Executive Summary 3
Table of Contents
The Challenge 13 Strategy and Approach 25 Results & Metrics 41 Future Recommendations 45
Meet Our Community
Strategic Planner : Erica Muse
Account Executive : Marianna Guerrero
Project Manager : Claudia Miller
Copywriter : Carrie Mauldin
Digital Specialist : Rachel Sevcik
Art Director : Jennifer Funchess
Photographer : Ashley Nickerson
executive Rundown summ on the Runway
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Community is a local, vintage store that’s main mission is to provide support. It supports the environment through producing clothing sustainably. It supports the Athens community by promoting the work and talent of local designers and artists. Finally, it supports its customers by providing them with high quality, intrinsic
products that are one-of-a-kind and can only be found in-store. Winning the title of “Favorite Local Clothing Boutique” in Athens Flagpole Magazine for the fifth year in a row, Community has a business model unlike any other retailer in Athens and its originality has allowed it to grow significantly.
THE CHALLENGE Although the store has increased its visibility since its relocation on Jackson Street, it has not reached its desired level of awareness among students and locals. With a variety of vintage stores and clothing boutiques in the area, Community is not always the first that comes to
mind. Apart from that, a large portion of the audience they want to reach are unfamiliar with Community’s story, along with the value behind sustainable fashion, which plays such a pivotal role in the company’s efforts.
THE SOLUTION The aspect of sustainable fashion and redesign is what truly separates Community from its competitors. By capitalizing on the theme of supporting a cause and raising awareness about the sustainable fashion movement, Community can gain support from its customers who appreciate its dedication and mission.
about community
Community was first opened in 2010 at its initial location above the downtown Starbucks in Athens, Georgia. Now, in their new location on 260 N. Jackson Street, Community strives to bring customers unique, vintage clothing, accessories, novelty and art, while encouraging them to shop locally and join the sustainable fashion movement. Upon entering Community, you are exposed to a variety of fabrics, styles, and colors, all handselected and crafted by local designers and designers throughout Georgia alike. Community offers professional and casual vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories for both men and women while also providing a variety of classes, welcome to all ages, for those interested in sewing, draping, garment construction and pattern-making to name a few! Community is not just about selling, but also about educating customers on sustainable fashion. They are rooted in the idea of being “fashion forward� without having to harm or sacrifice our natural world in the process. Every piece bought from Community has had as little effect on our environment as possible.
Rediscovered. Reclaimed. Redesigned. Mission Statement
Community is a vintage fashion boutique located in historic downtown Athens focused on the concept of sustainable fashion and fostering the work of local designers.
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STRENGTH • Unique among the vintage stores due to their process of remaking and redesigning clothes • Sustainable at its core • Has a great relationship with Athens artists and sells their products in store • Offers alterations • Has a strong relationship with other Athens vintage shops • Great location and storefront appeal
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WEAKNESS • Website is difficult to navigate • Record keeping is not online (no point of purchase software) • Selling clothes faster than they can make new clothes • E-commerce is challenging because no two products are the same
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OPPORTUNITIES • Fashion Merchandising school at UGA • Clubs and organizations on sustainability and fashion at UGA • College student market • Community Service line and Atlanta • Trend in sustainable fashion is on the rise
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THREATS • Heavily saturated clothing market in downtown Athens • College students don’t tend to have much buying power • Corporate responsibility (sustainability) is the current trend but trends fade out
competitive analysis Downtown Athens is a heavily saturated market of unique clothing boutiques. The direct competitors for Community comprise of the vintage stores in the downtown vicinity that include Dynamite, Agora, and Atomic. Currently, the vintage stores have a unique relationship in that they do not see each other as competitors but as partners. Although they support each other, they are still seen as the most direct competitors for Community. Indirect competitors include other fashion retail stores with similar style such as Urban Outfitters, Heery’s, and Fabrik. Urban Outfitters proves worrisome as they offer similar home goods as Community.
community
research
77% of respondents are willing to spend $25-$75 for a high quality shirt
69% find more value in buying sustainable clothing
Only 7% of respondents could recall Community as one of the vintage stores downtownt; 41% could recall Dynamite
What’s Trending? We sent out a survey and received over 200 female responses. The respondents vary between the ages of 18 and 55. The survey showed us that 77% of respondents have the capacity to afford most of the apparel in Community. In addition, buying local matters to 50% of respondents and supporting sustainable businesses holds even more value. However, Community’s main issue is brand awareness as only 7% could recall the clothing store’s name.
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Sew, what is the point?
challenge
THE CHALLENGE
The majority of the Target Market is unaware that Community is an active participant in the sustainable fashion movement and the positive impact the business has on the environment while simultaneously providing high-end, quality products.
creative brief creative brief
KEY FACT
OBJECTIVES
PROMISE
Community is a business whose core value revolves around support: Supporting local designers and artisans to promote their talent, and supporting the environment by producing clothing in an environmentally-friendly/sustainable manner. This support simultaneously provides consumers with quality, oneof-a-kind, authentic products.
To increase brand awareness in our Target Market by 60% (by May 2017.) To shift brand attitude in our Target Market from having Community positioned in their retrieval set of local/vintage clothing stores to placing it in their evoked set. Shifting consumer attitude from “I know that Community is a store in Athens that sells local/vintage products” to “Community is the store I prefer to shop at for quality, local and vintage clothing.”
It’s a win-win. Community’s customers receive an original, highquality product while supporting the local community and positively impacting the environment.
CHALLENGE Brand awareness: In our survey, only 7 out of 79 responses listed Community for “vintage store known/shopped at”. Awareness of sustainability: Several consumers know little to nothing about sustainable fashion, but promoting the importance of environmentally-friendly production could change shoppers’ buyer decisions.
TARGET • All students aged 18-21. Emphasis on students interested in art, fashion, and sustainability. • Local women/female,Athens residents aged 30-40. • People from out of town who appreciate fashion design and sustainable fashion.
INSIGHT One of the main issues with our Target Market is that they aren’t very educated on the sustainable fashion movement; however, after receiving some basic knowledge on the importance of sustainable fashion, 70% said that they find more value in buying sustainable clothing.
SUPPORT • The production of Sanni’s sustainable products can be witnessed first-hand in back of store. • The front of the store proves the artistic beauty of sustainable fashion, and the back (with their plain-sight viewing of the sewing machines and piles of fabric along with offered classes) invites the customer to be a part of that world.
TONE AND MANNOR Educational, Refreshing, organic, original, sophisticated/ mature, cosmopolitan, impactful, positive
MEDIA VEHICLES Primarily: Website, social media, email
target market Because Community provides a product line that is appropriate for a variety of women of different ages, the target market we have chosen to pursue includes both students and women who are in the 18-45 year age range. With Athens being a college town, it is important not to ignore the large student population, but it is also important to provide a haven for mid-ranged women who feel as though the don’t have many options when it comes to clothing stores that that fit their demographic.
meet zoe
EASY TO CUSTOMIZE Zoe is a 21 year old UGA student, born and raised in Lorem ipsum dolor to sit come amet, consetetur Memphis, Tennessee. She chose to UGA because she fell sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor in love with the laid-back, artsy vibe while visiting Athens her senior year of invidunt high school. Zoe is majoring in Fashion Merchandising ut labore dolore magna aliquyam erat sed diam and minoring in Graphic Design. Besides voluptua. At veroschool, eos et she works part-time at a local coffee shop, and volunteers at the local animal shelter. In her free time, she enjoys drawing and designing in her sketchbook, hanging out with her cat, Oscar, and going to local concerts and art shows with her friends as she finds beauty in others’ creativity.
meet tara
OUR LATEST PROJECTS Tara is a 29 year old mother who lives in the Normaltown ipsum dolor sit to amet, consetetur neighborhood Lorem of Athens. She went UGA and graduated sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor with a degree in Environmental Economics and Management. Immediately after graduating, she lived in Atlanta invidunt ut labore dolore magna aliquyam eratworking sed diamas an Environmental Consultant for Home Depot, where she met voluptua. At vero eos et her current husband, Dan, who also graduated from UGA with a degree in Finance. Both being Athens fanatics, they decided to move back to the Classic City once they found out they had a baby on the way. She and her family have adopted an extremely eco-friendly lifestyle and are full supporters of environmental movements. Now, for the most part, she is a stay-at-home mom for her one year old son, Wyatt, and occasionally freelances in environmental consulting in Atlanta, and Charlotte. In her spare time, she loves to cook, read, be outdoors, spend time with her husband and son, and volunteer for local nonprofits.
final campaign concept: SUSTAINABILITY The creative concept chosen is centralised on Community’s sustainability and environmentally-friendly aspect because that is what truly separates the store from its direct and indirect competitors.
These images show the positive impact associated with the sustainable production of clothing, contrasting the environmentally harmful, traditional approach. This comparison is a strong representation of Community’s business model and the mission they strive to continue.
Our OUR seamless SEAMLESS approach
APPROACH
INSIGHTS
CAMPAIGN
Majority of the respondents are aware of the vintage stores downtown but cannot distinguish one from the other
Focus on Community’s unique characteristics, particularly that it is eco-friendly
Respondents under 27 years old are willing to spend between $25 and $75 on a quality shirt. Respondents over 27 are willing to spend $50$100
Show the quality of clothing while emphasizing the reasonable prices
Majority of the respondents find value in supporting the sustainable fashion movement
Emphasize the importance of sustainable fashion to Community through specific language
The three most important aspects that cause respondents to buy are: price, quality, and local
Better communicate the value and high quality of clothing at Community
53% of respondents under 27 do not follow local shops on social media 82% of respondents over 27 follow local shops on social media
Incentivize the younger crowd to follow Community on social media while maintaining the following of the older consumers
Brand Revamp
Old logo
new logos
fonts and colors
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Taglines
hashtags
Shop Local. Live Sustainable. Creativity at Work Where Style is Sustainable
#joinourcommunity #locallove #shopsustainable
Marketing mix
Promo items Designing a pocket-sized sewing kit as one of the brand’s promotional products is an inexpensive and effective way to show what Community stands for. This idea simultaneously shows that Community not only participates in the sustainable fashion movement through redesign, but that it also supports local designers and encourages others to join the movement. In addition, the fabric used to create these sewing kits is scraps that were not used during garment redesign, once again, pushing the theme of sustainability.
Print ad This print ad was part of a poster campaign in which 100+ posters were hung up and distributed throughout the high-traffic areas in Athens. The image demonstrates the positivity associated with process of redesign and the tagline with the “Re-� prefix is an additional detail to go along with the theme of sustainability. Incorporating the Community’s Instagram, will draw people to the social media platform and in turn, increase business.
social media Scheduling The framework of recommendations for themed promotions for Community’s social platforms. Instagram is the main platform where most of our recommendations were implemented, including the #joinourcommunity hashtag.
social media Examples
Events Spring Cleaning
The Spring Cleaning event was held on March 1st and invited customers in to participate in the redesign process. By bringing in an old pair of jeans, Community’s designers would help them turn them into cut-off shorts (for no additional cost) just in time for the warmer weather. This event encourages people to clean out their closets for the new season and also marks the start of the donation box in which a customer can come in during the month of March to donate used clothing in exchange for a discount.
Events
Guerilla Marketing On Saint Patrick’s Day Community encourages Athenians to “stay green”. Leftover green fabric from redesign, will be cut into the shape of shamrocks and attached to a coupon granting customers 10% off green clothing to celebrate the holiday. On the other side of the coupon, a sustainable fashion fact will be present to raise awareness. The shamrock-attached coupons will be handed out in high-traffic downtown Athens on St. Patrick’s Day and will be accompanied with a snapchat filter to promote the brand to users in the area.
results and metrics
INSTAGRAM Average growth per 2 weeks = 194.87 followers Total Instagram Followers Growth = 12.10% 4472 -> 5013
TWITTER Average growth per 2 weeks = 5.7 followers
PROFIT Average Monthly Profit Growth in 2016 = 34% Average Monthly Profit Growth from Oct. to Dec. 2016 = 50.64%
WEBSITE Average Weekly Website Visits = 1742.5
Fashion Forward
FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Provide internships for students (social media, marketing, fashion design). 2. Become more connected with campus organizations (particularly the Fashion School and College of Environment and Design). 3. Have a consistent social media schedule (set # of posts a day, time of day). 4. Consider using Hootsuite for social media scheduling. 5. Differentiate Community Service brand and other store brands. 6. Create some sort of weekly/monthly spotlights on designers and sewers. 7. Update website and continue to update it with new pictures, content, and promotions. 8. Keep up with marketing efforts along with metrics to measure impact of efforts.