Brand Relevance

Brand Relevance

      Thinking about starting a business of some type? Many of us are, but at the same time we all tend to forget about the importance of building a strong brand. This blog post will be centered on building a strong brand identity, and the importance of getting your brand permanently etched in your potential clients mind. Many people feel that all they need to do is build a great product that will catch the eye of the consumer and become the next best seller. But what few fail to realize is that a brand is the meaning behind your company’s name, logo, symbols and slogans (Kokemuller, 2013). Nike and Air Jordan’s for years have been linked with Nike being the company and Jordan being the product for years, because of the fact that many people know that Jordan is a great product and can cost a great deal the name Nike helps people feel better about making purchases. This is because the brand will be around longer than the one product the company starts with, this is because after a company makes a profits off of the initial product they look to expand by bringing on more products. This would not be a successful process if the company does not have a strong brand and client following. Products have life cycles. Brands outlive products. Brands are valuable... Building brands build incredible value for companies and corporations (Goodson, 2012).

      After researching the web I came across a web page that breaks down the steps to brand awareness and building advertising objectives. Listed below are the steps. More information about this can be found at http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-brand-awareness-45853.html

1.   First Step: Creating brand awareness this needs to be done before you can create a favorable impression or motivate customers to buy (Kokemuller, 2013).

2.   Top of Mind: This is when customers think of you first when they need to make a purchase within your product category. You can build top of mind awareness through repeated exposure and consistent delivery of a good product or service over time (Kokemuller, 2013).

3.   Build Equity: To develop strong brand equity you have to develop a high level of brand awareness (Kokemuller, 2013).

4.   Direct Impact: The public is more equipped with mobile and social media tools to communicate quickly about your brand – good or bad (Kokemuller, 2013).

     The information contained in the steps above only confirm the fact that brand awareness is the most important part of a company’s advertising campaign. The best brands have remarkable creativity in advertising to help them break through people’s wall of indifference to create brand heat and product lust (Goodson, 2012). 

Goodson, S. (2012, May 27). [Web log message]. Retrieved from                                       http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2012/05/27/why-brand-building-is-important/2/

Kokemuller, N. (2013). The importance of brand awareness.                                                       Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-brand-awareness-45853.html

The Inevitable Mix

The Inevitable Mix

I know that I previously mentioned and posted about the desire to mix both music and fashion and the fact that they have been linked to each other since the beginning of time. The purpose of all of the business ventures that I am working on is about finding ways to mix both music and fashion. While performing research one of the sites listed a quote which only confirmed what I felt about the two industries “Musical accomplishment to collections is nothing new. In most instances, the perfect song has the power to convey the aesthetic of a designer’s work in ways which presenting the collection on its own cannot” (Segal, 2013). This quote only goes to show that there is an importance for music in the fashion industry. Have you ever been to a fashion show and not heard music playing of some type? Probably not right? The music helps the models put on a sexy strut and helps to keep the crowd entertained. There have even been events where there are various artist performing.

http://ppmginfo.blogspot.com/2012/04/manmachine-presents-sennheiser-sound.html

One thing that one must keep in mind when mixing fashion and music is not to let the music over power the presentation of clothing. By this I mean add the music but make sure that the clothing and the models are the main attraction not the music coming through the speakers. “The shows of many major fashion houses now seem like concerts. However, there is a danger in pushing the connection too far” (Segal, 2013). One of the things that can be done to help strike a balance between the two industries. Is having an artist appear on the catwalk I the designers clothing as one of the models or having one of the models appear in the artist video shoot. This will allow for the music and fashion to mix without overpowering each other. 

For more information on this topic please use the following link: 

Segal, E. (2013). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/music_and_fashion

Building Strong Networks

Building Strong Networks

When entering any industry and setting forth to build a brand identity for your company it is very important to get the help and advice from those who have come before you. The easiest way to get this help and to make sure that it is help that will be beneficial to what you are trying to accomplish, joining a trade association will be your best bet. But don’t just go and join any association join the association that best aligns with your vision for your company and brand.

After doing careful research I have taken major interest in the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). With deciding to switch our focus over to swimwear it is only relevant to assume we will be selling beach or water footwear with the bathing suits. Therefore we needed to join an association that held the interest of both areas at hand. More information on the American Apparel & Footwear Association can be found at the following website www.wewear.org. The AAFA “represents more than 1,000 world famous name brands…, and is the trusted public policy and political voice of the apparel and footwear industry…., and its contribution of $350 billion in annual U.S. retail sales” (www.wewear.org). These are just a few of the things that sparked my interest with the AAFA.

The AAFA participates in a number of programs and partnerships. After reading over the information about the various opportunities that AAFA offers to its members the tradegood program which more information can be located at https://www.wewear.org/tradegood/

 caught my attention. With all the replicas that enter into the fashion industry on a yearly basis it is becoming harder for companies to come out and brand themselves before the fake/knock off products start to arise. With the tradegood program through the AAFA members are offered “an online marketplace where responsible buyers and trusted suppliers in the apparel and footwear industry can connect in order to maximize supply chain visibility” (www.wewear.org/tradegood). This program offers some of the following benefits to the AAFA members:

·      Discover and connect with suppliers by accessing the database for screening and matching.

·      Supply chain visibility with no blind spots, total clarity over every link in the chain.

·      Assistance with searches to locate factories that meet your criteria.

There are many more benefits to joining the AAFA and various other associations. To find out more information research the professional trade associations dealing with your specific industry. At this time I am looking to join the AAFA so that not only will I be offered industry protections but also build a stronger network of connections, and gain insight to various industry topics.