launch and promotion
Contents Page About Mode Prior To The Launch Celebrity Endorsement
Victoria King N0501013 Word Count: 3,274
Public Relations Strategy PR and Brand Ambassadors Advertising Strategies The Launch After The Launch A Year in the Life of Mode
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ABOUT MODE...
This report will outline a proposed communication strategy to launch the up and coming perfume brand, Mode. Mode is a perfume brand which is made up of four different fragrances depicted from the ‘Fashion Cities’ of Fashion week; London, New York, Milan and Paris. After much research into each of these cities we decided that we would portray London as traditional, quirky and urban, New York as original, slick and provocative, Milan as sexy, sophisticated and luxurious and Paris as feminine, natural and romantic.
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Our target consumer is a 16-24 year old women who is an avid blogger with an interest in fashion who wants to invest in an affordable lifestyle for the industry but also have the aspiration to go to fashion week, but is not able to do so, and so we will direct our promotion and launch in a way which appeals towards this audience. This idea came about after asking a group of students what they believed to be a key motif regarding fragrances with the results being clear: fashion world, provocative images and particular colours being the most popular associations and so we also incorporated these key factors within the differentiations between the cities; allocating a different colour to each one.
We therefore tried to encapsulate the fact that the brand is associated with a lifestyle and an exprience of the city and recognising the differentiation between each one, thus celebrating fashion being global and the thrill of fashion week and so we aimed to provide ‘a little bit of’ something to represent each of the venues. With the help of social media, live streams and mobile phone apps, the world is watching Fashion Week, so we want to incompass this lifestyle our consumer aspires to in a scent. Figure 5
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We also then watched a BBC documentary on perfume, in which Ann Glottlieb stated that “a scent is niche to every city and has the power to evoke emotions and memories based on the experiences we associate them with”.
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Our distribution is very important: although essentially targeted at young Britons as we are a British brand, Mode pop- up shops, advertising and constant social media updates will feature in all of the four fashion cities and at all of the four fashion weeks, attracting consumers from all around the globe.
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LAUNCH EVENT: PRIOR TO THE LAUNCH...
Furthermore, as our brand is based around the four main cities which hold fashion week we felt that it was only necessary for this to be the venues of the product launch. However firstly, prior to the launch event, there will be free samples on offer which will be available in high end fashion magazines such as Vogue and Marie Claire and will also be distributed at a variety of different fashion events such as Clothes Show Live and a range of different fashion fairs.
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We have chosen to give the samples away in these forms of media as fashion bloggers are our main target audience and therefore they will be up to date with all the latest trends and also be in the know about all the up and coming fashion events; ones that they can still participate in as they are not able to have the luxury of going to the actual fashion shows. Also, the experience of the fashion industry is what our fragrance encompasses; therefore these are the perfect locations to start the distribution of the product. The samples will come in the form of concertina booklets which will feature images and samples from each of the four cities. The aim of this is to encourage said bloggers to write about the perfume on a variety of different social media sites, whereby more and more similar consumers will read about the product and hopefully wish to purchase it.
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This media interaction will then create awareness of our brand and will lead to a social media competition: this involves uploading an image of their favourite fashion collection or designer onto Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #thesmelloffashionsfuture, along with their favourite perfume out of the four different cities for the chance to win a ticket for the consumer and two friends to sit front row on the ‘golden chair’ at the fashion week of the city of whichever scent they find most desirable. This will create a lot of popularity for the brand as the exclusive prize creates an element of excitement and exclusivity that the consumer will yearn for. We came about this idea after reading an article on Topsy (2014) which stated that “this year there were 180,000 tweets with the hashtag #londonfashionweek, up 40,000 tweets from the previous year”. This indicates that fashion week is of increasing interest to our audience, and we believe that this trend will continue to grow. This is therefore very beneficial to our brand as, as our consumer is heavily driven by social media, which is a fast growing trend in the western world, and thus ensures our brand will be evolving globally as the fashion industry continues to do so. Therefore, as fashion week continues to grow and become more and more popular, hopefully the same interest will reflect in our brand as it will be sponsor to the main fashion shows of each of the cities and therefore become a renowned perfume brand in the fashion industry.
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These free samples will therefore continue every year, or half a year, a month prior to the fashion shows, and each time the scents will vary, reflecting the smell of the fashion industry and atmosphere that is up and coming of the fashion world ahead.
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CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT...
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As our target audience is currently buying designer brands, it therefore automatically associates our brand with luxury and so we aim to keep up this luxurious appearance through the use of celebrity endorsement; using one famous fashion model or icon from each of the different cities to represent the ‘it’ girl of that country for our brand. This will mean that, as many people will aspire to be that girl, they will therefore buy into our brand, as our target market is an aspirational fashionista who looks up to fashion celebrities. Celebrity-wise, we will feature a well-known icon such as Alexa Chung for the London perfume, or Kendall Jenner for New York; a celebrity that every 1624 year old fashion-inspired girl can look up to and desire to be, and by purchasing the fragrance that they endorse, they are able to buy into a part of their lifestyle.
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PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY...
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“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics” – PRSA. PR will be used to manage our brand reputation through the management of public, corporate and crisis factors, to insure that our brand has a solid reputation that is of high quality and will not be downgraded by any outside factors. Public relations will be used to “shape and maintain the image of the company” – Dave Roos. This will be done by working with a PR marketing director as the marketing communication is very important throughout the entire launch of the product; from product launch to brand awareness to sales. We will strive to do this through the use of creating a word of mouth of our product, and by making the consumer believe in our brand and our product and becoming loyal to it. “Publicity is a process of manufacturing glamour... It shows a way of life which we aspire to but have not yet achieved” – John Berger (Ways of Seeing BBC documentary). This quote is a perfect example of what we aim to do through our PR and our brand as a whole, as our whole brand and story is about the girl who aspires to be at fashion week but is not able to be, and so we are offering her something that is part of that world. This also gives a story-telling aspect to our brand which many consumers will buy into as they will relate to that girl.
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PR AND BRAND AMBASSADORS...
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A brand ambassador will also be used to help market the product in the aim to create a strong relationship between the consumer and the product in order for the perfume to be consumed by a large number of people. The brand ambassador for Mode will create wide product and brand awareness through a variety of different promotional strategies through the use of social media as this will help to spread the word about our brand. We will also work with a PR director at a magazine company such as Vogue so that we are able to advertise our product with free samples for the bloggers to write about and start a build up towards the launch of our brand.
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ADVERTISING STRATEGIES...
As the fragrance market is worth £1.2 billion and predicted to grow 4.5% each year, it is an incredibly competitive industry, and as women’s fragrance accounts for 62% of that, our brand need to make sure that they do not get lost in the market and need to keep on top of the competition at all times. As the marketing is seen before the scent is smelt, this is the most important factor when launching our brand and we aim to achieve success through this through very tactical brand advertising. “Fragrance will always be sold with a desirability motif”- (the erotic history of advertising, page 164) - a statement we will always consider throughout our advertising development. To keep the desirability of our product alive we will advertise the product through a range of different media sites to build the biggest awareness of the product, yet also make exclusive offers and limited edition products so that the desirability to have a one of a kind product is not lost. We will keep our product off of typical advertising strategies such as television adverts and radio, as the adverts will only be accessible online and in a selected number of magazines. This is due to the fact that our target consumer is a fashion blogger; someone who is always up to date with the latest trends and knows everything there is to know about the fashion world. Therefore we felt it was more suitable to keep our advertising based specifically around them, and as social media is their main source of knowledge and their best interest. Furthermore, it makes the brand more exclusive to our target market and by finding a new brand online that the mass market is not aware of, it may make the consumer more interested and loyal to the brand as it has a restricted factor to it. Consequently, we have kept the advertising to only a few magazine articles, which will occasionally offer free samples, and the majority of the advertising being via social media such as blog advertisements, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and its own website: www.modethesmelloffashionsfuture.com . These media sites will have Modes latest offers, competitions and information about the brand and perfumes available, and will give the most they can to its loyal consumers.
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THE LAUNCH...
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When it comes to the actual launch of the product, this will take place at each of the fashion week destinations; London, New York, Milan and Paris. The perfumes will launch one after the other, at the start of that city’s fashion week, meaning the New York perfume will be the first to launch, followed by the London, Milan and finally Paris. Finally once all the fashion shows have ended, all of the four scents will then be available in all of the four countries. The launch events will consist of pop up stores near the entrances to the fashion shows which will all include a front row-like experience of fashion week; combining images of the latest fashion trends with imagery of the perfume from the city in which they are located, alongside the perfume of that destination. There will also be photo-booth opportunities, to make the consumers feel as though they are a part of their own fashion show; where the consumer is able to select items of clothing that are traditionally representative of that city, such as sexy, sophisticated and luxurious items for Milan and romantic and feminine items for Paris and these images will then be entered into a competition whereby the photo-shoot poses that are best representative of the fashion image of that city will win a free bottle of any chosen perfume. These images will then be live streamed through to the Mode twitter and instagram account and the mode website so that more people are aware of the launch and will come down and purchase the fragrance on its first release. At the launch event there will also be a one off chance for the consumer to be able to get an exclusive Mode pass which will give them a yearly free entry to any fashion related events which they choose; including meet and greets with fashions finest. This will bring a lot of popularity to the event as it is many fashion lover’s dream to be able to do this, and so by creating this amazing limited edition prize it means that many consumers will attend the launch and also create a connection with our brand so that they stay tuned for many other fashion offers which are still to come, and therefore they will buy into the brand to hopefully become a winner of one of these exclusive prizes. We have decided to do the launch of the event in this manner so that it is an enjoyable and exciting experience for the consumers, a reflection of the experience of fashion week – we are giving them access to the little bit of luxury that they are unable to obtain. Furthermore, we have decided to put the launch of the event in this location as it means it is accessible to those who are not able to have the advantage of attending the fashion shows, but they will still be able to soak up the atmosphere of the experience by coming to the store and through the use of our product. The launch will also include a key note speech from the celebrity of which is endorsing that particular perfume, and thus attract a wide audience, including fashion enthusiasts that are fortunate enough to attend the fashion shows; an audience which our brand is not specifically aimed at but may also take an interest and enjoyment in our product.
AFTER THE LAUNCH...
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After the launch, the perfumes will be available in high end department stores such as Selfridges, Harrods and Macy’s. We feel this is the right location to access our perfume as it keeps up the luxury quality of the brand, and although it’s still affordable to the average consumer, priced at £25 for an individual 30ml bottle, or £80 as a collection, it still gives the consumer the experience of having something a bit more exclusive and lavish and that is what our brand is all about. Furthermore, to keep our brand popular and to keep brand awareness during the time between fashion weeks we shall continue to do a variety of different competitions to keep the consumers interested; such as the chance to win a bottle of one of the perfumes after correctly answering questions about the brand etc. We will also expand the brand by creating different products that also represent the message of the brand; for example we could bring out a clothing line to go with the brand to keep with the fashion theme. Or once the brand starts to thrive we could create a Mode store so that the products aren’t being sold off the back of a different brand, showing its high status and popularity factor.
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A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF MODE...
Many fragrances don’t last past a year, with some being made specifically to last only for that period of time. However, as our brand has an ever-changing continuation, it means that will renew and reinvent it annually or biannually as the fashion industry does. Furthermore, as fashion week is a biannual occurrence, we need to ensure that our brand stays strong throughout and this is how we plan to do so… I have created a 12 month timeline for the launch of Mode in 2015 devised around the same dates in which this year’s fashion weeks have and will occur in each of the four fashion capitals.
JANUARY 2015
– Mode samples will start to appear in a variety of magazines and its advertisement and promo video will appear on many social media sites, giving consumers a glimpse of what is yet to come
FEBRUARY 2015
– Mode pop up stores will appear at fashion events prior to the fashion shows, and a Mode stores will start to appear prior to the launch of the perfume in the different cities as fashion week will be about to commence, starting with the launch in New York New York Fashion Week – 6th Feb – 13th Feb 2015 After New York fashion week has finalised, a new Mode pop-up store will open in preparation for the launch of Mode London, with the likes of Alexa Chung providing an endorsement of the brand and a keynote speech at the launch event. London Fashion Week – 14th Feb – 18th Feb 2015 The same will then occur for the start of the Milan fashion show, and by this time the news of the brand will have built up around the globe and we should start to see an increase of sale due to the high demand for the product due to the popularity of fashion week. Milan Fashion Week – 18th Feb – 23rd Feb 2015
MARCH 2015
– The fourth and final store will then unwrap in Paris as the final fashion week also does. Paris fashion Week – 25th Feb – 5th March 2015 Then at the end of the four fashion weeks, the pop up stores will disappear, leaving the consumers wanting more from the brand and therefore brand awareness will be created through word of mouth
APRIL 2015
– Mode products will now be available in the department stores for consumers to purchase at an amazing price
MAY 2015
– Mode will start to create some competitions to thanks its consumers for their brand loyalty, but also to attract other consumers and to keep consumers interested in the brand even when the fashion shows aren’t occurring
JUNE 2015
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– Mode will start to create new scents so as to reflect the autumn/winter fashion shows that are soon to commence, and refurbish the brand slightly to keep up to date with the latest fashion trends and smells
JULY 2015
– Mode will keep its loyal consumers up to date with the latest scents in the fashion world through the use of social media and will do a competition for one lucky consumer to win a golden seat at one of the up and coming fashion shows
AUGUST 2015
– Mode will again begin to make consumers more aware of their fashion week inspired brand through the use of more marketing and the give-away of samples prior to the fashion weeks
SEPTEMBER 2015
– Pop up stores will then be set in place again at the destinations of the fashion weeks that are about to commence; creating the same buzz but with different aspects, such as a change in scent and a variation of the atmosphere and experience inside the store New York Fashion Week – 4th sept – 11th sept 2015 London Fashion Week – 12th Sept – 16th Sept 2015 Milan Fashion Week – 17th Sept – 23rd Sept 2015
OCTOBER 2015
– Paris Fashion Week – 23rd Sept – 1st Oct 2015 The stores will then all close once the fashion weeks have again finished
NOVEMBER 2015
– Both the spring/summer and autumn/winter 2015 Mode fragrances for each of the countries will now be available in department stores.
DECEMBER 2015
– We will continue with the advertising of Mode through social media and continue to keep our consumers happy through competitions and give-aways. We will also measure the success of Mode through recapping the sales that have been obtained throughout the year and the profit which we have made and plan how to carry on the success and efficaciousness of the brand for many years to come.
Illustrations Figure 1 - http://www.awesomestores.co.uk/brit-shop/urban-art-print-london.html Figure 2 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10386231/Flights-toNew-York-from-149.html Figure 3 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/472666923362144380/ Figure 4 - http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/category/stories/ Figure 5 - http://rebloggy.com/post/clutch-bracelets-jewelry-fashion-sweaterstyle-street-style-bag-vest-shirt-spark/39346566793 Figure 6 - https://www.facebook.com/images/fb_icon_325x325.png Figure 7 - http://www.webmarketingpros.com/blog/platform-profile-blogger/ Figure 8 - http://www.montonara.com/blog/bid/330220/Twitter-Is-AnybodyListening Figure 9 - http://thesocialrobot.com/category/instagram/ Figure 10 - http://fashionfollower.com/Mainpage/im-a-vintage-magazine-junkie/ Figure 11 - http://www.distrikt.co.uk/news/independent-fashion-fairs-distriktnext-2-weekends Figure 12 - http://www.allgigs.co.uk/view/artist/61946/Clothes_Show_Live.html Figure 13 - own image Figure 14 - http://www.ecouterre.com/luxury-designers-set-up-pop-up-shop-withenvironmental-charity/ Figure 15 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/492651646710000806/ Clock - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/462181980480742453/ Figure 16 - own image Figure 17 - own image Figure 18 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/28991991325384212/ Figure 19 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/39547302951377284/ Figure 20 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/107523509826806242/ Figure 21 - http://www.thesingingrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/jarofdre amsdreamjardreamsphotographystylingcolorsdream-77368cfb416fbc798c8ef794a9c8d966 _h_large.jpg Figure 22 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/187814246932142107/ Figure 23 - http://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/rihanna-poses-topless-voguebrazil Figure 24 - http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-34P33YGpIes/UjszhA90k1I/AAAAAAAAAKo/ j5RCCjegZ0o/s1600/Cara-Delevingne-Vogue-UK-March-cover-2013.jpeg Figure 25 - own image Figure 26 - http://www.herbertscott.co.uk/the-golden-ticket-trap/ Figure 27 - own image Figure 28 - http://www.diyphotography.net/this-photobooth-that-looks-likeinstagram-is-just-as-trendy/ Figure 29 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/517914025869125774/ Figure 30 - http://hgoeslightly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/selfridges-anyahindmarch-bespoke.html Figure 31 - http://homestretchva.org/thank-you-macys/ Figure 32 - https://secure.visacemea.com/harrods/ Figure 33 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/462181980480742453/ Figure 34 - 37 - own images Figure 38 - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/292663675756164532/
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