EMMA BECKFORD
S y n o p s i s
For this project, i decided to do a Social media/ digital campaign for the Illustrated People. For chose to create social media mockups for the brand that will include, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. With this I will also create gifs thats will be apart of the mockups. Illustrated People are a Streetwear brand that specialise in printed garments,the brand sell these through their stockits and their own website. The brand promotes on social media however is not as strong as its competitors, and do not regularly post on their social media platforms enough. My aims are to increase the brands online and social media presence so it is more known to its potential and current consumers. This report will help determine the social/digital media campaign that the Illustrated People need to create to help gain them more followers and engage more to their consumers already.
A N A L Y S I S B R A N D
Illustrated People were founded in 2002, and are currently based in London. They are a fashion brand that specialise in print and street-wear, they are known for their collaborations with designers looking to combine design, art, culture, music and fashion. Illustrated People create interesting projects with makers from different practices, which is influenced from all art forms, to make it accessible to the youth of London. They currently sell online on their website also in six Topshop stores, Blitz London, Dolls Kill and Nasty Gal, a few of these stores also stock the brands competitors products at similar prices. Illustrated people sits within the mass market, the same as their main competitor, The Ragged Priest.
To understand the brands essence and brand values, a defined brand onion is used to analyse the brands identity and show a concise overview of the brand. The core essence of Illustrated People is centred on youth, collaboration, modern and unique, one of the brands values is that they are free spirited and have a relaxed voice of style.
Illustrated People sits within the ‘mass market’, this term is predominately high-street fashion brands, this has the appeal to target consumers as these brands offer more affordably priced clothing. It also means that brands can offer more premium or luxury products, this usually happens when brands have collaborated with a designer or other fashion brands, for example Illustrated People X VFiles. A brand-positioning map is used to pin point the desired position for brand and give an overview of where it sits with the brands main competitors within the market. The map is set up with the horizontal axis based on pricing of products and the vertical axis based of the quality. Here is a positioning map of Illustrated People and how it sits with its competitors and with other high-street brands.
Illustrated People originated in Brick Lane, East London, they are a very unique brand that have a unique sense of style and have in-house illustrators and print designers. Illustrated People take a unique modern take on print and street-wear, which is accessible to the youth of London and around the world. Illustrated People specialize in print and illustrated garments suited to their target consumer group; most of their garments would include emojis, zodiacs, eyes and animal print.
The Ragged Priest is one of main competitors for Illustrated People. The Ragged Priest has recently been successful for their first collaboration with Lazy Oaf. This included their signature mom jeans featuring nineties inspired cartoon prints. This brand also seems to have a strong social media presence, with 122,000 followers on Instagram compared to Illustrated People’s 33,000 followers. The brands imagery through their social media and their look books online, look very similar to Illustrated People’s imagery however looks more professional and aesthetically pleasing. They also have a strong website layout with different images to click on for different categories of clothing, making it simple for the customers. A SWOT analysis of the brand will help define clearly the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
UNIF sits within the middle market and offer premium price products, however this can be a down side to the brand as their target consumers are the same as Illustrated People and cannot afford many high priced products.
UNIF or ‘Ur Not In Fashion’ is another main competitor. They are a clothing brand from California that was founded in 2004 by designer and former DJ, Eric Espinoza and Christine Lai. The brand is heavily influenced by music and culture and can be shown on their graphic print t-shirts and tops, some of these include messages such as ‘Say Whoah to drugs’ or ‘Free Acid Lick Here’. Like the Ragged Priest, UNIF as well has a very strong online presence with more followers on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter than Illustrated People does. The brand regularly engages with their social media platforms and they are constantly gaining more followers something that Illustrated People are not doing.
Social Media Research
Illustrated People’s social media platforms do not promote the brand well compared to their competitors, social media provides brands an opportunity to advertise and communicate to their consumers. Social media and technology is fast growing and is becoming one of the main uses of viral marketing, with brands focusing on the top two social media networks, Facebook and Instagram. Facebook is the most popular social media network in the world, and Instagram is one of the main focuses for brand campaigns. Generation Y and Z are more technically savvy out of all the generation classifications, they have lived with new and upcoming technologies.
Snapchat is now one of the platforms that have started being used by fashion brands such as ASOS, Missguided, Burberry and Louis Vuitton. Snapchat was one of the main platforms that were used over London Fashion week 2015, with designers showing the collections before it was shown on the catwalk. Illustrated People Facebook - 14,869 Instagram - 33,800 Twitter - 5,689
This Project has identified the Illustrated Peoples brand identity, consumers and competitors, through SWOT analyses, consumer pen portrait and the brands market positioning. Also outlining why the brands online presence is not that strong, what they were doing wrong and how it could be improved through a social media campaign. The aims have been met mock-ups and gifs have been successful by representing the brand and targeting the consumer well. However throughout the creating there was some issues with time management as it can take a while when creating gifs as it includes a lot of layering, as well constantly making sure they all relate to the brand. The mock-ups and gifs are really colourful, creative and incorporate the brands prints, which is part of their identity.