Howdy. It’s me Zac Bodner. Thanks for class this year, it was fun. Here’s my final case on RUH Collective. I’ll start with the findings of my research, and continue with an attempt at defining the concept of “style.” After that you will find the Brief, Strategy and Personas. Enjoy.
FINDINGS (THE FOUR C’s) Culture ● ● ● ● ●
Smartphones have made us very needy, superficial, and insecure. Everything is measured against something or someone else. We are in constant search of validation and attention. Everything is done for show. For recognition. As in, “Do it for the ‘Gram.” Life, experiences, and style are all becoming less authentic and more self absorbed because of this, and we are not evolving the way we should be
Category ● Fashion lacks innovation these days. ● Everything seems recycled from another era - Mom jeans, Almost Famous/John Lennon sunglasses, 90’s flannel and chokers, Fedoras, Flannel, you name it ● RUH is cool because their look is unique and mysterious
Consumer ● See “what is style,” below
Competition ● Alot of “modest wear” is based on in part on IDEOLOGY ● RUH wants to be based on STYLE (according to their feedback to our questions)
SO, WHAT IS STYLE? Style is a GIFT. To ourselves, and to others. It’s like that violin we hear playing and we don’t quite understand what it is that’s pulling on our heart strings, but we feel it all the same. Style is power. Power to define ourselves through choices. Power to transcend circumstance. Maybe you’re not as handsome as that next dude. But you got it going on in a way that he doesn’t. Because of your style. Usually we are defined by our circumstance. Gender. Looks. Genetics. Luck. Style gives us power that life often doesn’t. Style is an equalizer. No rich and no poor. Just those who have it and those who don’t. Style does not equal clothing or fashion. Clothing and fashion are byproducts of it. They are complementary. When we see someone with great style, we notice. We perk up. We smile. We compliment them. We’re not even sure why. Perhaps it’s because we feel connected to them, we see something in them that we have, or wish we had. Perhaps we love the fact that we could all just be barbarians, because no one knows what will happen when we die. And considering all that, this dude in front of us has some fresh Nike Air Jordans with flowers all over them. What a guy! What a world!!!!! Style is a GIFT. To ourselves, and to others. It’s time we start giving it more.
CREATIVE BRIEF What is the objective of this project? To position RUH as the progenitor of a new paradigm for understanding the concept of “Style.” And to assist them in applying this new paradigm as the foundation for an entirely unprecedented business model and movement in the fashion industry. What is the message? Style is a gift. To ourselves. And to others. Give it. What is style anyway? Style is an ephemeral concept that we know when we see. It makes us say, “Hey cool shoes! Great color. Wow, I like those.” It connects us to our own humanity. To our own hopes and worldview and self-image. It inspires us. Style connects us already, whether we realize it or not. It is a gift. RUH will be the first clothing brand to develop a paradigm for redefining and sharing this gift. How is the product different from its competitors? RUH will develop a revolutionary model of buying clothes. RUH products only be purchased as gifts. The only way to get it, is to first give it. Who are we trying to reach? Describe the target audience. People looking for new ways of thinking and behaving when it comes to the idea of fashion and the concept of style. People who want to merge their understanding of this concept and their impact on the world and people around them. People who are tired of our self-indulgent, self-obsessed society. People looking to redefine the way people interact with each other, via the medium of clothing. Why do they use? Explain the consumer benefits. Since the advent of the smartphone, it seems as if reality is fast becoming just an endless stream of pictures and words on a screen. We are losing touch with one another, and with the world around us due to an oversaturation of digital stimuli. People are starving to reconnect with their own humanity, and with other people all around them. People want to rewrite rules and come up with new ways of understanding things and each other. This will be an awesome and innovative way to start this process, via the medium of clothing. Where is the communication going to run? Discuss media alternatives. Word of Mouth only. No advertisements whatsoever. True style is the antithesis of marketing. It’s not for show. It spreads on its own, validates itself, and has real meaning. RUH will prove this.
PERSONA 1: CASSIDY COSTUME DESIGNER
(use your imagination) Goals/Motivations ● To consume you! To roll you up and smoke you! What is you? Life. Boys. Girls. Poems. Ice Cream. Waterfalls. Smiles. You name it, that’s you. ● To leave an exhaust trail of fiery, glittering magnificence in her wake. ● To see beauty in unexpected places. Like the City of Dallas, that place sucks! Just kidding. ● To redistribute that same beauty in her actions, philosophy, movement, dreams, design, etc. Heroes ● Mae West ● Anton Chekhov Cat’s Name ● Admiral Byrd Favorite Sexual Position ● Cowgirl, with shades on, looking right at you. Favorite Flower ● Peonies, for the way they drink water. Undergraduate Thesis Title ● “Proliferation of racial stereotypes on Chappelle’s Show”
Biggest Fear ● Being mediocre. And not being able to even articulate what the f@ck that means. Devices used ● Her sketchpad Websites ● Cleverbot.com Social Media ● The Telephone Customer Scenario Cassidy goes to see her friend Persephone perform in an installation at one of her favorite venues, The Museum of Human Achievement. Persephone is naked. Cassidy is an artist as well, and as such - has quite the affinity for the female form. She lets herself drift off to an airy and light place as she gazes at her friend’s physique. She can taste the salt on her tongue as she explores the skin of her friend’s naked body. She lingers in this space between the reality and fantasy for a bit. It’s a nice to space to be in. After the show, Cassidy goes backstage to meet her friend. And in an instant - she feels like she has run into a wall when she sees Persephone now fully clothed. The lord giveth and the lord taketh away, indeed. She wished she go back in time a few minutes. She couldn’t remember wanting another glimpse of anything as bad as she now wanted one more peek at what she had seen a few minutes ago. Her insides burned! She just stands there, thinking and hoping and praying and waiting and hoping. That the taste she imagined just a few minutes before might be able to live up to the one she might find waiting for her at the end of the night. And the moment ends. She hugs her friend and congratulates her as she kisses her on the cheek. She can’t stop thinking about those legs that she can’t see anymore. Those legs hiding and teasing and waiting behind those long, black flowing pair of pants. Those pants like none Cassidy had ever seen before.
PERSONA 2: PERSEPHONE PERFORMANCE ARTIST
(use your imagination) Goals/Motivations ● Tame wild beasts! ● Be knighted ● Forgive more ● Finish her manifesto ● Find contentment in uncertainty Heroes ● Super Dave Osborne ● Bessie Smith Dog’s Name ● Folks Favorite Sexual Position ● The one where you’re tied up, helpless and loving it you little b_tch! Favorite Flower ● The origami ones she’s always folding Undergraduate Thesis Title ● “Reveillez vous - Une Nouvelle Fantastique”
Biggest Fear ● Cockroaches
Devices used ● Has been leaving her stupid phone at the house these days. Too distracting Websites ● passive-aggressivenotes.com Social Media ● Reddit (favorite subreddit - r/aww) Customer Scenario Persephone lies in her bed, lost in a velvety sea of thoughts about a few nights ago. Her phone rings, sharply returning her to this less pleasant space. She doesn’t recognize the number. Agitated, she answers. “Hello.” “Hi. This is _______ from RUH Collective. Your friend Cassidy reached out to us about you. She’s gotten you a gift. Is now a good time to talk? I’d love to tell you about it.”
STRATEGY ● RUH wants to start a movement ○ Movements are started by doing something new ○ Something people can get behind, something they see value in, something they champion ● So what’s new with RUH? ○ The concept of style ○ Style is not something artificial, done for the ‘Gram, or carried out falsely through the medium of fashion. ○ Style is not about a camera, or a need for validation. ○ Style is something in us, something we feel. Clothes are a small part of that. ○ Style is a gift. The power of which can inspire us and spur us to who knows what kind of greatness. ● What else is new? ○ The way we shop for clothes. ○ Anybody can buy themselves clothes. ○ It’s time to make fashion less self absorbed. ○ Fashion, if used properly, helps us express our style. ○ RUH will be a brand centered around sharing and inspiring, not self indulging ● So at RUH, we give gifts. ○ You want it, you give it ○ Give style, get smiles - simple as that. ○ Try it out if you don’t believe ● No one has combined a new understanding of Fashion’s role in Style with a new methodology for buying clothes ○ It will make people reconsider their relationship to clothing, other people and themselves ● It will not be advertised or marketed ○ Only word of mouth
○ Real style isn’t for show. Or for the ‘Gram. ○ It just is. And it spreads by itself, through the gifts we already give whether we know or it not ○ RUH knows it. ○ They will reflect this truth in their brand. ○ People will see this truth for themselves and join the movement. ● Starting a movement is about innovation. About redefinition. About feeling and truth that people can get behind. ○ RUH will redefine the concept of style. ○ RUH will redefine the way in which we buy clothes. ○ RUH will challenge the method by which we market ourselves and our products. ○ This is how you begin the process of starting a movement