Diary Entries: Week Commencing 25th March

Monday 25th March

Today was the day of my long-awaited photoshoot, where I worked hard to attain innovative and creative editorial and commercial-style images for utilisation within my lookbook, handbook, advertising and promotional materials. The day was a success! I really enjoyed collaborating with the photographer in particular, who as a final year student of Fashion Photography, really shared my vision and understood exactly what I wanted from her. By also taking into consideration what she, the two models and the make-up artist would want out of the day, we finished with a lovely variation of commercial, editorial, experimental and head-shot images which will be combined to create some really interesting content for my final strategies! I'm extremely relieved to have completed this task, so that I can now return the clothes I purchased to get my money back (hopefully!) and move on with the more creative side of the project now that I have visual content to work with. On Monday evening I began this returns process and had a well-deserved break.

Tuesday 26th March

Today I attended a drop-in session with Kendra and Jade to ask a few questions but felt a little unprepared given how much time I have needed to invest into shoot preparation over the branding and marketing elements of my project. To ensure I get the most out of these feedback sessions, I am aiming to complete my marketing report and settle on the branding specifics of my Marks and Spencer womenswear label by the time I attend our final drop-in session before Easter next Tuesday. After the drop-in, I made some huge progress with my marketing report by outlining and completing the entirety of Part Three: Marketing Strategy. This has then developed my understanding and plan for the creation of my brand handbook, as several elements of the marketing strategy will feed into this. In the evening, I caught up on my diary entries for this week as well as the weekly reflection of last week which I did not have time to complete on Sunday evening, given the scale of the final preparations for my shoot the next day. In addition, I liaised with my photographer more regarding the images she took yesterday; she sent me a quick preview of all the images and we concluded mutually that she would send 150 final edited images through Wetransfer.

Wednesday 27th March

On Wednesday I spent a lot of time organising the bulk of my returns, being careful to stay organised by creating a system of checking for dirty marks/stains from the photoshoot, packaging it up the way it arrived and ticking it off to ensure nothing is missed. After dropping everything off at the post office, I headed to the library to continue with my marketing report where this day's focus involved implementing and writing aspects of my event plan and Background & Context section. I received my editing images back today so a lot of my schedule involved reviewing and selecting my favourites for the lookbook. 

Thursday 28th March

Today I made a plan for the necessary content I will be adding to my research file tomorrow  before continuing with my Marketing Report by developing my thoughts and plans for the event section of my launch campaign and refining what I have already written, adding in more rationalisation and justification where necessary.

Friday 29th March

Today I worked on my research file by catching up with the last two week's worth of content, printing it out and annotating it. I only achieved a fraction of the list I had set out to complete, so this task will have to be continued at a later date next week.

Gantt Chart: Week Commencing 25th March

Weekly Reflection: Week Commencing 18th March

This Gantt chart represents my the reality of my progress made during the week commencing Monday 18th March, having referred back to it throughout the week to readjust and reschedule elements when necessary. 

This week I feel much more positive about the level of progress I made as I was able to have much more realistic expectations regarding the amount of work I would produce. The week has once again largely focussed on preparing for my shoot which is made up of such small but time-consuming tasks and a large level of control over the organisation and management of the project. 

On Wednesday I made the decision to continue my marketing report rather than develop my consumer profiles or analyse all of my primary data collectively (tasks which I have been delaying for two weeks now) as I wanted to trust the rhythm I had fallen into while writing up the report in order to get the most out of this task. I have realised that I tried to do my consumer profile and primary data far too early as neither would be beneficial to have completed at this stage; by establishing other areas of my project first, I can inform the consumer profile especially in a much better way.

On Thursday, rather than assisting on Charlotte's half day shoot, I began my PR analysis for the communication element of my marketing report by buying a number of different magazines and newspapers to inform opportunities for PR coverage and advertising content in my launch campaign. I really enjoyed this task, so delayed updating my research file in order to continue with it. Unfortunately I was unable to find time to pick up where I left off with my research file this week, so it will be a necessity to catch up during the week commencing 25th March. 

By Friday I felt that I had made substantial progress on my marketing report, so instead focussed my efforts on making final preparations for my photoshoot on Monday 25th March by creating an extremely in-depth booklet of looks and the corresponding locations and props for each which will definitely be beneficial in the organisation of my shoot.

Diary Entries: Week Commencing 18th March

Monday 18th March

Today I began creating a new weekly Gantt chart which proposes my expected progress for the week ahead, being conscious to consider that I learned from the previous week by not underestimating the sometimes lengthy time process involved in completing seemingly small tasks. I then attended a tutorial with Guy where he reviewed my AIDA, SWOT and PESTLE analysis, giving me particular advice on the content of the 'Legal' segment of the PESTLE analysis and discussing things to consider in the 7 Ps section I plan to complete by the end of today. We also discussed again how I can ensure that the existing M&S consumer is not alienated, perhaps by widening my target audience age demographic. I raised the idea of my new vision of M&S womenswear being a suitable brand for Kate Middleton to wear, and so we discussed the logistics of gifting to royalty as opposed to paid promotion and how I would integrate this idea into my marketing strategy. Finally, we discussed the suitability of Holly Willoughby to the Marks and Spencer brand, where Guy suggested I consider taking the brand in the direction of a more up-and-coming public figure. I also pointed out the current disingenuousness of Holly's collaboration with Marks and Spencer's, where she is rarely seen wearing the brand either in her day-to-day life or live daily on This Morning - an opportunity which I feel should be more greatly utilised.

For the rest of the day, I liaised with my photographer by finalising some new mood boards and communicating the logistics of the day with her as well as communicating with my hair and make-up artist. I then continued with my marketing report, based on the feedback I received from Guy.

I also received my feedback for my Feasibility Study today, and was happy with a final grade of 83%. My preliminary research received a particularly high grade, which gives me the confidence to uphold my findings and integrate it more confidently into my marketing plan and branding. I also received a particularly high grade for my project management, and feel confident that I am bettering the management I displayed in the Feasibility Study even more for Part 2 of the project by working with a digital blog-style diary system and visual hands-on Gantt chart system which works well for me.

Tuesday 19th March

Today I arrived at the library early to begin a day of marketing report writing, deciding not to attend the drop-in session with Jade and Kendra in favour of staying focussed on the task ahead. I completed the 7Ps, having now written a generous chunk of the appendices to my report. I then worked on the structure of the report by breaking it down into five relevant chapters and then began writing the Executive Summary, Introduction and Background Information. Finally, I revisited my Aims & Objectives, editing them to reflect the feedback I received yesterday regarding my Feasibility Study. Earlier on in the day, I sourced styling kit essentials across town including masking tape for the bottom of shoes to be returned, double sided tape and safety pins to potentially use to manipulate clothing or bag straps for shots and a disposable camera to capture behind-the-scenes images on the day.

Wednesday 20th March

On Wednesday I sourced the remaining items for my styling kit ahead of my photoshoot next week. I then veered from my proposed plan for the day by continuing with my marketing report rather than focus solely on the data-based analysis of my primary research findings and consumer profiles, mainly due to the fact that I feel confident with what I have been writing in my report and would like to maintain that momentum. I was also feeling quite tired from a 5am start for work, so made the executive decision to avoid anything with numbers as this is not my strong point even with a good night's sleep. I will no longer be assisting on Charlotte's shoot tomorrow so plan to rebalance my work schedule for the week by completing these tasks then. 

Thursday 21st March

Today I conducted an in-depth analysis of the many PR and advertising opportunities available to review and discuss in my marketing-communications report. I bought 12 women's weekly and monthly magazines with varying target demographics and reviewed each page, highlighting areas of 'missed opportunity' which the new Marks and Spencer label could utilise promotionally as well as areas where the Marks and Spencer brand is already promoted. This strategy is something I learned during my placement year so it feels good to be implementing it into my final major project strategy! I plan to additionally purchase more monthly magazines, specifically those such as Tatler and Elle.

I had also planned to begin my consumer profiles today, however I feel that this detailed research into media strategy will benefit the development of the consumer profiles to be much more justified and well-researched. By constructing a table of demographics for the target audiences of each magazine and examining all of the content within each magazine (relevant specifically to my project or not), I now have a much clearer vision about the kind of target audience I should construct for my new M&S label. Finally, I took photos of each look with accessories included as I begin to get organised for my photoshoot on Monday.

Friday 22nd March

On Friday I attended the 'True Cost of Fashion' lecture at university, which has informed me of some interesting conversations and arguments surrounding sustainable fashion. This is something that will inform the choices for my project, such as the contradiction of organic cotton and the difficult balance of promoting an 'eco-friendly' garment which may still harbour significant environmental damage. I will need to consider this delicate positioning within the branding of the Marks and Spencer label. After this, I put together a final booklet of the looks which I'll be styling on Monday's photoshoot which I can refer back to throughout the day to ensure I am fully organised.

Sunday 23rd March

Today I undertook the final preparations for my shoot tomorrow morning by gathering up the contents of my styling kit and packing them, as well as ironing and packing each item of clothing - taking great care to ensure that nothing is forgotten and left behind. I then reflected on my week's progress by referring back to my Gantt chart and created my Gantt chart for the following week to measure my performance and project management skills.

Gantt Chart: Week Commencing 18th March

This Gantt chart represents my initial expectations for the progress I make during the week commencing Monday 18th March and will be referred back to and monitored throughout the week to ensure that I maintain controlled management of the project.

Weekly Reflection: Week Commencing 11th March

This Gantt chart represents my the reality of my progress made during the week commencing Monday 11th March, having referred back to it throughout the week to readjust and reschedule elements when necessary. 

On Wednesday, I factored in additional time to organise the clothing which was steadily arriving through the post in anticipation for my photoshoot on Monday 25th March. I underestimated the lengthy process of checking everything had been received, carefully storing packaging for use in returns, creating a spreadsheet to monitor the costings of purchases and maintaining the organisation of all items. As a result of this additional task, I rescheduled the task of updating my research file to be completed the next day. 

This then had a knock-on effect into Thursday, where I was unable to schedule enough time into my day to complete a collective review of all of my primary research or brainstorm event ideas - both rather lengthy tasks - and so instead, focussed on the continuation of my marketing report, updating my research file and additionally, liaising with my photoshoot MUA by creating a moodboard, informing them of important information and enquiring about products needed for the day which might need to be purchased.

On Friday, I completed my rescheduled brainstorm of event ideas by creating an in-depth mind map. I also found it necessary to hold a final review of my styled-up looks so that I could establish whether anything was missing in time to order and receive it in plenty of time before my photoshoot day. I also decided to commit more time to my marketing report ahead of my tutorial with Guy, so that I could benefit from his feedback on the marketing side of my project. Because of this, I didn't begin to develop my consumer profiles until the next day where I drew up an initial outline of the consumers as well as created updated moodboards to send to my photographer during the week commencing Monday 18th March. 

Finally, on Sunday, I continued with my implementation and writing of my marketing report which I had greatly underestimated the lengthy process of. It was beneficial to work on this element throughout Sunday so that I could be best prepared with plenty of questions and work to show Guy the next day during my tutorial with him.

Overall this week, by instigating the Gantt chart system and comparing my expected progress to my reality, it is clear that I am more inclined to underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a task. Therefore, I will bear this in mind for the weeks ahead.

Gantt Chart: Week Commencing March 11th

This Gantt chart represents my initial expectations for the progress I make during the week commencing Monday 11th March and will be referred back to and monitored throughout the week to ensure that I maintain controlled management of the project.

Diary Entries: Week Commencing 11th March

Monday 11th March

At 9.15, the FCP group met with Charlie to discuss our steps moving forward with Final Major Project after submitting our Feasibility Study Reports and Project Management Documents last week. During this session, we brainstormed the best methods for recording our project management strategies by engaging in group discussion and looking at previous students' work. As a result of this session, I revisited this website - previously used as a digital space for my Critical Journal and Placement Year diary entries - and made some small adjustments (such as the title, description and tab system) in order to tailor it to suit the needs of the project requirements. In this session, I also discussed the idea of creating a 'Rebranding Document' as opposed to a Brand Handbook, as this concept was unfamiliar to me. I concluded between discussion with both Guy and Charlie that a 'Rebranding Handbook' hybrid would be best suited to my project idea. 

During this session, I also had a quick five minute chat with both Charlie and Guy about my initial branding brainstorm on a proposed name. This initial idea stemmed from Marks and Spencer's historic St. Michael label, which I feel is especially recognisable to the previous generation of Marks and Spencer consumers based on access to the M&S Archive. By adopting the name 'Saint', I felt that this would acknowledge both the extensive heritage of the brand as well as a more contemporary future ahead. By experimenting with typefaces which emanated the historic label of the Marks and Spencer brand, I attempted to further this way of thinking. Charlie and Guy brought up useful arguments regarding this logo and name idea, such as the name's similarity with the All Saints brand - especially given my plans to align the M&S womenswear label to suit a more premium market positioning - as well as the potential disadvantages to taking inspiration from Marks and Spencer's past strategies.

After lunch, I focused my attention back to sourcing clothing for my photoshoot on Monday 25th March - TWO WEEKS TODAY! 😳 I found it to be quite a time consuming activity as it took up most of the time I had allocated to project work today. To aid my organisation, I set up a powerpoint file on Google Drive which is useful because I can access it anywhere and it is automatically backed up. The styling process firstly involved going through a selection of online brands and organising my clothing selections into each brand with the corresponding web link to revisit the product before purchasing. Then I began to style up the looks by creating new slides with a combination of garments from each brand, ensuring that each look is cohesive by deliberately assigning a model to each look and laying looks side by side. In order to record my purchases, I created a spreadsheet which monitors the costs of each order and the estimated arrival day/time. 

As well as focusing on styling today, I continued my search for a hair & make-up artist by sending a couple of follow up messages and liaised with the model booker at J'adore regarding the models' train expenses, booking their trains and sending over the confirmations. I also created a new Gantt chart for this week. I should have done this yesterday but I was too tired after a long shift at my part-time job, so therefore made an executive decision that it could wait one more day!

Tuesday 12th March

Today I saw Kendra and Jade during the drop-in studio session, where we covered topics like event, project management strategies and marketing reports. She showed me her old work and went into detail about the kind of things she included in her marketing report, then went on to discuss the logistics of planning an event. I showed her my new project management system of recording diaries and plans to restructure the way I approach my weekly Gantt chart. I left the session feeling optimistic about where to begin with Part 2.

In the afternoon, Sophie, Charlotte and I went shopping in Leeds to source additional items for our photoshoots. I purchased accessories from Topshop with the intention to return them as soon as possible once my photoshoot is over. From Primark, I purchased a pair of sunglasses and several pairs of earrings which I will not be allowed to return although consideration was taken into my selection as I will most likely choose to wear them myself. In order to keep track of my purchases and returns I will continue to update my styling spreadsheet and keep any receipts and confirmation emails safe.

Wednesday 13th March

On Wednesday I worked from home in order to wait for my many packages to arrive, full of clothing for my upcoming photoshoot on the 25th March. I set about renewing my Gantt chart system by constructing a planner on an A2 foam-board which I can change each week with ease. This visual, hands-on system is much more suited to my way of thinking in comparison to the Excel spreadsheet Gantt system which I trialled during the previous two weeks. 

As well as making my Gantt chart for the week commencing 11th March, I revisited my research file by ticking off my 'to-do list' of things to update within it. I also reviewed all of the responses I received to my shopping experience primary research, and gathered useful data from it which I arranged in a collective spreadsheet of all my primary research results. Finally, I began writing my Marketing-Communications Report which Kendra suggested would be a good place to start during our tutorial yesterday. To keep organised, I initially wrote a long to-do list of contents which I will need to cover over the coming weeks within the report before beginning to transfer relevant information from my Feasibility Study and refine it. I also began to update my research file by ticking off the to-do list that I had been writing over the course of the last week. Elements I added included my styled up looks, print outs of order confirmations for clothing and reasoning for my styling choices.

Thursday 14th March

Today I continued developing my research file by making a moodboard for my desired hair and make-up look for the day of my location shoot, which I then also liaised with my hair & make-up artist about. I then focussed my attentions on my marketing report, beginning to write the SWOT, PESTLE, AIDA and 7 Ps analyses. 

Friday 15th March

Today, I began by making a final review of my styling for the shoot on Monday 25th March and made my final online orders as a result of identifying missing pieces or opportunities for pieces in the looks. Then I brainstormed event ideas by creating a mindmap and made a distinction between the launch promotion and press elements of my event strategy before continuing with my implementation of PESTLE, AIDA and the 7 Ps analyses.

Sunday 17th March

On Sunday, I completed the first elements of my marketing report - my SWOT, PESTLE, AIDA and 7 Ps analyses - ahead of my tutorial with Guy on Monday morning. I then reviewed my week's progress by revisiting my weekly Gantt chart and readjusting it based on the reality of my working week. I then reflected on this progress in a blog post before creating and uploading a new Gantt chart communicating my aims for the week commencing 18th March.