the NORTH side COVENT GARDEN
RESEARCH & INNOVATION DOCUMENT BY NICOLA CRONIN
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Graffiti commisioned by Nour Masri
CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTORY RESEARCH the NORTH side The People The Place The Promotion The Process Conclusion
4 6 23 28 36 45 49
Referencing and Appendices
52
INTRODUCTORY
RESEARCH
Through an analytical SWOT analysis of Covent Garden as a whole, the focus of finding innovation within the area was dependent on exploring the Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that the area currently attains. Expanding on the points made, a large majority of ideas were envisioned; these included –
An app to help visitors identify key tourist attractions of the area Innovative promotion of Seven Dials Create a successful website for Covent Garden Brand awareness of Neal’s Yard Attract a younger demographic to the area
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INTRODUCTORY
RESEARCH
History/Heritage – With Covent Garden originating from the 1st Century, the area is enriched with a large amount of history and culture – which is still notable due to the current existent of its infamous cobblestones, Location – Covent Garden is located within Central West London, with the Covent Garden tube situated on the Piccadilly Line; it is easy for individuals to visit the area while using public transport. STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES Demographic – There is an opportunity to expand on the idea of injecting diversity of Covent Garden’s current demographic, whether this be older or younger, Seven Dials – Promotion of the area, as through general discussion of Covent Garden – some haven’t heard of the mini shopping mall, Largest Apple store in Europe located by the Piazza – Opportunity to collaborate with the Apple store to create an app for Covent Garden.
PR – The communicational tools used for the area are weak. This is reflected through their current website, it looks static and isn’t appealing to the eye, Demographic – The current demographic of Covent Garden is 37, with a ratio of 50:50 women to men. The diversity of ages that visit the area is limited due to the minority of attractions for a younger audience. WEAKNESSES THREATS Competitors – Due to the location of Covent Garden, surrounding shopping destinations such as Carnaby Street and Oxford Street are situated within a mile radius of Covent Garden, Hidden Treasures – Visiting Covent Garden, with no knowledge of the area could lead you to miss areas such as Sevens Dial, Neal’s Yard and St. Martins Courtyard – due to the access of these areas and location.
(All information has been taken from http://www.capitalandcounties.com)
While analysing the SWOT and ideas generated from this, an issue that Covent Garden hasn’t addressed yet is the lack of diversity of their target and main demographic. Adding to this, the starting point of this project is to create an area within Covent Garden, which will attract and is easily identifiable to a younger audience.
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THE
NORTH
SIDE
Identify problem – demographic – Identify solution – a retail environment to attract a younger demographic.
The aim is to attract a younger demographic to the area of Covent Garden. This will be generated through the division of the north and south of the area – through branding ‘The North Side’. In order to successfully attract an audience of 18-25 year olds, the installation of pop-up shops will occur. For this project, Hypebeast will form the basis of the first pop-up shop within the north side. The division of Covent Garden, between North and South – will implement a way to distinguish the area for a younger demographic. Due to the South, instantly recognisable for it’s tourist attractions such as The Plaza, Street Performers, The Royal Opera House and the London Transport Museum. The north is recognised through the location of brands targeted, to a younger demographic. The development of the north side of Covent Garden, has been determined through the use of public questioning within the area, and how a younger demographic recognise Covent Garden. With a large amount of answers reflecting the ever-growing amount of tourists within the area, with one stating “Tourists – less of them. I’ve set up this store about 4 months ago now. We’ve moved from Carnaby Street, and there we had more local Londoners come to our store. Whereas, Covent Garden as a shopping destination for Londoners isn’t known - I personally wouldn’t come shopping here either. So I’d want that to change, rather than it being just known for tourists. I think it’s the brands that are within the area; if they changed that then that would help to bring in a more London demographic to the area.”
Please see appendices for interviews on Page 53
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THE
NORTH
WEBSITE LAYOUTS SOCIAL MEDIA HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN
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SIDE
WEBSITE
LAYOUT
INSPIRATION
Underpinned by promotion, the creation of the North Side, will be identified through the development of a website and social media channels. The website layouts have been inspired through the exploration of Brick Lane, and the youthful aspects that this area in particular are famously known for. Behind the Truman Brewery, renowned graffiti artists of the likes of Banksy, have displayed their talent. Graffiti is an establishing factor of youth and rebellion, which has been showcased throughout the area of Brick Lane. Adding to this, researching further in to the art of graffiti, the work of George the Dog, John the Artist was identified. The focal point of his art is the area of Shoreditch, displayed through fine-line drawings and edited through the adaptation of doodles and graffiti. Adding his doodles to the skyline of Shoreditch have added a defining aspect to create a highly captivating piece of art, which not only reflects the youth culture of this area, but it is also relevant to the Shoreditch target consumer.
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BRICK
LANE
GRAFFITI
INSPIRATION
Photography taken by me Inspired by George the dog, John the artist, the website displays photography taken by me, and edited to display a black and white effect. This is due to the placement of graffiti added to the layouts, to not only add a colourful and dynamic aspect to the page, but also to channel through the promotional tool of graffiti, which is associated with the North Side and also the Hypebeast pop-up store. The reasoning of the images used is due to secondary research based on the area of Brick Lane. Targeted to attract a similar audience to the North Side, Brick Lane maintains an edgy and underground feel, due to their backstreets and fulfilment of graffiti. In order to create this aesthetic for the North Side, the focus of photography has been influenced by utilising the back streets of the North Side, to appeal to the audiences of Brick Lane. Therefore, streets such as Langley Street, Endell Street, Neal’s Yard and St. Martins Lane have been used throughout the website. Through collaborating with a Graffiti artist, named Nour Masri who created all the graffiti art for the website.
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BRICK
LANE
GRAFFITI
The website will consist of five pages, Home - home page About - Explaining the purpose of the North Side Brands - Stating brands that have retail presence within the area What’s on? - Dedicated to explaining pop-up stores, exhibitions and events with the area Visit - Illustration of map, explaining how to visit the area The image below, shows the final Home page for the North side website. This shows how the graffiti has been added to create an identifiable link for viewers - as this graffit piece has been used throughout all promotional components of both the North Side and the Hypebeast pop-up store.
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INSPIRATION
SOCIAL
MEDIA
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SOCIAL
MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA PRIMARY RESEARCH Another promotional component for The North Side will include the development of their Social Channels. Image icons will be located on the home page of the North Side’s website, to encourage visitors to follow and like the following social channels – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The decision to use these channels has been identified through the use of Primary Research, here are statistics taken from an online survey to identify the relevance of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to the North side – Participants – 24 FEMALE: MALE – 20:4 100% aged 18-25 Facebook – 58.33% Twitter – 33.33% Instagram – 29.17% Google+ - 0% This shows that the people who participated, favour Facebook over any other social channel. Google+ has proved to not be popular to this specific age group, therefore the need for this channel for The North Side will not be considered. The emphasis of Facebook will be greater, compared to Twitter and Instagram, due to the popularity displayed within the survey. The importance of Twitter will be secondary, while Instagram will employ the least attention. However, due to the promotional strategy of boosting a hashtag for the North Side and the Hypebeast pop-up store, all social channels will be updated on a daily basis with emphasis of the hashtag infused on to Twitter and Instagram, while the use of Facebook will be used to add eye-catching graphics and text to engage new and current followers.
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SOCIAL
MEDIA
-
URBAN
OUTFITTERS
Urban Outfitters is a global established high street brand, with success through continents such as America and Europe. Originating in Philadelphia within the 70’s, they have established a ‘hipster’ brand ethos – and aim their products to the target audience of 16-25 year old University Students. They aim to be the first in the know of Music, Events and News – emphasising on Music. They utilise these subject areas in order to appeal to their Hipster aesthetic and avoid elements of anything too mainstream. The language used to communicate with followers will consist of a chilled and chatty vibe. Taking influence from Urban Outfitters social channels, who display content relevant to their hipster aesthetic. This has proved to be successful through their huge social following that they current manage 493,000 likes on Facebook 24,826 followers on Twitter 32,166 followers on Instagram A main aspect of this is due to their understanding of their brand ethos, knowledge of trends and delivering relevant content to their target audiences. In order, for the north side’s social channels to succeed, content pushed will be solely relevant for the ages of 18-25.
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RESEARCH
HYPEBEAST
POP-UP
Hypebeast thrive off of their ethos of delivering, fashion, art, design and culture to their target audience of 18-25 year old males. Delivering components such as a monthly magazine and online store solely based on male street wear brands, Hypebeast succeed through producing 384 million online page views annually, 1.2 million reach on their social channels with a global reach including the UK, USA, China and Australia. (http://hypebeast.com/advertise) Hypebeast will be used to implement the first pop-up store for the North Side. This decision is based on the finding of their target demographic, which is currently the same as the North Side, although they focus mainly on a male audience. Due to their non-existence of physical retail presence, through the implementation of basing their first pop-up store within the North Side of Covent Garden, this will create a buzz and reasoning for the attraction of 18-25 year olds.
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STORE
HYPEBEAST
POP-UP
STORE
LOGISTICS
HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN will commence on Friday 20th June 2014 and will run for 2 weeks, finishing on Friday 4th July 2014. The timing has been justified by University summer breaks, which will enable time for students to visit the pop-up store and also the consideration of rain – which may effect the graffiti arrows located throughout the streets of Covent Garden.The location of the pop-up store will be on Earlham Street, due to the store located deep within the North Side of Covent Garden. The opening times of the store include Monday to Wednesday and Saturday 10am - 7pm , Thursday to Friday 10am - 8pm and Sunday 12am - 6pm. The reasoning for this is due to surrounding store opening and closing times.
Illustrative map. designed by me - displaying the area of the North Side - 15 -
HYPEBEAST
FLOOR
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PLAN
HYPEBEAST
EXCLUSIVE
Front
Back
MERCHANDISE
Front
In order to add exclusivity to the pop-up store, in-house live graffiti artists will be customising merchandise to increase traffic to the store. This will be positioned within the back of the store; next to an open window to ventilate any fumes consumed through the creation of Graffiti. Commissioned artists will customise merchandise live in front of shoppers, to utilise the promotional aspect of graffiti, and to also add another relevant and interesting dynamic to the store.
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Back
HYPEBEAST
POP-UP
STORE
-
The brands that have been considered and will feature within the pop-up store are those who are retailing online with Hypebeast and also have brand relevance to graffiti, youth and street culture. Due to the vast amount of brands located on the Hypebeast online store, a division of brands will be casted, with brands from A-M in store throughout week 1, and brands from N-V featuring in store throughout week 2. Although this decision has been established through the size of brands, this will also add interest to existing visitors who are captivated in discovering new brands that will be in store throughout the following week. This will effectively drive existing traffic back to the store throughout week 2.
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BRANDS
HYPEBEAST
POP-UP
STORE
WEEK
-
BRANDS
ONE
- A CUT ABOVE, AGI & SAM, AIAIAI, A LIFE, BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB, BLEU DE PANAME, BUDDY, C.E, CARBON AUDIO, CARHARTT WORK IN PROGRESS, CLOT, COTE + CIEL, DELUXE, DERTBAG, EASTPAK, ENSWEAR, FIELD NOTES, FTZ, FUCT, GOOD WORTH + CO, GOURMET, GRIND LONDON, HALL OF FAME, HUF, KRINK, LOMOGRAPHY, MADE IN PARADISE, MARK MCNAIRY -
Graffiti arrows commisioned by Robert Hayden WEEK
TWO
- ODD FUTURE, ONLY, PENFIELD, PRIMITIVE, ROCKWELL, SECOND LAB, SHWOOD, STAMPD, STEVIN GOLD, STUSSY, TANTUM, TERRAPIN, THE GENESIS PROJECT, TOURNE DE TRANSMISSION, UNUSED, VAINL ARCHIVE, WORD -
Images have been taken from Hypebeast.com, they show an example of products shown throughout the Hypebeast pop-up store - Left to right - A CUT ABOVE, A LIFE, Lomography, Buddy, ONLY and Word. - 19 -
HYPEBEAST
POP-UP
STORE
-
GRAFFITI
Adding to this, through fulfilling the aesthetic of graffiti visually in-store, this will create a strong, visual and identifiable link throughout the promotion of the Hypebeast store. Therefore, an aspect that will keep visitors visually and interactively stimulated while shopping, will be determined by an interactive Graffiti wall located on the back wall, to ensure shoppers visit the whole of the store. Shoppers will be able to create their own doodles and graphics, from a selection of various backgrounds and imagery taken live from a camera in store. This will then be projected back on to the screen, for participants to edit. Shoppers have the option of saving their image, which will then be shown on THE NORTH SIDE website, this will be notified automatically on the screen once participants save their image.
This image has been taken from YRWALL, who specialise in installing and hiring interactive graffiti walls - this company will be used for the graffiti wall within the Hypebeast pop-up store.
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WALL
NIKE+
HOUSE
OF
INNOVATION
-
SELFRIDGES
WINDOWS
The inspiration of creating an interactive graffiti wall has been taken from a window display within Selfridges commissioned by Nike. Through a series of 8 window displays, both interactive and visual, the Nike windows were displayed throughout the month of July 2012, in conjunction with the London Olympics. The meaning behind these windows were to promote a diverse range of Nike’s merchandise, including Nike+ Fuelband, Nike Flyknit Racer, Nike Reflective Windrunner, Nike Hyper Elite Jersey, Nike Lunarglide +4, the revolutionary Nike Hyperdunk+ and NSW. Through interacting with shoppers on Oxford Street, this created a memorable experience for participants and influenced shoppers to visit the Nike+ House of Innovation pop-up event, located on the lower floor of Selfridges at the time. The window displays delivered an example of what the House of Innovation had in store for shoppers, and displayed a promotional approach to gaining footfall - through the aesethic of interaction, that Nike have utilised within this campaign.
Images were taken from https://lowe.jux.com/999301
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THE
NORTH
SIDE
-
The chapter ‘The Product’ has delivered effective secondary research methodologies and key inspiration for both, the Hypebeast pop-up store and the development of the North Side. Reflecting on the attribution of components, such as Nike, Urban Outfitters and George the Dog, and John the Artist, these have enabled me to contribute dynamic factors to the pop-up store and the North Side. With relevancy of Graffiti to the target audience, interactive walls to sustain a memorable experience for visiting consumers and to also think logically in terms of publishing social media content, and to understand the North Side’s target audience when doing so.
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CONCLUSION
THE
PEOPLE
The focus demographic of the North Side is based on young individuals between the ages of 18-25. This determines the key aim of innovation to create diversity with Covent Garden’s current demographic, as the main audience for the overall area is 37, this statistic has been taken from a Capital and Counties report created in June 2013. Research methodologies of observations, interviews and the creation of a customer profile have been conducted to gain a greater understanding of the audience targeted towards the North Side.
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THE
PEOPLE
-
CUSTOMER
Name – Ronnie Webb Age – 23 Gender – Male Income - £20,000 yearly, dependent on freelance work Living – One bedroom council flat within the London borough of Hackney Educational background – attended Leeds University, studied Graphic Design and achieved a 2:1 Occupation – Freelance Graphic Designer and part-time shop assistant in Urban Outfitters, Covent Garden Personality – Sarcastic, humorous, outgoing, friendly and lazy Likes – Playing football on a weekly basis, supporting Arsenal Football Club, visiting the Tate Modern and Design Museum and finding new places to eat within London Developing this customer profile further, will be later explained through the exploration of the Process that Ronnie will occur when visiting the store.
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PROFILE
THE
PEOPLE
-
PRIMARY
Through questioning the younger public of Covent Garden, of their preferences and negative perspectives of the area – A strong opinion based on the tourist aesthetic that Covent Garden currently attains was identified. ‘It’s a tourist ‘Hot-spot’, which sort of adds to the Covent Garden aesthetic. I would like to meet up with friends, which isn’t such a tourist hot spot, but it’s easy and central for all of us to travel to.’ Male, aged 25 Asked what they would change about the area of Covent Garden, this was her response ‘I actually think that it’s changing quite a lot, but in a positive way. They have bought in some new retailers – but I would say less tourists.’ Female, 26. An assumption was made while analysing the answers I received, due to the reasoning behind why a majority of people were in the area. This assumption is based on a younger audience unable to connect with Covent Garden, as their reasons for being within the area being work-related. Adding to this, the actual process of finding younger people to question, proved to be difficult. This was due to the lack of a younger audience within the area. This within itself already identifies a problem, in relation to the lack of diversity of Covent Garden’s overall demographic. Please see appendices for interviews on Page 53
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RESEARCH
THE
PEOPLE
-
Through the use of observations and visiting stores that maintain a younger ethos, including brands such as, Size?, Rokit and Urban Outfitters - identified within these stores were both male and females aged between 20-26. On a cloudy Sunday afternoon, congregated within the small shop of Size?, mixtures of people were hidden within the lower floor of the store. “An Asian couple, wearing only black, accompanied with sleek cut hair, sunglasses, chunky shoes and Sophie Hulme bag’s were discussing their preferences of shoes. Hipsters, discussing their favouritism of trainers, wearing woolly hats, Barbour jackets, ankle cut jeans, colourful socks with a pair of raggedy old trainers. An Essex couple, she wearing ugg boots, light blue skinny jeans with a puffer jacket styled with straight blonde hair; and he, wearing skinny jeans, vans, a quilted jacket with a slick comb over.” Observing this shop in particular, has enabled the discovery of a varied mixture of young individuals that visit the North Side of Covent Garden. This has been established through the series of shops that have retail presence within Neal Street, this within itself helps to appeal to a younger audience.
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OBSERVATIONS
THE
PEOPLE
-
SWOT
The North Side of Covent Garden has proved to Through the analysis of currently attain a younger vibe, answers from questioning the due to the location of shops public, a main threat to within the area. While visiting attracting a younger Size? and Urban Outfitters, as a demographic to Covent younger crowd were Garden is mainly based on congregated within these tourists. stores. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Between the ages of 18-25, not everyone has the same interests and is indifferent through various aspects and personal preferences. Through the use of HYPEBEAST, as an introductory pop-up store, with their key aesthetic based on men aged 18-25, the ever-evolving use of different pop-up stores after this will therefore attract younger audiences who have other preferences and indifferences.
With the up and coming popularity of the East End, based on youth and lifestyle – will a younger demographic be attracted to the area and move away from the likes of Brick Lane and Shoreditch as a favoured shopping attraction?
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ANALYSIS
THE
PLACE
The focal point of innovation within the area of Covent Garden is based on the North Side of Long Acre. This includes streets such as, Neal Street, Endell Street, Shelton Street and Seven Dials. Aspects of the North Side of Covent Garden that consumers are automatically aware of would include Neal Street, due to established, youthful brands with retail presence here.
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THE
PLACE
-
The history of the Northern part of Covent Garden, consisting of Long Acre to Shaftesbury Avenue, entails a story of poverty, prostitution and the development of slums within Drury Lane and Seven Dials. Within the 1600’s, Thomas Neale aimed to develop the Seven Dials in one of London’s new fashion hot spots; this was influenced by the success of Covent Gardens Piazza, with the main attraction being its blooming fruit and vegetable market. This failed due to the growing number of gin-shops within the area and later developed in to a slum. (http://www.sevendials.co.uk/history) By the 18th century, Drury Lane had become one of the worst slums in London, dominated by prostitution. The area was eventually cleared to make way for the developments of Kingsway and Aldwych. Due to the slums of the area, within the 19th century, Endell Street was cleared to cater the needs of the most underprivileged Londoners. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drury_Lane) Discovered through research, the early history of Covent Garden as a whole has been previously divided; this has been displayed through the growing success of the Piazza and the famous fruit and vegetable market, compared to the deterioration of Drury Lane and Seven Dials within the 18th century. The exploration of this research demonstrates that the North side of Covent Garden, once maintained an edgy and controversial aesthetic, compared to the current association of tourists and street performers. By utilising the history explored through research, infusing the pre-existing edginess subtly back in the North Side of Covent Garden, will help to appeal to a younger audience. Creating Case Studies and comparing the areas of Brick Lane and Carnaby Street to Covent Garden, has identified areas of interest and understanding of what attracts a younger audience to these areas and how they take advantage of their consumers wants and needs, to create a successful area for young people within London to continuously visit.
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HISTORY
THE
PLACE
-
CASE
STUDIES
BRICK
The area of Brick Lane is located within the heart of Shoreditch, East London. With a heritage of Bangladeshi culture, and known for its range of curry houses – Brick Lane has established in to a ‘bustling artistic hub’ enriched with culture, art and fashion. Famously known for its large range of vintage boutiques, Brick Lane attracts a large amount of young hipsters due its relevance to the up-coming area of Shoreditch. The area of Brick Lane has recently been recognised through the use of House music, with its surrounding bars and raves dedicated to this genre. This has helped to appeal to a younger audience, due to the rave, house and drug scene on the rise. With bars such as, The Big Chill, Vibe Bar and 93 Feet East this has added interest to the area, based on understanding current needs and trends of lifestyle, based on their target consumer.
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LANE
THE
PLACE
-
CASE
STUDIES
BOXPARK
BOXPARK, SHOREDITCH EC1 A dynamic that has changed the evolution of pop-stores has been the placement of BOXPARK, on Bethnal Green Road (5 minutes away from Brick Lane). Based on the innovation of ‘placing creativity and fashion back where they belong: on the street’, the aesthetic of BOXPARK is to create a unique shopping and dining destination for visiting consumers. Constructed through the use of shipping containers, BOXPARK is the first pop-up mall and is due to end in 2015. With the added use of events, application of new pop-up stores and dining, BOXPARK is continuously adding an abstract dynamic, which will therefore appeal to a various amount of audiences.
All information and images are taken from BOXPARK.CO.UK
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THE
PLACE
-
CASE
STUDIES
CARNABY
Famously known for its importance within the Swinging Sixties and being the forefront of youth fashion and pop music, Carnaby Street is enriched with British culture and is a popular tourist attraction. Hidden behind the streets of Oxford Circus and Regent Street, Carnaby Street is home to over 100+ shops and 40+ restaurants. (http://www.shaftesbury.co.uk/portfolio/carnaby.html)
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STREET
THE
PLACE
-
CASE
STUDIES
KINGLY COURT, LONDON WC1 Also hidden within Carnaby Street is Kingly Court, which is the home of independent boutiques and retailers. Being a three-storey courtyard, twenty-eight stores are spread across each floor. These vary from vintage shops, one-off boutiques, bakeries and cookery shops. The original concept of Kingly Court is to create a hub for new fashion talent and retail concepts, and this has succeeded due to current brands that have retail presence with the courtyard. (http://www.shaftesbury.co.uk/portfolio/carnaby.html)
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CARNABY
STREET
THE
PLACE
Utilising the small, existing, young aesthetic that has been developed within the area of Neal Street – due to current brands that have retail space in this area. Surrounding brands who currently attain a younger aesethic and audience, will benefit from the development of the North Side.
-
SWOT
The majority of the North Side, doesn’t attain a younger aesthetic, with relation to brands and lifestyle – (Peabody Trust on Endell Street is a Residential area, Neal Yard, Seven Dials)
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Collaboration – With the use of HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN, surrounding brands or brands of the same ethos will see the success of the store and will hopefully be interested in opening a pop-up shop within the North Side.
Pop-up shops within the area of Carnaby Street – Due to the location of Carnaby Street (a mile radius of Covent Garden), they are continuously injecting relevant pop-up stores on to Fouberts Place and within Kingly Court. Examples of these pop-up stores included, Henry Holland’s Ice Cream Van, a store focused solely on the British band The Who and graduate galleries based on student work from Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion.
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ANALYSIS
THE
PLACE
-
In order for The North Side to stand away from its current competitors and to also connect to a younger demographic – the aesthetic of youth culture needs to be implemented within the area. Taking inspiration from its surrounding London competitors, the North Side will be able to compete in creating a diverse demographic and a connective relationship with it’s target audience. This will be demonstrated through the art of graffiti, used through each component of promotion and branding of The North Side. This has mainly been inspired through researching in to the area of Brick Lane. Taking inspiration from the aesthetic of BOXPARK, in order for the North Side to deliver innovation consistently; the use of pop-up stores relevant to the area and target consumer, will help to increase the hype of the North Side. Relevance to the consumer will enable interest and a continuous attraction to the area, through understanding and implementing inspiration from these areas.
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CONCLUSION
THE
PROMOTION
Through researching the North Side’s potential competitors, target audience and key inspirations of the overall product – clear promotional techniques have been identified to create an effective, consistent and memorable experience for the North Side’s target demographic. The overall concept of promotion is reflected through the use of Word-of-Mouth strategies, as this has been decided through the relevance and trending popularity of word-of-mouth techniques aimed towards younger audiences.
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THE
PROMOTION
-
SECRET
CINEMA
SECRET CINEMA, DIRTY DANCING Events such as Secret Cinema, demonstrate a successful execution of using word-of-mouth to promote their monthly events. Secret Cinema is based around the wording of ‘Secret’, which is seen continuously throughout their brand ethos… ‘Secret Cinema is a growing community of all that love cinema, and experiencing the unknown. Secret audience. Secret film. Secret locations. Secret words. The time is now to change how we watch films.’ This has been communicated through their official website, and shorten within their social media channel descriptions, stating ‘Tell no-one’. Throughout the summer of 2013, I had the privilege of attending a Secret Cinema event, based on the infamous film ‘Dirty Dancing’. The decision of attending, was made last minute, due to a friend finding a tweet, revealing this image – (Fig 1) We instantly bought tickets, although we were unaware of the location and time, however, this was later sent to us via email. Secret Cinema take full advantage of social media while promoting, with the use of Facebook and Twitter displaying promotional imagery, and links to discover where to purchase tickets for their up-coming events. The popularity of these events has proved to be continuously successful due to sold-out shows and image uploads through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. This is a perfect example of how Secret Cinema utilise social media, and is an influence of how the North Side can take advantage of this through the promotion of the HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN pop-up store.
(Fig 1) All information has been referenced from their official website www.secretcinema.org
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THE
PROMOTION
-
HYPEBEASTLDN – The reasoning for the wording, is based on creating suspense and curiosity of where the pop-up store will be based in London. Abstract imagery will be uploaded of Covent Garden, to enable clues for Hypebeast followers to guess the location. Adding to this, all content published by Hypebeast in relation to the pop-up store will be encouraged to also add The North Side’s social handle. Example of a post – Word on the street is we’re opening a pop-up store in London… the question is, where will it be? #HYPEBEASTLDN @northsideldn
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HASH
TAG
THE
PROMOTION
-
PRESS
Secondly, another aspect of word-of-mouth promotion will be a written press release, sent to underground graffiti magazines to promote the HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN pop-up store. The magazines of which the press release will be sent to include; VNA – independent magazine printed quarterly, featuring interviews with some of the worlds best urban artists, illustrators and photographers. (http://verynearlyalmost.com/about-vna/) GRAFFICS – Originally a Korean publication, Graphic is now published in English with the focus of generating content based on the trends of Graphic Design. (http://www.graphicmag.kr) LACOOL – A free weekly publication, featuring a selection of cultural events and leisure activities within London. (http://london.lecool.com/about-us/) The reasoning for this selection of these publications is due to their relevance in urban, graffiti and design focused content.
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RELEASE
THE
PROMOTION
-
PRESS
RELEASE
Press Release Friday 20th June 2014 – Friday 4th July 2014 Release date – 15th May 2013 Hypebeast pop-up store in Covent Garden ‘HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN’ Covent Garden, London, England. We are pleased to announce that the online store Hypebeast will be opening their first fashion and lifestyle pop-up store for 2 weeks, within Covent Garden in conjunction with the North Side. Hypebeast thrive off of their ethos of delivering, Fashion, Art, Design and Culture to their target audience of 18-25 year old males. Delivering components such as a monthly magazine and online store solely based on male street wear brands, Hypebeast succeed through producing 384 million online page views annually, 1.2 million reach on their social channels with a global reach including the UK, USA, China and Australia. The HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN is the first installation of pop-up stores created by the upcoming brand The North Side. The North Side consists of the north of Long Acre of Covent Garden, and is focused on creating a youthful dynamic to the area through attracting audiences between the ages of 18-25. HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN will be held within The North Side and will consist of youthful streetwear brands that Hypebeast currently sell online. Visitors are able to wear, create and admire the art of graffiti due to the delivery of exclusive graffiti jumpers and tees alongside an in-store interactive Graffiti wall. In order for visitors to find the store, promotional graffiti arrows will be plotted throughout the streets of Neal Street, Shorts Garden, Seven Dials Roundabout, Endell Street and Earlham Street in order to direct visitors to the store. These arrows will be placed on Friday 13th June 2013 and will be taken down on Saturday 7th July 2013. Nicola Cronin, from the North Side states, ‘We’re so excited to announce the brand Hypebeast as our first collaborating pop-up store! And I also can’t wait to spread to word about our up and coming collaborations, but that’s all I’m allowed to say at the moment - I’m sworn to secrecy’. Ends. For more information please contact: The North Side 10 Arbon Court Linton Street London WC1 8PO Notes to Editors: Please use quote provided in text above, if any more information is needed please contact us at ‘Shaftesbury PLC.
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THE
PROMOTION
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PROMOTIONAL
The final aspect of promoting the Hypebeast pop-up store will be through installations of graffiti arrows located around the streets of Neal Street, Shorts Garden, Seven Dials Roundabout, Endell Street and Earlham Street. This means that the arrows are adaptable and relevant to existing visitors due to their location within the Northern area of Covent Garden. The arrows will be spray painted on to the walls of the North Side, with washable graffiti ink, which is easily removed with warm water. These arrows will be surrounded by transparent plastic, to prevent damage to the arrows and to sustain their existence of the pre-promotion and duration of the pop-up store. Friday 13th June 2013 and will be taken down on Saturday 7th July 2013, the reasoning for these dates is due to the pre-promotion and ending date of the pop-up store.
Graffiti arrows commisioned by Robert Hayden
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ARROWS
THE
PROMOTION
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THE
GRAND
The arrows have been inspired by a campaign created by Shaftesbury PLC. The Grand Tour was created to push footfall in to Seven Dials and other surrounding streets and to also create awareness of The National Gallery. Collaborating with The National Gallery, replicas of famous paintings were created and placed in and around Covent Garden, to create 30-minute tours targeted towards those who were on their lunch break within the area. The starting point being Covent Garden tube Station, ending on High Holborn, the street included within this tour were, Shelton Street, Langley Street, Seven Dials, Monmouth Street and Earlham Street. This campaign has indentified how to captivate consumers in an innovative way, while still relating to their main aim of moving traffic with the Northern area of Covent Garden. (http://www.thegrandtour.org.uk/tours/LunchBreak3-CoventGarden.pdf)
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TOUR
THE
PROMOTION
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GRAFFITI
Shown below are images of how the Graffiti arrows have been used throughout the streets of Covent Garden.
Graffiti arrows commisioned by Robert Hayden
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ARROWS
THE
PROMOTION
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Researching in to Secret Cinema and The Grand Tour has inspired me to generate innovate and successful ways of word-of-mouth promotion. Reflecting on their success, this has been created from injecting relevancy to their target consumer and basing their concepts around the importance of their original aims and objectives. These aspects have been reflected on, whilst understanding the relevance of word-of-mouth promotion to the North Side’s target audience, which underpins the logistics of the North Side. In order to keep in tact with the youthful ethos, this way of promoting both the pop-up store and brand has been used to deliver a different experience of promotion to the area of Covent Garden, this will initially attract a different audience to the area – which is reflective of the North Side’s main aim.
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CONCLUSION
THE
PROCESS
With arrows placed throughout the North Side of Covent Garden, the process of finding the store is adaptable due, to the location of visiting consumers within the area. The example of Ronnie, who has previously been explained through a Customer Profile, has been used to explain his journey and experience of both the promotion and interactions within the Hypebeast pop-up store.
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THE
PROCESS
Upon arrival of Covent Garden, via the tube station on Long Acre, Ronnie was 20 minutes early for work. (Customer profile) Destined to visit Marks and Spencers for a late dinner, Ronnie spotted a sketching from a far. Curiosity taking the better of him, he set off on a quest to identify the meanings of graffiti messages spotted on the wall of Neal Street. When faced with the graffiti arrow, a hidden message expressed the reasoning’s behind these arrows ‘Hypebeast X COVENT GARDEN LDN’. Automatically, Ronnie familiarises this with the Hypebeast online store, focused to deliver fashion, lifestyle and music. Being engaged with this arrow, he immediately follows the first arrow, which directed him through Neal Street, where the second arrow had been seen – sending him to Seven Dials, through the street Shorts Garden. After a brisk 5-minute walk, Ronnie finds himself within the centre of Seven Dials, confused of where to continue further, small congregated arrows marked on the steps of Seven Dials round-a-bout directed Ronnie towards Earlham Street. This is where he faces an empty shop, covered with Graffiti, showcasing three viral messages, HYPEBEAST x COVENT GARDEN LDN – THE NORTH SIDE – 20.06.2014. Having walked through THE NORTH SIDE of Covent Garden, the devastation of not entering the shop on that day, ordered him to return the following week, hoping he will be able to enter the shop successfully.
Covent Garden Tube Station
Promotional arrows
Pop-up store
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THE
PROCESS
A week passes, Ronnie, deliberately returns to the Covent Garden in order to visit the Hypebeast pop-up store. Following previous arrows and signs, he arrives at the store to visualise graffiti art, sprayed across the shop front – partly covering the windows. Visions of blues and greens are to be seen, creating a visually appealing piece of art for Ronnie to briefly admire. After examining the artwork, Ronnie ventures in to the store and automatically turns left, due to the main product within the store located here. While analysing the products Hypebeast has to offer, he is also able to appreciate more of the art of Graffiti in-store. He also was able to recognise brands associated with Hypebeast online – these included; AIAIAI – Based on delivering headphone products Made in Paradise – Colourful printed shorts GRIND LONDON – Simplistic approach to street wear IMPOSSIBLE – aesthetical approach to producing instant photography Already attaining a street wear aesethic, Ronnie appreciated identifying with street wear brands, as a majority of brands presented on Hypebeast’s online store maintain minimal physical retail presence.
Merchandise in-store While venturing deeper in to the store, what emerged to Ronnie’s surprise was a large interactive graffiti whiteboard. Instantly engaged, he took advantage of his graphic design speciality, and whipped up a quick doodle, admired by surrounding consumers anxiously waiting for their turn. He then saved his doodle, with clear instructions to visit the north side website, in order to receive a copy of his quick artwork. He waited till he left the store to visit the website. Having heavily seen the north side, on his journey to the store, and also within the store – he enthusiastically wanted to know what this meant. Graffiti wall
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THE
PROCESS
Moving on, located next to the graffiti wall is a specialised stand – catering to deliver exclusive t-shirts and hoodies sporting one of kind graffiti. The exclusivity is demonstrated through graffiti artists drawing on these items, live, in front of visiting consumers. Attracted to the edge and vibrancy displayed, Ronnie quickly grabs a plain white-tee, with an added blue and black custom graffiti graphic on the front. Happily walking to the till, paying for his t-shirt… he questions the Sale Assistant of his reoccurring sighting of ‘the north side’, she then cares to explain, it’s purpose and says ‘You will be seeing a lot more pop-up shops within the area, be warned!’ After this she also explains ‘There will be a shift in stock, starting from next week so make sure you visit again’. Imagining the types of brands that will appear with the store next week, questioning the reasoning behind the North Side, and analysing the successful time he has within the store, Ronnie ended his day walking back through the north side of Covent Garden, visiting stores on Neal Street, before heading back to Marks and Spencer’s for some food.
the North Side logo
Exclusive graffiti merchandise
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THE
CONCLUSION
The success of the North Side will be examined through 3 key factors, all reflective of the main aim, and main purpose of innovation. SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT - Monthly follower reports, examining both organic growth and the contribution of followers, gained through tagging the NORTH side on behalf of Hypebeast’s social channels, - Hash tag engagement – calculating the success of the hashtag used by Twitter and Instagram users - Engagement with Tweets – Examine the advantages and disadvantages of interacting with tweets and Instagram images sent through to the North Side’s social channels - Calculate the use of social icons on the Website page, and have many online users used this to visit the social channels FOOTFALL OF POP-UP STORE - Measure the amount of people who visited the Hypebeast store - Analyse the effectiveness of exclusive merchandise through the calculation of sales - Observational records focused on the effective use of arrows a to move traffic towards the store OBSERVATIONAL RECORDS OF YOUNGER DEMOGRAPHIC WITHIN COVENT GARDEN - Collect records of age through mailing lists online, to justify the success of a younger audience using the website and also monitor who are interested in the North Side online, - Monitor the audiences who have attended the Hypebeast store - Discuss with surrounding brands, such as Urban Outfitters, Size?, Dr Martens and American Apparel, to see if they have benefitted from HYPEBEAST X COVENT GARDEN LDN, in terms of driving younger traffic to their stores - Focus groups with a mixture of female and male, ages 18-25 to discuss their recognition of The North Side
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THE
CONCLUSION
Discussing the benefits of the North Side and what they will add to Covent Garden, here are the ways in which Hypebeast will benefit as a brand Brand Awareness – through the creation of their first physical pop-up store, the awareness of the brand will increase due to experimentation of selling stock physically, and will also help Hypebeast to see if opening a permanent store is future option for them. Generating a buzz – Through the promotion and components within the pop-up store, this will help to develop a buzz for the online brand, as existing online visitors will contribute to the word-of-mouth strategy, adding to this, the use of directional arrows within the area of North Covent Garden will help to attract varied audiences to the pop-up store. Previously identified are ways of analysing and gathering the overall success of each component of The North Side. With one being of most importance, ‘Observational records of younger demographic within Covent Garden’ this is reflective of the main aim based to identify what role does innovation play in a competitive yet volatile market?, through the introduction of a new brand or concept to the area of Northern Covent Garden. This has been underpinned by the focus of attracting a younger demographic to the area of Covent Garden. The benefit that this will have for Covent Garden will be justified through the focus of defining Physical Evidence through the use of Observation findings. Adding to this, the benefit of the initial product will be the creation of a new audience, with the introduction of The North Side. This diversity will help Covent Garden to compete with it’s surrounding London competitors, as the area hasn’t created a personal niche’, apart from its association with tourists – which has proved to not be so popular through primary research findings. This will add to the attraction of the target audience, due to creating a place relevant to them situated within Covent Garden. Underpinned through promotion, the strategic aspect of word-of-mouth strategies will implement the youthful element that the area is missing as a whole. This will benefit surrounding brands, which consist of a young ethos, based on Neal Street, due to the similar target audience of Urban Outfitters, Size, Rokit, American Apparel and The North Side. Through experimentation of attracting different audiences to the area, through analysing the success of the North Side – Covent Garden should take this as a starting point, and introduce other promotional elements to attract audiences of varied ages, backgrounds and ethnicities. This adds to the value of the area, and to disregard the association of ‘a only tourist hot-spot’ that Covent Garden currently attains.
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REFERENCING
IMAGES THE NORTH SIDE http://hypebeast.com/2013/8/the-once-homeless-artist-takes-his-art-from-sidewalk-to-gallery - Page 8 http://blog.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/?p=15524 - Page 13 (Urban Outfitters image) http://hypebeast.com/forums/off-topic/201864 - Page 14 (Hypebeast logo) http://www.deviantart.com/?q=t+shirt+template - Page 17 (T-shirt templates) http://store.hypebeast.com/brands - Page 19 (Product images) http://www.yrwall.com/events?offset= - Page 20 (Graffiti wall) http://hypebeast.com/2013/2/nikes-interactive-display-windows-by-staat - Page 12 (Nike of Innovation) THE PLACE http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Lane - Page 30 (Brick Lane street sign) http://misterfran.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/boxpark-shoreditch/ - Page 31 (Boxpark) http://www.sparklingandsweet.com/?p=1759 - Page 31 (Boxpark) http://lesenfantsterribles.adrianstern.com/getCarnabyStPix.pl - Page 32 (Carnaby Street) http://en.rutamina.com/tourist/A-Day-in-London - Page 32 (Carnaby Street) http://www.strollon.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?code=LonCarn&cat=1000 - Page 32 (Carnaby Street) http://www.singaporeaninlondon.com/2010/01/kingly-court-carnaby-street-shopping.html - Page 33 (Kingly Court) http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Shopping/Kingly_Court/e1c6/imagesPage/31726/ - Page 33 (Kingly Court) THE PROMOTION http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/23/grab-your-watermelons-future-cinema-to-stage-dirty-dancing-at-a-secreteast-london-location-3894888/ Page - 37 (Secret Cinema Dirty Dancing) http://arrestedmotion.com/2009/07/publications-vna-magazine/ VNA - Page 39 (VNA Magazine) http://graphicmag.kr/index.php?/issues/11-ideas-of-design-exhibition/ - Page 39 (Graphic Magazine) http://www.feedmecoolshit.com/2007/02/lecool/ - Page 39 (LE COOL) http://www.ibelieveinadv.com/2008/11/the-national-gallery-the-grand-tour-campaign/ - Page 42 (The Grand Tour) THE PROCESS http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Covent_Garden_Tube_Station.JPG - Page 46 (Covent Garden tube Station)
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APPENDICES
These interviews have been seen throughout the chapters of ‘The People’ and ‘Introductory Research’
COVENT GARDEN INTERVIEWS – 1 How did you get to Covent Garden today? Where are you from? I’m from Camden, so I got on the bus. What brings you to Covent Garden today? I work here. Would you change anything about the area? No. How old are you? 26 2 How old are you? 25 What brings you to Covent Garden? It’s an easy place to meet up with friends Is there anything that you would like to change about Covent Garden? Erm, I wouldn’t say so. It’s a tourist ‘Hot-spot’, which sort of adds to the Covent Garden aesthetic. I would like to meet up with friends, which isn’t such a tourist hot spot, but it’s easy and central for all of us to travel to. Have you travelled far today? I’m actually from Hertfordshire.
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APPENDICES
3 Do you travel far to get to here? I’m actually from here, I live in Covent Garden. Is there anything that you would like to change about the area? I actually think that it’s changing quite a lot, put in a positive way. They have bought in some new retailers – but I would say less tourists. What attracts you to the area? Purely, because I live here. And, how old are you? 26 4 How old are you? 24 What brings you to the area? I work here. Is there anything that you would like the change about Covent Garden? Tourists – less of them. I’ve set up this store about 4 months ago now. We’ve moved from Carnaby Street, and there we had more local Londoners come to our store. Whereas, Covent Garden as a shopping destination for Londoners isn’t known - I personally wouldn’t come shopping here either. So I’d want that to change, rather than it being just known for tourists. I think it’s the brands that are within the area; if they changed that then that would help to bring in a more London demographic to the area. Have you noticed a difference in business from your Covent Garden store to your old Carnaby Street store? Yeah.
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