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PESTELAnalysis SWOT Analysis Competitor Analysis Unique Selling Point Perceptual Map Fashion Film J Brand Collaboration NEWGEN Media Coverage Elle Blog Press Releases Social Media Analysis Website Analysis In-store Analysis
Content Page
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Stage II: Communication Audit
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Stage I: First Impression
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General Impression Rebellious lady-to-be: From the very first sight, I see the Simone Rocha girl as someone who has just turned to be an adult and want to play the feminine lady role but still young and somewhat rebellions in heart. The feminine features in all Simone Rocha’s collections are obvious: lace, chiffon, floral details, princess like hair accessories transparency and faux fur. On the other hand, there are also aspects of the design that indicates a certain degree of childishness and rebellion minds, such as the often used metallic colors and accessories, quite natural but experimental makeups, boyish oversized coats and tops down to beneath waist line together with skirts as the opposite way of how usually mature professional ladies wear their skirts, which demonstrates a sense of immaturity, playfulness and girlishness.. Furthermore, through some interviews with Simone Rocha I found online, I discovered that the AW14 collection is inspired by Elizabeth I and Her People exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. That is the reason why at first I had a sense of ancient English garment style and sort of a warrior design at first. Page 5
Garment Analysis Fabric: one of Simone Rocha’s key signatures is for sure the innovative fabric she uses. I went to the Simone Rocha shop in Dover Street Market. I touched some of the clothes, it felt a bit like foamed plastic but softer, some fabric I’ve never seen before and I can hardly name. On Net-A-porter, there are detailed description about Simone Rocha’s fabrics. The most freequently used fabrics are scuba mesh, tulle and cloque. Silhouette: Simone Rocha is known for the A-line low waist short skirt design. Even with her one pieces, she always makes the waistline lower than usual. It reduces the femininity in the dresses but increases the sense of girlishness and rebellion, because Simone herself intends to make her collection just “a little bit lady”. Reference point: Although Simone Rocha as a designer brand does not have an outstanding reference point overall, but since we are focusing on the latest AW2014 collection, the reference point would be Queen Elizabeth, because this whole collection is inspired by the “Elizabeth I and Her People” exhibition. Styling: Talking about solely this season again, it was very interesting in terms of styling. All the Simone girls are painted with gold on their face. Their hair style is quite messy and punkish. Transparency and nudity: In Simone’s Collections, transparent outfits are quite frequently demonstrated. The models are never covered fully; there is always quite a lot of skin shown in the collections. Page 6
Stage II: Communication Audit Page 7
In-store Analysis
I visited Dover Street Market in London this week and explored Simone Rocha shop there. Simone has got a quite small space on the third floor among other innovative fashion designers such as Sacai. This space allows her to display about 30 outfits, 3 bags and several jewelries. I think DSM is definitely a right place for Simone Rocha to be. It is one of the most prestigious markets for high-end niche fashion designer names and the products there are all around the same price arrange. Therefore, it is a very effective place to be in order to reach her customers who has the taste and the purchasing power. Simone Rocha has also opened stores in DSM New York and Ginz (which is in Tokyo) and IT Bejing Market. With all these stores in different corners of the planet, Simone enables the brand name to have a more direct conversation with all her customers all around the world. It also tells the public that Simone Rocha is one of the leading forces among all up and coming young designers with her oversea success.
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I was quite overwhelmed by the number of young Asian student looking customers at Dover Street Market. It consisted at least 70% of the customers there on the day I went. As everybody has been saying, Simone Rocha does have a big Asian customer group and also the venue been chosen, Dover Street Market is owned by CDG, a Japanese designer brand, so it’s very well known in Asia, especially Japan. However, Simone Rocha does not have shops outside of any of the markets mentioned above. It makes it harder convey her customer a complete and direct message, because the general atmosphere and the staffs do not represent for the image of one fashion designer brand but the image of the whole market. Although, the staffs are trained to have good knowledge about all the brands, they still pay less attention to one single brand than the whole market.
Website Analysis
Simone Rocha has her own established website. The contents are very simple and well organized. When I first enter her website, there is her latest fashion show, and there are options on the top of her website that leads me to her past collection, her accessory line, her shows, backstage pictures, films, projects (mainly the dover street market shops), past press coverage, her biography and contact information. The design is very minimalistic with only white background. There aren’t any words on the front page and very few words used to describe things in the following pages. I think the design of the website is quite functional, because it was very easy for me to access the information I want. Comparing to some luxury brand websites that are over-designed, so the customers are not even able to find things they want, it is quite effective. Page 9
However, I do not think it is effective enough in terms of expressing the brand’s aesthetic value. Simone Rocha’s fashion design is generally quite clean but still has not reached the definition of minimalistism. There are lots of attentions paid to the details and colors. Additionally, she has a very strong style, the rebellious and girly aesthetic: she should be able to communicate it towards her new customers who visit her website for the first time. Especially the website should be able to corporate with the ongoing events and inform people what is happening. Therefore, I think for her AW14 fashion show, we should decorate the website a bit more, giving the public and the press a hint of what is going on with punk and Elizabeth elements, but not telling them exactly what it is.
Social Media
Facebook: Simone Rocha’s Facebook page is the most “official” one among all three social media platforms. She only posts pictures of her collections, her backstage at runway shows, her shop, her look book and her media coverage. She uses merely the most precise words to describe those pictures, such as “AW14 Collection” and “Marie Claire France, February 2014”. There isn’t much interaction with her customers. On most of the posts there was very few or no comment at all. She doesn’t update her Facebook page much either. She only updates when there is something going on with her brand, so her update could be several times a day or sometimes once a month. I think it is fine to leave her Facebook page less chatty and more informative, because she also has her other platforms that have totally different communication style. One of the effective details I noticed is that she has liked a few other official pages, such as Acne Paper, Alter Shanghai and Purple Fashion Magazine. With these likes, she categorized herself with the group, which is young, edgy and creative. One thing she is lacking of is that, there aren’t many people who are reposting her posts. Maybe because the content are a bit dull, being too official, but in order to gain more awareness, she should be able to utilize this platform in a more effective way, so people would be interested enough to follow and spread her information.
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Twitter: Unlike the Facebook page, Simone Rocha’s Twitter account is much more chatty and interactive, not essentially with her customers but more with other fashion names, especially the two brands that she has been collaborating with, Top Shop and J Brand. Besides, I can also see a lot of interaction with different medias such as style.com, Dazed and Interview Magazine, even the Net-a-Porter Magazine. Last but not least, there is also quite a lot of interaction between Simone Rocha and the stores where she has got a space in such as Dover Street Market. I would say Simone Rocha definitely fully utilized Twitter’s featured functions. Twitter is more about fast news and gossips. It is also a platform where users can easily tag people and retweet. Therefore, Simone Rocha’s chatty language and all her retweets suit this platform and its users very well.
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In general, the “Simone Rocha tones” on three of her social media
platforms are very inconsistent. Although they are all very minimalistic, they sound like they are from three different people. One serious, one chatty and the other one is casual but detached. I would suggest that she should conform the language style and tone in all her online contents, including her website and Elle blog, because it is important to create a consistent image of Simone Rocha the designer and the brand. Otherwise people would feel less connection with the brand name and her as a person, because they would get confused. On the other hand, I think the variety of content she posted on her three different platforms is very effective, because it suits the feature of each platform very well. Her followers on these different platforms may also be different types of consumers who are interested in different aspects of the brand. Being selective on the content to suit each of the platforms’ personalities can also make sure that it fits its users’ personalities.
Instagram: It appears to me that Simone Rocha’s PR agency, Karla Otto is in charge of her FaceBook and Twitter pages, while the designer herself is in charge of the Instagram account. The content of her Instagram is very personal. It is like a visual diary of Simone Rocha’s personal life: the exhibitions she went to, the individuals she adore and pictures of her hanging out with friends and family, etc. It is also more private and less interactive. She generally does not get many comments on her Instagram page. Even when she has received one, there was not response to it. There was a follower asking about the fabric in one of her post a few days ago, but she did not give any response to it. There is also merely any description or hash tag on the posts. I think there is a potential for Simone Rocha to use the Instagram platform in a more effective way. For example, if she wants to keep it as a platform where people can feel more accessible to her as a person, she should add more description to her posts and maybe be slightly more interactive but not too chatty. There is also the possibility that she could create hash tags to attract more followers and topics. Page 12
This press release is about Simone Rocha’s AW13 launch, which took the inspiration from her grandmothers. This is a very innovative and fun piece of press release, because it did not use the conventional template. Instead, it has Simone Rocha as the first person talking about her inspiration and understanding of the new launch. At the same time, it gives a close insight of the details of the garments. The style of the language is quite casual and interactive.
AW13 Respect your elders The collection is inspired by my grandmothers : my Irish granny Margaret Gleeson and my Chinese grandmother Cecelia Rocha, my relationship with them and my relationship with clothes. It is a story of respect, a respect that is rendered in the fabrication, the consideration and understanding of cut and refined detail. Although she has a naivety, this season’s girl is brave with an evident strength, though a little strange. She has grown up, somewhat, has become more lady like, but she is still tenacious and resolute and a touch off kilter The palette plays through Pepto Bismol and powder pinks, nude and hatchling yellow, glitter creams, and patent and tinsel black tweeds. Through the collection, the silhouette evolves in refined structures of wafer mesh suits and dresses and patent leather coats and beautifully displaced volume in wool and sparkle tweed dresses, and the soft textures of leopard faux fur, tinsel and hand crochets. Veiled headdresses and awkward crochet trim spectacles imply a misplaced fragility, subverted in the faux furs and crinoline embroideries that at once amour and cosset. The season’s shoes are elevated slippers cast I velvet, patent, leopard or glitter.
Press: daisy@karlaotto.com / jakob@karlaotto.com Contact: lizzie@simonerocha.com Page 13
I think this is a very effective way of communication, because it emphasizes on Simone Rocha’s personality and her bond with her family. It is not only a piece of press release that tells the journalists the fact of an ongoing event, but also it adds flesh and blood to what this brand is about and what this designer is like as a person. It draws more attention from the readers. At the same time, it tells the press that Simone Rocha, as a brand and a person, is not plain and boring. In contrary, she/it is innovative and brave at trying out new things.
Press Release
SS13 The season takes influence from a series of photographs of teenagers kissing by Ed Templeton, and Cy Tombly’s sculptures, plaster work cakes smudged with green and pink, it is a reflection on youth, in all its purity and unruliness. A fresh innocence inspires the bright white broderie dresses, boyish suits and slacks. The suggestion of uniforms, in crisp collar shirts and bibs. Prim tailoring and sweetly laces, create a nostalgia that is completely modern. Yet, a quiet subversion under lays everything, conjured in cutaway panels, quiet details and innovative fabrication - embroidered plastics, desiccated tweeds, intricate crochet grids, super shiny patents, foils and overblown lace daisies. The silhouette evolves through neat, meticulously refined forms, and blossoms in a new play on volume, dropped bell skirts and dresses, and coats are layered and topped with tiers of scalloping. A muted palette of milky whites, butter cream, coffee and gold threads, underscored with black and lit with translucent yellow and saturated green and pink. Pumps and courts and signature brogues balance on elevated clear perspex shelves. Perspex bags suggest scallop edged lunch bags and plastic halo hairbands areframed in crochet.
The second press release is much less effective than the first one. First of all, the layout is not very reader friendly. It does not have a clear paragraph division, so it turns me off with all the confusion I have to deal with. It also appears a bit boring to me with barely facts but a interesting story at all. It mentioned Simone Rocha’s inspiration for this launch from the sculptures and by Ed Templeton and Cy Tombly without any further information or references about these two artists. Therefore, it is even more confusing and journalists would not necessarily want to do the research themselves. The language used in the second press release is much more flowery and complicated but less engaging than the first one. There is, again, an inconsistence in the chosen language style, which causes confusion about the desired brand image. I think using Simone Rocha as the first person when describing her inspiration and understanding is an interesting and effective approach, so we should just stick to that and create our own unique press release style when it is about a new launch and the inspiration. Since Simone Rocha is identified by the industry as a young up and coming designer and she appears to be a little girl who values the importance of her family a lot, it would be better if she appears to the media and the public as an amiable figure. Thus, an engaging language style would be preferred.
Press: daisy@karlaotto.com / jakob@karlaotto.com Contact: lizzie@simonerocha.com Page 14
Simone Rocha has been writing for Elle Blog for a year, from March 2013 to April 2014. The blog effectively introduced Simone Rocha as a successful up and coming young designer and attractive individual to Elle’s readers. It started with Elle as an authority in fashion industry introducing Simone Rocha and her achievements and ended again with Elle hosting an interview with Simone about the blog, so it would generate more traffic and credibility. Besides the grand opening and closing ceremony, Simone Rocha takes over the blog and writes in first person about her collections, working experiences and personal life. It gives a very complete insight about Simone Rocha: Who she is? What she likes? And what she does? She started writing about her shops around the globe and collections in the first three months, so that her readers who might not her know her would have a better knowledge and deeper connection of the designer. Then she started to add more close-up contents, such as her office, her studio and the events she went to. In August 2013, she begin writing a series of city guides with her first destination, London, the city she is based in. She also took her readers to Dublin, the city she was born in, Paris, where her showroom is located in, East London, her working space and playground. The places that she introduces is of course much more edgy than an ordinary travel guide brochure. The venues she brought up are usually artistic and unique. It enables Simone Rocha to appear to be trendy and creative, an individual people would aspire to. After building up an even closer relationship with the readers and a sense of aspiration, Simone Rocha started to be really personal. She posted blogs about the arts she like and the general things she like, so that her readers could really feel like they know Simone Rocha a great deal.
Elle Blog
However, I would say this whole blog communication approach is effective at all. Although Simone Rocha had been sufficiently engaging, embarrassingly there was almost no comment under her posts at all. One of the very crucial strength of digital and blog is that it could be much more interactive than paper publications, but the Simone Rocha blog is not interactive at all, or let’s say nobody really interacted back to her. It makes this whole page looks unpopular and also negatively suggests that Simone Rocha is unpopular, which is not entirely true.
I think the blog is very effective in terms of its arrangement: from introducing Simone Rocha and her label to enabling the readers to access her thoughts and her life to finally creating an individual who people would aspire to. I could feel that as I was reading the blog, I felt I was gradually getting closer to this designer and her brand. The language and tone she used was casual and engaging, which also helps to even draw her readers closer to her.
The content is great but it did not successfully reached to her audience. I believe this failure should be ascribed to the inefficiency of the utility of her social network platforms. She did not post anything about the blog on her Instagram or Twitter, and only one post on her FaceBook when she started this blog. There was an opportunity of generating more traffic and reaching to more audience by sharing this blog on her social media platforms, but she did not do so. Therefore, in order to improve the Elle blog, I would suggest Simone Rocha connecting this blog page to all her social media platforms, including her website. Page 15
Simone Rocha posts all her archive magazine coverage on her website. According to her website, she has been covered a few times in Vogue and Elle, what people call the “fashion bibles”. Magazines that are more artistic and edgy such as Dazed, I-D and wallpaper have also covered her. There are also features and editorials about Simone Rocha on slightly more niche magazines such as Lula, Purple Fashion Magazine, Achtung and Wonderland.
Media Coverage
There is one thing in common with all the coverage: aesthetic image with very few words, except a few interviews with magazines like Dazed. Most of the magazine pages that cover her do not have an obvious title stating which brand is this piece about. I am concerned that this is not sufficient to bring attention from the public to the brand, because in most of the cases, people would not bother to check the credits when they flip through magazines. Therefore I would suggest that Simone Rocha should create more stories and pitch the media from multiple angles about the collections and the brand rather than just sending out press releases about details of the garments and samples as we can see in the previous section about press releases. On the other hand, Simone Rocha has done quite a few interviews, which are not posted on her website, with Telegraph, Haper’s Bazar and Dazed, etc. I think this is the highlight of the whole media section she had previously. Simone Rocha brought up about her family and her heritage quite frequently during these interviews. It is a good way for the readers to see who she really is and where is she from. According to some of her direct quotes, such as “’Oh, something’s gone wrong. Something that nobody else will have seen and I just want to die,’ she said. ‘I’m not a weepy person normally, but, yeah, I cry,’” we could see that Simone Rocha is still a little girl, just like what she said “just a little bit of lady.” (Telegraph, March 2014) it aligns her own personal image with the brand’s key message, which is the transitional stage of the rebellious little girl to an elegant lady. At the same time, her attitude is fun and friendly, and this would stimulate more affiliation for her among the readers.
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NEWGEN ‘Being part of NEWGEN puts designers on a fast-track to international exposure, giving them the opportunity to learn how to do business and allowing them to meet with top level buyers and press,’ says Sarah Mower MBE, BFC ambassador for emerging talent and chair of the NEWGEN selection committee. (ElleUK.com, June 2013)
Being recipient of NEWGEN, a project TopShop developed to encourage and support up and coming UK designers. Simone Rocha has become one of the leading designers of NEWGEN now. Being a part of this community is obviously a proof of Simone Rocha’s capability as a designer, so the public would have a more positive impression about her without knowing about her designs. NEWGEN provides Simone Rocha a good number of budgets to carry her launches and a nice show location at Tate Modern that meets an international standard. The show space in Tate Modern makes a good association of Simone Rocha and contemporary arts and creativity, while this budget enables her to host some other events rather than the fashion show only. TopShop also does a lot of PR work for her. TopShop made a video for Simone Rocha on YouTube, with Sarah Mower, an authority talking about how talented she is. It carries on with Simone Rocha talking about her Elizabeth inspiration of the AW14 collection and the modern feminine twist inside it. Being featured on the TopShop YouTube channel is obviously a great way for an up and coming designer like Simone Rocha to get more exposure, because the TopShop for sure has more subscribers and followers than she ever has got. At the same time, TopShop has a very mature PR mechanic system. All of its online sites and platforms are linked together and shares content of each other, so it also helps Simone Rocha to be promoted in a more organic way.
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J Brand Collaboration J Brand’s CEO Jeff Rudes has wasted no time in spotting Rocha junior’s talent. “Simone has developed such a strong aesthetic in a very short space of time” he explained. “Her maturity and sense of direction as a designer is unparalleled for her generation; we are thrilled to have Simone creating a capsule collection with us.” (Telegraph, Feburary 2014)
A
t first I did not know much about J Brand. It was kind of random one day one of my friend was talking about his outfit during Sunday brunch, and he mentioned that he always receive lots of free J Brand products because he is a great friend with one of the senior management person of J Brand. He identifies himself as a typical customer of J Brand. When I think about his personal style (if there is any style), he is the typical T-shirts and jeans guy. His occupation is the owner of couple restaurants and bars around Soho area, so he never has to be too formal at work. He was joking that he has only two suits for some special occasions. That night I did some more research about J Brand and found out that he was right: he is the typical customer of J Brand, because they sell jeans. Then I started to think about the rationale of this collaboration. Simone Rocha is doing a capsule collection for J Brand, which indicates that this collection is not for sales purpose. I think the positive aspect of this collaboration is that Simone Rocha got features on some publications with wider ranges of readers such as the Times. Since she is at her transitional stage, leaving NEWGEN being independent, she needs some other platforms to promote her to the public and attract the attention of the medias. However, I do not think this collaboration is entirely positive for Simone Rocha. First of all, these two brands have nothing to do with each other, their brand value, aesthetic or targeted customers do not match at all. Secondly, it is an indication to Simone Rocha followers that she has been too busy being commercial. It might turn a lot of her customers who admires the edgy and artistic side of her off.
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Fashion Film SS14
AW12
AW11
AW10 Page 19
Fashion Film Analysis There is a fashion film section on Simone Rocha’s website, which introduces the theme and aesthetic of each collection using the media of moving images. I think this idea is effective for Simone Rocha, because she is trying to create a story, a theme behind each collection, and it is more direct and interactive to communicate them using fashion films. It is obvious that these films are made with very low budget. Some of them are literally shot in someone’s backyard or in an empty apartment with no more than two models. I would say some of these films are very effective communication approach such as the very first film they made for her AW2010 collection. It tells a story behind a fashion photo shoot in black and white with a model making sexy and feminine moves in front of the camera, but being playful at the same time. It perfectly matches the ideal Simone Rocha girl, feminine but playful. At the same time, since it is the very first film for the first collection, a backstage story demonstrates how the brand has been set up and introduces the girl in a more realistic way that shortens the distance between the brand and its potential consumers. However, not all the following films can keep up with the success of the first one. For example, the latest fashion film for SS2014 collection is much less effective and attractive. It is an edit of the runway video in black and white with a horror movie effect: shaking camera and low quality moving image with chaotic black dots on it. I could see that it is trying to demonstrate the runway video as a piece of vintage archive to link it with the grandma inspiration, but it was not obvious. Additionally, there is no story line in it, but only the catwalk, which the followers have probably seen it for a few times. It appeared dull and unoriginal to me. Furthermore, Simone Rocha did not do fashion films for all the collection, including the latest AW14 launch. I think it is a good visual opportunity that she should not miss. Since this season takes inspiration from the Elizabeth portrait exhibition, the fashion film could be Elizabeth related, so that it could present the theme in a more clear and interesting manner.
In addition to the film content, I think Simone Rocha has seized the background music opportunity very well. All of her films utilized music from indie rock/British pop music groups, such as Pixies, an alternative rock band from Boston, and the Stone Roses, a British rock band that was massive in the 80s and 90s. It is wise of Simone Rocha, because it gives the label something trendy and special to be associated with. Furthermore, Simone Rocha is based in East London, while indie rock music is also a product from the east side, it aligns with the image of a edgy and rebellious girl very well. Therefore, I think this is also an opportunity that we could use to push further the edgy side of her. Page 20
Competitor Perceptual Map
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According to the perceptual map, Simone Rocha could be identified as classic edgy feminine and functional. I think it is feminine because the majority of her garments are dresses and skirts, and she often uses lace, floral and sheer elements in her design. It is edgy at the same time because she also does oversized boyish jackets and uses punk, metal and other unisex elements. That is why she often describes her design as “just a little bit of lady.” I identified her garments as functional because she is known for her pockets on the dresses, light materials such as scuba mesh and her shoes are also comfortable and wearable on a daily basis. Her brand style is aesthetic but not too glamorous and decorated to be worn in the street by everyday people.
Unique Selling Point Page 22
I would not suggest that Simone Rocha’s style combined style of classic feminine and edgy would be a unique selling point for her, because there are many other competitors who are around position horizontally in the map, although details of the aesthetic may vary. However, I think the functionality is a unique selling point for Simone Rocha. According to the map, there are very few brands around the bottom. The closest one vertically is MCQ, but it has a very different aesthetic and it is also more casual then artistically designed. Most of the brands on the map are too glamorous and decorated or edgy and artistic to be worn on a daily basis. For example, there would be very few consumers who would wear Giambattista Valli or Balmain to attend a friend’s birthday party, because they are a bit too ornate with jewelries or artistic patterns and probably impractical to wear for an ordinary event, but they could definitely wear Simone Rocha. There are very few brands in the high fashion world could really achieve the word “wearable” without sacrificing their aesthetic, but Simone Rocha did it. Therefore, this could be her unique selling point. However, in general I think Simone Rocha is missing a really strong association of her brand to either a cultural, artistic or lifestyle feature, so her unique selling point is weak, which is quite negative for the brand.
Competitor Analysis
Giambattista Valli I think one of Simone Rocha’s closest competitors is Giambattista Valli ready-to-wear. The most obvious reason is that, Giambattista Valli is literally next-door beside Simone Rocha in London Dover Street Market. The Italian-born French designer launched his first readyto-wear collection in 2005, which is 5 years ahead of Simone Rocha but not much earlier. The romantic and feminine elements in both their collections also link them together as competitors. Additionally, Giambattista Valli also has got a notable number of followers and media coverage in Asia. However, influenced by Yves Saint Laurent and possibly his own haute couture design, Giambattista Valli’s design is much more heavily decorated and luxuriant than Simone Rocha, thus much less functional or funky as well.
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Website The major strength of Giambattista Valli, which is also a major weakness of Simone Rocha, is his strong and consistent online presence, especially the website. I was impressed by the visual and the vibe it creates when I first entered the website. It made me feel like I was in Paris. There are animated pictures about the brand’s romantic aesthetic and Paris incorporating with a slow jazz tune called “My Funny Valentine” by Chet Baker. The whole atmosphere is just enchanting. Although it does not show the collections on the homepage, it attracts people enough with the visual and audio to explore further about the brand. Even on the pages about the products, those garment pictures are half feathered with black background, which creates a mysterious atmosphere that stimulates people’s interest about this brand even more, while Simone Rocha just put all the runway pictures and videos there without any visual design, almost throwing them at people’s faces. I am not suggesting that Simone Rocha should copy what Giambattista Valli is doing, because Simone Rocha has a much cleaner aesthetic, but the website is definitely one area that her PR people should work on. There is a lot of potential here to be more engaging.
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Social Media: At the same time, Giambattista Valli also has a more consistent voice on his social media platforms. His FaceBook and Twitter page post exactly the same content with exactly the same description. Both accounts are very official, with posts of its new launch, press coverage, celebrity wearing his clothes and share about contents on other online platforms. The language used is simple and descriptive. Both of the pages have been updated very regularly. I would not say it is the outstanding in terms of social media utilization in the industry, but at least it is consistent and very active, which is something that Simone Rocha is missing. I initially discovered Giambattista Vali on Instagram and I think this account is very effective. It was also the reason I started to follow this brand. I could really see an effort been made on this Instagram page. The content has been carefully selected with pictures of official content and a nice visual addition that promotes the brand’s aesthetic and makes the page more attractive at the same time, while Simone Rocha’s Instagram page often has some random pictures about her life that does not align with the brand’s desired lifestyle. There are shots of details of the garments, designer’s script and architectures that align with the brand on Giambattista Vali’s Instagram page. Its voice is slightly more interactive, and as a result, there are quite a few comments below each post. At the same time, it is not overly chatty or personal, so it is still in conformity with other online platforms.
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Moschino; I choose Moschino as one of Simone Rocha’s competitor because they are targeting the same age group of consumers and their designs are both wearable and funky, although with different styles. More importantly, there is a lot to learn from Moschino for Simone Rocha. Moschino has been very quiet over the past few years until the latest AW14. It achieved massive success with Jeremy Scott’s pop cultural references in his design. This collection has been featured by almost all major fashion or general publications including Vogue, Elle, Dazed, Telegraph and The Guardian. It was one of the hottest topics all over on every major social media platforms for over a month after the fashion show.
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Cultural Association The first key to Moschino’s triumph is the strong association Jeremy Scott enforced on the brand. The world famous McDonald’s potato chips package and SpongeBob SquarePants has defined Moschino as one of the leading force pop cultural references in fashion industry. These references have been made obvious enough that even someone who does not understand fashion would think that it as something cool and desirable in her funky wardrobe collection. At the same time, everything during the fashion show has been done in a coherent way. From the garments, to the music, to the way model poses are all pop culture related and very bold. At one point during the fashion show when they are showing the SpongeBob SquarePants pieces, every guest had to listen to a woman moaning from sexual pleasure as the background music. It is because Moschino pushed the whole fashion show to an extreme, everyone there was so excited about it and could not stop talking about it after the show. Then, due to the trickling down effect, professionals in the industry passed down this topic to the consumers. I think this is something Simone Rocha could improve on: a recognizable association with a particular cultural or sub-cultural or artistic topic and create a powerful statement through a launch or an event to make it obvious. For example, there is a nice association with the Elizabeth portrait exhibition for AW14 collection, but she just did a few interviews and talked about it. It is a pity to let such a good opportunity for a buzz go. I have kept mentioning about it in this journal, because it is a crucial factor Simone Rocha has to have to create more brand awareness and make people really feel for her design. Moschino’s case also proved me right.
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vSanples & Influencers: I would also attribute Moschino’s massive success to the samples and gifts they sent out. Almost right after the show, Anna Dello Ruso started to wear the McDonald’s T-shirt and taking pictures with the whole set of McDonad’s – the bag and the iPhone case in it. It suddenly increases the hotness of this launch. After her, many fashion influcers such as celebrities and bloggers start to post pictures about items of this collection such as the iPhone case, the McDonald’s T-shirt and the SpongeBob hats. Celebrities including Katy Perry, Amber Rose and Rita Ora, bloggers including Chiara Ferragni also had been posting about it. These are all influencers who have over millions of followers on their social media pages. Afterwards the engine has been created; the mechanism of social networks has also started. The Moschino McDonald’s iPhone case and bag became the must have fashion items of the season. It was a very successful product placement on influencers because they chose the right people, the ones who have huge numbers of followers and who fits the brand image and the theme of the collection. They chose the right sample to give away as well. Small items are much more preferable because they are more affordable and useable than big couture pieces. It is much easier to create a buzz around T-shirts and accessories. I think in order to create a trend, Simone Rocha could do the same – create small items such as goodie bags with Elizabeth elements to give away. It is also essential to choose the right influencers. For example, I do not think Lady Gaga is a fit to the brand image and theme of AW14 collection. Some artists or indie musicians who are popular at the moment would be better influencers to choose.
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SWOT Analysis Strength:
• Famous fashion designer father – John Rocha • Experienced business people helping her running the business such as her mother – Odette • Celebrity followers who can generate attention to her, such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Rita Ora • Financial strength: sponsorship from NEWGEN • International stockiest • Good relationship with the media and authorities in the industry such as Anna Wintour
Opportunity:
• Develop an E-store • Improvement in website design • Association with musicians and artists • Independent boutique • Promotion about Simone Rocha as the face of the brand who consumers would aspire to • Reach to more oversea markets • Create brand content publication • Transitional stage, opportunity to become mature and highend • Further collaboration with digital magazines
Weakness:
• Inconsistent voice tone on her social media and press releases • Plain website design • No independent store • Not enough media coverage about the brand content (most of them are product placement) • Effective communication contents not promoted on social media • Her aesthetic is not very unique • No strong association with any particular cultural or art group (no story to tell behind the brand) • No brand content publication
Threat:
• Celebrities may represent the wrong brand image • Many designers are merging towards the edgy style • Saturated market with up and coming designers • Brand image not fully established, wrong message would destroy the brand’s reputation
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Strength:
Opportunities:
One of Simone Rocha’s biggest strength is her family background, with her father, the world famous designer John Rocha and her mother an artist who is also good at dealing with business. She might have avoided many unnecessary mistakes as an up and coming designer. At the same time, the family name also brought more attention and industry network to her. That might be the reason why she is in good connection with medias and authorities. After her AW14 fashion show, Anna Wintour went to backstage to congratulate her, which is a big accomplishment for a young designer and it created lots of topics about her. At the same time, it shows that she has already established a good relationship with one of the major fashion magazine – Vogue. Beside, she has also done many interviews with various publications and websites, such as Telegraph, Haper’s Bazar, Dazed Magazine and online media such as Browns Fashion, Style Edicator and Show Studio. It gives her a greater presence in the public, more than many of the other up and coming designers.
As Simone Rocha is at her transitional stage from a new up and coming designer to a big name in fashion industry, there are many opportunities I would hope for her to seize. The first one is the improvement of her online platforms: a better designed website, further intimate collaboration with digital magazines like the one she did with Elle but promoting it more frequently and maybe an E-store, which would probably also enable her to expand her oversea market. Since she has already got many followers in China and Japan, she could expand furthermore towards other fashionable Asian countries, such as Korea and Thailand. Since many of her collections are inspired from art, there is an opportunity to push it further and enrich the brand’s personality with artistic collaborations. At the same time, the brand could use Simone as the representative and build an aspiration towards her among her followers.
Strength:
Threats:
One of Simone Rocha’s biggest strength is her family background, with her father, the world famous designer John Rocha and her mother an artist who is also good at dealing with business. She might have avoided many unnecessary mistakes as an up and coming designer. At the same time, the family name also brought more attention and industry network to her. That might be the reason why she is in good connection with medias and authorities. After her AW14 fashion show, Anna Wintour went to backstage to congratulate her, which is a big accomplishment for a young designer and it created lots of topics about her. At the same time, it shows that she has already established a good relationship with one of the major fashion magazine – Vogue. Beside, she has also done many interviews with various publications and websites, such as Telegraph, Haper’s Bazar, Dazed Magazine and online media such as Browns Fashion, Style Edicator and Show Studio. It gives her a greater presence in the public, more than many of the other up and coming designers.
The threats for Simone Rocha mainly come from the saturated fashion market. There are many up and coming designers appearing every year, it is quite difficult to catch all the attention from media and consumers. Although Simone Rocha is under the spotlight right now, it is very possible that one day someone would just take her place new. At the same time, classic and well-established brands, such as Chanel and Givenchy with a heritage are also merging towards the edgy aesthetic direction, because this is what sells now. For Simone Rocha who does not has the same level of budget and fame, it is hard for her to compete with them, especially they are charging almost the same price. Furthermore, because Simone Rocha is at a very crucial transitional stage and has not completely established her brand identity, one mistake in communication may completely destroy the brand’s reputation. For example, the wrong celebrity wearing her clothes in a wrong way may create a bad association, so that customers would not think this brand as a high-end name that matches the price and her brand image anymore.
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PESTEL Analysis Political
• UK government pays a lot of attention in fashion industry because it contributes 1.7% to the total UK GDP directly before calculated by marginal propensity index, excluding the tourism and greater purchasing power with employment it stimulated, especially with London Fashion Week as a major fashion event in the globe • UK policy supports oversea students
Economical • • • •
European economy is recovering Economies in some Asian countries are booming High failure in designer business Economies of scale: bigger production has less production cost per item
Sociocultural
• The society is following a strong celebrity culture. People tend to purchase what influencers recommend. • In Europe, people with a certain level of purchasing power tend to buy fashion that lasts rather than fast fashion • Institution and media in London pay lots of attention to help young designers to achieve their position in the industry • Designers are becoming high street names through collaboration • Innovation is encouraged and appreciated in UK • UK fashion industry as s historical foundation with its tailor reputation and big fashion names such as Vivien Westwood and Paul Smith. • East London is the heart of arts, culture and fashion in UK
Technological • • • • • •
Safe and trusted online payment Development of digital technology for online publication Development in faster and safer delivery Development in digital design for flyers and advertisements More comfortable and less time taken for long distance trip Technology enables development of innovative fabrics
Environmental • • •
Legal • •
Increasing attention on eco-friendly manufacture and products, especially on high street fashion brands People are looking for solutions of environmental fabrics Animal protection is a highly concerned issue in Europe (anti-fut)
All EU countries citizens can enter UK border without additional visa Tourists from outside EU can shop tax free in UK/EU Page 31
UK government is giving young fashion designers lots of support because of the contribution fashion industry has made to the country’s GDP and employment. Especially, London, being the fashion heart of UK, it attracts institutions, businessmen and creative who are interested in the industry. As an up and coming designer, Simone Rocha has got support from different organizations more than she could get in any other cities in UK or abroad, such as her NEWGEN collaboration with Top Shop and her graduation show with Central Saint Martin, which, both of them, gave her an easy and glorious start of her career. At the same time, being the most prosperous economy in Europe, the UK market is full of customers with great purchasing power, who could potentially afford Simone Rocha’s high price. Celebrity culture continues to be dominant in our modern society. People follow whatever celebrities and other influencers do, especially in terms of fashion choice. This is a positive sociocultural aspect for Simone Rocha, because even as an up and coming designers, she has already got her own celebrity followers, including Rihanna, Rita Ora and Lady Gaga and other celebrities oversea, especially in Asia. This is also one of the reasons that she has got many customers in Asia. East London has been identified as the cradle of everything trendy in UK, such as contemporary arts, indie music and up and coming designer fashion. Since Simone Rocha is based in East London, she is a part of the culture group, and there is an opportunity to create an association with other members of the group such as artists and musicians who could be both potential customers and representatives of the brand value. London has often been identified as a city that celebrates creativity and innovation, while East London is a part of the town where interesting people from everywhere aspire to as a highly creative and artistic culture center. People follow the cultural growth of East London for various reasons, but they all end up following everything in this place. Therefore, people who are interested in it would give particular attention to the designers who are based there. Another major external factor is the increasing awareness on environmental issues, especially in the western industry with powerful organization such as the Greenpeace. People are expecting brands to achieve their corporation social responsibly by causing less harm to the environment. Fashion companies are expected to produce their garments without pollution or animal abuse. Therefore, fur is losing its popularity in Europe expect places that are extremely cold. Simone Rocha is known for her innovative fabrics throughout her collections thanks to the advanced technology of artificially mixed fabrics. She also used faux fur instead of authentic fur in her latest AW14 collection. I think this is an opportunity for Simone Rocha. She could start to use innovative and environmental friendly fabrics as one of her unique selling point.
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Stage III: Identification
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Key notes from interview with a DSM staff: - Asian and Middle Eastern are the majority of the customers who shop Simone Rocha
Consumer Profile
- Consumer’s age varies from 20 to 50 - Different age group purchases different items 20-35: almost everything especially the dresses 35-50: mainly coats and accessories - Customer personal style: romantic and feminine
Name: Sarah Kumiko Nationality: Half Japanese Half English Age: 23 Marital Status: In a relationship Occupation: master degree architecture student at Chelsea School of Arts Disposable Income: 1500 pounds a month on average with her freelance architecture jobs, but wealthy family supports her daily expenses Location: Living in a big house in Notting Hill with her family Pets: A small cat and a big dog go along with each other very well. Social Class: Upper Class Interests: Contemporary Art; Music (especially British indie music); Drawing and Illustration; Romantic Novels and movies; Fashion and Beauty Things she likes to do on weekends: going to their countryside cottage with her family; attending cultural event in East London with her boyfriend; going to art/design exhibitions with her classmates; having a barbecue in the afternoon with her family and family friends in their backyard; reading and watching movies alone Page 34
Key Messages Innovation in fabrics “Just a little bit of lady” Functionality featuring the pocket designs and shoes Punky Elizabeth Simone Rocha’s heritage and family value Rebellious, young, feminine and romantic aesthetic Artistic elements
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Goals and Suggestions Simone Rocha needs to be more active and consistent on social medias and other online platforms. As the majority of her targeted customers are young, they are very much likely influenced by the Internet with their purchasing decision a great deal. An aesthetically constructed website is the first step for a good presence in front of the customers and media people. An E-store with style reports would be a nice addition to increase sales. There are quite a few past communication approaches being identified as effective in this log, but they have not been promoted enough on other platforms of Simone Rocha. We have to connect all the online platforms together in order for the mechanism to work. A future digital collaboration like she did with Elle is very encouraged. Another goal to achieve is to create a unique association with a certain cultural or artistic group, because musicians and artists are also influencers in the fashion industry. For the latest AW14 collection, Simone Rocha has publically addressed about her inspiration taken from the Elizabeth I and Her People exhibition. This is a great opportunity for the label to create a buzz around and identify itself with a connection and a story. In order to Simone Rocha to be a brand, not just an individual designer, the brand must have a recognizable value and identity behind it. A story around contemporary art and indie music would be a very strong approach as they align with the brand image and they are very popular at the moment.
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Sources: http://simonerocha.com http://instagram.com/simonerocha_ https://twitter.com/simone_rocha_ https://www.facebook.com/simonerochastudio?ref=br_tf http://www.elleuk.com/promotion/cointreau http://insideout.topshop.com/2014/02/the-full-report-simone-rocha-aw14 http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG10675388/Simone-Rocha-just-a-little-bit-of-a-lady.html http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG10621131/Simone-Rocha-to-create-a-capsule-collection-for-J-Brand.html http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2014RTW-SROCHA/ http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2014RTW-SROCHA/ http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2013RTW-SROCHA/ http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers_profile.aspx?DesignerID=1605 http://www.londonshowrooms.co.uk/Paris-SS13/Simone-Rocha http://london.doverstreetmarket.com/dsmpaper/new_items.html
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