International Fashion Branding: HissyFit

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.

Every day of our lives we are bombarded with brands through the constant exposure to advertisements. Branding identifies not only who the brand is but also their values and a brands logo is a key identifier in the personality of the. The new and emerging trend of sustainability has influenced many brands’ images, some brand’s claim to be sustainable and eco-friendly but be guilty of greenwashing (Solér, 2014)

This report will explore Hissy Fit and its brand message, reflecting on where it’s going wrong and how it can do better. The report will identify the key branding processes, using the Hameides Branding Process model (see fig 1.) focusing on the consumer experience and communication segments (Hameide, 2011) and how these can be better implemented to ensure the brand message is communicated through each touchpoint the consumer engages with (Lee et al, 2013).

Fig 1.

2.2 Defining Branding

Hameide (2011) suggests that if there is one simple definition of a brand it would be that it’s a promise, a promise that it will deliver value in the best and most efficient way possible (Hameide, 2011) Every brand, no matter the sector is meant to appeal to the consumer because it promises value to the target consumer, this means if the company and consumer share the same values then the consumer is more likely to engage with the brand (Hameide, 2011). In this case, Hissy Fits values its ethical and sustainable brand message, and this is a promise they aim to keep Many fast fashion brands put economic return before customer satisfaction, by producing clothing at such a fast rate they are of poor quality and in turn only satisfy the consumer for the short term (Hameide, 2011). However, Hissy Fit can be seen to put the needs of the consumer first and economic growth second as they often ask for consumer insights regarding their wants and needs on its Instagram, @hissyfitclothing. The owner, Danielle, has been transparent with the economic impact of owning your own business, she states on the website that “I want to let past, present and future HF customers know that every single penny I make from HF goes straight back into the business,” (Hissy Fit, 2021)

2 3 A consistent brand-message

2.

A strong brand message can help distinguish the brand from the competition, it also gives the customer an idea of the brand's mission and vision, giving them more reason to do business with the brand (Brennan, 2018). A brand message needs to be consistent through all of its channels, meaning the message the brand wants to portray remains the same and is easily recognizable (Brennan, 2018) The brand message needs to be reflected through all of its touchpoints from social media marketing to its packaging (Lee et al, 2013), if the packaging doesn’t reflect the brand message the consumer loses trust in the brand and are less willing to buy from the brand again (Spence & Gallace, 2011).

Hissy Fits brand message is how it’s a guilt-free, ethical and sustainable alternative to fast fashion, this message is not however consistent through its multichannel The message gets lost and diluted on the brands Instagram, the Instagram is more focused on the portrayal of the brands' personality of excitement (Aaker, 1997) and at first glance seen as another fast-fashion brand, see fig 2, with only a brief mention to the brands' message in the bio, there is no explanation on how they do this or why. For the brand to be more successful it needs to find consistency in its brand message across all of its multichannel platforms and touchpoints

Fig

2.4 Is Hissy Fit fast-fashion?

Fast fashion has many definitions however, this report will be referring to it as; inexpensively and widely available ‘of-the-moment’ garments made in high quantities at a fast paste and sold at low prices by retailers (Bick, 2018). The fast-fashion business model has now become dominant in the market and has caused garment consumption to skyrocket (Bick, 2018). Hissy Fit competes with fast fashion brands and has an issue with the dilution of the brand’s products across other companies, they try and keep the development of new products under wraps to avoid large fast fashion stealing the design Hissy Fit states that its unique selling point is its fabrics (Hissy Fit, 2021), but it can be argued that the brand’s transparent supply chain remains at the forefront of its values and is also a major USP. A good unique selling point (USP) helps define the businesses product or services and gives an edge over the competition, whilst also allowing the business to communicate how it wants its market to perceive the product and brand by focusing on its specific benefits (myBusiness Network, 2016; Hameide, 2011).

Hissy Fit claims to be a guilt-free, ethical and sustainable alternative to fast fashion (HissyFitClothing, 2022), however, this is where the message gets lost. When looking on the website there is an unclear definition as to what sustainability means to the brand, a "fully transparent" supply chain is the possible defining factor here Sustainability definition is person dependent and can be seen as subjective to the context it’s applied to (Henninger et al, 2016), this report however will be referring to this definition of sustainability “clothing that is designed, manufactures, distributed, and used in ways that are environmentally and ethically friendly” (Lessler. F, n.d). This definition of sustainable fashion informs us that Hissy Fit is only partly sustainable and the brand still has a few more steps to become a more sustainable brand

2.5 Consumers, self-image and need for touch

Comunale (2008) explains how self-image plays a large role when consumers purchase products, this is because it can visually display social standing, taste and attitude (Comunale, 2008). They suggest that consumers prefer to buy brands that best reflect their personality and values because the brand image can be seen to reflect selfimage (Comunale, 2008) Hissy Fit’s consumer remains loyal to the brand as they share the same value of sustainable retail and want to help reduce the impact of fast fashion. Hissy Fit as a brand can encourage its consumer to be more capable and confident, as well as comfortable when they wear Hissy Fit clothing (Comunale, 2008).

When looking at Hameide’s (2011) consumer adoption pattern (Hameide, 2011) Hissy Fit relies on early adopters to interact and buy from the brand to then influence the early majority. This is because the brand represents a niche in the market that not all consumers of retail and especially fast fashion consumers are ready to commit to The brand’s consumers are sustainability-conscious and are less likely to consume much fashion from fast-fashion retailers, with the age range of 18-35. In regards to Posner et al (2015) model of the basic hierarchy of fashion, it’s hard to position Hissy Fit because they are very different to the normal retailer, but if they were to be put into a category it would be Mass Market (Posner H, 2015), this is because Hissy Fit bridges lines between sustainable fashion and fast fashion and remain producing on-trend products at a mid to fast turnaround speed, despite having the supply chain the main focus of their values.

According to Lee et al (2013) and Gloppen (2009), a brand has multiple touchpoints that are designable by the brand management, one of the most important touchpoints is haptics. Haptics is the study of touching as nonverbal communication and recognises the nonverbal messages recognised just by touching something, (Psychologistanywhereanytime com, 2019). In regards to marketing, touch has been found to affect attitudes and behaviour of the consumer, this is where the Need For Touch (NFT) scale developed by Peck & Childers (2003) can be recognised. The NFT scale is designed to measure the individual difference in preference for haptic information. The research completed with the NFT scale by Peck & Childers (2003) suggests that judgement is made by the consumer as soon as they touch a product/packaging, reflecting its texture, hardness, temperature, or weight (Peck & Childers, 2003). Meaning brands like Hissy Fit need to pay close attention to the haptics of the brand, the copy write of the products needs to be descriptive and images need to reflect the type of fabric, whilst also having packaging that reflects the brands message but also do its job of protecting the garments on transit

Fig

3. RATIONAL

Hameide (2014) states that “ consumers are the inspiration behind the brand” (Hameide, 2014), without the consumer input through social media, Hissy Fit wouldn’t be as successful as it is. In the appendix, there is a SWOT analysis (Fig 3 ) of Hissy Fit and its branding, this SWOT analysis identified that brand message is the key weakness of this brand. It’s weak because there is a lack of clarity across the brand multi-channels, the sustainability message of the band is getting lost behind the fast-fashion elements of the brand

Hissy Fit relies heavily upon its social media to promote new and existing products as the brand knows that their consumer is crazy for social media, an InSite Consulting (2011) survey of participants from 35 countries showed that 50% of social media users are connected to brands, 42% had a conversation with a brand on social media and 36% posted content about a brand (Belleghem S V, 2011) Building a social media page for a brand provides a source of continuously updated information for consumers while at the same time gaining exposure for the brand. Being able to hold conversations directly with consumers on social media makes consumer-based relationships more intimate, and a

Fig 4.

Hissy Fit needs to convey a coherent view of the brands' message and its services/products across multiple touchpoints (Lee et al, 2013) Hissy Fit is an e-commerce brand and therefore has a virtual interface and its touchpoint are designable (Lee et al, 2013), this means that its touchpoints can be modified to the changing expectations of the consumer to better suit their needs (Lee et al, 2013). But, because the brand is an e-commerce brand it is unable to fulfil all experiences on Gloppens (2009) brand touchpoint wheel (see fig 5.), product quality is one touchpoint that can only be taken note of once a product has been bought by the consumer and delivered by courier, point of purchase, this means that there are some disadvantages to being an e-commerce brand. Being an e-commerce brand Hissy Fit lacks a brand-specific tangible experience and relies heavily on optic consumption rather than haptic consumption, meaning Hissy Fit needs to be able to sell its products across social media successfully and have descriptive copywriting for the consumer to make a purchase

Hissy Fit is however successful with identity design, from the Brand Touchpoint wheel (Gloppen, 2009), meaning that the brand is identifiable with its logo but also its garments are distinctly Hissy Fit. The brand has identifiable garments, such as the ‘Comfort Cargos’ (Hissy Fit, 2021) that sell well and are uniquely its own and just reproduce them in differing deadstock fabrics Over time this has become the brands' strategy as it has found a branding formula that works uniquely for the brand and consumer. By producing garments in designs they know the consumer likes and uses, Hissy Fit can reproduce it differently each time with unused deadstock fabrics, creating a new product that the consumer recognises (see fig 6.). This strategy is how Hissy Fit has gained its success and loyalty from the consumers, they have recognised the want for sustainable trendy fashion

Fig 5.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS

According to Comunale (2008), for a brand to be successful it needs to have the ability to remain consistent and have the ability to create an atmosphere reflective of its personality (Comunale, 2008). Hissy Fit successfully emanate the consumer ’ s aspirations through producing ‘sustainable’ garments that are on-trend. However, to better connect emotionally with the consumers Hissy Fit needs to create an experience that better reflects the brands' message of sustainability (Comunale, 2008).

For Hissy Fit to vitalise its touchpoints better and to portray its sustainable message better is by utilising haptic messages, meaning the brand needs to make better use of its packaging and use packaging that reflects a sustainable message (Lee et al, 2013) One brand that has done this successfully is Lucy & Yak. Lucy and Yak is an ethical fashion brand that produces clothes for comfort, quirky and sustainable fashion wearers, almost 100% of their clothing is made from either recycled or organic fabric and its packaging and shipping materials are either biodegradable, recyclable or reusable (www.embryodigital.co.uk . n.d). Lucy & Yak send out all of its products in recycled fabric bags (Lucy & Yak, n d), instead of plastic bags that Hissy Fit uses, the fabric bags can then be reused for multiple purposes by the consumer, fig 7 shows a picture of Lucy & Yaks packaging, comparison between the two brands packaging, (Hissy Fit packaging seen Fig 4), Lucy & Yak’s packaging better reflects the sustainable ethos and the brands' message, if Hissy Fit was to do something similar

Fig 7.

- garments and fabric use but to become more identifiable in the sustainable fashion market Hissy Fit needs to better portray its sustainable fashion message better By using exciting and fashionable social media influencers, like @itsabinunn (see fig 8.), the brand and its message will reach a wider consumer base who share a similar message and values, making the lifestyle Hissy Fit is selling more achievable, fun and aspirational (Comunale, 2013). A brand that has successfully used social media influencers to help sell its message and tell its story is Mallows Beauty -@MallowsBeauty- (see fig 9 ), this brand uses social media influencers that help tell its story of body positivity and self-love Mallows Beauty carefully selects its “Marshmallows” through the application process on its website, they allow anyone with a social media following, no matter the number, to join the team for monthly rewards, free products, weekly missions and commissions on sales (Mallows Beauty, n.d). This scheme allows the brand to reflect its brand message and story to the consumers through a more approachable and aspirational platform, if Hissy Fit was to do something like this the influencers would need to reflect the brands' message appropriately, this would be a good way for the brand to be deemed approachable by the consumer (Comunale, 2013).

Most importantly for the consumer to buy into the brand message of the brand it needs to be told consistently across all channels and platforms that the brand used to sell and promote the products, this is important because the consumer wants to feel comfortable and confident in the identity of the brand (Comunale, 2013). Meaning the website and social media channels need to clearly define what Hissy Fit means when referring to itself as a “Guiltfree, an ethical and sustainable fashion brand that’s fun” (HissyFitClothing, 2022), this will enable the brand to connect with the self-image of its consumer (Comunale, 2013). As stated previously in this report, this can be done by making better use of the brands' touchpoints (Lee et al, 2013)

Sustainability is becoming an expectation from the consumer (Business Insider, 2020), brands like Hissy Fit are expected to be completing sustainable practices, for Hissy Fit to identify as a sustainable brand it needs to be doing more than having a “fully transparent” supply chain (Hissy Fit, 2021). Sustainable Source at Scale report (2017) said ‘online searched for sustainable fashion tripled between 2016 and 2019’, this data suggests that consumers are making more conscious decisions with what they are buying and are willing to look around for a brand that suits them best (Ethical Consumer, 2021) The brand needs to take on board the haptic messages its packaging is portraying and reconsider using more appropriate packaging to better reflect the brands' message, this will make the brand more memorable to the consumer and will meet the expectations that come with the brand sustainable consumer. Whilst also introducing the experiential factor of using influencers to help sell the brand message along with its products by using emotional branding allows the brand to be deemed as approachable and aspirational by the consumer (Comunale, 2013)

Fig 3 - SWOT analysis of Hissy Fits Branding and brand message strategy.

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