Question

Topic: Other

How To Market A New Clothing Line

Posted by Anonymous on 7/7/2005 at 3:17 PM ET 250 Points
I AM STARTING A NEW CLOTHING LINE WITH A PARTNER. WE HAVE SKETCHES MADE, BUT NOTHING HAS GONE INTO PRODUCTION YET. I GUESS MY PARTNER IS GETTING A LITTLE IMPATIENT WITH EVERYTHING AND ITS SCARYING ME.SHES ALREADY TALKING ABOUT SALES/MARKETING (WHICH IS SUPPOSE TO BE MY SPECIALTY)AND WE HAVE NOT ONE ITEM MADE. CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME MARKETNG TIPS FOR WHEN ITS TIME TO START MARKETING OUR CLOTHING?
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  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/7/2005 at 8:20 PM Accepted
    It's time to start marketing your clothing last month.

    You need to start marketing at least 6-9 months before you even think about making anything. How will you even know what your products should be if you haven't done the marketing plan yet?

    The first step is to define the primary target audience. Be as specific as you can. There's no way you can be successful if you're marketing to all women, for example. You need to zero in on age, income, psychographics, geographic location, lifestyle, etc., etc.

    Then you need to talk to a bunch of people in your target audience. Start with a dozen people (who don't know you or care about your business). Ask them how they make their purchase decisions, where they shop, what they like/dislike about existing lines and retail outlets, what they wish they had that they can't get today, etc.

    Don't try to sell them anything. Just ask some high-gain quesitons, listen to their answers, and take lots of detailed notes. When you're finished you can analyze your notes and look for common threads. (No pun intended.) You might want to hire a professional market researcher after that and conduct a rigorous, projectable survey of your target audience.

    At that point you're ready to decide what your intended positioning should be, and then your business and marketing plans will follow. The marketing plan includes a clear product strategy, and that's when it is time to begin thinking about making some samples to see if they meet the strategic intent.

    Put your sketches away for a few months. You are not ready for them yet. Do the planning you need to do, and thank your partner for getting impatient with the marketing process.


    P.S. Please don't use all caps when typing. It's harder to read, and it's typically a sign that you're shouting/angry. Many people are really put off by all caps and won't even bother to read your post because they feel you've yelled at them.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/8/2005 at 6:29 AM Member
    Additional point, no less important:

    After you've interviewed a dozen target audience consumers, you should probably repeat the process with a dozen retailers who serve that target audience. Retailers generally know how their customers think, what they will like, and how they shop, pretty well, and you need to consider their opinions and needs too.

    In your business, retailers are very influential gatekeepers -- determining what their customers will even see in the store. Unless your marketing plan calls for direct sales on the Internet you'll need to understand the distribution channel as well as you understant the consumer.

    Don't skip that step.
  • Posted by SRyan ;] on 7/8/2005 at 8:06 AM Accepted
    Use the Search Questions link on the right side of this page. Try the keyword CLOTHING and browse through the results.

    There have been questions similar to yours asked AND answered here before. Check it out!
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