Market Report Emma Beckford
C o n t e n t s Pag e
Executive Summary - Page 2 Competitive Situation - Page 4 Brand Analysis - Page 16 Brand Analysis Social media - Page 24 Brand Objectives - Page 26 Consumer Analysis - Page 30 Proposal/Action and Implementation plan - Page 34 Conclusion - Page 38 Appendix - Page 40 Bibliography - Page 45
Executive Summary
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This illustrated marketing report will show supporting research of Illustrated Peoples social media presence and how it can be improved. The report will also look in depth of the brands identity, consumers and competitors, through visuals, diagrams and statistics to propose a social media/digital campaign for Illustrated People. Illustrated People are a fashion brand based in Brick Lane, East London, they create unique modern print and street-wear.
The 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.
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Competitive Situation The Ragged Priest 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.
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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.
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By designing trend-fo cussed c o l l ec t i o n s u s i n g c o r e v i n tag e product, The Ragged Priest has q u i c k ly e s ta b l i s h e d i t s e l f a s o n e of the most popular new brands around.
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(The Ragged Priest 2014)
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The SWOT analysis has shown that The Ragged Priest is the strongest competitor against Illustrated People. They sit in the mass market as they both offer high-street clothing and sell in multiple retailers. Both of the brands sell at affordable prices and are high-street quality however, The Ragged Priest sells their denim garments at a higher price than any garment from Illustrated People. The product offering of the ragged priest can be another reason why it is a main competitor; they offer very similar stock with similar price values they also sell in the same stockists that include Topshop, Nasty Gal and Dolls Kill. However The Ragged Priest offer various sizes that range from XS – L or 6 – 12, which is a wider range for their consumers and more desirable, whereas Illustrated People only sell sizes S – L.
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C o m p e t i t i v e S i t u at i o n UNIF 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’.
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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. Here is an image of how UNIF are increasing page likes within the selected time period.
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The brand have their own website where you can purchase their products from, however as they are an American brand, UK delivery is $15. In the UK, Urban Outfitters and Nasty Gal are the two of main stockists that sells UNIF products, because UNIF sells in Nasty Gal as well as The Illustrated People this makes them one for their main competitors. 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.
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Fig 2 Here is a graph of a combined together of the UNIF’s market, digital, social and financial data into an overall brand performance graph. The graph shows us how the competitor is doing throughout the year compared to Illustrated People.
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Brand Analysis Illustrated People
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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.
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( i l l u s t r at e d P eo p l e 2 0 1 4 )
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W e S ta n d F o r f r e s h c r e at i v i t y, originality and freedom of expression.
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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. “We are constantly evolving and enjoying every moment of it, not knowing who’s going to come through the door next is what makes us who we are. Ten years old and growing, we are always looking to step into new directions as both a brand and within Fashion.� (Illustrated People 2014)
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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.
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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.
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Brand Analysis Social Media
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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. Social media has now become a platform for brands and also bloggers to become more noticed and this can be done through hash-tags and celebrity endorsers. One of Illustrated Peoples weaknesses is that they do not post regularly on any of their social media platforms, as well as this they do not have any current social media campaigns.
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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. “Burberry will preview the show on Snapchat the evening before as the finishing touches are being made at the brand’s London studio, inviting the app’s 100 million users to see it before it is officially showcased.” (Telegraph 2015) Illustrated People Facebook - 14,869 Instagram - 33,800 Twitter - 5,689
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Brand Objectives
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The Illustrated People’s strengths are their current and previous collaborations with designers or other brands to represent youth within their projects. Another strength within brand is that they are constantly evolving with trends and the growth in the market for streetwear. The brand needs to consider how to communicate with their target and potential consumers better mainly through social media, which is a vital promotional tool for the brand. One of the weaknesses is that they don’t offer their consumers any competitions or promo vouchers, however they do offer free UK shipping over £50, seasonal offers and student discount. They need to consider targeting their weaknesses that include improving their website layout, any photography within this and social media to represent the brands identity.
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Illustrated People have a number of opportunities that would improve the brand for example new collaborations with international brands or designers, also a chance to join more social media platforms such as Snapchat. “100 million users view up to 4 billion videos a day on the platform.� (ELLE 2015) The main threats to the brand are that both competitors have stronger online presence also they all have a similar target sumer. Lastly that the Ragged Priest have the same stockists Illustrated People. Here is a SWOT analysis of Illustrated people as it defines main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within brand.
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a conas the the
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C o n s u m e r A n a ly s i s
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The Illustrated People consumer is aimed to young women aged 16 to 25, this age group is known as Generation Y, which is the main consumer generation who purchase from Illustrated People. Generation Y have a high pressure from parents to succeed, higher education spending which resulted in having student debt/loans to pay back, they have a disposable income starting their working lives straight after education, they have also grown up with technology and are known as technically savvy. The Illustrated People’s consumer lives in the city such as London and lives in an apartment with her boyfriend. The consumer is laid back and relaxed, as well as social, youthful and happy. She likes to dress how she feels, whether it is street-wear, practical or fun printed clothing, she is predominately a tomboy.
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P r o p o s a l /A c t i o n a n d I m p l e m e n tat i o n p l a n
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The main concept idea for Illustrated People is a strong social media/digital campaign. Illustrated Peoples social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter will promote their new season launch/campaign. Snapchat will be the main focus for the campaign, as this is a way to get the brand more noticed through a ‘live story’ or as a user for consumers to add. Snapchat and Instagram are the best platforms to show more behind the scenes footage as they are video based compared to Facebook and Twitter where its mainly for live updates or photos. Within the campaign there will be relevant and most common hashtags, as this is a way to gain more followers and potential customers. Promoting through social media platforms is the best way to gain a wider audience, especially as Generation Y regularly uses these platforms. The proposed idea is to create social media mock-ups and gifs that represent Illustrated Peoples identity and consumer identity. There is an opportunity to help improve their social media platforms and connections by doing a social media based campaign, as it will appeal to the target age group and consumer generation. The mock-ups will be created in Photoshop as well as majority of the gifs however a few made in various apps, using the brands current prints and graphics. The promoting online will hopefully get recognized, any reblog, re-post or re-tweet will also help promote Illustrated People. All of the mock-ups, gifs and images will relate back to the brand and consumer identity and should be taken into consideration this includes, prints, bright colours, creative, youthful and fun. Social media competitions will take place for consumers to take a chance to win prizes by engaging with the brand such as like share or comment.
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Conclusion
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This report 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. The brand will need to keep their social media updated and continue posting regularly so that the brand is at its best, and keeping it consistent.
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Appendix A1 - SWOT Analysis H. Posner, Marketing Fashion, Page 99. A2 - Mood Board of The Ragged Priest All images from: www.instagram.com/theraggedpriest www.facebook.com/theraggedpriest www.pinterest.com/theraggedpriest www.theraggedpriest.com A3 - Moodboard of UNIF All images from: www.unif.com www.pinterest.com/unif www.instagram.com/unif A4 - Brand Onion H.Posner, Marketing Fashion, page 147. A5 - Brand Positioning Map H.Posner, Marketing Fashion, Page 53. A6 - Illustrated People SS15 www.illustratedpeople.com/lookbooks A7 - Illustrated People Facebook www.facebook.com/itsillustrated A8 - Consumer Pen Portrait H,Posner, Marketing Fashion, Page 123. All images from: www.pinterest.com/illustratedpeople www.instagram.com/illustratedpeople www.facebook.com/itsillustrated https://uk.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=laid%20back&term_ meta%5B%5D=laid%7Ctyped&term_meta%5B%5D=back%7Ctyped A9 - Illustrated People Pheobe X IP www.illustratedpeople.com/phoebe A10 - Illustrated People screen shot of Gif www.illustratedpeople.com A11 - Mobile and Tablet Logo www.topshop.com 40
Quotes used: 1: “By designing trend-focussed collections using core vintage product, The Ragged Priest has quickly established itself as one of the most popular new brands around. Their dedicated team of lovers, haters, losers and dreamers create unique pieces of clothing to toughen up any wardrobe”. (Topshop 2014) www.topshop.com/theraggedpriest 2: “We stand for fresh creativity, originality and freedom of expression.” (Illustrated People 2014) www.illustratedpeople.com/about-us 3: “We are constantly evolving and enjoying every moment of it, not knowing who’s going to come through the door next is what makes us who we are. Ten years old and growing, we are always looking to step into new directions as both a brand and within Fashion.” (Illustrated People 2014) www.illustratedpeople.com/about-us 4: “Burberry will preview the show on Snapchat the evening before as the finishing touches are being made at the brand’s London studio, inviting the app’s 100 million users to see it before it is officially showcased.” (Telegraph 2015) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/london-fashion-week/burberry-topreview-ss16-show-on-snapchat/ 5: “100 million users view up to 4 billion videos a day on the platform.” (ELLE 2015) http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a30573/burberry-snapchat-show-london-fashion-week/
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Appendix A!
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Bibliography Dolls Kill (2011) UNIF ‘Ur not in fashion’. Available at: http://www. newswire.com/unif-ur-not-in-fashion/129755 (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Farrington, A. (2013) Snapchat marketing. Available at: https://www. lsnglobal.com/trends/view/8444 (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Fashionbi (2015) About UNIF clothing. Available at: https://fashionbi.com/brands/unif-clothing/info (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Fashionbi (2015) UNIF clothing Fashionbi index ® - Performance Trend. Available at: https://fashionbi.com/brands/unif-clothing/index (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Fashionbi (2015) UNIF clothing social media performance. Available at: https://fashionbi.com/brands/unif-clothing/social-media/facebook (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Illustrated People (2015) About us. Available at: http://www.illustratedpeople.com/about-us (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Leach, N. (2015) Online content is key to brand loyalty for Millennials. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/behaviours/article/17176/online-content-is-key-to-brand-loyalty-for-millennials (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Posner, H. (2011) Marketing fashion: Portfolio series. London: Laurence King Publishing. Rees, T. and Bishop, A. F. née (no date) Visual-search commerce. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/markets/article/15608/visualsearch-commerce (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Rodulfo, K. (2015) ‘Burberry is producing its First-Ever Snapchat fashion show’, ELLE.com (September), . Sowray, B. (2015) Burberry to preview SS16 show on Snapchat. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/london-fashion-week/burberry-to-preview-ss16-show-on-snapchat/ (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Topshop (2014) The ragged priest - brands at Topshop - clothing. Available at: http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogNavigationSearchResultCmd?pageSize=20&catalogId=33057&viewAllFlag=false&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&beginIndex=1&categoryId=820009&storeId=12556&parent_categoryId=203984&refinements=category~%5B820152%7C820009%5D (Accessed: 26 November 2015). 45
Van Gilder Cooke, S. (no date) Instagram’s growth presents opportunity for brands. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/behaviours/article/15313/instagram-s-growth-presents-opportunity-for-brands (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Walker, D. (2015) Most US university students use Snapchat daily. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/behaviours/article/15304/most-us-university-students-use-snapchat-daily (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Walker, D. and Smith, J. (2015) Social media market. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/markets/article/17565/social-media-market (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Wood, L. (2012) ‘The Brains Behind The Ragged Priest’, Fashion Editor, 22 August. Available at: http://fashion-editor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/ the-brains-behind-ragged-priest.html (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Citations, Quotes & Annotations Dolls Kill (2011) UNIF ‘Ur not in fashion’. Available at: http://www. newswire.com/unif-ur-not-in-fashion/129755 (Accessed: 26 November 2015). (Dolls Kill, 2011) Farrington, A. (2013) Snapchat marketing. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/trends/view/8444 (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Fashionbi (2015) About UNIF clothing. Available at: https://fashionbi. com/brands/unif-clothing/info (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Fashionbi (2015) UNIF clothing Fashionbi index ® - Performance Trend. Available at: https://fashionbi.com/brands/unif-clothing/index (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Fashionbi (2015) UNIF clothing social media performance. Available at: https://fashionbi.com/brands/unif-clothing/social-media/facebook (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Illustrated People (2015) About us. Available at: http://www.illustratedpeople.com/about-us (Accessed: 26 November 2015). (Illustrated People, 2015) Leach, N. (2015) Online content is key to brand loyalty for Millennials. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/behaviours/article/17176/onlinecontent-is-key-to-brand-loyalty-for-millennials (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Posner, H. (2011) Marketing fashion: Portfolio series. London: Laurence King Publishing. 46
Rees, T. and Bishop, A. F. née (no date) Visual-search commerce. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/markets/article/15608/visual-searchcommerce (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Rodulfo, K. (2015) ‘Burberry is producing its First-Ever Snapchat fashion show’, ELLE.com (September), Sowray, B. (2015) Burberry to preview SS16 show on Snapchat. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/london-fashion-week/burberry-topreview-ss16-show-on-snapchat/ (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Topshop (2014) The ragged priest - brands at Topshop - clothing. Available at: http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogNavigationSearchResultCmd?pageSize=20&catalogId=33057&viewAllFlag=false&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&beginIndex=1&categoryId=820009&storeId=12556&parent_categoryId=203984&refinements=category~%5B820152%7C820009%5D (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Van Gilder Cooke, S. (no date) Instagram’s growth presents opportunity for brands. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/behaviours/article/15313/instagram-s-growth-presents-opportunity-for-brands (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Walker, D. (2015) Most US university students use Snapchat daily. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/behaviours/article/15304/most-us-university-students-use-snapchat-daily (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Walker, D. and Smith, J. (2015) Social media market. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/markets/article/17565/social-media-market (Accessed: 26 November 2015). Wood, L. (2012) ‘The Brains Behind The Ragged Priest’, Fashion Editor, 22 August. Available at: http://fashion-editor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/ the-brains-behind-ragged-priest.html (Accessed: 26 November 2015).
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