INCITE INCITE KE L L I F IN N
INSIDE Introduction 4-Proposal 5-Introduction 6-Strategy 7-Methodolgy Brand 12-Brand/Logo 13-The Name 14-Brands in Incite Competitive Market 17-Competiors 20-Mintel Report Target Audience 22-Analysis 23-Customer Profiles 24-Emotions/ Social Issue 26-Social Issues 27-Accessability 29- Project Research 31- Reference 33-Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
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P ROPOSAL
The aim of this document is to explore the use of experiential design to create an inclusive fashion
space, this will create a new arena in which fashion can be celebrated, product can be sold and relationships can be made
I NTRODUCTION
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The fashion industry is forever growing, always innovative, pushing boundaries and holding its
place in society no matter what goes on around it. A quote from the movie A Social Network “Facebook is like fashion it’s never finished” Fashion is never concluded; it is continuously being developed into original and advance arenas. There is a gap needing to be filled in the fashion world, there isn’t an inclusive fashion space where consumers can shop, eat, view art, socialize and while doing these things be submerged into an experience. Experiential design is a term not common to the average consumer, although it is something many visual merchandisers have been playing upon for years. Creating an experiential space where people can allow themselves escape from their life is something the industry is longing for. Looking at the current climate of the UK today, times are hard and people don’t have cash to throw away. Many people are opting for an experience and a service, not just for products, this is a new type of economics and confirms that the opening for a fashion experiential space would be lucrative and relevant to the industry. The design of the space will tap into the “Peter Pan” in everyone, the space will be the Disney World of the fashion industry without “it’s a small world” on repeat. “Disney’s branding reaches its apotheosis in its theme parks a complex and carefully modulated mix of product, communication, environment and behavior” Disney is one of the most successful brands to use experience to create loyalty. Like Disney the space will make fantasy a reality, bring the audience back to playing as they did when they were children, playing to learn. The audience who the space will be aimed at will be anyone who has a remote interest in fashion, from a 14 year old who is developing their own style, or a 35 year old who is working in the fashion industry, to a 60 year old who was “trendy” back in the day, the saying “70 is the new 50 and 50 is the new 30” really applies in this instance, the space is to be relevant to all ages. Assuming that the traffic through out the space will be mainly of a female audience, although the fashion industry has grown in male interest, it still has a high female to male ratio. The space won’t be geared towards the female sex in the hope that male audience members will become engaged in the space thus then become loyal to it. A space in London will house the very first inclusive fashion arena.
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S T R AT E G Y
This
new arena named
“Incite� will improve upon how
fashion is celebrated currently, by cre-
ating an arena to exhibit fashion in an expe-
riential way the consumer and audience will feel
more engaged with a brand, designer or trend. Incite
will work in direct parallel with fashion trends with the many rooms being developed and redesigned in time for each fashion week. The aim is to create an inclusive space that will be accessible to everyone with an interest in fashion, innovation or escaping from his or her life.
C ONCEPT
T h e concept is to design and create something new for the fashion industry, a house to hold all different areas of the fashion industry, from shopping to designing, photographing to exhibiting. The space “Incite� will be inclusive for all its audience, from the up and coming fashion designer to the mum shopping with children at the weekend who wants a fashion injection but needs to keep the children happy. The home of fashion will be a multi room multi functioning venue, with its own restaurant, club, and exhibition centre as well as being crammed with shops. It will be the most desirable place on earth.
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M ETHODOLOGY
P R I M A RY R E S E A R C H ° Who are the target audience ° Are the target audience aware of experiential design ° How they feel about it ° How they shop ° How society affects there consumer habits ° How to create an inclusive shopping experience
M ETHODOLOGY
S E C O N D A RY R E S E A R C H ° Who are the competitors ° How can Incite compete with them ° Finding literature to support evidence of
Emotional connections Brands Competitor’s success or failings Pre-existing experience Retail ventures Disability and Inclusivity
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BRAND PHILOS OPHY
B RAND
The space will become a brand, people will live it, and it will define the consumer as much as the consumer will define it. Incite- The Brand.
L OGO
INCITE INCITE
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BR A N D The Name
Incite
Dictionary definition- to stir, encourage, or urge on; stimulate or prompt to action: to incite a crowd to riot. Incite will urge thinking, stimulate your sense and have things to prompt you style for the season ahead, but it will also give an insight into the fashion industry. With the pronunciation of the word having two separate but equally relevant meanings, it felt fitting and will work well with marketing strategies.
A consumer on Incite “Incite, it feels almost secretive to me. I think I’m thinking of the word insight, like we get an insight into someone’s life.”
The Brand Incite will be a luxury brand, it will engage its customers by tapping into their senses, playing on their emotions and tapping into past experiences. Incite will be home to stores and preexisting brands that may not be readily available on the high street. Some examples of stores that will be housed inside Incite
BR A N D
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Tatty Devine. Tatty Devine will open its third boutique inside Incite, Tatty Devine is a handmade jewellery company, which was created by Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden. The two existing boutiques of Tatty Devine are already nodding towards experiential design, which gives the Incite designers a chance to get lost in acrylic and create a Tatty Devine world.
Minimarket Incite will house the very first UK based Minimarket boutique, it’s currently only sold in two places in the UK, both holding limited stock. Minimarket is a Swedish clothing design company, which was founded in 2006 then a year later was named “best new designer” by Swedish Elle. Their collections are getting more and more successful each year, the imagery used in their lookbook’s are very visually inspiring and will translate perfectly into the store inside Incite.
Blood is the New Black Blood is the New Black doesn’t have a UK based boutique; it is often stocked in some branches of Urban Outfitters but with limited stock and range. Blood is the New Black is a t-shirt company, which displays the works of emerging artists, designers and photographers in order to boost their careers and support the underground art movement, through design collaborations. There photography based t-shirts will be a significant inspiration in the layout of the store.
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BR A N D
As well as stores, Incite will also house: A Restaurant Nightclub Pub Wine Bar Gallery/Exhibition Space Design and Photographic Studios Coffee Shop Market Place.
Kevin Roberts, chief executive officer for Saatchi & Saatchi, coined the phrase “Lovemark”. The definition of a Lovemark is
“Lovemarks reach one’s heart, as well as one’s mind, and create an intimate and emotional connection to the consumer.” Incite is to be a brand that connects with there consumer on a emotional level “Humans are powered by emotion, not reason. Emotion has driven fashion and will continue to do so” Incite will strive to be a brand that takes on the role as a Lovemark, holding a strong place in the fashion as a unique and inspiring space
Incite is a one of a kind experience, it is home to many different establishments that can either make up a whole experience or each be taken as single experiences. When looking at Incite as singular entities some of these companies then have direct competitors in the form of preexsisting established brands. .
Compe titive Market
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CO M P E T I O R S
Sketch Sketch in essence is a restaurant yet it is so much more than that, located in London, Sketch opened in 2002. Sketch has combined Michelin stars with experiential design, Sketch is to be the main competitor of Incite due to the fact it is described as a “destinations place for, food, art & music” and also in location, being such a well established place being located in the same city as Incite will create some rivalry. Sketch is on a much smaller scale to Incite with 5 rooms -The Gallery by Night -The Lecture Room & Library -The Parlour -The Glade -The East Bar All these rooms are immaculate in design; spread over 2 floors in the 18th century building that houses Sketch. To experience Sketch fully it takes numerous visits are require yet there is one place at Sketch that has been talked about for many years, the toilets. The egg shaped pods each house an individual toilet; upon entering the pod sounds are played into the pods, which can be anything from cow’s mooing to laughter.
CO M P E T I O R S
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Air Club Air is a nightclub in Amsterdam, the interiors created by Dutch designer Marcel Wander. On their website Air is described, “Air continuously surprises & excites its guests by combining music, design, communication & fine art.” Air is a very anonymously designed club meaning it can appeal to a wide audience, through changing lights, projects and music. This would be something Incite could hone into when designing its own nightclub. This gives the club a diverse audience, which Incite would prefer its audience to be. With 5 bars all different in design, yet all have common ground in accepting the “Air Card”, the card registered to your name and date of birth, you then top up your card and use it to buy drinks meaning that you cannot lose money whilst at the club.
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CO M P E T I O R S
Barbie In April 2007 the first Barbie flagship store opened in Shanghai. This store is all about experiencing Barbie the brand; the customer experience is clearly their main priority. Inside the store it’s clear that the customer isn’t going to be making a swift departure, Barbie Shanghai is then a playground of Barbie activities, 6 floors of Barbie. Not only can Barbie lovers dress up, take part in a fashion runway, have photographs taken to remember their time, they can take Barbie customization to a whole new level with the Barbie Design Centre where girls can be a fashion designer for the day & create their very own Barbie Doll. There is also an expertly placed Barbie café, Barbie Shanghai is a huge establishment where customers could spend hours, at some point they are going to need to eat, customers can actually taste what Barbie would eat.
CO M P E T I O R S M I N T E L R E P O RT
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A Mintel Report has just been released titled “Not a Club but a Space” “It is time for nightclubs to consider themselves less as clubs for drinking and dancing and more as flexible spaces.” Source: Mintel 17-12-2010 The report shows that consumers want more for their money when it comes to nightclub entertainment, this report backs up the reasoning behind creating Incite. Incite will fill a void that the UK audience is screaming out for, in the report it documents that 36% of adults would be more inclined to visit a club if live music was being performed. Mintel also write about how the trading day is broken down “Could clubs segment their trading day – for example into daytime, early evening, late evening – and look to attract distinctly different groups of customers to each segment?” Incite is already gearing towards this, with events, and shows taking place during the day, especially utilising the weekends.
Target Audie nce Incite will appeal to a vast range of consumers and will proceed to accommodate them all as individuals. The information below shows results from an independent questionnaire.
TA R G E T AU D I E N C E
8 6 consumers where asked if they felt the experience of the shopping trip was equal in importance to the purchase, 80% of the target audience said yes it was equally important. This is a really positive outcome for Incite, the target audience needs to be aware of there surroundings, consciously enough to become brand loyal.
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TA R G E T AU D I E N C E CU S T O M E R PR O F I L E
Age- 18 Occupation- Student (Fine Art) Sex- Female Interests- Art, Music, Fashion, Socialising. How do you spend your free time? I tend to have a very sporadic social life, being a student I socialize with at least three different social groups. My friends from home- we tend to shop together, hangout at Starbucks My friends from halls- we hangout more in the evenings, at clubs or in the flat My course friends- we seem to have the most in common we will go lots of different places from galleries to the cinema or even shopping. Would you like it if there were a place in which you could combine the three friendship circles? Yes. That would be amazing, not living in the same city in which I grew up means my friends from home aren’t included but if it was a place where my course friends and friends from halls could met and all enjoy it, it’d be amazing. Do you know what the term “experiential design” would you understand it? No, ‘experiential design’, I assume its something to do with experiences but I’m not 100% sure.
Age-24 Occupation- Marketing Consultant Sex- Female Interests- Fashion Culture, Drama, Socialising How do you spend your free time? I am still bridging the gap between being a student and having a full time job, most of my weekends are spent doing shopping, catching up with family, the usual really. My evenings tend to be a quick catch up with friends, coffee, wine or cocktail then home to relax with dinner. I still go out clubbing but I live for the weekends You live for the weekends, what if you could shop & catch up all under the same roof while experiencing art, music and fashion. Would this appeal to you? I like my shopping trips to be an experience, normally for the worst but I am always looking at store layouts, the customer service, and atmosphere. Now I am working full time I have more cash than when I was a student I like to splurge a bit more on luxury items but this all stems from how the stores make me feel, quality over quantity.
TA R G E T AU D I E N C E SH O P P I N G
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Shopping has quickly become something a consumer does to pass time; the term “shopaholic” is used loosely in today society. With a society obsessed with the idea of celebrity, everybody wants to experience luxury, people want to shop and use it almost as a hobby. “Gradually, over time, but now with greater rapidity, we are seeing the emergence of a new kind of place, a new kind of experience, a new from of destination- the ‘experience retail destination.” The extract above from an article by Malcolm Allen certifies the demand for Incite. Shoppers don’t just want a mall full of high street stores, with a fast food restaurant, and a cinema for entertainment. Consumers want all there needs to be fulfilled by there shopping experience, “Experience retail is a much more sophisticated offer to consumers of a place where they can satify many of their needs, wants and aspirations for the products, services and experiences that they require for their lifestyle and self image.” With the target audience of Incite still being impressionable and influenced by celebrities and status, Incite will cradle there emotions by not forcing a specific celebrity or lifestyle upon them yet Incite will let them create there own lifestyle choices and help them by adapting to there needs and wants by listening to the customers and developing along side them.
TA R G E T AU D I E N C E EM O T I O N S Incite is to be an aesthic experience, investigating colour, texture, sound and taste. “…Colours as means of attracting attention, creating aesthetic experiences, and delivering communication” As Incite is preparing itself to be a “Lovemark” in today’s fashion industry the use of emotions and homing in on them will play an integral role in the design of Incite. All the sense will be tapped into; emotions are involuntary reactions to things that happen around us. Colours play a huge role in tapping into emotions, and are thought about on a large scale when I come to the marketing of products and how they are presented. Visual Merchandising has been a key tool in the art of selling a product for many years, Incite needs to allow a team of Visual Merchandiser to collaborate with interior designers to make Incite not only a place to go an have a great experience but also sell products and get the brands that is housed in Incite recognized.
Social and Contenti ous issues
SO C I A L IS S U E S
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With the UK fresh out of recession, with a new government in power there are to be many social, economical and political concerns that will directly effect the development of Incite. With the new coalition government “making the rich richer, and the poor poorer” must have been the quote of 2010, but fresh from recession the people of Britain need to be circulating money around to keep the current fiscal climate in tact. With a substantial portion of our target audience being in higher education, a student discount will be taken in all area’s of Incite, especially due to the new plans for an increase in student fee’s being approved students will be welcomed at Incite. One student when interviewed said “I feel loyal towards brands that offer great student deals and offers, I feel like if they can have the time to acknowledge our low budget then I have the time to spend my cash at there establishment” Students like to feel valued; creating an emotional tie with students can only prove to be a positive endeavor for Incite, most students are aged between 18-24 that means they have a long life ahead of them. If they become brand loyal at such an early age Incite will have customers that have been with them from there student years into later life.
Escapism began being used in the entertainment industry many years ago, and the theatre world has a whole escapist movement that started just after the Wall Street Crash and continued on throught the Great Depression. In the 1930’s and 40’s the world of musical theatre really flourish musicals such as “The Sound of Music” “South Pacific” and “The King and I” where written and made famous as a route for the public to escape from there mundane lives. Incite will pull inspiration from theatre creating shows and music, keeping a positive exciting buzz about it meaning that no matter what is happening outside its walls Incite will be a place for people to come and experience something that isn’t there everyday lives. With the development of IMAX theatre exploding over the past year with movies such as Tron Legacy and Avatar, the world is being again transported out of the everyday streets into worlds of beauty and colour. The IMAX experience is really something that dreams are made of, the development of 3D technology will be something that the Incite team will utilises creating rooms that transport the consumer into a different world. Rooms that not only visually enrapture the consumer but with smell and touch, Disney have played on this for many years with there “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” experience using air and water to portray a feeling of movement in the seats of a theatre.
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SO C I A L IS S U E S
Incite will be a fully accessible environment where people of all shapes, sizes and abilities can expect a positive experience. Considerations will be in depth and will take into account physical inclusion as well as social, emotional and sensory inclusion. An example might be, the use of signage, not only will it be placed at an appropriate height but will be created in Braille and alternatively will also be translated into symbols and imagery for those consumers with reading difficulties or learning difficulties. In addition acoustics of the space will be thought of taking account the floor coverings and loop systems installed, where appropriate, for the consumer with hearing impairment. Furthermore, physicality of the environment will consider the constraints wheelchair users and parents with prams often experience and entrances will be suitably designed with ramped access and wide doorways etc. Age-20 Occupation- Unemployed Sex- Male Interests- Film, Shopping, Reading
When walking around with this consumer a physical disability isn’t their main concern, having admitted to having issues with low confidence and poor social skills this consumer finds approaching staff for help difficult and will often leave disappointed in not being able to find the correct product. On the assisted shopping trip, this consumer used two different stores and had two very different experiences. The first store entered was a large store with many staff on the shop floor; the consumer shyly approached a member of staff, speaking in a very quiet voice the consumer asked to be directed towards a product. The sales assistant listened intently and walked with the consumer to the product and stayed at his side for 2 to 3 minutes helping with the product, this helped the consumer to relax and feel more confident, a purchase was made at the store. The next store we entered was quiet and smaller than the last with again lots of staff on the shop floor, after walking around for 3-4 minutes the consumer approached a member of staff who was sorting through some of the products, speaking again quietly he asked if there was a product in stock, the staff member looked up from her job looked around and passed him onto another member of staff. This created some anxiety for the consumer, and he quickly dashed from the store. .
SO C I A L IS S U E S
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After these store visits a member of the Incite team met up with the two staff members who had been approached and enquired about training opportunities that had been made available regarding disability awareness, diversity etc. The first store had a strong ethos around inclusion and made it compulsory for all new staff to receive Disability Awareness training, the staff member shared that the store strive to create an inclusive and fully accessible environment for the consumer with a visual or hidden disability. “We are trained to respond to all different types of customer, we are told not to see the disability and treat the consumer how we would want to be treated. The company employs staff from all walks of life and we have many employees with there own disabilities and additional needs” The second staff member we spoke to told us “We get told to help people who are in wheelchairs or if someone has an obvious disability but we are never really told to look out for signs of Autism or things like that. To be honest it isn’t even something I would think about in my everyday job”. Two very different approaches to customer service and disability, from these findings Incite will ensure to have staff trained and made aware of all different kinds of disabilities not just the psychical.
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PR O J E C T RE S E A R C H OU T C O M E
Problems Encountered Due to Incite being an original idea and one that stands in so many different fields of the consumer market, it was difficult not to overwhelm the target audience when holding focus groups and interviews. One problem that occurred was the lack of knowledge about experiential design the target audience had, Incite will be used to not only be an experience but also be an education to the audience into the world of fashion.
How has the research enhanced the concept? When the research began for Incite it was to be very Nightclub orientated, with ticket prices and drinks making the money, after Mintel release a report in December which showed a decrease in adults attending nightclubs, research then took a turn to look more into creating more of a shopping experience. All the research into Incite will make a bold impact on the designing of the experience. It was through primary research that the Incite concept developed; consumer input is an important aspect in the growth of this venture.
To conclude, the research provided a positive reaction towards the concept of Incite, showing from primary research that an inclusive arena will stand in good stead and create a Lovemark on the industry. Through research it seem that with the new government in power and the UK still in the shadow of the recession Incite will work as a way of escaping for its consumers.
Referencing and Biblography