Threads PR Campaign 2014
Contents Executive Summary
….p.3
Initial Thoughts
….p.3
Stakeholder Analysis
….p.4
SWOT Analysis
….p.4
Competition
….p.5
The Threads Customer
….p.6
Aims & Objectives
….p.7
Bloggers & Vloggers
….p.8
Publications to Target
….p.10
Press Day
….p.11
Launch Event
….p.12
London Fashion Weekend
….p.13
Social Media
….p.14
Website
….p.15
Timescale
….p.16
Evaluation
….p.17
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Executive Summary This six month campaign will bring together social media, print media and bloggers to create a regular stream of content and newsworthy stories to help position Threads as an cutting edge, affordable, young fashion brand within the UK.
Initial thoughts When I was reading the brief I immediately started to think about user generated content and all the ways in which this could be used to promote Threads, this lead me to start thinking about social media campaigns on Instagram and YouTube and promotion on Twitter and Facebook. The idea of interacting with users and customers on a more personal level really stuck out to me and so involving them in all the campaigns and events Threads hold is something I feel would be very beneficial in the long run as it will help build up a strong customer base. I wanted to create ideas for Threads that would promote and allow them to get to know their customers because building reputable relationships is vital to the success of a start-up company, especially in such a busy market. Through reading the brief I definitely thought that it would be important to showcase what Threads has to offer, because unlike companies such as Topshop who already have a massive following and are established, no one really knows about the Threads look or the brand identity. The fashion industry is also very visual and relies on imagery and design to promote products and collections, so it made sense to provide multiple opportunities to display and exhibit Threads.
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Stakeholder analysis Strengths
Innovative idea behind the brand—not been used in this way before
Concept is based on sharing and social media—results in free promotion from the get go
Own label also differentiates them from competitors
Weaknesses
Not many concessions across the country
The clothing market is oversaturated which makes Threads success more challenging to achieve
Opportunities
Many different avenues to go down with regards to coverage, i.e. fashion, tech, trade
Link in with events that coincide with launch to achieve wider coverage
The opportunity to work with Selfridges
Threats
Competitors campaigns released at the same time or afterwards in reaction to Threads campaign
Advances in technology used by Threads by other companies
Risk of technology not working perfectly as its very new, this could lead to bad coverage
SWOT analysis
National press
High end fashion brands/stores
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Selfridges
House of Fraser
Employees
Suppliers
Fashion & Lifestyle publications/media
Customers
Bloggers
Trade publications/media
Technology publications/media
Competition The UK high street is full of affordable fashion retailers, the majority of which already have or are in the process of adapting their brand identity as being fashionable, youthful and stylish. There are also an ever increasing number of online fashion retailers that are branding themselves with a similar identity, so the competition is high. I believe that there are several retailers in particular that will prove to be Threads largest competitors; these are ASOS, Topshop/Topman and Urban Outfitters. They all have a very strong online presence and produce innovative and interactive campaigns, making full use of all social media outlets. ASOS trades solely online and stocks a vast selection of brands, ranging from British high street names, American brands and designers, to independent and lesser known brands. As well as this they also have their own brand of clothing and accessories and release smaller collections within this, e.g. ASOS Petite. They have an equally large range of men’s clothing and accessories on offer, providing the customer with extensive choice, which they may miss out on when browsing through other retailers online stores. Topshop/Topman are arguably Britain’s largest, well known fashion retailer with around 380 stores in the UK and over 100 stores internationally. It is highly influential in the fashion industry, supporting new designers at London Fashion Week as well as its own Topshop Unique line which also shows at London Fashion Week, and a history of designer collaborations. They are also very well known for having unique campaigns and stunning visuals which regularly make it into top fashion publications. They make great use of social media, actively involving their customers, examples include live streaming of their fashion shows, Dear Topshop Christmas campaign which involved users making lists on Pinterest and pinning them onto the Topshop virtual notice board, they partnered with Facebook to create a Customisable Fashion Show allowing users to purchase any product they could see being used in the show. Urban Outfitters is an American company which stocks a selection of brands handpicked to suit the Urban Outfitters ‘style’. They have a growing high street presence across the UK and an online UK site. The average price point is somewhat higher than the other two retailers but this doesn’t seemed to have much of a negative impact on their customer base. In comparison to ASOS and Topshop/Topman they have a much cooler and laidback aesthetic, which is reflected in their campaigns and use of social media. They have a strong presence on Instagram, regularly involving users, and a content rich blog.
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The Threads Customer Male or female 16 to 30 Fashion conscious – regularly reads magazines and blogs, loves to know what’s current and new in the fashion world. Needs to look stylish and fashionable at all times. Social media savvy. Has accounts on all social media sites, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and follows designers, shops, magazines, bloggers etc. Enjoys spending income on clothing, whether this be from high street stores or online retailers, they like great value for money pieces that will last in their wardrobe.
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Main Aims 1. Promote Threads as a new and innovative shopping experience 2. Gain coverage in national publications 3. Start the Threads journey to becoming the UKs number one online fashion retailer 4. Become well known as a go-to place for current and new brands and designers 5. Build up a loyal customer base
Objectives 1. Establish working partnerships with UK fashion bloggers and vloggers over the six months that the campaign is running 2. Achieve 30 articles across print and digital media about the launch of Threads over the six months the campaign is running 3. Create and maintain YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by posting content daily 4. Release six blog posts per month for the duration of the campaign 5. To achieve an active following / customer base over the duration of the campaign
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Bloggers & Vloggers
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Bloggers, and more recently vloggers, play an increasingly important role in the fashion industry and provide valuable coverage as their opinion is seen as very important to the many that read/watch them. They now gain press coverage themselves, Company magazine have had several ‘blogger’ issues and Cosmopolitan hold annual blogger awards. It would be great to reach out to as many as possible, however it would be more beneficial to work with a select few to generate content and build up a reputable relationship. Building a list of bloggers and vloggers will also make it easier to create guest lists for events and distribution lists.
Sponsored Hauls Vloggers regularly create haul videos by which they go shopping and show their subscribers what they bought, what they like about it, maybe even how they would style it. A sponsored haul would work by contacting a select few vloggers, telling them about the brand and asking if they would like to get involved. Those who want to get involved with Threads are given a set amount to spend on the Threads online shop and then do a haul video on their own channel using their regular format. Links to all items and to the website will be posted in the description box and the video will be promoted on the Threads Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and website.
Blogger in residence The blogger in residence programme would involve contacting UK fashion and style bloggers, telling them about Threads and asking if they would like to get involved. Those who show an interest will then be shortlisted and each month one of them will be the Threads Blogger in Residence. They will write several blog posts for the Threads blog, have access to the Threads Instagram account and will be invited to come and visit head office during this period. They will be given freedom to choose what sort of things to blog about and access to the new collections in head office. Once relationships have been built larger blogger campaigns can be undertaken. For example, blogger photo shoots which would involve bloggers coming to head office styling their own outfits with Threads clothing, this not only create photos but also videos and behind the scenes videos as well as all the footage from the bloggers themselves which will be posted on their own sites and social media. 9
Publications to target
Emphasis will be placed on targeting fashion and style publications, specifically magazines, because although they are occasionally seen as dated, magazines play a key role in the fashion industry and are also a great way to display visuals. The list of publications is currently quite short because of how new the company is and a strong emphasis on blogger coverage. Also because Selfridges is one of the main stockists it is important to keep an element of exclusivity.
- Company magazine
Fashion magazines, men’s magazines and national newspaper supplements have all been selected because of the variety of different audiences they reach out to, as it is unlikely that a 16 year old female will read the same thing as a 30 year old male.
- Grazia - Glamour - Cosmopolitan - Stylist - ES magazine - The Guardian - The Times - Esquire - GQ - Pause magazine Not all press releases will be sent out to the whole list as each publication caters for a slightly different audience. For example, new men’s collections /releases will be sent to Pause magazine, GQ, Esquire, and ES. It is also important to note that not all stories will be targeted at the print when sent to these publications, as some stories may work better if reported on the publication website.
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Press Day
In order to gain coverage prior to the launch of Threads a preview event will be held in London where journalists, bloggers and vloggers will be invited to have a first look at the Threads own brand collection as well as some of the other brands that will be stocked. The event will provide multiple photo opportunities for attendees, staff and hired photographers, leading to coverage both on and offsite. Because of the variety of people invited there will be a variety of different coverage achieved, from national press and fashion publications to YouTube videos and blog posts from some of the UKs most prominent and current writers.
Prior to the event invitations will be sent out via email, this will be followed by press packs which will be sent to those who are also unable to make it. Upon arrival gift bags will be given out, these will be gender specific and could feature jewellery and/or accessories from the Threads collection, a lookbook, items from partner brands that Threads will stock, sweets, etc. Working on partnerships with other companies, such as beauty brands, could increase the variety of items available in the gift bag. Clothing will be set out into two main sections, men’s and women’s, then into collections. Rails of clothing, window display style setups and tables/shelves of shoes, accessories and jewellery will all be laid out for attendees to browse, take photos of and pick up throughout the afternoon. This is a common practice in the fashion industry so in order to make Threads stand out further there will opportunities throughout the afternoon for all attendees to try out the technology that Threads use as it is important to showcase everything that Threads will bring to the industry. This will also add to the attraction of the event to busy journalists as it is an experience they haven’t seen before in their industry. The event will place a lot of focus on the fashion because of Threads ambition to become the number one online fashion brand in the UK.
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Launch event
This will be a public event however press releases will be sent out to distribution list, with slightly more emphasis on national publications as all efforts need to be made for the event to reach a wider audience. The event will take place across the weekend to allow for maximum footfall and press coverage. Will work alongside Selfridges and House of Fraser management and PR teams to decide upon specifics of the event, i.e. where within the stores it will take place, the size, the staffing, security etc.
There is expected to be two basic types of story to come from this, the first being before the launch reporting that it is going to happen and background on Threads, the second being after the launch reporting on what happened at the event. Because the stores are scattered across the country the aim is to target both national and local media. With Selfridges being such a major player in the fashion industry it would be advantageous to advertise the launch on the Selfridges website on the Events Calendar, to work with Selfridges PR to create an article for the What’s On section of the Selfridges website and also to create press releases from Selfridges point of view as opposed to Threads point of view, as it is more likely that editors will notice and read the Selfridges press releases. Staff will be briefed and spend a few days at head office getting to know the ins and outs of the company in order to ensure an exceptional customer experience. They will be dressed in outfits picked out by themselves as all Threads staff must be more than competent in styling. The Threads team will work closely with external and in store visual merchandisers to create a stylish and design lead display and layout to the concessions, with extra emphasis on London flagship House of Fraser and Selfridges. The interactive walls will designed as an industrial/ brick style wall and adorned in elaborative and decorative frames. Everything down to the rails and tables that display the clothes will have a design led focus to it in order to portray how modern and cutting edge Threads is. Customers will be encouraged to try on clothes and make up outfits, with or without the help of stylists, without the pressure to buy. They will also be encouraged to snap the outfits they create and hash tag them on Twitter and/or Instagram. There will be a photographer there to not only take photos of the event and what’s going on but also the customers in the looks they created which will be uploaded onto Facebook.
To the left is an example how social media will incorporated throughout the shopping experience. This is a potential design for a mirror sticker which will be a permanent feature in all changing rooms. This also has the potential to be used on bags, posters, other social media sites etc.
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London Fashion Weekend
London Fashion Week is one of the biggest and most important dates in the fashion industry in the world, showcasing the next season’s collections from the most influential designers. Alongside London Fashion Week is London Fashion Weekend which is a much more accessible event for fashion brands and the public. It is held at the end of Fashion Week and features catwalks, pop-up shops, designer shopping, hair and beauty, and expert talks.
The event would be a great opportunity for Threads to not only gain coverage but also a chance to sell, attract new customers and get to know their customer base. Trade, the public and the press will all be in attendance so it is an opportunity not to be missed. In relation to Threads involvement in the event, they could hold a pop-up shop, which would provide a more intimate setting and allow for communication between the brand and the attendees. A small profit could also be made via doing this but ultimately it would increase awareness of the brand. Alternatively, there is the ambitious attempt to be one of the brands who hold a catwalk show, however there are very few brands that get to do this and competition is high. This could be a goal for the future when Threads has gained momentum and recognition within the industry. Attending this event would provide more opportunities to blog and because the blog posts would not just be all about Threads but about the event, more people are likely to click on it as London Fashion Weekend is a wellknown and popular event. The would also be an innumerable amount of opportunities to use social media, for example Instagramming ‘street style’ as this is a very popular trend, or filming content for the YouTube channel which could form a video all about what Threads got up to.
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Social Media Instagram Instagram is a fairly new in comparison to other social media channels and also very simplistic to use. The fashion industry is very visual and all about aesthetics and so Instagram has become an extremely popular tool for fashion brands, designs, magazines, bloggers and the public. There is scope for competitions and giveaways which will be quicker and easier to enter than onsite competitions. There is also the possibility of launching new lines, brands and collections on Instagram or giving previews of these collections, whether this be of the actual items or behind the scenes of a photo shoot. You could involve in store teams on the Instagram account, showing photos of their outfits or of the store, or personal picks of members of the team. One initial idea for an Instagram campaign that could be focussed upon is “How do you wear your Threads?” This would be made up of user generated content whereby users find creative ways to take photos of their outfits and hash tag it #yourThreads and mention the
YouTube @Threads account. Ones that stand out could be ‘regrammed’ by the Threads account or even displayed on the website. This will promote products with minimum cost and actively involves customers. It will also demonstrate the Threads cares about and is interested in the customer even after a purchase has been made.
Twitter and Facebook Both these social media channels would be used for promoting existing content, such as videos, competitions, photo shoots, blog posts, offers, promotions etc. They would be used as a platform to create and maintain a conversation about Threads and encourage interactivity. Twitter in particular would be great for releasing snippets of information whereas Facebook would be useful to promote singular products, i.e. a new in item or an item that you want to get rid of (sale items etc.)
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YouTube will involve the most effort to maintain out of all the social media channels recommended because of the work, prep and postproduction needed to create content. However, the content produced is very rich and provides a strong insight into what the brand is about. It is a great platform to present and display promotional videos and campaigns for free. One of the first videos could be a brief introduction to Threads and the channel, this could be followed up by short videos of each member of staff in head office in order to help the brand communicate on a more personal level. Example promotional videos could include a video demonstrating the ‘tech’ used, this could also be blogged/ written about in technology industry publications and blogs. Lookbooks and videos to accompany photo shoots could also be created and uploaded. As well as videos featuring behind the scenes and running of the brand, you could more create more direct videos surrounding the products, for example ways to wear certain items of clothing.
website
The website will bring together all social media and allow the customer to view it in one place online even if they do not have an account. It will have a tile/pin board style design as not only is this current but it is also easy to navigate. This format will be used instead of having the online shop as the main site where users get directed to when they type in threads.co.uk.
Example tiles include:
‘New in’ items which directs customers to new products every time they visit the site and will be updated regularly
Stylist ‘picks’/favourites – this could feature a different member of staff each time in order to make it feel more personal
Blogger in residence tile
Designer/brand highlight – focusses on a specific designer/brand every month and leads to a feature on the Threads blog. As the company develop and grow this could change when new brands come in
Online shop – this would lead to usual online shop style and extensive range of products that Threads stock
There would also be a yourThreads tile which when clicked on would bring up the customer’s previous purchases, outfits, photos and so on. This would be where all their personalised content would lay. Once the customer clicked on the yourThreads tile they would be prompted to log in if they weren’t already and once logged in what they see on the screen in front of them would be bespoke to them. For example, it could display new items from designers/ brands that the customer likes, recommended matching items for recently made purchases, as well as their own generated content (photos/3D images). All content on the website will have the option to be shared on social media by the click of a button, from the clothes on the online shop, to blog post links, interviews and 3D images/outfits. This will be encouraged throughout the user experience by the yourThreads campaign. The website will involve the most investment but because of the nature of the company and what it is trying to achieve it is an essential tool to have. Threads requires a strong online presence and so the website, which brings everything together, must reflect this in order to achieve the long term goal of becoming the UKs number one online fashion brand. The website can be justified alone by the fact that the in-store concessions aim to drive traffic to the Threads website. There also needs to be consistencies across the brand as all elements need to reflect the technology behind the brand, having such an intricate and sophisticated website will achieve this. Overall the website will work alongside the technology to create a point of difference in how consumers access and share fashion.
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June Brief web design company Create intro video for YouTube Launch landing page of website Create YouTube, Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram accounts Draw up collective editorial
calendar so that press releases can be strategically released
and House of Fraser regarding the launch event Intro video put on landing
release details about launch
on Selfridges website calendar release article about launch
on Selfridges What's On section of website Send out press release about
London Fashion Weekend
guest list for Press Day compiled Selfridges press release sent out
page Create social media planner/
calendar/schedule Photo shoot for lookbook
(&video)
about launch lookbook created press packs made Send out Press Day invitation to
Venue chosen and booked for
Press Day
press/bloggers Send out press packs to press/
bloggers about press day
Start discussions with Selfridges
Hold Press Day
July
gift bags made
August
shortlist bloggers
create tech video take and edit photos of each
send out follow up email to
all informing them of dates etc.
member of staff at head office ready to release on Instagram Website launched concession staff training day at
head office email bloggers, informing them
about Threads and asking if they'd like to get involved
September
October
November
blogger in residence visits head
October blogger in residence
November blogger in residence
office three blog posts to go out
across month Attend London Fashion
Weekend Launch event in stores across
UK photos from event uploaded
onto Facebook
visits head office three blog posts to go out
visits head office three blog posts to go across
month
across month email vloggers, informing them
about Threads and asking if they'd like to get involved Follow up email to vloggers who
are interested store credit given to selected
vloggers 16
haul videos blogged about haul videos Tweeted,
Facebooked and Instagrammed about
Evaluation The evaluation is both a continuous process and a summative process. In order to achieve maximum success everything that is done will be constantly monitored in order to improve in real time but also prevent any potential issues or problems arising.
This will allow for constant adaptation and means that the campaign is fully flexible. As well as continuing evaluation and reflection, a final report will be compiled and presented to Threads at the end of the campaign in order for the success to be truly determined. Also, it’s not just if we did certain things but how well we did them and how effective they were. Success will be measured against the objects set at the beginning of the campaign, as follows: Objective 1 - Establish working partnerships with UK fashion bloggers and vloggers over the six months that the campaign is running
How many responses to emails have been received How many bloggers and vloggers attended the Press Day How many blog posts/videos have been made – how long they were, how in depth, the overall tone, how many views/hits its had, how many comments have been posted on it, the tone of the comments posted
Objective 2 - Achieve 30 articles across print and digital media about the launch of Threads over the six months the campaign is running
Did we actually achieve 30 articles, did we achieve less/more Where were the articles published – online, print What types of publication were they published in, where about in the publication were they placed – towards the front/back How long/in depth were they, the overall tone of the article Who wrote the article If online, were there any comments, was it tweeted about
Objective 3 - Create and maintain YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by posting content daily
Was daily content release, if not why not and how often was it released instead Was the social media schedule kept to, was it updated and modified to suit current events How many users interacted with the yourThreads campaign How many hits the blog has, how many views each post has, how many comments on each blog post and the tone of the comments How many Twitter followers there are at the end of the campaign, how many followers were gained each month, retweets, tweets, mentions How many likes on Facebook there are at the end of the campaign, how many likes gained each month, how many comments on the page, how many people are reacting to and interacting with Facebook posts (comments, shares, likes) How many YouTube subscribers there are at the end of the campaign, how many subscribers were gained each month, how many views each video got, how many likes/dislikes each video got, how many comments on each video, the tone of the comments How many Instagram followers there are at the end of the campaign, how many gained each month
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Objective 4 - Release six blog posts per month for the duration of the campaign
Were six blog posts released each month, if not why not, were there more/less Were they all promoted on all social media channels, if not why not, how many likes/shares/views/ comments did they receive on the social media channels How many comments were on each blog post and what was the overall tone of them, were comments replied to What kind of content was blogged about and which kind of content received the most praise and positive reaction
Objective 5 - To achieve an active following / customer base over the duration of the campaign
How many hits the website has every month/week How many hits the blog has, how many views each post has, how many comments on each blog post and the tone of the comments How many Twitter followers there are at the end of the campaign, how many followers were gained each month, retweets, tweets, mentions How many likes on Facebook there are at the end of the campaign, how many likes gained each month, how many comments on the page, how many people are reacting to and interacting with Facebook posts (comments, shares, likes) How many YouTube subscribers there are at the end of the campaign, how many subscribers were gained each month, how many views each video got, how many likes/dislikes each video got, how many comments on each video, the tone of the comments How many Instagram followers there are at the end of the campaign, how many gained each month
Were comments and tweets replied to, if not why not, if yes did this create conversation
Attendance of the launch events across the UK – how many people, ratio of males to females
How many online accounts were created, how often did customers log in
How many users interacted with the yourThreads campaign
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Thanks for reading Contact Sophie Coulson sophiecoulson@live.co.uk 07807979116
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