Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The risk of fashion marketing careers


Making a career change is a huge decision for just about everyone that has been in a career for any length of time and has gotten themselves established. Starting over from scratch is a very scary thing because nothing is certain to work out to be better than what your currently doing. As a rule of thumb if your not being fulfilled in your current career it’s better to find something else to do that will make living worth it.

Society tells us that were to old to change career the things we want to do now is something we should have gotten into when you were younger. If that were true we would want to be in the career choice we made that we are in now. It would be nice to have gotten in what is now our fantasy career then but we didn’t and shouldn’t let anything stop you from starting now. Even if you have to start doing it part time in the beginning.

One of the many career choice changes most people will frown upon is fashion marketing careers. Advertising and marketing is one of the most feared professions out there today all because it is about sales. Sales and working on commissions seems to scares people half to death. They tend to think that this type of work it’s not steady income because commissions aren’t guaranteed. If you take a look at who or whatever company they work for the root of their pay check comes from something being sold and if enough sales aren’t being made there are layoffs. The funny thing about that is that the sales people are one of the last people to start to get layed off.

In advertising and marketing there is a pretty predictable way of determining how much money your going to make and it has everything to do with leaning your metrics. Once you know that you basically know how much your going to make of whatever your selling. In order to make more money all you have to do is tweak what is working so you get a better conversion.

The most riskiest  part of being in advertising and marketing is when your first starting out and you don’t know your metrics or  your targeted audience. Once you satisfy those two thing making money is like asking a child if they want a lollipop. Your able to basically print money do more of what is working and your marketing campaign will do better.

FASHION ADVERTISING

Fashion advertising is a bit different than other types of advertising because the focus is getting people to purchase items that they are going to wear on their body. This means that advertisers have to make the advertisements more enticing to the target audience than, for example, Coke would. Basically, the things that people wear are much more associated with a specific image than the items that they eat or the beverages that they consume. This is why it is important that fashion advertising relay the message intended to the audience intended.

There are generally two things that an advertiser wants to relate to their target audience. The first thing is about affluence. For example, all the wealthy people wear this type of clothing. An advertisement trying to relay this message might include a beautiful man or woman with clearly expensive jewelry at a high end restaurant or at a party in a well decorated loft. This concept can be achieved with print, digital or action media; typically all three media types are used, although you will often find that with high fashion advertisers focus most on print media (as if to imply that those with taste don’t spend a lot of time watching TV).

The other form of fashion advertising is less focused than high fashion. This type of advertising says if you wear certain types of clothing then you will be cool, sexy, popular, etc. This type of marketing is directed more to the masses than high fashion advertising is and you will see stores like Target, JC Penny, Dillard’s and so on focus on this type of advertising. The overall goal here is to appeal to the feelings of self-worth that a person has and turn that into money for the fashion industry.

In many cases, advertising is left to the brand or logo displayed on the fashion items. This, of course, only works for items that are well recognized. In the past this would have been designer clothing such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Prada and so on. Today, however, this includes brands such as Old Navy, Guess, GAP and more. In either case, a well placed celebrity wearing a brand name product can cause a rise in sales that no amount of media advertising can.

The bottom line is that fashion advertising works towards appealing to the emotions of the people who would wear specific types of clothing. Whether the elicited feeling is one of prominence or social acceptance, this appeal can certainly sell cloths.

EFFECTIVE FASHION ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS


Would you knowingly consider investing your money on the same exact thing that has traditionally lost or really hasn’t returned much of a profit for the majority of people in the past. If you reside in the middle of Utah, buying a yacht may impress the neighbors but just woundn’t wise usage of money. Just like if you’re terrified of heights, buying a single engine plane before overcoming that fear would not be a good purchase. Along the same lines, there is absolutely no reason for investing your budget into non effective advertising. The key to advertising especially fashion advertising is to  know when, where, and to whom you should be targeting your best advertising efforts. Luckily for you today there are many great ways to figure all this out since for the most part the research has already been done and proven as to where to place your ads so they are noticed by the right people.

The most effective fashion advertising has a tendency to starts locally. That is unless you just have a lot of money to spend on national advertising, you want to make sure all of the  local surrounding communities know your products exist. Most people overlook testing their ads in the local communities because they think all they need is for enough people to see their products. Working in your local market is usually the most effective marketing their is and most people just want to go main stream. Your local market gives you the ability to have an open house or grand opening when your starting out. This is advertising in its simplest and cheapest form but most people overlook it.

Just make sure you invite the local media and anyone else in the community with influence. Your business is important to the community and it’s the local media’s responsibility be be at every event they possibly can. Look the worst thing to happen is they don’t show up or they may not cover it, but then again they just may. But if your grand opening does get covered by local media, you have just gotten yourself some free advertising that you probably didn’t have the money to pay for otherwise. A grand opening really isn’t much of an expense but it is really good advertising and marketing.

Effective fashion advertising is made up of nothing but a few simple things. Knowing who you want to sell to what it is they like along with where and how you get their attention when they see your advertising campaigns. Let’s say you marketing to the younger generation. You want to show your product to include things that they are into along with creating a desire for what you have to offer. This is usually pretty easy unless you believe that the owner of this particular merchandise is targeting the wrong audience. Exactly the same can be said if you are selling to primarily women or if you are selling to the elderly generation. Use the same intelligence you used to create what the product to think about where you can place the most effective advertising locally.

Another great thing about starting in your fashion advertising in your local market is these people are you peers so they are more apt to like and want to see  you succeed. They are great market testers to find out what in your advertising is working before you start branching out in the mainstream. Really effective fashion advertising today also come in the form of a web site. You may have to hire a webmaster to get this done but it is well worth it just make sure they do a good job since a having a website is like having a store that is always open. Find other businesses and have them place a link to your site so you have the ability to have them advertise for you drawing more customers in.

Fashion Magzine



World-Newspapers > Fashion
Adversus
Lifestyle magazine featuring fashion, beauty, dreamcars, and travel.
Agenda Magazine
Seasonal online fashion magazine with streaming video of runway shows and interviews with designers.
Bibi
Bridal and fashion magazine geared towards the people of the South Asia.
Cashak
Fashion magazine covering fun, sexy styles and trends, plus nightlife.
Elle
Covers everything from style and beauty trends to personalities and lifestyle issues.
Factio Magazine
Features designer profiles and brief stories on shows, fashion culture and beauty.
Fashion Insider
Online magazine for fashion and celebrity news. Also includes an ecyclopedia on the world's greatest supermodels of all-times since the 1940s, fashion videos, photos, etc.
Fashion Magazine
Canadian magazine providing the latest news on fashion and beauty.
Fashion UK
Features daily fashion news, designer interviews, a catwalk archive, message boards, events and more.
Fashion Worlds
Examines fashion designers and their influences, with original articles and regular news updates.
Fashionclick
English-language version of the Spanish style magazine covering men's and women's collections and accessories.
Fashionlines
Online magazine for elegant style, runway coverage, fashion trend reports, designer collections, couture, celebrity news, etc.
FashionOffice
Features international trends in fashion, design, arts, and photo stories from New York, Paris, London, Milan.
Flare
Canadian fashion magazine offering monthly feature articles, fashion reports, beauty tips, more.
Flip-Zone
French online fashion magazine featuring hundreds of collections: couture, ready-to-wear, bridal, lingerie, swimwear, accessories and sportswear.
Focus On Style
Online magazine featuring designer trends, fashion shows, and reality based tips, from fashion expert Sharon Haver.
Glamour
Fashion and lifestyle guide for young, contemporary women. Covers fashion, health, beauty, finance, career opportunities, entertainment, love and sex.
Harper's Bazaar
Offers ideas in fashion and beauty, and discusses subjects of relevance to modern women.
Hint
Fashion magazine featuring news, model pages, photo shoots, designer interviews, beauty reports, party pictures and message boards.
Hip Chick Zine
Covers a variety of topics, including style, entertainment, beauty, health, travel and women's issues.
Iconique
Includes virtual catwalk shows, news, editorials, beauty, trends blog, iPod videos, podcast and more.
Influenza
Trade publication for the fashion, beauty and entertainment industries.
Japanese Streets
Magazine on Japanese street fashion and street culture.
JC Report
Provides an insider's view on fashion trends emerging around the world.
Kurv Magazine
Australian magazine providing look at global fashion, beauty, culture, art and style happenings.
Lucire
International source for the latest in fashion, beauty, and travel.
Lumana
Online fashion and beauty magazine focusing on celebrity style.
Marie Claire
Magazine for the fashion-conscious modern American woman interested in style, beauty, entertaining, relationships, careers, and health.
MC Magazine
Online UK magazine with fashion news, trends, beauty tips and more.
Men's Flair
Find articles on men's fashion, latest trends reviews, grooming tips, clothes shopping guide, and more.
Nirvana Woman
High-fashion, beauty, and upscale lifestyle magazine for the contemporary South Asian woman.
Sassybella
Australian fashion and beauty magazine.
Trendzine
Online service reporting on womenswear fashion trends happening now at street and retail in London, Paris and St. Tropez.
Vogue
Magazine for sophisticated female fashion mavens. Covers the latest in beauty, style, health, fitness and celebrities. 

Fashion

See also MenTeen and Women Magazines