Question

Topic: Branding

Mens Fashion Brand Communication/ Promotional Mix?

Posted by Anonymous on 6/21/2006 at 1:11 AM ET 500 Points
For a mens fashion brand what kind of promotional and communication mix should be used, what ATL and BTL activities to follow boost the sales of retail shops. Please comment.
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  • Posted on 6/26/2006 at 5:25 AM Accepted
    Define your target market and direct your promotional activities towards them. You say its mens fashion but the age is very important. Promotional activities directed at 15-25 year olds and those above are quite different. Are they students, young professionals, established businessman, mature man and etc. What social class to they belong to? Where are they most likely to see the add, on TV, hear about it on the radio, trendy magazines for men, music magazines or perhaps read about it in a daily newspaper, see it on the bus or on the tube while going to work (to they drive or use public transport), where do they go for lunch, outside or they stay in their office, order something in and brows the internet, and etc. You have to get inside the lifestyle of your target market. Think about your competitors and whether they are doing something better then you. Your promotional activities will largely depend on your branding strategy and the style of clothes that you sell. High street fashion brands have different approach to advertising then upper class premium priced international designers. Define where in the market you wish to be and choose suitable promotional tool. If you want to be one of those upper class designer shops, advertising on the undeground stations might be wrong choice bur rather go for print adds in famour fashion magazines. Great PR activities, such as celebrity endorsements can be used to create awareness and establish the brand. A celebrity is accidentaly photographed by a paparazzi arriving to a night club wearing your outfit. They are always happy to do this as it gives them exposure as it does to you and your brand. Basically, your promotioval tools have to be integrated with your general overal marketing and branding strategy. Once you have done your branding analysis and defined your positioning, write back and ill be happy to share my thoughts on fashionm advertising. I did a project on a famous british fashion brand and it went really well.
    Good luck,
    Emi
  • Posted on 6/26/2006 at 5:13 PM Accepted
    Romiali,
    Depending on your budget and price point, I would target male specific programming through cable. For higher end price points you can look at shows like MSNBC news, Fox News, and ESPN. The most important thing to remember is that you must do anything you do right. Many advertisers I run across from the agency perspective want to spend a little bit of money in a lot of places. If you can only afford to do one station or medium correctly, do just that one until you have additional money. The creative to reach this target is just as important as the medium is. Men in this age group are prime advertising targets and need additional pressure put against them. Good luck!

    Alyson
  • Posted on 6/27/2006 at 4:21 AM Member
    Hi Romiali,
    It largley depends on your budget. I am slightly confused as to what you are actully advertising, your boutique or the actual clothing line that you make. Advertising these two is quite different.

    Ill presume that is the actual clothes that you are advertising. I guess the best way to advertise in fashion industry is to associate your brand with a celebrity person. This is not only a great add but it creates a lot of publicity and you can build a great PR campaign through this. Do I need to mention examples, just think of David Beckham or Madonna. I know I am talking about the big fish here and this requirers a great budget but it can be done on a lower scale.

    Another thing extremely important is your boutique presentation, starting from shop windows to dressing rooms. Everything around the shop and inside the shop has to be consistend with the brand that you are trying to build. Instore presentation, lightning, salespeople, music and etc. everything has to be targeted at your target market.

    Sales promotion offers you endless number of opportunities and requires your imagination to do wonders. Sales promotion can include anything. Why not perhaps organise a party for a new collection, get photographers there, invite few eye catching people, get few models to strout their stuff outside the shop, put some huge screens inside the shop for your guests to see the models on the runway or even organise a small runway inside the shop, champaign, caviar and everything that goes with it in creating an upper class clothing brand. Dont go over the top though as it is after all upper class not streetbrand. This creates publicity and brand awareness.

    If you have a great budget and vast amounts of money to spend on addvertising, then you have a big choice of print adds in fashion, music and lifestyle magazines. Outdoor print advertising is also an option but having in mind that this is an upper class brand that you are trying to build you may want to think about it real hard. Its ok for Dior to be pastered all over a london public bus but for a starting brand it might be mispercieved. I guess it depends on the way in which it is done.

    Anyway, these are some rough ideas. I hope they help. Should you have a specific thing in mind, post it here. There are some great people who will be able to help you. Good luck,
    Emi

  • Posted by jsmbrand on 6/28/2006 at 10:30 AM Accepted
    Romiali,

    Fashion is an all different product than other traditional consumer goods. Making assumptions like; you are the only store/boutique, you have limited budget and resources, you are stretched between managing the store and marketing it. Fashion is less built on loads of communication and more built on word of mouth, or the feeling like you've "discovered" a great gem.

    I believe that for a single boutique, the best approach is maximizing your BTL activities. I have seen great success in marketing boutiques via ad hoc fashion shows. In fact, I was in Zurich a few weeks back and at a swim club there and there was a fashion show for a local boutique using local "real" people for models. When the weather is hot, where do you go to find your target? Here, you can get creative in how to reach your middle aged audience. Often times, men don't like to shop and are encouraged by a spouse, so don't forget the influencer in your planning.

    BTL activities that could work:
    Ad hoc fashion shows
    Sponsoring wardrobes for a local news station or something like that (wardrobe provided by ...)
    Sponsoring local teams in affluent neighborhoods
    Offering a grand opening or trunk show opportunity to well healed non-profit organizations, or help sponsor one of their gala balls

    Well, you get the picture. You can be creative here, but keep the buyer or influencer in mind as you do.

    Good luck

  • Posted by steven.alker on 7/5/2006 at 8:23 PM Accepted
    If your clientele is male, professional and “upper class” then the direct approach is probably the most appropriate. Your own definition of your desired clientele excludes gimmicks and anything which smacks of trendyness will be a turn off – yet by definition, high male fashion is exclusive and new. So you have a dilemma.

    Personal service and the impression of being invited into the kind of club which the target customers wish they were members of might just work. There’s a Hong Kong tailor who advertises in the UK broadsheets for would be customers to make private appointments in up-market hotels in order to view his range of suits and to be measured for a personal fitting service. He gives the impression of Saville Row standards in a St James Club ambience but at top-end high street prices. I’m given to understand that he’s always booked out, although whether that “Last appointment” that you’ve been given is based on the Kenyan “Mamma Truck” principal or whether they do genuinely fill up their fitting schedule I don’t know!

    If your budget doesn’t stretch to a broadsheet advert, you could easily mail the executives of the business district in the environs of either the shop or a 5 star hotel where you could offer this one-to-one service. Any businessman who is waited on hand and foot by a well trained deferential flunky and a skilled outfitter will be flattered half way to making a purchase. We’re a vain lot – ask my tailor!

    Steve Alker
    Unimax Solutions

  • Posted by Mushfique Manzoor on 7/11/2006 at 8:42 AM Accepted
    hi romiali

    since your brand is positioned as upper class, you may do the following activities

    # first you tie up with all the credit card companies like Standard Chartered, Bank Alfalah, ABN Amro etc.

    # then send flyers containing some sample pieces of fabric that are being used in your clothing line along with the Credit Card bill to the customers of these credit cards

    # you can do the same with mobile phone companies to distribute leaflets of your products

    # get tied up with or develop the any model hunt show like Mr. Pakistan whereby aspirants will wear your clothing line

    # bring in a brand ambassador to endorse your line like the Faisal and Bilal of Strings or any other person

    hope this helps. gotta go now, will share more ideas later on

    cheers!!
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