple and pink melted/ dripping wax, which runs through out the imagery. This comes from the name of the brand and creates an image that will be a memorable sign for the Wax brand.
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the wax customer Wax is targeting a Millennial and Generation Z demographic. Although the target customer is female, Wax aims to be an inclusive brand and aims to appeal to all those who identify with the values and essence of the brand. Wax's target customer identify as more altruistic than any other generation beforehand. As identified by Wgsn, "from social consciousness to honesty and optimism, people are striving to create a new identity; one that isn’t affected by economic change and is grounded in reality"(Wgsn, 2015). Wax's target customer is open minded and politically aware with a desire to be aware of their actions and habits in regards to sustainability. channels This target demographic of young women are killed with technology often found online, using the internet to find information. They are motivated and use the Internet to form movements and tribes and to showcase their creativity. For example feminist Zines, which act as platforms for young women to share their work. Despite the Internet and technology being an important channel this demographic is also aware they spend too much time online and value memorable real life experiences.
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mini project # 1: product
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Wax’s products consist of a range of T-shirts, reworked vintage jackets and a denim jeans range. All the products will be made from vintage clothes and surplus fabric as Wax aims to create a brand that has sustainability running through it. This sustainability demonstrated in Wax will exist through the ‘vintage style’, which is also key to aesthetic of the brand, in particular the vintage jeans and reworked jackets. One of the reasons behind creating a sustainable product is that the Wax customer is conscientious and wants to incorporate more sustainable behaviour into their shopping habits, but this choice isn’t widely available on the high street. Wax is concerned with making this a reality for our customer. The t-shirts will feature embroidered logo inspired designs positioned like an emblem on one side of the chest as a way of representing Wax as a type of club. Both the designs and the embroidered style will reflect Wax’s brand essence of creativity. The T-shirt range will also feature Six monthly collaborations with an artist or illustrator, Wax aims to support artists and provide a platform to display there work as well as inspiring creativity and this will be a reflection of this.
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T-shirt Range The range of T-shirts will consist of the same style of t-shirt but featuring four different designs made of a blend of surplus polyester and cotton material. Each item will retail for a price of ÂŁ25 ensuring responsibility throughout the production system; paying a fair wage and ensuring sustainability.
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T-SHIRT DESIGN #1
Wino Forever
2 Our first design is dedicated to the hopeless romantics and Nineties nostalgics. Influenced by one of Wax’s Nineties inspirations Winona Ryder, this design is a take on the classic tattoo Johnny Depp got for his then girlfriend.
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T-SHIRT DESIGN #2
GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS
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This design is the most clear in representing the feminist motives behind Wax. The words ‘girls girls girls’, motif is an appropriation of the neon signs often found outside sleazy strip clubs. This T-shirt re arranges the meaning behind the words making it a positive symbol.
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T-SHIRT DESIGN #3
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This T-shirt is an emblem of female body positivity and aims to present the creativity and craft present in the brand.
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LIMITED EDITION t-shirt 1
this aint no disco
Alongside the three monthly magazine there will be a limited edition tee shirt inspired by the different theme for each Zine. The overall theme for the first Zine was inspiration from the nineties and Noughties. The words are taken from Cheryl Crow’s nineties anthem “All I Wanna Do”. The t -shirt will retail for three months alongside the Wax Zine.
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t- SHIRT COLLABORATIONS To display wax’s values of creativity and community through the products, Wax will hold collaborations with an artist or illustrator and change every six months. This will act to provide a platform for artist and show wax as a community and creating a relationship with customers. The first artist wax has chosen to collaborate with is illustrator Polly Nor who’s exploration of female sexuality and style is a perfect fit with wax’s values and personality.
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DENIM RANGE Denim to kill in Wax’s denim range is made up of vintage style jeans. As a brand that aims for sustainability, the denim reflects Wax’s philosophy of renewing and remaking. The jeans range will be created from both existing denim jeans and surplus denim material. For this reason there may be some discrepancies between styles, however this will add to the ‘vintage’ aesthetic of the denim range and will be marketed as each garment being different and individual. To further reflect and create Wax’s sustainable values the Wax pop up stores will offer a tailoring service so a customer can ensure the jeans they purchase fit exactly as they want them and encourage maximum wear from them. The inspiration behind the denim jeans line is the film Thelma and Louise which will be made clear in their marketing, Thelma and Louise fits well with the feminist personality of the brand and will add to the vintage quality of the range.
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ÂŁ30 Although the jeans will come in a range of colours and washes the overall fit will be similar, coming in a mom jean style, with a high waist and relaxed fit. The jeans will range from more distressed and include rips and pairs with no rips.
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WAX OUTERWEAR Wax's range of jackets will consist of vintage denim and leather jackets repurposed and reworked. The jackets will feature a hand painted Wax logo. As the jackets are second hand each item will vary slightly, this will add to the individual feel of the brand and charm of buying a vintage item
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WAX X MALALA FUND 1
Wax aims to be a brand that expresses its feminist and supportive values through its actions. For this reason Wax will partner with the Malala Fund, Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai’s charity that works to ensure all girls across the world have twelve years of education. 15% of every wax item sold will be donated to this cause. Supporting women and girls worldwide and communicating to the customer that Wax is a caring and brand with a social conscience.
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Packaging 1
The above image shows the Wax packaging from when a product is ordered online. All packaging will be sent in brown paper packages with a strip running across depicting melted wax in the Wax brands colours. The labels will hold information about where the products came from, its sustainable roots and information about the Malala Fund.
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mini project# 2: Pop- up stores
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AIMS OF POP UPS 1
• To provide a physical home for the store • To increase brand awareness and measure footfall • To convey wax's personality and values to the customer 51
The Wax pop-ups will be an opportunity to immerse the customer in the aims and personality of the Wax brand. Asan aspect of wax’s identity is community and creativity; this will run through the pop-up. The pop up will double as a gallery space for female artists who would not usually be able to exhibit in a gallery. The work will be sourced through competitions and submissions. Wax is a brand that has taken its roots from the Internet and so will primarily exists online with pop ups providing a real life experience which my customer appreciates. For this reason the pop ups will be more sporadic to ensure they remain exciting to the customer and will take place for one week every two months. Wax is based in central London as it was born from researching Zines and feminist Internet culture from this area. Wax will take advantage of a pop-up platform and change locations throughout the city for every pop up. This will act to increase knowledge and footfall, with more people encountering the brands pop ups. It will also act to measure the success of the pop ups and better understand in which location they are most popular. After one year the pop up locations will be able to be narrowed down to those that are most successful.
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POP UP INSTALLATION SAD GIRLS CLUB
The initial Wax pop ups will take the form of an installation depicting a girls bedroom, as this also reflects the theme of the first three monthly Wax Zine, of which there will consistently have different over all themes. The first theme is “growing up� and inspirations from this time. The posters on the wall are taken from responses received form Wax's target consumer group about their teenage inspirations. An installation of this nature will help to set the visual tone of the brand. As soon as a customer walks into a pop up they will be immersed in the world of Wax and will be able to explore the brands values and personality. The pop ups will also feature the Wax zine amongst other zine of the same genre such as Polyester, Lady beard and Rookie to show Wax as part of a community.
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Part of the initial wax pop ups will feature artwork also chosen to be a part of the Wax Zine. This will ensure that imagery and the messages that Wax presents are consistent throughout its marketing platforms. The featured artwork includes work by Annabel Amin, Polly Nor, who is also the artist behind Wax's first T shirt collaboration, and a collage created communally, made up of suggestions of childhood and teen inspirations from Wax customers. This will reaffirm Wax as a brand with creativity and community at its heart and will give the customer an instant visual sense of the brands values personality. These images will be presented in frames as depicted opposite on one wall which also features wall paper created from Sunny Lula Ha's illustrations also featured in the Zine, this will ensure all marketing platforms are consistent.
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POP UP TAILORING SERVICE At the pop-ups, wax will provide a unique in house tailoring service, ensuring that each customer takes away a purchase that is tailored to them and that each garment can be unique. The tailoring service also highlights creativity and craft as values of wax. It will also allow the customer to see the environmental efforts the brand makes, as it corresponds with the repair and vintage attitude of the brand and adds the feel of transparency as the customer can see it happening in the store. Furthermore a tailoring service will help to improve the quality of the clothes for each customer, which is an important factor in appealing to the target customer group, who are fickle in terms of brand loyalty and are attracted to brands that provide good quality As the t-shirts are made from repurposed fabric and the denim range is either re-worked or vintage, there maybe some difference in fit therefore the tailoring service will ensure no customer will leave disappointed. The tailoring service will also add to presenting the creative and communal side of the brand, putting a value on craft and customer value and experience. One of wax’s values is to create a brand that does not comply to the typical high street fashion structure which can often be socially irresponsible, damaging to the environment and impersonal. This service also hopes to put emphasis on sustainability with the idea to create a system of recreating, repairing and tailoring rather than creating from scratch.
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mini project# 3: instagram
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aims of Wax's instagram • To gain followers and increase brand reach and recognition. • To portray the brand through stong visuals so the customer can understand the values and essence of the brand just through scrolling through the instagram feed. • To recognise what visuals follwers respond well to as a way to improve the brand aesthetics. • Use instagram as a way of sharing news and events about Wax's other marketing channels and promote the products. • To build a relationship with the customer and provide a platform.
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IMAGE inspiration
The Wax Instagram will feature images that summarise the influences and inspirations behind the brand. The images will be arranged in a colour scheme with images of similar colours being posted in threes and fading in and out through the wax colours.
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product posts Wax will also use this platform to promote Wax products. Featuring images of the wax products and images from campaigns and the editorial from the first issue of the Wax zine. The product images will be placed amongst posts showing inspiration behind the designs, for example placing the "wino forever" T shirt beside images of Winona Ryder. The instagram will also post images from the work of artists and photographers around the world as a way of sharing ideas and inspiration with Wax followers.
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Wax will give opportunities for followers and instagram to engage with the brand through instagram. The instagram will encourage followers to send their artwork to be featured on the instagram using the hashtag #waxcreative and will also have information for submitting to the Wax Zine.
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Wax instagram will connect with customers through asking them to take pictures of them in their wax clothing using the hashtag #waxon. This will help to increase brand reach across instagram. Furthermore Wax will employ instagram to find artists and musicians for the Wax festival and invite followers to send in their submissions using a hashtag or through email.
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mini project# 4: WAX FESTIVAL
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festival art// food// music courtney barnett // mizan // ekkah +more
Aims • To solidify Wax as a supportive, creative and feminist brand. • To give customers a postive experience and memories to connect with the Wax brand. • To increase awareness about the brand
The Wax festival will be held when Wax has built a following as well as relationships with fellow Zines and brands with similar personalities. Wax will draw upon these relationships to produce the festival, which will host a zine-making workshop with Polyesters Ione Gamble and a photography workshop with Rookie's Tavi Gevinson. This will once again place wax as in a community rather than in competition. Workshops will encourage a sense of creativity and community as it is a shared experience The festival will also give unsigned and unknown musicians and bands a platform to perform as well as artists. Wax will be calling for submissions and searching itself for artists to create installations and for the festivals exhibition space. The festival will act as a platform for lesser known musicians and brands but will also have better known headline acts to increase interest around the event. The artists chosen Courtney Barnett, Mizan and Ekkah are all female musicians that Wax admires and feel hold wax's values. The tickets will cost £30 with 15% of the ticket price going towards the Malala Fund.
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mini project# 5: publication
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aims • To provide a platform for Wax customers to show their creativity. • To increase customers knowledge of the brand and its personality. • To create interest and a connection with the customer.
The Wax Zine will feature artwork from Wax's customer base discovered through submissions, an interview with Polly Nor highlighting her inspirations to generate interest surrounding Wax's T-shirt collaboration and a Wax editorial to promote the Wax product. The tone of the editorial is relaxed, natural and un-photoshopped. Each issue of the Waz Zine, which will be published every three months providing a new issue each season, will have a different theme, under which the target customer will be asked to create work, in order to sustain interest. The Wax Zine will be available online and a physical copy will be available when a purchase is made in a pop up. When customers buy products online they will receive a personalised copy of the Zine. The Zine will provide a tangible part of the brand, which the customer can keep and look through in their own time.
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MEASURING SUCCESS
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Brand overall Use Social Listening to see what people are saying on social media. The benefit of this being that it is possible to see consumer’s opinions as they are naturally expressed.
Product
moving forward Wax will constantly make moves to improve the relationship between brand and customer to achieve a loyal customer base.
As the main platform for buying Wax products will be online it will be important to Track website traffic, looking at the number of hits and where they come from and how long they stay on each page or if they put anything in their basket, working to identify where customers come from and what interests them the most. Consistently working to improve products by documenting the number of returns and the reasons behind them. Keeping track of sales and which t-shirts are most popular Evaluate in which platform the clothes sell better online or in pop ups. moving forward Use the analysis to produce more popular designs in the future and taking any complaints about the items to ensure they improve.
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pop ups Measure the footfall and how long customers stay. The pop ups will also provide an opportunity to speak with customers and hear their reactions to the pop ups and the brand. It will be possible to assess customers who make a purchase or seem interested by the pop up environment. As the pop ups will take place in different locations across London it will also be possible to see which location is the most successful therefore narrowing down location in future. moving forward Speaking to customer to gage their reaction to the installation and layout to measure if it is reflecting Wax's values and gaining interest, this can then be used to improve on the layout and decor for future pop ups.
Wax zine Social listening will also be important for the Wax Zine and seeing its affect on interest in the brand and whether the publication is shared and spoken about online. It will also be effective in measuring customer engagement with the brand by the number of submissions for the Zines and feedback. The brand will also be mentioned in a dazed article mentioning the Zine and a brand overview measuring the reach of the article and comments on it. As the Zine will also be accessible online it will also be possible to see how many hits it gets on the website. moving forward Measuring how long a customer is on each page to understand what content is working more than others as to improve the issues, if the content reflects the brand correctly and if it needs to be refocused.
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instagram Identifying the number of followers Wax achieves and what posts prove most popular. Wax can also see the pattern between increasing instagram followers and sales to see if they correspond. See how many people are engaging with the brand by tagging and hash tagging Wax in images of their artwork or products they have bought from Wax. As Wax gets mentions from influential followers on instagram it will be possible to measure the brands reach by how many followers they have and responses. moving forward Tailoring content to generate maximum interest and customer engagement. .
wax festival Social listening will be used to identify what aspects customers are excited about and what they enjoyed and to see if the goal of customers relating positive experience to Wax was achieved. Measuring the reach upon the advertising eg in DAZED.online. Evaluating the engagement at the talks and workshops and weather the festival had an impact on the number of products sold at the wax product tent at the festival. Moving Forward Using the measurement results to understand whether the event was effective and if it would be most appropriate to continue with events like this or if a different channel is more effective.
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