Brand Building Themes

As we work through these promotional themes that have been a part of the brand building process for years: strategic partnerships, customer service, customization, surround sound media communication, and cause-related marketing which we will address in Chapter 10, we can figure out how to use these themes in the Ecommerce universe. These themes give us direction in marketing properly to the customer. Most importantly they expose the character of the brand.

Now we layer our customer data, or who we are talking to, onto our strategic themes to create new and innovative concepts.

That said, there is very little that can “personalize” the brand as well as what social media allows. The interaction becomes a “conversation” instead of a “lecture”. The “celebrity” factor and the cool factor of fashion makes the social media channels that much more interesting as the conversations unveil the personal side of the designers and the brands. Social marketing like Instagram, allows the public to feel like they are getting a look behind the curtain because of a special relationship with the brand. This also enhances the authenticity of a brand.

As a Style Maker Your Lifestyle Showcases Your Brand Identity

If you are an entrepreneur developing your own product, your lifestyle becomes part of the brand heritage. Your style is infused into the brand essence: the books you read, the music you listen to, the movies you like. Gwyneth Paltrow has built an empire around what she determines cool with her website goop.com.

Carter Young is a designer who created his first collection of unisex suits made from fine Italian fabrics while a senior at NYU. His Ecommerce website features his merchandise from a very distinct perspective. The models, the styling, the settings, and the storyline vividly describe the attitude of his clothing. His Spring 2021 collection video shows not only his merchandise but also the lifestyle that clearly represents the designer’s perspective of today’s street scene or his interpretation of cool. For a young designer trying to establish a distinct spot in the world of fashion every detail of the video talks to a very pronounced attitude which adds much more dimension to the essence of the brand. If the consumer identifies with your lifestyle tastes and desires, she will trust the products you represent. The press his Spring collection received in Women’s Wear Daily, the New York Times and Vogue Magazine certainly reinforces the trust factor for an emerging brand.

The Power of Social Media for Inside Access

Therein lies the power of social media for engaging the public. The hook is the feeling of inside access. The challenge to fashion brands globally is to figure out how to allow the customer input on the brand while leading its devotees into newer and newer style territories. How much do you dictate and how much do you encourage input?

The very meaning of fashion is sending design in new directions. The brand has to be careful not to dilute its distinguishing characteristics while allowing customers to customize their purchases.

Capsule Collections Are Today’s Norm: The Need for New Never Stops

The Need for New Never Stops

The public needs something new, something fresh, all the time. Designers have traditionally turned out massive seasonal collections that included 100+ silhouettes in some cases. The marketplace was demanding five collections a year because of the need for constant newness. This has opened up two very important trends in today’s fashion markets: small capsule collections of merchandise released every month to six weeks to keep those new things coming.

Vintage Style

It is very an courant these days to start with sustainable products in the manufacturing. Also an courant in today’s fashion community is the cool of vintage and resale shopping. Addressing the issue of overabundance, vintage and resale of designer merchandise is very popular today especially online, and these sites feature some very upscale, very high-end designer merchandise including clothing, jewelry and home furnishings. The Rockers of the 1970s as well as current celebrities have brought vintage into vogue and made it cool. It’s all about mixing old with new, high with low, and uptown chic with downtown grunge to make it one’s own. We have to adjust our thinking in a world of overabundance.