Final: Core Values

2. Identify your core values. What really matters to you?

• Self Confidence
• Finding my Client the correct sizes in and overwhelming market
• Educating them in correct clothing structure: Whether the tag says the skirt is an 14 and there waist is a 32 inch, women are constantly discouraged.   
• Explain that mass production ready to wear is not always the same for every designer
• Help pick out flattering clothing
• Fashion Education in all essence

Brands don’t just arrive out of nowhere. They are the product of a company ‘vision’. Although making lots of money is a vision of sorts, it is not exactly specific. Any successful brand needs to be part of a clearly defined set of objectives. Good objectives are often described as ‘SMART’: Specific – What exactly do we want to achieve? Increased sales? Improved shareholder dividend? Greater market share? Measurable – To what extent do we want to achieve these things? Objectives need targets that can be measured so a success is registered, or so that people involved can see early on that the plan isn’t working. What increased revenue would be seen as a success? How much more of the market should be captured? What would shareholders see as acceptable when the company reports its profits? Achievable – All objectives cost, whether in terms of money or human resources. There is no point setting out on a plan if the skills are not available, or if you depend on another company for components, but know there is a worldwide shortage at the moment. Companies can actually be too successful, and while running out of a product may increase its desirability it also hits income and profits, so setting an achievable objective is vital; don’t be too ambitious! (Chapter 2, page 41 More than a name: An Introduction to branding)

“A graphic designer working on a new brand must be absolutely clear on why the brand exists, its positioning and what message it gives to its audience. Building a new brand is a process of building awareness and reputation among the audience, establishing credibility and setting expectations. The brand communication must be authentic and true to the product or service that is being offered. Even then, it takes time to make an impact – and this impact is often dependent on the budget behind the noise and the ability to deliver the product or service.” (Chapter 2, page 56 More than a name: An Introduction to branding)

Final:Primary "Product"

1. Identify the primary "Product" (services, resource, special ability, etc.) you have to offer others

My brand is a self image essential, as I have grown within the past few months I have notices that "NOT YOUR SIZE" is everywhere.  It is impossible for women to feel confident in what they were as there continues to be an everlasting array of clothing that just does not fit.  At NOT YOUR SIZE, LTD it will be my job to help find that my clients the correct and confident outfit.  I want women to embrace their figures and feel just the slightest confidence in their own bodies and skin.  It truly is a complicated process to be a woman in today's world.  Every where you turn there is another marketing "deflector" tell a woman this will make you young, skinny, beautiful, smell great, ect.  We was woman have lost our path to true self happiness, and i want to help find that again.  

“The concept of brand management was first introduced in 1931. Brand management meant having one person or entity in control of the brand. In this year, Procter & Gamble, now a huge consumer goods company and owner of dozens of household brands, created a marketing organisation under Neil McElroy, the company’s promotion department manager, based on competing brands managed by dedicated groups of people. The system provided more specialised marketing strategies for each brand and Procter & Gamble’s brand management system was born. McElroy also invented the soap opera by introducing sponsorship for radio plays.”  (Chapter 1, page 27 More than a name: An Introduction to branding) 

Branding is important because of its relationship and impact on the world we live in. Brands affect people’s lives simply because they are part of our daily choices and decisions. In today’s world, with broad competition for virtually all products and services – including charities and the not-for-profit sector – there seems to be little that has been left untouched by branding. Basic services and industries, like academia and healthcare, have developed into increasingly competitive environments and branding will help individual institutions differentiate themselves.  (Chapter 1, page 32 More than a name: An Introduction to branding)

“Brands today represent more than a product, service or brand identity (the name and logo, design and voice of the brand). A brand is synonymous with the business and the style behind the product or service; it encompasses the people working for the company and a philosophy and spirit that sustains it. Brands offer a set of values, a vision and an attitude. Organisations establish a brand position to project a consistent public and internal image. This brand position sets perimeters to help respond to opportunities and challenges and also gives context to those who work for the company. (Chapter 1, page 27 More than a name: An Introduction to branding)

Like someone choosing to dress in a particular way, brand style can be a surface appearance or reflect a greater depth. Brand style must capture the ‘spirit’ of the brand – the emotive element that makes us like or dislike a brand, or be indifferent to it. Style is shown in the way the brand projects itself in form, function and service. It can project an attitude we either empathise with or dismiss. (Chapter 1, page 82 More than a name: An Introduction to branding)

Week 8 EOC: Subliminal Advertising

Subliminal advertising is every where originally dating back to the movie theater trailer stating "Eat popcorn, Drink Coke"    

Subliminal advertising -- placing fleeting or hidden images in commercial content in the hopes that viewers will process them unconsciously -- doesn't work. Recent research suggests that consumers do sometimes respond non-consciously to cues they aren't consciously aware are there. Subliminal exposure to the Apple brand seems to make people more "creative" than if they are exposed to the IBM brand, for instance.

The thought that one could instantly be thirsty, when a commercial flashes across the movie screen is a silly to me.  Currently brought up in the news was the statement: that the new Wendy for Wendy’s restaurants has the words cursive reading “Mom.” People are a little upset because it pretty much states that the restaurant is mom approved. Which may simply not be the case. 

I once conducted a test by giving consumers both a lightweight and a heavy TV remote control. The across-the-board response to the lighter-weight model? "It's broken." Even when they found out the lightweight remote was totally functional, shoppers still felt its quality was inferior. 


Sometimes things are just a way for the advertising market to have a way to introduce a small amount of history into the brand image.  

"The birth of subliminal advertising as we know it dates to 1957 when a market researcher named James Vicary inserted the words "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" into a movie.
The words appeared for a single frame, allegedly long enough for the subconscious to pick up, but too short for the viewer to be aware of it. The subliminal ads supposedly created an 18.1% increase in Coke sales and a 57.8% increase in popcorn sales."

http://www.businessinsider.com/subliminal-ads-2011-5?op=1

http://www.parade.com/news/2009/01/how-subliminal-advertising-works.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-42750795/the-10-best-subliminal-ads-ever-made/

Week 7 BOC: Largest Retailers

Week 7 BOC: Largest Retailers

According to an article from Marketingcharts.com; Wal-Mart, there’s a large drop-off to the nation’s second-largest retailer, Kroger, with roughly $92.2 billion in 2012 sales. Target ($72 billion) and Costco ($71 billion) are virtually tied for the third spot, with Home Depot ($66 billion) edging CVS ($63.7 billion) for the 5th position.  There is a little bit of adjustments for the 5th, 6th, and 7th spot:  The Home Depot, Walgreen, and CVS Caremark are all under this small area for these competing positions. 
In the what's "Hot 100 Retailer's" the positions go to:

1	Bi-Lo
2	Michael Kors Holdings
3	Sprouts Farmers Market
4	Lululemon Athletica
5	Apple Stores / iTunes
6	Under Armour
7	Amazon.com
8	H&M
9	Helzberg's Diamond Shops
10	The Fresh Marke

 With all the changes there is an increase in more online shopping, non-store, and Brick-and-Mortar segments growing.  Since what's on top today can quickly change to a different top 10 next year, we are looking at the top 100 hot fashion retailers for the moment.  
Even though Wal-Mart sits at the top, they fell to a dissapointment in their quartly reports. 
Same-store sales, a key metric for retailers, dropped by 1.4% at Wal-Mart stores, a signal that price cuts on groceries and other every-day items haven’t been enough to keep shoppers interested. It was the first decrease in same-store sales in more than a year. Wal-Mart’s target customer is hit especially hard by the nation’s continued economic uncertainty with high unemployment and increased payroll taxes.
Sam’s Club, the company’s wholesale retailer, saw sales rise 0.2%, with growth restrained by decreased interest from business customers, bad weather and inflation. None of this came as a shock to the company.  They plainly plane it on weather, inflation, and customer decrease in interest.  

http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/topics/e-commerce/americas-largest-retailers-brick-and-mortars-dominate-30857/ 

http://www.stores.org/STORES%20Magazine%20August%202013/hot-100-retailers

http://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2013/05/16/wal-mart-a-business-slump-at-the-worlds-largest-retailer/

Week 6 EOC: Rocky Ford Restoring the Brand

Week 6 EOC: Rocky Ford Restoring the Brand

Following the 2011 listeria outbreak, the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the families in the Rocky Ford growing region developed a quick, proactive and collaborative response. With the help of private local marketing and branding companiesMulligan&Co., LLC and BrandWerks Group, the public relations campaign addressed the crisis and provided the public with accurate reliable information about Rocky Ford cantaloupes. The Colorado Department of Agriculture stepped up to help with the revitalization campaign in 2012, which in return they were awarded for helping to maintain the stability of the business that was over 126 years old. 

Farmers near the town of Rocky Ford are going on the offensive to restore the fruit's reputation a year after melons from one of the area's farms caused a nationwide listeria outbreak. They have banded together to trademark Rocky Ford melons and fund $800,000 worth of safety upgrades to prevent future outbreaks, but they must convince buyers that the melons are safe.
The farmers overhauled their production practices to restore public confidence. They hired a full-time food safety manager to monitor melon-picking and started paying the seasonal pickers by the hour, not by the amount of cantaloupes picked. The farmers also built a new central packing shed where all Rocky Ford-labeled melons will be washed with soap and a chlorine oxide, then rinsed with well water tested for contamination.
After being washed, the melons will be cooled to reduce condensation and then packed into boxes labeled with codes traceable to the fields where the melons were grown. The boxes will be packed with slips that interested shoppers can scan using a smartphone to read about where their melons originated.
The Food and Drug Administration said last year that melons at Jensen Farms likely were contaminated in the operation's packing house. The FDA concluded that dirty water on a floor, and old, hard-to-clean equipment probably were to blame.
It seems even with the disaster the melon business in Rocky Ford continues to be surviving. With the weather really determining the crop, i think the worst has fallen past them.   Knapp farms and the half dozen other growers in Rocky Ford ship thousands of tons of melons to grocery stores over the next couple of weeks. Hundreds of other people like the tradition of a road trip to roadside produce markets in Rocky Ford for fresh off the vine melons. "It would really surprise you. There are people traveling from five to six hundred miles away just to come through Rocky Ford to get some of the fresh produce."

Aug 07, 2013: http://www.koaa.com/news/sweet-rocky-ford-cantaloupe-harvest-strong-this-year/#_

Aug 15, 2013: http://theprowersjournal.com/2013/08/15/colorado-department-of-agriculture-receives-marketing-award-for-2012-rocky-ford-cantaloupe-revitalization-campaign/

Jul 13, 2012: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/colorado-cantaloupes-retu_0_n_1670660.html

Week 6 BOC: Tylenol Scare of 1982

Week 6 BOC:Tylenol scare of 1982

In the Fall of 1982 unknown persons replaced Tylenol Extra-Strength capsules with cyanide-laced capsules, and resealed and packaged them for distribution.  They were sold at over half a dozen pharmacies and food stores in the Chicago area.  Seven unsuspecting people died a horrible death due to this issue. 

“Johnson & Johnson chairman, James burke, reacted to the negative media coverage by forming a seven-member strategy team.  Their mission was ultimately “How do we protect the people?” and “How do we save the product?”  They used the media to inform the public not to use Tylenol products.  They established a 1-800-hotline for crisis.  They pulled the products off all shelves, until the source could be determined.  Johnson & Johnson created their new Triple safety seal packaging (a glued box, a plastic sear over the neck of the bottle, and a foil seal over the mouth of the bottle.) Since Tylenol brand accounted for 17% of the company’s net income, marketers predicted that they would never recover from the sabotage. Two month later, Tylenol was headed back to the marked, this time in tamper-proof packaging and bolstered by an extensive media campaign.  A year later, its shares of the $1.2 billion analgesic market, which plunged to 7% had climbed back to the 30%. 

They company achieved the status of consumer champion, because it acted with quick and complete openness about what had happened.  They immediately removed any source of danger based on the worst-case scenario.  “Not waiting for evidence to see whether the contamination might be more widespread.” “They showed themselves to be prepared to bear the short-term cost in the name of consumer safety.”

JOHNSON & JOHNSON established a basis for trust with their customers. 

http://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/02C2/Johnson%20&%20Johnson.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/23/your-money/23iht-mjj_ed3_.html

http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/crisis02.php

Week 5 EOC: Page 153 Fashion Trend Prediction

Week 5 EOC: Page 153 Fashion Trend Prediction

The interview talks about Shari Swan whom is a Trend Predictor.  She talks about how corporations need to grow and expand when interpreting what trends are available.  “Brand-owners are not yet ready to accept that qualitative trends and consumer emotion are driving the market” and “Most corporations are only able to address two main trends per season.” She mentions that “Today’s Youth” want to interact and connect on an emotional level.  The youth wants “brand authenticity”; they want to know everything about the brand including social and ethical responsibility.  Collaborations with new partnerships, examples: Lance Armstrong and the yellow armband, Motorola and the NFL, and even Intel Inside with Microsoft for PC’s. 

Trend forecasters use three different kinds of partnerships: Promotional, Value-Based, and Innovation-Based. Shari Swan’s advice to companies was to “looking sideways”, at products and brands in markets beyond their own.  Trend forecasting is heading back to basic.  They use means of social media, looking around, keeping their eyes open and ready for anything that might be out of the box.  Using all the sources that are available Forecasting is part of todays “way” when it comes to consumer awareness.  “Social and Ethical responsibility is now a given for doing business in today’s environment”

Chapter 5, page 153: Shari Swan, Trend predictor, Streative Branding, Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing