Paul Smith Context

paul Smith digital swipe

by katie price

c

Introduction

Paul Smiths Empire: North East Asia

Stepping into the younger market

The Digital Re-birth

Who’s doing it successfully?

ontents

Conclusion

4 6 8 10 12 14

introduction “You can find inspiration in everything. If you can’t then you’re not looking properly” (Smith 2003).

Fig.2. Paul Smith + Anglepoise Edition Three, 2016

A global brand, loved for it’s rich heritage and traditional tailoring, Paul Smith is an iconic designer that brings ‘classic with a twist’ and excellent craftsmanship to his creations. With access to his stores in 66 countries, Paul Smith is not afraid of the booming retail industry. According to Business of Fashion (2016), the company turned over nearly £200 million, with 50% coming from wholesale, 40% from retail, and the remainder coming from licensing operations, mostly coming from Japan.

paul smiths empire: north east asia

Paul Smith was quick to see the potential the brand would have by opening stores throughout the Far East and has now over 200 outlets in Japan. According to Andrew Barker, Editor of Business of Fashion, Japan has brought the value of the company to a staggering figure of £804 million. It is to no surprise that more luxury British brands are now doing the same, with Ben Sherman entering the Chinese market with two stores opening in Shanghai (Drapers 2016). As foreign fashion brands are highly desired by the Chinese consumers, it was a fantastic business opportunity for Paul Smith to enter into one of the world’s largest retail markets with sales of consumer goods reaching £3.39 trillion.

Strengths weaknesses - Premium brand that is known globally with stores located in places like Paris, Milan, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore.

- Diverse and exclusive showrooms in London, Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo.

- Every one of his stores reflects his taste and design, giving a unique twist to each individual store adding to the in-store experience.

- His collections are wholesaled to 66 countries, which increases the distribution network.

- Due to fake imitations of the brand, this has caused significant problems with sales and also the brand image of Paul Smith.

- Lack of digital presence compared to its competitors.

- The website is out-dated and bland, doesn’t excite and engage the consumer.

- Expand his online digital presence by engaging with the consumer and keeping us updated with the latest news.

- Menswear market is growing with an increase in men caring about how they look.

Fig.3. Japan Retail. 2015

- Using digital technology to create interesting campaigns and ‘storytelling’ viral videos.

- Refreshing his website with a new layout and linking his social media platforms to connect with his followers.

- Competitive market - Luxury brands could be losing their shine as consumers might not be so willing to pay the price of luxury goods anymore / imitations are a lot more accessible these days.

- Fluctuating economy

- Collaborating with young designers and artists to attract a younger audience.

opportunities Threats

stepping into the

younger market

The designer has recently launched his new PS collection by Paul Smith, targeted towards the younger consumer. Previously however, customers who have invested into the brand have generally been between the demographic ages of 30-60 years old. Smith told DW (2016) in an interview that he thinks the Paul Smith consumer is quite broad with products ranging from low to high cost and that many of the consumers that buy into the brand are creative customers, working in industries such as architecture, acting and design, who are also quite confident and know what they do and don’t like.

“I think the profile of Paul Smith is quite broad. My products go from very low to very high cost. We are blessed in that we have a lot of creative customers: actors, architects and lots of bike riders, too, because I love to cycle. But basically, someone who is quite confident, who is not looking for what I call “attention-seeking clothes”, because the clothes are quite simple. They don’t need anything that is too highly designed, they are pleased with simplicity.” Paul Smith, DW (2016)

However, Paul Smith has recently set a challenge of stepping into a younger demographic market with his PS collection.

Fig.4. P/S Collection by Paul Smith clothing tag, 2016

Fig.5. P/S Collection by Paul Smith Womenswear, 2016

Fig.6. Pink Make Em Wink, 2015

The

digital rebirth

The retail environment has become significantly more competitive than ever that as a result, has led e-commerce to outpace the retail experience according to Marta Blázquez (see Straker and Wrigley 2016). With e-commerce growing quicker than ever, it is vital for the designer to tap into digital marketing in order for the company to keep growing and boosting digital outreach.

Online engagement is something that Paul Smith himself shies away from and has admittedly said that he does not use the internet, but in order for the company to progress, the designer needs to look into the future like Demna Gvasalia ( i-D 2016), the Creative Director of Balenciaga believes.

“It’s important to know the past in order to feel the future, but it’s like driving a car: You can’t look in the rear window. You have to look forward”.

Digital presence plays a huge part in heightening brand awareness along with engagement. In order to successfully drive a business, Paul Smith will have to become more aware of how important it is, by creating engaging and varied content for his customers. With over half of under 25’s using smartphones to shop fashion, “young people are digital natives”, as they have grown up with social medial and have always relied heavily on the internet. (Sender 2016) Therefore, if Paul Smith wants to attract the younger consumer he will have to communicate through digital platforms to do so.

Fig.7. Paul Smith Instagram, 2016

Paul Smith has decided to conclude his blog and instead chosen to focus on Instagram as his main platform for interactivity. However, his website and social media platforms lack the ‘quirky’ and ‘authentic’ appeal that can be seen through his stores,each designed in an original and curious form.

who’s doing it successfully ?

Ted Baker who is a successful luxury brand that has a visually appealing design aesthetic and is recognized globally, making the products highly desirable to its loyal customers. (Wright, 2016)

Ted Baker is known for being a brand that does not want to advertise.

However, they are a success in that they immerse themselves with their customers through social media and viral campaigns. New technologies have played a huge part in the way in which companies and brands now interact with consumers (Straker and Wrigley, 2016, p. 277). With estimated over 7 billion people worldwide using the internet according to Internet world stats (2016), recently the company has been embracing new technologies such as augmented reality “to create an immersive experience for their customers”. Along with a successful viral campaign back in 2015 called

Fig.8. Ted Baker Instagram, 2016

‘Pinch me’, where hidden messages were posted on different campaign images on Instagram for users to find.

This was a successful strategy of ‘nonadvertising’ using their social media platforms to engage with their followers in an interesting and engaging way.

In relation to this, Malcolm Gladwell (2006) talks about how ideas and messages must be ‘memorable’ in order for it to stay with the consumer. Gladwell presents this as the ‘stickiness factor’, where in order for a message or product to stay in the mind of the recipient it must be memorable for people to talk about and share the experience.

conclusion Matthew Healey (see Mirsini Trigoni, 2016) explains how “storytelling and especially strong, emotional stories are a significant component of successful branding�. Keeping the designers traditional and bespoke narrative is still possible for Smith, but there is potential in bringing a new digital twist to the company, which will help to deliver and grow alongside its competitors with engaging content allowing people to take part in competitions and most importantly, appealing to the younger audience that he is trying to target through matching his online presence to his unique and iconic in-store experience.

Fig.9. Paul Smith manipulated, 2016

primary research methodology Through conducting primary research, my aim is to determine who the younger target consumer is for the PS collection and also how the brand can use online social media in an engaging and exciting way in order to attract the younger demographic.

In-Depth Interview

Ethnography

focus group deep dive

To follow on from the secondary research that I have found, I want to delve in deeper to find out if there is a specific target market for the PS collection as Paul Smith himself said that the consumer is ‘quite broad’ so by conducting an interview with head office, this should allow me to narrow the consumer down.

Furthermore, this will help me to see what sort of digital channels and touch points the brand should be looking at to communicate with the younger generation.

To avoid speculative theories, I aim to discover who is the consumer that buys into Paul Smiths new collection, by immersing myself into their daily routines and taking a first hand look into what media channels they regularly use.

To put my research to the test following on from my two other methods of primary research, I will create social media mock-ups including competitions and refreshing the Paul Smith website by looking at the company’s traditional and quirky brand image and then translating this visually through to their online digital presence. These mock-ups will then be shown to a group of Paul Smith consumers to see what they think of the ideas. I will also show the participants campaigns and videos that Paul Smiths competitors have done.

Whilst the in-depth interview will help me gather further research to do with the consumer and may be beneficial, to have an in-depth interview with someone at head office may be very hard to do so and could take a considerable amount of time.

I will visit the Paul Smith store in Nottingham and talk to people who are interested in the PS collection, and buy into the company regularly, as Paul Smith customers are known to be loyal shoppers who regularly re-purchase from the designer. I will then ask if I could follow them around for a day, to see there daily routines and what social media platforms they also like to engage with.

Ethnography research means that the participant will be in a much more comfortable state as research will be carried out in their everyday environment, which will help to “identify discrepancies between what people say they do and what they actually do”.

(Linington, 2013) It is also a way of capturing live events as they happen and capturing emotional behavior.

Although this method with give me insight into the ideas that I have developed, the issues that may arise is that people may not want to take part. Individuals also may feel intimidated within the group, which may affect their behaviour and as a result have an influence on their actions.

methodology table Method

In-depth Interview

Sample

Purpose

Strengths

Weaknesses

Receive rich responses will more detailed information.

Could take a long time in getting a response back from them.

1 participant

To distinguish what age is the ‘younger consumer’ that Paul Smith is targeting for his PS Collection.

Industry expert who knows the company inside and out.

Interview over email might not be as helpful as much as a face-to-face interview as they could just quickly answer the questions without much detail.

Investigate the daily routines of the target consumers and what platforms they engage with the most throughout the day.

First-hand research capturing emotional behavior effectively as the research is conducted in the participants natural environment.

Hard to find people to take part in the research, people might not want to participate.

Discover peoples opinions and ideas

Participants can bounce off one another with their ideas

Paul Smith Head Office

Ethnography

Deep Dive

3 participants Male & Female

8 Participants Male & Female

Can develop strong insights

Dependent on the participant’s observations and interpretations.

Not enough participants to get involved Experimenter bias – Avoid having an influence on peoples opinions by being careful how to phrase questions.

outcomes

Weaknesses

First-hand research capturing emotional behavior effectively as the research is conducted in the participants natural environment.

Hard to find people to take part in the research, people might not want to participate.

Participants can bounce off one another with their ideas Can develop strong insights

Dependent on the participant’s observations and interpretations.

Not enough participants to get involved Experimenter bias – Avoid having an influence on peoples opinions by being careful how to phrase questions.

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image references Fig.1. Smith, P., 2004. Paul Smith Los Angeles [digital image]. Paul Smith. Available at: http://www.paulsmith. co.uk/us-en/shop/locator/paul-smith-los-angeles [Accessed 30th October 2016].

Fig.2. Smith, P., 2016. Paul Smith + Anglepoise Edition Three [digital image]. Paul Smith. Available at: http://www. paulsmith.co.uk/uk-en/shop/stories/aw16/anglepoise-edition-three [Accessed 30th October 2016].

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Fig.5. Price, K., 2016. P/S Collection by Paul Smith Womenswear [photograph]. [Accessed 27th October 2016].

Fig.6. Nixon, K., 2015. Pink Make Em Wink [digital image] Caleo Magazine. Available at: http://www. thefashionisto.com/gallery/diego-barrueco-caleo-2015-photo-shoot/2/ [Accessed 1st November 2016].

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Fig.9. Price, K., 2016. Paul Smith manipulated [digital image]. [Accessed 14th November 2016].

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