Mary Katrantzou Promotional Strategy

MARY KATRANTZOU PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

MARY KATRANTZOU

UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD School of Art, Design and Architecture Department of Design

Mary Katrantzou Promotional Strategy Grace Mariea Simmons A Major Project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for BA (Hons) Fashion, Media and Promotion.

Module THD 1101 Fashion Communication 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 & Design Department of Design Huddersfield West Yorkshire ENGLAND (10th May 2013) MARY KATRANTZOU

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To elevate the profile of Mary Katrantzou, following five successful years, a promotional strategy will propel the company by creating a two part campaign, concentrated over six months.

Marketing research confirms that London will be the prime location to launch the first flagship store as London is one of the significant tourist destinations in the UK, Europe and the world. The increase in digital demand also proves that the company needs to embrace an online strategy to ensure they do not fall behind the competition. With three in five adults owning a laptop and ninety-two per cent of the population owning a phone, forty- five per cent of which are a smartphone, is another reason why this strategy is to act now.

Many of the major competitors have strong promotional budgets in comparisons to Mary Katrantzou; however some of the direct competitors have yet to establish a store. Therefore this launch strategy establishes Mary Katrantzou as a major fashion house and gives the company a competitive advantage to attract and build loyalty with the competitor’s customer base.

The economic climate is still fragile in the UK with talk of a triple dip recession. Research shows that last year one hundred and seventy five retail shops ceased trading. The major issues were the absence of a multichannel integration online approach and over expansion.

The luxury industry conversely continues to surge, surpassing eight hundred and three billion in 2012 with expected growth of six to eight per cent in 2013, validating that there is still a significant luxury consumer market.

Mary Katrantzou aims to target the cultural creative of the luxury target market, specifically the Rising Innovators, the Self-Assured Creatives’ and the Aspirational Dreamers. These consumers share an interest in a wide variation of art and culture, enjoying the new and unusual. All of the consumers have strong online presences, and enjoy shopping at a wide variation of stores, mixing luxury, high street, vintage and upmarket.

To appeal to these consumers and to promote awareness of the brand in the general public, a multichannel campaign that focuses on, print advertisements, video, innovative technology, mobile apps, web advertisements’, guerrilla marketing, press coverage, celebrity dressing and a cohesive social media campaign are recommended for Mary Katrantzou to achieve the company aims. These will follow customer-focused, media-focused and brand-focused tactics.

The campaigns to launch both the store and the website, will achieve the promotional plan aims and objectives to raise brand awareness, underpin the brands positioning, increase sales and uphold the core

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CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

3

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

7

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Rationale

8 8

2.0 Brand History

9 9 10

3.0 Industry Analysis

11 11 11 12 12 15 15 16 16 19 20

2.1 Core Values and Messages 2.2 Project Plan Funding 3.1 The Luxury Market 3.2 Competitor Analysis 3.3 Competitive Advantage 3.4 Target Market 3.5 Marketing Positioning 3.6 Mary Katrantzou Consumer Profiles 3.6.1 Distinguishing Factors.

Primary Market: Rising Innovators Secondary Market: The Self- Assured Creative Tertiary Market: Aspirational Dreamers

4.0 Company Analysis

4.1 Macro Environment Analysis 4.2 Micro Environment Analysis

22 22 23

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY OVERVIEW

25

5.0 Promotional Strategy

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5.1 Aims and Objectives 5.2 Promotional Strategy Message 5.3 Mary Katrantzou Online 5.4 Mary Katrantzou Store

26 26

6.0 Promotional tactics

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STAGE 1: WEBSITE PROMOTIONAL TACTICS

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7.0 Website Launch Campaign

34 34

7.1 Customer Focused Tactics

27 30

7.1.1 Pre Website Launch

Advertisement and Video Advertisement Target List Social media Campaign

-Facebook and Twitter -Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr

Landing Page

7.1.2 Website Launch Day Email invitations Social Media Online advertisements

7.1.3 Post Website Launch Social Media Katrantzou Collective Mobile App Launch

7.2 Media Focused Tactics 7.2.1 Pre Website Launch

Press Release Website Launch MKLive Press Release Bloggers Leaked Video Website Features Press Release

7.2.2 Website Launch Day Email Invitation

7.2.3 Post Website Launch Day Mobile app press release

34 34 36 37 37 40 40 42 42 42 46 49 49 49 50 53 53 53 53 53 53 54 54 54 54

7.3 Brand Focused Tactics 7.3.1 Celebrity Dressing

56 56

STAGE 2: STORE PROMOTIONAL TACTICS

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8.0 Store Launch Campaign

58 58 58 58 58 61 61 62 62 64

8.1 Customer Focused Tactics 8.1.1 Pre Store Launch Advertisement and Video Advertisement Target List Promotional Mobile app Social media Campaign

-Twitter and Facebook -Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr

Website

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8.1.2 Store Launch Day Guerilla Marketing Target Areas Store Window In-store Promotion Website Social Media

-Facebook and Twitter -Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr

8.1.4 Post Launch Day Website Social Media

8.2 Media Based Tactics 8.2.1 Pre Store Launch Day

Store Opening Press Release Promotional App Release Bloggers Leaked Video Collection Release Press release Event Launch Invitations Store Functions and Features Press Release Event Launch

8.2.2 Launch Day

Launch Day Press Release Media Event Press Release

65 65 68 69 71 72 72 72 74 75 75 75 76 76 76 76 76 77 77 77 78 78 78 78

8.2.3 Post Launch Day

79

8.3 Brand Focused Tactics 8.3.1 Celebrity Dressing

80 80 80

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY LOGISTICS

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9.0 Promotional Strategy Schedule

82 82 86

10.0 Success and Monitoring

88

11.0 Contingencies

89

12.0 Budget

90

Bespoke Competition Press Release

Key Celebrity Targets

Promotional Plan Schedule Table Visual Calendar

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CONCLUSION

91

13.0 Conclusion

92

REFERENCES

93

APPENDICES

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INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

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1.0 INTRODUCTION messages. This document will detail the marketing and promotional strategies for emerging luxury designer Mary Katrantzou, in order to expand and establish the brands profile in the luxury fashion market.

The aim of this document is to allow Mary Katrantzou to develop the brand into a recognisable fashion house to celebrate the company’s fifth year of establishment.

The tactics and strategies will target the national and international markets to reach the desired audience. The plan includes marketing research, competitor evaluations moving on to strategies and tactics such as a store opening, a website launch, social media and press campaigns. This thorough promotion is to ensure the brand message is consistent worldwide.

1.1 Rationale The plan is a key way to build brand loyalty by creating an immersive experience that the customer can connect to both in- store and on-line. It is also a key way to initiate the development of the brand and strengthen its position in the fashion industry.

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2.0 BRAND HISTORY In 2008 Mary Katrantzou released her MA collection, which established the brand.

Numerous awards and sponsorships have continuously funded the designer, including the BFC Newgen scheme and The Swiss Textile Award. This has increased the brands profile and influence over the last five years to become a highly recognizable emerging talent and fashion house in the luxury industry. In 2012 Drapers list, Mary Katrantzou was ranked at number eighty in their Top 1001, which demonstrates her brands emerging profile within fashion. This investment and media backing show the extent of the brand and the commercial viability in the luxury market.

The company is founded in London and currently supplies to over one hundred stockists in over thirty-five different countries including prestigious brands including Liberty, Browns, Joyce, Corso Como and Collete2.

This wholesale revenue is one of the primary income streams of the fashion house. This is achieved through seasonally moving the showroom to Paris after London Fashion Week to expand the business to a wider spectrum of stockists and clients internationally. So successful is this initiative that in 2010 Mary Katrantzou received the award for the Designer Business Award at the UK Fashion & Textile Export Awards, which celebrates brands making an impact overseas. 3 The brand also uses the strategy of collaborations with numerous brands including Current Elliott, Coach, Topshop, Christian Louboutin, Swarovski along with a range of art and design companies and exhibitions.

These have successfully increased the brands profile to a wide audience expanding the potential target market to Mary Katrantzou by providing elements of affordable luxury. This has been one of the past strategies that have enabled the company to sustain and grow at an experiential rate.

Appendix A details further information of the company’s history thus far.

2.1 Core Values and Messages The brands key messages communicate an element of luxury, art and design. The basis of this message is achieved by creating elements of surrealism in the design of the garments.

Each collection is draped around the body in a way that compliments the female figure and every season the brand explores different silhouettes around the female form.

The brand essence and personality can be described in the words: fantastical, feminine, surreal, creative, innovative, desirable, digital and artistic. The brand focuses heavily around surrealism, art and design, which is one of the main elements the brand wishes to convey through marketing strategies.

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2.2 Project Plan Funding To realise this powerful marketing venture, an agreement with the Pictet Premium Brands Funds will be secured.

The Pictet fund is part of the Pictet Group, a leading European asset manager, founded in 1805 based in Geneva, Switzerland.4 The fund seeks capital growth by investing at least two-thirds of its assets in shares of companies in the premium brands sector. This provides consumers with high-quality services and products. 5 Mary Katrantzou’s previous sponsorship and experiential growth gives the fund confidence in the investment and is ready for Mary Katrantzou to proceed with the project

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3.0 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 3.1 The Luxury Market The luxury market has been relatively unscathed during the period of economic downturn, with the industry expecting to reach 163 billion pounds by 2012, according to Bain& Co. Including the non-traditional luxury market value expectations are to surpass 803 billion. 6 2012 has shown stronger retail growth than in 2011 with luxury goods exceeding 302 billion worldwide, which represents a year on year value growth of over four per cent.7 Reasons for this success include the increased spending power of BRIC nations such as China, who currently accounts for nearly a third of all European luxury sales. Bain and Co reports state that one in four personal luxury goods purchased is by a Chinese consumer.8 The Chinese people’s love of travel has increased tourism around the globe, including in Britain, where in 2012, London became the top tourist capital within the UK, Europe and the world.910

3.2 Competitor Analysis Key competitors were selected to review the validity of the promotional strategy. For a detailed outline, refer to appendix B. Many of the luxury leaders have multichannel online presences with innovative advertisement campaigns on a biannual basis, coupling this with extensive social media campaigns and inventive marketing techniques.

Some of the direct competitors in the industry, such as, Peter Pilotto and Erdem have yet to grow a following as strong as Mary Katrantzou. This is extremely reassuring as it demonstrates the benefit to Mary Katrantzou of implementing this promotional plan successfully.

Competitor analysis –Key Strengths: •

Dolce and Gabbana have a branded online content magazine called Swide.

•

Alexander Wang use guerrilla methods of advertising to appeal to its younger markets.

•

Burberry has a strong multichannel experience, linking online and offline media.

These are some of the key themes that Mary Katrantzou must implement in order to compete effectively in the market.

Competitor analysis - Weaknesses: •

Many of the competitors, including Prada, have basic websites.

•

Brands such as Dior, Chanel and Prada only display bags.

•

The large proportion does not provide a luxury e-commerce service.

Mary Katrantzou’s clientele are interactive and creative therefore, they prefer access on a frequent basis that is engaging and different to anyone else.

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3.3 Competitive Advantage In comparison to its opponents, the competitive advantage of Mary Katrantzou is the brands outlook to print design. With an extremely modern approach, the brand has created an identifiable signature style even though the thematic of the collections changes every season. Mary Katrantzou creates a new visual language through her objective sense of print and brings hyper-realism to the forefront of her design, something other print designers do not achieve. The element of fantasy through print is what gains Mary Katrantzou worldwide respect from the media, and this creativity is what the brand will aim to communicate to ensure the company thrives against the competition.

3.4 Target Market According to Mintel reports into the luxury industry, the target audience of brands such as Mary Katrantzou is ABC1C2 of the Acorn Social Grading system11. The key target markets within the luxury industry is primarily affluent ABs with C2s as secondary opportunity.

Information suggests that the ABC1 women account for over thirty per cent of all adults12, demonstrating that there is a vast growth market potential, especially targeting the luxury sector.

The elder AB consumers are most likely to purchase brands because of their craftsmanship or technical capabilities13.(Fig.1) This is a reason why this sector is a secondary target consumer for the Mary Katrantzou brand as the bespoke detail of the digital print requires a high level of craftsmanship, whilst using technological advancement in the textile industry of digital printing appeals to this target audiences preferences.

C2s are more likely to reward themselves as they understand the value of a premium price tag and buy in to luxury branding to stay on trend. Students are also most likely to buy products to increase their social status.14 (Fig 2) The opportunities within these markets enable an inclusive scope of opportunity for emerging luxury designers as Katrantzou. They can build a loyal fan base of C2s which can climb the socioeconomic ladder as the fashion house expands. Reports indicate that upward mobility will increase from six per cent and eight per cent between 2011-201615, in the current target audience of ABs and C2s. Information indicate that global wealth will rise by almost fifty per cent by 201716; this adds further evidence of the potential growth in the luxury worldwide customer base.

Mintel also reports, in the UK, just over one in ten people purchase most of their clothing from a designer or upmarket retailers, and one in five adults buy some designer clothing.17 This is equal to two thirds of the UK population, which equates to almost thirty-four million Britons. Overall this shows strength in the United Kingdom’s luxury sector and additional opportunities for growth.

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For the quality/craftsmanship

As a treat/ indulgence

Figure 1 and 2. Motivations for Purchasing Luxury Goods

Demographic

Demographic

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Figure 3. Market Positioning Table

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3.5 Marketing Positioning Mary Katrantzou is a creative brand with a relatively high price point between £450- £6000. Her signature style of digital print and feminine tailoring, are some of the key traits that sets the brand apart and gives a commercial advantage compared to more minimal designers.(Fig. 3) Whilst having a low market share in the luxury apparel industry, due to the length of time the brand has been established, it has a strong market positioning placed in relation to designers such as Alexander Wang, McQ and Christopher Kane. All of which are relatively new or reinvented reputable brands that have a creative style and unique edge at a similar price.

This information is confirmed from consumer research in which 34% placed Mary Katrantzou as high luxury and 53% of the public placed the brand as Luxury.

Some of the main distinguishing features identified with Mary Katrantzou included being artistic (100%),creative (91%) high craftsmanship (75%), innovative (62%) feminine (62%) and surreal (47%).

This followed the information of the main competitors identified whom included Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and Alexander Wang. All of this shows that the foundations of the core values and messages are correctly being portrayed to the public, so the aim of this strategy is to cement this branding and positioning into the industry.

For more information regarding the research please refer to appendix C for detailed results.

3.6 Mary Katrantzou Consumer Profiles From feedback of numerous stockists Mary Katrantzou clothing is primarily designed for all ages and popular for to a wide age range due to the varied collection. The company’s ethos isn’t defined by age or ethnicity, but of women who share a liberated spirit and a strong sense of style.18 The Mary Katrantzou woman is confident and assertive in her fashion choices; ranging from all ages the brand has a broad range of fashion supporters.

The next pages show some distinguishing factors from each target market.

MARY KATRANTZOU

3.6.1 Distinguishing Factors.

Primary Market: Rising Innovators.

These consumers are passionate creative professionals in their environment. They are slowly emerging naturals within their industry with a flair for creativity, whilst being determined and confident that sets them apart from their competitors. (Fig. 4) They are constantly striving throughout their personal and professional life, searching for the latest trends and technological advancements. They are committed networkers both on-line and offline, continuously at meetings with other professionals, friends or family. In their spare time, they are interested bloggers or vloggers, keeping up to date with their social media presence continuously thriving of the latest news and information, in regards to social affairs and their industry.

The Rising Innovators are affectionate towards clothing and want to use their garments as a medium of expression. Varying their wardrobe with one off sprees in the high street, they will continuously save up for occasional luxury goods as a treat or reward for their hard work.

Their creative ability enables them to consolidate their varied wardrobe with ease choosing items with ingenuity and style. These women are confident in their choices and can become emotionally attached to the brand experience and message whilst buying their clothes. They understand key values and beliefs regarding luxury stores, they also gain pleasure in feeling part of an exclusive crowd by buying into the brand and finding out insider information.

In general, the shopping habits of these consumers are quite varied. They can be found in one off stores, original outlets or department stores as they appreciate vintage as well as the main stream. They are not predictable and cannot be pigeon holed into one type of shop.

They continuously evaluate and explore their shopping tastes and vary in choice of stores they can afford at the given time. They are open to trying new things and appreciate the quality and craftsmanship into clothing, drawn to bright colours, pattern and embroidery.

They consider their fashion choices and gain inspiration online by viewing street chic websites and finding images that reflect their body shape and style. They are constantly developing their knowledge in to the latest fashion technology, design, art and culture, which is why they are dedicated media consumer.

If they are not checking their online presence and maintaining it fiercely, they are looking at print media for insight into trends, celebrities and news to gain inspiration from a more traditional medium. Their chosen media titles include Another Magazine, Hunger, Vogue, Elle and Wallpaper, however, they love to read an extensive array of unique magazines to get a broad range of insights.

Overall they are futuristic, eclectic and worldly in their knowledge.

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Figure 4. The Rising Innovator

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Figure 5. The Self-Assured Creative

Secondary Market: The Self- Assured Creative Generally these women are in an affluent position themselves or through their partners combined wealth. Carving careers in the creative industries such as architecture, interior design, art, style and fashion gives these women have a keen eye for style and a constant awareness of trends.(Fig. 5) This knowledge ensures that they dress to compliment their shape as they appearance is of paramount importance.

The traits that these consumers have are that they are emotive, creative, family- orientated women. Outside of family and work, they enjoy spending time seeking inspiration from art exhibitions, travel, reading fictional novels or consumer lifestyle publications.

They have a high involvement in consumerism and a passion to connect with the world. Their motivations are gaining information, insights, new experiences, and debating concepts, which can offer new meaning to an idea.

The Self- Assured Creative is quite sociable and confident woman at the peak of their personal and professional life. They are free spirited and fiercely independent outside their family life.

Their schedules include visiting friends regularly, meeting up for social events or even hosting their own dinner parties and gatherings. Their independent, confident nature means that these women want to make a statement and choose clothing that reflects their progressive eccentric tastes.

For these special occasions, they ensure they have the perfect outfit to suit the occasion. They are not afraid to spend a large sum of money on one key piece if it reflects the mood and look they want to express.

To find these key outfits they enjoy going to boutiques, department stores and designer stores as they appreciate quality and exclusivity in what they wear. They enjoy high quality service and prefer to immerse themselves with a brands surroundings when making a choice for their clothing. These shoppers enjoy learning the ethos behind the brand but are more concerned with the design and craft of the garments when making their purchasing decisions.

Their wardrobes include a variety of upmarket and designer vintage pieces from past events. That is not to say the Self- Assured Creative is frivolous with their income. They buy clothes relevant to the event and prefer to shop at more affordable high street chains such as Ted Baker and Karen Millen for more everyday casual wear.

When the Creative has a spare moment they enjoy viewing visual contents online for creative inspiration from sites such as instagram Pinterest and Tumblr. Alternatively they read news from online trend blogs or influential papers such as the Financial Times and the Telegraph along with their preferred print medium- magazines.

Some of their preferred titles include Vogue, Wonderland, Red, Elle Interiors, Wallpaper, Another and Grazia but when they have time they prefer to peruse visual magazines such as Hunger and Love.

Overall the Self- Assured Creative is successful, knowledgeable, determined and cultured in their persona with an appreciation for craft, innovation and the unique.

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Tertiary Market: Aspirational Dreamers The Aspirational Dreamer is the generation D emerging market who prefer uniqueness to tradition, 24-hour access over exclusivity and entertainment over shopping.19 They are the students and young professionals starting out in their career and are aged between the ages of 16-25. (Fig. 6) They engross themselves in the media, both print and online. Usually in a creative based course or career, these consumers do not yet have the income to reflect their aspirations.

With a thirst for knowledge, they are continuously learning and using online as a channel to develop their own tastes. They are passionate about their clothing and usually shop in the high street but will spend in high street collaborations and the occasional luxury item, either by receiving it as a gift or by saving up for over a period of time.

They continuously explore a number of print mediums to try finding their own taste and style looking at popular consumer titles such as Elle, and Vogue, but they enjoy reading creative titles including Dazed and Confused, i-D magazine, Surface, Wonderland, and Rollacoaster.

The are engaged by unusual media, aroused by novelty as it is key to them making a lasting impression in the development in their growing hunger for creative news and technology.

Their clothing is active, bold and confident, braving the unusual as they are developing their tastes. These are not necessarily the buyers of today to a brand; however there is high potential in this audience, due to their future profitability.

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Figure 6. The Aspirational Dreamer

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4.0 Company Analysis 4.1 Macro Environment Analysis A PEST analysis has been used to inform the Macro Environment for a more detailed description please refer to appendix D. The United Kingdom is considered one of the greatest creative hubs in the world. London holds its position as the top fashion capital20 and is a desirable area for tourism in the world. This shows strong justification for launching the Mary Katrantzou flagship in London.

The country is well established, ranked eighth in the world league tables. However, the UK has seen a decline in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2012, raising the possibility of a triple-dip recession21. This means that the economic confidence remains fragile, and the government’s deficit-reduction programme is relying on confidence and demand. The UK faces a long period of readjustment and reform, before an increased period of growth is realised of 1% in 2013 to 2.9% in 2017.22 The retail sector has seen the brunt of the downturn according to research from Price Waterhouse Cooper and Local Data Company. The research documents that 175 women’s clothing shops closed over the past year, which is down seven point five per cent on the previous year. The common problems that led to their closure were too many stores and too little multi-channel activity.23This means that Mary Katrantzou will have to be strategic in their decisions and ensure the company creates a strong multi channel identity online whilst planning to open one flagship store during this fragile period.

Conversely, in spite of the retail closures, the luxury market has reached eight hundred and three billion pounds in 2012. It is projected to have another year of growth of six to eight per cent24 which gives confidence in the sector and is positive news for the brand.

Another offset to the economic outlook is the changing attitudes to spending on fast fashion and throwaway clothing. Consumers are turning away from these products due to the ethics involved in producing them.

This has lead to consumer habits moving toward more upmarket retailing and UK produced brands. This is confirmed with the current strength of the luxury sector.

The overall consumer confidence in the UK has had a significant improvement in 2013 with the GFK UK Consumer Confidence Index remaining at -26, which is a significant improvement from -31 in March 2012.25 The sustained rise of the index is good news for the retail environment as its shows more confidence in the market, even if the overall outcome is generally low. This is a positive sign to the retail industry showing that there are signs of improvement from consumers.

Reviewing the use of digital technology in the UK, shows that there is a large majority of the population who are embracing digital technology. Results find that three in five adults own a laptop and ninety-two per cent own a mobile phone, forty-five per cent of which are smartphones. The rising emergence of tablets confirms predictions that tablets and smartphones will outsell laptops and personal computers all together by 2014.26 24

Nearly a quarter of the internet users now connect using their tablets (22%) and over half of consumers (62%) use a smartphone to access online content.27 This highlights the importance of mobile and device compatibility.

Research from Cisco reports that global mobile data traffic grew by seventy per cent in 201228, with video playing accounting for more than half of the traffic (51%). Mintel confirms this information reporting that seventyfour per cent of consumers watch video content online through mediums such on demand players, movie stream and YouTube. Half of tablet users now use their portable device to stream videos as more entertainment related activity is viewed via this method.29 Another key technological point is that social media still remains one of the main uses of the Internet in the UK with over three quarters of consumers accessing social networks. Londoners (80%), women (77%) and sixteen to twenty-four year olds (93%) were some of the most likely users of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.30 This confirms the increase in growth of technology and the importance of gaining traction in this area to ensure the brand does not fall behind beyond permanent repair.

Conclusively to coincide with the macro environment a project plan with a complementary service and multichannel integrated strategy needs to be put in place to ensure success in the economic climate, whilst also catering to the growing technological need to be both compatible and functional on portable devices for the consumers.

4.2 Micro Environment Analysis A SWOT analysis has been used to interrogate this data, please refer to the appendix E for more details. Some of the main strengths of Mary Katrantzou are the successes over the last five years, receiving accolades and positive press in some of the most influential medias.

This has enabled the brand to gain a strong online social media following and spread the brands name worldwide in some of the most highly regarded stores. This gradual five year development of growing the customer base has made it possible to overcome the economic downturn and has helped developed the brand in to a recognisable fashion house. Furthermore by having a social media presence, they have an advantage over some other luxury brands who have not embraced this medium.

The brand embeds quality and craftsmanship which is owing to Mary Katrantzou being an MA graduate from the prestigious Central Saint Martins. This start up in London has developed the brand with a number of fashion possibilities along with collaborations and by establishing itself in the top fashion and tourist capital of the world, can only show added strength in the project plan.

The brand has to ensure it promotes a strong identity to allow Mary Katrantzou’s target customer more reason to become a loyal follower of the brand as not all the population purchase from luxury brands.

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By developing the online presence through a website, gives the opportunity to connect all the social media channels to build a strong brand presence with clear identifiable messages and values.

This online website and store is a convenient place to maintain and develop a memorable, luxury experience at Mary Katrantzou. It can earn more press and publicity for the brand from the store window displays and in store promotions.

As the consumer market is growing rapidly and the increasing upward mobility projected for the next few years, means that there is a strong market to move into, and a real opportunity to move Mary Katrantzou forward as a business especially during its fifth year of establishment.

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PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY OVERVIEW

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5.0 PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY 5.1 Aims and Objectives Aim: To establish Mary Katrantzou in the luxury fashion industry through the means of a store and website launch, alongside ascertaining the brands messages and driving sales, through a two part concentrated six month multichannel integrated campaign throughout 2013.

Objectives: To launch successfully and create interest around the website www.marykatrantzou.com through digital, print and social media tactics in order to achieve oven fifty thousand traffic hits within the first three months.

To successfully launch and generate awareness around the store through mobile, print, digital, event launch and social media to achieve coverage in fifteen publications and gain over one thousand visitors in the first month.

To affiliate the brand with key celebrities that promotes the brands ethos and reflects their tastes and style through celebrity dressing for eight upcoming events throughout the promotional strategy.

To engage consumers’ interaction with the brand, informing them of core brand values, through user-generated content, competitions and social media to increase the Mary Katrantzou online presence in social media impressions throughout the six-month campaign by fifty per cent.

5.2 Promotional Strategy Message The promotional strategy aims to reinforce the core brand values with its target consumer, using surrealism, creativity, innovation and femininity.

This will be achieved through a number of unique and creative outlets whilst still maintaining its luxury positioning.

This project is split in to two parts, the launch of the website and the launch of the store. Each of these have their own promotional tactics with the same cohesive branding. Whilst the overall aim is the same the campaigns may differ for both launches, the promotional plan’s main focus is to strengthen the brands message, raise awareness and increase sales directly to the brand.

Before discussing the main promotional tactics an overview has been provided for both the website and the store. This is to show how the promotion connects and compliments each component, whilst showing how they all convey the Mary Katrantzou brand message.

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5.3 Mary Katrantzou Online The website will launch in June 2013 under the pre-existing domain of www.marykatrantzou.com. The website will ensure it is compatible with all devices to keep up with the growing technological demand outlined in the macro environment analysis.

The web design aims to promote the brand values by using soft edges, circular forms and a ‘floating’ design, whilst keeping the luxury aesthetic edge.(Fig.7) There are five main sections to the website: Brand, Store, Collections, Mary’s World and Your Katrantzou. For detailed information regarding the website, please review the website proposal.

As an overview, some of the main features of the website include the e-commerce store where it is possible to speak to a live chat advisor for any queries or to assist the user through the shopping experience.

Within the store, there is also a personal recommendation service which updates on a frequent basis. The user enters their details such as style preferences, body shape, age and size into the site to be given products suited to their needs from the personal shopping feature.

An additional option within the website is the filtering option for the e-commerce store which ensures that every customer is treated with a highly specialised, specific experience that extends the luxury ethos online. The store product selection will compromise of one collection per season of RTW apparel and accessories.

Other functions of the website include a content worthy journal that provides seventy per cent company news and thirty per cent intriguing articles that reflects both the company and target market’s taste. This is to build on luxury specialist Forbes recommendation to create interesting topical, shareable content to build an unmistakable and trusted brand.31 This website feature is paired with personal picks from the products on the website by Mary Katrantzou to give extended connection for the consumers with the brand and the designer.

A main aspect, specifically for consumers on the website is the Katrantzou Collective. This is an area of usergenerated content. The collective is the embodiment of the Katrantzou customer and is split into three sections the Katrantzou mind, the Katrantzou body and the Katrantzou soul.

The mind is a real-time feed that users #MKcollective to collate the discussion on the website. The mind connects both the website with social media and provides a platform for the customer to communicate their thoughts regarding a different theme every month.(Fig.8) This will encourage regular discussion regarding the brand and to provide direct contact and information from the target market.

The body and soul are image galleries of all of the consumers wearing their Katrantzou clothing (the body) and their creative submissions to the marketing team (the soul) (Fig.9 and 10) e.g. collection illustrations and style creations of Mary Katrantzou.

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Figure 10. The Katrantzou Collective Soul

Figure 9. The Katrantzou Collective Body

Figure 8. The Katrantzou Collective Mind

Figure 7. Mary Katrantzou Homepage

The collective is uploaded through the account section of the website or social media. The account section is a personalised area where article recommendations from the journal, styling recommendations and saved items are kept along with order history and eventually, the book an appointment in store, which will be created when the store is launched.

Overall the website aims to recreate the personal service that is provided in traditional stores. It aspires to be personal, accessible, and friendly whilst also building the brands sense of femininity, surrealism and creativity.

It will be available worldwide and will be promoted through current established online mediums such as social media platforms along with online and print media to appeal to the target consumers interests and preferences.

Using social media is a key tactic that will fulfil the strategy as the over 75% of the public have accessed the platforms online within the last three months.32

MARY KATRANTZOU

5.4 Mary Katrantzou Store The first Mary Katrantzou store is planned to open at 162a Sloane Street, Belgravia, London, in late September 2013 to coincide with London Fashion Week. The store is a 2000sq ft. two-floor premises.

Split into two areas, the store will consist of a retail floor and the consultation room. The main concept of the store is to provide a hub that offers access to the brands ethos and each collection theme from season to season. The design combines the core messages by having a creative, surreal, unworldly experience. Creating a pure white store design to convey a futuristic clean minimalistic theme, a look that is synonymous within luxury brands, ensures this.

A key feature of the store is that the walls and ceilings are made out of white projection acrylic that enables rear projectors, placed behind the walls to turn the store into a different environment from season to season. (Fig. 11) Each season an art installation will feature as a focal point in store, which will be in collaboration with an artist.

For the store opening, the retail space will be set as a black and white photography with landscapes as they are the two of the main thematic concepts behind the AW13 collection. The store aims to be a surreal experience where consumers can get lost in the environment and concept behind the clothing.

The fixtures take inspiration from surrealist furniture and art installations as the fixtures create their own ladders to add an extra element of visual complexity to the store.

Mary Katrantzou’s retail floor will have the full product range of the current season and it will be an area to test new products and ideas within the flagship.

Situated on the lower ground floor will be the consultation room. The room will be a space where customers can create their own bespoke pieces inspired by Mary Katrantzou or an area where VIP clients can have a personal shopping space.(Fig.12) The concept remains the same in the design for the consultation area however; tones of grey have been added to the white colour scheme to break the space. A front projector is positioned on the far wall in which individual client orientated work and 3D holographic features enable consumers to see their designs come to life on their own body.

For a more detailed store overview, please refer to the store proposal document. Being positioned in such a widely recognised luxury location will cement the brands positioning in the market place. The aim of the store will provide the Mary Katrantzou customer with a memorable, interactive experience that is unlike any other of its competitors.

To reflect this idea and message more unusual creative tactics such as guerrilla marketing will be used to stand out to the creative target audience, who are interested by the unusual and unknown.

Overall both of the strategies aim to reinforce the brands message and positioning to the public and their target market in an innovative and highly interactive way, whilst continuously maintaining the luxury status.

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Figure 11. The Retail Floor Birds-eye View

View Rear view

Figure 12.view The Lower Ground Floor Birds-eye View View Rear

MARY KATRANTZOU

6.0 PROMOTIONAL TACTICS Reviewing the consumer interests and information, the technological advancements in the market, and the key competitors’ in the luxury industry, a strong two-part multichannel integrated plan will be devised.

Relating to the customers elective nature a wide span of tactics shall be created to constantly keep the consumer informed and aware of Mary Katrantzou. Due to their creative nature, strong visuals will be used but in abstract and unusual ways. This will reflect a number of core brand values such as surrealism, creativity and innovation.

A wide number of digital tactics will be put in place to extend the digital prints innovative nature to the upcoming website launch and social media platforms. This drive will attract the target consumers interest, as both the Rising Innovator, the Self-Assured Creative and the Aspiring Dreamer are actively interested with new and interesting technological advancements.

To raise awareness a number of media initiatives and brand focused tactics will also be devised in order to ensure the launch strategies success. To ensure maximum effectiveness and continuous publicity throughout 2013, the promotional campaign will launch the website followed by the store.

The next subsections will discuss each of the tactics in detail. The document will follow a chronological order going from the website and then to the store tactics.

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STAGE ONE: WEBSITE LAUNCH TACTICS

MARY KATRANTZOU

7.0 WEBSITE LAUNCH CAMPAIGN The campaign aim is to raise awareness and interest for the launch of www.marykatrantzou.com in a creative and multi-focused style. This will be conveyed in three segments, consumer focused, media focused and brand focused, to ensure that all the brand message is consistent and that the implementation will be successful.

The span of the campaign will be between April to June 13 and then following promotional tactics will lead on to the store launch campaign. There are three stages: Pre-launch, Launch and Post-Launch.

7.1 Customer Focused Tactics 7.1.1 Pre Website Launch Advertisement and Video As consumers choose to read magazines, advertisements are one of the pivotal platforms that consumers pay attention to. Readers feel that this advertising is most closely tailored to their individual needs, and magazines in general provide them information they are most interested in.33 This is why the promotional strategy will release advertisements to selectively targeted media that reflect the majority of Mary Katrantzou’s target market’s interests.

Magazines are one of the strongest forms of communications to use as it is one of the ways the consumers spend their free time in order to find new information and inspiration in their everyday lives.

The advertisement would be targeted at monthlies and bi-monthlies, released in the May issues (published in April) through to the July editions in time for the e-commerce store launch.The advert would be quite abstract in its nature to attract the interest of the target consumer, to intrigue them to find out more. (Fig.13, for full sized advertisements please refer to appendix F).

Using digital augmented reality platform Aurasma the pages will unlock a conceptual video that is an introduction the creative surrealist world of Mary Katrantzou. The Aurasma logo will be placed in the bottom corner of the print ad with no content to download the app. The use of video is a strategic move to increase video viewers online as video streaming is quickly becoming a regular form of entertainment. Results found that 78% of people are watching at least one video a week and 55% are watching one every day.34 This shows that it is an increasing medium to connect with the consumer and to provide more insight into the brands story and ethics.

Augmented reality has been chosen due to its ability to make a phone act as a ‘looking glass’ to a new dimension, a surreal concept that relates to the brands message. The advert will reflect the videos abstract minimalistic style with kaleidoscopic freeze frames of the video in geometric rectangular and circular shapes (used throughout the website layout.)

The video storyboard is a montage of all of the seasons with a focus to SS13 as these are the first products to be available in the e-commerce store, with references to AW13 as that is the current season for the brand.

(Fig.14) 36

Figure 13 and Figure 14. Print Advertisement and Video Screen Shot Stills

MARY KATRANTZOU

Social media and press releases will issue the news that Mary Katrantzou will be working with Aurasma Technology prior to the print advertisement release. The target market’s appetite for new technology and inside knowledge will generate intrigue between them, to actively seek out the logos meaning after seeing the press release or print advertisement. Their main methods of finding this information will be online and through the use of social platforms, which Mary Katrantzou will help create the link to unlock the content. This sophisticated strategy will encourage the consumer to focus attention and arouse interest towards Mary Katrantzou, which is the first core marketing principles of the AIDA model.

For the first month of the magazine advertisement, the video will only be available through the Aurasma app to give the target consumers the feeling of exclusivity, something the Rising Innovators’ particularly enjoy.

A key list of prominent bloggers and online websites will have the video leaked after the first month, which then would be followed by uploading the video to Mary Katrantzou TV. This method will ensure that the brand captures the most imaginative of its target market first, providing a personalised interaction of the brand whilst also engaging with the wider online community, creating attention and awareness to the website launch. By connecting two inspired mediums, the advertisements aim is to build on the traits of innovation and creativity.

Figure 15. Advertisement Target List

Magazine

Media Age

Average Circulation

Wonderland

30

150,200

Dazed and Confused

28

93,163

Vogue

35.6

1,222,373

Elle

34.4

1,135,737

Nylon

25.7

225,000

Vice

27.6

89,000

Another

34

175,000.

W Magazine

33

466,247

Eight key magazines have been chosen all of which target the varied consumers of Mary Katrantzou. A selection of magazines with a diverse target age has also been identified and added to the target list which will generate interest in the Aspirational Dreamers as well as the Rising Innovators and the Self Assured Creatives.

The magazines all have the ethos of fashion, culture art and design, appealing to the Katrantzou customer as well as targeting a wide category of consumers, maximising the success of the launch advert.

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Social Media Campaign According to the Mintel research, accessing social media sites is now the second most popular online activity performed on mobile devices. It is also the fifth most popular online activity from a traditional computer35, which confirms the importance of promoting the campaign of the website launch through the already well-established Mary Katrantzou social media platforms.

The aim of the social media campaign will continue to raise awareness of the web site and create a build up to the launch day.

Prior to the social media campaign Pinterest will be set up for Mary Katrantzou, to add another visual element to the platforms as well as the ability to ‘pin’ images across the site which will spread hype around the launch.

The start of Pinterest would also introduce the new partnership established on the website, in the wish list section. Outlines of the detail are in the website proposal. Briefly Pinterest will work in collaboration with the website providing a platform on Pinterest where wish list boards can be created powered by the platform and then shared across the social media sites.

The campaign will use the following social media platforms to ensure that a multi-integrated approach is attained through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest.

By using a variety of platforms will enable Mary Katrantzou to target different demographics and reach a wide web audience, all of which will increase the success of the website launch.

Each platform will have a different expectation; Facebook and Twitter will promote interaction and awareness whilst Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr will create excitement and intrigue around the launch.

Facebook and Twitter Facebook will introduce the campaign by posting creative and surreal poems and riddles; this powerful and unconventional approach will attract the target consumer’s attention. Facebook has been chosen as the prime promoter due to its dominance within the social media networks with Mintel research reporting 97% of users accessing the site within the last three months.36 The weekly release will be an on-going feature for the company, which will build on the brand’s core values. The poems will be released every Monday and the aim is to provide pause for thought and add another artistic depth to the creative brand, whilst adding mystery and intrigue, along with cultural complexity.

During the website launch, the poems will hint of what is to come regarding the website. The poems will vary between riddles and insights to maximise the suspense and create excitement.

MARY KATRANTZOU

An example for the website launch would be:

To see a whole new world open up within one’s mind, to make something out of nothing of an unlikely kind, to go to another place that we’ve never seen before, to realise what the story is about and more.

-

George Krokos

The poems will provide insight into the different dimensions of the brand, the digital age, the journey and surrealist ideas. This feature will serve as a game via the digital community, with the aim that the audience will start guessing what the company is suggesting.

The puzzles are a playful whilst mysterious and creative way to build on the core values of innovation, creativity and surrealism.

Twitter will be the secondary promoter following research that 46% of users have accessed the site within the last three months.37 The platform, as with Facebook, will post a weekly verse, however due to the 140 character limit the Twitter quotes will be summarised versions that relate to the longer poems on the Facebook platform, creating a cohesive message across the networks Example: Entering another place that we’ve never seen before, to realise what the story is about and more. Exciting, unusual, new.

-

George Krokos

Collaborations with poets and writers will be used for the on going process and as shown above, each person will be accredited for their work after the quote.

Using Twitter and Facebook will for this tactic will target the Self- Assured Creatives as they are more cultured in their expectations and what interests them on their social media accounts. The benefit of the insights, puzzles and riddles is that it is a sophisticated way to appeal to a broad spectrum of consumers of all ages.

In addition, a user-generated campaign will launch, relating to the website landing page. The campaign will use the hash tag sign and MKLive (#MKLive) throughout the social media platforms by providing encourragement to be part of the action with the Katrantzou brand. This will appeal to the already creative enthusiasts who have entered previous Mary Katrantzou competitions or who actively send in their illustrations of the collections.

As an incentive to make this campaign go viral across the Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, e-voucher prizes up to a £1,000 will be chosen from the interactions for MKLive in the run up to the launch.

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Status updates will vary between brand news and information along with information about #MKLive. (Fig.16 and 17) The MKLive status updates would be either pictures from some their chosen entrants’ interactions or a countdown to the launch date, to provide valuable content without being repetitive to the Mary Katrantzou audience.

Twitter will retweet their favourite quotes, and comments about MKLive to stimulate discussion and further interaction.

Example Posts During MKLive

Figure 16 and Figure 17. Example Facebook and Twitter Posts

The images sent in to the competition will also help build the Katrantzou Collective part of the website establishing the user-generated interaction and content.

Overall Facebook and Twitter channels will promote MKLive raising awareness of the upcoming launch and creating interest and interaction. All the entrants on all platforms who use #MKLive will be monitored through a social media tracking system for future mailings.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr These platforms due to their visual nature will also recommend MKLive to visually promote the message in order to continuously appeal to the creative clientele. However, the main focus of each of these sites will provide insight into the development and focus on the imminent arrival of www.marykatrantzou.com.

Pinterest would provide ‘pins’ of computer screens potential sketches and designs as ‘leaks’ to the audience.

Instagram will look at Mary herself, and her involvement backstage at shows, behind the e-commerce shoot and hints of the preparation going into the website launch. Instagram will also show the amount of interaction from the landing page, and Mary will personally thank the entrants and consumers for actually becoming part of the brand.

Tumblr is an image only blog so this will display its influences into collections alongside the website inspiration, to include orb like elements, minimalistic, luxurious images and other features that have influenced the design process of the website.

The content from these platforms will bring mystery and excitement whilst also building suspense up to the launch day. Countdowns will continuously be mentioned to keep it fresh in the audiences mind.

The multichannel social media campaign in the build up to the website launch will focus on the traits of Mary Katrantzou which is creative and innovative, in a mysterious and surreal way.

Landing Page The reason a landing page has been decided on for the promotional tactics is to the build-up the companies email marketing base, whilst being a worthwhile marketing tactic to build anticipation to the website launch which will encourage the strategies success.

The Mary Katrantzou domain page will be a hub of all the entrants of the MKLive social media competition. It will be initiated sixty days before the website unveiling and the aim of the landing page is countdown the days up to launch. The landing page purpose is to also encourage people to sign up for their exclusive invitation to the website, alongside making the consumers feel part of the building of Mary Katrantzou.

By combining the social media campaign with the landing page, encourages the strong viewership of the online platforms to be directed and aware of the upcoming website and the domain address, alongside encouraging a strong consumer relationship with the brand through user-generated content featured on the page.

The design of the landing page offers hints to the appearance of the website whilst not revealing too much. The landing page will feature an RSS feed from Twitter and Facebook users in a infinite scrolling motion so that users can spend time reading the interactions with the brand. In addition a scrolling album of visual interactions will move across the website in the same manner as the RSS feed. This will allow users to view some of the other more visual interactions with Mary Katrantzou.(Fig.18) 42

A social media platform computing system (Postling) will search all the #MKLive entrants and the users who submit interactions will be processed and placed in real-time onto the landing page.

This interesting way will inform a number of the target markets, in particularly the Rising innovators and Aspiring Dreamers; as they will become part of the action. The page will encourage these audiences to create a relationship through their digital personas with the brand.

In the week leading up to launch (27th-31st May) the MKLive competition will be announced, the five winners will be declared day by day through social media and the e-vouchers will be sent to them via email. The lowest prize will be issued first (ÂŁ200) and the highest prize (ÂŁ1000) will be revealed two days before the launch.

Safety features will be used to avoid abuse of the service, setting up blocks on inappropriate language and content, to ensure the brand image can not be corrupted or tarnished.

7.1.2 Website Launch Day

Figure 18. Landing Page Design

MARY KATRANTZOU

Email invitations On launch day, emails will be sent to all of the addresses gathered from the various campaigns, with an invitation to enter www.marykatrantzou.com. The invite is aimed to build on the consumers’ enjoyment to feel part of an inside group and encourage them to establish a connection with the brand.

The design of the email is similar to the landing page with increased prominence of elegance and to be aesthetically enticing, appealing to the creative nature of all the target groups to visit the page. The email will combine features of all the pre-launch tactics including reference to the advertisements and website to cohesively enable the consumer to link the campaigns together. (Fig19.)

A recreation of the original video advertisement will be embedded into the email. When played the kaleidoscopic world will open into another dimension taking elements of the original abstract storyboard concept. The visual nature of the rekindled montage is used to create desire within the invitees. Once the video finishes the website will load in a pop out web page. This is designed to engage the consumer and to further encourage them to view the website.

Analytics will review which users open the email which so that future marketing campaigns are aware of users who interact with this approach.

Users who continue to interact with the site will have the opportunity to win a SS12 clutch bag designed by Mary Katrantzou. To enter the competition, the email will have to be shared with five other people via email or on social media platforms. This method encourages discussion and interaction with the website whilst also spreading the message between target and potential consumers.

Social media On the launch day all the platforms will promote the competition to win the SS12 clutch back, mentioned above, apart from Tumblr and YouTube as they are the company’s image and video only sites .

The day following the launch day five winners will be announced along with a personal message thanking them for their support and to gather each recipient’s delivery details.

The competition message will be cohesive through all the platforms in order to effectively spread the message across social media and online.

The next page shows the example posts that will be seen on Fabebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

(Fig.20,21,22,and 23)

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Figure 19. Email Marketing Campaign Invite

MARY KATRANTZOU

Example Posts for Launch Day Competition

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Figure 20, 21, 22 and Figure 23. Example Facebook, Twitter Instagram and Pinterest Posts for the Launch Day Competition

MARY KATRANTZOU

Online Advertisements On the day of the launch Mary Katrantzou will advertise on four target websites, Vogue, WWD, Lookbook.nu and Trendland. Homepage takeovers have been chosen as they increase the impact by providing exclusivity on a sites most visible page.

This variation in these high traffic footfall sites will attract the correct creative and fashion focused audiences which in turn will directly increase footfall to www.marykatrantzou.com.

Figure 24. Visitor Statistics of Chosen Sites.

Website

Average Average Monthly Monthly Page Unique Visitors Views

Approximate Daily Page Views

Vogue

1,500,000

28,700,000

956,666

WWD

861,300

11,800,000

393,333

Trendland

1,000,000

75,000,000

250,000

Lookbook.NU

4,000,000

100,000,000

3,333,333

Figure 24 highlights that from one days advertising, the total views and potential traffic to the website could be four point nine million viewers. This will be a key tactic in not only raising awareness of the website, but also to show the new aesthetic and brands message both in print and online.

The next pages will show mock ups of the chosen web pages, in line with their advertisement homepage guidelines.(Fig 25,26,27 and 28.)

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Figure 25 and Figure 26. Example Vogue and WWD Advertisements

MARY KATRANTZOU

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Figure 27 and Figure 28. Example Trendland and Lookbook.nu Advertisements

7.1.3 Post Website Launch Social Media The days following the launch social media will thank all of its viewers for the successful launch. The website will connect all the online presences together and form an integral position in the social media strategy moving forward.

Social media will use information from sections of the website including: • Posting about new Journal posts on the website • Discussing Mary’s Picks • Starting the monthly discussions of Katrantzou Collective • Posting about new products and arrivals to the e-commerce store All of these initiatives pre and post launch will continue to strengthen the highly creative and fantastical persona around the brand. These posts will link to the inspiration page on Tumblr continuously promoting insights in a luxury way, demonstrating traits of openness, whilst maintaining an element of mystery which is synonymously linked luxury brands.

Katrantzou Collective The launch of the Katrantzou Collective will be through Facebook and Twitter. The Katrantzou Collective’s Mind section will publish a monthly topic of discussion, relating to the current collection, up and coming exhibitions, artists and interests to the consumer.

The aim of the overall Katrantzou Collective is to allow consumers to interact with Mary Katrantzou, offering insightful information regarding their tastes and attitudes, providing a space where tips and hints can be shared between consumers, whilst also developing a relationship between the target audience and Mary Katrantzou.

This feature follows from research company Abrams that some of the best practices in the luxury industry is to bringing the consumer into the brand through ‘creative marketing initiatives that incorporate user generated content, such as encouraging photo uploads.’ 38 This forum of the Katrantzou Collective’s Mind will allow the company to discuss topics that can reflect the brand, press or marketing strategies along with current affairs about creative, innovative and feminine issues.

This area promotes conversation linking to the brand and will be a powerful innovative tool to work alongside social media, continuously providing the customer with quality ensured content.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Mobile App Launch Following the successful implementation of the website, a mobile application (app) will be released in July 2013.

The website is mobile friendly and viewable on all smartphone and tablet devices. The mobile app strategy will support the interaction with the customer by supplying a continuous feed of personalised news, topics and recommendations.

Creating an app, which is instantaneous, will appeal to all the target markets due to their busy and media consuming lifestyle. An app will be an additional form of association with the consumer, which supports the initiative. Apps are at the forefront of technology with forty-five per cent of the population using smartphones39, demonstrates the need to utilise this kind of technology.

The main feature of the app is to build on the personalised functions of Your Katrantzou section on www.marykatrantzou.com.

Details will include: • Articles recommended on the website journal suited to what they usually read • A product search function and wish list saving capabilities • The ability to upload to the Katrantzou Collective • Personal shopper recommendations linked to their preferences Additional features that will differ in the mobile app for the consumer will be: • The function where users can design your own Katrantzou inspired wallpaper using any pictures • Social media quotes and insights to the brand The aim of the apps is so the customer continuously feels connected to the brand in a personalised and meaningful way. It aspires to build the luxury feeling across all on and offline platforms.

The design of the app will continue to build the strong brand identity by using the same design as the website emphasising the spherical and rectangular shapes with an initial white, grey and black colour scheme.(Fig 29.)

It will additionally reference the account section matching the colours of the current season (AW13).(Fig 30.)

The mobile design will be minimalistic and clean with high functionality to endorse the brands luxury image and service.

The Katrantzou wallpaper generator on the app will work very similar to a kaleidoscope wallpaper generator.

There will be pre-set Katrantzou options for the consumers to use in addition to creating their own.

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Figure 29. App Homepage

Figure 31. Wallpaper Generator Stage One

Figure 30. App Account Page

Figure 32. Example Wallpaper Stage Two

MARY KATRANTZOU

In this section users can take a picture or layer images into a square, and the app will generate wallpaper for the smartphone or tablets screensaver or homepage. (Fig 31 and 32) Building on the visual nature of consumers, the generator will be a creative way for the consumer to feel as if they have their very own Mary Katrantzou customised piece, building a stronger relationship and commitment from the target market.

The app will increase brand awareness both digitally and publicly, it will strengthen the brand image and add another platform to immerse in the multi channel experience.

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7.2 Media Focused Tactics Refer to the campaign press pack for the detailed press release. The targeted media will be listed in full for the press releases and media tactics in appendix G.

7.2.1 Pre Website Launch Press Release Website Launch Prior to the campaign a press release announcing details of the launch will be sent to all key media lists at the start of February 2013. The media selected will be range from creative fashion online and print media. This will support the suspense in the build up leading to the launch.

The main aim is to initially release is that Mary Katrantzou will be launching the website on 03rd June 2013 and the company will be working with Aurasma Technology in the build up to the launch.

The press release will not detail features at this stage, as the key aim in this tactic is, for target consumers to notice the Aurasma logo when the advert is released.

MKLive Press Release The end of March and beginning of April the weeklies and online media will be given the press release regarding the MKLive campaign.

The main topics of the press release will be the interaction with the brand and the landing page along with the competition details and prizes.

The aim of the press release is to generate awareness of the social media campaign and indirectly to the website launch.

Bloggers Leaked Video During the start of May 2013 the website teaser video will be leaked to influential bloggers and selected online press. The aim of the video leak is to create awareness of the websites upcoming launch.

The leak will be minimal and in the form of email. It will provide the video, the date and the website link. This will create excitement and hype around the launch, introducing the abstract, creative nature of Mary Katrantzou.

Website Features Press Release Mid May will see the release of website features to the media. It will discuss the key features the website, including Mary’s World and the Katrantzou Collective. The press release will be aimed at key insider media in the fashion industry, including titles such as WGSN, WWD and Style.com.

MARY KATRANTZOU

The press releases aim is to support the launch of the website in the penultimate weeks before the launch, without leaking too much information, but adding to the mystery. The press release will refresh the publics’ awareness of the campaign launch.

7.2.2 Website Launch Day Email Invitation As with the consumers, the media will receive personalised email invitations along with print versions posted to the offices on the day. (Fig.33) The Aurasma logo will be on the invitation along with an altered video screen shot and a short riddle taken from the poem New World by Dave Alan Walker (whom will be credited on the back of the invite) inside a Mary Katrantzou branded envelope. The poem quotes: In my eyes I see a world of pictures In my eyes I see shadows of a new world -Dave Alan Walker

The poem reflects the on going social media campaign and provides references to Mary Katrantzou’s use of image and print. By using Aurasma Technology, the video as previously discussed will play and guide users to the website. The aim of a print invite, in addition to an email, is to encourage further discussion on the social media sties by the key media on launch day.

7.2.3 Post Website Launch Day Mobile App Press Release After the launch of the website news of the mobile app will be released towards the end of June. It will be sent to key media, for their online sites.

The press release will discuss the features of the mobile app including the kaleidoscopic wallpaper function and the information that it is available for download for both Android and IPhone.

The aim of launching the mobile app after the website is to control demand and strategically keep Mary Katrantzou in the press over the two part launch strategy.

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Figure 33. Launch Day Media Print Invites

MARY KATRANTZOU

7.3 Brand Focused Tactics 7.3.1 Celebrity Dressing To solidify the brands concepts of femininity and creativity, a number of events are identified where celebrities will be targeted, throughout the website launch and leading up to the store launch, to promote the Mary Katrantzou brand. The selection of key celebrities will be based on success, creativity and distinctive style. These will either be actresses, musicians or other highly regarded creative people

Figure 34. Events Calendar and Celebrities Who Reflect Brands Ethos.

Month

Event

Key Celebrities

Celebrity Contact

April

Iron Man Premiere

Gwyneth Paltrow

Stephen Huvane

May

Met Gala

Jessica Alba

Brad Cafarelli

Emma Stone

TBC

Lily Collins

TBC

Scarlett Johannson

Cece Yorke

Elizabeth Banks

TBC

Amy Adams

Cristina Aerlich

May

58

Great Gatsby Premiere Carey Mulligan

Jessica Kolstad

Ilsa Fisher

TBC

Elizabeth Debicki

TBC

May

Star Trek Premiere

Zoe Saldana

Gary Mantoosh

May

Cannes Film Festival

Audrey Tautou

TBC

Jennifer Lawrence

TBC

Jessica Chastain

TBC

Amanda Seyfried

TBC

Lana Del Ray

TBC

May

Lana Del Ray Tour

June

The Bling Ring Film Emma Watson Release

Vanessa Davies

July

Wolverine miere

TBC

Film

Pre- Famke Janssen

STAGE TWO: STORE LAUNCH TACTICS

MARY KATRANTZOU

8.0 STORE LAUNCH CAMPAIGN 8.1 Customer Focused Tactics 8.1.1 Pre Store Launch Advertisement and Video In the August Editions, (released in July) the adverts for Mary Katrantzou will change to announce the new AW13 season. The adverts will both promote the new retail range arriving in stores and online in September along with the launch of Mary Katrantzou’s first flagship store.

As with the web launch campaign Aurasma will also feature in the lower corner of the advert, which will unlock a conceptual video about the store. The video storyboard concept follows the theme of AW13 of black and white photography and landscapes. The black and white video is reminiscent of a silent film, which flickers between a model in a white space and a landscape with minimal colour references from the AW13 catwalk. An eye will flicker in between shots to convey the message of how the consumer enters Mary’s world and mind inside the store. The landscape scenery is replicated within the store on wall projections showing brand cohesiveness of the core values of creativity, surrealism and innovation.

The advert will feature images from the video shoot, with enhanced editing to illustrate the element of introducing a surreal aesthetic and building on the theme the website initially created. Two versions will initially be released which will be used for the rest of the AW13 campaign.(Fig 35 and 36) For full sized versions please refer to appendix F. The video will follow the same strategy as in the website launch and will be only available when the print advertisement is released through Aurasma. It will then release to selected media, before being uploaded to Mary Katrantzou TV. (Fig.37) Figure 38. Advertisement Target List The same magazines that were strategically selected for the web site launch will be used for the store launch, as they reflect the target audience who viewed the website advertisement.

Magazine

Media Age

Average Circulation

Wonderland

30

150,200

Dazed and Confused

60

93,163

Vogue

35.6

1,222,373

Elle

34.4

1,135,737

Nylon

25.7

225,000

Vice

27.6

89,000

Another

34

175,000.

W Magazine

33

466,247

162a sloane street london sw1x 9bs www.mary katrantzou.com

162a sloane street london sw1x 9bs www.mary katrantzou.com

Figure 35 and 36. Store Launch Advertisements

MARY KATRANTZOU

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Figure 37. Store Launch Video Screen Shots

Promotional Mobile app During the store launch promotion, an additional limited edition augmented reality mobile application (app) would be available to download for the two-month period, called Mary’s Mind. It will build on the store concept of seeing things from the designer, Mary Katrantzou’s perspective.

The app will be branded in the same way as the Mary Katrantzou current application, however the only feature the promotional app will have is the augmented reality camera. There are two options in the app; to create a video/photo or to edit a pre-existing one from the users album. (Fig.39) The create editor uses face, body and shape detection and will place random print, patterns and colours on the media. The editor enables the user to upload their own photos or videos and add kaleidoscopic images, colours, effects and prints in a way they prefer. Both of the options once captured and edited then can be saved to the users camera roll or shared over social media.

The prints, patterns and colours will all be related to collections of Mary Katrantzou, to enable the audience to recognise the brand behind the app.

Frequent use of the mobile app will unlock hidden content regarding the store’s launch including interviews with Mary Katrantzou, behind the scenes and the story behind the brand and other content for customers to view.

The overall aim is to build suspense and excitement around AW13 and the imminent store launch, in a creative and innovative way. When an image or video is uploaded to social media it will show ‘uploaded via Mary’s Mind app’ encouraging more downloads from the online communities and spreading a viral communication through the social platforms.

The unusual nature of the pictures builds up more imagery around the brand and can be used simultaneously on social media and in the Katrantzou Collective to strongly reinforce the surreal and creative nature of Mary Katrantzou.

The app will be used in conjunction with the social media competition to win two tickets to attend the first peak preview of the store, which increases the integrated multi-channel campaign around the brand.

Social Media Campaign Social media will still be a primary promotional tactic for the store campaign utilising the information that Londoners (80%), and women (77%) are some of the most likely users of social media sites, who are the prime target markets for the store launch.40 Throughout the store launch period, the theme of weekly riddles and poems will be related to the concepts of the store, it will hint at the store design and concepts in a poetic way.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Figure 39. Promotional App Example

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Figure 40 and 41. Facebook and Twitter Example Post

The aim of social media will be to raise awareness of the stores location and opening date along with promoting the brands core values.

As with the website launch campaign, each of the platforms will have varying tactics that fall under the same strategy.

Twitter and Facebook The key aim of the Facebook and Twitter accounts is to build up excitement towards the launch day; this will include countdowns and the continuous surreal and poetic hints on a weekly basis. The accounts will be the main agitators of the promotion.

A competition will give the opportunity for a person to win two tickets for the official media event launch of the store. To take part in the competition the customers have to create an image or video on the Mary’s Mind app and upload it tagging the brand in the post.

Throughout the competition the favourites will be uploaded and reposted on the Mary Katrantzou social media site along with information to download the app, to encourage others followers to download and become consumed by the viral nature of the app. (Fig. 40 and 41) The unusual and highly creative abstract images that could be achieved through the app, will appeal to all the target audiences who are interested in artistic and unusual concepts.

The incentive to be invited into the media launch event will also appeal to the audience’s, love of socialising and being apart of an exclusive set.

Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr The chief strategies of the three social sites will replicate the build up of the website. Instagram will message tweets and hints of what Mary Katrantzou herself is discussing, Pinterest would provide ideas and concept leakage on to the social site, and Tumblr will provide inspiration that have inspired the stores development, for example, fixtures and fittings.

The social media platforms will also provide information regarding the competition and release favourites on the individual accounts to increase interaction from all the followers.

The use of the competition and mobile app will be the main component in building the brands awareness and reflecting a creative company image, whilst also giving details about Mary Katrantzou new store.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Website Throughout the store launch campaign the website will be the promotional component where all the digital strategies will converge to give a strong coherent brand message.

The homepage will have a countdown to the store launch and AW13 collection release date to the e-commerce store. (Fig.42) The Journal will provide new information regarding the store, the app release, the competition and the upcoming release of the AW13 collection.

Meanwhile the inspiration page would reflect the Tumblr account page with all the creative inspiration of the collections and store developments.

Overall the website will reinforce the build up to the store launch and connect all the social media strategies together. This will show luxury status and a highly strategic launch campaign.

Figure 42. Countdown Feature on Website Homepage

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8.1.2 Store Launch Day Guerilla Marketing On the penultimate week leading up to the launch of the store launch, guerrilla marketing will be take place in selected areas of London using flyers. The use of guerrilla advertising is a recommended way to create surrealistic visuals to provide an experience those consumers will remember41, which is why this has been selected for a promotional tactic.

The flyers will display a map of the store location in a collectible Mary Katrantzou stylised print. (Fig.43) The flyers will be printed on heavy matte white card and will be unbranded apart from the recognisable font used on the back with a small MK pinprick showing the location.(Fig.44) On the back of the flyer will be the following: Grand Pianos playing musical tunes Dark sunsets and half-shaped moons Oblongs and spheres Smiles and tears Emotions unlocked Designs that shock Truly surreal The presence makes me feel Like I am in another place Somewhere in cyberspace Your repertoire is one vast contradiction I think I have developed an addiction -Nigel Corbett

16th September 2013 10.00am- 6.00pm The poem is written by Nigel Corbett and is credited underneath the poem. The aim of the flyer is to provide insight into what the store entails in a surreal and conceptual style. The design will maintain the theme of inspirational poetic thoughts and notes from social media, reinforcing the brand core values of creativity and surrealism, whilst the unusual use of marketing builds on the brands innovative nature.

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Figure 43 and 44. Flyer Map Design and close up of MK Pin Prick

The quality the flyer will make it something that is desirable which passers-by would rather own than throw away again adding to brands luxury status. (Fig.45) The social media weekly post will use the same poem, so that the entire target audience will be keeping track at the busy time of London Fashion Week, will know the flyers aim to connect with Mary Katrantzou. A countdown to the launch day and the location will also be shown on all the digital platforms. This will allow the majority of the followers to link the flyer even in its conceptual form.

The target locations for the flyer marketing will take place in key fashion areas where a Mary Katrantzou customer is likely to visit. In addition key fashion show venues in the run up to the launch will be targeted.

The staff for the flyer promotion will be inconspicuous, classically dressed in black to reflect the unbranded feel of the flyer.

Figure 45. Flyer Design Mock up

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Figure 46. Target Areas

Area

Timetable

Portobello Road W10 5XU

Monday 9th Sep

Old Street, London EC1Y 1BE

Monday 9th Sep

Brick Lane E1 6PU

Tuesday 10th Sep

Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3PQ

Tuesday 10th Sep

Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DH

Wednesday 11th Sep

Stratton St, London W1J 8LT

Thursday 12th Sep

Brompton Road

Thursday 12th Sep

Carnaby Street W1F 7DA

Thursday 12th Sep

Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Friday 13th Sep

Welbeck Street, London, W1G 8EG

Friday 13th Sep

21-31 New Oxford Street

Saturday 14th Sep

London, WC1A 1AP Conduit Street London W1S 2YB

Saturday 14th Sep

Bedford Square Gardens, Bedford Square, Sunday 15th Sep London, WC1B 3DP

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Brook St City of Westminster, W1K 4HR

Sunday 15th Sep

Roseberry Avenue E12 6PT

Sunday 125h Sep

High Street Kensington, London W8 5SA

Monday 16th Sep

Horner Square, Spitalfields, London E1 6EW

Monday 16th Sep

Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH

Monday 16th Sep

Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Monday 16th Sep

Bermondsey St London SE1 3TQ

Monday 16th Sep

Store Window In the store window on the opening day, digital screens will replicate the pinprick of the flyer, the screens will be played in real time from the studio location that creates the store windows (for more details see the store proposal) and will show the visual team constructing the white pinprick with the MK. This will reinforce the maps branding and the creativity will appeal to the highly attuned Mary Katrantzou customer. (Fig. 47) The aim of this tactic is to reward the target audience by providing a clear link to the guerilla marketing flyer. On seeing the construction of the pin prick should create a link between the map print design and the conceptual clue of the small pink prick, found in the centre of the flyer.

Figure 47. Store Windows 162a Sloane Street

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Figure 48. Limited Edition Scarf

In-Store Promotion To celebrate the launch, the first one hundred customers making an in store purchase will receive a limited edition scarf. This cohesively follows the guerrilla advertising, the window display and social media campaign.

The scarf will reflect the print on the flyers celebrating the new flagship store location, 162a Sloane Street.

(Fig.48) Additionally the store will promote to customers on its opening day, the bespoke service available in the consultation room on the lower ground floor. Customers, who make a purchase of over five hundred pounds in the Mary Katrantzou flagship store within the first three months, will be entered into a competition. The winner will receive a luxury bespoke print crafted into a dress, skirt, scarf, trousers or blouse.

Following the media event the day prior where bespoke creations were showcased in a catwalk, all the mannequins on the launch day and in the video screen windows in the weeks after the store launch will feature the capsule collection pieces created by the bespoke team. This is to further promote the consultation room services and to provide customers with a consistent experience with what the media saw for the store sneak preview. For more information please see event proposal.

To encourage customers to come to the store and increase publicity for the opening day, Mary Katrantzou will plan to appear in the store at midday to two o’ clock.

Combined in unison these elements are to encourage the public to browse the collections, develop consumer loyalty and provide an incentive to visit the store on the launch day.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Website To support the store launch, the website will make available, through the e-commerce store, the AW13 collection, enabling all the online community, to celebrate and purchase the coveted collection.

The collection will be released following the separate digital initiative for customers to be able to shop the SS14 show the day prior to the launch, during the Mary Katrantzou show. This will be for one night only, not to clash with the promotional strategy store launch.

The website’s role will be to publish press and media posts from the launch event, to encourage customers to visit at a later date.

A prominent feature on both the store and mobile app will be the ‘Book an Appointment’ button found on their account page.(Fig 49) This newly added button to the website and app will enable consumers to book an appointment for personal shopping, VIP and bespoke services from the staff of the store in the lower ground floor’s consultation room.

This aims to integrate the on and offline offering, making it quick and convenient for people of the D generation, who want 24-hour access, to integrate with the luxury brand.

Social Media Social media on the launch day will use all the platforms to launch both the store and the AW13 collection online. The social media will vary the releases throughout the day, providing consumers with enough information regarding both the opening and collection on and off line.

As with the other social media strategies, each will have their own tactics throughout the day to enable cohesive multichannel communication.

Facebook and Twitter Both Facebook and Twitter will publish a countdown to the store launch and release the poem from the flyers online.

In addition, the two platforms’ will release a picture of the store window showing the visual merchandising team creating the large MK pin prick. A real time link will display on the journal page of the website so that consumers become intrigued as to what the visual merchandising team are building for the first store window. This will engage the audience and satisfy the most detail orientated consumers such as the Rising Innovators, who will have noticed the small MK inside a pin prick on the flyer.

This will help consumers decipher the puzzle and feel involved in the guerrilla marketing tactic, encouraging them to visit the store.

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Figure 49. Book an Appointment Feature on Website Account Page

Figure 50 and 51. Example posts on Facebook and Twitter

MARY KATRANTZOU

The social media platforms will also release the launch of the new collection online, displaying the advertising campaign images with the link to the e-commerce store. This will also reference the store opening to promote both sides of the launch continuously. (Fig.50 and 51) Posts regarding Mary Katrantzou’s visit to the store will be release first thing in the morning so that consumers have time to make plans to visit the store when the head designer is there.

Overall frequency of posts will be higher than normal for each platform but to keep an element of mystery and grandeur it will not clog up the followers’ Twitter or Facebook page.

Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr As with previous strategies, Pinterest will leak images of the merchandise and the store details to build atmosphere and excitement around the store opening, Instagram will display images of the build-up to launch from Mary Katrantzou herself and Tumblr will provide some of the inspiration behind the designs. Pictures of the AW13 collection will also be released throughout the media.

Overall the visual platforms aim is to complement Facebook and Twitters message of the store, the website and the overall cohesive brand style. The social media will be a strong component in the advertising and promotion for the store on the launch day.

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8.1.4 Post Launch Day Website Following the launch the website will be core in managing branded content through its different website components. This is a key future strategy as it is a strong way to connect with its customers online through customer entertainment, advertising and social engagement.

The website will be managed daily and weekly to ensure that the website is continuously captivating its target consumers.

The Katrantzou Collective and the Journal will be some of the main focuses post launch to build on the relationship gained through the promotional launch strategy.

Social Media In the days after the launch, the focus will be on promoting the bespoke competition and showcasing the appointment room’s functions and services. This will drive sales to the store which is one of the main objectives, in addition to, increasing and building a bespoke fan base.

The social media will thank customers for the success of the store launch and provide imagery of key moments, including Mary Katrantzou’s visit, the store window and general customer satisfaction.

Social media will build on the websites features and functions, setting up monthly discussions for the Katrantzou Collective, guiding its audience to new articles in the Journal and releasing new inspiration and Picks by Mary.

The surrealist literature will also continue to feature throughout social media on a weekly basis incorporating future initiatives All these elements will blend with store promotional strategies such as customer events, exhibitions and future collaborations.

Overall the social media will continue to be one of the main on going promotional tactics for the brand.

MARY KATRANTZOU

8.2 Media Based Tactics Regarding all press materials please refer to the campaign press pack for the detailed press release. The targeted media is listed in appendix G.

8.2.1 Pre Store Launch Day Store Opening Press Release Prior to the promotional strategy, a press release around fashion week AW13 (February 2013) will be published.

It will inform the media of the brands plans to open the new store on Sloane Street in time for the next season show.

The press releases will target a selection of highly regarded print and online media. Its aim will be to inform the media of the planned launch with no specific features as to intensify anticipation and mystery.

Promotional App Release Towards the end of Jully 2013, a further press release will be distributed regarding the two-month promotional app release.

The press release aims to inform and to promote awareness of the limited availability of the Mary Katrantzou app, as well as the features and store launch competition.

It will document some of the main features of the app in order to entice downloads from the target consumers and increase the competition and social media engagement.

The competition will increase awareness of the store opening, and encourage consumers to enter the competition.

Bloggers Leaked Video The beginning of August 2013 the store teaser video will be leaked to influential bloggers and selected online press. As with the website, the aim of the video leak is to create awareness of the launch whilst not officially launching the video to the public.

The leak will be minimal and in the form of email. It will provide the store launch date, the address and the video. This will be to create suspense and mystery, whilst letting the video will explain the design of the store in a conceptual way.

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Collection Release Press Release The middle of August will see the release of the AW13 collection through www.marykatrantzou.com to coincide with the launch of the new flagship store.

This press release will inform of the e-commerce collection, still igniting interest with the online website whilst mentioning the imminent store launch indirectly.

The aim of the press release will be to build and maintain awareness to Mary Katrantzou, and it will be sent to a range of selected suitable mediums.

Event Launch Invitations Event Invitations of the store launch will be distributed within the SS14 invitation. The invitations will be sent out on the 2nd September 2013 along with the SS14 fashion show invitations.

The design will replicate the guerilla advertising flyers, however it will additionally feature a circular mirror, placed over the collectable map print, engraved with the invite details. This aims to recreate a looking glass imagery and hint at what is to come for the media store preview event. The guests will be all of those who attend the London fashion show and the event will be the official after party for the editors and models on Sunday night.

The Invitations will be released the beginning of September approximately two weeks prior to the show. This will

enable editors to organise their calendar for the event and opening at such a peak time encourages maximum press coverage during fashion week. Please refer to the event proposal for more details.

Store Functions and Features Press Release In the first week of September 2013 will see a brief press release be sent to all key selective media giving an outline of what the store will have to offer.

The press release will discuss information regarding the appointment service, the consultation room and the retail floor. Overall it will outline the stores opening hours and reiterate the launch day.

The aim of the press release is to inform customers enough to incite a store visit, without divulging the specialist store design.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Event Launch A preview of the new store along will a celebration of the success of the SS14 catwalk show will be take place at the event launch.

The event will commence on the 15th September at 8.30pm, after all the fashion shows end. The two and a half hour event will serve canapĂŠs, include speeches, deliver a conceptual performance, a capsule collection catwalk and reveal the rear projections. A musical set by DJ Harley Viera-Newton will follow.

For a more detailed outline of the launch event please refer to the event proposal.

8.2.2 Launch Day Launch Day Press Release The evening before the launch day, a press release, will announce the one hundred limited edition printed scarves for customers who purchase with in the flagship store. It will also detail Mary Katrantzou visit to the store.

Online editors and members of the launch event will be the target media, to ensure the rapid promotion due to short lead times.

The press release will inform of the store opening, the store location and the limited gift promotion the brand has designed to celebrate Mary Katrantzou’s first flagship location. It will also document the time of Mary Katrantzou’s appearance. During the store preview event the release will be part of the media gift bag to ensure maximum coverage post the media launch event.

The press release aims to act as an incentive for the target consumer to visit the store on the launch day and to add excitement and awareness of the brand.

Media Event Press Release A press release of the store preview will be released to selected media, both attendees and non attendees will be sent the document. It will thank all the media for a successful launch and overall the release will be an overview of the night. Information provided will include information such as the entertainment, quotes from key guests along with the social media competition winner thoughts and feelings regarding the event.

By providing an overview with key media quotes will encourage the media, both attendees and non attendees, to use the information for their online counterparts news. This release will work alongside the prior release to maximise the amount of publicity that can be achieved on the launch day.

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8.2.3 Post Launch Day Bespoke Competition Press Release In the days after the launch of the store, a press release regarding details of the consultation room will be released, along with the exclusive launch competition for Mary Katrantzou.

The press release will be sent to all key print and online medias to promote sales and awareness. It will inform of the appointment room on the lower ground floor, along with its functions, features and services it will provide.

The aim to encourage high sales throughout the first three months of the store opening as well as building on the high service features consumers can become accustomed to.

MARY KATRANTZOU

8.3 Brand Focused Tactics 8.3.1 Celebrity Dressing Key Celebrity Targets During the run up and following the store launch, the brand aims to target key celebrities that reflect the brands ethos.

To ensure successful brand communication, it is essential to showcase the Mary Katrantzou designs throughout the media to confirm that the brand’s message has been achieved. The key targets will have a mix of the traits: femininity, creativeness, innovation along with an avant garde persona.

The artistic and creative celebrities will outline the strong bond Mary Katrantzou has with the creative arts.

Overall this cohesive message will certify the brands overall promotion and the personality it has nurtured with the public.

Some of the selected targets include:

•

Beyonce

•

Bjork

•

Cara Delevingne

•

Lady Gaga

•

Miranda Kerr

•

Helena Bonham Carter

A full list with justification for each celebrity and their match with the brand’s core values is referenced in appendix H. The celebrity dressing choices will be increasingly monitored and expanded over the following months whilst also working alongside the selected celebrities for the website brand tactics.

By dressing a wide range of specific, celebrities who share the same ethos encourages the consumer to relate to the desired personal qualities of Mary Katrantzou.

This works cohesively with customer and media tactics to create a strong fully integrated launch campaign.

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Promotional strategy logistics

MARY KATRANTZOU

9.0 Promotional strategy Schedule Below are details and the visual calendar with all the tactic strategies. The calendar is colour coded for the different initiatives throughout the six month campaign and the steps before to ensure the successful launch of the promotional strategy.

Figure 52. Promotional Plan Schedule Table

Month Jan

Initiative

Tactic

Date Start

Date End

Frequency

Website Advert sent to Monthly Magazines

Customer Focused

01/01/13

01/01/13

Feb

Website Launch Press Release

Media Focused

04/02/13

04/02/13

Mar

MK Live Press Release Weekly Magazines

Media Focused

25/03/13

25/03/13

Apr

Website Advert Released in Magazines

Customer

01/04/13

30/06/13

Store Advert sent to Monthly Magazines

Customer Focused

01/04/13

01/04/13

Social Media Start Surreal

Customer Focused

01/04/13

On going

MK Live Press Release Online Media

Media Focused

02/04/13

02/04/13

Landing Page Initiated

Customer Focused

04/04/13

02/04/13

Social Media MK Live Competition Announced

Customer Focused

04/04/13

31/05/13

Website Social Media Countdown

Customer

04/04/13

02/06/13

Intervals 60, 50, 40, 1 month, 20, 2 weeks, 10, 1 week, 6,5,4,32 and 1 days

Website Social Media Launch Initiatives

Customer Focused

04/04/13

02/06/13

Frequent

Social Media MK Live Promotion

Customer Focused

11/04/13

23/05/13

One to two time a week overall,

Focused

Every Monday

Clues of Inspiration and Poetry

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Focused

Website Social Media Launch Initiatives

Customer Focused

04/04/13

02/06/13

Frequent

Social Media MK Live Promotion Favourite Entrants

Customer Focused

11/04/13

23/05/13

One to two time a week overall, and posts of specific entrants every two to three days.

Iron Man Premiere

Brand Focused

18/04/13

18/04/13

Website Video Released to Media

Media Focused

01/05/13

01/05/13

Star Trek PremiereCelebrity Dressing

Brand Focused

02/05/13

02/05/13

Met Gala Premiere - Celebrity Dressing

Brand Focused

05/05/13

05/05/13

Video Uploaded to Mary Katrantzou TV (YouTube)

Customer Focused

07/05/13

07/05/13

Video Released Across Social Media

Customer Focused

07/05/13

07/05/13

Website Feature Released to Press

Media Focused

13/05/13

13/05/13

Cannes Film Brand Focused Festival -Celebrity Dressing

15/05/13

26/05/13

Great Gatsby Film PremiereCelebrity Dressing

Brand Focused

17/05/13

17/05/13

Lana Del Ray Tour- London Show

Brand Focused

19/05/13

19/05/13

MK Live Competition Winners Announced

Customer Focused

27/05/13

31/05/13

Website Launch Day

Promotional Strategy

03/06/13

03/06/13

Celebrity Dressing May

Jun

One winner announced a day for each prize

MARY KATRANTZOU

Jun

Jul

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Competition Winners Announced

Focused

Website Launch Day

Promotional Strategy

03/06/13

03/06/13

Home Page Take over Advertisements

Customer Focused

03/06/13

03/06/13

Email Invites sent Customer to Customers Focused

03/06/13

03/06/13

Social media Customer and Email Focused Competition to Win an SS13 bag Announced

03/06/13

03/06/13

Email Invites sent to Magazine Journalists

Media Focused

03/06/13

03/06/13

Print Augmented Reality invitations sent to Magazine Offices

Media Focused

03/06/13

03/06/13

Launch Day Competition Winner Announced

Customer Focused

04/06/13

04/06/13

MK Collective Release its Monthly Topic

Customer Focused

04/06/13

On going

The Bling Ring Film Premiere Celebrity Dressing Store Advert

Brand Focused

14/06/13

14/06/13

Customer Focused

01/07/13

31/12/13

Mobile App Press Media Focused Release

30/06/13

30/06/13

Mobile App Launch

Customer Focused

02/07/13

On going

Social Media Customer Store Countdown Focused

22/07/13

15/09/13

Wolverine Premier Celebrity Dressing

Brand Focused

24/07/13

24/07/13

Store Launch Social Media Initiatives

Customer Focused

22/07/13

15/09/13

Released

announced a day for each prize

Frequent throughout the Launch day across social media

New topic released on a monthly basis

Versions of the advert will be released over AW13 period for AW13 campaign

Intervals 60, 50, 40, 1 month, 20, 2 weeks, 10, 1 week, 6,5,4,32 and 1 days

Aug

Sep

Wolverine Premier Celebrity Dressing

Brand Focused

24/07/13

24/07/13

Store Launch Social Media Initiatives

Customer Focused

22/07/13

15/09/13

Store Video released to Media

Media Focused

01/08/13

01/08/13

Promotional Mobile App Released

Customer Focused

02/08/13

04/10/13

Promotional App Social Media Competition Announced

Customer Focused

02/08/13

09/09/13

Store Video Uploaded to Mary Katrantzou TV (YouTube Channel)

Customer Focused

06/08/13

06/08/13

Video Released Across Social Media

Customer Focused

06/08/13

06/08/13

Social Media Favourite Entrants

Customer Focused

12/08/13

09/09/13

AW13 Collection Release Date Press Release

Media Focused

15/08/13

15/08/13

Media Store Event Launch Invitations Sent

Media Focused

02/09/13

02/09/13

Store Functions

Media Focused

05/09/13

05/09/13

Winner Announced Promotional App Competition

Customer Focused

09/09/13

09/09/13

Guerrilla Marketing Flyering

Customer Focused

09/09/13

16/09/13

Store Launch Preview

Media Focused

15/09/13

15/09/13

Press Release Promotional Gift and Mary

Media Focused

15/09/13

15/09/13

One to two time a week overall, and posts of specific entrants every two to three days.

and features Press Release

Frequent intervals at selected locations throughout each day.

MARY KATRANTZOU

day.

Store Launch Preview

Media Focused

15/09/13

15/09/13

Press Release Promotional Gift and Mary Katrantzou Store Launch

Media Focused

15/09/13

15/09/13

Store Launch

Marketing Strategy

16/09/13

16/09/13

Media Event Store Preview Press Release

Media Focused

16/09/13

16/09/13

Social Media AW13 release and Store Launch

Customer Focused

16/09/13

16/09/13

16/09/13

16/12/2013

Store Launch Bespoke Competition Released In store Book an Appointment Feature enable on App and website

Customer Focused

16/09/13

On going

Social Media Bespoke Competition Release

Customer Focused

17/09/13

15/12/13

Press Release Bespoke Services

Media Focused

17/09/13

17/09/13

Frequent varied throughout the day between the store and promotion, or the website and new collection release.

Frequent posts every couple of days regarding the in store competitions

Figure 53. Visual Calendar Social media tactics have left out of the visual calendar as there frequencies are variable with some being on going tactics.

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MARY KATRANTZOU

10.0 success and monitoring In order to measure the effectiveness of the promotional plan there will be different monitor tactics implemented to achieve the aims and objectives successfully.

Press coverage of the promotional campaign will be monitored on a daily basis; alongside other brand initiatives; especially when press releases are announced and celebrity dressing tactics are put into place.

Both the landing page and the website will be monitored on a website analytic programme to ensure that a steady flow of traffic is landing on the website in the build up and after the launch. It will monitor the success of each page, and this will form the basis of further plans for Mary Katrantzou.

The social media platforms and competitions will be monitored through the social media page analytics programmes available for Mary Katrantzou. They will be used to gage the amount of impressions and social media shares appearing through the networks. Together this will ensure to monitor the success of the promotional tactics and on going plans throughout the strategy.

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11.0 Contingencies Through monitoring the success of the plan throughout will determine how successful each element is with the target market.

In the event of the tactics and launch not being successful as planned, contingencies have been outlined as a reference.

If the press releases and brand tactics are not working as well as initially planned, further press manoeuvres will be implemented to engage the media. Product placement activity will increase alongside the on-going brand focused activities of celebrity dressing. More story angles and meetings will be arranged with key editors to discuss media activity and proposals.

If the promotion of the website through the social media MKLive and the landing page does not provide enough enticement for the target audience, increased frequency posts will trigger, and weekly entrants will be awarded spot prizes throughout to keep constant hype and interaction around the brand. The prizes would also turn into products over monetary prizes to see if this method appeals more to the target audience.

If the public do not react well to the Guerrilla marketing tactic, or the area is not specific to the target audience, alternative locations will be identified along with other tactics such as guerrilla marketing via posters. Other contingencies will be to work with London Fashion Week producers, increasing internal marketing in a highly creative area such as Somerset House. The flyers would also be considered to be placed in areas of interest to the target consumer e.g. museums, cafes, and selected stores in order to receive maximum chance of successful promotion.

The website and store will be monitored on footfall and web traffic to ensure the healthy growth of the company and that the success of the marketing plan is achieved. If these figures are lower than expected, publicity stunts and collaborations with the target audiences key interest will be incorporated both on and offline. These will include art exhibition collaborations, guest editors on the journal, real time video streaming and other audience engaging tactics will be considered and move forward with future initiatives.

During the social media launches and tactics, if the impressions are low, more social media hits to spread the word will be created and the analytics will be monitored to see what the online community respond well to. This information will then be used to adapt and implement a further contingency plan.

The Katrantzou Collective in the event of promotional plan failures will be a key tool in receiving market research and feedback from consumers in order for the company to move forward and create a strong customer focused relationship. This along with the other outlines will enable the plan to turn the success rate of the strategy quickly and efficiently.

MARY KATRANTZOU

12.0 budget The overall budget of this promotional strategy would approximately be six point five million pounds. This includes the entire store and website design along with advertising, promotional and staffing costs. A break down is provided below.

Figure 54. Budget Outline

92

Budget

Cost

Website Design

£ 150,000

Store Rent

£ 1,600,000

Store Design

£ 20,000

Packaging

£ 6000

Advertising

£3,000,000

Promotional Materials

£ 5000

Apps

£100,000

Staffing and Employment

£ 200,000

Conclusion

MARY KATRANTZOU

13.0 conclusion To conclude, the design of this promotional campaign will increase the brands personality in a robust and succinct way in order to celebrate Mary Katrantzou‘s fifth year of growth.

By designing customer focused, high quality services through the store and the website, affirms the brands core luxury status within the market. The overall campaign will be an effective long-term approach that can be utilised in future marketing and promotional strategies. The tactics in unison will fortify the brands aim to reinforce the core messages of being innovative, creative, artistic, surreal and feminine.

In using all the promotional tactics cohesively in a multichannel way will achieve maximum coverage throughout 2013, which effectually raises awareness of Mary Katrantzou both on and offline.

Using a combination of tactics and on-going long-term strategies will appeal to the target markets eclectic nature and fondness of new and unusual practices. This will continue to raise awareness within the target markets, whilst also attracting new customers to the brand due to its effectual digital and traditional promotions.

Having a widely integrated two-part plan in a short time frame enables the brand to receive constant awareness and publicity throughout 2013. This multi-focused promotion will encourage direct sales to the brand both on and offline; building the brands marketing share and successful implementation in the industry.

Utilising multimedia promotions, the campaign will safeguard the success of fulfilling both the website and store launch objectives, due to the hype and publicity that will inevitably surround each strategy, through means of customer, media and brand focused tactics. The brand’s core values to create an effective communication that is cohesive with the customer and media focused plans, will also be achieved by the brand focused tactics, specifically celebrity dressing, which will be key into affiliating the general publics and target markets perceptions of Mary Katrantzou.

Moreover user-generated content throughout the plan will encourage high levels of engagement with the target market. This feature will efficiently create trust and understanding with Mary Katrantzou, further reinforcing the brand’s core value and messages, whilst providing a product and service that directly appeals to the target audiences’ tastes and interest. This alongside the multichannel tactics will build a strong long-term profitable relationship for the future with the Mary Katrantzou customer.

Overall the implementation of this promotional plan is essential to the brand in order to enable future profitability and expansion into a leading luxury fashion house.

94

REFERENCES

MARY KATRANTZOU

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19 Montecchi, M (2013) Luxury Online Managing luxury brands on the age of social media. [Lecture to Fashion Communications and Promotion module] 21 January.

20 The Telegraph (2013) London named fashion capital of the world - Telegraph. [online] Available at: http:// fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG9527857/London-named-fashion-capital-of-the-world.html [Accessed: 17 Mar].

21 Bennett, A. (2013) Triple dip recession looms as GDP shrinks -0.3% | News | LondonlovesBusiness. com. [online] Available at: http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/business/triple-dip-recessionlooms-as-gdp-shrinks-03/4560.article [Accessed: 10 Apr 2013].

22 Xperthr (2013) UK GDP Forecasts February 2013: The ‘tipping point’ for triple-dip recession?

(XpertHR - Employment Intelligence). [online] Available at: http://www.xperthr.co.uk/blogs/employmentintelligence/2013/02/uk-gdp-forecasts-february-2013.html [Accessed: 19 Apr 2013].

23 Just Style (2013) UK: Highstreet closure accelerate and consumer moral stays steady in March Just Style [online] Available at: http://library.hud.ac.uk.libaccess.hud.ac.uk/resources/_jump/JustStyle/ [Accessed 29 Mar 2013] 24 Family Office Review (2013) Luxury Funds to Have Comfortable 2013, Predicts Fund Manager. [online] Available at: http://www.familyofficereview.com/family-balance-sheet/investments/article/784/luxury-funds-tohave-comfortable-2013-predicts-fund-manager [Accessed: 06 Apr 2013].

25 Just Style (2013) UK: Consumer morale remains steady in March Just Style [online] Available at: http:// library.hud.ac.uk.libaccess.hud.ac.uk/resources/_jump/JustStyle/ [Accessed 29 Mar 2013]

26 Ofcom. (2013) Take-up of services and devices. [e-book] p.29-75. Available through: http://stakeholders. ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-12/3_takeup.pdf http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/ binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-12/3_takeup.pdf [Accessed: 07 Apr 2013].

27 Accenture. (2013) Mobile Web Watch 2012. [e-book] Available through: http://www.accenture.com/ SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Mobile-Web-Watch-Internet-Usage-Survey-2012.pdf http://www. accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Mobile-Web-Watch-Internet-Usage-Survey-2012. pdf [Accessed: 06 Apr 2013].

28

Guglielmo,C. (2013) Cisco Mobile Data Shows Surge in Smartphone Users, 4G Usage - Forbes. [online] MARY KATRANTZOU

Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2013/02/06/cisco-mobile-data-shows-surge-insmartphone-users-4g-usage/ [Accessed: 16 Apr 2013].

29 Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Executive Summary Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

30 Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Online activities Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

31 Olenski, S. (2013) Using Branded Content In Your Content Marketing Arsenal - Forbes. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2013/03/25/using-branded-content-in-your-content-marketingarsenal/ [Accessed: 19 Apr 2013].

32 Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Online activities Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

33 PPA Marketing,. (2013) Communication Uncovered. [e-book] London: p.1-16. Available through: http:// www.ppa.co.uk/public/downloads/Marketing/Research/CommunicationUncovered.pdf http://www.ppa.co.uk/ public/downloads/Marketing/Research/CommunicationUncovered.pdf [Accessed: 02 Apr 13].

34 Three Motion (2013) Video statistics 2013 | Three Motion. [online] Available at: http://threemotion.co.uk/ the-power-of-online-video-the-stats-2013/ [Accessed: 10 Apr 2013].

35 Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Executive Summary Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

36 Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Executive Summary Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

37 Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Executive Summary Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

38 Abrams Research (2013) Untitled. [e-book] Social Media Guide for Luxury Brands: p.2-28. Available through: http://www.abramsresearch.com/static/guides-whitepapers/ARSM_Guide_Lux.pdf http://www. abramsresearch.com/static/guides-whitepapers/ARSM_Guide_Lux.pdf [Accessed: 25 Mar 2013].

39 Ofcom. (2013) Take-up of services and devices. [e-book] p.29-75. Available through: http://stakeholders. ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-12/3_takeup.pdf http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/ binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-12/3_takeup.pdf [Accessed: 07 Apr 2013].

40 Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Online activities Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

41 W5 Business Coaching (2012) What is Guerilla Marketing?. [online] Available at: http://www.w5coaching. com/business-ideas/guerilla-marketing/ [Accessed: 10 Apr 2013].

98

Table References Advertisment Circulation References Wonderland (2013) Wonderland Media Kit. [e-book] Available through: http://www.wonderlandmagazine. com/downloads/wonderland_mediakit.pdf http://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/downloads/wonderland_ mediakit.pdf [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Dazed and confused Dazed Digital (2013) Dazed Digital | Dazed & Confused Magazine | Fashion, Art, Music, Film, Ideas | Dazed Digital. [online] Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Vogue (2012) Vogue – Media Kit Print | Condé Nast. [online] Available at: http://www.condenast.com/brands/ vogue/media-kit/print [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Elle (2012) Demographics - Audience - Elle Media Kit. [online] Available at: http://www.ellemediakit.com/r5/ showkiosk.asp?listing_id=4165173&category_code=&category_id=71679 [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Nylon,(2013) Nylon Media Kit. [e-book] New York: p.1-35. Available through: http://nylonmag.com/clienthtml/ mediakit/MediaKit2013-lores.pdf http://nylonmag.com/clienthtml/mediakit/MediaKit2013-lores.pdf [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Vice (2013) Vice Media Kit. [e-book] Available through: http://scs.viceland.com/int/Media_Kit_2013.pdf http:// scs.viceland.com/int/Media_Kit_2013.pdf [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Another (2011) Another Media Kit. [e-book] Available through: http://www.anothermag.com/content/advertising/ Another-Media-Pack-2011.pdf http://www.anothermag.com/content/advertising/Another-Media-Pack-2011. pdf [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

W Magazine Conde Nast (2012) W – Media Kit Print | Condé Nast. [online] Available at: http://www.condenast. com/brands/w/media-kit/print [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Web Print Circulation Figures References Conde Nast (2012) W – Media Kit Print | Condé Nast. [online] Available at: http://www.condenast.com/brands/ Vogue/media-kit/web [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Conde Nast (2012) W – Media Kit Print | Condé Nast. [online] Available at: http://www.condenast.com/brands/ wwd/media-kit/web [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Trendland (2013) Advertising. [online] Available at: http://trendland.com/advertising/ [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

LOOKBOOK.nu (2008) LOOKBOOK.nu: collective fashion consciousness.. [online] Available at: http://lookbook. nu/advertise [Accessed: 14 Apr 2013].

Image References Fig. 1 Mintel (2013) Figure 44: Consumers who are motivated to buy luxury goods for themselves as treat purchases, by age and socio-economic group, September 2011. [image online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/

MARY KATRANTZOU

sinatra/oxygen_academic/image/id=600576&seq=35&maxWidth=851&maxHeight=450 [Accessed: 21st Apr 2013].

Fig. 2 Mintel (2013) Figure 45: Consumers who are motivated to buy luxury goods for themselves because of the quality/craftsmanship, by age and socio-economic group, September 2011. [image online] Available at: http:// academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/image/id=600576&seq=36&maxWidth=851&maxHeight=450 [Accessed: 21st Apr 2013].

Fig. 4 Facebook (2013) Mary K Street Style. [image online] Available at: https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/ hphotos-ak-ash4/320968_444014642332731_846416352_n.jpg [Accessed: 20 Apr 2013].

Fig. 5 Facebook (2013) Mary K Street Style. [image online] Available at: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/ hphotos-ak-ash3/644341_465085113559017_1511306135_n.jpg [Accessed: 20 Apr 2013].

Fig. 6 Facebook (2013) Mary K Street Style. [image online] Available at: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/ hphotos-ak-ash3/644341_465085113559017_1511306135_n.jpg [Accessed: 20 Apr 2013].

Appendices References Appendix A Vogue UK (2013) Vogue. [online] Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/brand/mary-katrantzou [Accessed: 10 Feb 2013].

Wikipedia (2011) Mary Katrantzou - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Mary_Katrantzou [Accessed: 10 Mar 2013].

Mary Katrantzou Who (2011) October | 2011 | Mary Katrantzou, who? | Page 2. [online] Available at: http:// marykatrantzouwho.wordpress.com/2011/10/page/2/ [Accessed: 10 Mar 2013].

Appendix B Studymode (2008) Burberry Investigative Report and Competitors - Essay - Bebiemia. [online] Available at: http:// www.studymode.com/essays/Burberry-Investigative-Report-Competitors-175246.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013]. Slideshare (n.d.) Burberry Internal Analysis. [online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/laurabelsley/ burberry-internal-analysis [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

MBAskool (2012) Dolce and Gabbana (D&G) | SWOT Analysis | BrandGuide | MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share.. [online] Available at: http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/990-dolce-and-gabbana.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

MBAskool (2012) Louis Vuitton | SWOT Analysis | BrandGuide | MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share.. [online] Available at: http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/3424-louis-vuitton.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

100

MBAskool (2012) Christian Dior | SWOT Analysis | BrandGuide | MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share.. [online] Available at: http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/3579-christian-dior.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

MBAskool (2012) Prada | SWOT Analysis | BrandGuide | MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share.. [online] Available at: http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/3574-prada.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

Slideshare (2010) PRADA Marketing strategy. [online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/olgadyachuk/ prada-marketing-strategy [Accessed: 17 Apr 2012].

Issuu (2010) Vivienne Westwood PR Assignment. [online] Available at: http://issuu.com/amelbelacel/docs/pr_ report_assignment_final [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

Peter Pilotto (n.d.) PETER PILOTTO. [online] Available at: http://www.peterpilotto.com/high.php# [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

Jonathan Saunders (n.d.) Jonathan Saunders. [online] Available at: http://www.jonathan-saunders.com/ biography.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

London Fashion Week (n.d.) London Fashion Week - Designers. [online] Available at: http://www. londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers_profile.aspx?DesignerID=109 [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

Lallich, A. and Pike, N. (2004) Burberry Group. [e-book] p.8. Available through: http://www.iseg.utl.pt/aula/ cad46/Analises/Analise%20Burberry.pdf http://www.iseg.utl.pt/aula/cad46/Analises/Analise%20Burberry.pdf [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

London Fashion Week (n.d.) London Fashion Week - Designers. [online] Available at: http://www. londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers_profile.aspx?DesignerID=258 [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

Ichou , L. (2012) ACNE STUDIO (FINAL). [online] Available at: http://prezi.com/trfaalzaace2/acne-studio-final/ [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

O’rielly, K. (2011) Alexander Wang’s Business is Still “Wholly Family-Owned”. [online] Available at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/blogs/threadny/THREAD-Alexander-Wangs-Family-Business--FamousFriendships-118423574.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

Dyachuk, O. (1876) PRADA Marketing strategy. [online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/olgadyachuk/ prada-marketing-strategy [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].Yaeger, L. (2013) How Acne Studios Became a Powerhouse. [online] Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324678604578340402927911328.html [Accessed: 17 Apr 2013].

Appendix C Prepaidmvno (2012) 2011 Census, Key Statistics for Local Authorities in England and Wales | Prepaid MVNO. [online] Available at: http://www.prepaidmvno.com/2012/12/11/2011-census-key-statistics-for-localauthorities-in-england-and-wales/ [Accessed: 05 Apr 2013].Trading Economics (1971) United Kingdom Interest Rate. [online] Available at: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/interest-rate [Accessed: 05 Apr 2013].

Trading Economics (2013) Indicators for UNITED KINGDOM. [online] Available at: http://www.tradingeconomics. com/united-kingdom/indicators [Accessed: 05 Apr 2013].

Ofcom. (2013) Take-up of services and devices. [e-book] p.29-75. Available through: http://stakeholders.ofcom. org.uk/binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-12/3_takeup.pdf Rsmtenon (2013) Social environment MARY KATRANTZOU

| Doing business in the UK | RSM Tenon. [online] Available at: http://www.rsmtenon.com/Markets/Clients/ International-clients/Doing-business-in-the-UK/Trading-in-the-UK/Social-environment.aspx [Accessed: 01 Apr 2013].

Ons. Gov (2011) 2011 Census, Population and Household Estimates for the United Kingdom. [online] Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/population-and-household-estimates-for-the-unitedkingdom/index.html [Accessed: 10 Apr 2013].

Monevator (2012) Wealth in the UK 2012. [online] Available at: http://monevator.com/wealth-in-the-uk-werericher-than-you-think/ [Accessed: 14 Mar 2013].

Londonlovesbusiness (2013) Triple dip recession looms as GDP shrinks -0.3% | News | LondonlovesBusiness. com. [online] Available at: http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/business/triple-dip-recessionlooms-as-gdp-shrinks-03/4560.article [Accessed: 10 Apr 2013].

Xperthr (2013) UK GDP Forecasts February 2013: The ‘tipping point’ for triple-dip recession? (XpertHR - Employment Intelligence). [online] Available at: http://www.xperthr.co.uk/blogs/employment-intelligence/2013/02/uk-gdpforecasts-february-2013.html [Accessed: 19 Apr 2013].

Just Style (2013) UK: Highstreet closure accelerate and consumer moral stays steady in March Just Style [online] Available at: http://library.hud.ac.uk.libaccess.hud.ac.uk/resources/_jump/JustStyle/ [Accessed 29 Mar 2013] Family Office Review (2013) Luxury Funds to Have Comfortable 2013, Predicts Fund Manager. [online] Available at: http://www.familyofficereview.com/family-balance-sheet/investments/article/784/luxury-funds-to-havecomfortable-2013-predicts-fund-manager [Accessed: 06 Apr 2013].

Just Style (2013) UK: Consumer morale remains steady in March Just Style [online] Available at: http://library. hud.ac.uk.libaccess.hud.ac.uk/resources/_jump/JustStyle/ [Accessed 29 Mar 2013] Ofcom. (2013) Take-up of services and devices. [e-book] p.29-75. Available through: http://stakeholders. ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-12/3_takeup.pdf http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/ binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-12/3_takeup.pdf [Accessed: 07 Apr 2013].

Accenture. (2013) Mobile Web Watch 2012. [e-book] Available through: http://www.accenture.com/ SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Mobile-Web-Watch-Internet-Usage-Survey-2012.pdf http://www. accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Mobile-Web-Watch-Internet-Usage-Survey-2012. pdf [Accessed: 06 Apr 2013].

Forbes (2013) Cisco Mobile Data Shows Surge in Smartphone Users, 4G Usage - Forbes. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2013/02/06/cisco-mobile-data-shows-surge-in-smartphoneusers-4g-usage/ [Accessed: 16 Apr 2013].

Mintel (2013) Digital Trends Spring March 2013 Executive Summary Mintel oxygen reports platform [online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com. [Accessed 31 Mar 2013]

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APPENDICES

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Appendix A BRAND List of Achievements 2008

2012

Opened Graduate Fashion Week for Central Saint Won Luxury Briefing Awards Emerging Luxury Leader.

Martins.

Won Elle Style Awards Next Young Designer of the Awarded NEWGEN scheme for six seasons.

Year.

Exhibited collection at London Fashion Week

Collaborated with Longchamp bags

Collaborated with ShowStudio for artistic video.

Set up private viewings with Vodaphone, the London Fashion Week’s sponsors, for two seasons

2009 First catwalk collection at London Fashion Week.

Collaborated with Swarovski for AW09 collection

2013 Collaborated with Current Elliot

Showcased at L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion week.

Collaborated with glass designer Peter Layten for SS10 collection.

Created an online moving illustration for S:Edition 2010 Awarded Swiss Textile award Launched special collaboration fragrance through company Six Scents.

Launched first Topshop collaboration.

2011 Awarded BFC Emerging Talent award.

Christian Louboutin and Mary Katrantzou set up partnership in AW11.

Created jewellery collection for Swarovski Atelier.

Comissioned by Pablo Bronstein to design for exhibition Sketches: The Regency Living.

Won UKFT Designer Business Award

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Appendix B COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Brand

Audience

Positioning

Strengths

Weaknesses

Promotion

Burberry

Dual gender audience of ages of 18-55+.

Heritage, Timeless, quality and innovative.

Well established with strong ethos of heritage.

Multiple lines with no distinct difference.

Powerful Celebrity Endorsements

Low vertical integration.

Large promotional budgets with celebrity endorsed adverts each campaign.

Targets traditional individuals as well as the new fashion conscious customer.

The customer is an individual who is interested in the British style of clean, smart traditional apparel

Dolce and Gabbana

Feminine brand People over the age group of 25 having a stable financial background Elite and rich people interested in elegant, classy and trendy products

Alexander McQueen

25-45 quirky individuals who push the boundaries with their style

Strong Digital communications strategy.

Interactive new store space in London.

Extravagant very feminine and creative

Strong brand image Loyal customers Innovative and unique products suiting people’s taste for change and quality launched frequently Large portfolio of brands

Creative, sadistic, edgy, surreal, theatrical

Unique Design Strong online presence Strong market position Well known globally Strong financial backing

Louis Vuitton

Working women and men25 and above Likes having a taste for clean cuts n designs in bags and apparels.

Big digital budget constantly trying new and innovative technology

Bespoke services offered online

Elegant, modern, unique and innovative luxuries with quality

Elegant and modern apparels and accessories

One of the oldest fashion houses  with over 150 years of history Strong brand imagery because of its logo and monogram canvas on most of its products

Pay for people at the Burberry Fashion shows.

Highly priced products limits its customer base to the elite and rich people affected by the economic fluctuations, thus having higher sales when market conditions are better and vice versa

Large advertising budgets

Not very accessible only has 21 stores

Strong visuals and a very sleek branding to contrast from the creative designs.

Limited target market

Strong online presence one key strength to the company is Swide the online magazine that has brand and lifestyle content.

Ultra luxury out of many people price range

The brand has a strong online presence but no ability to buy online.

The strong imagery means it is counterfeited worldwide

Inspiring store and website design One of the key luxury designers in the market.

Large global presence Offers bespoke services The brand has a clientele including international celebrities. Extremely high brand recall and global presence

MARY KATRANTZOU

Chanel

Men and women who practice an active lifestyle and are interested in high fashion

Wealthy, Stylish, heritage, elegant, Classical and minimal.

Ultra elite and luxury brand targets 25- 60

Dior

Affluent females Feminine, who prefer classic, elegant, feminine romantic romanticism product that reflect feminine nature

Pioneers of prĂŞt-aporter clothing Highly established brand worldwide for many years Classic and timeless designs are a major part of their collection and instilled in the company ethos.

Does not have an e-commerce store loosing out on the online community.

Strong legacy of over half a century and strong presence over various luxury avenues across the world with more than 200 wholly owned points of sale.

Has a large product range The concept stores by the brand with each store having a unique theme gives the brand a unique identity

The fluctuations in the exchange rates of various countries can lead to loss of revenues for the brand

Strong advertising videos and campaigns.

Regularly endorsed and fronted by celebrities.

Minimal digital promotion except though mainly video

Replicas create a problem to brand identity

Strong advertising and online marketing Use of celebrity endorsements Has a strong branded content magazine.

Strong brand name and reputation worldwide Excellent branding and advertising through TVCs and print ads

Vivienne Westwood

25-65 men and women with a whimsical taste and punk edge

British, Heritage, Quirkiness

Well renowned brand worldwide Strong base of loyal fans

Limited stores both in the UK and abroad

Has creative unusual campaigns

Website is not as strong as clothing.

Use of celebrity endorsement

Weak social media presence

Prada

Peter Pilotto

106

Cultural creative intellectualisms innovators

Beyond classification, attracted to clothes and will wear them with her own expression

High quality, creative vision, classic, elegant, modern, minimal, innovation

Curiosity, sculptural new and classic and elegance.

Established Fashion house Known for its quality and unique designs Has a strong association of luxury and premium attached to it Has a strong presence in and around the world

The brand has severe competition and hence there is high brand switching 2. Limited brand awareness in emerging markets

Good advertising and branding through print ads

Weak e-commerce site, limited e-commerce and poorly laid out website

Stocked internationally

No e-commerce site, poor website

Critically acclaimed

On limited social media platforms

Strong advertising campaign in all key media Discreet unusual stores are also a key promotion

Relies on press and social media at the moment

Johnathan Saunders

25-25 young professionals keen eye for syle.

Minimal, sleek, modern, architectural

Rising star of British fashion

No e-commerce store

Stocked internationally

Still building customers

Relies on press and social media at the moment

Tough competition from competitors Only has Facebook page on social media

Erdem

Innovative women who buy key pieces not every season

Femininity, classic, elegance, colour

Rising star stocked internationally

Minimal online activity No e-commerce site

Minimal advertising relies on press and celebrity dressing

No stand alone store

Alexander Wang

25-35 business professionals with an urban style

Sleek, minimal, elegant, edgy, creative

Strong aesthetic Numerous

Still relatively new compared to other fashion houses

Largely successful company within its first five years

Similar to highly competitive brands

Uses off beat marketing tactics such as guerrilla marketing to reach the creative of his target audience

Strong branding Sleek website and social media presence

Christopher Kane

Richard Nicoll

Individual and a keen follower of fashion. She maybe works in the industry or another creative field. Age doesn’t really concern more interested in personality and the way a woman carries herself

Modern, experimental, playful

Anyone with a stylish outlook

Authenticity, simplicity, youthful classicism and timelessness.

Has strong financial backing

No online presence yet

Relies on press and social media at the moment

Minimal website and online presence

Relies on press and social media at the moment

Strong marketing and graphics are used within the company

Strong signature style Upcoming website and w

New rising star Stocked internationally Large fan base following

Acne

McQ

Young affluent casual wearers who like style and artistic design

Practical, minimal, artistic, creative

Strong online presence

Slow expansion

Affluent 25-25 year olds urban men and women

Creative, rebellious, creative, innovative, artistic experimental

Strong sister company Alexander McQueen for backing

Been a dormant company for the past 11 years

Strong visuals and graphics

Rebranding of old McQueen collections

Recognizable logo

Lack of specific marketing

Creative parties are held at the store, social media campaigns and adverts in all major magazines

Strong casualwear collection

MARY KATRANTZOU

Appendix C MARKETING POSITIONING RESEARCH

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110

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MARY KATRANTZOU

Appendix D PEST ANALYSIS TABLE

Political Factors that are governed by trading law regulations the Sales of Goods act and the Disability Discrimination Act, can affect online and offline environment in the UK. A store in the UK can trade for twenty four hours a day excluding Sunday. In London, standard trading hours vary from 9am to 8pm. The proposed area for the store has trading times from 10am to 6.00pm. On bank holidays, trading hours are less with full closure on Easter Sunday and Christmas day. Breaching these standards can lead to substantial fines and adverse publicity for not adhering to Working Time Regulations. Any of these factors can affect the brand and tarnish the image.

The main regulations to be upheld in the retail environment are the Sale of Goods Act 1979, Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994. The legislation in these regulations states that the goods sold are as described. A luxury brand needs to ensure that their product are of the highest quality and describe features such as the type of fur, and other materials, to maintain its reputation and to ensure that these acts are not broken.

To adhere to the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act requires that all stores consider to making ‘reasonable adjustments’ to allow people with disabilities to have access. This means that access to the entire store must be provided including lifts in order for all types of people to be able to move between the shop floors.

In regards to creating an online store export regulations have to be considered within the UK. Exporters are required to classify and pay the applicable taxes outside the EU. All of the above are important as the brand would need to have an open and positive consumer perception. If rules were broken and not followed it gives connotations of deception and could reduce brand loyalty.

114

Economical The United Kingdom is considered one of the greatest creative hubs in the world. London holds its position as the top fashion capital and is a desirable area for tourism in the world.

From the census of 2011, the resident population of England and Wales was 56.1 million. The estimated population is now projected at 63.2 million. There was a seven per cent increase since the 2001 census showing increased residential growth in the UK community.

The United Kingdom is well established, ranked eighth in the world league tables. However, the UK has seen a decline in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2012, raising the possibility of a triple-dip recession. This means that the economic confidence remains fragile, and the government’s deficit-reduction programme is relying on confidence and demand. The UK faces a long period of readjustment and reform, before an increased period of growth is realised of 1% between 2013-2017.

The retail sector has seen a reversal of this trend according to research from Price Waterhouse Cooper and Local Data Company. The research documents that 175 women’s clothing shops closed over the past year, which is down seven point five per cent on the previous year. The common problems that led to their closure were too many stores and too little multi-channel activity.

This means that Mary Katrantzou will have to be strategic in their decisions and ensure the company creates a strong multi channel identity online whilst planning to open one flagship store during this fragile period.

Conversely, in spite of the retail closures, the luxury market has reached eight hundred and three billion pounds in 2012.

It is projected to have another year of growth of six to eight per cent which gives confidence in the sector and is positive news for the brand.

The national salary statistics of the UK for the period 2000-2012 show that the average annual salary for full-time workers has risen by forty per cent, from £18,848 to £26,500. Throughout the economic downturn since April 2007, prices have risen by eighteen per cent while average annual earnings have risen by just ten per cent. This data confirms the fragile nature of the economy with consumer cutting back on spending to provide basic commodities in the home.

Interest rates in the United Kingdom are currently, and have been since March 2009, point five per cent, which is at an alltime low. Whilst this is encouraging the exchange rates have rapidly slid to a sixteen month low against the pound to the dollar after downgrading the country from a AAA credit score to AA1 by the company Moody.

According to the 2008/10 national statistics the average United Kingdom household wealth is £232,000. Research by Lloyds TSB lists the United Kingdom private banking net wealth at over six trillion pounds. The overall household wealth from 2001 has risen from four point three trillion to six point six trillion in 2011. That has risen fifty-five per cent beating inflation over the same period and the gross households’ disposable income. This shows that there is still growth throughout the economy, which inevitably demonstrates that there is the opportunity to successfully launch in the UK and challenge the economic climate.

Another offset to the economic outlook is the changing approach to spending on fast fashion and throwaway clothing.

Consumers are turning away from these products due to the ethics involved in producing them. This has lead to consumer habits moving toward more upmarket retailing and UK produced brands. This is confirmed with the current strength of the luxury sector.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Social The overall consumer confidence in the UK has had a significant improvement in 2013 with the GFK UK Consumer Confidence Index remaining at -26, which is a significant improvement from -31 in March 2012.

The sustained rise of the index is good news for the retail environment as its shows more confidence in the market, even if the overall outcome is generally low. This is a positive sign to the retail industry showing that there are signs of improvement from consumers.

Technological Reviewing the use of digital technology in the UK, shows that there is a large majority of the population who are embracing digital technology, ninety-two per cent own a mobile phone, forty-five per cent which are smartphones. The emergence of tablets confirms predictions that tablets and smartphones will outsell laptops and home personal computers together by 2014.

Only twenty-four per cent of the smartphone users will purchase via their mobile phone as most are still reluctant to shop via their mobile, however, almost a third of tablet users feel confident to use this medium. This hesitance with the mobile devices means that laptops remain the most popular device in the UK household with three in five adults having a laptop in the household (62%) followed by a PC (46%).

Over a quarter of the internet users now connect use their tablets (27%) and over half of consumers use a smartphone to access online content. This highlights the importance of mobile and device compatibility.

Research from Cisco reports that global mobile data traffic grew by seventy per cent in 2012, with video playing accounting for more than half of the traffic (51%).

Mintel confirms this information reporting that seventy-four per cent of consumers watch video content online through mediums such on demand players, movie stream and YouTube. Half of tablet users now use their portable device to stream videos as more entertainment related activity is viewed via this method.

Social media still remains one of the main uses of the Internet in the UK with over three quarters of consumers accessing social networks. Londoners (80%), women (77%) and sixteen to twenty-four year olds (93%) were some of the most likely users of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

This confirms the increase in growth of technology and the importance of gaining traction in this area to ensure the brand does not fall behind beyond permanent repair.

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Appendix E SWOT ANALYSIS TABLE

Strengths Successes over the last five years receiving accolades and positive press in some of the most influential Strong online social media following and spread the brands name worldwide in some of the most highly regarded stores.

This gradual five year development of growing the customer base has made it possible to overcome the economic downturn and has helped developed the brand.

By having a social media presence, they have an advantage over some other luxury brands who have not embraced this medium.

The brand embeds quality and craftsmanship, which is owing to Mary Katrantzou being an MA graduate from the prestigious Central Saint Martins. This start up in London has developed the brand with a number of fashion possibilities and collaborations and by establishing itself in the top fashion and tourist capital of the world, can only show added strength in the project plan.

Weaknesses It is necessary to consider that the brand is still relatively new compared to some of the established luxury brands and that they need to implement the appropriate business and promotional strategies as not to undermine the brand’s reputation, core values and ethics.

As the consumer market is growing rapidly and the increasing upward mobility projected for the next few years, means that there is a strong market to move into, and a real opportunity to move forward as a business especially during its fifth year of establishment.

The need for investors in the project is required to ensure that the brand develops the concepts to reflect their luxury development and status.

Opportunities By developing the online presence through a website, gives the opportunity to connect all the social media channels to build a strong brand presence with clear identifiable messages and values

Threats The increased threat from competitors and high street copies of the brand however, can reduce the success of the brand due to the economic climate and consumers reducing spending costs.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Appendix f full sized advertisements

mary katrantzou www.marykatrantzou.com

MARY KATRANTZOU

mary katrantzou 162a sloane street london sw1x 9bs www.mary katrantzou.com

MARY KATRANTZOU

mary katrantzou 162a sloane street london sw1x 9bs www.mary katrantzou.com

MARY KATRANTZOU

Appendix g MEDIA TARGET LISTS Print and Online Press Release Primary Media List Newspapers Title

Media

Contact

Telegraph

Daily/Online

Lisa Artstrong- Fashion Editor

Telegraph Magazine

Supplement: Weekly

Michele Lavery- Editor Daniela Agnelli- Fashion Director

Financial Times

Daily/Online

Carola Long- Deputy Fashion and Beauty Editor David Hayes- Fashion Deputy Editor Vanessa Friedman- Fashion Editor

Weekend FT

Supplement: Weekly

Sam Matthias- Editor

Vanessa Freidman- Fashion Editor Observer

Daily/Online

John Mullholland- Editor Elizabeth Day- Features Editor

Observer Magazine

Supplement: Weekly

Joe Jones fashion Editor Ruaridh Editor Helen Seamons- Deputy Fashion Editor

Times

Daily/Online

Laura Craik- Fashion Editor Carolyn Asome- Deputy Fashion Editor

Times Luxx

Supplement: Weekly

Laura Craik Editor Jane Taylor-Hayhurst- Style Editor

Guardian

Daily/Online

Jess Cartner-Morely- Fashion Editor Rosie Swash- Online Fashion Editor Alan RushBridger- Editor

Weekend (The Guardian)

Supplement: Weekly

Jess Cartner-Morely- Fashion Editor

Independent

Daily/Online

Gemma Hayward- Fashion Editor John Hall – Online Editor

The Independent Magazine

Supplement: Weekly

Lisa Markwell- Editor Susie Rushton- Editor

Metro

124

Daily/Online

Bel Jacobs Style and Beauty Editor

Magazines Title

Media

Contact

Vogue

Monthly/ Online

Alexander Shulman- Editor

Emily Sheffield- Deputy Editor Vogue US

Monthly/Online

Anna Wintour- Editor

Hamish Bowles- International Editor Tonne Goodman- Fashion Director Vogue Paris

Monthly/Online

Patricia Carroll- UK Press Contact

Elle

Monthly/Online

Lorraine Candy- Editor Anne-Marie-Curtis- Fashion Director Gillian Brett- Editors PA

Another

Biannual/Online

Jeffefson Hack- Editor Katie Shillingfod –Fashion Director Laura Allsop -Deputy Editor

Hunger

Biannual/Online

Rankin Editor Anna Hughes- Chamberlain- Senior Fashion Editor Beckie Davies- Editor Holly Fraser- Online Editor

Wonderland

Monthly/Online

Adam Welch- Editor Annotia Webb-Assistant Editor Giulia Oddi- Fashion Coordinator Julia Sarr-Jamois- Senior Fashion Editor

Marie Claire

Monthly/Online

Caroline Garland- PA to Editor

Jayne Pickering- Fashion Director

Kate Stephens- Digital and Online editor

Trish Haplin Editor W Magazine

Monthly/Online

Christina Caldwell- Online Director Giovanna Campagna Assistant to Editor Stefano Tonchi Editor

MARY KATRANTZOU

Style

Biannual/ Online

Dirk Standen- Editor Nicole Phelps- Executive Editor Tim Blanks- Editor

Numero

Babeth Dijan-Managaing Editor Philip Utz Editor

L’Officiel

Louis Bompard- Editor

Schon

Huma Humayun- Fashion Editor Jade Thompson- Online Editor Raoul Keil- Editor

Nylon

Marvin Scott- Jarrett Editor Jessica Bianchi Assistant to Editor Joseph Errico- Fashion Director

WWD

James Fallon- Editor Jennifer Well Edward Nardoza Editor

Harpers Bazaar

Monthly/Online

Justine Picardie – Editor Laura Tennant- Online Editor Sasha Slater-Deputy Editor

Instyle

Monthly/Online

Eilidh MacAskill- Editor Emily Dean- Deputy Editor Sinead O’Donoghue- Online Deputy Editor

Glamour

Monthly/Online

Emer Dewar Fashion Editor Jo Elvin Editor Natash MCNamara- Online Editor

Cosmopolitan

Monthly/Online

Louise Court- Editor Suzy Cox-Deputy Editor Pat McNulty- Online Editor

Dazed and Confused

Bi-Monthly/Online

Elizabeth Fraser Bell- Fashion Editor Tim Noakes- Editor Robbie Spencer- Fashion Director Emma Wyman- Fashion Editor

Cathy Edwards- Fashion Director Dazed Digital Flaunt

Monthly/ Online

Luis Barajas- Editor Laury Smith- Fashion Director Matthew Henson- Fashion Editor

126

i-D

Monthly/Online

Terry Jones Creative director Holly Shackleton Editor Sarah Raphael- Online Editor Tricia Jones- Executive Director

Grazia

Weekly/ Online

Jane Bruton- Editor Catherine Nieto- Fashion Editor Caroline Barrett- Assistant Editor Polly Vernon- Editor

Purple

Biannual/Online

Oliver Zahn-Editor Paula Goldstein- Creative Director

Allure

Monthly/ Online

Fiona Gibb- Web Editor Linda Wells- Editor Siobahn Bonnouvrier- Fashion Director

Stylist

Weekly/ Online

Lisa Smosarski -Editor Anna Brech- Online Editor Alexandra Fullerton- Fashion Director

Wallpaper

Monthly/Online

Apphia Michael- Online Editor Tony Chambers- Editor Suzanne Trocme- Editor Isabelle Kountoure- Fashion Director Henrietta Thompson- Editor

Love

Biannual/ Online

Katie Grand- Editor Lulu Kennedy- Editor Panos Yiapanis- Fashion Director

Tank

Quarterly/ Online

Shumon Basar – Editor Sara Gilmour- Fashion Editor Caroline Issa- Fashion Director

Vice

Monthly/ Online

Alex Miller- Editor Bruno Bayley- Editor Angie Gola-Ebue- Head of Fashion

Lula

Biannual/Online

Leith Clark- Editor

Title

Media

Contact

Refinery 29

Blog

Emily London

The Sartorialist

Blog

Scott Schuman

Hype Beast

Blog

Kevin Ma

High Snobiety

Blog

Jeff Carvalho

Stylelist

Blog

Christine Anderson

Fashion Toast

Blog

Rumi Neely

StyleBubble

Blog

Susie Bubble

Online and Blogs

MARY KATRANTZOU

The Cut

Blog

Maureen O’Connor

Anna Dello Russo

Blog

Anna Dello Russo

Styleite

Blog

Verena Von Pfetten

The Business of Fashion

Blog

Imran Amed

The Coveteur

Blog

Erin Kleinberg

Bryanboy

Blog

Bryan Boy

WGSN

Trend Company

Sue Evans- Catwalk Senior Editor

Mudpie

Trend Company

Rosie Jeans

Media Store Launch Event Guest List

128

Guest

Media

Lisa Artstrong- Fashion Editor

Telegraph

Daniela Agnelli- Fashion Director

Telegraph Magazine

Carola Long- Deputy Fashion and Beauty Editor

Financial Times

David Hayes- Fashion Deputy Editor

Financial Times

Vanessa Friedman- Fashion Editor

Weekend FT

Elizabeth Day- Features Editor

Observer

Joe Jones Fashion Editor

Observer Magazine

Helen Seamons- Deputy Fashion Editor

Observer Magazine

Laura Craik- Fashion Editor

Times

Carolyn Asome- Deputy Fashion Editor

Times

Jane Taylor-Hayhurst- Style Editor

Times Luxx

Jess Cartner-Morely- Fashion Editor

Guardian

Rosie Swash- Online Fashion Editor

Guardian

Gemma Hayward- Fashion Editor

Independent

John Hall – Online Editor

Independent

Lisa Markwell- Editor

The Independent Magazine

Susie Rushton- Editor

The Independent Magazine

Bel Jacobs Style and Beauty Editor

Metro

Alexander Shulman- Editor

Vogue UK

Emily Sheffield- Deputy Editor

Vogue US

Anna Wintour- Editor

Vogue US

Hamish Bowles- International Editor

Vogue US

Tonne Goodman- Fashion Director

Vogue US

Patricia Carroll- UK Press Contact

Vogue Paris

Lorraine Candy- Editor

Elle

Anne-Marie-Curtis- Fashion Director

Elle

Gillian Brett- Editors PA

Elle

Jeffefson Hack- Editor

Another

Katie Shillingfod –Fashion Director

Another

Laura Allsop -Deputy Editor

Another

Rankin Editor

Hunger

Anna Hughes- Chamberlain- Senior Fashion Editor

Hunger

Holly Fraser- Online Editor

Hunger

Adam Welch- Editor

Wonderland

Giulia Oddi- Fashion Coordinator

Wonderland

Julia Sarr-Jamois- Senior Fashion Editor

Wonderland

Jayne Pickering- Fashion Director

Marie Claire

Kate Stephens- Digital and Online editor

Marie Claire

Trish Haplin Editor

Marie Claire

Christina Caldwell- Online Director

W Magazine

Stefano Tonchi Editor

W Magazine

Dirk Standen- Editor

W Magazine

Nicole Phelps- Executive Editor

Style

Tim Blanks- Editor

Style

Babeth Dijan-Managaing Editor

Numero

Philip Utz Editor

Numero

Louis Bompard- Editor

L’Officiel

Huma Humayun- Fashion Editor

Schon

Jade Thompson- Online Editor

Schon

MARY KATRANTZOU

130

Raoul Keil- Editor

Schon

Marvin Scott- Jarrett Editor

Nylon

Joseph Errico- Fashion Director

Nylon

James Fallon- Editor

WWD

Jennifer Well

WWD

Edward Nardoza Editor

WWD

Jo Elvin Editor

Glamour

Louise Court- Editor

Cosmopolitan

Suzy Cox-Deputy Editor

Cosmopolitan

Pat McNulty- Online Editor

Cosmopolitan

Elizabeth Fraser Bell- Fashion Editor

Dazed and Confused

Tim Noakes- Editor

Dazed and Confused

Robbie Spencer- Fashion Director

Dazed and Confused

Emma Wyman- Fashion Editor

Dazed and Confused

Cathy Edwards- Fashion Director Dazed Digital

Dazed and Confused

Luis Barajas- Editor

Flaunt

Laury Smith- Fashion Director

Flaunt

Matthew Henson- Fashion Editor

Flaunt

Terry Jones Creative director

i-D

Holly Shackleton Editor

i-D

Sarah Raphael- Online Editor

i-D

Tricia Jones- Executive Director

i-D

Jane Bruton- Editor

Grazia

Catherine Nieto- Fashion Editor

Grazia

Caroline Barrett- Assistant Editor

Grazia

Polly Vernon- Editor

Grazia

Oliver Zahn-Editor

Purple

Paula Goldstein- Creative Director

Purple

Fiona Gibb- Web Editor

Allure

Linda Wells- Editor

Allure

Siobahn Bonnouvrier- Fashion Director

Allure

Lisa Smosarski -Editor

Stylist

Anna Brech- Online Editor

Stylist

Alexandra Fullerton- Fashion Director

Stylist

Apphia Michael- Online Editor

Wallpaper

Tony Chambers- Editor

Wallpaper

Suzanne Trocme- Editor

Wallpaper

Isabelle Kountoure- Fashion Director

Wallpaper

Henrietta Thompson- Editor

Wallpaper

Katie Grand- Editor

Love

Shumon Basar – Editor

Tank

Sara Gilmour- Fashion Editor

Tank

Caroline Issa- Fashion Director

Tank

Alex Miller- Editor

Vice

Bruno Bayley- Editor

Vice

Angie Gola-Ebue- Head of Fashion

Vice

Leith Clark- Editor

Lula

Emily London

Refinery 29

Scott Schuman

The Sartorialist

Kevin Ma

Hype Beast

Jeff Carvalho

High Snobiety

Christine Anderson

Stylelist

Rumi Neely

Fashion Toast

Susie Bubble

StyleBubble

Maureen O’Connor

The Cut

Anna Dello Russo

Anna Dello Russo

Verena Von Pfetten

Styleite

Imran Amed

The Business of Fashion

Erin Kleinberg

The Coveteur

Bryan Boy

Bryanboy

Sue Evans- Catwalk Senior Editor

WGSN

Rosie Jeans

Mudpie

MARY KATRANTZOU

Appendix h CELEBRITY DRESSING JUSTIFICATION

132

Name

Industry

Celebrity Contact

Justification

Katherine Jenkins

Music

TBC

Classical Singer who is regarded for her fashion choices, who is also known to be innovative in her industry as she crosses over classical and popular music.

Beyonce

Music

Nicole Caruso

Surreal alter ego Sasha Fierce, along with being one of the most highly regarded musicians in the industry. Honorary Met Gala chair member for 2013. Known for her curves and femininity.

Paloma Faith

Music/ Acting

TBC

Is a wild style icon in the musical industry with a degree in contemporary dance and a Masters in Time Based Arts from Central St Martin’ which shows her highly creative nature.

Lady Gaga

Music

Amanda Silverman

Incredibly surreal character with a highly creative background being granted early acceptance to the Tisch School of Arts. She is a renowned celebrity world wide, with a large fan following.

Rhianna

Music

Lauren Hales

A highly regarded creative musician in the industry with a large fan base and feminine sizing.

Helena Bonham Carter

Acting

TBC

She is known for her acting within many surreal films such as nightmare on elm street and Alice in wonderland. Quirky fashion icon who is married to a innovative film director Tim Burton.

Anna Del Russo

Fashion

TBC

Highly regarded fashion editor of Vogue Japan, the Editor is known for her eccentric style and she is a firm favourite of Mary Katrantzou pieces.

Poppy Delevingne

Model

TBC

Poppy Delevingne is a highly regarded fashion socialite who has been the face of numerous brands. She is a Young Ambassador for the British Fashion Council, showing she is supportive of the creative art and the success of the fashion industry.

Cara Delevingne

Model

TBC

Cara has been announced as the 1000 most influential people of 2011 and model of the year 2012. She is highly musical and creative, playing drums along side her modeling career.

Bjork

Music

James Merry

Bjork is a legendary surrealist celebrity with acclaimed careers in, singing acting and is a member of the surrealist arts collective Smekkleysa.

Tilda Swinton

Acting

TBC

Tilda Swinton is known for her art films along with a successful film career. She has been part of art installations and art performances and is knows for her distinctive character.

Zoe Deschanel

Music/ Acting

TBC

A highly creative actress being featured in many films, along with a cult TV series. Known both for her creative acting and musical talent.

Florence Welch

Music

TBC

Florence Welch is regarded a style icon on the fashion industry and is well known for her musical career.

Olivia Palmermo

Fashion

TBC

A socialite, actress and model who regularly appears on street style blogs and best dressed lists. She has most recently set up a style blog and website with a large fan base following.

Julianne Hough

Acting/ Dancing

TBC

A trained American professional ballroom dancer along with country music singer and actress. She has been nominated for Creative Arts Primetime Emmy and is successful in all her career paths

Rooney Mara

Acting

TBC

A desirable face in the fashion industry with commercial success in films the nightmare on elm street and girl with the dragon tattoo. She is classed as one to watch and is regularly feature in the best dressed lists.

Alexa Chung

Presenter

TBC

Fashion Journalist, model and TV presenter Alexa Chung is heralded as a muse of many designers and frequently features in best dressed lists.

MARY KATRANTZOU

134

Miranda Kerr

Model

TBC

One of the Victoria Secret models she is regarded in the fashion industry currently facing numerous campaigns including Mango and is continuously heralded for her style choices.

Diane Kruger

Acting

TBC

Previously a ballerina turned actor and model Diane Kruger is a creative and successful actor. She has faced Chanel cosmetics and is featured within the best dressed lists.

MARY KATRANTZOU