Second Module- Celine

Now that module 1 has finished, we now move on to module 2 which requires in a new group of 6 to create a 10 minute power point presentation on a brand that we ourselves select as a group. This project develops our research and analysis skills in depth, whilst expanding our experiences of team work.

Meeting 1- Wednesday 6th November

At our first group meeting 5 people were present

. Myself

. Naomi

. Ashleigh

. Sam

. Mel 

We met for approximately 30 minutes to choose our brand out of an original 6 selected for us, these brands were G-Star, Adidas, Jill Sander, Marni, Celine and COS. As a group we decided on Celine as it is a globally well known luxury brand, we then allocated research paths for each of us (past and present) and colour palettes. 

Brand Essence

The essence of a brand is shown through 4 separate sections attributes (what the brand stands for), promise (what the brand offers the customer), personality (who would the brand be) and the source of authority (what makes the brand credible). Within a recent seminar, after thoroughly discussing brand persuasion and what makes a brand, we created brand essence models. Firstly for the brand that we had currently been working on for module 1.

Tom Ford aims to make women feel confident and sexy, it promises this within it's clothes and personality. It derives it's sources of authority from 50's glamour and ambassadors such as Tom himself and Julianne Moore.

We then evaluated in pairs our day in the life of. Whilst doing this I picked a brand that I encountered to make a brand essence board, firstly without posting the name of the brand, for my partner to guess who it is, I created one on herbal essences which was correctly guessed. 

Herbal Essences is a luxury hair brand sold on the high street, it has many different attributes and personality traits as there is a wide range of flavoured shampoos and conditioners for different types of hair. It promises to do many things for all types of hair e.g undamage and smooth damaged hair. Its sources of authority come across in it's campaigns with the use of attractive models with amazing hair. 

Day in the Life of Branding

This task involved me keeping a diary for just one day in order to discover the impact that brands have on our daily lives and how they are entwined from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep.

Saturday- 

10:00- wake up, make a drink, check phone and have a snack

. Robinsons Squash

. Sainsbury's mug

. Nokia Lumia 925

. Brioche

10:15- get back into bed

. Dunelm Covers

. Ikea Pillows and Blanket

10:17- put film on laptop

. Mac Book Pro- Apple

12:00- shower and brush teeth

. Herbal Essences

. Radox Scrub

. Aquafresh

12:30- blow dry, straighten hair and do make-up

. Phil Smith hairdryer

. Nicky Clarke straighteners

. Vaseline

. Rimmel

. Maybeline

. Benefit

. Collection 2000

. MUA

1:00- get dressed

. Vans

. Topshop

. Ebay

1:30- go for lunch

. Starbucks

4:00- get back and do some work

. Mac Book Pro, Apple

6:30- have dinner

. Tesco pizza

7:15- do washing up

. Tesco washing up liquid

7:30- curl hair, re-do makeup and put on clothes for a night out

. Babyliss

. Rimmel

. Maybeline

. Benefit

. Collection 2000

. MUA

8:30- Pre Drinks

. Tesco Vodka

. Robinsons Squash

. Malibu

11:00- leave flat and go to Rescue Rooms

. Jagermeister

. Red Bull

. Strongbow

3:00- get home and into bed

. Dunelm Covers

. Ikea Pillows and Blanket

"My Head is a Jungle"

There's not many nights where I can manage to stay up until half 6 in the morning but surprisingly I managed it especially just to see house DJ's Shadowchild and MK. I stand by my quote that night after coming out of Stealth that it was the best night out I've ever had, Dollop didn't let me down.

The After

the before

the before

Tom Ford Final Moodboard

At the end of module 1 we were asked in groups to present a final photoshop mood board on A3, explaining our assigned brand thoroughly and stating why we had placed what we did on the mood board. My assigned brand for my mood board was Tom Ford.

The idea behind my mood board was derived from where I think Tom himself gets his inspiration from. Tom Ford stands for glamour and sexuality, the brand isn't mysterious, it is very graphic and unapologetic with an essence of aggression shown in my mood board through his 'Neroli Portofino' campaign of 2 naked people seamlessly falling down the right hand side. He creates clothes for the mature woman, pale skinned, sophisticated. The image of Julianne Moore depicts this, as a close friend of Tom Ford, she is a brand ambassador and starred in his hugely successful film 'The Single Man', a clip which is shown in the top left hand corner. He loves the mid century woman, 50's and 60's glamour brought out in his campaign for perfume 'Black Orchid' shown on the above right hand side. I have tried to base my mood board solely around this, the background showing old broadway, using pictures of New York in the 50's (The Empire State Building) and famous glamour icons such as Elizabeth Taylor and Sunny Harnett, the type of woman I believe he would dress. I have also included work from photographers Irvin Peng and Richard Avedon both who have shot for Vogue in the 50's and 60's, this inspired me and made me believe they are connected to Tom Ford as their work can be graphic very much like his campaigns. A colour palette is included to display the mood of the board while fabric examples of his work (bottom left hand corner) have been used to keep his modern day look involved. I made my mood board very cluttered and busy in order to keep in mind the graphicness of his clothes, fabric choices and  campaigns. 

Unlike the other members of my group my brand and mood board was very different, the brands in which I was asked to compare mine to had very neutral colour tones and were more soft (Chloe, Reiss, Bottega Veneta) all besides 2 sports brands (Puma, Rapha). 

FEEDBACK
After holding my mood board up to a room of people and thoroughly explaining it, my course tutors then read out their feedback on my groups performance and my mood board. The feedback said that I need to take my time more and pause for thought and have more confidence and self belief in what I am presenting. That I put forward an opinion and use a lot of contextual reference, that my mood board is creative. Tom Ford is humorous and provocative which is shown through my work by using good image selection. The problem with my mood board is that if you were to take away the name, would you really know who the brand was? Should i choose to resubmit my work I would need to make the board itself more of a minimal aesthetic in order to fully mirror his campaigns, include key words and make a few tweeks and touches. 

'Hot Coffee, Cool Clothes' Case Study

In our latest seminar we were asked to carefully look and evaluate into a case study detailing a new retail store concept which has been provided disappointing for the 2 owners 'Julie and Anna.' It opened 12 months ago based on a store that they had seen visiting New York. They wanted to combine a gourmet coffee shop and a ladies clothes shop into the same store. The shop itself was aimed at a target market of 15-30 young fashion-orientated females and after being given all of the prices and research I have compiled this conclusion of information into what went wrong.

Firstly they didn't do enough research, the pair only asked 25 people all of which were friends (who would give a biased opinion) and even then only 30% of them said that they are recreational shoppers (7.5 people). The only other research done was into atmosphere to influence the consumer to shop longer and purchase more. In my personal opinion more research should've been done into a specific target market and into the area in which their store would be placed as the case study said that they turned away a shopping complex because of costs but spending that little bit more on a good location would've benefitted them vastly. 

Secondly the money borrowed of friends and family to start the business wasn't wisely spent. In total $500,000 was borrowed to invest, $100,000 was spent on the clothes, $300,000 on the look of the store and finally $100,000 was saved for staff costs. Eventually after a failed number of months $10,000 more was spent on radio advertising. Using the radio wasn't wise, it would've been more effective to make flyers or TV adverts rather than the radio. Less money should've been spent on on the look of the store, it seems that they just threw away money. In conclusion, if they had invested money into extensive research they would've developed a store which would've made a profit. 

With 4 years left on the lease of the coffee shop there are many different things that they can do, if it was me I would sell up and attempt to get back some of the money which I spent in order to give my family and friends back their investment. Another option could be to sell on the clothes and use the money to make a high end gourmet coffee store. The business partners had a very good USP but didn't pull it off as well as they expected. This activity helped me to get to grips with the idea of rebranding to make more money and to succeed rather than fail. 

'Your Favourite/Regular Outfit'

Now I'm no stranger to a favourite pair of pants but trying to pin point a complete favourite outfit for a seminar was almost impossible. Instead of pulling out all my drawers I took a rational approach and decided on my favourite pieces that own in my small box room here at university. I would describe my style as eclectic, I love a wide range and variety of different things which spills over into my clothes. One day i'll be wearing vans and a baggy jumper then the next, Dr Martens and a sheepskin coat. I personally wouldn't put myself into a subculture but i'm pretty sure that if I asked around then I would easily be placed into one. I do attempt to follow trends but end up getting bored and trying my own twist on them.

Fur

a whole lot of baggy jumpers!

the only shoes I really knock around in (comfort)

vintage levis, leggings and disco pants (essential) 

"LOEFAH LOEFAH LOEFAH"

Being a huge fan of house music, finding Stealth just around the corner from me is a blessing. My first experience had me witness Loaefah completely by surprise (seeing as I had done no research), Easily one of the best nights I've had in Nottingham. As you can see I'm looking very sober. 

My Fashion Identity

Within the fashion industry the biggest brand to you is yourself, how you market yourself by your appearance is most important. Within a recent seminar we were asked to display our fashion identity through different words phrases that explain my style and me as a person. i then created a SWOT Chart displaying my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 

I found this activity very hard as trying to evaluate myself and my style was a weird experience. I found trying to describe myself relatively awkward. I then created a Pen Profile of myself which again I found relatively awkward to do as well as I've never sat down and thought about all the things I love and hate (please excuse my handwriting). 

Pen Profiles done for a specific brand helps to pin point a specific target market. 

Tom Ford Photoshop Practice

The Original Image

After the past few weeks now I am slowly starting to get the hang of photoshop, within my last photoshop seminar we were taught how to edit individual pictures with effects such as hue, saturation, sepia and luminosity and also the ability to crop and move things around. It may sound easy peasy to experienced photoshoppers but for a novice like me who is still learning it helped a lot to find out where these tools where hiding within the programme itself.

Slight Practice Edit

Tom Ford Consumer Profiles

As our first module assessment is looming, my group and myself decided to meet up and discuss all of our brands in order to differentiate similarities and differences between each and to gain abit more of an insight and research into our own brand. The other brands that I have within my group to compare and contrast to Tom Ford is Reiss, Chloe, Puma, Rapha, Bottega Veneta. Firstly I considered and discussed the 7 p's of each brand.

Tom Ford 7 P's
Product
menswear, women's wear, accessories, eye wear, fragrance and beauty, Film 'The Single Man'

Price
cheapest price £26 (Eye Defining Pencil) all the way up to £1,000+ on clothes
(LUXURY BRAND)

Place
Online shopping, stores in fashionable cities, concessions (Selfridges)

Promotion
Billboards, magazines, most promotion done for beauty and perfume (affordable for the everyday woman), celebrity endorsements (Julianne Moore), fashion shows, sexualised graphic promotion to grab the eye and attract attention is typical of Tom Ford, all campaigns usually display 3 central protagonists

People

Tom Ford himself, brand ambassador Julianne Moore (good friend of Tom and star of his film 'The Single Man') 

Process
everything dressed neatly in packaging, luxury brand (expect a luxury look and feel of each and every product)

Physical Evidence
Make-Up counters, whole experience, try before you buy, personal shoppers, highly interactive website


When looking at everyone else's 7 P's we discussed how my brand is the highest most luxury brand and how the other brands aspire to be like Tom Ford, to be a the top of the game. We also discovered how Reiss, Bottega Veneta and Tom Ford are all mature brands with more of a sophisticated woman in mind rather than brands like Chloe who value youthful flirtatiousness and Rapha and Puma are both sportswear brands who desire to become more stylish. Chloe, Bottega Veneta and Reiss all share the same colour palette of neutral shades. 

Miles Kane Rock City

As soon as I arrived at university my first call was straight to Rock City after hearing about the legendary venue from friends back home in Cardiff, I bought well over 6 tickets (student loan in hand) to so many events and gigs that I needed to go to. First on the list was Miles Kane.

Watching the opening to his tour I was not disappointed! I chose a spot not into the crowd but slightly above on the balcony so I could watch him dive and dance around stage mesmerising the crowd with his moves. 

I would 100% go and see him again, easily one of the best bands I've seen live (and not just because he was wearing wonderfully tight white trousers).

Marks and Spencer Brand Positioning

In groups of 3 we were asked within a recent seminar activity to critically evaluate a well known brand pitching it against other competitors essentially differentiating what they're doing right and doing wrong marketing wise and branding themselves. Everyone within the seminar group was given Marks and Spencer (M & S) as within the past few years it has come under a lot of scrutiny for being somewhat dowdy and only aimed at a very old age range. 

'Britain's Leading Ladies'

Using our own knowledge we established that it is a high quality of clothes but the designs are old fashion and samey samey compared to one of it's main competitors 'Next'. They do try and use celebrities within their campaigns but they aren't targeting their celebrities to the right age ranges for example recently using Ellie Goulding and Rosie Huntington Whitley means that they are attempting to lower their age range but the classic style of clothes itself doesn't coincide with this. Next itself is more fashionable and trend orientated unlike M & S but the simple designs won't go out of fashion and when spending more money on something in M & S there is a guarantee that it will last. 

Rosie Huntington Whitley's lingerie range for M & S

They do incorporate limited edition pieces into their clothes and are in partnership with brands such as Phase 8, Peruna and Autograph which is where most of their clothing profit comes from. Unlike Next who only sell own brand products there are many differences between the overall in store environment of both. Next greets every customer at the door with a smile whilst M & S doesn't, this could be room for improvement for them as if a store was to greet me friendly I would be more inclined to buy something.

Personally I feel that Marks and Spencer need to change their target market not for young adults but 30+ in order to tap into a fashion conscious market of adults who can no longer dress like a teenager but also do not want to dress like an OAP. This would be a good starting point for them when re-launching and re-designing their women's wear within the coming months. I can say that Marks and Spencer market food very well especially with having specific stores in more rural areas which only stock food products.

The chart above shows a Perceptual Map of Marks and Spencer against it's other main competitors rating them on Price and whether their style of clothes are classic or Modern. The blue star shows where Marks and Spencer currently are while red star that I have placed on the chart shows where I would like to see Marks and Spencer in the future.