SELINA WILLIAMS - 1912302
It is important to understand the new consumer Generation Z. it is equally important to understand how to advertise and promote new trends and keeping them interested in brands. Bringing in my skills and PR knowledge, my brand concept will consist of how I will show a promotional event to grasp the new consumer to a luxury brand and collaboration. My approach will involve social media, influencers and an experience which I think will have a successful response. In order to promote to this generation, I must make sure it is future proof, which is crucial as it needs to be able to evolve into future generations and to show my understanding upon finalising my degree. I am going to develop a new concept of marketing which will be created for the luxury market which will contrast with brands Balenciaga and Gucci. Many Luxury companies don’t usually experiment with new marketing strategies which often doesn’t help their promotional side to their branding. I have come to the understanding that approaching the luxury market with multiple strategies to communicate to the consumer will make their brand even more successful and will ensure it is able to be sustainably prolongated for the future. I think that creating transparent campaign for my final project will give a 360 insight into my understanding of brand narrative and concept.
As seen in my personal branding, it is important to understand the new generation Z but to also show an interest to future consumers which will involve engaging an understanding in their values in how they interact with digital platforms. Aging around 9 years old to about 24 years old, constant evolvement is crucial in order to keep on catering to their interests. Generation Z all round have a huge contribution to technology and are extremely interacted with social media platforms. With the majority owning some sort of technology gadget, they are faced with the advertising world daily. This is a solid entrance to how marketers can grasp their attention. This being digital is the best way in order to keep my branding strategies future proof which will therefore keep it sustainable. Referring to a business of fashion article, it seems that in terms of advertising generation Z are still drawn to fast fashion brands. with the article stating that through the pandemic the brand ‘I Saw It First’ had experiences a 62% increase in sales. Which goes on to explore the ‘Love Island’ collection which launched in the summer. This harmonises well with my statement of showing an understanding in the consumers interests. As a majority of the consumers interest being in reality celebrities and social media, I think it is obvious that a collaboration with a popular TV show such as ‘Love Island’ would have a huge financial response to relation to Gen Z.
I believe that something so interested by the new consumer is the best way to get a successful response which I will use to my advantage in my own project. Another business of fashion article stated that Generation Z enjoy exploring new trends. However, throughout my findings I believe that generally most of the consumers tend to be very fashion conscious. As reality stars play a big part in the consumers life on social media platforms, I feel they are pressured into looking a certain way. All wanting to fit in to the latest trends, gen Z all buy the same sort of stuff leading them to all look very similar. Even to facial features, hair and body type many Gen Z will go to extreme changes into their appearance to be trendy. With collecting data from members of Gen Z, it was clear that social media as digital advertising is the best way of grabbing attention. Generally, Gen Z enjoy music and I think that with showing brands with celebrity customers will have a huge impact on Gen Z luxury marketing sales. Ads during scrolling through social media and in-between videos is more noticeable. This is the route which I think will have the best turn out from my project and is the way it is going to get recognition. Another strategy for my work is a pop-up shop. This will show importance and will create a rapid response.
Trendspotter.net
Trendspotter.net
Cosmopolitan.com
Trendspotter.net
21buttons.com
21buttons.com
21buttons.com
21buttons.com
21buttons.com
21buttons.com
Cosmopolitan.com
In terms of the luxury marketing sector, I think it is obvious that generation Z isn’t the consumer which is targeted to. With no fashion house really having an amazing internet presence I think that it lacks consideration to a wide audience. Having a clearer understanding from my personal branding of how I can narrow the gap in the market is to find something which applies to an interest of the majority of the consumer. With many wanting that ‘perfect’ look, and feeling the need to fit into this silhouette, it will be a fresh way showing something ‘traditional’ to new consumer or maybe a new route. I will be showing a promotional approach to apply to my aspiring job and I would like to look deeply into planning and getting the advertising perfect to appeal to the new consumer. This will fix the gap within my marketing sector as with my plan with showing such an interest for the majority of the consumers it will experience a successful response and brand popularity. My plan is going to be a collaboration for luxury brand Balenciaga and Gucci. With the traditional contrasted with a controversial ironic brand, it likely to appeal more to the consumers as they will appear intrigued. Within, my pop-up shop I intend to give consumers and experience which something they can document and take pictures to put on their socials. This will attract more people to come and have a look. To be able to produce this, I am going to need somewhere which already has a lot of people and somewhere which is easy to get to. A shopping centre is somewhere where many Gen Z would go to and I think it is somewhere which will grow brand popularity. In order to achieve a successful project, having a huge promotion on social medias is vital. Making short clips and posters which will be designed to come up on newsfeeds is a way of engaging consumers of looking and making them want to find out more. Within my 360 campaign, I will walk through how I intend to achieve my successful project and show what I am creating.
Italian fashion house founded in 1921, Gucci has adopted many ways to stay in business for over a century. The brands have many strengths in order remain appealing to the new consumer generation. One of the strengths is that the brand has a strong brand image has begun to build an online presence. With over 45 million Instagram followers they keep up to date with everything in which Gen Z and millennials are interested in and the consumers feel considered. Gucci hold many campaigns which promote transparency and appreciation for multiple ethnicities leading to very strong brand loyalty. With the luxury brand having more than 500 stores worldwide shows a visual which I think helps engage with consumers. However, with some weaknesses of one of them being that with a big range of stores, producing a large range of products in mass and it is hard to guarantee profits from all products and you can’t make profits on not sold garments. Another weakness is that the stores are expensive to maintain and with constant changing styles it is expensive to display constant new lines. I do think the brand has many opportunities in showing a potential in remaining appreciated by Gen Z’s. Due to a WGSN article, as the brand has gained brand loyalty, it has led to almost doubling its sales in 2018 and almost half of the sales being from under 30s, the brand shows a good interaction with Gen Z. Gucci’s creative Director have recently pushed the brand towards a more Millennial advertising direction by pop-culture references which I think has helped push the younger generations appeal. This is why I chose Gucci as it has already begun to push marketing aimed at Gen Z and it is already paying off. Evolving their methods, I think is really what is going to make the market more successful than its competition.
Vogue.com
Twitter.com
Twitter.com
Vogue.com
Going on to exploring Balenciaga, I don’t think it is as successful with catering for Gen Z. however, with some strengths within their marketing strategies stems well from their strong reputation and heritage. With Christian Dior describing the brand as “the master of us all”, it is clear to many other luxury brands their constant success. The fashion house have strong loyal consumers to which blog their opinion and many fashion editors write about the brand being a favourite to many. The brand doesn’t necessarily need a personal online presence as they’ve adopted a sort of outside point of view which helps their business. However, on the flip side, the brand does face some weaknesses in terms of lack of recognisability. I think that compared to other luxury brand they have more of an iconic and easy to spot look. In my opinion, I do think this is what makes Balenciaga a lot more controversial and modern. A second weakness Balenciaga faces is the shifting of designers, and as the brand has been ongoing just over a century now and it is difficult to have designers who are similar to progress the brand in an iconic way. Balenciaga faces many opportunities in order to keep up to trend with the ever-changing generations, one of them being to increase online presence and overall brand interaction. I think this would benefit the fashion house well as it helps build recognition and overall popularity. With the new generation having such a big impact from the internet it is important for brand to engage with them on able possible platform in order to get recognition.
Finally, the brands threats consist a very volatile young consumer base and I think with that it faces difficulties with keeping the whole consumer platform happy. However, I think with the ironic status of the brand, it connotates well to the new consumer and I think the overall attitude which is given off the brand is fresh and controversial. An article from bettermarketing.pub stated that millennials will make up over half consumer market by 2025. I think that as this is due to less attention being made to Generation Z. with Gen Z being the new consumer it is important to be aware of the future. This is where it helps bring a gap to the luxury market in which I am trying to promote as every gap needs to be filled in order to have a successful business. As a way of engaging with generation Z it is important to keep a good online presence. Balenciaga has gained over nine million Instagram followers and gained a lot of acknowledgment when rappers began writing about iconic looks and celebrities began tagging and showing off their Balenciaga garments.
Fashionmag
21buttons
Vogue
pixabay
21buttons
BoF
Pausemag.com
Vogue
Looking deeper in final major project, in order to fix the gap, I needed to gather my knowledge in how to do it successfully. I want to create something which shows evolvement and something which will be widely grasping in order to show something fresh and unique in the gap withing the luxury marketing sector. Putting together a collaboration with Balenciaga and Gucci, will help boost the brands popularity and I think these two brands together will help narrow the gap which I am trying to fill. I think with the traditional side which will be complimented with the ironic brand is likely to appeal more successfully to the targeted consumer. My plan for a promotional event, is to create a pop-up shop event which slowly makes it round busy shopping centres. This is because it’s a popular place where many members of Gen Z can be found. Showing my event in a public place is a way of promoting the brand in a low-cost way but will still have a large impact. I also think within a public place which has surrounding stores will already have a large number of people which will promote a bigger turnout. With a pop-up store which will be positioned right in the centre of shopping centre as it is easily accessible and is more likely to gain quicker popularity.
In order to achieve my campaign, I must consider how I can make it successful. Using my promotional skills, I believe I need to understand how I can appeal and advertise to the targeted consumer. Having a big turnout and online presence I believe is vital. In order to achieve a successful project, having a huge promotion on social medias is vital. Making short clips and posters which will be designed to come up on newsfeeds is a way of engaging consumers of looking and making them want to find out more. As Generation Z is very big on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, which means that the best way to boost awareness. Facebook will be my leading social media of advertising. This is because Facebook works in more algorithm’s which can be tailored to feature on consumers timelines to whom it’ll concern and who would be more likely to be interest in the event. I am also using Facebook as my main social media because an events page can be created which can be easily shared to show off how it isn’t worth missing. Incorporating social media into my campaign will enable consumers to be more interactive. The content published on social media will contribute to brands personality, which is why social media is going to be my main form of advertising. A final vital element is that I plan to look into virtual music artist appearances. As the generation is massively influenced by celebrities and music artists. I think whatever an influencer wears, it is quickly noted by this age group and is copied or used towards their own fashion choices. Fitting into the perfect look, this shows the uniformity of the generation and proves that unfortunately everyone is slowly fitting into one desired look and beginning to look very similar towards one another.
I think that having almost an experience to promote a collaboration is good way of filling the gap in the market because it shows something which is direct to the consumer itself. With consumers feeling considered, it’ll show more transparency which will gain brand loyalty. I think that with it also being more of an experience, this will fill the gap as it’ll be something which consumers can capture and upload onto their social medias which will intrigue more people to come and visit. The experience itself I would like it to be a modern yet fresh way of communicating to the public. With garments modelled on mannequins outside with staff helping people order anything they would like to buy; I plan to have a mirrored room. The mirrored room is going to be very minimalistic where people just look into the mirrors and virtual reality concept will dress whoever stands before the mirror. The room will be dark and will shows bold colour which will draw attention to the garments. With the correct lighting I think this is a very sustainable way of promoting a brand as consumers are virtually trying on clothes before purchasing which will prevent over-production.
Once understanding the new generation and how I can fill the gap of appealing this generation to a luxury side to brands, I believe that I now have an idea together which I believe pulls the gap together. With an experience, this will let the consumers interreact and visually understand and see the collaboration, which will help them feel considered and it is more likely to attract a majority. An appealing appearance will give consumers a perfect opportunity to capture and show off what they are doing as they are very conscious of how they are perceived on Instagram. Making sure they capture those ‘Instagrammable’ settings in order to get the best picture for Instagram. As I recently said, I think it is important to go for something which is liked by the majority of the consumers rather than a minority as it is more likely to be more successful outcome. By having something visually appealing and that can be captured for social media will have a positive response.
To produce a successful campaign, it is important I produce an eye-catching and bold advisement for a collaboration for Gucci and Balenciaga. With now having a clear idea of my plan I now must begin to create invitations, small clips to come up on consumer’s social medias and to create posters which will be the key to create popularity. Going on to my next stage, I now have everything I need to go on and produce fresh elements which is going to attract the new consumers. with constant reminders, I intend to be on social medias I think I have the knowledge to build a strong advertisement to perform a campaign which will pay off. Making sure they capture those ‘Instagrammable’ settings in order to get the best picture for Instagram. As I recently said, I think it is important to go for something which is liked by the majority of the consumers rather than a minority as it is more likely to have a big turnout. Ensuring I produce something which is appealing to the eye and something memorable is what is going to stand my campaign out and attract the new generation.
SELINA WILLIAMS