The brand matrix

The creative economy and ethical fashionlecture

In this lecture we were taught about how the fashion industry affects the environment and what methods can be used in the design and business processes of a brand to limit the damage on the environment. 

We were first informed about three different points of the creative economy; Origionators, Experience creators and Content producers.

Shop report

Shop report:

The Jane Norman store I visited was located inside House of Frasier on Oxford Street, London and the River island store I visited was in surrey quays shopping centre, London. Both shops where of similar scale and whereas the river island store was well set out and inviting, the Jane Norman section in House of Frasier was shoved into a corner with insufficient lighting to properly highlight the collection.

The Jane Norman section in house of Frasier felt desolate as there wasn’t any staff around to assist customers or to welcome them, whereas as soon as you walk in to the river island store it is clear that there is staff working on the shop floor who ask if you need any assistance. The tags on the clothes in Jane Norman where bent and creased which makes the brand look untidy and lazy whereas the tags in river island had two layers which were made out of stronger more durable plastic and card and where unbent in any way.

The hangers in both stores where simplistic with just the brand logo on them and both were plastic with white and black as the colour scheme.

The lighting fixtures in Jane Norman where normal spotlightsfitted into the ceiling just giving a plain and simple image to the brand, river islands light fixtures where slightly more interesting in studio style but still very simple, although they also had LED lighting above the till which made the shop look more interesting.

The only promotional materials in both shops were the shops logo. No scents.

Staff presentation of both shops was neat and tidy however the river island staff were dressed in the latest seasons trends.

The clothing was sectioned off by similar colours in both shops, apart from the jeans, shoes and accessories sections inRiver Island which were sectioned off by product category.

 

 Shop report:

Jane Norman -

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Jane Norman located in Oxford street house of Frasier

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Jane Norman section shoved into a corner

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Insufficient lighting

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Products crammed together

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All the same coloured products grouped together so it makes it harder to see the individual products

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Desolate with no members of staff around to offer help

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The tags on the clothes in Jane Norman where bent and creased which makes the brand look untidy and lazy

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Cheap looking plastic black and white hangers

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The lighting fixtures in Jane Norman where normal spotlights fitted into the ceiling just giving a plain and simple image to the brand

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The only promotional materials in both shops were the shops logo. No scents.

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Staff presentation of both shops was neat and tidy however the river island staff were dressed in the latest seasons trends.

 

River Island –

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The River Island store I went into was in surrey quays shopping centre, as this was a similar scale to the Jane Norman section I visited in house of Frasier.

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Well set out and inviting; open doors, interesting layout, focal points at front of shop.

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Staff around to help

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Thick double layered swing tags to give the brand a clean polished feel.

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Simplistic hangers, black and white, although they were better shaped to fit the clothes.

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Studio style and LED lighting

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Staff wearing latest seasons trends

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Products categorised by category as well as colour schemes.

 

 

 

 

 

First lecture - Branding:

In the first part of my Wednesday lesson I was introduced to branding through a lecture which taught me about key ways to sustaining a business and how to create a brand, what branding is about and what comes under the branding umbrella. I learnt about bread and butter designs which are a staple product that appeals to the larger market to create a continuous cash flow for the business and allow enough money for innovation in other products which may not appeal to everyone.

I also learnt about triggers which are things that remind you of a brand and reinforce a brands image such as; logo, colour, shape, letters, images, swing tags, signage, staff presentation, packaging and scent. Some of these triggers are emotional touch points which is people customers associate with the brand like store staff, and the personal experience of the staff and how the brand treats them. Each emotional touch point should reinforce the brand in a positive way. I was shown A and F as a case study as there is a clear strong brand image put forward by this company but in some peoples opinion, the brand doesn't always take as much care with it's emotional touch point through staff by treating them well as they would like.

Our second case study to look at was Louis Vuitton and with this brand we first learnt about the brand pyramid. 

The levels of a brand pyramid are; personality, values, emotional benefits, physical benefits, attributes, positioning and essences. After I learnt about the branding pyramid we went through a serious of photos of products and endorsements to decide which products were on brand or off brand and I was surprised by the amount of tacky things assosiated to the traditional Louis Vuitton print which has in fact been the victim of a large amount of counterfeit material produced and sold on the black market. This was obviously an off putting factor for the rock clients of Louis Vuitton as the brand started to loose it's exclusivity and classic polished brand image. After looking into how Louis Vuitton started to loose they're brands edge we were shown how it was once again revived through advertisements and new campaigns. Although in Louis Vuittons 2009/10 move towards discreet luxury, craftsmanship campaign they got into trouble for suggesting they're bags were hand stitched, rather than hand finished, by the ASA. 

The third and final brand case study I was shown as about Pierre Cardin and how the brand over saturated the market and lost customer confidence creating logo fatigue along the way, I was also shown two essays written about Pierre Cardin and logo fatigue called 'Valuing a diluted brand - Pierre Cardin' and 'Has logo fatigue reached it's tipping point?' 

We later returned to the Louis Vuitton case study, where we looked at evolving brand DNA where Louis Vuitton used new associations and collaborations to help them regain control of they're brand image, going into art exhibitions and other markets than the fashion industry. The brand then made it's products less easy to copy. 

Using PESTEL: Zara PESTEL analysis

Political - manufacturing 

Economic - Spanish recession

Social/cultural - fast fashion/ advertising

Technological - online shopping

Environmental - close distribution and manufacturing 

Legal - avoiding copyright law 

 

After looking at emerging trends on websites such as WGSN we were left in our groups to perform a PESTEL analysis on a chosen brand, my group chose Zara. We had to create a presentation and share it with the class at the end off the session. 

Consumer typologys