OUGD603: Womenswear Brand Research

Competition/Inspiration


Many womenswear brands which target a younger female demographic use instagram as an effective marketing platform to increase brand recongintion and sales. Some brands tend to use celebrity endorsements to entice potential customers to buy into their products. The association between a celebrity and brand can significantly increase consumer awareness of a product, add credibility to a service and help to establish a trust and affinity that would otherwise take years to build. Examples below. 

Deciding on the brands tone of voice (Tounge n' cheek with a hint of sophistication and hella lot of style.) enabled me to think further into the style of clothing and products the brand would be selling as well are starting to consider the name. Research was conducted further into already existing brands which were successful and shared similar brand values. 

Missguided

• Logo is simplistic yet effective and easily legible, without looking cheap and tacky. 

• Misguided pride themselves on their mission to empower females globally to be confident in themselves to empower females globally to be confident in themselves and be who they want to be. Missguided is a bold, straight talking and forward thinking fashion brand inspired by real life that aims to do exactly that. Everything they create is informed by their customer along with global influences like social media, street style, and popular culture, creating a destination that delivers and encompasses everything it means to be a girl on the go in the world today.

• The products they create are designed by in-house ttalent that's made to equip millennial women with the fashion they need for all elements of their life. And since their aim is all about empowerment, they make it easy for everyone by making our product affordable. Its not just fast fashion - its rapid fashion. They drop over 50 brand new styles every single day, working constantly to bring their "babes" the freshest pieces, put together in wearable ready-to-go outfits.

• Nitin Passi is the man behind Missguided, starting his career in the New York fashion industry he set up on his own in 2009. With a loan of £50k, a passion for product and endless ambition, fast forward to present day, Passi runs a global multi platform brand and strives to continuously better what they do in every aspect. 

• Babe power is at the heart of their brand. They believe in championing young talent and real women, inspiring a new generation of unstoppable females to be themselves and achieve whatever they want. Their babes are the dreamers, believers and doers who represent our customers, brand advocates and iconic women from all shades of life and creative expression.

• They do all this and as much as they can to ensure we source ethically and to avoid acts that constitute modern slavery. To this end they have a team that is dedicated to understanding our supply chains, ask them about their operations, ensure they understand what supplying ethically means and provide guidance, training and assistance where necessary. 

Encourages social sharing IRL

• From its Tinder-inspired app to its Instagram feed, everything Missguided does online is inspired by a social-media-obsessed generation.

• The physical store is an extension of this, clearly designed to be ‘Instagrammable’ in its own right.

• With signs prompting customers to download the app and follow the brand on Snapchat, it cleverly fuses the online and offline experience.

Reinforces brand tone of voice

• Missguided is quite clever in how it speaks to its target audience, using slang and pop culture references to create a tongue-in-cheek brand voice.

• With slogan light boxes dotted about everywhere, this is another aspect that stands out in-store.

• It is used to great effect, with slogans like ‘mermaid party this way’ replacing the expected ‘more clothing upstairs’.

Although Misguided is a massive inspiration to the new brand, it would be difficult to initially compete with such a hugely successful global business straight away. So some things taken from this research such as store designs etc could be discarded as the new brand will initially just start online.

Hot!mess

• Logo uses exclamation mark to make an impact, the type is spacious yet thin and sophisticated.

• Owner states that she had a vision to make clothing that you couldn't find on the high street. That she admires girls that like to stand out from the crowd. Hot!mess is for girls that aren't afraid to break the rules. She'd like to think shes created everything for everyone all in one place.

•  One of fastest growing online multi brand retailers in the youth fashion market. 

• Combined social reach of over 670,000 followers. Hot!mess has dressed global style icons including Kylie Jenner, Miley Cyrus and Liam Payne. 

• Their four in house brands individually aim to empower the Hot!Mess woman and allow her to transform herself into whoever she wants to be that day.

In The Style UK

• Slogan says "Keeping you in style since 2013."

• In The Style offers trend led fashion at reasonable prices. Adored and adorned by celebrities, they are a brand that never shies away from the spotlight.

• They aim to redefine ‘fast fashion’, empowering women to feel good about themselves and how they look - to have the confidence to take on the world. 

• With new styles added daily, global shipping, and easy returns, staying in style has never been so easy!

Boohoo

• By the looks of things, and personal aesthetic preference Boohoo defiantly needs a refresh on their logo. The two colours pink and black promote cheap and tackiness as well as the contrasting typeface's not really being in complimentary with one another as one is square and thin and the other being bold and round. This aesthetic style for me does not promote sophistication or luxury which is something I am aiming to achieve with my brand. However I do agree with their brand values stated below.

• From Manchester’s best kept fashion secret to one of the fastest growing international retailers, boohoo.com has quickly evolved into a global fashion leader of its generation.

• Combining cutting-edge design with an affordable price tag, they've been pushing boundaries for the past eight years to bring you all the latest looks for less.

• Their philosophy is pretty simple: we don’t take fashion or life too seriously. Whether you like to keep one step ahead of the trends, or if subtle style is more your thing, we’re sure we’ve got something you’ll love. And with up to 100 pieces hitting site every day and a new collection each week, they never stop - it’s 24/7 fashion at its best.

Oh Polly

• Oh Pollys logo is similar to missguided however it promotes the same simplistic sophistication without looking cheap, the light link is feminine and cheeky.

Mars The Label

The serif typeface used here promotes luxury and class. However also adds a hint of uniqueness as some of the A is taken away.

Pretty Little Thing

Although the name works perfectly in terms of flattering the customer. Although seeming to be effective the logos typefaces is far too similar to Oh Polly and Missguided's logo. This style of type seems to work to be recognisable and easily legible however I wouldn't want my brand to be to be instantly recognisable based on it being similar to another. 

OUGD603: Competition Brief - D&AD Mubi - Research

OUGD603: Competition Brief - D&AD Mubi 
Research

Research into Mubi

MUBI is a curated online cinema bringing you cult, classic, independent, and award-winning movies. Available in over 200 countries around the globe and on multiple devices, a subscription to MUBI is a passport to the world of cinema. Every day our film experts introduce you to a great film, and you have a whole month to watch it. That's 365 extraordinary films a year curated by MUBI.

MUBI is your destination for cinema culture. See what our passionate international community - full of film fans, students, filmmakers, festival-goers, and more - is talking about. Discover wonderful films, keep track of your moviegoing, and meet others who love cinema as much as you. Need a guide? Our magazine Notebook illuminates the world of contemporary and classic cinema with the latest news, interviews and criticism.

Advertising Campaigns for movie streaming sites

Effective advertising campaigns

These campaigns all have one of two things or both. Strong eye-catching visuals which communicate a message instantly, or they have strong wording in their typography to communicate a message effectively. Therefore, I decided to start thinking about what strong message Mubi might want to communicate and a way in which I can communicate it effectively. After reading through the brief again, I decided that their main selling point was to stop endless scrolling of films, so therefore wasting time. I felt like wasting time could be a strong concept which could attract the target audience of people who hating wasting time and being let down. 

OUGD603: Womenswear Brand Identity

Contextual Research

Research was conducted into existing womenswear brands which would be in direct competition with mine. A company name needed to be established before designing anything else. 

Starting my research based on brands on Instagram as stated previously and below this was the best way to attract the target audience of women aged 15 - 26. 

he 2015 Pew Research Study of U.S Residents found that more women use Instagram than men. The study showing that 31 percent of women and 24 percent of men regularly use Instagram to share like and post. The same goes for younger users if you are selling you brand to younger women. Among people aged 13-17, 23 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys use Instagram. Instagram is also used by 48.8% of brands a number that is expected to rise to 70.7% by 2017.

Instagram for business statistics

- Instagram is used by 48.8% of brands—a number that is expected to rise to 70.7% by 2017

- Marketers are rapidly increasing their adoption of Instagram to promote everything from clothing to concerts. According to a forecast by eMarketer, 48.8 percent of U.S. brands will use Instagram for social media marketing in 2016.

-  By 2017, 70.7 percent of U.S. companies will use Instagram for marketing, edging out Twitter for the first time. All aboard the Instagram train, the smart brands are leaving the station.

- Top brands post 4.9 times per week on Instagram, an increase of more than 50% over 2015

- A social media study conducted by Forrester in 2016 reviewed how the top 50 global brands market on social networks. Forrester evaluated 11.8 million user interactions on 2,489 posts made by 249 branded profiles, and collected data on how many top brands use each social network, how many fans they’ve collected, how often they post, and how often users interact with their posts. They found that the average number of Instagram followers for a top brand is now over 1 million—almost five times higher than in 2015.

- Top brands now post 4.9 times per week on Instagram, an increase of more than 50 percent over 2015. Have you wondered how frequently you should be posting on Instagram? If you want to become a top brand, about five times per week is your answer.

- 60% of the top brands on Instagram use a consistent filter

- Creating a look for your brand on Instagram can give your content an identity and recognition. A visual social media report from WebDam found that 60 percent of the top brands on Instagram use the same filter for every post.

- B2C marketers are significantly more likely (6%) to increase Instagram activities than B2B marketers (48%)

- Businesses probably won’t turn to an image-based social app to learn about another business’s services or products. Though B2B businesses shouldn’t neglect Instagram (we don’t!), B2B interactions usually require more research, more detail, more insight. Instagram is more of a step along their path to purchasing.

- But this stat from the Social Media Examiner 2016 Report, is further proof that Instagram just makes sense from a B2C standpoint. For B2C companies, Instagram might be all they need to inspire a purchase. A great picture of a new pair of shoes could easily inspire someone to buy those shoes. An incredible photo of your hotel’s pool might prompt someone to make a reservation.

- If you work in a B2C industry, even one with less visual appeal than retail or travel, there really is no excuse to ignore Instagram.

Instagram performance statistics

- 75% of Instagram users take action, such as visiting a website, after looking at an Instagram advertising post

- Does engagement on Instagram mean consumers are becoming more aware of your brand? According to Instagram Advertiser statistics, 50 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business, 60 percent say that they learn about a product or service on the platform, and 75 percent of Instagram users take action, such as visiting a website, after looking at an Instagram advertising post.

- Perfect at increasing brand recongition for the womenswear brand. Instagram is a statistically sound place to invest your time and energy.

- Posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement.

- Hashtags help Instagram users discover content and accounts to follow. The right hashtag, or a combination of hashtags, will expose your brand to large and targeted audiences. By making yourself more discoverable on Instagram, you have a better chance of attracting new followers, getting more likes, and increasing engagement.

- In fact, posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6 percent more engagement than those without, according to a study by Simply Measured.

OUGD603: Womenswear Brand Identity

The Brief

Brief

This brief was created as having my own fashion label is something I am very passionate about. I am constantly keeping up with current fashion trends and expanding my entrepreneurial skills and developing various business plans and ideas for the future. I also wanted to test by abilities and show improvement in logo design, as well as marketing. Essentially creating a new start-up company which would be ready to go once I have finished my studies. 

Context

The context of the brief was to enable me to show my passion for design and fashion and my highly developed skills in logo design based on current trends and noticing what works and is successful in the industry. 

Target Audience

The target audience was open and left to create for me. As I know exactly what I would want. Deciding quickly on women aged 15 - 23 as the best way to be successful from selling contemporary styled clothing and using Instagram and other forms of social media as the best marketing method to attract this specific audience. The 2015 Pew Research Study of U.S Residents found that more women use Instagram than men. The study showing that 31 percent of women and 24 percent of men regularly use Instagram to share like and post. The same goes for younger users if you are selling you brand to younger women. Among people aged 13-17, 23 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys use Instagram. Instagram is also used by 48.8% of brands a number that is expected to rise to 70.7% by 2017.

Info from https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/amp/

Tone of voice

Want to express the company's personality through the use of vocabulary. Tounge n' cheek with a hint of sophistication and hella lot of style.

OUGD603 - Competition Brief: D&AD Mubi

OUGD603 - Competition Brief: D&AD Mubi

After reading through the brief numerous times, I decided to highlight the main parts that would be the most important when deciding upon a campaign.

• Background to Mubi: 30 films available to watch or download for 30 days. New choice is added every day, oldest remove so fresh collection. month free beyond this subscriptions are yearly/monthly.
• Reason for Mubi: People spend ages searching for something to watch ( 4.9 days a year on average). People have started to work out more doesn't always mean 'better'.
• Target Audience: Not just film lovers, people interested and appreciative of like-minds. Hate being let down or wasting time. 
• Considerations: Not a boring ulitity. Entertainment. Netflix/Amazon prime not competitors. Times when theyre just what you want. but theyre also times when mubi is just wat you want. 
• Tone Of Voice: Mubi take themselves very seriously but not themselves. They just want to show the audience a good time. No to arrogant or dull yes to witty, exciting and charming.
• Main ambitions: Drive sign ups online.