March Monthly Summary

March was a big month in terms of handbook and lookbook progression, as my group got together on the day of our photoshoot to film our promotional video, style and assist our photographer and take some of our own atmospheric images to supplement the projects. It has definitely been an interesting experience to say the least, to work with a group of completely new people that I had never interacted much with before. I'm excited to see our end result but still quite nervous about its outcome, as our progress has been a bit stagnant up until this point while we waited to get our lookbook shots. This month also saw my Weekly Round Ups come to an end, as our weekly sessions in the FCP studio have gradually started to be replaced by tutorial sessions to monitor our progress. It's really interesting to be able to look back on two months of university sessions and read what I did day-by-day. Reflection and methodology have been very central components to this terms briefs so I feel my Round Up posts have been useful in making a habit of thinking critically and reflectively. 

In between meeting targets, attending tutorials and completing deadlines this month, I observed some developments in commercial news which caught my interest. This included the introduction of M&S's 'Frazzled Cafés' and an inundation of positive reports from the H&M Group, such as the announcement of another celebrity collaboration and strong performance from their eco-driven Conscious collection. 

I also began to prepare for my presentation this month by honing down on a recurring theme in my Critical Journal: digital retail. At this stage, I have a lot of secondary research, gathered quite abstractly which I need to make some sense of and refine. I am interested in making comparisons between the performance of 'brick and mortar' retailers and retailers who have embraced the digital realm in an integrative manner. I am also interested in developing my knowledge of the consumer and how a cultural shift has lead to these collaborative digital-retail spaces. I have looked at journals in my research so far, but intend to branch out into newspaper articles and academic books - although the latter could prove more difficult as this topic is still only in its infancy with new developments happening every single day.

Presentation Preparation

Over the course of the year I have critically analyses a lot of topics relevant to the industry. After a Critical Journal tutorial with Stephen and a chat with Claire to narrow down my choices, I found that digital retail has played a really central role in a lot of my blog posts - specifically those that integrate virtual experiences and social media, going beyond the technology we ever could have predicted even five-ten years ago. This topic really excites me and I feel that I have a lot to say about it, given its endless possibilities. 

I began with a mind-map (always the best way to start!) and jotted down a few different points, extending into branches as my ideas began to form. My initial ideas surrounded retailers, consumers and social media, which I expect will form the three segments of my presentation. In terms of retailers, I wondered how the performance of those that really utilise digital experiences in their stores and online compares with those that don't and whether there is a clear pattern in consumer engagement because of this. I also wondered about where developments will go next and whether developments so far were ever even predicted. With regards to the consumers, I questioned why they want digital experiences and what effects it has on them in terms of their expectations. I would like to explore the idea of digital retail as a shift in cultural norms, as the shopping experience has changed dramatically with customers' optimised experiences at the heart of the transition. I would also like to investigate the future role of social media in retail, questioning whether the purpose of platforms will change overtime to become even more integrative in terms of cross-channel marketing.  

I began my search for academic materials by utilising the Summon tool to find relevant books, journals and e-documents. Below are my initial secondary research findings:

Pinto, D. (2016). Retail: A Game Changer. MMR, 33 (12), 11-11. doi: 1080-0794.


This journal article discusses Amazon's position as an aspirational goal for the 'bricks and mortar' retails to aim to achieve, in order to meet the successes of its online competitors. It is a fairly recent excerpt and therefore discusses the topic from a current perspective, therefore it is a relevant and reliable piece of information from which to refer to. Amazon's advancements haven't gone unnoticed by me this past year and formed a foundation on which to explore the topic further. A couple of quotes from the text which I think may be useful include "The struggles between brick- and-mortar retailers and their online offspring continue. More precisely, the competition shows no signs of abating — or reaching any conclusion. If anything, it has gathered momentum, with the insertion of Amazon as the tar- get of brick-and-mortar retailers seeking to build a viable online business" and "Digital retailing is a complex business. Brick-and-mortar rules don’t necessarily apply. In fact, what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the other. More than that, it sometimes works against the other." 


Denegri‐Knott, J. & Molesworth, M. (2010). Concepts and Practices of Digital Consumption. Consumption Markets & Culture, 13 (2), 109-132. doi: 10.1080/10253860903562130.

This journal article really made me think about the perspective of the consumer in digital retail and virtual technologies, especially from a cultural point of view. It discussed the driver of consumer imagination in the development of digital worlds and virtual reality, using the Sims as an illustration. I think that these examples can be reinforced in the discussion of digital retail too, especially in arguments of luxury fashion which has seen momentous change as luxury brands introduce digital experience to their shopping experiences. Excerpts of use are as follows:

• "The recognition of the role of imagination in consumer behaviour"
• "Over time, consumers have learnt to place more emphasis on the imaginary aspects of the consumption experience where functional utility is either taken for granted or seen as irrelevant."
• "Ebay is an illustration of a blurring of consumption and production. Perhaps collaboration is a useful term to describe the relationship between eBay and its users. Many eBay users sell as well as browse and buy."
• "Consumers may explore ownership of a range of luxury commodities that exist in material form, and are therefore possible, but that they are extremely unlikely to ever acquire outside of the digital virtual; this may be extended to fantastical domains where the virtual digital rep representation is not a stand in for physical goods, but rather stimulates something abstract."

Vrechopoulos, A. (2009). Virtual reality retailing on the web: emerging consumer behavioural patterns. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 19 (5), 469-482. doi: 10.1080/09593960903445194.

This journal article described virtual reality on the web, discussing its effects, positives and negatives. I drew a lot of comparisons here between virtual reality on the web and virtual reality in-stores. 

"Research in this field is in its infancy"

"Virtual reality settings provide today an innovative shopping medium"

"A virtual reality environment through the Web includes a tactile dimension, but obviously this is limited when compared to the physical environment"

"A conventional retail store cannot customise store layout to the individual level but can offer a one-to-one shopping experience in other store domains"

aspects of the consumption experience where functional utility is either taken for

granted or seen as

experience where functional utility is eisn 1988) (cf. Campbell 1987; McCracken

H&M: Brand Analysis

Since the beginning of this year I've been becoming more and more aware of headlines in fashion business press about H&M and their successful achievement in the industry. A significant amount of my analysis up to this point has been quite negatively critical; I found faults in Coach's strategic marketing plan in order to suggest potential improvements in-line with its competitors and I have been monitoring M&S and their continuous struggles in sales performance throughout the year. However, H&M stands out to me as a brand that is making really positive progress - more so than any other high-street retailer, in my opinion. 

In November I discussed my 'collaboration fixation' with H&M, who are miles ahead of the game in terms of designer/celebrity collaborations. Unsurprisingly, the brand announced this month that it has lined up another collaboration to be released at the end of this year with Zara Larsson. Admittedly, I was much more excited for the release of last year's Kenzo x HM collection as I really did find myself completely buying into the idea of purchasing something with an aspirational designer logo. I'm skeptical about the success of this latest collaboration because I'm unsure that Zara Larsson's status as a pop-star is aspirational enough for a wider range of people to be interested in the collection. Dedicated fans of Larsson's will naturally be inclined to purchase something, but overall, it doesn't seem like much of a momentum will be built up around it. Despite my skepticism, it remains to be seen that H&M's longstanding performance as a provider of designer collaborations is unbeatable among high-street brands. 

H&M's ethical and moral standing is another aspect of the brand's personality which, again in my opinion, remains unbeaten on the high-street. Last week, on the 13th March, the H&M Group was named as one of the world's most ethical companies. Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M said "it's a great honour for H&M to be named one of the world's most ethical companies. Our commitment to be ethical throughout our operations is firmly rooted in our values and key for our work to lead the change towards a sustainable fashion future." I believe that commitment to ethics and green consciousness are what will drive the brand from strength to strength in the coming years. While consumers are becoming more conscious of the origins of their clothing and the detrimental effects it can have on the lives of workers in developing countries, in addition to growing concerns over the damage of fast fashion and its unsustainable pace, I expect that it will be commonplace for high-street brands to offer a more sustainable solution. H&M seem to be the closest high-street retailer so far to find a balance between fast fashion and environmentally friendly production, given their Conscious collection and active participation in charity and climate talks. The brand are clearly very proud of their adopted responsibility to the earth and the climate; given that it has built up this aspect of its values over such an extensive period of time, it certainly increases consumer's reliance in the brand as trustworthy.

• http://about.hm.com/en/media/news/general-2017/h-m-group-named-as-one-of-the-worlds-most-ethical-companies.html

M&S Frazzled Cafés

I have read a lot of reports in the past couple of days about M&S's introductory 'Frazzled Cafés' and intrigued by the concept, decided to do some further research. With a celebrity endorsement at the core of its initiation, comedian Ruby Wax will host fortnightly sessions in 11 stores in which attendees will drop-in to tell their stories and seek solace from their 'frazzled' minds. While on the one hand, I appreciated the encouraging steps that the brand has taken here to discuss mental health and remove its stigma, I was also drawn to consider the motives behind the brand's decision. Why does M&S, of all brands, feel so right to carry out such a big responsibility and pioneer such a brave new strategy? 

Having gathered a wealth of primary research from my trip to the M&S Archives, as well as further research conducted throughout my critical journal as I have tracked the brand's stance in the market and in support of my business feature article for the Fashion Writing and the Industry module, I know M&S to be a wholesome, family-orientated brand with a long legacy of innovative technologies and quality products. While it's brand image has often been obscure throughout the decades and its direction isn't especially clear, I believe that M&S is on the right path now, thanks to the decisions made by management this year, to becoming a more reputable and distinct brand on the UK high street. 

The decision to openly support mental health by offering their own unique service couples well with their Plan A 2020 objective to become the UK's most sustainable brand. Social consciousness and a strong moral obligation are two elements which I believe play really well into a consumer's levels of loyalty to a brand and especially as millennials seem to be much more in touch with green ethics - helping to solidify their potential as a core target market who can continue to age with the company. I believe that Marks and Spencer's unclear target audience has been the cause of its decline in sales in the past decade, matched with a multitude of confusing and unnecessary sub brands. A bold move like this could be the saviour for the brand's damaged reputation.

Bibliography

• Cox, J. (2017, March 15). Marks & Spencer launches 'Frazzled Cafes' for people to talk about their mental health. The Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/marks-spencer-frazzled-cafes-mental-health-people-talk-ok-daily-life-a7630661.html
• Wax, R. (2017, March 17). Ruby Wax: Why coffee shops are key to fighting mental illness . The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/health/ruby-wax-how-coffee-shops-are-key-to-fighting-mental-illness/
• Wood, Z. (2017, March 14). M&S launches mental health drop-ins as part of Ruby Wax project. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/14/m-and-s-mental-health-ruby-wax--marks-and-spencer-frazzled-cafes

Weekly Round Up: Eight

On Tuesday morning our trend session was cancelled so my group used the time to meet and work on our handbook layout. During the session, we made a to-do list of all of the essential graphic work we need to create, considering how we will brand them and what their purpose will be. We delegated the tasks based off our existing skills and the tasks that we individually wished to explore and strengthen in. We initially all inputted our opinions about the overall design of the handbook and then accessed the computers in the trend hub to begin our individual design tasks. During this session, I ordered some last-minute garments to contribute to our brand's collection and we arranged to meet the next day to go over our outfit choices and correct/change if needed. On Tuesday afternoon we had group tutorials with Emma where we discussed our progress and shared our ideas with her. 

On Wednesday, my group had a session in the MAC room with Steve who guided us through Adobe Premiere, a programme I have never used before. The session was really helpful and I left with lots of ideas about overlapping clips, using slow-motion and creating an impactful relationship between the video and accompanying audio. Then we had a lecture with Tracy for our intercultural module on our approach to the brief. We went over the contents of the brief and our assignment again and then began to learn some theoretical information on internationalisation and factors to consider when bringing the Frame brand to India. I was happy to see that I had already considered a lot of this session's content in my own individual research last week, although I was introduced to some more interesting topics like the effects of tourism on our marketing strategy and how the Frame brand could affect the market overall - like increasing employment rates or utilising the existing cotton industry in India. I met my group again on Wednesday to go over our outfits and props to assure we had everything we needed to get our minimum 6 outfit and 4 product shots. Then we picked up our jacket garment, designed by a Fashion Design student ready for the shoot on Friday. I wrote a to-do-list on Thursday afternoon which included all of the things I need to remember to do in advance of the shoot and make sure I pack on the day, such as all garments that I am responsible for bringing, release forms for the photographer and model, sellotape, bull-dog clips, a lint roller, snacks, a notebook and pen.

On Thursday, I rented out all of our photography equipment, including a video camera with automatic stabilisation as the location of our shoot has a very rocky terrain where a tripod may be difficult to use, a tripod, a spare camera for a group member to take atmospheric shots and lighting to use during our behind-the-scenes hair and make-up set. Then we had a tutorial with Stephen, where we showed him the content of our handbook so far as well as what we have individually been working on all week.

Friday was the day of our photoshoot and stress-levels were high! I arrived at the FCP studio to set up the photography area, position lighting, black out the windows and move tables and chairs. My group all arrived and we began to set up a clothing rail and a hair/make-up station for the model. Once hair and make-up was done, we packed everything away again and set off for the moors with George the dog in tow. We were a little bit worried as we drove through very thick fog that we weren't going to be able to go ahead with the shoot, but it quite miraculously cleared within minutes of us arriving so we got cracking and had a really successful shoot day. We went back to the room at the end of the day to clear up the FCP studio and I returned the photography equipment that I had rented for the group. Here are my favourite images from the day:

Weekly Round Up: Seven

Last week was Creative Exchange Week where my main focuses were:

• Researching for all examples of writing in Fashion Writing & the Industry
• Writing an introductory descriptive piece for my brand handbook
• Experimenting with Adobe Photoshop to work towards creating advertising and product graphics for the handbook
• Researching into the Burberry Makers House exhibition
• Documenting my trip to London to visit the exhibition
• Continuing to organise my lookbook project and getting everything together for Friday 10th March, our shoot day

Tiffany and Linda were unavailable to take us for Trend as usual on Tuesday morning, which instead became an unsupervised session. I spent the morning in the library working on Fashion Writing by finalising my media list. Then I met with my handbook/lookbook group in the early afternoon where we finalised our logo and began to make alternatives for other marketing/advertorial uses by experimenting with colours and symbols. We reviewed the work that we had agreed to complete individually over Creative Exchange Week and those of us who had work to show read it aloud and gave/received feedback. In the afternoon, Megan was unable to visit as arranged due to work commitments so Frankie, a fashion researcher at the University of Huddersfield, took us for a session on writing product copies which she had past experience in. 

On Wednesday we met for a tutorial with Charlie where we discussed our progress which included:

• Showing her our finalised logos
• Discussing changes in photographers
• Showing her test shots which we took on the site of our location 
• Discussing the logistics of the day of the shoot 
• Discussing our options in terms of hiring out a studio/lighting
• Discussing our allocation of roles
• Getting suggestions on our next steps which ultimately rely on beginning to layout the lookbook design

On Thursday we met for a tutorial with Stephen where we discussed our progress again, including:

• Justifying our brand and some small changes in direction, including its name
• Making adjustments to our logo by considering more in-depth elements of its use and how it will variate on different products
• Getting feedback on our written work for the handbook so far
• Discussing our target customer and how Fauna caters for her

After our group tutorial we met to decide on our next steps, which involve finalising our written work so that we can meet next Tuesday to begin layout of the handbook and begin to develop our graphics. I also attended an individual tutorial with Stephen later on where I showed him the progress I've made with my Critical Journal and he read through a few of my most recent posts. We briefly discussed placements and an interview I had; I had extremely mixed feelings about the company and its professionalism after my over-the-phone interview and it was useful to speak to him about my doubts. We discussed the Trend module as this is the area where I feel I have made least progress so far. I showed him my moodboard which I redesigned during Creative Exchange Week to physically reflect the characteristics of the trend better and he gave me prompts in which to progress further in accordance with the brief. Our reps for the course gave us feedback from tutors; Charlie will be posting past examples of trend booklets on Unilearn which should be useful to some extent in helping to move on. 

On Friday I spent the day working on Fashion Writing by completing my industry feature article for Drapers magazine and developing/annotating my research folder. I have been using BRAD to get access to circulation figures and looking at each publication's media kit to find out readership figures and target audience statistics. I also made contact with the Pigeons & Peacocks Media and Communications Manager to make enquiries as this information was not available after searching online.