Showcasing past enrolled and current adult student pet product designs. See our doggie models strut the runway in true fashionista style. BARK-à-Porteris also a charitable endeavor, held in partnership with the New York City Mayor’s Alliance and Animal Care and Control of NYC. We promise an experience worthy of market week in Paris.
Get your tickets before they sell out!
Date: May 3, Friday
Time: 5:30pm-7:00pm
Location: Katie Murphy Amphitheater
Stay tuned – I will be posting a lot of upcoming December events in the next few days. Here’s the first one to kick it off!
Some of our alumni from the Pet Fashion Design and Marketing Certificate program have joined together to bring you this wonderful trunk show! Hope you can make it!
The blog is back up! It had gone done at some point during the hurricane…
UPDATE
FIT cancelled ALL classes through Sunday, November 4th, 2012. Some offices at FIT are open with limited staff until 4pm today and tomorrow (Friday).
More info here: http://www.fitnyc.edu/2752.asp
Due to possible severe weather caused by Hurricane Sandy, the college is monitoring conditions and coordinating efforts through the Office of the Mayor, the State University of New York, and the New York State Office of Emergency Management.
As of today, October 26, the college remains open and all classes and activities will be held throughout the weekend as scheduled. Please check your FIT email, www.fitnyc.edu, or the college’s emergency phone line at 212-217-7792, late Sunday evening or early Monday morning for any possible changes to the schedule.
We recently came across a quote from John Norman, CCO of The Martin Agency, which struck a familiar cord:
“We used to tell stories through campaigns. Now we build stories.”
As we mentioned in our August 2012 blog post, some companies communicate their Brand Stories better than others.
Telling a story is based more on a one-way communication and Building a story is based more on today’s demand for two-way communications between the brand and the customer and among many of the brand’s customers.
A good example of building a brand story is The Martin Agency’s “GEICO” campaign. How many companies have invested so much in a campaign, with a series of different ads to keep everyone entertained and informed on what the brand story is and does? This strategy is much more than the Gecko avatar, but he is its star no doubt. The campaign continues to live up to The Martin Agency’s philosophy to surprise, delight and break through the clutter with creativity.
Tying in with “You Know the Lyrics,” on a radio station’s website – Always in tune?
Looking at a brand or company, its personality and its projected image is how consumers take that first step to becoming one of the brand’s customers. When the brand weaves a believable, relevant, entertaining or useful story about what it offers, the consumer is ready to connect and build a long-term relationship. The attraction was strong and the brand delivers on its brand promises, a longer relationship will hopefully develop and last over time.
Take for example the new TV and YouTube ads for CHICO’S: vibrant, enthusiastic, romantic dancing, cheeky, stylish for their target customer: fashion savvy women of 30 years and older, enjoying the joy of fashion, friendship, and life…
Or their sister brand, White House/Black Market, another spirited brand — building their story through an image that offers: “WORK IT, The Other Side of Work Wear.”
Connecting with another TV commercial and YouTube video presenting their dancing spirit with style and a fashion show. They are “dedicated to helping their customers feel that every place they go is more beautiful… simply because they are there.”
Both TV Commercials (YouTube links below) are strategically running during the popular TV show, “Dancing With The Stars.” A smart alignment of message and audience, wouldn’t you say?
The challenge for every brand in this fractious, chaotic media world, is to take a fresh look at and deeply know who is their audience. What are their new media habits? How can the brand’s biography, history, and interesting/relevant anecdotes resonate across media formats to this more well-understood audience?
So it may be time to ask: When was the last time you took a fresh look at your audience and your Brand Story? And moreover, have you built a relationship with your customers? Are they looking for you and connecting with the brand?
Segmented Marketing has been rapidly replacing, or at least collaborating as part of,what we have known as Mass Marketing. So why would any brand, U.S. or “other world,” not customize their communications about their product, service or experience? With a rising local diversity in our domestic market, and an increasing mix of different global cultures throughout the world, a brand needs to continue to create strategies and communications for glocal brand marketing.
Some brands are trying multicultural marketing that attempts to create communications for more than one market segment. The brands that seem to do the job best do forms of Integrated Marketing that go beyond running traditional ads, doing outdoor advertising or going on-line. They are developing innovative Consumer-Centric Promotions (CCP) and Customer Experiences (CX). And they are considering cross-overlife-style psychographics to identify “cross-across” target markets.
Today’s Brand Management has to recognize that cross-over segmented markets require more glocal strategies and multicultural communications than ever before.
One to watch is what a retail giant like The GAP is doing. GAP Inc. has products available to customers in over 90 countries worldwide. Their global expansion formula is to enter a country with brand-building flagship stores, after which outlets and smaller franchise stores can be added beyond the main cities, in addition to building an online web presence for each country/region/language and offering international shipping. This plan goes on even with the news that they will be closing a number of stores in NYC, the USA and Canada.
In the Gap Inc.’s case, they are promoting their image of Americana and it’s fun, family, fashion and value appeals across the globe. They integrate or “glocalize” their promotions with the local customers as seen on their international web pages: www.gap.cnwww.gap.eu
The Gap is approaching each segmented market with its brand story and brand image, while welcoming each target market in their own language and giving them the opportunity to adapt this American brand in their own “glocal” way. In today’s global economy world, we need to develop our own global perspectives as we choose which ideas or products to include in our company brands and our personal customer lifestyles.
This advanced track enhances careers in marketing, branding, fashion journalism, and product development. Experience exactly how trends are tracked from identifying consumer behavior to lifestyle impact levels to new product possibilities. Work with professional trend experts on color forecast and product predictions in fashion, accessories and home. Create your own mini fashion forecast/trend report based on market and street trend hunting exercises. This track is Facilitated by Marguerite LaCorte.
MARGUERITE LA CORTE is a Global Trend Tracker™ and Product Anthropologist. Strong on both the Marketing and R&D side, she travels the world for 30-45 day periods working for clients to help them identify emerging consumer insights, novel ingredients, and unique consumer rituals and products, offering meaningful end benefits in the form of proprietary research reports and creative presentations 60 days after her return Stateside.
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