Nasty Gal UK Promotional Strategy

promotional strategy

By Emma Louise Nelson

UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD School of Art, Design and Architecture Department of Design Nasty Gal UK Promotional Strategy Emma Louise Nelson A Major Project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for BA (Hons) Fashion, Communication and Promotion Module THD1101 Fashion Communication and Promotion Major Project The candidate confirms that the work submitted is their own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others.

The University of Huddersfield School of Art and Design Department of Design Huddersfield West Yorkshire England

(16th May 2014)

Executive Summary The contents of this report presents the proposed promotional strategy for the UK arrival of American e-tailer ‘Nasty Gal’.

The opening of a UK distribution centre will make the women’s wear retailer more accessible to UK and European customers who will be able to order from the brand without the high shipping rates from the US. An integrated, localised marketing strategy for Spring/Summer 2014 will establish the brand’s presence in the UK market.

Nasty Gal is an American brand based in Los Angeles with shipping available all over the world.

Primary and Secondary research confirm there is a level of awareness of the brand in the UK and a desire for Nasty Gal products is evident through the surveys conducted. However, there is a clear barrier between this desire and continuing to purchase a product. Customs charges and Delivery have been highlighted as the main reason for not ordering products from the USA. Secondary research using sources such as Mintel support the feasibility for global expansion from the US to UK with ASOS being an obvious an example. The UK born e-tailer has seen significant growth after successfully achieving global expansion with country specific marketing teams and distribution centres.

This report contains the strategies proposed to take Nasty Gal in a similar direction as ASOS and through a breadth of marketing tactics that stay true to the brand’s core values, yet tailored to the UK consumer, overseas expansion for this pure play retailer appears to be more than attainable.

contents executive summary 04 introduction & Background 05 1.0 INTRODUCTION

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2.0 BRAND HISTORY

2.1 Core Values & Messages

07 07

3.0 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

3.1 Online Market

3.2 Competitor Analysis

3.3 Competitive Advantage

3.4 Market Positioning

3.5 Consumer Profile

09 09 09 10 10 11

4.0 COMPANY ANALYSIS

4.1 Macro Environment Analysis

4.2 Micro Environmemt Analysis

13 13 14

promotional strategy overview 15 5.0 PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

5.1 Aims & Objectives

5.2 Promotional Strategy Message

16 16 16

promotional strategy tactics 17 6.0 PROMOTIONAL TACTICS

6.1 Social Media

6.2 Print Advertisements

6.21 Online Advertisememts

6.22 Social Media

6.3 Launch Event

6.31 Social Media

6.4 Sponsorship

6.41 Social Meida

6.5 Press Pack

6.6 Look Book

18 18 18 22 24 28 28 30 32 33 33

promotional strategy logistics 34 7.0 PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY SCHEDULE

7.1 Measuring Success

35 35

conclusion 36 references 38 appendices 41

Introduction & Background.

1.0 introduction Nasty Gal is a leading, global online retailer of women’s apparel based in Los Angeles, USA. Whilst the brand does offer international shipping, the expense of exporting is high and with the likely chance of added customs charges many UK shoppers would avoid purchasing from the brand.

With an estimated 1/3 of Nasty Gal’s revenue coming from Canada, Australia and the UK (Mangalindan, 2013) it is evident there is already a foundation for demand in the UK market which can be built upon.

The proposal is to open a UK based distribution centre which will eliminate charges for European shoppers and therefore an integrated campaign establishing the brand to its new audience is needed.

The campaign will begin targeting the UK market and media however, a more tailored campaign for other EU countries could follow.

The campaign will be centred on the tagline – ‘R U Nasty?’ and the hashtag ‘# I’m Nasty’ will be encouraged and consistent across all social media channels.

Different platforms of communication will be used to both promote the brand and gain a better understanding of the UK customer. The campaign will aim to use the consumer through interactivity.

It will encourage consumers to share photographs, experiences, email address and any other material that can give an insight into their lives which can be used to inform future campaigns.

A presence at festivals and summer events, on social media and hot spots for young creatives will delve into the target consumer communities to continue the cult element the Nasty Gal brand is known for in the US. Whilst wanting to recruit as many potential consumers as possible it is important to keep an element of exclusivity around the brand and this will be reflected in the specific marketing strategies executed.

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2.0 brand history Nasty Gal claims to be ‘a global online destination for fashion forward, free thinking girls’. It began humbly in the bedroom of founder Sophia Amoruso who had an eye for vintage and a head for business - She once bought a Chanel jacket from Salvation Army for $9 and sold it on her eBay site for $1000. From the period of its launch in 2006 to 2012 the company had grown fourfold to $1million (Mangalindan, 2012).

What started as a purely vintage eBay site has grown by 500% each year since its inception making Nasty Gal the largest retail start up (in terms of volume) beating ecommerce sites like Etsy and ASOS (Mercer, 2013) and has picked up over $500 million in funding from Index ventures (Crunch Base, 2013).

From 2010 to 2011 revenue grew gastronomically from $6.5 million to $28 million and in 2012 $100 million of products were sold profitably (Mercer, 2013).

“What Amoruso has created is a sizeable niche business in the high-margin fast fashion space” (Ortved, 2013).

The Los Angeles based company has no official marketing team and relies hugely on social media.

Nasty Gal acknowledges the power of social media, which Amoruso has used from day one to secure a fiercely loyal fan base and with a huge following of 978,656 fans on Facebook - and even more on Instagram - the brand certainly knows how to implement social strategies advantageously.

Nasty Gal use social media networks to craft a community and a culture around the brand. It is also used to promote new products and address customer concerns, turning ‘fans’ and ‘likes’ into sales (Brandid, 2013). It is because of this highly active user base that Nasty Gal is able to sell 93% of its inventory at full price (Mercer, 2013).

Today, Nasty Gal merges outside designers with its recent addition of in-house designs to the 550,000 shoppers that check the site daily for an average of six minutes (Mangalindan, 2012).

Nasty Gal successfully cater to a niche market of young, style conscious and body confident girls and have crafted an online community of loyal consumers that goes way beyond the product; Nasty Gal is a lifestyle brand, a cult of ‘cool girls’ making clothes for ‘other cool girls’.

2.1 Core Values & Messages Nasty Gal is the result of an American college drop-out using her eye for clothing and addiction to social media to make money. Founder Sophia Amoruso, bought and resold clothes that she liked and sold them to likeminded girls through eBay. Amoruso communicated with her buyers on platforms like Myspace and reached out to potential customers through cleverly manipulating these platforms; targeting the same followers as magazines and established brands like Nylon, who she felt shared the same demographic.

The story of how this brand began is key in the brand’s identity to this day. Nasty Gal pride themselves on their relationships with their consumers. Amoruso would use exchanges with her eBay buyers to inform every future decision on her eBay store and that same value remains today. The consumer is at the heart of everything they do. Nasty Gal claim designing for their consumer is an ‘easy job’ as they themselves are ‘Nasty Gals’.

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The key messages of the brand are confidence, youthfulness and unapologetic fun. At times controversial, Nasty Gal is a brand built upon tongue in cheek attitude, sex appeal, social media and fierce consumer loyalty.

The brand pushes boundaries in areas of design, styling and photography - with countless collaborations with controversial photographer Terry Richardson – through to its language and voice and how the brand communicates with their consumer. These elements all shape the values of the brand and help express a coherent message.

Nasty Gal is forward thinking, innovative, playful, bold, and confident. It’s a brand that knows its consumer, it designs for the consumer, converses with the consumer and those consumers then tell other consumers via social media.

The result of this reliance on word-of-mouth promotion is a sense of exclusivity around the brand.

The products are niche and designed for a specific demographic and young girls want to be a part of this community. This sense of community is reinforced with the in house Nasty Gal tagline used across all social platforms – ‘#NastyGalsDoItBetter’.

The brand have cleverly created more than just great products, Nasty Gal is now a lifestyle.

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3.0 industry analysis 3.1 Online Market According to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, the online retail market has seen consistent growth of 15% increase year on year and is set to continue (IMRG, 2013). Earlier this year, in a report by Cushman and Wakefield, the UK was ranked ahead of the US as the most developed nation in the world for online retail, ‘primarily due to its high volume of online sales and openness to new online business and social media’ (Cushman and Wakefield, 2013).

Mintel (2013) reports that online only retailers are performing strongly. In the last 12 months ‘1/3 of consumers are buying online from pure play retailers, rising to almost half of all 16-24s’.

In terms of global expansion for US brands, the UK (specifically London) is an attractive location.

The shared cultural reference points and the English language make initial steps to international growth simpler. However, what most attracts the US to UK expansion is the gateway it provides to Europe (Evans, 2012).

ASOS is evidence that global expansion is a logical and profitable move for online retailers. This year has seen sales soar by 40% for the e-tailer – ‘driven by strong growth in countries where it has dedicated websites and country teams, such as France, Italy and the US.’ Today, 64% of ASOS sales now come from international markets (Vizard, 2013).

3.2 Competitor Analysis A detailed competitor analysis can be found in Appendix A. Three key brands were identified as the main competition for Nasty Gal: ASOS, Missguided and Topshop. All three brands target a very similar demographic to Nasty Gal, sell similar products or use social media in an innovative way.

Key Strengths identified in competitor analysis: • • • • •

•

•

•

Missguided have a strong brand identity and social media presence Missguided have print adverts, TV adverts and Billboard adverts Topshop has a brick and mortar store and is an established house hold name Topshop has its own label products at the forefront of the brand as well as diffusion lines ASOS have a strong global presence, efficient delivery service offering free delivery and returns around the world All three brands have a strong relationship with celebrity figures including collaborations with Nicole Scherzinger and Kate Moss and feature regularly in the media ASOS uses social media effectively and has an established branded hash tag used across all platforms (#ASOSloves) ASOS sells brands that are of direct competition to their own label including River Island and AQAQ.

Key Weaknesses identified in competitor analysis: • • • • • •

ASOS lack print advertisements ASOS lack a strong sense of identity as a result of catering to a larger audience Topshop lacks a sense of exclusivity due to oversaturation of brick and mortar stores Missguided has poor product descriptions and poor unstandardized sizing No coherent brand identity of Topshop or ASOS Consumers are fickle and not loyal to any one brand

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3.3 Competitive Advantage Nasty Gal’s advantage is that it possesses a mix of many of the strengths listed above; it has its own in-house design as well as concession brands like Jeffrey Campbell. It utilises all forms of social media effectively whilst maintaining a strong brand identity resulting in fierce consumer loyalty.

Nasty Gal pushes the boundaries in terms of styling and design mixed with creative editorial style layout whilst really understanding its target consumer. This solid foundation of brand identity can be easily built upon to promote the brand to a similar level of awareness to its competition in the UK. Nasty Gal is a brand built around a story, a personality and a robust knowledge of its values, messages and consumer and impressive sales and growth figures. It possesses the traits of both a small family run independent retailer and a gargantuan retail chain taking the qualities of the two and forming a rare but extremely successful brand in a playing field of its own.

Investor Danny Rimer of Index Ventures explains Nasty Gal’s advantage, “[Amoruso] is building a brand online – not just a retailing site – and blending social, commercial and editorial in an extremely astute way” (Paton, 2013).

3.4 Market Positioning In terms of design, Nasty Gal pushes the boundaries with silhouettes, textures and shapes. It is difficult to position the brand in terms of price as Nasty Gal features many brands, covering a breadth of markets. The highest priced items from Nasty Gal are the brand’s vintage Chanel pieces sold for over £1000, yet that is the more exclusive face of the brand.

The majority of products are mid-high priced concession such as Mink Pink and Jeffrey Campbell and their own in-house label Nasty Gal Collection is mid high street prices similar to that of Topshop and River Island. The UK launch of the brand will be centred round the brand’s own label - Nasty Gal Collection.

Price

Creative Edge

(Figure 1: Market Positioning Graph displaying Nasty Gal amongst its competitors in terms of price and competitve edge)

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3.3 Consumer profile The Nasty Gal consumer is a complex one and the brand’s success can be credited to the fact they really understand the girls they are selling to. These consumers can’t be restricted to demographic figures about incomes, professions and spending habits. The Nasty Gal brand has created a community, built around the subjective elements of a consumer and it is important this understanding follows the brand to UK. “The coolest girl in the room, pulling off whatever wildly unique piece that suits the mood. At Nasty Gal, we are our consumer, because of this our job is an easy one: inspire and be inspired by cool girls the world round.” - (Nasty Gal, 2013) Nasty Gal targets females aged 16-35 who are confident, expressive and ahead of the trends.

Consumers are part of a cult, they are in a self-absorbed time of their lives where looking and acting ‘cool’ is of top priority. They consider social networking an integral part of their day and carefully curate the best versions of themselves to present to their online following to gain a few more ‘likes’.

The Nasty Gal consumer is the ‘embodiment of the high-low phenomena – wearing a Chanel dress with a Banana Republic T-shirt underneath in a way never seen before’ (Ortved, 2013).

Nasty Gal shoppers are creative, cultured, popular, bold and educated women who dress to turn heads on the street and maybe cause a little controversy along the way.

Nasty Gal’s don’t shy away from high hems and low neck lines – they want to be noticed and talked about they are extremely body confident and they appreciate makeup and see it as a further form of self-expression. They experiment with materials and colour, breaking the fashion rules their mothers taught them. They mix leather and lace, satin and mesh in a flamboyant, unapologetic confidence that is alluring and infectious.

They surround themselves with likeminded friends who feed each other’s creativity, taking an element of each friend’s style and amalgamating it all into her own. The Nasty Gal doesn’t care for celebrity endorsements – celebrities aren’t cool – DJs are, and artists and musicians and photographers and models.

They have mastered the art of social media and spend hours perfecting their online image - these are the girls who dedicated an entire day to choosing the right backing track for their Myspace page when Myspace was cool – and it would probably have been some underground blend of electronica and techno or LCD Sound System (before anyone else knew who they were). Now it’s Instagram, which is a medley of inspiration from food to interiors and travel, a visual diary of her adventures and dreams.

She’s the type of girl who can wear a minimalist tailored suit one day and vintage band tee the next; a nose ring with a sleek ballerina bun – she makes the rules one day and breaks them the nextpulling it off in a way others just can’t quite emulate.

The Nasty Gal consumer leads a fulfilled life with a busy schedule constantly looking for the next off beat event to attend or the latest mix from emerging DJs planning her next weekend before the last has ended. Their down time is sat in front of their laptop flicking between Facebook, blogger and Sound Cloud whilst scrolling down the New In section of their favourite stores. As her style is expressive and ever growing, she is constantly looking to update her wardrobe, purchasing new items several times a month. When she does make a purchase she wants it in her hands the next day so she can upload a photo of herself wearing it before anyone else on her Instagram does.

Nasty Gal’s need retailers that understand them and design with them in mind, a brand with personality and a voice they can relate to and connect with, a brand they can rely on and therefore shop with time and time again.

(Figures 2, 3, 4: Visual representation of Nasty Gal consumers)

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4.0 company analysis 4.1 Macro Environment analysis In order to analyse the macro environment and consider the feasibility of launching an American e-tailer in the UK in broader sense, a PEST analysis was conducted to inform political; economical; social and technological factors that may impact this proposal. All information was collected using Euromonitor, 2014. Please refer to Appendix B for PEST analysis table.

In political terms, the UK is ranked 11th in the world for ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and although behind the US (ranked 4th) the UK is very much a free market economy with little interference from the state.

The Apparel and Footwear market in the UK is growing at a rapid rate and to a significant size, increasing from £44,316.6 million in 2008 to £48,993.1 million in 2013. By 2018 this market is expected to reach £51,474.9 million, suggesting this is a promising time for Nasty Gal to join the market.

Although the UK population is only 1/3 of that of the USA, at 63.9 million it is still a large market and one which is very well connected to the internet; 88.7 % of the UK population are internet users compared with a lower 81.8% of USA population. This is also echoed in the percentage of conusmers that who purchase a physical item online, with the UK at 8.6% compared to 7.7% of consumers in the USA. A recent report by the British Retail Consortium (as cited in Euromonitor 2014) state that 24% of all clothing purchases were made online and more than 30% of footwear bought via the web.

Additionally, according to official sources 42% of adults made clothing purchases online, making it the most popular form of consumer purchase via the internet.

Considering Annual Disposable Income (ADI) is important when assessing the feasibility of UK expansion for Nasty Gal. Currently ADI in the USA stands at $39,595 compared to a lower $25,820 for the UK. However, the UK is ranked 16th highest on Euromonitor for ADI, suggesting a relatively high ADI in comparison to the rest of the world. With Nasty Gal products falling mostly into the midmarket price range, it can be assumed that with this ADI consumers in the UK can afford Nasty Gal products.

Taking into account technological factors in the UK - there have been some recent positive advancements especially the introduction of 4G in September 2012 which facilitated improved internet speeds – there is a wealth of opportunity for online operators. This increased functionality will also underpin smartphone adoption, therefore suggesting it has a significant level of technological infrastructure to support an e-commerce business like Nasty Gal. In 2013, internet retailing increased by 12% and is expected to steadily continue growth. More significantly, Apparel and Footwear internet retailing is the largest retailing category in the UK, supporting the choice of market entry mode for Nasty Gal to launch in the UK.

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4.2 Micro environment analysis In order to analyse Nasty Gal in terms of its key strengths and to highlight areas of opportunity, a SWOT analysis has been conducted, please refer to Appendix C for SWOT table.

A major strength of Nasty Gal is its profitability and the brand’s impressive figures in terms of sales and revenue with a growth of 500% year on year since its inception in 2006.

In 2012 it was recorded that $100 million of clothing and accessories were sold and each year, 93% of its inventory is able to be sold at full price which is a significant percentage in an industry which usually sells one third of all styles at a marked down price (Barret, 2012).

It is figures like this that secured Nasty Gal $50 million in funding from venture capital investment firm, Index Ventures who have also invested in globally recognised brands ASOS and Net-a-Porter.

This is not only relevant given the similar nature of the industries (online retailers) but given the great success of these companies – Index has accumulated specific expertise in terms of knowledge and skills which Nasty Gal can benefit from.

The ecommerce site reported 550, 000 daily visits and over 6 million per month from over 50 different countries in 2013. Much of the brand’s promotion occurs online through social media platforms where the brand has a highly engaged user base, highlighting the need for a campaign based heavily around these platforms.

Nasty Gal has a distinguished and consistent brand identity that is the back bone to its success.

Opportunity lies in expansion, both geographically and in terms of their consumer base. By integrating promotional tactics that exist offline whilst maintaining a strong presence online, Nasty Gal can reach out to potential customers and interact with new ones in a physical sense; bringing Nasty Gal to the UK in a more three dimensional way than how the brand exists in America.

To further analyse Nasty Gal and how it can be launched in the UK market a survey was created to investigate awareness of the brand in the UK. It also explored how female UK consumers feel about overseas shipping, their views on ASOS – a major player in online retail - and their relationship with brands on social media. Please refer to Appendix D for a copy of the survey results.

The results show that more consumers had heard of the Nasty Gal brand than not, but not by a significant amount. This identifies that there is knowledge, due to its American success yet its UK presence needs attention.

When comparing the 60% of respondents who were aware of the brand with only 9% of respondents having actually purchased an item, there is clearly a barrier between brand and consumer.

Taking into consideration the positive key words that were repeatedly flagged up by the 60% of respondents aware of the brand – ‘cool, edgy, fashion forward, sexy, alternative, amazing’ it is evident that this is a desirable brand and that the barrier has much to do with shipping costs. These findings are supported by recent market research by Mintel (2013) which identified delivery charges as one of the most common barriers to online shopping.

Mintel (2013) research found that factors most likely to encourage online shopping are good delivery and returns policies. When respondents were asked in this survey about the success of ASOS, delivery services were a popular response. Respondents also ranked ‘Product Range’ and ‘Social Media Activity’ highly.

90% of respondents follow brands on social media which supports the proposal of a campaign utilising these platforms and 55% of respondents plan on attending a festival in the summer which would seems an ideal location to target consumers as well as staying true to the brand’s identity.

promotional strategy overview.

5.0 promotional strategy 5. 1 aims and objectives Aim: To devise a strategy for UK expansion that is effective for both company and customer. Creating an original, integrated localised marketing campaign to signal the brand’s arrival in the UK and firmly establish Nasty Gal in the UK market through a four month campaign from May to August 2014.

Objectives: •

To generate awareness of Nasty Gal in the UK market and increase UK sales by 30% from May to August 2014 with over 1000 UK visitors to the site per month.

•

To secure coverage in 20 publications over the four month period whilst gaining a social media following of 50000 consumers across the UK specific platforms.

•

To encourage user generated content to create a community and build company – consumer relationships to maintain the message that the consumer is at the core of the Nasty Gal brand and utilising this information to begin to understand the UK consumer to inform future campaigns.

•

To reach out to the consumer in a physical way adding offline promotion to a current strategy that exists mostly online.

5.2 Promotional Strategy Message The promotional strategy aims to launch Nasty Gal in the UK with a coherent identity reflecting the core values of the brand in a playful, youthful style targeting a niche consumer.

Through a variety of tactics that encourage user-generated content and discussion, the strategy aims to build a community feel around the brand, centred on the tag line ‘R U NASTY?’ with the hash tag ‘#imnasty’ consistent across all platforms.

The overall strategy is to establish the brand and generate awareness and a desire for the product.

The campaign takes two angles; one a press focus, with components and tactics targeting the press and the other a consumer focus.

Press Focus: The material aimed at the press such as the event and the press pack take the angle of the brand’s history, the journey of the brand and the elements of founder Amoruso’s story that give the brand substance and a unique appeal providing content with an emotive, journalistic style for the media.

Consumer Focus: The material aimed at the consumer such as social media platforms, event sponsorship and advertisements aim to generate a desire for the brand and the products on sale encouraging engagement with the brand in a physical way, turning ‘likes’ into sales.

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promotional strategy tactics.

6.0 promotional tactics With Nasty Gal existing purely online, the proposed strategy aims to maintain a strong online presence whilst incorporating some offline promotion, communicating with the consumer in a physical way.

6.1 social media Social media is at the forefront of the Nasty Gal brand and is the main platform for both promotion and communication with consumers. Social media is a core value of Nasty Gal and has driven the brand from strength to strength.

Nasty Gal is always following the consumer, from Myspace to Instagram, the brand understands the transitions the consumers make and ensures they have a presence on any platform their consumer exists.

Taking this into consideration, social media, as a tactic in this promotional strategy will be the driving force behind the campaign, integrating all tactics. Therefore, each tactic will be followed by a description of how this will be supported by social media.

The overall social media strategy is to communicate with the consumer on a human level, giving a voice and face to the brand, reinforcing elements of how the brand began, with Amoruso speaking to her eBay buyers on Myspace.

The three social media platforms that will be employed for this campaign are Facebook and Instagram – chosen for their visual qualities and large penetrating power these two platforms seem most appropriate. For these platforms a UK specific account will be set up and used daily to promote the brand, communicate with consumers and drive the additional tactics.

Each platform will deliver content delivery to avoid oversaturation for Nasty Gal followers on all platforms. Facebook will be mainly used to promote products, share links and updates whilst Instagram will heavily utilise user-generated content.

6.2 print advertisements There will be a series of print advertisements all integrating together but with slight differences to keep the appeal fresh and to suit the different spaces and environments.

What is the message?

The advertisements are colourful, playful, sexy and bold with a tongue-in-cheek feel. They illustrate the brand identity in terms of its boundary pushing, not for the faint hearted, expressive aesthetic in a polished editorial style.

The adverts tease the audience with a snap shot of the brand and challenges them with the rhetorical question ‘R U Nasty?’ This adds to the exclusive, community element of the campaign – a further value of the brand.

The spelling of ‘R U Nasty?’ alongside the brand logo and the hashtag ‘#imnasty’ conveys the brand’s relationship with social media, presenting the brand as tech savvy – another core value.

The rhetorical question entices the audience while the hashtag invites them to join the conversation.

The images are very bold, unapologetic and hard to ignore. These print advertisements are the intended to generate discussion and awareness of the Nasty Gal brand.

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Where and when are they expressed?

Magaiznes: The adverts will appear in the publications listed in the table below (figure 5) either as a double page spread or singular page from May – August 2014. These publications target a variety of females in the target age range for Nasty Gal covering a breadth of media from weekly, glossies, high street, to commuter and music based publications. Please see figures 6,7,8,9 for example print advertisements.

Publication Look Company Elle Stylist Mixmag

Readership Age 18-30 18-30 Median Age of 28 20-40 Median Age of 24

Average Circulation 186, 055 88, 059 166, 680 435, 768 20, 817

(Figure 5: Publications, readership and circulation figures)

London Underground: Research into tube station advertising proved it to be an effective way to target the consumer and more specifically a typical Nasty Gal consumer in terms of age and internet usage.

According to data from CBS Outdoor (as cited on design and marketing website Exertion Media) 87% of consumers welcome tube advertising explaining it provides a distraction from their journey and more importantly, 50% of underground users are aged 18-34 a very similar age bracket Nasty Gal target.

Additionally, London commuters have the highest smart phone ownership in the UK with 88% and 67% of commuters use Wi-Fi, suggesting the hashtag element of the advert will be understood by the typical London commuter.

79% of commuters surveyed have researched or purchased a product as a direct consequence of seeing an advertisement on the underground and underground users are 6x more likely to recall adverts than any other type of commuter.

These figures strongly imply advertising on the London Underground is an effective way to target an appropriate range of consumers for the Nasty Gal brand.

The advertisements will feature on the large advertising boards around the stations as well as on the smaller boards along the elevators. The adverts have been tailored appropriately to each of these spaces.

Please see figures 10 - 12 for examples of London Underground advertising.

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R U NASTY? #imnasty

R U NASTY? #imnasty

R U NASTY? #imnasty

R U NASTY? #imnasty

(Figure 6,7,8,9: How advertisements will appear in print publications)

RU NASTY? #imnasty

RU NASTY? #imnasty

RU NASTY? #imnasty

RU NASTY? #imnasty

RU NASTY? #imnasty

(Figure 10: How adverts would appear on esculators)

(Figure 11: How adverts would appear in underground stations)

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(Figure 12: How adverts would appear in underground stations)

Who is it aimed at?

The adverts are aimed at 16-35 year old head strong, body confident, forward thinking females with creative, open minds and a good sense of humour!

However, with the tongue-in-cheek, boundary pushing nature of the images, they are likely to catch the eye of both men and women who don’t understand the brand, cannot see past the brand’s suggestive name and cause controversy, this will encourage the brand to be talked about, causing awareness. This separation of opinions will begin to form the cult feel around the brand, this isn’t about giving Nasty Gal mass appeal it is about keeping it excusive, yet accessible in the UK. What is the story?

The adverts illustrate a story of two young, body confident, attractive females having fun and pushing boundaries. The diner setting subtly pays tribute to the brand’s American roots whilst providing a quirky juxtaposition of slender models and junk food. The images have connotations of sex, greed, lust, friendship, fun and rebellion.

6.21 online advertisements The online advertisements aim to work alongside the print advertisements and encourage the consumer to take the next step and to visit the ecommerce site. Whilst the print advertisements expressed a story and a bold message about the arrival of the brand, the online adverts will focus on the products.

The images used for the online advertisements are shown in figires 13-14 These have a sleeker, minimalistic aesthetic and it is the product that engages the consumer and when clicked on, redirect the consumer to the Nasty Gal UK site.

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These advertisements will appear on the following sites from June – August 2014: • Lookbook.nu • Resident Advisor • Look Magazine (online) • Stylist Magazine (online) • Facebook • eBay • Soundcloud These websites reach a large audience of females taking into account further interests of the consumer than just fashion, spanning music (Soundcloud), events (Resident Advisor) and social media.

shop now

shop now (Figure 15: Mock up click - through online adverts)

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6.22 social media The print advertisements will be uploaded to Facebook with a countdown until the website launch and links to the brand’s Instagram page. The Instagram page will be leading a competition for the chance to win an invite to the launch event on May 22nd.

The competition involves taking a photograph of yourself doing something fun or ‘cool’ and using the hashtag ‘#imnasty’ to share it with the brand. The favourite images will be posted on the brand’s personal Instagram account and followers can vote for their favourite image. This competition will close on 19th May and 15 winners will be selected to attend the event with a friend.

The Facebook account will also feature images of where the adverts have been spotted around the underground, featuring a new station daily.

Instagram will feature behind the scenes images of the making of the adverts.

Please see below examples of the social media pages and how they will be executed.

(Figure 15: Mock up Facebook page for Nasty Gal UK)

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(Figure 16: Example Facebook post in early stages of campaign)

(Figure 17: Example Facebook post in early stages of campaign integrating the underground advertising)

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(Figure 18: Example Facebook post promoting the competition and linking the instagram page)

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(Figures 19,20,21 : Example Istagram posts showing behind the scenes of campaign shoots)

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6.3 Launch event A proposed event is to take place on Thursday 22nd May 2014 at All Star Lanes, Brick Lane, East London between 20:00 – 23:30. The event is a press focused tactic and will invite various journalists, bloggers and media to be submerged in the Nasty Gal brand prior to the UK website launching live the following week.

The venue is a private hire penthouse with an American theme inclkuding cocktail bar and bowling alley. American food will be served in canapé style along with a mix of beverages paying homage to the states.

The night will include talks from founder Sophia Amoruso and Buying Director, Christina Ferrucci as well as an exclusive DJ set from up and coming Heidi. A preview sale of the Nasty Gal Collection will available to shop with free gift bags for all guests.

For a detailed plan please refer to the separate document titled Event Proposal.

6.31 social media Specialist devices such as a digital photo booth and ‘hashtag pics’ station are to be hired for the event where guests can take traditional style photo booth images that can shared on Facebook and Instagram. ‘Hashtag Pics’ device uses an event specific hashtag to live stream guests’ tweets, status updates and images on screens around the venue. A selection of these will be reposted on the brand’s personal Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Guests who purchase from the Nasty Gal Collection receive a free phone case with the Nasty Gal logo on and are encouraged to share a photograph of themselves wearing their new purchase and their phone case for a chance to win tickets to see DJ Heidi at 1 of 4 European locations the brand is set to sponsor in June.

These images will be shared via ‘#imnasty’ on Instagram from 22nd May and will take over from the previous competition. The competition will also extend to consumers who did not attend the event who will be encouraged to share their best festival look using the same hash-tag to also be entered into the draw.

The following images are examples of how the social media platforms will integrate the event.

(Figure 22 Example Facebook post pre-event integrating the music element of the campaign)

(Figure 23: Example Facebook post pre-event humanising the brand, making the brand relateable to the consmer)

(Figures 24 & 25: Example Instagram posts pre and post event. 25 illustrating user generated 29 content and the next stage of the campaigns competition)

6.3 Sponsorship Promotion of a brand that is largely unknown in the UK can benefit from being associated with key events that attract a similar audience as the brand’s target consumer.

With music being so intertwined with fashion and a large part of young consumer lives today, musical events seem a fitting environment to promote Nasty Gal. Secondary research revealed the effectiveness of festival sponsorship and gave insight into how festival goers perceive brand advertising.

A study by Marketing Week (Roberts, 2004) found that 44% of 2,000 respondents surveyed said the most exciting thing they have ever done was attend a festival. 41% of respondents have positive feelings towards brands that sponsor and advertise at festivals.

36% of respondents who had attended a festival recall fashion brand advertisements at the event and 41% feel a festival is a highly appropriate location to advertise fashion brands.

With this information it can be assumed that a presence at festivals and music events over the summer will be received positively by consumers.

However, as Target Media’s Trading Director, Adam Hopkinson explains, if your brand is naturally suited to these type of environments it is important to go beyond just advertising and try to give festival goers something that takes their needs into consideration and this is ‘the key to getting noticed’ (Roberts, 2004).

With Nasty Gal consumers steering away from the mainstream in terms of clothing, the chosen events need to reflect the edge of the brand and the cult, community feel.

When researching the consumer (please refer to appendix D for survey) many respondents said they were attending a festival this summer and a mix of events were named from mainstream festivals such as Leeds and V festival to more off beat, European festivals such as Exit festival in Serbia.

To maintain the element of exclusivity - whilst taking into consideration the style and design of the collection Nasty Gal is launching with in the UK - the following events seem appropriate: • • • • • •

Exit (Serbia) Hideout (Croatia) Sonar (Barcelona) Awakenings (Amsterdam) Ushuaia (Ibiza) Music On (Ibiza)

These events are located all over Europe – generating awareness to European consumers – who can also benefit from the UK launch in terms of delivery times and costs. The events are centred on house and techno music, a genre known for its sense of community and exclusivity.

On further investigation into both the consumer and these events, a suitable marketing tool became apparent – the hand held fan.

The hand held fan is used in abundance at foreign dance events where the temperatures are high and the spaces are filled over capacity. Young style conscious females attending these events use the fans regularly, appearing in many of their photos that are then shared on social media sites (figures 26,27,28).

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31 (Figures 26,27,28: Examples of hand fans at similar events)

The fans will be given out by Nasty Gal representatives along with branded water bottles for free, in exchange for an email address. The best dressed festival goers will be asked to be photogroahed with the fans in exchange for a 15% off discount code for the new collection.

This enables the brand to gain contacts for future campaigns whilst creating content for social media sites. Additionally, it allows the brand to meet their consumer face to face and cab begin to undrtsnd their lifestyles.

Associating the brand with key events like these aligns the brand with other brands that are perceived as ‘cool’ and if Nasty Gal has a presence there it promotes a positive feeling about the Nasty Gal brand, presenting it as ‘cool’ also amongst festival goers.

Furthermore, connecting Nasty Gal with underground and house music helps achieve that cult community feel which is rife in that specific music scene.

6.41 Social media Pre Events: Early June the brand’s social media sites will promote their presence at the festivals by sharing packing guides and DJ biographies and playlists.

Post Events: Throughout June and July the social media sites will be used to share the images of the events and encourage attendees to share their images with the Nasty Gal fans.

(Figure 29: Example Instagram post promoting their sponsorship of Sonar Festival and encouraging consumer generated content)

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6.5 press pack A Press pack containing 4 press releases, a company fact sheet, a founder biography and a look book will be sent to appropriate media. Please see separate document titled Press Pack for more information.

The press pack, intended for the media and not the consumer takes a journalistic approach, promoting the brand and the UK launch from the angle of the brand history and using Amoruso’s story to ignite an emotional connection.

Amoruso’s story of the Nasty Gal brand is empowering and inspirational as well as hugely relevant in a tech and social savvy world. The entrepreneurial elements of her journey provide an additional angle to the story that would fit suitably in trade magazines such as Drapers.

Using varying angles in the press pack will help to reach a wide range of media.

Press Schedule: The following table (figure 30) breaks down the 4 press releases and details the subject and dates the releases should be sent to the press.

Release # 1

Title UK Gets Nasty

2

R U Nasty?

3

Last Night Things Got a Little Nasty Nasty Does Europe

4

Subject Nasty Gal Announces UK Launch Nasty Gal begins UK Campaign Nasty Gal hosts Launch Party Nasty Gal sponsors European music events

Date to be Sent 1st May 5th May 23rd May 2nd June

(Figure 30: Press Schedule Table)

6.6 lookbook A look book will be included in print in the press pack and online on the UK website in digital form.

Any consumers who sign up and register an account with Nasty Gal in May will receive a free look book via mail.

The look book is a visual representation of the brand and its values but its main purpose is to showcase the first UK collection. Images similar to those used in the advertisements will feature alongside studio images to integrate elements of the campaign. The design is colourful and playful with a juxtaposition of scrap book and editorial style that can inform the press and please the consumer.

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promotional strategy logistics.

7.0 promotional strategy schedule The table below briefly illustrates when the tactics are to be employed from May to August. Social media is a continuous tactic and so does not feature on the schedule. The schedule is to ensure smooth running of the strategy and to identify critical points in the campaign where coverage is most likely.

Start 1st May 1st May

Finish 31st August 7th May

5th May

12th May

7th May

20th May

22nd May 23rd May

22nd May 1st June

23rd May

30th May

1st June

Ongoing

1st June 2nd June

1st August 9th June

7th June

7th July

Tactic Print Advertisements Press Pack sent to media with release about UK launch Press Release about Adverts sent to media Social Media Competition to win event invite Event Social Media competition to win Heidi tickets Event press release sent to media UK distribution centre opens, site launches with UK delivery Event sponsorship Press release about Sponsorship sent to media Look books sent to registered consumers

Focus Consumer Press Press Consumer Press Consumer Press Consumer Consumer Press Consumer

(Figure 31: Promotional Strategy Schedule)

Figure 31 briefly illustrates when the tactics are to be employed from May to August. Social media is a continuous tactic and so does not feature on the schedule. The schedule is to ensure smooth running of the strategy and to identify critical points in the campaign where coverage is most likely.

7.1 Measuring Success To objectively measure the effectiveness of this promotional strategy, certain analytical tactics can be implemented.

Any press coverage will be tracked through daily monitoring of media and categorised under its content for example coverage based on the collection, or coverage based on Sophia Amoruso.

Monitoring will be at its most intense directly after press releases are issued. The website will be monitored to calculate page visits and click through sales.

Growth of social media sites will be measured month to month through followers in addition to utilising a social media analysis site such as ‘Statigram’ which measures hash-tag engagement and ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ rates under the hash-tag ‘#imnasty’.

conclusion.

8.0 conclusion The proposed promotional strategy implements a range of tactics to firmly establish Nasty Gal in the UK, achieve maximum coverage in the most suitable media and encourage engagement through user generated content.

The integrated campaign targets both the media and the consumer in a combination of on and offline methods, fusing both worlds and interacting with the consumer in a physical way which is important with an online retailer.

The consumers are targeted directly in environments they are acquainted with - and therefore trust, for example; advertising in the underground. Linking Nasty Gal with either their everyday life, or brands and events they enjoy helps create positive feeling about Nasty Gal and suggesting it’s a brand that understands the consumer’s lifestyle and is therefore right for them.

The short 4 month period ensures constant awareness with an impactful approach. Introducing Nasty Gal in a bold, powerful way, in line with the brand’s identity.

A variation of tactics allow for a wider audience to be reached, however the coherent identity of the brand, drawing on core values for the basis of every tactic affirms an integrated strategy.

The campaign is given a further dimension with the unique brand story and Sophia Amoruso’s journey to success, drawing on an emotive angle to target the press with.

Using a tone of voice that relates to the consumer and encouraging user generated content begins the construction of a brand community which can be built upon in future campaigns.

Furthermore, establishing connections with the press and maintaining them throughout the campaign sets the foundation for a supportive relationship, essential for driving positive publicity in the long term.

If implemented successfully, the strategy promises a long term, profitable future for Nasty Gal in the UK and opens a door way to Europe cementing the first building block towards global expansion.

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references.

Brandid (2013). Six things you need to learn from Nasty Gal’s 40,000% growth. Retrieved from http://blog.brandid.com/bid/318711/6-Things-You-Need-to-Learn-from-Nasty-Gal-s-40-000-Growth Barret, V. (2012) Nasty Gal’s Sophia Amoruso: Fashion’s New Phenom. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriabarret/2012/06/28/nasty-gals-sophia-amoruso-fashions-newphenom/ Cushman & Wakefield (2013). UK ranked as world’s most developed online retail market. Retrieved from http://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/news/2013/07/uk-ranked-as-worlds-most-developedonline-retail-market/ Evans, P. (2012) UK fashion retailers brace for US invasion. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323894704578112740532740504 Extertion Media. (2014) London Underground. Retrieved from: http://www.exterionmedia.co.uk/OurMedia/London-Underground/ Fumo, N. (2014) Nasty Gal’s Unlikely Rise, Straight from Founder Sophia Amoruso. Racked.

Retrieved from: http://racked.com/archives/2014/03/10/sophia-amoruso-nasty-gal-sxsw.php IMRG (2013). UK online sales see continued growth with sales up 15%. Retrieved from http://imrg. org/index.php?catalog=414.

Lomas, N. (2013) Fashion Site Nasty Gal Flirts with Free Overnight Shipping to encourage Shoppers to Splurge. Tech Crunch. Retrieved from: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/20/nasty-gal-free-shippingoffer/ Mangalindan, JP. (2013) Nasty Gal wants to conquer fashion. CNNMoney. Retrieved from http:// tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/02/26/this-nasty-gal-wants-to-conquer-fashion/ Mercer, R. (2013) Start Up of the Week: Nasty Gal. Inventioni.st. Retrieved from: http://inventioni. st/2013/06/nastygal/ Mintel, A (2013) Clothing Retailing October 2013. Retrieved from http://academic.mintel.com/ display/638286/?highlight=true# Mincher, S. (2013) Infographic: 3 Lessons that turned Nasty Gal into a nice business. Digital Sherpa.

Retrieved from: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/3-lessons-that-turned-nasty-gal-into-a-nicebusiness/ Ortved, J. (2013) Sophia Amoruso expands Nasty Gal. The Wall Street Jounal. Retrieved from http:// online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324354704578637870086589666 Paton, E. (2013) From Glad-Rags to Online Riches. The Financial Times. Retrieved from: http:// www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ba9c00bc-55e3-11e3-b6e7-00144feabdc0.html Roberts, J. (2004) Music Festival Sponsorship. Marketing Week. Retrieved from: http://www. marketingweek.co.uk/music-festival-sponsorship/3002146.article Tsui, D. (2012) Tastemaker: Nasty Gal’s Sophia Amoruso is Building an Indie Fashion Empire. The Cut. Retrieved from: http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/08/tastemaker-nasty-gals-sophia-amoruso.html Vizard, S. (2013) ASOS sales soar 40%. Marketing Week. Retrieved from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/retail/asos-sales-soar-40/4007980.article

List of Figures Figure 1: Market Positioning Graph Figure 2: Visual representation of consumer. Retrieved from: www.facebook.com/nastygal Figure 3: Visual representation of consumer. Retrieved from: https://www.google.co.uk/ search?q=coachella+style&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=c15d Figure 4: Visual representation of consumer. Retrieved from: www.instagram.com/emmalouiselily Figure 5: Readership & Circulation figures of chosen publications Figure 6, 7, 8, 9: Example of how adverts would appear in print publications Figures 10, 11, 12: How advertisements would appear in the underground Figures 13 & 14: How online advertisements would appear on chosen websites Figure 15: Mock up Facebook page for Nasty Gal UK Figure 16, 17, 18: Example Facebook posts in early stages of campaign Figure 19, 20, 21: Example Instagram posts showing behind the scenes imagery Figure 22 & 23: Example Facebook posts pre-event Figure 24 & 25: Example Instagram posts pre and post event Figure 26, 27, 28: Examples of hand fans at events. Retrieved from: www.instagram.com/ emmalouiselily Figure 29: Example Instagram post promoting sponsorship Figure 30: Press Schedule Table Figure 31: Promotional Strategy Schedule table

appendices.

appendix a - competitor analysis ASOS Target Audience: Dual genders of 20 something’s who lead digital lives.

Positioning: A variety of markets from own in-house label at high street prices alongside brands like New Look and River Island to Higher priced high street brands such as Coast and AQAQ to designer brands like Chloe and Missoni.

Strengths: Sells own in-house labels, as well as brands that are of direct competition. Caters to a wide audience, offers a range of delivery services, a Premiere service, free returns. Global expansion. Innovative, highly interactive website, strong social media presence. Has a magazine to interact with consumers in the real world. Has a video catwalk to see products on a walking model.

Weaknesses: Large audience and variety of brands make it difficult to have a strong coherent identity – hard to promote to every potential consumer. Misses out on certain consumers because most promotion targets the younger audience. No brick and mortar stores. Returns is a problem due to not being able to try before you buy.

Promotion: No print advertisements. Strong online presence, social media competitions and hash tags (#ASOSLoves) regularly have discounts, promo codes and sales.

Missguided Target Audience: 16 – 24 females who are tech savvy Positioning: Low end high street Strengths: Affordable on trend fashion, daily new products, collaboration with Nicole Scherzinger, strong online presence on social platforms. Provides cheaper alternatives to competitor’s products.

Strong brand identity, they know their consumer and they cater promotions to her. Beginning to develop in house design.

Weaknesses: Poor quality items, no free returns, delivery service needs attention, hugely oversaturated market with competitors such as Boohoo, Daisy Street, Pretty Little Thing to name a few. Poor product descriptions, no standardised sizing. No brick and mortar stores.

Promotion: Online and offline promotions. TV adverts, Billboards, magazine adverts, regularly have sales and discounts and competitions on social media.

Topshop Target Audience: 15-30 year old fashion conscious females Positioning: Mid high street to high end high street. In house label covers both high and low markets with Topshop Unique, Boutique and Premium being higher priced products. Sells concessions such as Motel, Oh My Love and Jones and Jones.

Strengths: Established brick and mortar stores as well as online. Huge celebrity following. Gains lots of media coverage, sells a variety of products and caters to a variety of consumers. Quickly produces designer inspired products at lower prices before most of its competitors, has a mobile app and branded magazine. Many high profile collaborations with designers and celebrities.

Weaknesses: In a saturated market with competitors such as River Island, Miss Selfridge and Zara selling similar products to the same audience. No sense of exclusivity, products seem so mass produced and too much coverage puts off consumers who want to stand out from the crowd.

Promotions: No TV advert. Magazine adverts in a breadth of media such as Look and Vogue. Regularly has sales. Strong online advert presence.

appendix b - pest table

Political

Economic

Ease of doing business ranking: 11. (USA is 4).

Although it is harder to conduct business in UK than USA, it is still relatively low and therefore fairly easy to do business, as it is very much a free market economy with little interference from the state.

Apparel and footwear market size (£ million): increased from 44,316.6 (2008) to 48,993.1 (2013) and expected to increase to 51,474.9 (2018). Therefore, it is a growing market and of huge size.

Socio-cultural

Technological

Population: 63.9million (1/5 of USA, but still a large market)

4G was introduced to the UK in September 2012 which facilitates improved speeds, creating opportunities for online operators.

The increased functionality will also underpin smartphone adoption, therefore suggesting it has a sufficient level of technological infrastructure to support an e-commerce business, both for computers and smartphones.

The UK population is one which is very well connected to the internet.

Internet users: 56.7million (88.7% of population – larger percentage than in America where it is 81.8% of population who are internet users), with over 20million having a broadband internet subscription.

8.6% of UK consumers buy a physical item online, whereas only 7.7% do in America.

A report by the British Retail Consortium (2013 cited in Euromonitor 2014) stated that 24% of all clothing purchases were made online, and more than 30% of footwear was bought over the web.

According to official sources, 42% of adults bought clothing online, and it was the most popular consumer purchase made via the internet.

Annual disposable income per capita: UK $25,820. USA - $39,595. May be lower than in USA but still relatively high, 16th highest in terms of the countries ranked on Euromonitor – therefore suggests consumers in UK will be able to afford the Nasty Gal products.

Indeed internet retailing as a trend has increased in recent years, as is expected to continue growing in the years to come (internet retailing increases in current value by 12% in 2013). Also, apparel and footwear internet retailing is the largest internet retailing category in the UK in 2013 – which justifies and supports Nasty Gal’s choice of market entry mode in the UK. Mobile internet retailing is also expected to increase in prominence, from 20% of total internet retailing value sales in 2013 to an expected 44% by end of 2016.

appendix c - swot table Strengths - High profitability and revenue ($28million in sales in 2011) - Increase in sales figures - In 2012 the brand sold $100million of clothing and accessories profitably - Strong fan following and consumer loyalty - tech savvy - 2013 saw 550,000 daily visits to the ecommerce site - Sells 93% of its inventory at full price - Over 6 million visitors each month in over 50 countries - grown by 500% each year since its inception - secured almost $50million in funding from Index ventures

Weaknesses - Online only (limited market) - Low brand awareness so little scope for new customers - Little advertising - Niche target market which could alienate potential consumers - Online women’s wear retail is an oversaturated market - lack of promotional awareness to new customers as current promotions are done via email and social media to current consumers - Returns are more likely as garments cannot be tried before purchase - Shares concession brands and products with competitors

Opportunities - Continue with own label in house design - increase social media presence -More promotional activity targeted at new customers - collaborations with designers and bloggers - Increase advertising - Loyalty scheme for returning customers - Printed Look Books to engage with consumers in a physical way - International Expansion

Threats - Established competitors with brick and mortar stores as well as online site - Oversaturated and competitive market - unstable economy - Similar products at cheaper prices elsewhere - the brand’s niche audience isolates new customers

appendix d - Survey

By Emma Louise Nelson