Niche Brand report Kapada Vintage Blog - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/tashha14/unit2-digital-marketing/ Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/home/myvideos Issuu- https://issuu.com/natashahoward/docs/digitalmarketingcontextreport
Figure 1 Boutique selling a collection of hand picked vintage clothing and accessories. E-commerce service in Shrivenham, England.
“I aim to bring you the best unique pieces whilst offering exceptional personal service.� (Wray, E. 2018)
Why Kapada Vintage? Kapada (meaning Apparel in Hindi) is a vintage online store selling one off pieces at good value prices. Knowing Ellen myself and coming from the same university and degree it was only natural for me to reach out and learn more about her and her niche brand. I took it upon myself to put together questions that I felt would be interesting to know more about. From the response, a few main topics stood out to me as points of interest in which I will expand on, including the importance of recycling, customer service and word of mouth marketing.
Figure 2
Ellen Wray: Director “I founded Kapada Vintage in May 2016 because I am so passionate about vintage clothing after working for an independent online retailer. I decided to branch out and start my own venture” (Wray, E. 2018)
Figure 3
“I source the pieces from thrift stores and wardrobes from all around the world, including Paris and New York. When you shop with me you’re doing all kinds of good. I feel very strongly about helping the environment where possible so when you buy from me you’re not only getting a great quality item, something with a story behind it and that’s going to be #reloved.” (Wray, E. 2018)
#RELOVED
Introduction The brand is based online with their own website, https://www.kapadavintage.co.uk/ as well being stocked on Asos Marketplace, https://marketplace.asos.com/ boutique/kapada-vintage which is home to hundreds of other vintage stores. It ships worldwide. and is always updating with new pieces from vintage belts to worn leather jackets. Ellen is very involved with the brand which reflects how personal vintage items can be. Her passion for vintage clothing is obvious through her attendances at events such as Clothes Show Live, where she spent all four days selling her unique finds to equally keen vintage lovers, showing her dedication and loyalty to the brand.
Figure 4
“IT WAS A CHALLENGE BEING ABLE TO SOURCE ENOUGH STOCK TO SELL” (Wray, E. 2018)
Figure 5
Background As a graduate Ellen “really enjoyed the marketing side of my degree and that’s what I focused on for my final year project” (Wray, E. 2018) Ellen has the knowledge and confidence to make the brand a success but also having a love of vintage clothing, and although knowing there was a lot of vintage brands doing well she saw a gap for more unique pieces. In the interview Ellen stated that the ‘biggest challenge was being able to source enough stock to make a living”. Ellen sources her stock mainly from wholesalers and people she knows “mainly stylish aunties” (Wray, E. 2018) as well as charity shops and around the world including Paris and New York as well as having a lot of pre loved clothing in her personal wardrobe in which she used to sell to get the business going.
Mood Board and Inspo
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Kapada Vintage Consumer Profile The brands target audience is very varied with vintage appealing to a whole range of age groups, she knew not to limit her audience to the usual teenage vintage stereotype and to be open to older less obvious customers “I have had customers, men, women aged 16-60 buy from me” (Wray, E. 2018) However Ellen’s keen, as the brand expands, to reach out to the “Instagram” population with influencers promoting her brand for the importance of recycling. With vintage clothing comes a large amount of recycling and the brand encourages this eco-friendly way of buying, Ellen strongly agrees with the importance of keeping things out of landfill sites and wants to emphasise and promote this through influencers and instagrammers “who really care about where their clothes come from” (Wray, E. 2018) as well as using the hashtag #RELOVED which she hopes will encourage people to buy sensibly. Ellen mentions how vintage clothing is usually a lot better made and in a world where mass production of cheap clothes, its not a surprise she's keen to get her
“I REALLY PRIDE MYSELF WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE”
message across. So, up cycling preloved items, is Ellen’s way of giving back to the environment. Ellen’s very aware of personal style and a lot of trends being the more desirable way to shop, however she tries to appeal to this market by “always sourcing pieces that will work well alongside contemporary clothing” (Wray, E. 2018) So, appealing to more then just one type of style. As well as recycling the brand also fulfil themselves on customer service and the relationship between buyer and seller, and the service that customers are given, “I really pride myself with customer service and take care with packaging the orders as i think this can add a lot of value to the brand” (Wray, E. 2018), This is an important quality a brand can have in order to be remembered and if they are going to achieve a high standard of feedback. Many brands don't have this as a priority and its rare that customer service comes before everything else. Therefore working in Kapada's favour when it comes to the future of the brand.
“I LOVE RECYCLING OLD CLOTHING AS IT MEANS ITS VERY ECO-FRIENDLY BUYING VINTAGE” “LESS THINGS IN LANDFILL THE BETTER”
Competitors Maincompetitors include big names such as ASOS Marketplace who stock thousands of Independent brands (like Kapada Vintage) including: VINTAHOLIC BLOC VINTAGE THE EAST END THRIFT STORE
Figure 7
Other Competitors include big name vintage stores found in London- who are known for being THE places to go for unique vintage pieces. However tend to be on the more expensive spectrum for pre-owned clothing.
Figure 8
Kapada Vintage - The Future In terms of the future of the brand, other innovative approaches including expanding on selling menswear and knowing the need for men to look good as much as women is something they are keen to sell more of. Ellen wants to open a concept store with vintage clothing, accessories and uniquely, home ware and even a cafe/bar. This again will be a simple yet effective way to encourage customers to buy from them against other competitors, where we don't see this level of services.
“MY DREAM IS TOP OPEN A CONCEPT STORE WITH VINTAGE CLOTHING, HOME WEAR, ACCESSORIES AND A CAFE/BAR”
For a small brand competitors are a main priority and can be a challenge to compete with top brands such as ASOS and the thousands of independent stores like Kapada vintage that are all trying to set themselves a side such as Vintaholic and Bloc Party. With thousands of other brands all competing online it can be hard to engage and create a loyal customer base, This is where word of mouth marketing comes in and the power this could have on Kapada vintage and brands alike. Yes, its true that having tools such as Instagram or Twitter could be taken for granted when considering the expanses of people you can reach, what could be better? that’s all companies and brands ever strive for when promoting new content, however, It has come to a point where social media becomes flooded with brands including Kapada Vintage, especially seeing first hand with Ellen how easy it was/is to set up and start selling clothes, where do brands go from here? It can be easy to get so involved and dedicated to your brands accounts, followings and content that is being produced that we become un aware of others who are equally doing the same and, although the large followings and likes attracts, we forget that there are thousands of others getting the same numbers. We are blind to our competition by our individual
Figure 9
success. Social media promotion isn't a innovative approach any more and its important to now find something that goes hand in hand with social media to push it above the rest, to stand out in such a overall saturated environment.
“SOCIAL MEDIA SITES ARE SO SATURATED”
As Ellen has come from a communicating background, she knows the significance and benefits social media can have on a brand. Therefore she is very socially based and present in the online communities, posting content consistently. However, she's very aware of this overly crowded environment and accessibility of social media, to get your brand noticed it can sometimes come at a price as she points out “you often have to pay to be seen” (Wray, E. 2018) Therefore an approach thats just as powerful, and that we seem to neglect in such a modern, technological driven world is the power of word of mouth and remember how brands and companies and even individuals got themselves to the top long before we needed tools like social media. Word of mouth is important because it engages the customers who can relate and properly interact with each other- forming tight nit communities. Social media is more direct, going straight from the source to the individuals, therefore we assume our friends if sharing the same interest will see this content also (as friends usually do) so the need to talk and express opinions about certain things doesn't become necessary. This stood out to me when interviewing Ellen as she pointed out the difference between promotion via social media and the equally powerful tool of word of mouth “I do a lot of vintage fairs and these really help with that I think the interaction between buyer and seller is whats so important.” (Wray, E. 2018) The whole process of engaging in person with each other stimulates more emotion and triggers different senses
“JUST AS POWERFUL TO GET OUT AND ABOUT”
that in turn will make us remember things more than if we are simply seeing image after image, scrolling through Instagramits not stimulating enough as everything blurs into one foggy memory of square images. An article on Word of Mouth Marketing pointed out “People are more likely to share something that promotes high arousal.” (Wray, E. 2018) The more you interact with people the more likely your name will spread. Brands need to follow these footsteps and be aware of this importance, like Kapada vintage, who equally need to maintain this approach, if small niche brands are going to succeed in the overall competitive industry. According to a Nielsen study 92% of consumers believe suggestions from friends and family than other advertising, suggesting how valuable this form of promotion is. You need people to like you and see your passion for the brand, then they in turn will be equally as passionate. Another advantage is that information passed through word of mouth has a way of reaching groups of people that it might not have been able to do otherwise, social media attracts a lot of the same kind of groups. This reflects the age group Kapada vintage attracts, 16-60 year olds could this support the wide range of people Ellen reaches through holding fairs and attending events? So having social media as a building block for promotion is definitely key and starts there as long as it has the intention to spark interest in an Individual who will then pass that on to their friends. To consider what happens to this information when leaving the screens of our devices is just as important and is vital if brands want to stand out. This although not a modern technique could be something to consider working alongside social media in order to be the new innovative way to engage audiences.
“MEN AND WOMEN AGED 16-60 BUY FROM ME”
“INSTAGRAMMERS WHO REALLY CARE ABOUT WHERE THEIR CLOTHES COME FROM”
Conclusion In conclusion, Kapada vintage has all the right aspects a brand like it needs to be successful. Vintage clothing is becoming more and more in demand with people trying to set themselves a side by wearing one off pieces that their friends and colleagues wont have. As fashion is becoming more about the mass production of trends then individuality its no surprising fashion conscious people are turning to vintage stores. However with the demand for more unique pieces rises, so does the supply, so finding your way through the other thousands of vintage brands and stores becomes just as challenging. Kapada vintage could struggle with this much like any new and up coming brand but the consistency it has shown so far and with platforms Ellen's keen to develop on, it has all the potential to be just as successful.
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Interview With ELLEN WRAY (Director at Kapada Vintage) “IT WAS A CHALLENGE BEING ABLE TO SOURCE ENOUGH STOCK TO SELL” “I REALLY PRIDE MYSELF WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE”
“I LOVE RECYCLING OLD CLOTHING AS IT MEANS ITS VERY ECO-FRIENDLY BUYING VINTAGE” “LESS THINGS IN LANDFILL THE BETTER”
What area of the fashion degree did you enjoy and specialise in? I really enjoyed the marketing side of my degree and that’s what I focused on for my final year project.
Did you always know you were going to start this off when you left uni? I didnt know id start Kapada after uni, id always loved vintage clothing but got the idea after working for a small company for a year after id graduated.
What were the first steps once leaving uni to creating the brand? How long did it take? Id seen that there were a fair few vintage brands doing well but that there was a gap for more unique pieces. It was pretty quick to start up as I already had lots of vintage pieces I could sell so just made social media accounts and got in touch with asos marketplace and within a month Kapada was live!
What are/were the main challenges? The first challenge I faced was taking good photos, as I felt this was the most important thing. Another being able to source enough stock to sell to make a living as you need quite a bit of money to bulk buy the stock. Overall ive been quite lucky that ive not had too many more and have been able to over come most and eventually hop to be able to grow the business even more.
Why vintage? What inspired you? Ive always loved vintage and going round flea markets and charity shops and finding unique pieces. With vintage clothing there’s a story behind each piece which I love. Its usually a lot better qaulity and of course so timeless. Another thing I love is recycling old cloththing as it/+ means its very eco friendly buying vintage! Less things in landfill the better.
“SOCIAL MEDIA SITES ARE SO SATURATED” “JUST AS POWERFUL TO GET OUT AND ABOUT”
“MEN AND WOMEN AGED 16-60 BUY FROM ME”
“INSTAGRAMMERS WHO REALLY CARE ABOUT WHERE THEIR CLOTHES “MY DREAM IS TOP OPEN A CONCEPT STORE WITH VINTAGE CLOTHING, HOMEWEAR, ACCESSORIES AND COME FROM” A CAFE/BAR”
How would you say your brand differs from other competitors? I really pride myself with customer service and take care with packaging the orders as I think this can add a lot of value to the brand. I also always source pieces that will work well alongside contemporary clothing.
How do you go about sourcing the clothing? I source my stock mainly from wholesalers, people I know (mainly stylish aunties) and charity shops.
Who is your market aimed at? Who do you want to appeal to? My market is so varied ive had customers, men and women aged 16-60 buy from me. Vintage can work for so many body shapes and ages. However I would say my ideal customer are the stylish instagram girls who love to look unique and dont care what others think but also really care about where their clothes come from.
Do you try and do things differently in order to promote the brand? Yeah ive found word of mouth to be the best form of promotion, social media sites are so saturated and you often have to pay to be seen whilst its super important to have a present there its also just as powerful to get out and about promoting. I do a lot of vintage fairs and these really help with that!
Is there any innovative ideas you have for the future? Anything you want to expand on? Im keen to have regular menswear for sale. At the moment ive just had a few menswear pieces and these did well so thats definitely something to expand on. I also want to collaborate with more influencers and this can be great content.
What does the future hold for Kapada Vintage? My dream with Kapada is to eventually open a concept store with vintage clothing, homewear, accessories and a cafe/ bar. Id also love to stock other independent brands.
(Howard, N. 2018)
SITES https://www.instagram.com/kapada.vintage/
https://www.facebook.com/Kapada.Vintage
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kapadavintage/
https://twitter.com/KapadaVintage
Figures Figure 1- Kapada Vintage 2018. Kapada web banner (online). Available from- www.kapdavintage.co.uk (Accessed January 2018)
Figure 2- Kapada Vintage 2018. Facebook Cover Photo (online) from (May 30, 2017)
Available from- https://www.facebook.com/Kapada.Vintage/Photos /a.472475776222202.1073741827.472467082889738/1016761598460281/?type=1&theater (Accessed January 2018)
Figure 3- Kapada Vintage, 2018. (Online)
Modelled shirt for sale. Available from- https://www.kapadavintage.co.uk/shop/tops/shirts/ (Accessed, January, 2018)
Figure 4-Kapada Vintage, 2018. (Online)
Online clothing for sale. Available from- https://www.kapadavintage.co.uk/shop/?page=6 (Accessed, January 2018)
Figure 5- Google Images, 2018. (Online)
Vintage Wholesale. Available from- https://www.google.co.uk/search?safe=off&biw=1440&bih=826&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=dDqEWqK_K8r5wALZsI-oDw&q=wholesale+clothing&oq=wholesale+clothing&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.1584.2782.0.3594.9.5.0.4.4.0.46.204.5.5.0....0...1c.1.64. psy-ab..0.9.214...0i67k1.0.Qa4UygUjIuI#imgrc=3lf1SHJV60qzAM: (Accessed, January, 2018)
Figure 6- Pinterest, Kapada Vintage Moodboard 2018. (Icons) Available-https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kapadavintage/ (Accessed, January, 2018)
Figure 7- Asos Marketplace, 2018 (online)
Bloc Party Banner. Available from- https://marketplace.asos.com/boutique/bloc-vintage/feedback Vintaholic Banner. Available from- https://marketplace.asos.com/boutique/vintaholic The East End Thrift Store Banner. Available from- https://marketplace.asos.com/boutique/the-east-end-thrift-store (Accessed January, 2018)
Figure 8- Google Images, 2018. (Beyond Retro)
Available from- https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=beyond+retro&safe=off&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixzofzxKXZAhXSJlAKHXdLDwMQ_AUICygC&biw=1440&bih=826 Rokit London. Available from- https://www.google.co.uk/search?safe=off&dcr=0&biw=1440&bih=826&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=LT2EWuOJBoTWwQL5iKmoAw&q=rokit+london&oq=rokit+london&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i24k1l4.36886.40780.0.42365.16.13.1.2.2.0.54.540.12.12.0....0... 1c.1.64.psy-ab..1.14.505...0i67k1j0i8i30k1j0i8i10i30k1j0i13k1j0i10i24k1.0.Yz_N8YNRMAg (Accessed January, 2018)
Figure 9-Kapada Vintage, 2018. (Online) Online blog (Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair Swindon) Available from- https://www.kapadavintage.co.uk/blog/lou-lous-vintage-fair-swindon/ (Accessed January, 2018)
Figure 10- Kapada Vintage 2018. (online) Available from- https://www.kapadavintage.co.uk/shop/accessories/vintage-faux-fur-green-hat/ (Accessed January, 2018)
Bibliography Howard, N. 2018. I(nterview with Ellen Wray regarding her experience with setting up and owning a brand)