Figuring Out Your Fashion Brand’s DNA, Part 2: Fashion Marketing And More

Tags

brand consultant, brand strategy, Digital strategy, fashion brand DNA, Fashion brand launch, fashion business mentor, fashion design, fashion design consultant, fashion marketing, fashion retailer, fashion startup, Inventory managent, Omnichannel, retail strategy, startup fashion expert

This is part two of a two-part series on starting and running your fashion business. We begin with branding and logistics. 

Up until now in Part 1, we’ve discussed two elements- components that make up a fashion brand, and ways to find and source the right material. In the second half of this series, our focus shifts ever so slightly to the business model and deciding on a marketing strategy.

The retail landscape today is very different from what the norm was even a decade ago. In early 2010, omnichannel retail as a concept was whispered in close quarters and often left alone as something for the big players. Today, every retailer, at some point in the business journey, explores an omnichannel strategy. Online sales channels are very different from offline selling in that orders need to be shipped, delivered, and the returns processed.

These aspects also bring in choices in fashion marketing such as which channels to advertise on, what promotions to run and how to get maximum traction for the business. As with branding, a fashion business coach can help you look into everything from inventory and sourcing to sales and beyond. Having such a support system can help cut unnecessary costs from your business and set you up for success.

Let’s discuss a few more aspects of selling through your fashion brand.

1. The Channel Choice: This one is by far the toughest choice you’ll make. Whichever channel you choose, you’ll be losing out on the other in the beginning. Over time, you will want to try out all channels such as online and offline sales media as well as features like the Facebook shop to increase the chances of making a sale.

That said, for someone starting out today, the scales tip slightly in favor of online selling. With this method, you do not have to spend upfront on store design, day to day operations and bringing in customers. You can, instead, stock up at a warehouse, set up a web store and reach out to a much wider audience. That said, online selling also presents a few challenges such as getting pictures and descriptions absolutely right, as well as the consideration of whether people will buy online from a relatively new apparel brand.

Think about your specific product category and which audience type it appeals most to. Base your channel decision on their most preferred way of shopping. Also, this is only a choice of launch. Over time as revenues go up, you can expand to as many other channels as you’d like.

2. Cashflow Considerations: For every retail business, good cash flow is a lifeline that helps keep the business running. When you have enough operational cash, you can make sound decisions on sourcing and inventory handling that are not dependent upon a cash crunch.How, then, do you keep cashflow under control? By managing inventory well! For many fashion brands today, marketing spend is not optional. You need to spend on advertising to get more visibility. Quality of the product, on the other hand, is not up for debate. So, the only way for you to save your working capital is to handle inventory better.Many fashion retailers today use ERP systems to manage their inventory right from the very beginning. Apparel and accessories sell in good volumes which is why it is better to leave the inventory management to systems built to achieve just that.

   Beyond that, accurate financial reporting, and accounting is a business best practice and it also helps you make better business decisions. Hire a qualified accountant to do the job for you and ensure that books and actual values are in line from time to time.

3. The Digital Strategy: Fashion marketing is all about making repeat impressions that eventually lead to a conversion. We have surely noticed how when we browse a product online, similar suggestions keep cropping up for a while. That’s just good digital marketing, at the end of the day. This is also why advertising usually pays off in this domain. When someone browses for apparel, and they are shown similar ads from other brands, they are far more likely to want to click on the ad and browse.

You can always focus your digital strategy around the Cost Per Conversion metric, which essentially means that you will pay the platform a price for every conversion that happens through them.

However, paid marketing isn’t the only sales avenue there is. The ultimate goal of any digital strategy is to move to organic reach. Customers should be able to find you with a simple search term, should already follow you on social media and should open most of your product emails, if not all. To get to that point, marketers use a mix of paid advertising and organic content to market your products better.

As part of this process, you will also work on one aspect of content marketing known as content strategy. As with all planning processes, hiring an expert is your best shot at getting optimum results. You need to think through aspects such as the type of content to produce, the frequency of publication and distribution, which posts to promote through paid ads, etc. An expert can also help you track your site analytics and suggest if any changes need to be made to improve conversion.

4. Beyond Digital: While digital marketing is an essential part of sales decisions today, it isn’t the only way to market your brand. If you have an offline store, you need to find ways to bring people from their online accounts to your offline store as well. Moreover, if you sell online exclusively, you still need to find ways to engage offline- through city-based events, pop-ups, and workshops that your audience is likely to enjoy.

Usually, these decisions are very specific to the business. This is why a startup fashion expert is brought into the picture to help you get maximum returns on your marketing investment.

5. Launch Planning: A brand’s launch is a memorable experience for everyone who has been working on it for long. It is the first opportunity we get to put the brand out there and see what people think. By all means, the launch should be turned into a big event. We recommend using social media to generate interest well in advance with countdown timers, early bird promotions and the like. Also, get a checklist ready before launch to account for aspects such as the website’s stability, measuring and gathering data about the number of people tuned in for the launch, having a live customer service team, ensuring all operations are in place and so on. In the offline context, this would also include decking up your store, ensuring that all POS terminals are operational, provision of refreshments, etc.  

6. Influencer Marketing: Today, wherever you look, there are fashion influencers. Some of them command a huge number of followers and their opinions are often taken very seriously. Such influencers know what they are worth and therefore, they do not come cheap. However, if you can afford them, there is value in getting them to endorse your new fashion brand.Influencers who work professionally often offer statistics on their outreach, the number of posts they will publish, and the results you can expect from the effort. Calculate the result of an influencer campaign after each new post is published, and then once the entire effort is complete.Remember, the influencer market is also reasonably crowded. Unless they have an engaged following, influencers may not quite be able to get you the results you want. Proceed with caution, ask for past campaign statistics and never be afraid to negotiate on your terms.

Up until now, we have covered all aspects of launching a new fashion business that we could think of. What other aspects would you like to hear from us on? Share your ideas with us in the comments below.

Don’t forget to sign-up for our newsletter that brings all that’s fashion design and more, right to you!

---

Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion. She is a Freelance Fashion Designer and Brand Consultant helping fashion brands to create great products from idea to launch. Fuel4Fashion social links:  Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

---

 

How to select the perfect fashion brand name in 7 easy steps.

Tags

fashion blog, fashion brand, fashion design, fashion designers, fashion illustrations, fashion label, fashion world, fashionbrands, freelance fashion designer, logo, prints, proto, target audience

As you prepare to launch your own fashion label, you face the challenge of deciding on a brand name. While the fashion world is full of names that are easily recognizable, finding one that fits you and the particular segment of customers you are targeting can be a challenge that many first time fashion entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed with.

Coming up with a name for a fashion brand involves a lengthy process, and is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Here are a few steps that will help you structure that process and hopefully make it easier.

Selecting the perfect brand name and logo for your fashion start-up

Focus on your target audience

A brand should appeal to its target audience. What segment are you looking to appeal to – youthful, sophisticated, urban, and edgy? Your brand name needs to be a reflection of this key trait. This is why sports brands are usually short – Nike, Reebok, Fila, Puma – and so on. Torrid, a brand that focuses on large sizes for teenage girls and younger women, appeals to the romantic predispositions of this audience.

Determine your brand personality

Fashion brands tend to represent the personality of the designer, and it’s not surprising that many brands are the names of their owners themselves – Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan – but if your name is not as easy to roll off the tongue, you’re better off creating one that is a reflection of the personality – like Forever21 appealing to young women. A combination can also work if paired well, either individually or as a mash-up of the two words.

Be Innovative and edgy, but don’t go over the top

Many fashion entrepreneurs are disposed towards creating a brand name that a reflection of current trends or fads by being sharp and memorable, but this can backfire over time if the trends change. Being too edgy can also hurt, as the name loses its shock value over time – FCUK being a prime example, says Steve Manning of branding and naming consultancy Igor.

Watch out for Copyrights

While many find it tempting to use permutations and misspellings of common names, it might misfire if your audience doesn’t know how to spell your name correctly. If people can’t read, pronounce or remember a name it’s definitely the wrong one, so avoid names like Wynd, Phyre, etc. even though they might be tempting. And do check copyright and trademark registries to avoid taking one that already owned by someone else. Using a foreign word might be an interesting way to project your brand, but be sure there’s no one using that brand in the markets you are looking to target.

Simple Tests to Determine the Success of Your Brand Name

Alexandra Watkins, CIO of Eat My Words, a brand creation agency advocates two tests to determine if the brand name will be likely to succeed, which she calls the SMILE and SCRATCH tests. The test to check what qualities your brand name should have is the SMILE Test. Essentially it stands for

Simple – easy to understand

Meaningful – one which your customers easily relate

Imagery – creates a strong visual association

Legs – it should have the ability to stay relevant for a long time

Emotional – builds a bond, entertains, evoke a strong feeling.

The SCRATCH test is one to determine the qualities a brand name should not have. It stands for

Spelling – it should not be complicated to write or remember

Copycat – should not sound like or remind one of a similar brand

Random – one which has no association with the product

Annoying – evoking negativity

Tame – has very feeble associations

Curse of Knowledge – is understood only by insiders

Hard to Pronounce – If they can’t say it, they can’t remember it.

A good brand should be able to pass each of these tests, for it to be memorable.

Make Stakeholders part of the process

Once you’ve drawn up a short list of the brand names you’d like, share them with a small circle of influential people. These include investors, suppliers, your designer, employees and consider their opinion, although you should be the one to make the final decision. This helps you get an outside feel for the brand as well, and makes decision making easier.

Build a suitable image or logo to go with the brand name

The name is one part of the branding process. The logo and color palette that make up the logo are also part of the branding process. A suitable color palette and image will support and enhance the name, make it more memorable and easy to recall.

When we launched our business, the name came out of a simple understanding that we were here to help a fashion brand achieve its goals – hence the fuel that drives fashion brands, or simply put, Fuel4Fashion. The alliteration also helps us in building recall, and it simplifies what we do for our target audience, namely fashion entrepreneurs and growing fashion labels.

Building a brand takes time, and fashion brands require more due to the crowded nature of the market. But with a good brand name that represents the style of the clothes themselves, you are likely to build a stronger brand following and better recall as the years go by.

---

Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion, the freelance fashion design studio for multiple product designing in apparels that caters to start-up fashion labels and growing fashion brands with a diverse portfolio of design services. She is a member of the Cherie Blair Foundation’s Women Entrepreneurship Program and has over a decade of fashion industry experience with international labels and start-ups.

---