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WANQI ZHANG - N0641732 - STAGE TWO REPORT - FASHION MARKETING & BRANDING
“A new trend is hitting the streets, and this time it is personal.� - Elizabeth Best
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School of Art and Design
Fashion Marketing & Branding
Nottingham Trent University
FMBR30001 Project Declaration Project: Stage Two Report
This submission is the result of my own work. All help and advice other than that received from tutors has been acknowledged and primary and secondary sources of information have been properly attributed. Should this statement prove to be untrue I recognise the right and duty of the board of examiners to recommend what action should be taken in line with the University's regulations on assessment contained in its handbook. SEVEN ZHANG
signed …………………………………………………………………….. WANQI ZHANG print name …………………………………………….………………… 12th May 2018 date ……………………………………………………………….……….
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Introduction 007 Aim and Objectives 008 Methodology Chapter 2. The Opportunity 011 Stage One Insights 013 Stage One Recommendations 014 Key Driving Trends 016 Experience Economy in China 019 Financial Opportunity of Millennials 020 Concept Rationale 021 The Big Idea 022 Concept Testing Chapter 3. Brand Development 025 Brand Development 026 Brand DNA 029 How PLUS Works 030 The Experience Journey 032 Target Market 034 Customer Segmentation 035 Customer Profile Chapter 4. Market Analysis 041 Positioning Map 042 Competitor Analysis 044 Point of Difference 045 Hong Kong’s Market 046 PESTLE Analysis 047 Porter’s Five Forces 048 SWOT Analysis Chapter 5. Marketing Strategy 051 The Business Model 052 Marketing Objectives 054 B2B Marketing Strategy 055 B2C Marketing Strategy 056 Marketing Mix: 4E’s 058 Pricing Strategy 059 First-Year Event Plan
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CONTENTS
Chapter 6. Communication Plan 074 Communication Objectives 075 AIDA and DRIP Model 076 Media Planning 078 B2B Communication Strategy 080 Press Release 082 The Website 084 Social Media 088 Influencer Marketing 089 Banner Advertising 091 Communications Timeline Chapter 7. Brand Management 093 Operational Plan 094 Financial Objectives 095 Sourcing Finance 096 Key Start-Up Costs 097 Marketing Budget 098 Sales Forecast 100 Profit and Loss Forecast 102 Cash Flow Forecast 104 Future Growth Strategy Chapter 8. Conclusion and Evaluation 107 Measures of Success 108 Risk Analysis 109 Objective Review 111 Conclusion 112 114 118 120
References List of Illustrations Bibliography Appendix
WORD COUNT: 7865
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Chapter ONE Introduction 1.1 Aim and Objectives 1.2 Methodology
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Introduction The stage two report is the realisation phase of the project. It acts upon the extensive research findings from future thinking and stage one. Reflecting on future thinking and stage one, it is clear that individualisation has become a significant trend. “In China, globalisation, digital connection and the growth of prosperity have multiplied the options for self-development over the last couple of decades� (Trendone, 2017). Therefore, a greater emphasis on self-expression has evolved in China. Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly individualistic and they view experience as an effective way of fuelling individuality. This report will develop an innovative fashion experience brand that concentrates on experience culture and individualisation. It will be the first fashion brand in China that focuses on creating exclusive experience for customers to express self-identity and reach self-actualisation.
1.1 Aim and Objectives Aim This report aims to create an innovative brand that celebrates experience culture and self-identity and to develop an effective business plan to optimise the creation of this new venture. Objectives 1. To develop an innovative brand that celebrates self-identity and experience culture. 2. To identify the accurate market position and the ideal target consumer. 3. To develop a successful marketing and communication plan that can help achieve the business goals maximally. 4. To develop effective operational and financial plans for the business. 5. To forecast and measure the business performance. 6. To develop a future growth strategy that assesses the future direction of the company.
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1.2 Methodology Idea generation
Books, reports, journals, online source A wide range of secondary research was conducted in order to explore how experience economy has influenced Chinese consumer and the relationship between experience and individualisation. This has provided in-depth understanding to help identify potential business opportunities. Interviews Five Interviews were carried out with Chinese young females, the potential target customer, to investigate their attitudes towards fashion experience. The discussion focused on what they want to achieve through fashion experience and their expectations of an ideal fashion event. This helped develop a more mature business idea that can perfectly meet customer expectation.
Idea validation
Books, reports, journals, online sources An extensive market research was carried out to gain deeper understanding of the external market environment and the competitive landscape, which helped develop potential market strategies for the business. Online survey The online questionnaire has received 216 responses. It aimed to scope overall customer attitudes towards fashion experience. Participants’ responses were critically evaluated in order to develop comprehensive understanding of the initial business concept and explore potential areas of improvement. Interviews and focus groups Five individual interviews and two focus groups were carried out with the target consumer in order to gain customers’ in-depth insights. Discussions have been focused on customers’ attitudes towards the brand idea and their preferences about PLUS’s fashion events. Branding elements such as brand name and brand logo were also discussed, which helped develop a strong brand identity. Moreover, customer attitudes regarding the ticket prices of the events were generated in order to formulate an effective pricing strategy. Industry Interviews Two industry interviews were carried out with the purposes of getting professional feedback regarding the business concept and analysing the actual feasibility of the overall idea. This enabled to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the business concept and to make it more realistic and competitive.
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Methodology
Limitations & Discussions In this report, in-depth primary and secondary research was carried out to gain a deeper awareness of the market trends, explore potential business opportunities, gain initial feedback to validate the business idea, investigate market environment, and help develop effective strategies. The primary research utilised both quantitative and qualitative methods and secondary research utilised a wide range of academic sources such as books, journals, articles and reports. However, there were a number of limitations which may affect the results of the research. For instance, the Hawthorne Effect, which means interview participants may change their behaviours and answers because they are being observed. Moreover, as individualisation and experience economy are new trends in China, the existing academic discussions among these two trends regarding Chinese consumers are limited. Therefore, in order to investigate how individualisation and experience economy have influenced Chinese consumers, research into different perspectives such as social media and the Western environment was carried out, which helped analyse Chinese consumers’ behaviours and attitudes. This report also utilised various marketing models such as PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT, AIDA and DRIP. “Using appropriate marketing models is effective as it can help to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot the business model” (Strategyzer). The key purpose of using those strategic and entrepreneurial tools was to scope the direction of business plans. It can also help effectively communicate the purpose and rationale behind a business strategy.
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Chapter TWO The Opportunity 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8
Stage One Insights Stage One Recommendations Key Driving Trends Experience Economy in China Financial Opportunity of Millennials Concept Rationale The Big Idea Concept Testing
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2.1 Stage One Insights
The stage one report focused on investigating how Chinese fashion industry can respond to the changing needs of Chinese individualistic consumers. As a result of the significant emerging economy, growing independence of women, globalisation, and development of the Internet, Chinese consumers’ shopping behaviours are at an important turning point. They are highly articulate about their emotional needs and increasingly desire to express themselves and show their individuality. There is also a generational gap between younger consumers and older consumers. Millennials are most individualistic and they want to stand out from the crowd through unique and personal style, which led to a more favourable attitude towards niche brands and foreign brands as they think wearing niche brands and foreign brands can show originality and individuality. However, older consumers are less individualistic and still prefer wearing luxury brands. Moreover, as individualistic consumers like seeking and trying new brands, it has resulted in less customer loyalty to brands. Therefore, brands have conducted a variety of innovative strategies such as providing fashion customisation options and creating highly personalised customer experience. Additionally, experiential marketing is an effective strategy of attracting individualistic consumer and increasing customer loyalty. Chinese consumers show increased interests in experiences. They believe that exclusive experience cannot only provide enjoyment but also allow them to express individuality and reach self-actualisation. Brands recognise the importance of experience as they are aware of the individualistic beliefs and believe that memorable experience can create an emotional connection between the brand and the consumer. The changing value systems of Chinese consumers lay more emphasis on emotional consideration especially self-identity, which will continue to influence consumers buying behaviours and brands’ marketing strategies in the future. Thus, the stage one report proposed three recommendations for Chinese fashion industry.
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2.2 Stage One Recommendations
1. Loyalty Programme By launching a loyalty programme, brands can collect the data and information of the customer and provide a more personalised customer experience. Omnichannel retailing is important as it can deliver a consistent and seamless experience for customers to interact with the brand. Therefore, a successful loyalty programme should allow the customer to collect rewards across a variety of platforms. In order to retain existing customers, build personal relationships with the customer, create brand advocates and increase customer loyalty, brands are recommended to develop an effective loyalty programme.
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Exclusive Experience
Brands are recommended to create exclusive experiences for the customer as Chinese consumers’ association with a brand is hugely influenced by how the brand makes them feel. Exclusive experiences allow customers to show their unique personal attributes and attain a sense of adventure. Fashion customisation is a potential strategy as it allows the customer to involve in an enjoyable, memorable and exclusive experience. Fashion brands should attach importance to developing creative ways to offer consumers unique and exclusive experience in order to create a closer bond with the consumer, boost customer engagement and attract individualistic consumers.
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Niche Brand Marketing Strategy
Niche brand marketing strategy means that a brand leverages its expertise in one specific area and creates a niche brand identity rather than following the mainstream. A successful niche brand should have a unique brand story and its origins, as they contribute significantly to the emotional attachments of the customer. Moreover, as a niche brand targets a very specific group of customer, it focuses on the quality of customer engagement and will be able to provide highly personalised services. This enables the brand to enhance customer relationship.
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2.3 Key Driving Trends The Rise of Experience Economy Experience economy refers to “the final phase of an economic progression that has evolved through the stages of commodities, goods, and services eeconomies” (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). In this final phase, there is an emphasis on staging experiences. It means a customer “pays to spend time enjoying a series of memorable events that a company stages - as in a theatrical play - to engage him in an inherently personal way” (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). Customer attitudes towards experience can be clearly explained by the five strategic experiential modules defined by Bernd H. Schmitt. The five components are sense, feel, think, act and relate. It is related to consumers’ sensory, emotional and spiritual responses. Furthermore, an important change in consumer attitudes is the trend towards the “desire of being active co-creators instead of simply consumers as consumers want to transform the design, provision, sales, and purchase of goods and services to their preferences” (EY, 2014), which means consumers value their own personal scenarios linked to the brand and the product. They will have a greater tendency to prioritise not only physical value, the price, but also the experiential value, in orde to show their unique personal attributes. Consumers value the experiential value when shopping with a brand. They also seek experiences for enjoyment and socialising. “Millennials are looking for an experience as an escape from their daily grind” (Tabachnikoff, 2016) and “77% millennials say some of their best memories are from an event or live experience they attended or participated in” (Eventbrite, 2015). Millennials believe their life satisfaction can be improved through experiences, rather than through material items. Similarly, “69% millennials believe attending live events and experiences make them more connected to other people, the community, and the world” (Eventbrite, 2015). Experience has become a useful way of socialising with people and shaping own identity. Millennials start to pay more attention to the happiness that the purchase will cause and want to maximise the emotional value of their spending. Moreover, according to consultancy PwC (2015), “millennials said 52 percent of their holiday spending would be on experience-related purchases, compared with 39 percent for older consumers.” Eventbrite (2014) also shows that “three in four millennials are more likely to pay for an experience over a product”. Millennials have stronger desires for experiences than the older consumers and they are driving a consumer shift from consumption to experience.
Millennials Sensory Emotion Socialising 14
Key Driving Trends
Individualisation Is Driving Experience Economy Individualisation has had a significant impact on experience economy. The stage one report has identified that “Individualisation is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that emphasises the moral worth of the individual” (Wood, 1972). It refers to the fact that “a person’s fate is more a question of interest and skill than necessity and tradition” (Trendone, 2017). There is a greater scope for individualistic consumers to focus on emotional consideration especially self-identity. This is driving the experience trend as “80% of millennials are interested in experiential marketing because it allows them to express individuality” (NewtonFashion, 2017). Millennials have a strong sense of identity and like to celebrate their individual style. The Guardian (2017) also suggested that “the rise of experience economy is partly due to its great potential as a status booster”. Individualistic consumers believe that having exclusive experience can show their social capital.
Social Media Is Driving Experience Economy The increasing popularity of social media is also shaping the experience economy. Visual social media sites such as Instagram and Snapchat are becoming popular sites for people to show and share their experiences. Similarly, in China, people tend to share their experiences on WeChat’s Moments. Moreover, “millennials increasingly crave interactions off social media” (Eventbrite, 2017) and like to build their personal brand on social media. According to Eventbrite (2017), “73% of millennials say attending a live event is a form of self-expression, versus just 48% of other generations”. Millennials view unique experience as a powerful way of expressing themselves and enhancing their online profiles. They are expecting brands to create experiences that can be shared on social media in order to express their self-identity, enhance their personal brand online and connect with the community.
The development of individualisation and experience culture clearly indicates that there are great opportunities for event creators, whose business is built on providing unique experiences. Brands are expected to provide values to consumers by unique and memorable experiences or encourage consumers to participate at various stages from design to purchase.
Individualisation Self-Identity Social Media 15
2.4 Experience Economy in China
2.4.1 Brands’ Responses to Experience Economy in China Experience economy has become an important trend in China, especially among the catering, retailing and entertainment industries. In 2016, “76.6% of Chinese department store operators have added experiential elements in stores to provide fun and exciting ‘retail-tainment’ experience to attract customers” (FBIC Group, 2017). ‘Retail-tainment’ model means customers view shopping as a desirable social activity. Increasing numbers of retail stores, shopping centres and cafes have utilised experience elements in order to become an ideal destination for entertainment and social interactions, and enable consumers to release from the daily grind and shape their self-identity.
Case study MUJI has opened its first hotel in Shenzhen, China, which is made up by MUJI HOTEL, MUJI Diner, MUJI Books and MUJI retail store. MUJI has claimed that “we have created a comfortable base from which to inspire curiosity about this city of perpetual innovation and commercial endeavours”(MUJI, 2018). The MUJI HOTEL is experience-driven. It aims to provide customers with a comfortable experience of feeling the development of Shenzhen, embracing the mystery of the city, and escaping from the hustle and bustle. MUJI has also introduced the ‘Open MUJI’ theme in its retail store and they plan to invite guest presenters from a variety of fields and hold workshops and other events facilitating communication with customers.
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Experience Economy in China
Case study LINE FRIENDS store is originated from Korea. It has opened 16 stores in China since 2017 and ten more stores are planning to be opened in China in 2018. “LINE FRIENDS stores filed with various character items and cute foods will provide exciting experiences just like a theme pack in the city”(LINE FRIENDS). In LINE FRIENDS store, Customers can enjoy lots of pleasure earned through new space. It has driven a trend that Chinese millennials go to a LINE FRIENDS store to take pictures with the LINE BEAR and post them on social media. LINE FRIENDS has improved its value as a character brand and provided new experiences for customers.
Case study “teamLab is art collective, an interdisciplinary group of ultra-technologists whose collaborative practice seeks to navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, design and the natural world” (teamLab). It has holden three exhibitions in China since 2017. It introduced a variety of creative concepts such as ‘Transcending Boundaries’, ‘Body Immersive’, ‘Ultra Subjective Space and Digital Art’, and ‘Relationships Among People’. teamLab aims to explore a new relationship between humans and nature through art and digital technology. It utilised digital technology to allow participants to interact with the light and create a unique artwork. teamLab aims to provide unique experiences that allow participants to release from material substance and become more immersed in the artwork than ever before.
Experience has become one of the biggest opportunities in China and it is developing rapidly. Companies from different industries have utilised experience culture as the unique selling point of their businesses.
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Experience Economy in China
2.4.2 Chinese Consumers’ Responses to Experience Economy According to Mintel (2017), “Chinese economy will see stable growth over the next five years to 2021 because of a demand for ungraded consumption. The development of the service market is expected to remain active and experience is the major theme.” As the rapid development of the economy, Chinese consumers are eager to live a more exciting lifestyle. “They value before paying so as to make the most out of their budget to enjoy an upgraded lifestyle” (Mintel, 2017). “They desire more experiential leisure activities to not only empower the body but also enlighten the mood” (Mintel, 2017). Chinese consumers have shown increased interests in experiences and they expect to upgrade their own value through meaningful experience. Moreover, as below pictures showed, experience has become one of the key things that Chinese millennials post on social media. Chinese millennials like to share their experiences in order to show their unique lifestyles and maintain their self-identity. In the interview, a Chinese interviewee said that “I attend a live event partly because I want to have something to share on social media. I feel happier and more confident when receiving ‘like’ from friends and families.” Social media is driving the experience culture among Chinese millennials.
小甲
小丙
today I am a pretty me
小乙
Been to MUJI today I am a pink girl
小丁
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A placa I really like
these few days
2.5 Financial Opportunity of Millennials Chinese millennials are the dominant force and the most influential consumer segment in China. According to Goldman Sachs, “young people who were born in the 1980s and 1990s have a population of around 415 million, or 31% of China’s total population”. Boston Consulting Group (2015) also estimated that “the proportion of the millennials will increase to 46% by 2021”. In addition, “consumption by young Chinese spenders under the age of 35 accounts for 65% of consumption growth. And consumption by these young consumers is growing at an annual rate of 11% from 2016 to 2021, which is twice than that of consumers older than the age of 35. The share of total consumption by the young generation is projected to reach 69% by 2021, versus 31% by the older generations(fig19)”(BCG,2015). This means Chinese young consumers have strong purchasing power and they have great potentials to grow continually. Chinese millennials having strong spending power is benefited significantly from the ‘one-child policy’. Most Chinese millennials are the only child in their family and they get strong financial support from their family. The number of Chinese millennials is huge and they have strong financial ability. They are significantly influencing the domestic consumption shift. Therefore, Chinese millennials are expected to lead the growth of experience economy in China.
Fig19: Share of China’s urban consumption by the millennials (aged 18 to 35) versus the old generations, source by the BCG
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2.6 Concept Rationale
Chinese millennials are becoming increasingly individualistic. They expect to maintain their self-identity and achieve selfimprovement through experiences. They also seek for unique experiences for enjoyment and socialising. Furthermore, Chinese millennials view experience as an effective way of enhancing their personal digital portfolio. However, in China, there is a lack of experience brands, especially in the fashion industry. Therefore, a brand called PLUS is created, which will combine fashion, entertainment and education in order to allow Chinese millennials to enrich life, gain new perspectives, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation.
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2.7 The Big Idea
A Specialist in the Art of Fashion Experience that provides exclusive experiences for customers to celebrate self-identity.
PLUS is a fashion experience creator, which collaborates with a variety of fashion brands to design, plan and organise fashion events for the brands and consumers. It organises events such as beauty class, dressing class, fashion show, fashion exhibition, and fashion customisation session. The brand will mix components of fashion, entertainment and education. Pine and Gilmore (1999) have defined “four realms of an experience - entertainment, educational, escapist, and esthetic” and they suggested that “as the experience economy gears up, people look in new and different directions for increasingly unusual experiences”. PLUS recognises the importance of creating innovative experiences that mix different elements.
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2.8 Concept Testing The following tables illustrate how consumers and industry experts think about the business idea and some key issues raised from their feedback were evaluated. This is crucial in developing the final business idea. Method Online Survey with 216 respondents
Focus group & interviews - young female millennials
To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea.
Results -80% of respondents were interested in PLUS’s experiences, including 12% of respondents were extremely interested. -57% of respondents were interested in becoming a member of PLUS. -82% of respondents said they will share their experience with PLUS on WeChat’s Moments(social media). -62% of respondents chose ‘self-actualisation” as one of the most important reasons for attending the events. -“I like the brand idea! I think collaborations between brands are becoming increasingly popular nowadays. This brand acts as an important bridge and platform, which helps consumers to learn more about the fashion brand! I will definitely go to the event.” (Participant 1, 2018) -“I like it for sure, especially if I am interested in the fashion bloggers or the brands.” (Participant 2, 2018) -“I am particularly interested in fashion shows and makeup events. I like your brand idea in-depth. It makes fashion into a kind of interesting entertainment. ” (Participant 3, 2018) -“I think I like those events because I want to learn something!” (Participant 4, 2018) -“I think it is quite unique. It seems there is nothing like that in China currently. I will definitely go for it if I like the fashion brand or am interested in the experience!” (Participant 5, 2018) -Most participants showed strong interests in the brand idea and the events and they think there is a lack of fashion experience creators in China.
Industry Interview - an executive director and a marketing director of an underwear company (Cosmo Lady) To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea.
“Experience is definitely a big trend in China or even globally. I think the brand idea is meaningful and invaluable. It exactly meets the latest needs of consumers in this fastchanging society. Actually, we are seeking for collaborations to do market promotion. If there is company focusing on providing consumers fashion experiences, we will consider collaborating with it in order to increase brand exposure rate and improve brand awareness. More importantly, whether the event can help our brand to increase customer loyalty is crucial in our decision-making process.” (Lin, 2018) -Fashion industry professionals thought the brand idea is meaningful and invaluable. They are willing to collaborate with PLUS if PLUS can help the fashion brand to achieve their business objectives.
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Methods
Issues Raised
Online Survey
-When
will
Some participants are not willing to pay for the
with 216
consumers be willing to pay for the
event although they are interested in it. Thus,
proposed events, 10% of participants
PLUS will explore how to encourage consumers
chose “0”.
to purchase tickets by communicating the true
respondents
answering
how
Areas of Improvement much
values of the brand and telling consumers what they can achieve through the experience. Focus group & interviews - young female millennials
To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea.
-“But if the event is too fashion-oriented,
To target consumers who are not really interested
I will probably think they are not for me.
in fashion, PLUS should try to focus on making
I will like something more experiential.”
experiences more interesting and attractive.
One participant showed worry about if
Creating wonderful experiences is key to attract
the event will be too fashion-focused.
“fashion-unconscious” consumers.
-One participant did not know the
PLUS has utilised the sign “+” on the logo in
meaning of “PLUS” in Chinese until it
order to make sure consumers aware of the
being linked to “iPhone 7 plus”.
meaning of the brand name and leave them a more impressive brand image.
-Some participants thought the original logo is slightly too simple.
The final logo was developed and it finally received positive feedback.
Industry Interview - an executive director and a marketing director of an underwear company (Cosmo Lady) To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea. To discuss if they will be willing to collaborate with PLUS and pay for the event.
“ If the brand has good global awareness, we are willing to collaborate with it, but actually, there are very few in China currently. When collaborating with a new brand, we probably need more consideration of the price.” (Lin, 2018)
Fashion brands are more willing to collaborate with well-established brands, but fortunately, the current competitive landscape in China is not intense. Fashion brands are highly pricesensitive and they care about what PLUS can offer them. To address this issue, PLUS should clearly
“It will depend on the scale and the influence of the event. And we will look at what the brand has done and its performance. It can be from 20,000 to 20,0000 RMB.” (Zheng, 2018)
communicate the benefits of collaborations to fashion brands in the B2B marketing and communication plans and pay more attention to helping fashion brands to achieve their objectives. Moreover, as a new brand, PLUS may
“The most important point is how this brand can actually help fashion brands. You need to think about what fashion brands expect and how you help them to achieve those needs. What you can provide them is crucial.” (Zheng, 2018)
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not receive good pay from fashion brands in the beginning. PLUS should make smart financial plans accordingly in order to survive without good pay from businesses in the beginning time.
Chapter THREE Brand Development 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7
Branding Objectives Brand DNA How PLUS Works The Experience Journey Target Market Customer Segmentation Customer Profile
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3.1 Branding Objectives To establish a strong brand identity. To clearly convey the brand values. To emotionally connect with the customer. To create recognition and increase the credibility of the brand. Branding is “the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumer’s mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme� (Business Dictionary). In order to create a significant and differentiated presence for PLUS, it is key to create a logo and a colour palette that most represent the brand personality. More importantly, PLUS should have its unique brand values that resonate with the target audience and emotionally inspire them. A successful brand development can connect with the customer from emotional perspective.
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3.2 Brand DNA Brand Name PLUS stands for adding values to individuals. PLUS is straightforward and memorable. It is easy to be pronounced by Chinese people and sounds trendy and professional.
The Logo The final logo was selected based on customer preferences investigation. The design of the logo focused on presenting the brand name in a creative way. The four letters were highlighted and a plus sign was used to make the logo more memorable. The use of grey makes the logo more sophisticated and it fits with the brand personality.
The Font The font chosen for PLUS was Nueva Std. The typeface can add an element of creativity to the brand.
The Colour Palette PLUS mainly utilises a serious of grey to resonate with its modern, trendy and sophisticated personality. It also utilises black to show a sense of authority as black is associated with power and it gives the feeling of perspective and depth. The combination of grey and black strengths the brand identity.
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Brand Story Fashion is not merely possession, it is also a way of expressing self-identity. PLUS is established in order to explore the spiritual value of fashion and bring customers to an experiential fashion world.
Brand Vision To become the most inspiring fashion experience creator in China and use the most innovative way to inspire consumers to express their self-identity and reach selfdevelopment.
Brand Personality Creative, Modern, Confident, Sophisticated
Tone of Voice Inspiring, Confident, Surprising, Daring
Brand Positioning Statement PLUS targets individualistic millennials who desire to enrich their life and express individuality through experiences.
Brand Essence A Specialist in the Art of Fashion Experience that celebrates self-identity
B2B Brand Values PLUS enables fashion brands to build an emotional connection with the customer. PLUS can help brands to improve brand identity, increase brand exposure, improve brand awareness and improve customer loyalty.
Brand Mission To celebrate experiential fashion culture and create inspiring events that allow customers to enrich life, gain new perspectives, express selfidentity and reach self-actualisation.
B2C Brand Values Enjoyment: PLUS provides customers with enjoyable, exciting and meaningful experiences to enrich life. Innovation: PLUS allows customers to discover something innovative, gain new perspectives and keep abreast with the times. Self-Identity: PLUS celebrates individuality and inspires customers to express their self-identity. Better-Self: PLUS inspires customers to fulfil self-development and reach self-actualisation.
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Brand DNA
Brand Mood Board PLUS’s use of imagery focuses on creating an exclusive, creative and sophisticated brand image to resonate with consumers emotionally. A mood board was created in order to communicate the brand identity and work as a guide for further communication plans.
have you ever cried just because you don’t know who you are
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3.3 How PLUS Works PLUS is an experience-driven fashion brand. It is the first Chinese fashion brand that focuses on creating exclusive experiences. It will collaborate with a variety of fashion brands to design, plan and organise fashion events for the brand and the consumer. In most events, there will be only one fashion brand as PLUS wants to make the event more exclusive and focus on customer interactions. PLUS’s experiences have four different themes: Personality, Lifestyle, Uniqueness and Skills. Most fashion events will include at least two themes in order to be exclusive and meaningful.
1. Personality Theme: Express Self-Identity
The Personality theme focuses on providing customers with diverse customisation options to create a unique product and express their self-identity. The involvement in the creation of the product and the memorable experience will make the product special for customers and build an emotional connection between the product, the brand and the customer. Examples of activities: Customisation and DIY Session
2. Lifestyle Theme: Enrich Life
The Lifestyle theme focuses on providing enjoyable, exciting and meaningful experiences for the customer. It allows participants to socialise with others and become more connected with the community. Examples of activities: Fashion Design Experience, Floral Arrangement Experience, Oil Painting Experience
3. Uniqueness Theme: Gain New Perspectives
The Uniqueness theme emphasises on the uniquenesses of fashion brands that PLUS collaborates with. It provides customers with experiences that allow them to learn about latest fashion trends and gain new perspectives. Examples of activities: Fashion Catwalks & Shows, New Collection Launch Event
4. Skills Theme: Reach Self-Actualisation
The Skills Theme focuses on providing experiences that allow the customers to develop skills and gain knowledge in order to fulfil self-actualisation. It also provides customers with a chance to talk to fashion professionals, fashion bloggers or other influencers. Examples of activities: Beauty Discussion & Makeup Class, Fashion Discussion & Dressing Class, Presentations, Workshops
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3.4 The Experience Journey The experience journey shows how a customer participates in a PLUS’s event.
1. Purchasing Tickets
Customers can purchase tickets through a variety of platforms including WeChat, Weibo and Alibaba. They will get a unique QR code, which can be used to get a physical ticket before entering the event. Tickets on the spot are also available if there are any left. Rationale: PLUS is adopting an omni-channel strategy to connect with the customer across multiple touch points. PLUS will endeavour to enable customers to purchase tickets through multi-channel and access to their unique QR code when they log in to their individual account in any channels. Digital tickets can not only provide convenience for customers, but also save delivery cost for PLUS.
2. Arrivals & Photo Shooting
When customers get the physical ticket, they can enter the event venue at their time slot. They will initially enter the photo shooting area, where they can sign their name on the PLUS’s background wall and PLUS’s photographer will take pictures for the customer. Photos will be printed immediately for every customer with a unique QR code. Customers can scan the QR code to download a digital version of the picture on their phone. Rationale: PLUS lets customers sign their names on the unique background wall in order to make them feel important and respected. The photo shooting area acts as a starting point to let the customer feel excited about the experience. Photos will be printed immediately and a digital version can be downloaded for every customer. This strongly encourages consumers to share the digital photo on social media or to their friends and family. This interaction will let consumers feel individual and unique.
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The Experience Journey
3.
Live Event After photo shooting, the event will start at a specific time slot. In the event, PLUS will occasionally invite some fashion bloggers or influencers to interact with the consumer. In some events, there will be fashion catwalks or exhibitions. Additionally, the professional team from the fashion brand may have a short but vivid presentation of their brand and talk about some key fashion issues such as sustainability and globalisation. There will also be some informal classes such as fashion design, oil painting and floral arrangement. Rationale: PLUS aims to create interactive events to allow customers to engage with the fashion brand and learn something innovative. Every event is different and unique. They are based on the requirement of the fashion brand, latest fashion trends and customer expectation. Fashion influencers are invited in order to improve brand credibility and drive more consumers to the event.
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3.5 The Target Market
Demographic: Primary: Millennials aged 18 - 38 Secondary: Generation X
Socio-Economic: Millennials - all Generation X - high income
Gender: Female
PLUS will primarily target Chinese millennials(aged 18-38) who seek for new experiences and desire to fuel their individuality. As mentioned previously, Chinese young people who were born in the 1980s and 1990s have a population of around 415 million and represent 31% of China’s total population. They are the largest generation in China and the number is expected to increase continually. Moreover, Chinese millennials have strong purchasing power. They are increasingly willing to pay for experiences over material goods. PLUS will combine fashion, entertainment and education to make the brand more appealing to this demographic as they are more willing to try new things than the old generations. Additionally, PLUS will appeal to generation X (born from 1965 to 1980) who want to enrich their lives and keep abreast with the times. They care about their emotional feeling and like to pay for experiences in order to add more enjoyment and pleasure to their lives. They also value their self-identity and want to learn something innovative in order to show show their social capital. From socio-economic perspective, PLUS targets all millennials who are interested in fashion, experience and self-development no matter how many disposable incomes they have, as the prices of event ticket will be acceptable. However, in terms of generation X, PLUS primarily targets those who have relatively higher disposable income, because they are more likely to expect unique experiences to enrich their lives and care about their social status. PLUS will preferentially target Chinese female millennials. As Gungor(2011) has argued that “In the context of shopping, the different brain structure leads to men tending to be mission- and task-oriented shoppers while women are more likely to be discovery-oriented shoppers who readily adjust their initial goals if this would result in a more satisfying outcome”, women are more willing to discover new things and show stronger interests in experiences. Moreover, “women’s shopping motives tend to be hedonic and they make decision on a more emotional level”(Aswegen,2015). Women care more about their emotion and they are more likely to attend fashion events than men do.
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Geographic: Shenzhen, China
Additionally, PLUS will primarily enter the Shenzhen’s market. Shenzhen is a major city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located immediately north of Hong Kong. “In 2017, Shenzhen’s economic output totalled $338 billion, surpassing that of Guangzhou, Hong Kong for the first time and ranked No.3 in China, only behind Shanghai and Beijing” (Global Financial Centres Index, 2017). Shenzhen is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world and has huge potentials to grow. It is also noticeable that ‘Shenzhen is the largest migrant city in China and it was voted China’s most dynamic city and city most favoured by migrant workers” (Intercensal Survey, 2014). “Shenzhen has an official population of 1.079 million and the average age in Shenzhen is less than 30” (China Statistics, 2005). Shenzhen’s young demographic creates opportunities for brands who target the young generations. As people live in Shenzhen are more likely to accept new cultures and try new things, Shenzhen has become an ideal entering point for many international brands. Therefore, PLUS will target the most dynamic city, Shenzhen, as a starting point.
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3.6 Customer Segmentation
PLUS’s primary target consumer, Chinese female millennials, can be divided into four different groups based on their behaviours and attitudes towards experiences. Every customer is different and they have different expectations and needs. A customer segmentation model allows PLUS to gain deeper understanding of its target consumer and to adopt the most accurate marketing strategies for each segment. By enabling PLUS to target specific groups of customers, PLUS can also “stay a step ahead of competitors in specific sections of the market and identify new products that existing or potential customers could be interested in or improve products to meet customer expectations”(TechTarget).
Characteristics
Personal Goals
Life Builders
Lifer builders like enjoyable and exciting experiences. They like traveling and go out with friends frequently. They are addicted to social media and like sharing their lives on social media.
They want to socialise with others, become more connected with the community and enrich their lives.
Fashion-Conscious Consumers
Fashion-conscious consumers have strong fashion awareness. They like seeking and following fashion trends. They are influenced by fashion bloggers. They are tech-savvy.
They desire to learn about different fashion culture, discover the latest fashion trends and become a style leader.
Individuality Seekers
Individuality seekers celebrate individual achievements and have personal goals. They use a variety of methods to upgrade their own values.
They want to express their selfidentity, fulfil self-development, and reach self-actualisation.
Status Seekers
Status Seekers care about what other people think about them. They like luxury and premium product and like to create an outstanding personal brand online.
They aspire to elevate their social status and show their best to others.
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3.7 Customer Profile
Customer expectation has been investigated and evaluated through primary research. Based on this, four vivid customer profiles were created, with some possessions that most represent their personality and their WeChat Moments.
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Customer Profile
Life Builder Personal Information Xiaomei Zhang, female, 23 years old. Lives in Shenzhen with family. Graphic Design final year student at Shenzhen Institute & Information Technology. Has a lovely dog. Psychographics Creative, optimistic, and extrovert. Wants to be connected with the society. Likes changes, not loyal to brands. Likes taking pictures to record life. Aspires to travel all around the world. Behavioural Travels a lot with her boyfriend, friends, and family. Going out with friends frequently. Always being active on social media. Enjoys volunteering at local events. Likes shopping to IKEA and MUJI because of the unique experience. Mei
Lke this vintage hotel, like this city. What self-identity means to her The awareness of individual identity, personality and 喜欢这个古典的酒店，喜欢这个城市。 lifestyle Attitudes Towards PLUS She believes that PLUS provides an ideal opportunity to socialise with friends and escape from the daily life. She likes the wonderful experiences and the creative atmosphere.
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Customer Profile
Fashion-Conscious Consumer Personal Information Yuer Chen, female, 27 years old. Lives in Shenzhen with her husband. Works in a fashion company as a merchandiser, has a medium income of ÂĽ7000 a month. Psychographics Confident, creative and fashion forward. Follows a lot of trendsetters. Wants to stand out from the crowd. Likes arts, DIY, and customised fashion. Likes taking beautiful selfies and always edits photos carefully. Aspires to be a fashion blogger. Behavioural Prefers to travel by Uber and Didi Chuxing (Chinese ride-sharing company). Dares to try new makeup trends. Visits fashion stores frequently. Enjoys watching fashions shows. Shops from a variety of fashion brands and prefers foreign brands. What self-identity means to her Having a unique identity and being trendy Attitudes Towards PLUS She thinks PLUS is a trendy brand which allows her to connect with the latest fashion trends and increase her fashion taste. She likes the unique experiences that make her feel like she is in an international Fashion Week.
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YUER
A/W 2018 SHENZHEN FASHION WEEK
Customer Profile
Individuality Seeker Personal Information Xiangxiang Hou, female, 30 years old. Single. Lives in Shenzhen independently. Graduated from University of Warwick, majored in Marketing. Works as a marketing manager in an international trading company, has a high income of ÂĽ30,000 a month. Speaks Mandarin and English. Psychographics Independent and confident. Appreciates arts and literature. Always enjoys learning new things. Cares about details and wants to do everything perfectly. Likes making plans and has strong organising ability. Aspires to work in a higher role in the company. Behavioural Likes to drive by herself. Likes to travel abroad and explore the local culture. Prefers to shop from niche fashion brands. Prefers to shop online for more alternatives. What self-identity means to her Having personal goals and achievements, and being the the best-self Attitudes Towards PLUS She thinks PLUS allows her to express individuality and reach self-actualisation. It provides a chance to learn about fashion knowledge and increase fashion awareness. She believes unique experience is invaluable in life.
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XX
Visting Tsinghua University and Peking University, feeing the atmostphere of top unis.
Customer Profile
Status Seeker Personal Information Jia Hu, female, 35 years old. Started her business of wedding and event planning five years ago and has a high income of ¥40,000 a month. Psychographics Confident, ambitious and sophisticated. Wants to be different to others. Wants to be a ‘hot mother’. Her goal is to write a book that records her entrepreneurial experience and publish it. Behavioural Uses iPhone X and MacBook Pro. Likes eating out in high-end restaurants. Prefers to shop offline and likes to be served well. Likes luxury brands and premium brands. Keeps up to date with the latest trends. What self-identity means to her The recognition of their quality as an individual especially in relation to social context Attitudes Towards PLUS She likes exclusive experiences and thinks being a member of PLUS shows her strong fashion awareness. She also likes sharing her experiences with PLUS on social media to enhance her digital portfolio.
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JIA My birthday party!
Chapter FOUR Market Analysis 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7
Positioning Map Competitor Analysis Point of Difference Hong Kong’s Market PESTLE Analysis Porter’s Five Forces SWOT Analysis
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4.1 Positioning Map Fashion - oriented
Market Gap Experience - driven
Product - driven
Entertainment - oriented The positioning map above shows where PLUS fits within the experience market in Shenzhen, China. The X-axis denotes whether the company is product-driven or experience-driven, and the Y-axis denotes whether the brand is fashion-oriented or entertainment-oriented. They are the determinant attributes that PLUS’s target consumer will rely upon in their decision-making process. Customers use these elements to help differentiate competitive offerings and decide which brand to go for. The positioning map clearly shows that the entertainment-oriented experience market is crowded, with a variety of entertainment destinations such as shopping malls, cinemas, themed cafes, themed restaurants, and art exhibitions. There are also some companies who focus on providing fashion-oriented experiences such as Shenzhen Fashion Week and Fashion SZ Show. Customers who particularly seek for fashion experience may choose this segment. Moreover, it is noticeable that traditional fashion brands are mostly product-driven, but some of them organise fashion events such as lingerie show and fashion shows occasionally, which may appeal to the similar target audience to PLUS. However, there is a market gap in the experience market where brands focus on providing experiences for both entertainment and fashion. This is exactly where PLUS will fit in the experience market. PLUS combines both fashion and entertainment, which enables the brand to add more enjoyment to fashion activities and make fashion more accessible for customers. At present, what customers expect from fashion brands is not only the product, but also the unique experience. In addition, trends discussed previously highlighted customers’ needs of seeking experiences to enrich their lives, which can be utilised in the fashion experience industry. As a result, the key opportunity lies within the experience-driven segment which focuses on both fashion and entertainment.
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4.2 Competitor Analysis
Primary Competitor
Shenzhen Fashion Week
Fashion SZ Show
Fashion brands such as Cosmo Lady
Competitive
Introduction
Brand Mission
Fashion catwalk shows, organised by Shenzhen Apparel Industry Association and Shenzhen economic and Trade Information Committee. It is held on every March for about a week.
It is committed to creating a unique catwalk opportunity for Chinese fashion brands to go international and for international brands to go into the Chinese market (Shenzhen Fashion Week)
6.5
It is committed to building professional fashion trading platform with business resources matching and brand value transmission, by successfully helping thousands of domestic fashion brand strategically (Fashion SZ Show, 2018).
6.5
An international fashion trading platform, hosted by Shenzhen Garment Industry Association. It has been held on every August every year since 2001. It attracted over 1,000 exhibiters from all over the world, attracted more than 40,000 professional visits, and more than 100,000 visits in total in 2017.
Some Chinese Cosmo Lady is fashion brands committed to orginise fashion providing a positive events occasionally. and happy lifestyle For example, one of for customers and its the biggest lingerie vision is to become an companies in China, international leading Cosmo Lady, organises intimate wear fashion lingerie show every brand. year since 2014.
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level
6.0
Competitive landscape
In terms of B2B business model, Shenzhen Fashion Week and Fashion SZ Show are highly competitive. They have good brand reputation and have strong influence in the fashion industry. They create the opportunity for fashion brands to showcase their products to fashion professionals, fashion media and the visitors. For fashion companies who want to expand their market or seek for collaborations, Shenzhen Fashion Week and Fashion SZ Show are the best choices. However, they focus on showcasing the product over providing experiences for customers. By contrast, PLUS is able to let fashion brands engage with customers emotionally and develop a deeper customer relationship. PLUS is also more attracted to customers who desire unique experiences for pleasure or self-development.
Fashion events organised by fashion brands themselves are key competitors to PLUS. Fashion brands may be less willing to collaborate with PLUS if they do event planning by themselves. However, as PLUS has spotted consumers’ special desire for exclusive experience and focuses on providing experiences over products, PLUS can, therefore, create experiences that most fashion brands cannot offer. It will make PLUS more appealing to the potential partners and the consumers.
Secondary Competitor
Art exhibitions
Examples
teamLab, ShenZhen Art Museum, Huaxia Art Gallery, OCT Art&Design Gallery, …
LINE FRIENDS, IN CAFE, LADY SEVEN, Hello Kitty Cafe,
Themed cafes & restaurants
Shopping malls
Cinemas
Characteristics Art exhibitions which utilise high technology can resonate with the consumer emotionally. They are becoming popular in China.
Young millennials increasingly like to go to themed cafes and restaurants for the unique experience. They go with their friends to take pictures and post them on social media.
the mixc, KK mall, Coco Park, Coastal City, Shenzhen King Glory Plaza …
Increasing shopping malls have introduced a variety of experiences such as temporary exhibitions and VR experiences.
IMAX Cinema, Jiahe Cinema, 4KMAX Cinema, Bona Internatonal Cinema …
Cinemas are traditional entertainment places for customers to relax, escape from their daily life, and socialise with friends.
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Competitive
level
3.0
3.5
3.0
2.0
Competitive landscape
Art exhibitions appeal to customers who appreciate art or high technology while PLUS appeal to customers who are fashion-conscious and want to interact with fashion professionals or fashion bloggers.
Themed cafes and restaurants focus on providing experiences for customers to socialise with others and enrich life, while PLUS also focuses on providing experiences for customers to express their self-identity and learn about different fashion culture. However, both of them mainly target female millennials. ‘Retail-tainment’ has become extremely popular in China in recent year. Customers increasingly view shopping as a social activity. For customers who only want experiences for fun, they may choose shopping malls. For customers who lay more emphasis on selfdevelopment and follow fashion trends, PLUS is the ideal choice.
Cinemas are entertainment-oriented whilst PLUS combines both fashion and entertainment. PLUS focuses on individual expression and development which cinemas cannot offer.
4.3 Point of Difference
PLUS competitive advantage in the Chinese market is that it perfectly combines fashion, entertainment and education. Fashion is no longer merely related to material items. PLUS creates unique experiences that make fashion a way of expressing self-identity and enriching life. PLUS is differentiated from Shenzhen Fashion Week and Fashion SZ Show, because PLUS is able to create more enjoyment and fun for the customer. More importantly, PLUS focuses on providing experiences for the customers while Shenzhen Fashion Week and Fashion SZ Show focus on showcasing the fashion brands. PLUS cares about customer interactions. Moreover, PLUS has the competitive edge of appealing fashion brands to collaborate with it as PLUS enables fashion brands to build up an emotional connection with the customer and improve customer loyalty. PLUS is also differentiated from the entertainment-oriented companies such as cinemas and shopping malls due to its expertise in creating fashion experiences. PLUS creates more complicated experiences which allow customers to not only socialise with others and enrich life, but also to discover fashion trends and express self-identity. It is clearly evident that PLUS will not face fierce competition in China as it is the first fashion experience creator in China that focuses on providing customers unique experiences to enrich life, discover fashion trends, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation. Therefore, the key point to success is not to compete with its competitors, but to meet the customer expectations and needs maximally.
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4.4 Hong Kong’s Market
As Shenzhen is next to Hong Kong, the competitive landscape in Hong Kong is important to PLUS. Fortunately, there are no companies focusing on creating fashion experiences currently, although some fashion brands and event agencies hold fashion classes and organise fashion events occasionally in Hong Kong. They are niche and they primarily focus on customers from Hong Kong, therefore, making them not in competition with PLUS. Moreover, as the different usages of social media and communication platforms, PLUS will focus on promoting the brand and its events in mainland, China in the first year. Hong Kong’s market will be considered as a future growth plan.
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4.5 PESTLE Analysis A PESTLE analysis is developed in order to identify the external marketing environment that will have an impact on PLUS. It helps to identify the opportunities and threats of the company and PLUS will be able to adjust the marketing strategy accordingly. FACTOR
POLITICAL
ISSUE
IMPLICATION
-The new Enterprise Income Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China was launched in 2008. -China has the regional statutory minimum wage, which means the regulation of minimum wage can be different in different cities.
-The new business must follow China’s taxation policy and employment rules strictly to avoid ethical issues and guarantee workers’ benefits.
-China is the world’s second-largest economy by -When Chinese consumers have stronger spending nominal GDP and the world’s largest economy by power, they are more likely to pay for experiences to purchasing power parity (ChinaPower, 2016). China’s enrich life because they start to care more about their average consumer disposable income is growing emotional benefits. A strong economic significantly. ECONOMIC environment is beneficial for PLUS. -Young Chinese spenders under 35 accounts for 65% of -In particular, PLUS’s target audience, young Chinese consumption growth and they have the potentials to millennials, have strong financial ability. grow continually (BCG, 2015).
SOCIAL
TECHNOLOGICAL
LEGAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
-There is a significant growth of Chinese millennials, which constitutes 31% of China’s total population and is expected to increase to 46% by 2021 (BCG, 2015) -The growth of millennials will increase the size of -Chinese consumers increasingly desire to dress PLUS’s target market. fashionably and pay more attention to fashion trends. -Increased fashion consciousness will drive more -Chinese consumers increasingly value their emotional fashion-conscious consumers to PLUS. needs and they want to be treated individually. -Individualistic consumers are more likely to be They focus on individual development. drawn to PLUS. -Experience economy is extremely popular in China and -The increasing popularity of experience economy will consumers especially millennials have strong interests in drive more consumers to PLUS. experiences. -China has become an emerging name in technology due to -Online payments such as Alipay and Tenpay have the success of internet companies like Tencent, Alibaba and become extremely popular. Whether PLUS can Baidu(CNBC, 2017). provide convenient payment methods will influence -Two services dominate China’s online payments, with brand performance and customer satisfaction. Alibaba’s Alipay taking 54 percent of the market, while -Omni-channel retailing strategy is key for PLUS to WeChat Pay has 40 percent (SCMP, 2017). connect with the consumer across multiple touch -Delivering a consistent and seamless experience across points. PLUS should utilise innovative technologies all channels for consumers to interact with the company and strategies to deliver consistent experiences for the requires specific technological support for each online consumer. platform. -Consumer protection law: It is illegal to sell consumers’ information to other organisations.
-PLUS has its membership system and will protect consumer information to guarantee consumer privacy.
- “Sustainability will be at the centre of innovation in the -“Sustainability will be the next major battlefield fashion industry in 2018”(BOF & McKinsey, 2018). where brands will compete for millennial spend” As consumer pay more attention to sustainability issues, (BOF, 2018). There are potential opportunities fashion companies are conducting a variety of sustainable for PLUS to organise events in responding to the strategies in different aspects such as materials, production sustainable fashion trend. This will improve PLUS’s and waste to make their brand ethical and environmentallybrand image and attract sustainable consumers. friendly. In particular, millennials are most aware of the Sustainability is an effective strategy for building trust textile industry’s environmental and social shortcomings with millennials. and they are more willing to shop with sustainable brands.
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4.6 Porter’s Five Forces A Porter’s Five Forces analysis is developed in order to determine the competitiveness of the business environment, which will help to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the business and understand how they can impact the long-term profitability. Bargaining Power of Customers: low As PLUS is the first fashion experience creator in China, it is entitled to have its own pricing strategy. It will have a reasonable price for the event ticket, which is worthy of the unique experiences that PLUS offers. Moreover, as the numbers of tickets are limited, there should be satisfactory amounts of customers for each event. Therefore, the pricing strategy will be less likely influenced by customers.
Threat of New Entry: medium Experience economy has been extremely popular globally. Companies who conduct correct research on consumer insights and have successful marketing and communication plans may enter the fashion experience market successfully due to the low investment cost. However, PLUS has it membership system to build customer loyalty and will be partnered with some established fashion brands before new entries do, which will create a potential barrier to enter for new brands.
Competitive Rivalry: low Rivalry competition for PLUS is currently low, as there are no companies in China that focus on collaborating with fashion brands to provide fashion experiences for consumers. However, there are some competitors focusing on organising fashion shows and exhibitions and some competitors focusing on providing entertainment.
Threat of Substitution: medium Chinese customers have increasing desire for unique experiences. However, customers have different expectations and needs. Some customers may choose travelling to enrich life and broaden horizons. Some customers may choose to learn a new language to reach selfactualisation. PLUS is not the only solution for a particular customer need. However, PLUS has its unique point and it makes fashion more meaningful for life.
Bargaining Power of Supplier: medium In terms of the B2B model, PLUS is the first brand that organises fashion events for fashion brands to establish an emotional bond with the customer. PLUS allows fashion brands to interact with the customer, increase brand exposure and improve customer loyalty. It is hard for fashion brands to find another partner to offer the benefits that PLUS offers at present. However, as PLUS is a new company and has not established strong brand awareness, fashion brands may be less willing to pay a great price for the fashion events that PLUS organises.
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4.7 SWOT Analysis
STRENGTHS
Using the PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces models effectively helps identify external and internal elements that have an important impact on PLUS. Then, a SWOT analysis was conducted to identify the competitive advantages of the business and help the business to focus on key issues.
S
High Customer Interest Findings from primary research showed that 80% of respondents had a keen interest in PLUS’s fashion events. From the in-depth interviews, some participants said they are really expecting a company to create this kind of fashion experience. PLUS’s experiences are expected to be highly welcomed in China among female millennials. Moreover, 57% of respondents said they are interested in becoming a member of PLUS, including 10% said they are highly interested in it. The membership system will work positively, which will help the brand to build a greater relationship with customers. Driven by Experience Economy PLUS is driven by the experience economy. It meets the contemporary needs of consumers. PLUS, as a specialist in the art of fashion experience, will provide a new experience for Chinese consumers. It will soon engage with Chinese millennials and may continue to appeal to consumers from different demographics. Expertise in Fashion Experience PLUS has its unique selling point. It is the only company in China that focuses on providing fashion experience for consumers. Its expertise in fashion experience will appeal to customers who are fashionconscious and seek for unique experiences.
WEAKNESSES
Diversity of Fashion Events PLUS creates a variety of fashion events and has developed four different themes: Personality, Lifestyle, Uniqueness and Skills. Most fashion events will include at least two themes. It allows the brand to create meaningful and colourful experiences to meet different consumer needs.
Low Brand Awareness PLUS is a new brand and it will have a low brand awareness in the beginning. This will make it hard to find suitable partners and negotiate a reasonable price with them. However, PLUS will utilise effective marketing and communication strategies to improve brand awareness.
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Lack of Brand Reputation As PLUS is a new company, it will take time to establisha strong brand reputation. Consumers and partners may need to consider more carefully before making a purchasing decision or collaborating with PLUS. PLUS will pay close attention to consumer feedback in order to optimise user experience and establish a strong brand reputation. Lack of Funding It is hard to gain a great fund in China from bank or government. However, if PLUS can present a commercially and economically viable business concept, official agencies and inventors may be willing to provide the necessary backing for the new business. Fortunately, the key start-up cost for PLUS is relatively low and PLUS will have an effective operational plan, enabling the company to be not influenced by financial elements.
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OPPORTUNITIES
Membership System PLUS can further develop its membership system to build a long-term relationship with the customer. It is a great opportunity for PLUS to boost customer engagement, improve customer retention and improve customer loyalty. More Brand Collaborations PLUS has the potential to collaborate with more fashion brands for future growth. Collaborating with wellknown fashion brands will potentially improve PLUS’s brand awareness and attract more customers,
O
Fashion Media Development In the future, PLUS have the opportunity to become a fashion key opinion leader in China. PLUS will work with a variety of fashion brands, which allows it to get the latest information of the brands and then convey the latest fashion information to the customer. Moreover, PLUS attach importance to communication and interactions with the customer, which will make the brand more reliable and allow customers to engage with the brand deeply. PLUS has the opportunity to improve its online presence. Sponsorship Opportunity If PLUS creates a great number of successful fashion activities and creates strong influence, PLUS will have the opportunity to get sponsorship fees from other companies. Companies who target the similar audience with PLUS may be willing to financially support PLUS’s activities in order to increase their brand image, increase credibility, create positive publicity and heighten brand visibility.
THREATS
National Expansion China is a huge market with a population of 13.79 billion. There are many cities developing dramatically like Shenzhen does. PLUS will expand its market to more cities if PLUS works successfully in Shenzhen.
T
Threat of New Entry If PLUS works successfully in the fashion experience market, there may be some new companies who try to use a similar business model to create fashion experiences for consumers. The investment cost of this is relatively low, however, experience economy is extremely popular. To compete with the potential new companies, PLUS should build strong brand identity and create unique experiences to keep customers loyal. The Fast-Changing Consumer Consumer attitudes are changing quickly and new trends are evolving in the society. Consumers may have different needs and expectations in the future. PLUS should keep a sharp eye on consumer attitude and behaviour. Uncertain Feedback from Customers Although PLUS has gained highly positive feedback regarding the brand concept idea, the feedback on the actual experiences may be uncertain. If consumers do not like the experience, PLUS should take great effort to investigate what consumers expect in order to design, plan and create more attractive experiences that meet customer expectation.
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Chapter FIVE Marketing Strategy 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7
The Business Model Marketing Objectives B2B Marketing Strategy B2C Marketing Strategy Marketing Mix: 4E’s Pricing Strategy First-Year Event Plan
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5.1 The Business Model PLUS ltd is a registered private limited company in China. PLUS will collaborate with fashion brands to design, plan and organise a variety of fashion events. PLUS sells tickets directly to consumers, which is the main revenue of the business. PLUS will also charge its partner for the event organisation fees from the second year of the business. In the future, PLUS will develop its influence in the fashion industry and will start to generate revenues through online advertising and event sponsorship.
Fashion Brands Event Partners
PLUS Event Organiser / Ticket Retailer
Consumers Ticket Buyers
PLUS’s revenues are generated by: Businss-to-Business Event organisation fees (after year 1) Sponsorship fees (future plan) Online advertising fees (future plan)
Business-to-Customer Event ticket fees Membership fees
USP PLUS is the first fashion brand in China that focuses on providing unique fashion experiences for customers. It perfectly mixes components of fashion, entertainment, and education. It creates meaningful experiences for customers to step into an experiential fashion world. It makes fashion achievable for Chinese consumers and makes fashion a way of entertainment and self-development. In term of the B2B business model, PLUS is the first ‘advertising agency’ that allows fashion brands to emotionally engage with customers through real-world experience.
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5.2 Marketing Objectives
Year 1 -To organise 12 events in Shenzhen. -To sell 95% of tickets in all events. -To reach 500 PLUS members.
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Year 2 and 3 -To continually seek more collaborations with fashion brands and reach 50 partners by the end of year 3. -To sell 98% of tickets in all events. -To continually organise events in Shenzhen, expand to Guangzhou in year 2, and expand to Beijing and Shanghai in year 3. -To grow the number of PLUS members to 2000 and reach 200 DIAMOND members by the end of year 3.
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5.3 B2B Marketing Strategy
Partners Selection PLUS will collaborate with a variety of fashion brands including cosmetic brands, jewelry brands, clothing brands, lingerie brands, handbag brands, footwear brands and even media brands. However, in the first year, PLUS will prioritise popular fashion brands as PLUS need to increase brand exposure rate and develop brand awareness. More importantly, PLUS will collaborate with brands with shared values and target the similar audience to PLUS. This will make the collaboration work more smoothly and will introduce PLUS to the right audience. Event Organisation Fee In the first year, PLUS will not charge for event organisation fees. Instead, fashion brands may need to provide some free products as a reward for the participants, which will stimulate consumers’ desire to the event. Fashion brands will also need to cooperate with PLUS in terms of event planning as there are normally fashion catwalks, exhibitions or something related to the fashion brand. In the second year, PLUS will start to charge fashion brands for event organisation fees. These will vary from ¥ 10,000 to ¥ 100,000 according to the scale of the event and the influence of PLUS.
Win-Win Collaboration PLUS, as a new brand, will benefit from partnerships with established fashion brands and fashion brands will also benefit from the meaningful events. This is a win-win collaboration between a fashion experience specialist and a fashion company. [Event Organiser] PLUS’s Benefits: -Gain fashion-related contents to enrich the event and make it more interesting. -Attract customers who like the fashion brands and sell more tickets. -Increase brand exposure rate and reach a wider audience, as fashion brands will advertise the event on social media. -Boost in credibility if collaborating with well-established brands or well-known brands. [Event Partners] Fashion brands’ Benefits: -Strengthen brand identity, as PLUS provides customers invaluable experiences. -Reach a wider audience, as PLUS’s experiences focus on ont only fashion, but also entertainment and education. -Improve brand awareness, as PLUS will advertise on multi-channel and customers who attend the event are highly likely to post their experiences on social media. -Improve customer loyalty, as exclusive experiences can build an emotional connection with the customer.
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5.4 B2C Marketing Strategy PLUS provides unique experiences for customers and will sell event tickets to them. PLUS has its own membership system. Consumers can pay the membership fee to become a member to gain special benefits.
Event orgniser & Ticket retailer PLUS
Ticket buyer The Consumer
Membership System PLUS’s membership system aims to provide customers with a sense of exclusivity. “Exclusivity elicits many other psychological rewards including a sense of belonging and importance”(Sukhraj, 2017). Being a part of an exclusive group can boost customers’ confidence, as it gives customers special privileges and makes them be at an advantage over others. And when they have access to some special benefits and special events, they feel truly special and important, which meets the expectations of modern individualistic consumers. Membership system is key to gain long-term customers.
Types of Membership
Membership
Membership
Requirements
Benefits 1. Priority pre-orders to event tickets
PLUS MEMBER
¥200 Membership Fee
2. Front row seats in some events 3. Access to special free gifts
DIAMOND MEMBER
A PLUS member has the chance to become a DIAMOND member by attending a special event in a limited time. Some fashion influencers will be invited to become a DIAMOND member.
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1. Priority pre-orders to event tickets 2. Front row seats in some events 3. Access to special free gifts 4. Access to exclusive events
5.5 Marketing Mix: 4 E’s A four E’s marketing mix was developed to help formulate an effective marketing strategy. As the Internet has strongly influenced how consumers interact with a brand, the four E’s is more helpful than a traditional 4 P’s.
Experience PLUS focuses on the entire customer experience. PLUS will use an appropriate tone of voice to communicate with the customer, as how a customer feels when interacting with the brand strongly influences consumers’ emotional connection with the brand. Moreover, the tone of voice should stay true to its brand identity. PLUS will make its online platforms user-friendly, offering the most effective solutions. PLUS will also focus on event planning, making sure that all events are exciting and wonderful. A satisfactory event should be able to satisfy different consumers’ needs, which can be having fun, socialising with others, learning about fashion trends, or becoming more aware of selfidentity. In a word, PLUS will focus on how customers feel when interacting with the brand.
EveryPlace Although PLUS is an experience-driven brand, it adopts omni-channel strategy in order to deliver a consistent and seamless experience across all channels for customers to interact with PLUS. To achieve this, first of all, consumers will be able to purchase tickets through Alibaba, WeChat, PLUS’s website or on the event spot. Second, they are able to access their personal account and booking information across multiple touch points at their own convenience. PLUS facilitates everyplace in terms of its online platforms, however, PLUS’s offline events will be held in Shenzhen in the first year because of the young demographic and the strong economy of the city. PLUS will prioritise event venues that are in the city centre to make it convenient for customers. PLUS’s event venues should have enough space for stage and seats for at least 150 people. As there are a great number of venues for exhibition, shows and special events in Shenzhen, PLUS will be able to find the ideal event venue through space lease apps such as YUNSPACE. In the future, PLUS will expand its business to more cities to reach a wider audience as well as convenience and satisfy consumers from those cities. Overall, PLUS will develop a strong presence online and offline, through omni-channel strategy and geographical expansion.
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Exchange There is a tendency that “customers will choose the solution that offers the highest value rather than go with the lowest price” (Rous, 2014). Brands need to understand what consumers value and expect. PLUS’ exchange of value is to provide Chinese female millennials with experiences that customers can have fun, socialise with others, learn about fashion trends, and gain new perspectives. PLUS has a unique proposition as it combines fashion, entertainment and education. These types of experiences are currently lacking in China. Overall, PLUS’s unique exchange for consumers is focused on celebrating self-identity and reinforcing the individuality of millennials, which allows the customer to maintain and celebrate their self-identity.
Evangelism PLUS will facilitate the world of mouth strategy to engage with the customer and drive more customers to the brand. According to Nielsen, “92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising”. In PLUS’s events, there will be a photo-shooting session, where customers can get their immediately printed photos and can scan the unique QR code to get their digital pictures. This will encourage customers to share the photo with others or post it on social media, which will increase brand exposure rate. Furthermore, PLUS aims to make its consumers become evangelists or advocates for the brand, because having passionate customers that love the brand is more effective than having a large number of customers who merely know the brand. To achieve this, PLUS will focus on engaging, equipping and empowering the customer. PLUS’s advertising campaigns will capitalise on interactive activities to celebrate the exclusivity and individuality of the customer. This means PLUS will give the customer an opportunity to involve in the advertising campaigns through conversations about the brand on an online platform or other interactive activities. To equip and empower the customer, PLUS will find the reason for them to talk, which is relied on the understanding of the customer and what they like. As PLUS’s focal target consumers are life builders, fashion-conscious consumers, individuality seekers and status seekers, PLUS online platforms will focus on topics that they are interested in such as fashion trends, fashion activities and entertainment destinations. PLUS’s ultimate goal of evangelist strategy is to encourage customers to talk about PLUS in a positive way.
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5.6 Pricing Strategy
PLUS’s events will normally be priced at between ¥150 to ¥500. The pricing for the event is partly in line with its competitors as most fashion events in China are priced around ¥200. Prices are different according to different events, which is based on results from primary research, as participants suggested that they are willing to pay ¥201-¥300 for a fashion show while ¥101-¥200 for a beauty discussion event. Nevertheless, PLUS will adopt a premium pricing strategy for exclusive events, which are only available for PLUS’s DIAMOND members. This is because of the relatively higher investment of an exclusive event. Moreover, premium pricing can make the event more exclusive and show how invaluable the event is.
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5.7 First-Year Event Plan
PLUS plans to organise fashion events on a monthly basis in the first year. This chapter will show the initial plans of PLUS’s first-year events. Normally, there will be three to four different time slots for each event. Customers will need to purchase the specific ticket for a specific time slot. This will limit the number of participants for each event to make customers feel more individual and exclusive. Having different time slots can also provide more alternatives for customers and make the most of the investment cost of the event. As mentioned previously, PLUS’s events have four different themes: Personality, Lifestyle, Uniqueness and Skills, and most events will include at least two themes.
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4 of Fashion Event 1: TheEvent Future
The Future of Fashion 26th Jan 2019
Sustainable Fashion Workshop & Choker DIY Session
ethical is the new fashion
Date and Event Time Slots:
26th Jan 2019, 1-12pm, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
a sustainable brand H&M, MUJI, or Icicle
Activities:
Sustainable Fashion Workshop & Choker DIY Session
Number of Ticket:
100 × 4 = 400
Price of Ticket:
¥ 200
Key Themes:
Skills, Personality
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Event 2: Valentine’s Show
Valentine’s Show 9th Feb 2019
fashion show & floral class
Watch the romantic fashion show and make the unique flowers only for Valentine’s !
Date and Event Time Slots:
9th Feb 2019, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
a fashion clothing brand Banana Baby, HStyle, or Donoratico
Activities:
Fashion Show & Floral Class Experience
Number of Ticket:
100 × 3 = 300
Price of Ticket:
¥ 350
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Lifestyle
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Event 3: Ladies Only
Ladies Only
8th- 9th Mar 2019 Women Empowerment Show & High Heels Party
A high heels party for all ladies to celebrate the international women’s day! Dates and Event Time Slots:
8th-9th Mar 2019, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
a women shoes brand map, BeLLE, or Daphne
Activities:
Women Empowerment Show & High Heels Party
Number of Ticket:
150 × 2 = 300
Price of Ticket:
¥ 200
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Personality, Lifestyle
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Event 4: Organic Beauty Celebration
health&wellbeing - environmentally-friendly - clean&green - no harm to nature
Organic Beauty Celebration 6th Apr 2019
Makeup Interactive Workshop & Oil Painting Experience
Learn about the new beauty trends and draw your unique picture during the workshop! 6th Apr 2019, 1-12pm, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Date and Event Time Slots:
an organic beauty brand Innisfree, NUXE, or Flowery Land
Potential Partner:
Activities:
Makeup Interactive Workshop & Oil Painting Experience
Number of Ticket:
100 Ă— 4 = 400
Price of Ticket:
ÂĽ 200
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Skills, Lifestyle
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Event 5: Lady Goddess
Lady Goddess
4th May 2019 lingerie show & anti-breast cancer presentation PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST BREAST CANCER. for every girl every woman everywhere
Date and Event Time Slots:
4th May 2019, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
a lingerie brand Cosmo Lady, Sixty Eight, or Neiwai
Activities:
Lingerie Show & Anti-Breast Cancer Presentation
Number of Ticket:
300 × 3 = 900
Price of Ticket:
¥ 250
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Skills
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Event 6: Summer In Style
SUMMER IN STYLE 1st June 2019
Exhibition of Summertime Collection & Personal Styling Session
Date and Event Time Slots:
1st June 2019, 10-12pm, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
high street fashion brands DNCY, Urban Rivivo, Forever 21 ...
Activities:
Exhibition & Personal Styling Session
Number of Ticket:
50 × 4 = 200
Price of Ticket:
¥ 200
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Personality, Skills
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Event 7: New Talent In Fashion
New Talent In Fashion 7th July 2019
Graduate Fashion Show
Showcase of graduate fashion design - the best new talent in fashion!
Date and Event Time Slots:
7th July 2019, 2-5pm, 6-9pm
Potential Partner:
Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Polytechnic
Activities:
Graduate Fashion Show
Number of Ticket:
1000 × 2 = 2000
Price of Ticket:
¥ 150
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Personality
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Event 8: Meet The Designer
Meet The Designer
7th Aug 2019 A/W 2019- 2020 New Product Launch & Designer Presentation
Find out the designers’ unique stories and how they create the new collection!
Date and Event Time Slots:
7th Aug 2019, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
a premiun clothing brand GLORIA, INSUN, or ETAM
Activities:
New Product Launch & Designer Presentation
Number of Ticket:
150 × 3 = 450
Price of Ticket:
¥ 150
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Skills
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Event 9: The Classic
THE CLASSIC 7th-8th Sept 2019
Vintage Pop-up Shop
French Macaron, British Trifle & Chinese Tea ...
Vintage Clothing, Accessories & Interesting Old Things
Dates and Event Time Slots:
7th- 8th Spet 2019, 10am - 6pm
Potential Partner:
vintage designer brands YOUWU, Guzhi, Mashy ...
Activities:
Vintage Pop-up Shops & Afternoon Tea
Number of Ticket:
500 × 2 =1,000
Price of Ticket:
¥ 90
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Lifestyle
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Event 10: Fashion Industry Insider
Fashion Industry Insider 5th Oct 2019
Fashion Catwalks & Fashion Design Experience
Learn fashion deisgn and experience the fashion real-world industry in a day! Date and Event Time Slots:
5th Oct 2019, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
a premiun clothing brand Lancy, Only, or VERO MODA
Activities:
Fashion Catwalks & Fashion Design Experience
Number of Ticket:
150 × 3 = 450
Price of Ticket:
¥ 300
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Skills
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Event 11: The Cosplay Exchange
The Cosplay Exchange 2rd Nov 2019 Cosplay Party & Cosplay Fashion Show
Wear your best cosplay costume to this unique party and watch the show!
Date and Event Time Slots:
2rd Nov 2019, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
Cosplay influencers
Activities:
Cosplay Party & Cosplay Fashion Show
Number of Ticket:
300 × 3 = 900
Price of ticket:
¥ 150
Key Themes:
Uniqueness, Lifestyle, Personality
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Event 12: West Meets East
West Meets East 21st Dec 2019 CHRISTMAS THEMED FASHION SHOW Design and make your unique Christmas dress with our prefessional team!
A chance to become a diamond member of Plus!
Date and Event Time Slots:
21st Dec 2019, 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm
Potential Partner:
a premium fashion brand MAX&CO, PSALTER, or Patavinity
Activities:
Fashion Catwalks & Excluive Fashion Customisation Session
Number of Ticket:
50 × 3 = 150
Price of ticket:
¥ 600
Key Themes:
Lifestyle, Personality
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Chapter SIX Communication Plan 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10
Communication Objectives AIDA and DRIP Model Media Planning B2B Negotiation Strategy Press Release The Website Social Media Influencer Marketing Banner Advertising Communications Timeline
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COMMUNICATION PLAN OVERVIEW
Central Communication Idea To explore the spiritual value of fashion and celebrate self-identity
BUSINESS TO CUSTOMER
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
Objectives
Improve Brand Awareness, Customer Engagement, and Customer Loyalty
Influence of Individualisation and Experience Economy, Brand Values, Customer Engagement, Innovation
Key Messages
Spiritual Value of Fashion, Experiential Culture, Self-Expression, Self-Actualisation
Meeting Individual Customer In Person, Website, Social Media, Press Release
Key Methods
Website, Social Media, Influencer Marketing, Banner Advertising, Press Release
Inspiring, Innovative, Trust-worthy, Result-driven
Tone of Voice
Establish Trust, Forge Partnership, and Build Relationship
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Inspiring, Confident, Surprising, Daring
6.1 Communication Objectives
- To build good partnerships with 20 brands by the end of year 1. - To establish a strong brand identity through online advertising and engaging social media posts. - To gain 50k social media followers by year 1. - To increase brand awareness and establish brand credibility through influencer marketing.
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6.2 AIDA and DRIP Model The AIDA and DRIP model helped scope the direction of PLUS’s communication plan. This is effective in helping PLUS to launch consistent promotional activities and to capitalise on contents that are relevant and helpful to the communication objectives.
AIDA: WHAT PLUS WANT TO ACHIEVE THROUGH COMMUNICATION Awareness Create awareness of PLUS and its experiences by promoting on multiple media, let consumers become aware of what PLUS stands for and what it offers Interest Simulate customer interest by communicating how PLUS fits with their lifestyle and the benefits and values of PLUS Desire Arouse customer desire to be involved in PLUS’s experiences by emphasising how PLUS can help consumers reach self-actualisation and enrich their lives Action Direct consumers to purchase the event tickets by a limited sales time or a limited supply, encourage consumers to interact with PLUS on social media by giving them benefits or discounts
DRIP: HOW PLUS WILL ENGAGE WITH THE CONSUMER TO ACHIEVE ITS COMMUNICATION GOALS Differentiate Differentiate PLUS from its competitors by expressing its unique point of combing fashion, entertainment, and education Reinforce Strengthen the message by emphasising PLUS’s benefits of helping consumers to socialise, learn, and express self-identity Inform Inform consumers about PLUS’s events by highlighting PLUS’s successful experiences and allow consumers to assess other consumers’ feedback on an online community Persuade Persuade consumers to engage with PLUS online such as visiting PLUS’s website and sharing PLUS’s posts on social media, and persuade consumers to purchase the event tickets or become a member of PLUS through contents that encourage action
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6.3 Media Planning Method
Channel
Rationale
Website
PLUS’s official website
Official website is an information-centric site that has all information about PLUS.
WeChat is the most popular Chinese multi-purpose social media. PLUS can sell tickets and manage its membership system on WeChat as well as communicate with consumers.
Sina Weibo
Sina Weibo is a Chinese microblog where users tend to follow a lot of influencers. This is a prefect place for PLUS to promote itself to a wide audience.
Red
Red is a popular social media where users post to recommend products and share their shopping experiences. This digital community has lots of users who like sharing and exploring new things. They are an important group of PLUS’s target consumers.
Chinese millennials who occasionally stay abroad are also the target audience of PLUS. Instagram is a useful tool to connect with them.
Press release
Online
Press release is an effective way of introducing the brand and its activities to relevant online publications. Media may introduce and promote PLUS to their readers.
Influencer marketing
WeChat, Sina Weibo, Red
Promotion by influencers who have similar target audience with PLUS can help PLUS to reach the target consumer and establish trust.
Microblog Hot Search
Sina Weibo
Chinese millennials like to use the hot search list on Sina Weibo to know about new things. It is an effective way of promoting the brand to a great number of consumers.
Banner ads
Taobao (Alibaba)
Taobao is the biggest online marketplace in China and it has over 580 million monthly active users in 2018 (DMR, 2018). It is effective to promote PLUS on Taobao.
Public Relation - Social media
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Key Purpose
Key Content
To convey helpful information to customers and business partners who like to learn something about PLUS.
Brand story, informative articles, event introduction, partnership introduction
To directly communicate and connect with the consumer in order to build up a long-term relationship with them.
Event and partnership introduction, Spiritual value of fashion, self-identity
To promote the brand and increase brand awareness through influencer marketing and thought-provoking information that reinforces PLUS’s benefits to consumers.
Event and partnership introduction, Spiritual value of fashion, self-identity
To attract more consumers who like seeking new trends and engage with existing consumers.
Fashion knowledge, makeup tips, product recommendations
To visually communicate with consumers through inspiring images that establish the brand identity.
Engaging images
To gain media coverage and increase brand awareness.
Brand introduction, event introduction, partnership introduction
To increase brand awareness and establish trust.
Brand introduction, event introduction, partnership introduction
To increase brand visibility and increase brand awareness.
Brand introduction, event introduction, partnership introduction
To increase brand visibility, drive more consumers to the brand and increase ticket sales.
Engaging visuals of event introduction
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6.4 B2B Communication Strategy
“B2B marketers need to stop selling and start inspiring, bringing more emotion into content production, rather than just promotion�(Clark, 2016). PLUS will meet prospective partners in person in order to forge partnerships with them. The key communication strategy with them focuses on inspiring contents that will be of high value for partners.
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Key Messages
Issues of Prospective Partners
Influence of Individualisation & Experience Economy
Brand Values
Innovation of Event Planning
-Demonstrate understanding of the business landscape of prospective partners: PLUS will research the brand performance of potential partners and their business challenges. This helps identify issues that they want to resolve and identify a potential collaboration opportunity. Having a deep understanding of the business also shows that PLUS is able to build a campaign around those insights and help businesses achieve their specific goals.
-Demonstrate the strong influence of individualisation and experience economy: PLUS will let prospective partners aware of the strong influence of individualisation and experience economy on consumer behaviour and business strategy. New solutions need to be carried out to engage with the consumer and respond to their changing need. This provides prospective partners with a basic understanding of how PLUS’s experiences can meet customer expectation.
-Demonstrate the values and benefits of the partnership: PLUS will focus on communicating the values of the partnership and how PLUS will help brands build a good relationship with customers. In responding to individualisation and experience economy, PLUS provides new and unique experiences that appeal to current consumers and have not been done before. PLUS’s experiences can help brands to improve brand identity, increase brand exposure rate, improve brand awareness and most importantly, improve brand loyalty through emotionally engage with the customer.
-Demonstrate innovative event plans: The key to encouraging businesses to collaborate with PLUS is providing them with creative event plans. The concept idea of every event will be based on contemporary issues and relevant market trends. For example, when collaborating with a cosmetic brand, PLUS will research on what is happening in the cosmetic industry and what consumers care about in order to develop an innovative idea. Event plans will be created accordingly.
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6.5 Press Release
Press releases will be sent to relevant media to promote PLUS’s activities and partnerships. They will be written and sent immediately after every event, making sure they are available for ‘immediate release’. It means media is able to share the information of PLUS if they think it may interest their readers. PLUS’s press release will be short but attractive in order to effectively pique the interest of a journalist or a publication. Research on publications’ main contents and target consumer will be implemented and PLUS will prioritise media who shares the similar target audience. The main purpose of a press release is to let the media aware of PLUS and potentially share the information on their platform or write an actual article about it, therefore gaining media coverage and increasing brand awareness. Additionally, a press release will be sent out before the launch of the brand to promote the brand.
Potential Fashion Media and Publications: FashionMag.com, Tencent Fashion, Fashion Trend Digest, YOKA, Business of Fashion ... ...
AN EXAMPLE
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How Fashion Experience Is Hitting The Fashion Industry -by Wanqi Zhang, Manageing Director, PLUS -6th, October, 2019, Shenzhen A fashion experience event “Fashion Industry Insider” was held last week by PLUS and Ochirly. The fashion experience specialist brand PLUS collaborated with a women’s wear brand to create amazing fashion experiences for consumers, enabling consumers to experience the fashion world, rather than merely purchase fashion products.
“Making fashion a way of entertainment and self-actualisation is the spiritual value of fashion.” - Seven, Event Designer of PLUS In terms of the highlights of the event, the Ochirly’s 2018 AW catwalks firstly attracted consumer attention. Then during the fashion design experience class, designers from Ochirly had a lively fashion design class and consumers had done some fashion design works.
“It is completely fresh. I have always dreamed to become a fashion designer and this event provided me with this invaluable opportunity!” - One of the participants So what does this event stand for? PLUS believes that fashion is no merely a product-oriented industry. In this event, PLUS and Ochirly brought consumers to an experiential fashion world where consumers can actually learn about the spiritual value of fashion and utilise fashion to achieve their personal goals. This has never been done before in China. However, this new idea of creating exclusive fashion experience will potentially become an important future trend. About PLUS PLUS is a fashion experience company which mixes components of fashion, entertainment and education. It celebrates experience culture and individuality. It aims to provide customers with unique experiences that allow them to enrich their lives, learn about fashion trends, express selfidentity and reach self-actualisation. For more information, please visit http:/www.plus-sz.com About Ochirly Ochirly is a Chinese fashion brand founded in 1999 and has more than 800 stores in China. It targets young Chinese women who prioritise quality and style over prices. Ochirly has a great brand portfolio, extensive retail networks and a strong management team.
For further press information and images, please contact: Wanqi Zhang, Managing Director, PLUS wanqizhang@gmail.com
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6.6 The Website
PLUS will develop its official website to allow customers to learn about PLUS’s brand story, event introduction, partnership introduction, latest information, and so forth. Moreover, the website enables potential business partners to develop a deeper understanding of PLUS and therefore create more partnership opportunities. The website will provide consistent information, making sure that users are able to access the information they have viewed on other platforms. Its visual identity will perfectly fit its brand identity: creative, modern, confident and exclusive.
The Website (Mobile Version)
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The Website (Desktop Version)
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6.7 Social Media Social media is the most important platform for PLUS to reach prospects and customers. As SAMPi(2017) suggested, “social media is the main source information for 70% of Chinese millennials and Chinese social media users thrive off personal interactions and favour brands based on their social persona”. It is highly important for PLUS to communicate and connect with the customers through a variety of social media platforms, in order to strengthen the brand identity, create a positive brand association, build conversions, improve interaction with key audiences, and raise brand awareness. Moreover, the emergence of new technology has transformed Chinese consumers’ consumption behaviour, with “31% of WeChat users making purchases through WeChat”(McKinsey Company, 2016). It is essential for PLUS to develop its social media platform to allow its consumers to shop at their most convenient way. PLUS will focus on the uses of WeChat, Weibo and Red, as they are most relevant and helpful for PLUS to engage with its target audience.
KEY MESSAGES GO BEYOND YOURSELF! This message captures the brand essence, celebrating self-identity. PLUS will create contents related to“ GO BEYOND YOURSELF!” to inspire and encourage readers to develop their personal goals and reach self-improvement. This will arouse customers’ desires to PLUS’s experiences as it effectively reflects the brand values and makes customers aware of what PLUS can offer.
START YOUR FASHION JOURNEY! This message emphasises that PLUS is creating unique experiences, the fashion journey for customers. This message aims to stimulate customers actions to purchase the event tickets and start to participate in unique experiences that allow them to access an experiential fashion world. It will work effectively to fashion-conscious customers.
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Social Media
WeChat The Relationship Builder WeChat is a sophisticated platform with multi-functions including booking a flight, reserving a table, shopping, making a payment and researching. It has “over 850 million monthly active users in 2017 and an annual increase of 40% in December 2016” (linkfluence, 2017). WeChat became an ideal platform for marketers to support e-commerce activities, communicate with customers and develop loyalty programme. PLUS will develop its WeChat official account for customers to gain instant information, manage their individual account or membership, and purchase event tickets. The main purposes of WeChat are to directly communicate with consumers, provide the most convenient way for them to shop, and engage with them. It is also noticeable that Chinese millennials are highly active on WeChat ‘Moments’ where they can share their daily experience and forward posts. Therefore, PLUS will encourage customers to share the post of PLUS on their personal ‘Moments’ by providing benefits such as free tickets, free gifts or discounts. This will help increase the brand visibility and improve customer engagement.
Key Purposes: Direct Communication & Selling Tickets & Improving Customer Engagement
PLUS+ WeChat ID: PLUS_OFFICIAL
Intro
Tickets of “MEET THE DESIGNER” event are now open to everyone!
PLUS is a specialist in the art of fashion experience that celebrates self-identity. It collborates with a varity of brands to create inspiring events that allow customers to enrich their life, gain new perspectives, express self-identity and reach selfactualisation.
Receive Messages
Sticky On Top View History
Why do so many fashion bloggers recommend “MEET THE DESIGNER”? TICKETS
ACCOUNT
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Social Media
Sina Weibo The Awareness Developer Sina Weibo is the most popular micro-blogging site in China and “can be considered as a combination of Twitter and Facebook”(Thai, 2018). ‘Its monthly active users reached 392 million in 2017”(China Internet Watch, 2018). “It is specifically popular among young white-collar workers and the urban online population”(Thai, 2018). Weibo’s users are the important target audience of PLUS. The main purpose of using Sina Weibo is to increase brand awareness. Businesses and influencers tend to share trending contents to increase the level of communication with their followers, and PLUS will create an official Sina Weibo account for customers to interact with the brand and even debate on any topics that PLUS creates. In order to reach a wider audience, PLUS will pay to be appeared on Sina Weibo’s ‘hot search ranking’. This is a popular search site where users can catch up with the news and anything interesting. As “76% of Weibo users use the hot search ranking”(linkfluence, 2017), it can strongly increase brand visibility. However, this will be implemented occasionally, as hot search ranking is for interesting things and latest news, being on hot search ranking too frequently can confuse and annoy readers. Therefore, the most effective way is to only promote meaningful information and news such as the launch of the brand, special events and important brand collaborations. More importantly, Sina Weibo is a crucial platform for PLUS to do influencer marketing, because “when a celebrity posts about a brand on their Weibo page, the post engagement can be up to 6,000 times that of the brand, and the post can reach a fanbase of 1,800 times greater than the brand has” (linkfluence, 2017). Furthermore, “75% of Weibo users do not mind advertisements, and more than 50% may click on popular advertisements” (linkfluence, 2017). Therefore, PLUS will focus on promoting and adverting on Sina Weibo to reach a wide audience and increase brand awareness.
Key Purposes: Promoting The Brand & Increasing Brand Awareness
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Social Media
Red The Bounce Back King Red is a female-oriented social media site with the focus on fashion and beauty. Red’s users post to recommend products and share their shopping experiences. This digital community generates users who like sharing and exploring new things. Red’s main users are young and fashion-oriented women. PLUS will regularly share fashion knowledge, makeup tips and product recommendations on this platform to show its fashion expertise, reach the target audience and attract them. It will also boost customer engagement and arouse their interests to PLUS’s activities.
Key Purposes: Showing Fashion Expertise & Improving Customer Engagement
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6.8 Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing is a key driving force for PLUS to grow its audience and improve sales, as “82% of consumers now state that they’re more likely to purchase product based on influencer, specifically microinfluencers’ recommendations”(Connects, 2017). However, a large number of Chinese influencers, who have around 100k followers, only have less than 20 comments and 50 likes, because of the fake numbers of followers. Therefore, PLUS will focus on collaborating with influencers who have high levels of engagement. Furthermore, selection of influencers will be based on the TEARS Model, which means trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, respect and similarity. PLUS will choose authentic and attractive influencers and they should fit with PLUS’s brand identity and have a similar target audience. The below table shows some influencers that PLUS plans to collaborate within the first year. Collaboration may also include offline activities, which means influencers will be paid extra to attend an event. Additionally, PLUS will send free tickets to some micro-influencers who may be interested to participate in PLUS’s events. This is voluntary and they will not be paid. They may be willing to come in order to show their fashion-awareness, which will help to enhance their social media profile.
Influencer
Follower
Enegament
Expertise
Cost
迪拜奶奶
77.7k on Weibo
87 comments/post on Weibo 161 likes/post on Weibo
Fashion look & Traveling
¥3k/post ¥7k/offline activities
你桑_
291k on Weibo
204 comments/post on Weibo 299 likes/post on Weibo
Fashion product recommendation
¥4k/post ¥8k/offline activities
ChloeZhang
291k on Weibo
76 comments/post on Weibo 392 likes/post on Weibo
Fashion & lifestyle
¥4k/post ¥9k/offline activities
HelloDaH
422k on Weibo
153 comments/post on Weibo 383 likes/post on Weibo
Match & mix, Product recommendations
¥6k/post ¥16k/offline activities
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6.9 Banner Advertising
PLUS will launch banner advertisements on Taobao, the biggest online marketplace in China, with “over 580 million monthly active users in 2018” (DMR, 2018). Taboo allows PLUS to sell tickets to consumers and banner advertising is effective to directly drive consumers to PLUS’s Taobao store. Moreover, as “70% of taboo monthly active users are in their 20s or 30s” (DMR, 2018) and PLUS’s banner advertisements will be tailored to Taobao’s visitors based on keywords from the visitors’ search and website viewing behaviour, PLUS will be able to reach the target audience most effectively. The banner advertisements will be launched on a monthly basis to promote the monthly event. They will be visually engaged, as it is key to attract visitors’ attention quickly when they are browsing the website. Overall, the popularity of Taobao can strongly increase brand visibility, improve brand awareness, and drive sales.
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6.10 Communications Timeline
Social media communications will be conducted all the way. Press releases will be sent to fashion media before launching the brand and before or after an event. Influencer marketing will be implemented before and during the event. The most effective time of implementing banner advertisements is right before the event. However, microblog hot search promotion will be done occasionally to promote special information.
PRE
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY JUNE JULY
Website WeChat Sina Weibo Red Instagram Press release Influencer marketing Banner ads Microblog hot search site
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AUG
SEPT
OCT
NOV
DEC
Chapter SEVEN Brand Management 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9
Operational Plan Financial Objectives Sourcing Finance Key Start-Up Costs Marketing Budget Sales Forecast Profit and Loss Forecast Cash Flow Forecast Future Growth Plan
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7.1 Operational Plan
The company will be operated in a small office in Shenzhen in the first year. Three full-time employers will be employed, including a managing director, an event director and a marketing director. Although they all have their main responsibilities, they complete most business tasks together. For the monthly event, some temporary employers will be required to help set up and organise the event. The below operational time plan shows the critical path of the business within the first year.
Pre-launch: Nov - Dec, 2018 Createing Business business plan registration
Raising capital
Office set-up
Staff hire & training
Website launch
Social media accounts creation
Secure the first partner
First Year: 2019 JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUG
SEPT
OCT
NOV
DEC
Secure partner for the next event and negotiate event details Secure influencer for collaboration and implement influencer marketing Implement social media marketing and communicaton stratgey Impletment banner advertising before the monthly event Send press release before and after the monthly event Seek for ideal event venue and prepare for the event set-up Hire temporary staff for the monthly event Measure brand preformance including ticket sales, customer satifaction and financial aspects Gain and analyse customer feedback Make second year event plans
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7.2 Financial Objectives
1. To generate ÂĽ1,100,000 in sales revenue by the end of the first year. 2. To pay off the bank loan by the end of year two. 3. To maintain a positive cash flow every month. 4. To increase the net profit by 50% in the second year.
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7.3 Sourcing Finance
In order to successfully launch the brand, a total of ¥500,000 capital is needed to support the start-up costs and marketing budget within the first year. PLUS will obtain a bank loan of ¥300,000 from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and a funding of ¥200,000 will be provided by the owner of the company. The start-up costs will be sufficient as PLUS will gain sales revenue every month to maintain a positive cash flow.
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7.4 Key Start-Up Costs
The key start-up costs listed below will be needed to create the business in the first year.
Item
Rationale
Cost
Business Registration
Register the company through Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce.
¥400
Website Development
Development of a website with basic functions is priced at between ¥10,000 to ¥30,000 in China.
¥20,000
WeChat Account Development
The pricing for creating a WeChat that allows customers to purchase tickects was sourced off of industrial interviews and the Internet.
¥20,000
Wages
The wage for a full-time managing director is ¥10,000 for 2 months of the pre-launch, and the wage for a website designer is ¥4,000.
¥14,000
Premises
A small office for three employers in Shenzhen will cost ¥1,500 to ¥3,000. The company will rent the office a month before the formal launch.
¥2,000
Office Equipment
Three office desks, three office chairs and three laptops need to be purchased for the three full-time employers in the first year.
¥33,000
Total: ¥89,400
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7.5 Marketing Budget
In the first year, a budget of ¥300,000 will be used for marketing purposes to promote the brand. Marketing and communication are crucial in the first year to increase the brand awareness and establish relationship with the customer.
Method
Price
Quantity
Total
Social Media
0
unlimited
0
Press Release
0
unlimited
0
Influencer Marketing (50-100k followers)
¥9,000
8
¥72,000
Influencer Marketing (100-200k followers)
¥15,000
3
¥45,000
Influencer Marketing (200-300k followers)
¥20,000
1
¥20,000
Sina Weibo Hot Search
¥20,000
2
¥40,000
Banner Advertising (Taobao)
¥10,000
12
¥120,000 Total: ¥297,000
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7.6 Sales Forecast
PLUS will generate revenue through sales of event ticket and membership fees in the first year. The below table represents the predicted sales revenue of these two elements. The ticket numbers and the ticket prices are different in every month, which is based on the first-year event plan. However, the actual number of ticket sales has been forecasted as 95% of all advance tickets. And the number of members has been forecasted as 10% of all advance tickets of the monthly event. This is based on primary research, which showed 10.4% of respondents are highly interested in becoming a member of PLUS.
Year 1 Sales Forecast
Event Ticket Unit Sales
Unit Prices
Unit Revenue
Membership
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
400
300
300
400
MAY JUNE JULY
AUG
SEPT
OCT
NOV
DEC
Total
450
1,000
450
900
150
7,076
×95% ×95% ×95% ×95% ×95% ×95% ×95% ×95% ×95% ×95%
×95%
×95%
=380
=285
=285
=380
=855
=190 =1,900 =427
=950
=427
=855
=142
400
300
300
400
900
200
1,000
450
900
150
×10%
×10%
900
200
2,000
2,000
450
×10% ×10% ×10% ×10% ×10% ×10% ×10% ×10% ×10% ×10% =40
=30
=30
=40
=90
=20
=200
=45
=100
=45
=90
=15
Event Ticket ¥200
¥350
¥200
¥200
¥250
¥200
¥150
¥150
¥90
¥300
¥150
¥600
Membership ¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
¥200
742
Event Ticket ¥76,000 ¥99,750 ¥57,000 ¥76,000 ¥213,750 ¥38,000 ¥285,000 ¥64,050 ¥85,500 ¥128,100 ¥128,250 ¥85,200 ¥1,324,200 Membership ¥8,000 ¥3,000 ¥6,000 ¥8,000 ¥18,000 ¥4,000 ¥40,000 ¥9,000 ¥10,000 ¥9,000 ¥18,000 ¥3,000 ¥148,400
Total
¥84,000 ¥102,750 ¥63,000 ¥84,000 ¥231,750 ¥42,000 ¥325,000 ¥73,050 ¥95,500 ¥137,100 ¥146,250 ¥88,200 ¥1,472,600
98
s
In the second and third year, PLUS will still organise 12 monthly events in Shenzhen each year and expand its market to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. In year 2, PLUS plans to organise two events in Guangzhou. In year 3, PLUS plans to organise three events in Guangzhou, one in Shanghai and one in Beijing. The average prices will be 5% higher than the first year and the percentages of ticket sales will be 98%. Moreover, with the growth of the brand awareness, PLUS will start to generate revenues through event organisation and sponsorship.
Year 2 & 3 Sales Forecast YEAR 2
YEAR 3
14(number of event) × 620 (numbe of ticket) × 98% × 250 (price in average) = ¥ 2,126,600
17(number of event) × 620 (numbe of ticket) × 98% × 250 (price in average) = ¥ 2,585,300
PLUS Membership
800 (unit)× 200 (price) = ¥ 160,000
900 (unit)× 200 (price) = ¥ 180,000
Event Organisation Fee
14(number of event) × ¥30,000 (price in average) = ¥420,000
17(number of event) × ¥40,000 (price in average) = ¥680,000
Sponsorship Fee
¥0
5(unit) × ¥30,000 (price in average) = ¥150,000
Total Revenue
¥2,706,600
¥3,595,300
Event Ticket
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7.7 Profit and Loss Forecast The following chart shows that PLUS will have a positive finance performance since the first year and it will continue to grow in the following years. As PLUS will expand its market to more cities and will recruit more employers in year 2 and year 3, the total expenses will increase as well. However, as PLUS will start to make profits through event organisation and sponsorship, the net profit will increase significantly.
YEAR 1 / 2019
YEAR 2/ 2020
YEAR 3 / 2021
¥1,324,200
¥2,126,600
¥2,585,300
¥148,400
¥160,000
¥180,000
Event Organisation Fee
¥0
¥420,000
¥680,000
Sponsorship Fee
¥0
¥0
¥150,000
¥1,472,600
¥2,796,600
¥3,595,300
Start-Up Costs
¥89,400
¥0
¥0
Premises
¥24,000
¥36,000
¥48,000
Wages(full-time employers)
¥180,000
¥336,000
¥732,000
Wages(part-time employers)
¥24,000
¥35,000
¥51,000
Marketing and Promotion
¥297,000
¥352,000
¥365,000
Event Setting
¥480,000
¥700,000
¥850,000
Travel
¥12,000
¥22,000
¥47,000
Tax(20% corporation tax)
¥294,520
¥559,320
¥719,060
Total
¥1,400,920
¥2,040,320
¥2,812,060
Profit/Loss
+ ¥71,680
+ ¥756,280
+ ¥783,240
Revenue Event Ticket Membership Fee
Total Expenses
100
Profit And Loss Sensitivity Analysis The below sensitive analysis chart shows that in the worst scenario in year 1, PLUS will have a loss of ¥222,840. However, it is common for a new business in the first year and it is acceptable, because even in the worst scenario, PLUS will make a profit of ¥196,960 in year 2. This will enable the business to cover the loss of year one. The sensitive analysis helped estimate for potential risks and it clearly shows that the business has great potentials to gain a positive profit since the second year.
Profit And Loss Sensitivity Analysis YEAR 1 / 2019
YEAR 2 / 2020
YEAR 3 / 2021
Actual Forecast
+ ¥71,680
+ ¥756,280
+ ¥783,240
Best Case Scenario (+20%)
+ ¥366,200
+ ¥1,315,600
+ ¥1,502,300
Worst Case Scenario (-20%)
- ¥222,840
+ ¥196,960
+ ¥64,180
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7.8 Cash Flow Forecast
FIRST YEAR:
JAN JAN
FEB MAR MAR APR APR FEB
MAY MAY
JUNE JUNE
JULY AUG AUG SEPT SEPT OCT OCT NOV NOV DEC DEC TOTAL Total JULY
Cash Inflow Raised Capitial
¥500,000
Ticket Sales
¥76,000 ¥99,750 ¥57,000 ¥76,000 ¥213,750 ¥38,000 ¥285,000 ¥64,050 ¥85,500 ¥128,100 ¥128,250 ¥85,200 ¥1,324,200
Membership Sales ¥8,000 Total Cash In
¥3,000
¥6,000
¥8,000
¥18,00
¥4,000
¥40,000
¥9,000
¥10,000
¥9,000
¥18,000
¥3,000
¥148,400
¥584,000 ¥102,750 ¥63,000 ¥84,000 ¥231,750 ¥42,000 ¥325,000 ¥73,050 ¥95,500 ¥137,100 ¥146,250 ¥88,200 ¥1,972,600
Cash Outflow Start-up Costs
¥89,400
Premises
¥2,000
Wages(full-time)
¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000 ¥15,000
¥15,000 ¥150,000
Wages(part-time)
¥2,000
¥2,000
Marketing
¥39,000 ¥25,000 ¥19,000 ¥19,000 ¥25,000 ¥19,000 ¥50,000 ¥19,000 ¥19,000 ¥19,000 ¥25,000
¥19,000 ¥297,000
Event Setting
¥30,000 ¥40,000 ¥30,000 ¥20,000 ¥70,000 ¥20,000 ¥60,000 ¥30,000 ¥40,000 ¥50,000 ¥60,000
¥30,000 ¥480,000
Travel
¥1,000
¥1,000
¥1,000
¥1,000
¥1,000
Tax
¥16,800 ¥20,550 ¥12,600 ¥16,800 ¥46,350
¥8,400
¥65,000 ¥14,610 ¥19,100 ¥27,420 ¥29,250
Total Cash Out
¥195,200 ¥105,550 ¥80,600 ¥75,800 ¥162,350 ¥66,400 ¥197,000 ¥82,610 ¥98,100 ¥116,420 ¥134,250 ¥86,640 ¥1,400,920
Net Cash Flow
¥388,800 -¥2,800 -¥17,600
Opening balance Closing balance
¥0
¥89,400 ¥2,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
¥1,000
¥2,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
¥8,200
¥2,000
¥3,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
¥2,000
¥4,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
¥1,000
¥69,400 -¥24,400 ¥128,000 -¥9,560
¥2,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
-¥2,600
¥2,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
¥2,000
¥2,000
¥1,000
¥20,680 ¥12,000
¥2,000
¥24,000
¥12,000
¥17,640 ¥294,520
¥1,560
¥388,800 ¥386,000 ¥368,400 ¥376,600 ¥446,000 ¥421,600 ¥549,600 ¥540,040 ¥537,440 ¥558,120 ¥553,120
¥388,800 ¥386,000 ¥368,400 ¥376,600 ¥446,000 ¥421,600 ¥549,600 ¥540,040 ¥537,440 ¥558,120 ¥570,120 ¥571,680
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¥24,000
¥571,680
It is noticeable that the net cash flow is negative in some cases, which is due to the profits generated by events may not be able to cover the marketing budget in some months. The prices of event tickets are different and some events may sell more tickets than the others, while PLUS will have communication and promotion activities every month in order to improve the brand awareness in the first year. However, the company will still make a profit in the first year and it always has sufficient cash.
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7.9 Future Growth Strategy
In the first year, PLUS will focus on developing brand awareness, building consumer base, and optimising the event experiences. Having a strong brand awareness and a good brand reputation is crucial for PLUS to forge partnership with more businesses. It is also vital for PLUS to enhance the quality of the event to increase consumer satisfaction and engagement. Therefore, PLUS will actively gain consumer feedback regarding the event in order to design, plan and organise events that can meet customer expectations maximally.
Year 2 Event Organisation Fee In the second year, PLUS will have established a strong business foundation with a stable consumer base and will be able to bring more benefits to its partners. Therefore, PLUS will charge fashion brands for the event organisation fee. Market Development PLUS plans to expand its market into Guangzhou in year two, Beijing and Shanghai in year 3, and more cities in China in the future. Cities with strong economy and young demographics are the top priorities. Branch offices will be created in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai if events are held successfully. Membership Optimisation PLUS will further develop its membership system to increase customer retention rate. Exclusive experiences will be created only for PLUS’s DIAMOND members and marketing activities will be carried to promote the benefits of being a member of PLUS.
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Year 3
Fashion Media Development In the third year, PLUS will have obtained a strong customer base and have strong influence in the fashion industry. PLUS plans to develop its online presence in order to become an influential fashion media company. PLUS will provide latest fashion information and suggestions to its readers and therefore, increase customer engagement and generate revenues by online advertising. New Partnership Opportunity PLUS will seek for more partnership opportunities with a variety of brands from different industry such as lifestyle, entertainment and education. This will allow PLUS to improve its diversity and attract different consumers. Sponsorship Opportunity In the third year, PLUS’s events will be reported by itself and other media, which will reach a large number of consumers. PLUS will have tailored sponsorship opportunities built around its events. This will allow sponsors and advertisers to promote their products or services to PLUS’s consumers in a specific event.
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Chapter EIGHT Conclusion and Evaluation 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4
Measures of Success Risk Analysis Objective Review Conclusion
106
8.1
Measures of Success
The overall business performance will be measured by below key performance indicators, which will also help demonstrate the success of the business and identify potential areas of improvement. Performance Area
Key Performance Indicator
Rationale
Brand Performance
-The Number of Ticket Sales -Growth of Ticket Sales
PLUS aims to sell 95% of the ticket in the first year and 98% in the second and third year. Analysing the number of ticket sales helps determine the overall business success as ticket sales are the most important revenue of the business. It is also crucial to measure the increase or decrease rate of sales in order to compare the performance of every month.
Brand Awareness
-Earned Media (Mentioned by Press) -Volume of Mentions -Website Traffic
This is highly important as PLUS focuses on improving brand awareness in the first year. Tallying the number of times PLUS gets mentioned by the press and get mentioned online by consumers can demonstrate the popularity of the brand. Similarly, measuring the website traffic can reveal insights into brand awareness.
Customer Loyalty & -Social Media Engagement Customer Satisfaction -Customer Feedback -Repeat Purchase Rate -The Number of Members
As PLUS aims to provide emotional benefits for the customer rather than the functional benefits, customer satisfaction is important. The marketing director of PLUS will record and evaluate the numbers of social media followers, likes and comments on a monthly basis to evaluate the relationship with the customer. A short online questionnaire including questions like “How likely are you to recommend PLUS?” and “ How satisfied are you with the event?’ will be sent out and some face-to-face interviews will be carried out to gain initial customer feedback. More importantly, as repeat customer tends to be loyal and profitable, PLUS will measure the customer retention rate. Additionally, the number of members is an important indicator as only customers who want to attend PLUS’s events again will pay to join PLUS’s membership.
Partner Satisfaction
-Partners’ Feedback -Partner Retention Rate
PLUS aims to reach 50 partners by the end of year 3, therefore, building good relationships with them is key. PLUS will talk to the partner to gain their feedback regarding the collaboration. Whether partners choose to collaborate with PLUS again also indicates their satisfaction levels.
Financial Performance
-Profit and Loss -Positive Cash Flow
A positive financial performance is fundamental to the business. PLUS aims to generate ¥1,100,000 in sales revenue in the first year and increase the net profit by 50% in the second year. And as PLUS aims to expand its market into more cities, remaining profitable will allow for further investment in the future.
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8.2
Risk Analysis
This table highlights potential internal and external risks of PLUS and proposes necessary strategies for precaution.
Risk
Threat
Impact
Prevention
The event may only appeal to a small consumer segmentation.
Medium
Consumers may think PLUS is only for fashion-conscious consumers, therefore, consumers who are not interested in fashion may not choose PLUS.
PLUS will emphasise its focus on providing customers with unique experiences to enrich life and reach self-actualisation. It will also collaborate with a variety of influencers from different industries such as fashion, lifestyle and entertainment to make sure it reaches the different audience.
Consumers may be unsatisfied with the event.
Medium
Consumers may post negative content on social media regarding the event and the customer retention rate will be low.
It is crucial to research the experience trends and test the event to ensure PLUS can create successful events. Gaining initial consumers’ feedback also helps improve the event plans to meet customer expectation and improve customer experience with PLUS.
Financial Risk: Incorrect Sales Forecast
Low
A lack of tickets sold would limit PLUS’s ability to expand its market to Guangzhou in year 2 and if more seriously, PLUS may be unable to pay back the bank loan.
As events are held on a monthly basis, PLUS will have enough time to evaluate the sales performance of last month and identify potential areas of improvement for the next event. Implementing effective promotion strategy will help increase the sales of tickets to reduce this risk.
PLUS fails to find appropriate business partner.
Low
Being unable to collaborate with fashion brands will affect the quality of the fashion event and decrease the number of ticket sales.
PLUS has developed an effective B2B communication strategy to ensure it can clearly communicate the benefits of the collaboration. Moreover, organising events for fashion brands for free in the first year will minimise this risk as partners do not need to worry about investment cost.
Competition Risk: New Entry
Medium
New businesses may also spot the opportunity of being a fashion experience creator and then start to offer similar experiences.
PLUS should have its unique selling point and focus on building its membership system to improve customer loyalty. Building good relationships with fashion brands can also create a potential barrier to enter for new brands.
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8.3
Objective Review
Objective
Review
1. To develop an innovative brand that focuses on providing fashion experiences that allow customers to express selfidentity and reach self-actualisation.
‘PLUS’ is created with the brand mission ‘to celebrate experiential fashion culture and create inspiring events that allow customers to enrich life, gain new perspectives, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation’. This is a creative and ideal business idea for the Chinese market.
2. To identity the accurate market position and the ideal target audience.
PLUS mainly targets Chinese female millennials who desire to enrich their lives and reach self-actualisation through experiences. Four key customer segments were identified: life builders, fashion-conscious consumers, individuality seekers and status seekers.
3. To develop a successful marketing and communication plan that can help achieve the business goals maximally.
Both B2B and B2C marketing and communication strategies were well-designed, including the partnership strategy, the membership system, the marketing 4 E’s, the first-year event plan, social media communication plan, and influencer marketing plan.
4. To develop effective financial and operational plans for the business.
An effective operational plan was designed with a variety of critical paths for the business. In terms of financial aspect, the business is predicted to gain a profit of ¥71,680 in the first year and it will always maintain a positive cash flow.
5. To forecast and measure business performance.
PLUS is predicted to generate ¥1,472,600 in sales revenue in the first year, ¥2,706,600 in the second year, and ¥3,595,300 in the third year. In addition to sales forecast, other key performance indicators were identified, which will help measure the success of the new business.
6. To develop a future growth strategy that assesses the future direction of the company.
This report has identified potential future growth strategies, including market development, membership optimisation, new partnership opportunity, and sponsorship opportunity.
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110
Conclusion This report has proposed a creative and innovative business idea. The brand ‘PLUS’ is created with the mission ‘to celebrate experiential fashion culture and create inspiring events that allow customers to enrich life, gain new perspectives, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation’. As the Future Thinking and Stage One report have spotted that individualisation has had a significant impact on the Chinese fashion industry, ‘PLUS’ will be an ideal response to the changing needs of individualistic consumers as it allows them to satisfy their spiritual needs through unique experiences. PLUS is a specialist in the art of fashion experience, which collaborates with fashion brands to create unique fashion experiences for the consumer. In the first year, PLUS plans to organise 12 events in Shenzhen and it will expand to Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing in the following years. The business is predicted to make a profit of ¥71,680 in the first year and it will grow significantly in the future. The competitive advantage of PLUS is that it is the first brand that focuses on creating unique fashion experiences for consumers in China. It mixes components of fashion, entertainment and education and it aims to make fashion a way of entertainment and self-development. It will not face intense competition in the current market, however, it faces potential threats of the new entry in the future. Therefore, PLUS will implement its membership strategy and an effective marketing and communication strategy to build a long-term relationship with the customer and enhance its brand competitiveness. To conclude, PLUS is a feasible and creative business idea in responding to the changing needs of Chinese individualistic consumer and it will be the first specialist in the art of fashion experience in China.
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Linkfluence, 2017. CHINESE SOCIAL MEDIA: A MARKETING MASTERCLASS [online] Linkfluence. Available at: https:// linkfluence.com/chinese-social-media-marketing/ [Accessed 20th March 2018] LINE FRIENDS. LINE FRIENDS [online] Available at: https://www.linefriends.com/[Accessed 21st February 2018] Mintel, 2017. THE CHINESE CONSUMER [online] Mintel. Available at: https://store.mintel.com/the-chinese-consumer-chinaapril-2017 [Accessed 20th February 2018] MUJI, 2018. MUJI HOTEL [online] Available at: https://hotel.muji.com/shenzhen/en/[Accessed 20th February 2018] Newton Fashion, 2017. Experiential Marketing [online]WeChat. Available at: http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HjgTaVzO0l2h0TGjn1MSfA [Accessed 17th February 2018] Nielsen, 2014. Why Word Of Mouth Marketing Is The Most Important Social Media[online] Forbers. Available at: https://www.forbes. com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2014/07/17/why-word-of-mouth-marketing-is-the-most-important-social-media/#638bd89754a8 [Accessed 10th March 2018] Tabachnikoff, A., 2016. How To Market To Millennials In The Experience Economy. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www. forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2016/05/07/how-to-market-to-millennials-in-the-experience-economy/#a5be9b25ef75 [Accessed 18th February 2018] TechTarget. Customer Segmentation. [online] TechTarget. Available at: http://searchsalesforce.techtarget.com/definition/customersegmentation [Accessed 23rd February 2018] Thai, N.,2018. 10 Most Popular Social Media Sites in China (2018 Updated) [online] Dragon Social. Available at: https://www. dragonsocial.net/blog/social-media-in-china/#Weibo [Accessed 20th March 2018] Trendone, 2017. Individualisation [online] Trend One. Available at : https://www.trendone.com/en/trend-universe/mega-trends/ mega-trend-detail/individualisation.html [Accessed 3rd December 2017] Pine, B. and Gilmore, J. H. 1999. The experience economy, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Rous, Y., 2014. Why the 4E’s of Marketing are replacing the old 4P’s?[online] Linkedin. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/ pulse/20141204091656-87374558-why-the-4e-s-of-marketing-are-replacing-the-old-4p-s/ [Accessed 10th March 2018] SAMPI, 2017. Infographic: Online Behavior of Chinese Millennials [online] SAMPi. Available at: https://sampi.co/infographicchinese-millennials/ [Accessed 19th March 2018] Shenzhen Fashion Week. ABOUT US[online]Shenzhen Fashion Week. Available at:Shenzhen Fashion Week. http://www. szfashionweek.com/index.php?m=Home&c=Index&a=footerabout [Accessed 26th February 2018] Smith, C., 2018. 22 Amazing Taobao statistics and facts (February 2018)[online] DMR.Available at: https://expandedramblings.com/ index.php/taobao-statistics/ [Accessed 24th March 2018] South China Morning Post, 2017. China sets up clearing house for online payment services like AliPay and Tenpay[online] South China Morning Post. Available at: http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2105825/china-sets-clearing-house-onlinepayment-services-alipay-and [Accessed 5th March 2018] Sukhraj, R., 2017. How to Use Exclusivity to Convert More Leads With Your Marketing[online] iMPACT. Available at: https://www. impactbnd.com/blog/how-to-use-exclusivity-to-convert-more-leads [Accessed 22rd February 2018] Usborne, S., 2017. Just do it: the experience economy and how we turned our backs on ‘stuff ’. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/13/just-do-it-the-experience-economy-and-how-we-turned-our-backs-on-stuff [Accessed 17th February 2018] Wang,K,W., Lau,A., and Gong,F., 2016. How savvy, social shoppers are transforming Chinese e-commerce[online] McKinsey&Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/how-savvy-social-shoppers-are-transforming-chinese-ecommerce [Accessed 19th March 2018] Wilson, L., 2011. THINGS ABOUT HOW A PERSON EXPERIENCES YOUR MESSAGE. Len Wilson [online] Available at: http:// lenwilson.us/five-things-experience-message/ [Accessed 18th February 2018] Wood, E., 1972. Mind and Politics: An Approach to the Meaning of Liberal and Socialist Individualism. The USA: University of California Press. 1972. p. 6
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List of Illustrations Shenzhen Fashion Week,2018. [digital image] Shenzhen Fashion Week. Available at: http://www.szfashionweek.com/index.php?m=Home&c=Index&a=sub_ index [Accessed 28th March 2018] Zhang, W., 2018. Shenzhen Fashion Week. Own Photograph.
Tuve hotel background, 2017. [digital image] Available at: http://www.tuve.hk/ contact/ [Accessed 20th March 2017]
Tuve hotel background, 2017. [digital image] Available at: http://www.tuve.hk/contact/ [Accessed 20th March 2017]
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. teamLab [digital image] Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teamlab_logo_RGB_color.png [Accessed 25th
Zhang, M., 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
Zhang, W., 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
Hu, L., 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
Zeng, Y., 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
Boston Consultant Group, 2015. Share of China’s urban consumption by the millennials [digital image] Available at: https:// www.bcg.com/zh-cn/default.aspx [Accessed 21st February 2018]
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Zhang, W., 2018. Shenzhen Fashion Week. Own Photograph.
Pinterest, 2018. [digital image] Pinterest. Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ pin/480266747757239875/[Accessed 21st February 2018]
Ni.N., 2018. [online] Sina Weibo. Available at: https://www.weibo.com/u/2554404125 ?refer_ ag=1001030101_&is_all=1 [Acces sed 18th January 2018]
Pinterest, 2018. Autumn/Winter 2018 Shenzhen Fashion Week Kicks Off [digital image] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/480266747757239872/ [Accessed 21st February 2018]
Zhang, W., 2018. Fashion Musuem. Own Photograph.
Zhang, W., 2018. Shenzhen Fashion Week. Own Photograph.
Wang, R., 2018. Dolce&Gabbana x EDGE Chinese New Year Celebration [digital image] EDGE. Available at: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tgjXUalLTCHW_QxGi4sfBg [Accessed 28th March 2018]
Huitu, 2017. Shenzhen [digital image] Huitu. Available at: http://www.huitu.com/ photo/show/20170404/221022505020. html [Accessed 25th February 2018]
Zhang, W., 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
Zhang, W., 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
Fashion Hippie Loves, 2017. INSTA INSPIRATION [digital image] Available at: https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/fashio nhippieloves-3881178/insta-inspiration5408279063 [Accessed 17th April 2018] Chen,X., 2018. Selfie. Own Photograph.
Zhang, W., 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
Fashion Hippie Loves, 2017. INSTA INSPIRATION [digital image] Available at: http://fashionhippieloves.com/2017/02/ insta-inspiration-143/ [Accessed 17th April 2018]
SINA, 2018. Style [digital image] Available at: http://k.sina.com.cn/article_5663777127_p15196616702700a72x. html [Accessed 17th April 2018]
Zhang, B, 2018. WBS. Own Photograph.
Zhang, B, 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
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Zhong,Y, 2018. Selfie. Own Photograph.
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Eventbrite, 2018. Hong Kong Fashion Events. [digital image] Available at: https://www.eventbrite.hk/d/hong-kong-hong-kong/fashion--events/[Accessed 9th April 2018]
Zhong,Y, 2018. WeChat’s Moment. Own Photograph.
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YunSpace, 2019. Shenzhen’s venue.digital image] Available at: http://www. yunspace.com.cn/ [Accessed 25th March 2018]
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Zhang, W., 2018. Shenzhen Fashion Week. Own Photograph.
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Zhang, W., 2018. Boston Flotal Event. Own Photograph.
Zhang, W., 2016. Dior’s shoes. Own Photograph.
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MY LUXURY, 2015.Le donne più eleganti della storia: le icone di stile senza tempo [digital image] Available at: https://www.myluxury.it/articolo/ledonne-piu-eleganti-della-storia-le-icone-di-stilesenza-tempo-foto/63837/ [Accessed 10th Apr 2018]
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What’s on Stirling. Vintage Afternoon Tea [digital image] Available at: http://www. whatsonstirling.co.uk/event/054671-vintage-afternoon-tea/ [Accessed 10th Apr 2018]
Eventbrite, 2017. Sewing Workshop: Make a Dress in a Day! [digital image] Available at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sewingworkshop-make-a-dress-in-a-day-tickets41682845513?aff=es2 [Accessed 9th April 2018]
Eventbrite, 2017. Sewing Workshop: Make a Dress in a Day! [digital image] Available at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sewing-workshop-make-a-dress-in-a-daytickets-41682845513?aff=es2 [Accessed 9th April 2018]
ONLY GFX, 2018. 9 Floral Flower Frame (JPG)[digital image] Available at: http:// www.onlygfx.com/9-floral-flower-framejpg/ [Accessed 13th April 2018]
tooopen, 2010. Pink flower [digital image] Available at: http://www.tooopen.com/ view/95630.html [Accessed 12th April 2018] Sina, 2014. Nini[digital image] Available at: http://slide.ent.sina.com.cn/star/w/ slide_4_704_87180.html [Accessed 12th April 2018]
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Be Social Change, 2018. The Future of Sustainable Fashion (Mar 20th)[digital image] Available at: https://www. besocialchange.com/product/sustainable-fashion/ [Accessed 17th April 2018]
Zhang, W., 2018. Shenzhen Fashion Week. Own Photograph.
Zhang, W., 2018. Shenzhen Fashion Week. Own Photograph.
Dibainainai, 2018. [digital image] Weibo. Available at: https://weibo.com/ zhangleshi?refer_flag=1005055013_ [Accessed 17th April 2018]
Nisang, 2018. [digital image] Weibo. Available at: https://m.weibo.cn/u/5764985814 [Accessed 17th April 2018]
ChloeZhang, 2018. [digital image] Gramrix. Available at: https://gramrix.com/ chloezxm/followers [Accessed 17th April 2018]
HelloDaH, 2018. [digital image] Weibo. Available at: https://weibo.com/dahhh [Accessed 17th April 2018]
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Appendix 1: Ethical Clearance Checklist
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Appendix 2: Tutorial Record Sheets School of Art & Design ba
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
School of Art & Design ba
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 31st, Jan, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 7th, Feb, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Stage two brief ideas
Draft of the opportunity, the big idea, rationale, what makes it innovative and further research requirement.
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Learning issues to discuss in session:
To discuss the opportunities that identified in stage one and to discuss brief ideas.
To discuss the opportunity, the big idea, rationale, what makes it innovative and further research requirement.
Feedback from session:
Feedback from session:
Charlotte suggests me to think about something that is more experience-driven, such as classes that teaching Chinese people to behave elegantly and dressing classes.
The first idea of creating a brand to collaborate with other brands to organise fashion events if good, but consider how to make profit and the potential risks.
Tasks for next session:
Tasks for next session:
To discuss the opportunity, the big idea, rationale, what makes it innovative and further research requirement.
To have feedback of stage one report.
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Signed (student)
SevenZhang
Signed (student)
School of Art & Design ba
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
SevenZhang
School of Art & Design ba
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 14th, Feb, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 20th, Feb, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Feedback sheet of Stage one.
Presentation of the opportunity and the big idea. Timeline plan of stage 2.
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Learning issues to discuss in session:
To discuss areas of improvements based on stage one.
To confirm the Stage 2 project plan. To discuss the opportunities that identified in stage one and to discuss brief ideas.
Feedback from session:
Feedback from session:
It will be better combine both primary and secondary research in order to make more analytical and critical argument, eg link primary findings back to literature review, use primary research when doing case study.
Think about how to operate the business and how often will the business organise an event.
I have conducted wide range of qualitative research, but it would be better if I discuss more in the report. It will be bette to use infographics to display survey findings. Tasks for next session:
Tasks for next session:
To discuss the feedback of the learning journal. To confirm the one-sentence of the stage two idea. To talk more about the ideas and check the progress.
To present the content planning of stage two report. To discuss the chapter planning and key reflections from stage one.
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5 Signed (student)
Signed (student)
SevenZhang
121
SevenZhang
School of Art & Design ba
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
School of Art & Design ba
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 28th, Feb, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 7th, MARCH, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Chapter plan and Timeline plan for stage two One sentence stage two concept idea
Final brand idea. Chapter plan and Timeline plan for stage two.
Learning issues to discuss in session: To discuss the feedback of learning journal To check the progress of stage two
Learning issues to discuss in session: To To To To To
finalise brand idea. discuss the brand DNA. discuss the target market and the market opportunities. discuss financial aspects. show us some examples of appendix.
Feedback from session: It is better not to mention stage two in learning outcome, because it is a general learning outcome, not only for stage 2. Very good action plan in learning journal.
Feedback from session: It is really well-developed. It will be better to consider the risks if fashion brands are unwilling to pay for my business in the beginning time. Make sure my business got a plan.
For Stage two: To define the definition of ‘experience economy’ before exploring experience economy in China. To explain what ‘self-identity’ means to consumers. To explain how the brand works in more details, maybe use table and pictures to show the event process. It is better to have B2C communication plan before B2B. Keep working!
Tasks for next session: Tasks for next session:
To submit chapter plan. To discuss marketing and communication plans.
To discuss financial considerations for the business. To submit chapter plan.
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5 Signed (student)
Signed (student)
SevenZhang
School of Art & Design ba
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
SevenZhang
School of Art & Design ba
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 14th, MARCH, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 21st, MARCH, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Chapter plan. Communication objectives. Communication central creative ideas.
Communication plan. Visual identity. Visuals for communication plan.
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Progress check. To discuss communication objectives and central creative ideas. To discuss risks and measures. To discuss financial considerations.
Progress check. To discuss media planning. To discuss communication messages. To discuss visuals.
Feedback from session:
Feedback from session:
Communication contents should be emotionally connected with the consumer. It will be good to consider both internal and external risks.
Make sure the start-up costs are realistic. To consider how to get the fund for business.
Tasks for next session:
Tasks for next session:
To talk about visual usage. To do progress check before easter break.
To discuss financial aspects. To do progress check before easter break.
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Signed (student)
SevenZhang
Signed (student)
122
SevenZhang
School of Art & Design ba
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
School of Art & Design ba
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 28th, MARCH, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 18th, April, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Finance draft. Communication plan.
stage two report.
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Progress check. Check visual identity.
Progress check.
Feedback from session:
Feedback from session:
To provide evidence of why the brand can gain 80k followers in the first year. For the press release, it is better to have consumer’s quote. Talk about the venue of the event. It is better to send press release regarding the launch of the brand.
It is better to have a PESTLE analysis rather than PEST. Remember to have a short explanation before a table, such as marketing mix. Be careful of odd typos(strengths) and image pixilation.
Tasks for next session:
Tasks for next session:
After Easter break, we will have progress check and start to prepare executive summary and presentation.
Presentation practice.
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Signed (student)
SevenZhang
Signed (student)
School of Art & Design ba
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
SevenZhang
School of Art & Design ba
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 25th, April, 2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet 2017/18
fmb3
Module: Strategic and Creative Solutions Ref. no: FMBR30001 Date: 2rd, May,2018 Name : Wanqi Zhang
Tutorial / Seminar Record Sheet
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Work to bring / prepare for session:
Presentation.
Any questions.
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Learning issues to discuss in session:
Presentation rehearsal.
Last minutes to ask any questions. Progress check.
Feedback from session:
Feedback from session:
The text is too small. Maybe speak louder. Start-up cost should be covered. To start the presentation with a creative way. Overall, the presentation is clear and good.
Executive summary: methodology is not needed, market analysis is missing, it is better to explain more about the target consumer, it is better to explain how revenue is generated.
Tasks for next session:
Tasks for next session:
Presentation final rehearsal and executive summary check.
Presentation! Hand in executive summary and report!
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Please indicate progress to hand in (1 = Not ready / 5 = Ready and Prepared) 1 2 3 4 5
Signed (student)
SevenZhang
Signed (student)
123
SevenZhang
Appendix 3: Questionnaire Results Online Questionnaire, 216 Responses
Q2. What is your gender?
Q1. What is your age? 18 - 25 26 - 35 36 - 45 7% 16 6% 13 45 +
32.8%
53.7%
71
female male others
116
106 73
¥201-¥300 57
33.7%
19
18
8.8%
8.3%
highly slightly interested interested interested
¥1-¥100 30
not at all
40.7% 28.7%
170
¥101-¥200 63
Q6. What makes you interested in attending the events?
Q5. Which events are you most interested in? beauty class styling class fashion workshops new product launch fashion shows fashion exhibitions DIY session fashion party
0
36
Q4. How much would you be willing to pay for this event? ¥500+ ¥301- 11 ¥0 ¥500 32 23
Q3. Are you interested in attending a fashion event like fashion show, fashion exhibition, beauty class, dressing class and customisation session?
49%
16.7%
78.7%
65
32.9%
71
Low prices 25% 54 for the unique experience 54.1% 117 52.3% 113 for fun want to be with friends 55.1% 119 to experience the fashion world 51.2% 112 to learn about fashion trends 33.3% 72 to express ideas 30.1% 66 to reach self-actualisation 62.0% 134 like the particular brand 40.3% 87 be invited by fashion brands 32.9% 71 others 13 none 9
57.8% 125 59.7% 129 55.6% 120
88
55.6% 120
51.9%
112
124
Q8. How much would you be willing to pay for this event? ¥500+ ¥0 ¥301- 16 22 ¥500 25
Q7. Are you interested in attending a fashion event that also mixes components of entertainment and education? 147 68%
¥1-¥100 41
26
28
12%
13%
highly slightly interested interested interested
¥201-¥300 55
15
7%
¥101-¥200 57
not at all
Q9. If you attend this kind of fashion event, would you tell others and in which ways? post on WeChat 81.2% 177 post on Weibo 25% 54 post on QQ 13 post on Instagram 29.1% 63 60.2% 130 talk to others other ways 22 prefer not to share 13 51.9% I would not attend 5 32.9%
Q10. If there is a new brand regularly collaborates with a variety of fashion brands to create events that combine fashion, entertainment and education, what do you think of the brand? innovative 75% 162 61.6% 133 attractive 81.5% 176 unique trendy 71.8% 155 55.6% boring 8 others 22 no ideas 16.7% 36 51.9%
Q12. How much would you be willing to pay for the membership fee?
Q11. Would you be interested in being a member of this company? (members are able to buy tickets in advance, get free fashion products, get latest fashion news, be invited to attend exclusive events, etc ) 101
¥300+ 21
46.8%
¥201-¥300 67
57 26.4%
22 10%
highly slightly interested interested interested
¥1-¥100 46
36
¥101-¥200 82
16.7%
not at all
125
Appendix 4: Focus Groups Records Focus group with five young females aged 21 to 29, 13th Feb 2018. To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea. 1.There is a fashion brand focusing on creating fashion experiences for customers to enrich their life, learn about fashion trends, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation. It collaborates with a variety of fashion brands to organise events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. Would you be interested in the brand and its events and why? Participant 1: I like the brand idea! I think collaborations between brands are becoming increasingly popular nowadays. This brand acts as an important bridge and platform, which helps the customers to learn more about the fashion brand! For me, I will definitely consider to go to those events. Participant 2: I like it for sure, especially when I am interested in the fashion bloggers and brands. Participant 3: I like your brand idea in depth. It makes fashion into a kind of interesting entertainment. Participant 4: I thought fashion events are for the rich or in television. They seem to be far to life. We desire them, but feel it far away. I would like to experience something I have never experienced. It is fun! And, I would pay attention to the brands. I think I like those events because I want to learn something! Participant 5: I think it is quite unique. It seems there is nothing like that in China currently. I will definitely go for it if I like the fashion brand or am interested in the experience! 2. The brand name is PLUS. What do you think of it and do you know the meaning of it? Participant 1: Yes I know the meaning and it sounds cool. Participant 2: No. (then she was informed to link to iPhone Plus and she therefore knew the meaning) Wow it sounds interesting then. Participant 3: Yes I know the meaning. I think this name is quite unique. Participant 4: Yes I know. It means “add”. PLUS sounds trendy. Participant 5: Yes. I agree. It is cool and fashionable. 3. What do you think of this logo(the final version)? Participant 3: It is minimalistic and I like it a lot. Participant 4: I like the colour. Actually it looks very sophisticated. Participant 1: It is good. I like the way you put the letters. Participant 2: I think it looks modern. Participant 5: It is quite simple but good. Not too much and really good design. 4. What makes you interested in attending those events? Participant 3: I think it should be the unique experiences. I want to experience the fashion world. And I like fashion, so I am interested in those events. Participant 5: I would say the fashion brand. If you collaborate with a brand that I really like, I will go for it. Participant 1: Yes both experience and fashion brand are important. And maybe some special gifts? Or fashion influencers? Participant 2: I think experience is most important. I want to have fun and learn something. Participant 4: Um… I agree. 5. What events would you be particularly interested in and why? Participant 1: Fashion shows, catwalks. Participant 3: I like fashion design class because I have always dreamt to become a fashion designer. Participant 2: I would choose beauty class cos I think it is more practical and I can learn some makeup tips. Participant 5: I like fashion design experience class as well. It should be really interesting. And I don’t need to have a lot of courses, just to experience it with your brand. Participant 4: I like fashion shows, customisation session and something more for fun.
126
Focus group with five young females aged 23 to 30, 13th Feb 2018. To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea. 1.There is a fashion brand focusing on creating fashion experiences for customers to enrich their life, learn about fashion trends, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation. It collaborates with a variety of fashion brands to organise events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. Would you be interested in the brand and its events and why? Participant 1: Your brand idea is very innovative. I think experience is now popular. I am interested in the event. Participant 2: I like it. It sounds very cool. A brand that focuses on fashion activities. This is new in China. Participant 3: I like your brand idea. It is creative. Participant 4: This is good. I am interested in the event because it is interesting and special. Participant 5: Fashion event? I don’t really know how it is. I am not really interested in fashion, but maybe this is attractive for fashion-conscious people.
2. The brand name is PLUS. What do you think of it and do you know the meaning of it? Participant 2: Yes. I think your brand name sounds good, it is easy to understand and rememberable. Participant 1: Yes. It sounds good. Participant 3: I know the meaning, but what do you try to say through ‘PLUS’？ Interviewer: PLUS stands for adding values to individuals, so consumers can reach self-actualisation through our brand. Participant 3: It sounds cool. Participant 4: Yes. I like what you said. This is meaningful. Participant 5: Yes. It is easy to pronounce and remember as well. 3. What do you think of this logo(the final version)? Participant 3: It is quite elegant. I like it. Participant 2: It looks very contemporary. Participant 5: It is interesting. I like the letters. Participant 1: It looks good. Participant 4: I think it really fits with your brand. It is modern and trendy. 4. What makes you interested in attending those events? Participant 5: I think it is just the event itself. What it is and what it offers. The activities. Participant 2: I think the brands you collaborate with are also important. I would not go if I don’t event know the brand. Participant 1: I think price is also important. Participant 4: The activities? A fashion show, something like that. Participant 3: Maybe if read a really engaging post on WeChat then I just buy the ticket. 5. What events would you be particularly interested in? Participant 4: I like beauty discussion class. Will we be able to talk to a beauty blogger? It must be interesting. Participant 3: I like fashion shows, something like Victoria’s Secret’s show. haha. Participant 5: I like beauty discussion and dressing class. Go with my friends and get some tips. Participant 1: Maybe something related to Cosplay will attract me. Participant 2: Do you have fashion party？Everyone dress up and celebrate together.
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Appendix 5: Interviews Records 1.Interview with Lulu Zhang, 21 years-old Chinese girl, 18th Feb 1.你会比较想把钱花在体验上，比如吃喝玩乐，还是买东西呢？买东 西，比较实在。 2.现在会越来越愿意花在体验上吗？会吧，有钱的话那肯定去。 3.你会感兴趣参加一些活动比如，时尚品牌举办的化妆课，时装秀， 时装展，时尚定制会，服装设计体验课，穿搭课？应该会，彩妆和 内衣的话兴趣不太大，服装的话挺有趣。我觉得可以自己参与其 中，能学到东西。 4.你觉得参加了这类活动，你会有什么收获？你会觉得有自我提升 吗？比如是内衣的话，会学到怎么穿内衣比较好，其实也挺好的 的。彩妆的话，可能学到化妆技巧吧。感觉会有，会感觉学到新知 识。 5.如果有网红或时尚博主参加，你会更想去吗？其实还好，除非刚好 是自己喜欢的，但不是会为了他们去，那个是次要的。我觉得网红 不一定会化妆技巧，化妆师感觉专业一点，网红的话可能只是吸引 人们过去看网红。 6.整个活动来说，什么因素最吸引你？我觉得是能让我在其中可以学 习到我没接触过的东西，让我体验我没接触过的东西。最重要的就 是让我更好的了解一些新事物。 7.现在有一个品牌，会定期和各大时尚品牌合作举办活动，你会感兴 趣成为这个品牌的付费会员吗？要看前面参加的活动，如果觉得不 错，会想成为会员也愿意给会员费哈哈。 8.你会希望和哪些时尚品牌合作呢？如果是彩妆的话，希望是产品好 用的。服装的话，看款式吧，看这个牌子一直以来的款式和风格。 9.会偏向于国际品牌吗？不吧。欧美牌子或者国产牌子都可以，没有 偏向于哪一边。国内有两个婚纱设计师我特别喜欢：郭培设计师和 兰玉。 10.你觉得总体来说，这个公司怎么样？你觉得国内感兴趣的人会多吗？可以呀。我觉得时尚的话，对于喜欢时尚的人来 说，会感兴趣。其实我想说，深圳以前就有深圳时装周，我记得我高中就有了，而且越办越大，我想应该很多中国人都 对时尚活动感兴趣。 11.如果以下四种， 来描述你去参与各种活动的心理，哪个最合适：丰富生活，丰富自我，接触时尚，提升身份？ 接触 时尚和丰富自我！ 1. Do you prefer to spend of experience or actual products? Products, because they are more tangible and practical. 2. Would you be more willing to spend on experiences than you do before? Yes, especially when I have more disposable income. 3. Would you be interested in events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session? Yes I think so. However, I am not really interested in cosmetics and underwear.I am more interested in clothing. I like to be involved in the event and learn somthing. 4. If you attend those events, what do you think you will get? Do you think you will upgrade your one value? I think if I attend an underwear event, I will probably learn how to wear underwear properly. For cosmetics events, probably I will get some makeup tips. I think I will upgrade my own value as I am learning something. 5. If there is a fashion blogger or an online influencer, will you be more interested in the events? Not sure. Unless they are my favourite bloggers. But I will not go because of them. They are not the key reason. Also, I guess they are not professional in makeup. I think makeup professionals are more attracting for me. Bloggers and celebrities will just attract people to see them rather than to attend the event. 6. What do you think will be the key reason that driving you to the event? I think is to let me learn something I have never learnt and let me experience something I have never experienced. I want to learn something new. 7. If there is a fashion brand focusing on creating fashion experiences for customers to enrich their life, learn about fashion trends, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation. It collaborates with a variety of fashion brands to organise events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. Would you be interested in becoming a member of the brand and why? It depends on how I feel when I attend a few events of the company. If I feel really good, I will be interested in becoming a member and I am willing to pay for it. 8. What brands would you want the brand to collaborate with? Well. In terms of makeup brands, I prefer brands with good product. In terms of clothing, I prefer brands with good styles. 9. Would you be more interested in international brands? No. International brands and domestic brands are both ok for me. Actually I have two favourite wedding dress designers. They are PEI GUO and YU LAN. 10. What do you think of the total concept idea of the brand? Do you think there will be many people interested in this brand in China? I like if. I think fashion-conscious people will definitely like it. And I will like to mention Shenzhen Fashion Week. I remember it has been developed since I was in high school. N ow it is developing well and expanding its exhibitions. I think there must be many people interested in fashion events in China. 11. Which one will you think most describes the reason of attending those events, to enrich life, to reach self-actualisation to learn fashion trends, to improve status? Definitely to reach self-actualisation to learn fashion trends!
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2.Interview with Jia Hou, 32 years-old Chinese girl, 19th Feb 1.你会比较想把钱花在体验上，比如吃喝玩乐，还是买东西 呢？吃喝玩乐。 2.你平时喜欢去一些网红餐厅或下午茶吗？比如line friends 之类的？会啊，谁约我去我肯定会去，看到推送我也会想 去。 3.你会感兴趣参加一些活动比如，时尚品牌举办的化妆课， 时装秀，时装展，时尚定制会，服装设计体验课，穿搭课？ 如果是衣服，可能没兴趣，如果是化妆之类的感兴趣的，我 就会去。 4.你会发朋友圈吗？肯定会啊，记录和分享生活嘛。 5.会是为了发朋友圈而去吗？有一点点点是因为朋友圈，但 更多还是体验。 6.你比较喜欢哪些活动呢？美妆的。因为我喜欢化妆，经常 化妆，想学习怎么更好地化妆。不喜欢的东西了解他也没有 意义。 7.你觉得参加了这类活动，你会有什么感受？我会尝试学到 的东西或一些技巧，如果有效的话会觉得上升了一个level。 8.如果有网红或时尚博主参加，你会更想去吗？看是谁。如 果知道是谁的话会比较吸引。 9.现在有一个品牌，会定期和各大时尚品牌合作举办活动， 你认为这个品牌如何？我觉得很好，让更多人知道那个牌 子。但如果弄的太时尚的话，感觉融入不了的感觉。我喜欢 实践性多一点的。 10.如果以下四种， 来描述你去参与各种活动的心理，哪个 最合适：丰富生活，丰富自我，接触时尚，提升身份？丰富 生活和丰富自我吧！ 11.你有其他意见吗？总体挺好的。像美妆啊设计啊插花啊这 种类型的课程，收门票挺合理的。因为如果是你教我东西， 1. Do you prefer to spend of experience or actual products? Experience! 2. Do you like going to theme cafes or restaurants like line friends? Yes for sure, especially when my friends ask me to go with them and when I read a relevant post. 3. Would you be interested in events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session? It depends. I am not interested in clothing, but I am interested in makeup. If it is something related to makeup, I will go for it. 4. Would you share your experience on social media? Yes I think so. I would like to record and share life. 5. Would you say “posting experience on social media” is one of the reasons that drives you to those events? Yes a little bit, but I think experience is more important. 6. What kind of events will you like and why? Something related to makeup. Because I like makeup and I do makeup frequently, I will like to learn how to do makeup better. Learning thing that I am not interested in is not meaningful. 7. If you attend those events, what do you think you will get? I think I will gain some knowledge or some tips. I will try some tips and if they work, I will feel more confident. 8. If there is a fashion blogger or an online influencer, will you be more interested in the events? If depends on who the blogger is. If I know the blogger, it will definitely be more attractive. 9. If there is a fashion brand focusing on creating fashion experiences for customers to enrich their life, learn about fashion trends, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation. It collaborates with a variety of fashion brands to organise events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. What do you think of this brand? I think it is pretty good, it lets more people aware of those fashion brands. But if the event is too fashion-oriented, I will probably think they are not for me. I will like something more experiential. 10.Which one will you think most describes the reason of attending those events, to enrich life, to reach selfactualisation to learn fashion trends, to improve social status? To enrich life and to reach self-actualisation! 11. Do you have any other suggestions? I think it is good in total. In terms of classes like makeup, design and floral arrangement, it is really reasonable to have tickets, because I am really interested in learning something from you.
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3.Interview with Lin Li, 26 years-old Chinese girl, 19th Feb 1.你会感兴趣参加一些活动比如，时尚品牌举办的化妆课，穿搭 课，时装秀，时装展，时尚定制会，服装设计体验课，时尚派 对及时尚庆祝会？可以啊。因为挺好的啊，可以学到东西和接 触时尚的人。因为我喜欢fashion啊。 2.现在有一个品牌，会定期和各大时尚品牌合作举办活动，你认 为这个品牌如何？挺好的，因为这种活动比较少，而且比较有 意义。 3.你会感兴趣成为这个品牌的付费会员吗？不一定。要看活动好 不好。 4.你觉得国内现在有这类型的吗？可能有一些，但不多。 5.你比较喜欢哪些活动呢？为什么？看秀，设计，和学习知识。 6.有什么关键原因会让你想参加这些活动吗？是我喜欢的品牌我 就会去，可能会有礼品我也会想去。 7.你会在朋友圈上分享吗？为什么呢？如果是很高级我就会。 8.你觉得参加了这类活动，你会有什么感受或收获？还没参加， 不确定。可能会觉得很有趣吧。 9.如果有网红或时尚博主参加，你会更想去吗？会，比如是林小 宅。不过我特别感兴趣的是时尚博主。 10.如果以下四种， 来描述你去参与各种活动的心理，哪个最合 适：丰富生活，丰富自我，接触时尚，提升身份？接触时尚。 11. 你会希望该品牌和哪些品牌合作？Dior,Chanel, YSL, Chole, Sandro. 国内的话Miss Sixty, Caroline。其他类型的话就野兽派。
1. Would you be interested in fashion events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. Why? Yes, I like it. It allows me learn about fashion and contact the fashion industry, because I like fashion . 2. If there is a fashion brand focusing on collaborating with a variety of fashion brands to organise this kind of events, what do you think of the brand? I think it is really innovative. As I know, currently, there is a lack of this kind of activities, but I think they are meaningful. 3. Would you be interested in paying to become a member of the brand? It depends on how I feel about the event. 4. Do you think there is something like those events in China? Maybe there is a few. I am not sure. 5. Which events do you like and why? I like watching shows, experiencing fashion designs and learning something. 6. What do you think is the key reason that driving you to those events? I will go for the brand I like. And gifts can maybe attract me. 7. Would you share you experiences on social media and why? If the event is cool, I will. 8. If you attend those events, what do you think you will get? I am not sure because I have not attended, but maybe it will enrich my life. 9. If there is a fashion blogger or an online influencer, will you be more interested in the events? Yes, especially Lin Xiaozhai. I am particularly interested in fashion bloggers. 10. Which one will you think most describes the reason of attending those events, to enrich life, to reach self-actualisation to learn fashion trends, to improve social status? Definitely to learn fashion trends! 11. What brands would you want the brand to collaborate with? Dior,Chanel, YSL, Chole, Sandro. And if domestically, Miss Sixty, Caroline. And if other industries, then Yeshoupai.
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4.Interview with Ping Chen, 28 years-old Chinese girl, 19th Feb 1.你会感兴趣参加一些活动比如，时尚品牌举办的化妆课，穿搭 课，时装秀，时装展，时尚定制会，服装设计体验课，时尚派对 及时尚庆祝会？为什么？会感兴趣。很有趣吧，从来没参加过。 2.现在有一个品牌，会定期和各大时尚品牌合作举办活动，你认为 这个品牌如何？ 挺好的，很特别，我不上班的时候会想去。 3.你会感兴趣成为这个品牌的付费会员吗？不一定吧，要看会员有 什么福利。 4.你觉得国内现在有这类型的吗？ 好像很少，没怎么听说过。 5.你比较喜欢哪些活动呢？为什么？ 我喜欢服装设计体验课，穿搭 课。 想学习和体验时尚世界。 6.有什么关键原因会让你想参加这些活动吗？ 可能就是很有趣的体 验，还有和朋友一起去。 7.你会在朋友圈上分享吗？为什么呢？ 肯定会啊，我喜欢记录生 活。 8.你觉得参加了这类活动，你会有什么感受或收获？可能觉得自己 很酷。 9.如果有网红或时尚博主参加，你会更想去吗？肯定会啊。 10.如果以下四种， 来描述你去参与各种活动的心理，哪个最合 适：丰富生活，丰富自我，接触时尚，提升身份？好像都有。最 多可能是丰富生活。 11. 你会希望该品牌和哪些品牌合作？比较潮流的一些品牌， 比如 London 和 Champion。
1. Would you be interested in fashion events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. Why? Yes, because it is interesting, and I never attend one. 2. If there is a fashion brand focusing on collaborating with a variety of fashion brands to organise this kind of events, what do you think of the brand? It is good. Very special. I think I will like to go to the event when I am off duty. 3. Would you be interested in paying to become a member of the brand? Not sure, it depends on what benefits a member can get. 4. Do you think there is something like those events in China? Maybe a few? Actually I never heard about this. 5. Which events do you like and why? I like fashion design class and dressing class. I want to learn and experience the fashion world. 6. What do you think is the key reason that driving you to those events? I think it is the unique experiences. And I like to go with my friends. 7. Would you share you experiences on social media and why? Yes sure. I like recording my life. 8. If you attend those events, what do you think you will get? Maybe I will feel cool. 9. If there is a fashion blogger or an online influencer, will you be more interested in the events? Sure. 10. Which one will you think most describes the reason of attending those events, to enrich life, to reach self-actualisation to learn fashion trends, to improve social status? I think all of them. probably enriching life is the most important one. 11. What brands would you want the brand to collaborate with? Trendy brands such as Boy London and Champion.
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5.Interview with Bingchun Tang, 23 years-old Chinese girl, 19th Feb 1.你会比较想把钱花在体验上，比如吃喝玩乐，还是买东西呢？ 吃喝玩乐。 2.你平时喜欢去一些网红餐厅或下午茶吗？比如line friends之类 的？会啊，现在都很流行。 3.你会感兴趣参加一些活动比如，时尚品牌举办的化妆课，时装 秀，时装展，时尚定制会，服装设计体验课，穿搭课？还可以 吧。 4.你会发朋友圈吗？应该会的。 5.会是为了发朋友圈而去吗？不会吧，我觉得更多是为了自己的 体验和生活。 6.你比较喜欢哪些活动呢？我喜欢时尚定制，可以参与到时尚制 作的过程，做自己喜欢的东西。 7.你觉得参加了这类活动，你会有什么感受？应该会变的更喜欢 时尚，会关注的到时尚对生活的影响，和时尚如何让生活更好。 8.如果有网红或时尚博主参加，你会更想去吗？会的。 9.现在有一个品牌，会定期和各大时尚品牌合作举办活动，你认 为这个品牌如何？我觉得挺好的，很新，很多小女生应该都感兴 趣！ 10.如果以下四种， 来描述你去参与各种活动的心理，哪个最合 适：丰富生活，丰富自我，接触时尚，提升身份？丰富生活和接 触时尚。其实另外两个也有。 11.你有其他意见吗？我觉得挺好的，很创新，而且很有趣。
1. Do you prefer to spend of experience or actual products? Experience! 2. Do you like going to theme cafes or restaurants like line friends? Yes it is so popular now. 3. Would you be interested in events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session? Yes. 4. Would you share your experience on social media? Yes. 5. Would you say “posting experience on social media” is one of the reasons that drives you to those events? Not I think I attend the event for the experience for my own life. 6. What kind of events will you like and why? I like customisation session. I want to participate in the fashion production process and create my own piece of fashion. 7. If you attend those events, what do you think you will get? I think I will become more interested in fashion and start to learn about how fashion influences our life and how it makes life better. 8. If there is a fashion blogger or an online influencer, will you be more interested in the events? Yes. 9. If there is a fashion brand focusing on creating fashion experiences for customers to enrich their life, learn about fashion trends, express self-identity and reach self-actualisation. It collaborates with a variety of fashion brands to organise events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. What do you think of this brand? It sounds good. It is very new. I think most young ladies should love it. 10.Which one will you think most describes the reason of attending those events, to enrich life, to reach self-actualisation to learn fashion trends, to improve social status? To enrich life and to learn bout fashion trends. Actually also to reach self-actualisation and improve social status. 11. Do you have any other suggestions? Overall it is really good, innovative, and fun!
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Appendix 6: Industry Interviews Records Industry Interview with Jia Zheng, Executive director of Guangdong Cosmo Lady Limited Company, 25th Feb. To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea and to discuss if they will be willing to collaborate with PLUS and pay for the event. 1.假如现在有一个品牌，会定期和各大时尚品牌合作举办活 动，比如化妆课，穿搭课，时装秀，时装展，时尚定制会， 服装设计体验课，时尚派对及时尚庆祝会。一方面为了让消费 者充实生活，接触时尚，一方面让时尚品牌增加曝光率和知名 度。你们公司是否会考虑和该品牌合作，让该品牌为你们策划 活动？要看他们的活动策划的怎么样，还有考虑价格。 2.你们希望通过活动达到什么目的吗? 一般希望通过活动提高 知名度，曝光率，而且增加客户的黏性，和使客户对都市丽人 有更良好的认知。之前有和世界小姐比赛合作过，但这方面 的合作还是比较少，目前有在网上和京东合作，请一些名人出 席，做一些推广活动。 3.我现在想的是一个做一个品牌，专注于和时尚品牌合作为消 费者举办活动。活动都是和时尚相关的，但更注重消费者的 体验和参与性，会穿插一些比较娱乐性的元素在里面。你觉 得这个品牌想法如何？准确来说，这应该是一个品牌的推广服 务公司。为品牌服务，推出一些非常有个性化的服务。这个是 不错，我相信如果真的有这个帮助，有些公司是肯定愿意合作 的。只是说你能不能真的让那些公司真正有收益，你要想想哪 些品牌的需求点在哪里，你要看你能不能帮它们解决问题，达 到它们的目的。品牌的受益是很关键的点。 4.是的，这是一个活动策划的品牌，叫做PLUS，意思就是“ 加” “+”，代表为品牌增加利益和帮助消费者提升自我。每个 活动上都会有这个活动品牌的名字和时尚品牌的名字，比如 “PLUS联合都市丽人的防乳腺癌主题内衣秀”。PLUS一方面不只是帮时尚品牌增加知名度，还有一方面是为消费者提 供知识，让他们充实生活。所以是会卖门票给消费者的。因为是一个新的公司，你认为如何才能打动你们使你们和它合 作？我觉得你要说服我的话，需要让我知道你的活动的影响力。消费者会喜欢你们的活动吗？会因为购买我们的产品 吗？会因此对我们品牌留下好的影响吗？你们以前的活动会是一个很大的参考。 5.那么如果是本品牌这类型的活动策划，你认为多少策划费是合理的呢? 这不一定，很难说。要看这个活动的规模和影响 力。而且我们会看这个品牌以前的成绩和效果。也许5万到20万人民币都有可能。 1. If there is a fashion brand focusing on collaborating with a variety of fashion brands to organise events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. On one hand, it lets consumers enrich their life and learn about fashion. On the other hand, it allows fashion brands to increase brand exposure and awareness. Would your company consider to collaborate with it to let it organise events for you? It depends on the quality of your event planning and the price. 2. What do you expect to get from the event? Normally we expect to increase brand awareness and brand exposure, and increase customer loyalty. We also want the consumers to have deeper understanding of our brand. We had collaborated with world beauty competition. But actually we haven’t done a lot in this area. We do have some marketing campaign, which we collaborated with JINGDONG(e-commerce company) and invited some influencers to promote our brand. 3. Actually now there is brand idea, which focusing on collaborating with a variety of fashion brands to organise events. Events are mostly related to fashion, but it focuses on providing customers unique experience, so it will add more elements of entertainment. What do you think of this brand idea in China? I guess it is like a third-party company which do promotion and marketing campaign for brands. I think providing this unique and special services are good. I believe it may help the brands and if so, brands are definitely willing to collaborating with this brand. So the most important point is how this brand can actually help fashion brands. You need to think about what fashion brands expect and how you help them to achieve those needs. What you can provide them is crucial. 4. Yes it will be like an event planning company. Its name is PLUS, which means plus in Chinese. It means adding values to brands and consumers. For example, if PLUS collborates with your company, there will maybe an event called “preventing breast cancer lingerie show by PLUS Cosmo Lady”. PLUS will not only help fashion bands to increase brand awareness, but also provide customers some useful knowledge and enable them to enrich life and reach self-actualisation. So it will sell tickets to consumers as well. So, as PLUS is a new company, how can it let you be willing to collaborate with it? If you want to persuade me to collaborate with your brand, then I need to know the influence of your event. Will consumers like it? Will consumers therefore purchase my products? Will consumers therefore leave a good impression on our brand? Your previous events are important examples for us to look at. 5. If you are collaborating with PLUS, how much will you think is reasonable to pay for an event? It really depends. It is quite hard to say. It will depends on the scale and the influence of the event. And we will look at what he brand has done and their performance. It can be from 50,000 to 20,0000 RMB.
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Industry Interview with Yi Lin, Marketing director of Guangdong Cosmo Lady Limited Company, 27th Feb. To gain opinions and suggestions regarding the brand concept idea and to discuss if they will be willing to collaborate with PLUS and pay for the event. 1.假如现在有一个品牌，会定期和各大时尚品牌合作举办活动， 比如化妆课，穿搭课，时装秀，时装展，时尚定制会，服装设 计体验课，时尚派对及时尚庆祝会。一方面为了让消费者充实 生活，接触时尚，一方面让时尚品牌增加曝光率和知名度。你 们公司是否会考虑和该品牌合作，让该品牌为你们策划活动？ 嗯那要看什么品牌。如果这些公司在世界上有知名度，会考 虑。另外一点要看收费。 2.你们希望通过活动达到什么目的吗? 自然是提升品牌知名度， 增加消费者粘性。还有让品牌的形象更正面。 3.我现在想的是一个做一个品牌，专注于和时尚品牌合作为消 费者举办活动。活动都是和时尚相关的，但更注重消费者的体 验和参与性，会穿插一些比较娱乐性的元素在里面。你觉得这 个品牌想法如何？还挺好的，比较专注于一个点，就是时尚活 动。这样可以在这一方面做的很专业。也会让我们品牌更加肯 定你们。 4.是的，这是一个活动策划的品牌，叫做PLUS，意思就是“加” “+”，代表为品牌增加利益和帮助消费者提升自我。每个活动 上都会有这个活动品牌的名字和时尚品牌的名字，比如“PLUS 联合都市丽人的防乳腺癌主题内衣秀”。PLUS一方面不只是帮 时尚品牌增加知名度，还有一方面是为消费者提供知识，让他 们充实生活。所以是会卖门票给消费者的。因为是一个新的公 司，你认为如何才能打动你们使你们和它合作？体验肯定是国 内或者全球的一大趋势。我认为这个牌子很有价值。因为它恰 巧是这个大趋势下的一个消费者需求点。事实上我们品牌都有在做各种市场推广。如果有一个品牌专注于为消费者提供 时尚体验，我们会希望通过合作，增加品牌曝光率和提高品牌知名度。更重要的是，我们会考虑它是否能增强消费者黏 性。 5.那么如果是本品牌这类型的活动策划，你认为多少策划费是合理的呢? 普通的就3-10万。大型的话就很贵了。 1. If there is a fashion brand focusing on collaborating with a variety of fashion brands to organise events like beauty discussion class, dressing class, fashion new collection launch event, fashion catwalk and fashion customisation session. On one hand, it lets consumers enrich their life and learn about fashion. On the other hand, it allows fashion brands to increase brand exposure and awareness. Would your company consider to collaborate with it to let it organise events for you? Yes probably, but it depends on what the brand is. If the brand has good global awareness, we are willing to collaborate with it. But actually there are very few in China currently. When collaborating with a new brand, we will probably need more consideration of the price. 2. What do you expect to get from the event? We aim to improve our brand awareness, improve customer loyalty, and establish a positive brand image. 3. Actually now there is brand idea, which focusing on collaborating with a variety of fashion brands to organise events. Events are mostly related to fashion, but it focuses on providing customers unique experience, so it will add more elements of entertainment. What do you think of this brand idea in China? I think your idea is good. It focuses on one aspect, which is fashion activities. This allows you to be professional in it and our brand will therefore have a positive impression on your brand. 4. Yes it will be like an event planning company. Its name is PLUS, which means plus in Chinese. It means adding values to brands and consumers. For example, if PLUS collborates with your company, there will maybe an event called “preventing breast cancer lingerie show by PLUS Cosmo Lady”. PLUS will not only help fashion bands to increase brand awareness, but also provide customers some useful knowledge and enable them to enrich life and reach self-actualisation. So it will sell tickets to consumers as well. So, as PLUS is a new company, how can it let you be willing to collaborate with it? Well. Experience is definitely a big trend in China or globally. I think the brand idea is meaningful and valuable. It exactly meets the latest needs of consumers in this fast-changing society. Actually we are seeking for collaborations to do marketing promotion. If there is company focusing on providing customers fashion experiences. We may think about collaborating with it, in order to increase brand exposure and improve brand awareness. More importantly, if the events can help our brand to increase customer loyalty is crucial in our decision-making process. 5. If you are collaborating with PLUS, how much will you think is reasonable to pay for an event? Normal event should take 30-100k RMB, but big event is much more expensive.
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Appendix 7: Employment Details Year 1
Employer
Number
Wage/month
Managing Director
1
¥6,000
Event Director
1
¥5,000
Marketing Director
1
¥4,000
Temporary Staff
4 for an event in average
¥250
Temporary Photographer
2 for an event in average
¥500 Total: ¥204,000
Year 2
Employer
Number
Wage/month
Managing Director
1
¥6,000
Event Director
1
¥6,000
Event Assistant
1
¥5,000
Marketing Director
1
¥6,000
Marketing Assistant
1
¥5,000
Temporary Staff
6 for an event in average
¥250
Temporary Photographer
2 for an event in average
¥500 Total: ¥371,000
Year 3
Employer
Number
Wage/month
Managing Director
1
¥8,000
Event Director
1
¥8,000
Event Assistant
3
¥6,000
Marketing Director
1
¥8,000
Marketing Assistant
2
¥5,000
Temporary Staff
8 for an event in average
¥250
Temporary Photographer
2 for an event in average
¥500 Total: ¥783,000
135
Appendix 8: Marketing Costs Details Year 1
Method
Price
Quantity
Total
Influencer Marketing (50-100k followers)
¥9,000
8
¥72,000
Influencer Marketing (100-200k followers)
¥15,000
3
¥45,000
Influencer Marketing (200-300k followers)
¥20,000
1
¥20,000
Sina Weibo Hot Search
¥20,000
2
¥40,000
Banner Ads (Taobao)
¥10,000
12
¥120,000 Total: ¥297,000
Year 2
Method
Price
Quantity
Total
Influencer Marketing (50-100k followers)
¥9,000
8
¥72,000
Influencer Marketing (100-200k followers)
¥15,000
4
¥60,000
Influencer Marketing (200-300k followers)
¥20,000
4
¥40,000
Sina Weibo Hot Search
¥20,000
3
¥60,000
Banner Ads (Taobao)
¥10,000
12
¥120,000 Total: ¥352,000
Year 3
Method
Price
Quantity
Total
Influencer Marketing (50-100k followers)
¥9,000
10
¥90,000
Influencer Marketing (100-200k followers)
¥15,000
5
¥75,000
Influencer Marketing (200-300k followers)
¥20,000
2
¥40,000
Sina Weibo Hot Search
¥20,000
2
¥40,000
Banner Ads (Taobao)
¥10,000
12
¥120,000 Total: ¥365,000
136
Appendix 9: Event Setting Costs Details Year 1
Event Setting Element/Event event venue
¥25,000
papar tickets
¥1,000
photo-shooting backgound
¥1,000
decorations
¥3,000
compere
¥1,000
models
¥400 × 15 = ¥6,000
stylish
¥1,000× 3 = ¥3,000
total
Year 2
¥40,000
Event Setting Element/Event
Price
event venue
¥29,000
papar tickets
¥1,500
photo-shooting backgound
¥1,000
decorations
¥4,500
compere
¥1,000
models
¥400 × 20 = ¥8,000
stylish
¥1,000× 5 = ¥5,000
total
Year 3
Price
¥50,000
Event Setting Element/Event
Price
event venue
¥29,000
papar tickets
¥1,500
photo-shooting backgound
¥1,000
decorations
¥4,500
compere
¥1,000
models
¥400 × 20 = ¥8,000
stylish
¥1,000× 5 = ¥5,000
total
¥50,000
137
Appendix 10: Transportation Costs Details
Year 1
Method transportation for an event in Shenzhen
Expense
Quantity
Total
¥1,000
12
¥12,000 Total: ¥12,000
Year 2
Method
Expense
Quantity
Total
transportation for an event in Shenzhen
¥1,000
12
¥12,000
transportation for an event in Guangzhou
¥5,000
2
¥10,000 Total: ¥22,000
Year 3
Method
Expense
Quantity
Total
transportation for an event in Shenzhen
¥1,000
12
¥12,000
transportation for an event in Guangzhou
¥5,000
3
¥15,000
transportation for an event in Shanghai
¥10,000
1
¥10,000
transportation for an event in Beijing
¥10,000
1
¥10,000 Total: ¥47,000
138
139
Wanqi Zhang 12th May 2018 140