PLT X ASHLEY GRAHAM

Previously, this year in September, Pretty Little Thing dropped their most needed collaboration with body activist plus size model Ashley Graham. The collection comes in sizes 6 to 28 and the collection offers items of clothing cater from all body types from hourglass and petite as well as, the women that are in between. However, some customers have voiced their opinions and completely are against this collection and this is purely because, PLT collaborated with a plus size celebrity so customers feel as if that all the models should be curvy, plus size women.

                                Figure 1- Ashley Graham                                       Figure 2- PLT model 

Pretty Little Thing vision is to create clothing for women of all body types and the brand has been scrutinised in the past for their sizing and this collection Ashley Graham gives them the opportunity to address these rumours. The CEO of Pretty Little Thing Umar Kamani clearly recognised the fact that there is opportunity for selling clothes in a wider variety of sizes including plus size and ignoring the fact that the fashion industry seems to have a stigma with plus size fashion.  "The aim of a celebrity collaboration/endorsement  is that the cachet and sparkle of the celebrity personality will become directly associated with the brand and that this will reinforce the brand`s image and position in the marketplace" (Posner H, 2011). By doing this collection, PLT is recognising the fact that everyone is different therefore customer`s bodies are going to vary. "Understanding of the customer is central to all aspects of effective marketing. Many businesses become so focused on internal processes or monitoring the activities of their competitors that they fail to recognise the needs of changing requirements for their customers" (Posner, 2011). PLT has to compete with brands like Boohoo and Missguided but, PLT has realised that trends and customers are forever changing. With celebrities like the Kardashians popularising the use of cosmetic surgery with women altering their bodies to become more voluptuous and PLT being able to cater to their needs and having more clothing that is accessible for their curvy customers.

One of the massive problems with this collection is its lack of advertising. The collection was not advertised as much as Pretty Little Thing`s Karl Kani collaboration. The collection was promoted through a launch party with celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, Miguel and Megan Barton Hanson (Love Island contender). The fashion press do play a substantial role in fashion promotion. "Fashion magazines are vital cogs in the machinery of fashion promotion in terms of advertising and editorial." (Posner, 2011). As well as this, the collection did not receive a lot of media coverage with only magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour. The brand may have missed the mark with this collection as it was not as popular as their collection with Karl Kani which ended up being sold out after being restocked. The reason why the Ashley Graham collection was not as popular as other PLT`s previous collaborations is because of the lack of advertising the collection received and because of who PLT`s target market is. PrettyLittleThing target fashion conscious young women and the brand has been slammed about the collection with critics stating that the brand should not be promoting obesity. 

This further explains how society are not embracing plus size women even though its a market that PLT can dominant in but, some members of society are still not accepting of all body types. When PLT announced their collection with Ashely Graham some Instagram users were commenting that Ashley was unhealthy just because, of her body type even though she constantly posts videos of her Instagram account of her exercising. For the brand to be successful in their next collection they need to consider all these factors but, the brand cannot please everybody!

Figure 3- Ashley & CEO Launch Party                                              Figure 4- Vanessa Launch Party

References

Posner, H. 2011. Marketing Fashion. London: Laurence King.

That Fashion Nova Fit

                                                                           Figure 1- Cardi x FN

Fashion Nova is a American clothing brand that built a name for itself following their jeans, that sell for $35. The reason why customers love their jeans so much is because, of the stretch denim in the jeans that fit perfectly around the hips and waist. The brand has said to have better jeans than Topshop.

The Fashion Nova x Cardi B collection was launched on November 15th this year and the collection features everything from coats, dresses and shoes. The collection was only advertised through their Instagram account, e-marketing as well as, the brand having a launch party for the collection. Even though, the brand used little advertising to promote the collection, the collection ended up being sold out twice after being restocked. This shows the influence and increase in social media and through social media platforms like Instagram & Snapchat customers can voice their opinions without going through customer service. Additionally, the launch party for the collection was covered by magazines and newspapers like Metro, Teen Vogue and Hollywood Life. The press initially gave Fashion Nova a substantial amount of advertising meaning the collaboration would gain a wider appeal from potential new customers.

Social media allows people to comment theirs thoughts on the current collection and allows the brand to see what they change for their next collection. Also, this is now Fashion Nova builds a relationship with their customers through a marketing theory called relationship marketing. The organisation is building brand loyalty when they are updating customers on social and through emails about their upcoming collections or when out of stock products are now restocked and available again to buy.

Figure 2- Nene Leakes Fashion Nova Launch                              Figure 3: Iggy Azalea FN x Cardi B

The brand heavily rely on celebrity endorsements and content marketing rather traditional advertising methods like magazines. So a collaboration with rapper/influencer Cardi B was no surprise. Cardi B first hinted on her working with the brand on her song "She Bad" stating that "I can buy designer but, that Fashion Nova fit". Through this tagline Cardi B is establishing the brand`s position in the market as many people see Fashion Nova as an affordable alternative to designer brands like Versace and Chanel but, still have great quality. Also, the fact that the collaboration was alternatively announced through a song links to the use of Spotify as it has 70 million subscribers as 26% of subscribers in the US are millennials. Whom happen to be part of Fashion Nova`s target audience.

In addition to this, when the collection was launched some influencers received an invitation from the brand to attend the launch of the collection. "Blogs are one of the fastest-growing areas of what has become known as consumer generated media. Bloggers are out there sharing opinions and brand experiences." (Scott 2007). Consumers view influencers as everyday people like themselves who they can relate to more than a model. For example, YouTubers like Patricia Bright and Monica Style Muse who gave a critique of the items in the collection and genuinely said they liked most of the collection.

                                                                       

References
Posner, H. 2015. Marketing Fashion:Strategy, Branding and Promotion. 2nd edition. London: Laurence King

Scott, D. 2007. The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Hoboken: N.J

Diesel Haute Couture

Diesel recently launched its video with a group of polarising global celebrities including Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, Bella Thorne, Bria Vinaite, Tommy Dorfman, Miles Heizer, Yovanna Ventura, Barbie Ferreira, Yoo Ah- In and Jonathan Bellini. Diesel recently addressed one of society`s biggest problems that happens quite often on social media which is bullying. The main message behind the advert is "the more hate you wear the less you care". The purpose of this advert in to relate to everyday ordinary people because, at one point in our lives we have been all been victims of some type of criticism and negativity.

The collection was launched to disempower hate and express individualism which happens to be the theme trending amongst this year`s zeitgeist. This relates to mega, macro and micro trends but, Diesel have only decided to focus on a mega trend. "A mega trend is a pattern or a movement which has a major impact on business and society as a whole" (Brannon, 2010). Here the campaign is social media norms- bullying.

The brand Diesel itself has shown in the advert that it has received some hate in the past and quotes in the advert include "Diesel is dead" and "Diesel is not cool anymore". The intend that Diesel had in the campaign was to show everyone that this statements are completely by focusing on the social side of PESTLE (political, economic, social, technology and environment). The brand stated that" Nobody is immune to receiving negative comments online. Hiding it and feeling bad about it is not going to help anyone. Haute Couture is a unique collection design to disempower hate, by taking the negativity we receive online and turning it into messages of pride that we can wear (Diesel 2018).  One of the other purpose of the launch focuses on how traditionally haute couture brands are more likely to use a public figure that would be specifically targeted towards one demographic. While, the video viewers are most likely to relate to at least one person in the campaign since everyone has had at least criticism once in their life.

Additionally, the fact that Renzo Rosso (Creative Director of Diesel) decided to take the "u" out of "haute" is a message to both any bully and to all the victims of bullying. The brand predominately targets male due to the fact that it started from working class men but, the brand also targets women as well but, do not really advertise their ladies wear.

Another focus of this advert was to do with women empowerment as Bella was wearing a shirt in the video with the word labelled "Slut" along it. What Diesel was trying to do here was to get the message across that women should be able to wear anything they want and to feel free. Bella Thorne has been target for being bullied by trolls on social media when she posts provocative pictures online. People may not agree with this and want to push their own opinions onto other people. 

Many people had an issue with this advert because, it featured Nicki Minaj wearing a fur jacket on the side of where it said "The Bad Guy" which references her song Chun-Li. The fact that Nicki has a several alterations and arguments with several people in the music industry including Lil Kim, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and her most recent alteration was with rapper Cardi B. The alteration between her and Cardi B almost turned physical at the Harper Bazaar Icon Party in New York in which one of Nicki`s friend got into a fight with Cardi B. This incident happened a week before the Diesel advert was released. This may be one of the reasons why the advert has not been as successful as it may have lost its meaning for the video.

References
Brannon, E.L. 2010. Fashion Forecasting. 3rd ed. New York: Fairchild.

Give Love. Give Gap

One thing that Gap is definitely known for is their advertisements that usually convey a simple message within the ad. The advertisement is an example of content marketing which is "The creation and sharing of digital content with the aim of promoting or selling a brand, product or service" (Posner 2015). The video features American singer Leon Bridges as he is surrounded by other people dancing around each other. This is Gap`s official Christmas advert but, it is also in support of the LGBT community as they are different colours featured in the video which everyone is wearing.

In addition to this, by Gap support the LGBT community relates to Maslow`s hierarchy of needs. Although, love in the original Maslow`s hierarchy of needs love is shown as physiological need but, some people think it should be a basic need. This is one of the messages that Gap are trying to convey here. "Love is an important prerequisite for a feeling of safety both in materially secure modern societies and in primitive and dangerous societies" (Oved 2017). Maslow`s hierarchy of needs is important to any business including Gap because, it relates to human behaviour and decision making. Due to the fact, that Gap is fulfilling of the needs on the hierarchy viewers of the video are going to be inclined to buy products from the company. As well as, this Maslow`s hierarchy of needs shows that self-actualisation is at the top which relates to "Self fulfilment or fulfilling own potential. Consumer pay purchase equipment or clothing for travel or hobbies. Individual style may be created to express fun or sense of freedom." (Posner, 2011).

Apart from the singer and the little dancing girl no one in the video seems to be wearing the same top which suggests that Gap is all about individualism. Gap knows that not everyone is the same and therefore not everyone is going to have the same style when it comes to clothing and they are acknowledging the fact that "we have different clothes to cater for everyone". This is because, "Fashion customers will have a variety of clothing needs dependent on their lifestyle and personality" (Posner 2015). As well as this, in the video you can clearly tell who Gap`s target audience are as the ad features boys males and females aged between 3-60 as well as people of different ethnicity. This leads to customer segmentation which contributes a vital role in marketing. As segmentation helps Gap understand their customers and what products their can provide based on their age, gender, job and income.

Type of segmen- tation	Segmentation Criteria	Gap Inc. Target Customer Segment
		Gap	Banana Republic	Old Navy	Intermix	Athleta
Geogra-phic	Region	North America Asia, Europe	North America Asia, Europe	North America Asia	North America	North America
	Den-sity	Urban, Rural	Urban, Rural	Urban, Rural	Urban	Urban
Demog-raphic	Age	3 – 45	18-40	3 – 40	18 – 45	16 – 50
	Gen-der	Males & Females	Males & Females	Males & Females	Males & Females	Females
	Life-cycle stage	Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples Full Nest I Full Nest II	Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples Full Nest I	Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples Full Nest I	Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples Full Nest I	Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples
	Occupation	Students, employees, professionals	Students, employees, professionals	Students, employees, professionals	employees, professionals	employees, professionals
Behavi-oral	Degree of loyalty	‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Soft core loyals’ ‘Switchers’	‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Soft core loyals’ ‘Switchers’	‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Soft core loyals’ ‘Switchers’	‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Soft core loyals’ ‘Switchers’	‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Soft core loyals’ ‘Switchers’
	Benefits sought	Cost advantage Self-expression	Self-expression	Self-expression	Self-expression Cost advantage	Functionality Perception of leading healthy lifestyle
	Personality	Easygoing	Easygoing	Easygoing	Determined and ambitious	Determined and ambitious
	User status	regular users, or ex-users of a product	non-users, potential users,	non-users, potential users,	non-users, potential users, first-time users, regular	non-users, potential users, first-time users
Psychog-raphic	Social class	Lower class/working class/middle class/	working class/middle class/	working class/middle class/	middle class/upper class	middle class/upper class
	Lifestyle[1]	Struggler Aspirer Explorer	Aspirer Succeeder Explorer	Succeeder Explorer Reformer	Aspirer Succeeder Explorer	Aspirer Succeeder

Figure 1- Table of Gap`s target audience

Gap decided to heavily focus on the "product" specifically out of all the 4P`s (price. product, promotion and place). Everyone in the video are wearing jeans but, different types of jeans. One person is wearing distressed jeans while another is wearing bootcut and another slim fit and this is still keeping with the theme of individualism. This is because, Gap want to still remain traditional as they are well known for their jeans which happen to their most popular product.

References

Oved, O. 2017. Symposium; Revisiting Maslow: Human Needs in the 21st Century. Society. 54(6), pp.537-538.

Posner, H. 2011. Marketing Fashion. London: Laurence King

Posner, H. 2015. Marketing Fashion: Strategy: Branding and Promotion. 2nd edition. London: Laurence King

1. 1.

Tiff`s Faves

To Watch
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina- this is the Netflix remake of the 1996`s Sabrina the Teenage Witch series. Honestly, if you loved the original series or if you a fantasy frantic like myself then this is the definitely the series for you. The series has more a Generation Viz vibe to it compared to the original series as the Netflix series focuses on how Sabrina deals with her two different lives while having a mortal boyfriend. Within the first week it got put on Netflix UK, I got through the first 10 episodes which the ones available at the time.

Bae Or Jail- if you are looking to pass sometime then this might be something you may be interested in watching. Its on YouTube and its sort of a dating show that is based in the West Midlands where guys have to guess girl`s ages with at least one of the girls being underage. If they guess incorrectly or pick an underage they get sent to jail (have to complete a challenge)!!!

To Read

House of Solo- I highly recommend for people that have an interest in fashion, art, photography and especially journalism. What I love about this magazine is its aesthetics and its rareness as it does not feature advertisements in its magazines apart from the back page. Do not get me wrong I do love a read of Vogue & Elle from time to time but, you cant read through 5 pages without seeing some sort ad placed in the magazine. House of Solo magazine has all sorts of dope styles and the magazines worked with celebrities like J Hus, Ella Mai, Vic Mensa and many more. Definitely worth giving a read!!!

The magazines can be purchased from their website.

Lost Culture- yes its another magazine but, this one is way different from House of Solo. Lost Culture is an online magazine that is absolutely free to view and I believe the magazine is based in Manchester. What I love about this magazine is focus a bit on trend forecasting (one of the modules I am currently at uni). The magazine focuses all things food, music, fashion and lifestyle trends and whats popping at the moment.

To Follow
@lukecatleugh- Recently, I stumbled on his YouTube channel and he has gave me some savvy tips on how to make my bedroom look fancy and classy without breaking the bank. He also has a blog where he focuses on food and lifestyle more than fashion and it gives a couple of tips and tricks when it comes to baking.

@sarahdiallo- Quite a lot of you may know this Brighton blogger but, I discovered only literally 2 days ago on YouTube and I am in love with style. Worth giving her YouTube videos a look.