Before this week’s business class, we went to the store and took some photos to prepare the research information of the shop report and watched a WGSN video. In the film and class, I realized the importance of trend forecasting, the elements needed to make a moodboard, and the clothes market structure.
Because I have worked in a clothing store in the past, I have become very aware of the details of some store operations. For example, how to sell, how to do discounts to promotion, window design, and clothes rails need how many pieces to give consumers a good shopping experience. By contrast, I am very accustomed and rely on reading text, therefore sometimes when making a moodboard, I am a little unsure whether I have put the key images inside or not. Although the advantage of moodboard is that you can easily understand the atmosphere and colour choices at first glance, but it actually includes a lot of details.
In addition, we also made a simple shop report based on Products, Price, Place, and Promotion those conditions. According to these four elements, we can usually quickly understand the position of a brand. Although the final goal is to hope consumers like it, there is no formula for absolute victory. For instance, some brands are very good at marketing. You can see their advertisements everywhere, giving you a subconscious impression of that brand. However, some brands have completely opposite marketing decisions.
In class, I used the research I did at Simone Rocha’s store last week to make the marketing mix. This designer brand is very mature and has a comprehensive product line. Basically, there are products in every category. And the price part also includes high and low, so if customers want to buy but don’t have much money, they can also have cheaper products with Simone Rocha’s design features. Although they only have one store in London, it is located on a street with many luxury brands, so consumers who have the ability to spend but may not know the brand have the opportunity to enter the store. What’s more special is that This brand is not doing traditional promotion. They don’t use physical advertisements (TV, advertising wall…) but they are familiar with using social media to create their own influence. In addition, they will provide clothes to celebrities to create popularity and expand potential consumers.