Part Two - Reflection
“I really appreciate everything you’ve put into the presentation it was really good, I especially love the seasonal window display ideas” - Sarah (Client)
After having our presentation with Sarah, we received very minimal feedback, and the feedback we did receive was the client mostly agreeing to everything we said. She spoke about understanding the importance of adding a sustainability feature to the website and that cost was a major barrier in implementing what we’ve suggested.
To avoid slippage with project management, we utilised Trello as the project management tool to keep on track of the project. (See appendix for screenshots of the Trello board). We overcame the challenge of receiving minimal feedback from the client by contacting another business owner, Abby, who is the owner ofBibbidiboop.
- The rationale behind why we did what we did
- Sarah's comments
- Abby's comments
• 35+ years old, female
• High disposable income
• Enjoys going to the races
This customer profile is based on archetypal consumers and complimentary consumers (D'arienzo, 2016). Archetypal is the ideal customer, whereas complimentary are people who may also shop from the brand but do not fit the archetype.
• In her 20s, female
• Lower disposable income
• Enjoys getting a drink at local cafes
We did not have access to the client’s demographic analytics as the client does not have business social media accounts. Therefore, we took the initiative to ask the client’s knowledge of her customer demographics and she said it was broad. After hearing this, we decided to look at evidence from her Instagram and Facebook interactions to estimate who the current customer is. We provided an aspirational customer because the client aims to target Gen-Z.
This slide was made before the client updated her website, so the hyperlinks had been fixed. However, we reiterated why it was an effective change to make.
Copywriting on social media channels, using visual merchandising as way of attracting customers
Duplicated content on social media, passion could be communicatedmore
Reflecting on our work, we realise that it would have been clearer if we specified an age group rather than using the word "young". For example, Gen-Z instead. Also, we could have specified which social media channels had duplicated content. This would have been Instagram and Facebook.
Using TikTok to communicate with younger demographic, getting extra help through internships
The client felt that internships would be a great way to get extra help as she does not have enough time to fully utilise her social media channels.
Broken hyperlinks on website and Facebook is a threat to online sales
We used the SWOT framework to analyse the client’s communications. This is a useful tool for assessing internal, external, macro and micro factors in business (Lea-Greenwood, 2013; White and Bottorff, 2022).
Upon reflection, we realise that the threat should be an external factor that cannot be controlled by the business. So, we would change this to the cost-of-living crisis as consumers might not have as much disposable income for luxury anymore.
The Nielson Norman Group (2006) conducted a study on consumers' eye tracking on online platforms and found that people scan text in the shape of an F. The key information on the landing page should be in the horizontal areas of the F shape to retain users' attention. On the old York Designer Dress Agency website customers have to scroll down to find any information which could increase the bounce rate. Therefore, we suggested rearranging the page to optimise the website.
Abby suggested explaining why the Stella McCartney website is a good example. We used this as a model because Stella uses copywrite to engage consumers about sustainability
Instead of being purely product focused, Stella aims to create a longterm relation ship with the customers.
About us
• Creates a relationship with customers and increases customer loyalty
• Shares brand values, mission and vision
• Provides context of the history of the brand
• Can include groups your brand is a part of – Indie York
The client agreed that a sustainability page would be a good idea since she has a lot of background knowledge to share after doing a Masters degree in sustainability. It was evident that after the presentation she took on this feedback by including sustainability information in the Instagram captions.
Sustainability
• Informs customers on advantages of purchasing pre-loved clothing
• Shares brand values and your personal values
• Gen-Z value brand authenticity and are environmentally conscious (Roberts,2023)
Example DesignerClothing| LatestLuxury Fashion | Stella McCartneyUK
(Bendoni, 2017)
Improves user experience(UX) (Garrett,2011)
Instagram Facebook TikTok
Social media is a crucial tool for brands to use to build relationships with consumers (Park and Kim, 2014).
Building a strong relationship with consumers means they are more likely to become returning customers and loyal to the brand (Park and Kim, 2014). This is something The York Designer Dress Agency needs to be on top of and utilise to build a stronger relationship with their clientele.
Developing a more anthropomorphic brand on social media, for people to view the brand as more of a human like feature will create human like emotion, that will help being loyalty to the brand (Wertz, 2023).
"I want to set up TikTok and show what I have in store"
The TikTok page will be a mix of content; sustainability, to align with the client's values and the reasoning why she started the business, try on hauls with new products which will appeal to Gen-Z which is who the client wants to target and tips for styling. Gen-Z enjoy expressing themselves through clothing (Francis and Hoefel, 2018). The TikTok page will not just be product focused as the goal is to create a community.
The previous TikTok giveaway shown to the client had a generic QR code. We decided to be more creative and made custom QR codes that link to York Designer Dress Agency's TikTok page Giveaways satisfy utilitarian consumers, who use social media to gain rewards (Daugherty et al, 2008).
Scan me
Takes you to the TikTok
Sarah spoke about liking the idea of using a 12 days of Christmas format on Instagram , this initiative spoke about sharing sustainable tips and tricks on the lead up to Christmas. This will also help build follower engagement on the social media platform (Preloznik, 2023).
Improving the Instagram page was an important move for us, as this was identified as the main social media platform that the client uses. For a business on Instagram consistency is key as it allows the brand to portray a consistent brand message (Bendoni, 2017).
We spoke about avoiding the overuse of hashtags, clear product imagery, healthy mix of stories and image posts , and how useful a scheduling tool can be as the client spoke about not having enough time to properly dedicate to the Instagram page.
The client spoke about liking the Facebook initiative we put forward of creating a community surrounding the brands ethos of sustainability.
Facebook business pages should avoid being a reflection of your Instagram and other social media sites, where it's good to have a consistent brand message across all social media sites, there needs to be something that offers something new to the followers (Austin, 2023).
Sarah spoke about not fully understanding how the ad feature works and wasn’t sure if she could afford it due to the nature of being a small business.
Upon reflection this is where we could have gone into more detail on the costings of creating ads on Meta, and how the return on investment (ROI) would be greater than expected.
❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖
Cvijik et al, 2013)
• Low-cost but high outcome
• Builds rapport and engagement
• Performance is measurable (Schwarzl and Grabowska, 2018)
The client felt that this would be a better option than the flyer as it would be more cost-effective. It is also something that an intern could do so it would save the client time.
The client liked the idea of doing a flyer but gave the feedback that since her business is small, she would not be able to afford to make flyers at this time. This is why we put it in the timeline for late 2024 to give her time to plan financially.
• Spreads
awareness
• Reaches a wide audience
Some consumers have a higher need for touch and despite the rise in digital touchpoints, traditional communications are still important. (Peck and Childers, 2003).
• Deliver to local cafes
The previous flyer shown to the client had a generic QR code that linked to Canva. We decided to be more creative and made custom QR codes that link to York Designer Dress Agency's website, Instagram and Facebook.
• Haptics
Visual merchandising helps create a link between brand and customer and attracts people into the store through having eye catching window displays (Bailey and Baker, 2022)
Logos can help the formation of a brand personality, as the client sells luxury fashion for women, the brand falls into the sophistication category and the client current logo is not representing this (Wheeler, 2017)
"I personally liked the first logo with the hangers, it felt retro and ties in with selling second-hand clothes"
A logo can be seen as a direct reflection of the brand.
Lacy (2015), suggests that brands need to consider using a timeline for brands to start to see success.
We used a SMART timeline to help break down how the business can succeed (Leonard and Watts, 2022). Giving a clear and concise timeline of when the brand will implement these changes helps the client to strategise and build a marketing plan. These suggestions are only hypothetical, but they provide a clear outline of when the business should take on board our suggestions.
Website adjustments
Instagram and Facebook adjustments
Start creating TikTok content including a giveaway on TikTok
Visual merchandising (Autumn/Halloween)
Goal of 1000 TikTok followers
Potential for a logo refresh
Business accounts on TikTok gain more features the more followers they have, 1000 followers enables having a link in the bio (Joshi, 2023)
Plan and create flyer and newsletter for Christmas
Visual merchandising (Spring/Easter)
Visual merchandising (Summer)
Client Brief – 24.10.2023
We made a client brief to plan our project after hearing guest speaker Nicole Gould talk about how to work with a client. This was made based on what our client told us when we first met her and informationfrom the assignment brief.
to Trello board - https://trello.com/invite/b/FtFrJFe8/ATTIb656f19ad346e7b54dc79325d17008e41A7F6468/yorkdesigner-dress-agency
Link
screen shots taken on 12/12/2023
Link to Trello board - https://trello.com/invite/b/FtFrJFe8/ATTIb656f19ad346e7b54dc79325d17008e41A7F6468/yorkdesigner-dress-agency
The client after we presented, started posting information about sustainability and small businesses on Instagram (recommend by us)
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