Development File

Eve Fisher BA (Hons) Fashion Management with Marketing Student Number: Q7981 8099

Development File: Contents

Brand Development Marketing Programme Visual Marketing Communications Signage Business Cards Consumer Communications (Packaging, Swing Tags, Promotional Goods Marketing Mix and Product Analysis Conclusion Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Rockbridge Associates: Brand Development Model Kapferers Brand Equity Prism Kellers Brand Equity Pyramid Visual Brand Development Potential Name Ideas Typography Imagery Logo and Adaptations Business Plan Description Mission Statement Tagline Corporate Aims and Objectives Short and Long Term Goals Unique Selling Points Services Pricing Strategy SWOT Analysis Marketing Plan Aims and Objectives SMART Objectives Ansoff Matrix Porters Generic Strategies Marketing Strategy and Action Plan Marketing Calendar The Design Process Ombre Designs Splatter/ Marbled Designs Slogan Designs Pastel Designs Buddha Designs Floral Designs Fantasy Pony Designs Kaleidoscope Designs Photographic Designs Miscellaneous Designs Buying and Merchandising Supplier Criteria Lead Times The First Order Cost Price, Retail Price and Mark Up Profit Photography and Styling Digital Branding Mock-Ups Draft Website Pages Social Media

Brand Development
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological Needs: The brand will provide the basic need to be warm and comfortable. Safety Needs: The brand will provide shelter, and will be mildly protective.

The brand is to be aimed at an audience of 15-24, unisex, and aims to promote a lifestyle of fun, effortless style, and the aspirational aspects of being a young, free, carefree person with a strong social scene. Using relevant branding models will help develop the ideas and concepts of the brand, which will participate to the visual branding of the business venture.

Maslow (1943) created the Hierarchy of Needs, one of the most used and relevant theories of today despite how old it is. The model categorises what humans need to live and feel happy, and of course, consumerism originates from the psychological idea of fulfilling a need, whether it be a necessity or simply to deliver happiness to the consumer. The concept of fashion has been manufactured and marketed to individuals to make it seem like a need to fulfil a lifestyle or look a particular way which very much relates to self esteem, status, and perceptions. The youth of today are very influenced by the peer groups they participate in, and fashion is a method of which to be admired, accredited, or accepted amongst their peers. Fashion for youths is how they wish to be perceived. Creating a perceived need for the brand is important within the marketing in order to sell it; consumers will not purchase if they believe the item is worthless to them. Maslows theory can help define what needs will be met through the brand.

Belongingness and Love Needs: This refers to the idea of being accepted and feeling loved within a peer group. The brand will use this need by promoting an aspirational and desirable lifestyle stereotypical of young people, which revolves around the idea of being popular, social, admired, loved and appreciated. This can be done through the tone of voice, photography, styling, as well as using events marketing. Esteem Needs: Self esteem is hugely important to young people; they care about how theyre perceived, whether they feel attractive to their peer group, and whether theyre recognised as a desired person socially. Within fashion, it is vital that consumers feel they look good or are perceived as cool within their dress sense, which is what the brand aims to fulfil. Clothing will be made with a nice fit, and will be flattering on both male and female figures, with interesting and trend led designs. Aesthetic and Cognitive Needs: This need refers to the concept of needing good morals, intellect, and an appreciation of beauty. The brand typically promotes a stable and moralistic upbringing and does not condone anything horrific. Typically, the consumer will be educated or ambitious; this will also be hinted at through the marketing. The brand will also promote attractive people through the photography and lookbooks to appeal to the idea of being attractive and desirable to consumers. Self Actualisation: This concept is the feeling that the individual has a developed and likable self perception and identity. The brand will maintain this idea through reinforcing the ideal identity which the consumer connects and engages with, and wishes to achieve through their fashion sense.

Rockbridge Associates: Brand Development Model

Rockbridge Associates developed a model to categorise brands in different stages of development, and is useful due to the fact it recognises what measures need to be undertaken to develop the brand further and what strategies can be used to aid this. Currently, the brand is only just getting developed, however, once launched into the market, it will be aiming to become recognisable amongst the UK youth market, with the intension to Create Awareness Through Repeated Exposure to Name. This will be achieved through word of mouth marketing, buzz marketing strategies, social media, and pop up shop events marketing. From there, the business will aim to become Memorable by reinforcing brand messages and communicating to existing consumers on a more personal basis using direct marketing and sales promotion techniques. Becoming the Favoured brand will be the next stage of development, in which the brand will use competitive strategies and will deeply analyse the internal and external market to overtake competitors strategically. Becoming distinctive will become easier to achieve with growth, as the business generates more finance to afford more intricate and interesting designs, as well as more expensive marketing methods such as advertising. From this point, the business will build relationships with consumers and boost brand loyalty, as well as offering fresh and regularly updates designs, in addition to expanding product categories. The recession has made achieving a successful career a long, difficult and competitive struggle. Making a career for yourself has become a trendy aspect of todays graduates to release their creative skills. The brand mythology is basically a small independent brand, with all designs unique and original, to promote an aspirational and desirable lifestyle.

Brand Mythology

The brand will connect with their audience by using codes of popularity, attractiveness and fun, which is familiar of young people within their educational institutions. The brand will connect with the consumer by promoting an idealistic youth lifestyle.

Cultural Codes

The brand will evoke the metaphors of living life to its full potential and feeling young, hopeful and ambitious. The brand will provoke imagery of being with friends camping, or chilling on the beach, attending festivals and house parties, or in a pub beer garden on a summers day. It can be denoted as a fun, adventurous and daring lifestyle.

Connotations

Brand Development
Kapferers Brand Equity Prism
Kapferrers model aims to distinguish every aspect of a brands identity, and interestingly looks at external and internal factors, and how external factors are received internally by both the company and the consumer. Personality: The brands personality aims to be fun, quirky, original, daring and adventurous. The brand is mischievous with a sense of humour, and is not meant to be taken seriously. Culture: The culture promoted in the brand will be completely influenced by trends and interests of the youth market. Currently, clubbing and gig/ festival culture is highly popular amongst this age group, as well as higher education, drinking, and owning technological accessories such as smart phones and tablet computers. Therefore, the brand will adapt to the values and culture of young people, caused through external changes, and will stay very modern and in trend with this population. The marketing strategy will also be altered to accommodate these changes. Relationship: The brand will be heavily based around relationship marketing and will communicate to consumers frequently and in an engaging and interactive manner. The relationship will consist of favourable brand perceptions, and will explore the connection that the brand understands the consumer. Custom will be fully thanked for and appreciated, which could be awarded through personally aimed sales promotions. Reflection: This refers to who the brand typically aspires to attract as consumers. The brand ideally would want to attract intellectual, attractive, sociable, optimistic and adventurous consumers who are ambitious and live to enjoy every moment. However, the brand could attract consumers who aspire to be these traits, hence why they buy into the brand; they want to achieve the perceptions the brand represents. Self Image: This idea revokes around the perceptions and identities in which consumers connect with. The image of the brand will be on two different spectrums; simplistic and bold. These contrasting concepts will attract two different consumers, who share the same values and desires. Bold will be designed for innovators, and will consist of energetic and attention seeking designs, whilst on the other hand the brand will offer simpler designs to more subtle consumers. There will be a variety of self imagery; however, it will all be representative of the idealistic youth culture the brand promotes. Physique: Physique refers to the physical functions of the brand, and with the business venture, this will consist of energetic and adventurous clothing, which offers comfort, quality, and the desired fit of the youth population. The tangible product will be soft to touch and will hold its shape and colour throughout its lifespan, as well as interesting visually, through colourful trend led prints and graphics.

Kellers Brand Equity Pyramid

Kellers Brand Equity Pyramid is a model used to justify and recognise what the brand promotes and how this is perceived amongst the market. Salience: The brand promotes values of fun, friendship, youth and adventure. The consumer will relate to these ideas, from perceiving themselves or aspiring to have a life which is lived to their maximum potential, full of fun and adventure. This is how the brand initially connects to the consumer, through shared values, ambitions, desires and emotions. Performance: The brand intends to perform well within the youth market, in terms of meeting their needs and creating desire and favourable perceptions. The imagery of the brand within the consumer emotionally will be based on what being young is all about; fun, love, and a sense of charming immaturity. Judgements: The brand ideally would like to be judged favourably in the market, and perceived as a worthy and credible brand, with consumers embracing and wearing the designs with a sense of pride. Feelings: The consumer will feel an emotional attachment to the brand; it fulfils their basic self esteem needs, and boosts how they perceive themselves in a positive way, both individually and amongst peers. Feelings of exclusivity,excitement, fulfilment, happiness, and comfort will be recognised within the consumer, ideally. Equity: The brand will hopefully fulfil the consumers needs and will be perceived in a desirable and affectionate manner. The brand is heavily based on relationship marketing, therefore brand loyalty will be high and custom will be valued and appreciated obviously. Ideally, the brand will connect to the consumer both on an emotional and functional level.

Brand Development
Potential Name Ideas and Typography
-Nieve/ Naeve -Believe

RISE/ rise (QumpellkaNo12) RISE/ rise (Express) RISE/rise (English)

-Rise
-Evoke -Riot -Life -Flux -Daze -Haze -Peek -Fire -Vex -Tide

Initially, the name of the brand was going to be Nieve, to incorporate the ideas and concepts of being young and naive as well as spelling it with my name to give the brand a sense of heritage and exclusivity. However, after developing this idea, Nieve sounded slightly feminine and too young for the age group I was targeting the brand for. I recognised that short, simplistic words had a high impact amongst target consumers, through both competitor names and personal preference. Therefore, after researching what names existed already, Rise seemed like the most versatile. I initially developed branding for Nieve but then altered this logo to create the Rise logo. The connotations of Rise suggest power, ambition, and rising to your maximum potential, and seems optimistic and determined, which correlates to the brands identity and values.

Imagery

I experimented with the idea of imagery, and tried to think of visually attractive objects and symbols which could be denoted as youth and happiness, in order to psychologically trigger positive feelings towards the brand.

rise

RISE/ rise RISE/ rise RISE/ rise (Lobster) (KG Always a (Androgyne) Good Time) RISE/ rise RISE/ rise (Mongolian RISE/ rise (FontleroyBrown) Baiti) (Amperzand) RISE/rise RISE/ rise orever) (Alte Haas Grotesk) (Young F

RISE/ rise (Forelle)

These are the typographies I chose to experiment with, in order to make an interesting yet recognisable logo. I chose Forelle, a font which looked legible yet dynamic. I then edited this font by giving it a right handed tilt of 15 degrees, and stretched it to 115%. I decreased the size of the i to look even to the rest of the text. I believe this logo text is recognisable, simplistic, and ties in with the brands identity. I will be using this and developing it into a logo. I preffered how the logo looked with lower case letters, as upper case looked too swirly and this made the font less distinctive and readable.

I liked the idea of dandellions; for me, and I believe this is a shared idealogy, they are reminiscent of summer and childhood, and strikes strong mental imagery of picking them, blowing them, on a beautiful summers day. With this in mind, I drew a couple of designs to experiment. I then incorporated this imagery with the typography to test the result. Even though I liked this logo, I felt it was too feminine and would fail to attract a male audience, therefore decreasing the brands potential market share. I also believed the logo was far more dominant and effective just with the typography. I decided to keep the circular shape, without the imagery. I was happy with this logo. It was simple, distinctive, dynamic, and it met the criteria of the brand equity.

Logo and Adaptations

The logo for the brand will be versatile and can be altered quite frequently, however, the typography and iconic circular logo will always remain dominant. Analysing the adaptations of the logo will contribute to the branding materials and final outcomes.

The Rise logo will consist of a variety of different colours and graphics, especially as design will be heavily branded to incorporate these designs. The dominant Rise logo will consist of the black circle with white typography, or the plain black and white Rise typography. Coloured Rise typography logos will be used for design and mock-ups, and are likely to alter due to seasons and trends. Currently, pastel colours are very popular as well as darker tones. These will all be utilised during the design process. The circle Rise logos will be incorporated into designs and screen printed onto t-shirts, but may be used in mock-ups and branding materials. They have been identified as upcoming trends for Spring/ Summer 2013 and have appeared on WGSN Youth Reports. This can be developed further by exploring different shapes in which the patterns could be placed in, which would look visually appealing on a t-shirt. The graphic Rise typography logos will be utilised into design also, but again are versatile to branding materials or promotions. The designs consist of a pastel pattern, which is currently on trend, florals which are set to be in trend for Spring/ Summer 2013, a sunset logo, a scribble graphic to incorporate the grunge looks and themes in trend, and finally a kaledioscope pattern as recognised by WGSN trend research. Photography, graphics, prints and patterns can all be used to make the logo versatile and interesting, therefore the typography will always stay the same. Particular patterns may need thicker borders to make them stand out. The brand will be partially trend led so it is important to regularly update these and make them suitable for the target consumer.

Business Plan
Description of the Business Short and Long Term Goals
Rise Apparel will be an aspirational, partially trend led lifestyle online brand aimed at a unisex market of 15-24 year olds. The brand initially will begin with t-shirt designs, with a growth strategy to expand into more categories and varied designs. Social media will be the dominant method of marketing the clothing initially, however, with growth the business venture can invest more into marketing techniques.

Tagline

Be Young. Be Free. Love Life. Rise Above the Rest

Unique Selling Points
Affordable: Many small, launching independent brands can charge roughly 30 a t-shirt, making them expensive and unjustifiable to a less affluent youth market. Rise Apparel will be affordable, roughly 20 a t-shirt, to accommodate this market. The brand will be developed to ensure it is aspirational and appealing to the target market, without being too expensive. Quality and Fit: Quality and fit is important within a t-shirt; Rise Apparel will not source cheap t-shirts that will disappoint consumers. The t-shirts sourced will be a good size, fit, and will hold their shape and colour to make them long-lasting garments. The consumer needs to feel comfortable, and equally, that they look good in the clothing. Creative Design: Rise Apparel will aim to design creative, vibrant and energetic designs which are completely unique and original. Rise aims to be more exciting than competitors, which will become easier as the company grows and has the facilities. Ethical: Rise Apparel aims to be operating entirely in the UK, ensuring all areas of the supply trade are ethical, both environmentally and in terms of human rights. American Apparel, which run a vertically integrated business, and conform to sweat shop free ethics, are a particular favourite choice of wholesaler for the business venture. Hipster Urban Grunge Aesthetic: This style of clothing currently is very limited amongst the youth market, however, it is a common style to mix and match hipster looks with grunge trends and graphics. The business venture will try to meet the market demands by delivering this intriguing and aesthetically pleasing style throughout the designs, and adapting this look as the target market alters.

Mission Statement
Rise Apparel aims to deliver high quality, comfortable, and affordable clothing that is energetic, original and creative to an ambitious and exciting youth market, to support their everyday shenanigans whilst looking good.

Corporate Aims and Objectives

Rise Apparel aims to eventually have a high market share with loyal consumers, with a range of interesting products and categories. Ideally, the brand will achieve a large social media following, with consumers constantly looking and interacting with imagery, news and updates. The brand aims to; Be desired by the target market Have a high online youth market share Create a high brand awareness amongst the target consumers To excel competitors To supply an innovative and likeable product range, covering different categories In order to do this, an effective marketing strategy will need to be executed, as well as ensuring product design is visually and aesthetically pleasing to the target market. Social media will play a key part in executing the strategy to build awareness, achieve growth and to create favourable perceptions.

Brand awareness is fairly high, but still has potential to grow. The brand should be In every business plan, it is critical to evaluate the attracting media attention, and able to invest in more expensive marketing techniques such as business goals and categorise these into short and long term goals. This gives a visualisation and advertising. Unique Selling Points should be far a motive to work towards, which in effect will be more developed, with this reflected in the product ranges. Positive supplier relations should rewarding to the development of the business. be maintained in order to cut costs. Technological aspects of the business will be Within a year; more advanced and fully optimised. Help from To achieve roughly 100 a week profit, after the launching period (3 months). This is the peer groups and family will help to sustain a high quality organisational flow. equivalent of selling twenty t-shirts with a 5 profit margin. It would be ideal to launch new Within ten years; product categories, such as vests, backpacks, The brand should be making 2000 a week sunglasses and hats. Creating and launching new in profit, equivalent to 400 t-shirt sales. By this designs throughout the seasonal changes would stage, there should be a small commercial team be great for boosting sales as well. Achieving a to assist in the typical operations of the business reasonable market share and building awareness to networks not directly related to the such as ordering, finishing, shipping and customer service. Ideally, the brand is able to brand are also crucial aims for the first year. The brand should be regularly be applying promotions invest in a studio and a heat transfer press to do the printing independently. Brand awareness and and building relationships with consumers. The brand should be likable and perceived favourably popularity will be significant and influential, with social media promotions applied as a dominant by potential consumers. marketing tool. The brand will operate through m-commerce and potentially other distribution Within three years; The brand should be making roughly 250 channels. Technological communications will be enhanced and highly efficient at meeting the per week in profit, which equates to fifty t-shirt target markets needs. Media attention will be on sales. By this stage, the brand should have high a large scale basis, and the company will be awareness amongst the youth online market; recognised by a large proportion of the youth have a credible and worthy reputation, with regular sales enquiries and higher orders. By this market. stage, the brand can invest in promotional materials and resources to penetrate the market. Product categories should have expanded to sweat shirts, sublimated dyed t-shirts, shirts, jackets, shorts, knitwear and leggings. Within five years; The brand should be making roughly 500 a week in profit, equivalent to 100 t-shirt sales. Product ranges should have grown amongst each category to offer plenty of choice.

Business Plan
Services
The brand wants to have an excellent service in order to meet the criteria of creating positive and favourable perceptions, as well as to generate positive word of mouth marketing. In general, the service will consist of an optimised website with plenty of features, such as a zoom, detailed product descriptions and measurements which allow consumers to know everything about their potential purchases. From this, the brand will offer a fairly low cost delivery. According to the Royal Mail, 2013, first class postage for a large letter of 150 grams (the average t-shirt weight) will cost 2.30. In this case, postage and packaging will cost roughly 2.99 to avoid disappointing consumers with a high shipping charge. In particular periods, the brand can promote free shipping to encourage consumers to make purchases without this hassle. Consumers are more inclined to purchase without high shipping charges. It is typical for an online consumer to feel excitement about receiving their goods through the post, delivered straight to their home. Therefore, Rise Apparel aims to make parcels exciting, creating the illusion of getting a present or treat through the door. This can be done with sophisticated packaging, free promotional goods or sweets, and a promotional postcard to thank the consumer for their custom. If the cost is not too much, a wrapped up customised box of the Rise logo can be sent, wrapped up with a bow, to create the positive feelings within the consumer associated with receiving a present or gift. The aim for Rise Apparel is to offer a service which is fast, efficient, effective, of which offers help and advice to consumers promptly. Solving any problems that occur at a good pace is essential to the service. Ensuring consumers can contact the company many different methods is also crucial, so introducing a live chat or a feedback box will help consumers communicate to the brand in their preferred method. Introducing a special delivery option and international shipping option will also improve the service offered to consumers.

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Design Ability: Designing the garments will be an important aspect of the business; therefore it is a strength if the brand to have the capability to use Photoshop effectively. The brands design has begun strongly, with effective use of branding and Photoshop visuals. Research Ability: Having analytical skills to research trends, competitors, and the external market is essential in order to understand the business and prepare for changes in demand or shifts in consumer behaviour. Having acquired these skills will help to alter marketing strategy and meeting ideas. British Suppliers: Sourcing from British suppliers cuts the cost and time of receiving orders, which will improve the productivity of the business as well as give the brand a sense of British heritage. Ethical: In order to create favourable perceptions and to act morally as a company, Rise Apparel will source ethical, sweat shop free products (such as American Apparel T-Shirts) to ensure the company acts ethically. Freewill: Owning the brand will enable complete freewill over the decisions of the company, with no unwanted influence from others. For example, expanding into printing or t-shirt customised design are potential ideas which can be explored with no hassle.

Weaknesses
Lack of Experience: Beginning a business can be difficult with a lack of experience into buying, quantities, and establishing what the market is willing to purchase. The lack of experience could affect the potential success of the company; however, it will also provide a valuable learning curve into design and consumer behaviour. Lack of Funding: Gaining the funding for a small business is difficult, and beginning the operations of a clothing brand with only a small investment means that it can be quite costly. This weakness can be overcome with no minimum order suppliers, and thorough research into cost effective marketing methods (such as social media and website hosting). However, it is less risky than investing a large amount of money into a poor idea, as no huge cost is lost in the process and the profit will enable growth. Low Brand Awareness: The brand has not officially been released; therefore, the awareness of it is minimal. Networking with contacts and peer groups will increase this figure, as well as word of mouth marketing. Facebook offers a promotional service which generates likes which in return, heightens awareness. Low Market Share: Initially, the brand will have little market share; however, this will hopefully shift with the products on offer and higher brand awareness.

Pricing Strategy
The brand wants to operate a pricing strategy which provides the consumer with high quality, ethically sourced products that are affordable to the young target consumer. External influences, such as increasing student fees, the recession, and rising transport and fuel fares mean that disposable income in general is low for young people. Therefore, offering a low price is the best strategy to attract this market. However, the brand does not want to source products that are low quality and have been made unethically, as consumers tend to shop the high street for low quality everyday essentials. Rise is about making a statement, with a shared consumer desire for original and unique clothing which suggests that the quality needs to remain high. The products will be designed and sourced on fabric which is long lasting and holds its colour and shape, therefore, Rise Apparel will operate a Penetration Pricing strategy. Penetration pricing is effective with a new brand, as it allows the entry price to beat competition, therefore attracting new consumers. It also discourages new entry competitors, results in positive word of mouth marketing, penetrates the target market quickly and efficiently, and can boost sales and provide a faster stock turnaround time, therefore, it is an effective initial entry strategy for the Rise Apparel business.

Opportunities
Social Media: Social media can be utilised to be a highly effective marketing resource for any business aimed at a young market, with the benefit of being free. Creating online stores, uploading images, updates and interacting directly to consumers are the opportunities provided by social media. Networking: Building a wide range of networks will help spread the word of the brand to potential consumers. This is achievable through effective utilisation of communication skills and marketing materials. Events Marketing (Pop Up Shops): As the brand is operating as a pureplay retailer, it limits the opportunity to sell the tangible product to consumers who prefer traditional bricks and mortar distribution. By using pop up shops and by setting up stalls at events, the brand can gain attention and offer consumers the chance to buy the tangible product there and then. This can start small, such as clothing fairs and local gigs and festivals, before moving onto more national and popular events. M- Commerce: Young people are the highest users of smart phones and tablet computers. Therefore, it is a valuable opportunity to optimise a mobile website, in which consumers have the ability to browse the brand and opportunity to purchase if they wish.

Threats
Competitors: Competitors, especially well established ones, can easily excel the brand due to their high awareness, market share, and innovative designs. Offering a competitive price and original designs should help increase market share. Low Disposable Income: Due to external circumstances, young people currently have very little disposable income due to the recession, rising student fees, expensive public transport fares, fuel and rising inflation. Therefore, it is easy for the target market to discourage themselves into buying a product they want. In order to overcome this, the brand will create positive feelings from consumers with emotive and youthful tone of voice and generous sales promotions. Originality: Independent t-shirt brands are growing at a high rate, due to the ease and low investment involved in starting a t-shirt business. Therefore, finding a niche or a unique selling point, as well as a design that has not been created before, can be difficult. Therefore, all designs will be originally designed and will be partially trend led to give the brand demand from the target consumer.

Marketing Plan
Marketing Aims and Objectives
As a start up company, the brand will be heavily based on very cheap and simplistic methods of marketing, which will determine how successful the business can be. Marketing a small brand to simply build awareness is a key factor, however, the brand will need more than awareness to grow popular amongst the target market. These aims are quite ambitious, yet very possible with the right strategy implemented. In order to develop and implement these aims, it is crucial to turn them into realistic marketing objectives which can be measured and are achieve able. SMART objectives are a fantastic method to really visualise what the brand wants to achieve.

Marketing Aims
The main aims for the marketing of the brand are as follows; To build awareness of the brand amongst the target market To create favourable and memorable perceptions of the brand amongst the target market To create a strategy which emphasises the importance of relationship marketing To build a loyal consumer following To enhance business growth in order to introduce new and more original products To gain a respectable youth market share To effectively use social media as a dominant marketing tool

Aim

To Build Awareness Amongst the Target Market

Rise Apparel is aiming the brand at a dominantly youthful market. Determined by the consumer analysis, it is important to identify what the most effective methods of communicating are to them. This age group tend to have the highest usage of laptops, tablet computers and smart phones, which suggests they respond to technology. Building awareness will initially revolve around word of mouth to peer groups, as well as social media, networking and search engine optimisation. Awareness can be measured by virality on social media pages, as this shows how many different people the brand would be reaching.

SMART Objective

Smart Objective: To increase brand awareness of Rise Apparel to 500 Facebook Likes and 200 Twitter Followers by attending events, communicating the brand to peer groups and using search engine optimisation, by the 1st January 2014. After the initial six months of the business starting, awareness should be increasing by 5% steadily each month, and by 10% with any significant business action (such as festival pop-ups, new seasonal lines, new product categories, any significant advertising), which will be measured in impact via social media. To Increase the In order to generate good business leads, it is crucial for the brand to attract a loyal following that will buy the brand and designs on a regular basis. These consumers will also generate sales from their peer groups, as well Potential of as build awareness within their own social networks. Building brand loyalty and retaining it is difficult to achieve, however, this can be achieved through sales promotions for the next order, direct marketing promotions, and engaging the consumer through competitions and social media. Brand Loyalty Smart Objective: To engage with consumers and build brand loyalty with regularly new product lines, social media, competitions, sales promotions and direct marketing, in order to attract new peer networks and to build awareness as well as generate repeat sales. By June 2014, Rise Apparel aims to have 10% of consumers making multiple orders. As an online business, it is essential to build an interactive and engaging website which is easy to use and holds the consumers interest and attention. It has got to be persuasive, in order to try and attract consumers to make purchases.

Smart Objective: To build an interactive, professional and interesting e-commerce website and launch it by July 2013, aiming to gain at least 50 to 100 page views per month for the first six months. After the initial six months, page views should increase by 5% each month. To Launch New Initially, when the business is lauched, it will only specialise in t-shirts with only a few designs. As the business grows, it will enable the brand to buy higher quantities, a wider range of designs, and expand into new Products and categories. This will make the company more reputable and as a result, will grow and increase the average basket spends. Categories Smart Objective: To launch five new, interesting and innovative designs in September 2013 to attract a larger market share and to build brand loyalty. To Grow at a Rise Apparel aims to launch in June/ July 2013. In order to grow, the business will need to invest all profit into the growth of the project, in order to boost sales and continue producing new products. Reasonable, Quick Pace Smart Objective: To have generated forty sales by September 2013. From September 2013, growth should be 10% per month and 15% during busy times (such as the run-up to Christmas). To Increase Realistically, whilst beginning the brand and in the growth stage of the business, it will be difficult to gain significant market share, however, for the online market this is easier to achieve. Increasing the market share will Market Share ideally gain more credibility for the brand and will generate hype, which can be done by using a competitive market strategy (such as better discounts, free shipping, competitive pricing) and by selling more unique and visually appealing products than competitors. As identified from primary and secondary research, potential market share for young people who shop online frequently equates to 196,754. Smart Objective: By the 1st January 2015, Rise Apparel wants to have achieved a market share of 0.25% (494 consumers). By 1st January 2020, Rise Apparel aims to have achieved a market share of 5% (9838 consumers). The target consumer should feel positively about the brand, and recognise it as a favourable and worthy company. Free gifts with orders, discounts, quick delivery, personal and kind service, events marketing, free shipping offers, interesting products and a likable style and aesthetic will all boost favourable brand perceptions amongst the target consumer. Smart Objective: To create favourable perceptions of the brand, through effective management of the brand and tactile marketing, measured from page views on both social media and the website and monitored through positive comments and feedback.

To Build an Effective Website

To Create Favourable Perceptions of the Brand

Marketing Plan
Marketing Strategy Ansoff Matrix
An Ansoff Matrix is helpful in determining what strategy the brand should undertake; from here, marketing actions can be undertaken in order to fulfil the strategy. The initial strategy the brand will implement will be Market Penetration. This is because the brand will enter the existing youth market with the first range, with the initial existing products. Penetrating the market can be achieved with marketing actions which revolve around building awareness, favourable perceptions and brand loyalty. The strategy to do this will include networking, events marketing, social media, sales promotions, direct marketing, advertising, and regular research into this markets ideal wants and needs. Secondary to this, the brand will begin to launch new products and categories, therefore following a Product Development strategy. This will keep the brand fresh and interesting and will encourage repeat sales from loyal consumers attracted through the market penetration strategy.

Porters Generic Three Strategies

Porters Generic Strategies examines competitive marketing strategy, therefore broadening the Ansoff Matrix as a model. The business venture will initially be following a Cost Focus strategy.

The Cost Focus strategy is aimed at a narrow market, with a competitive cost; the brand The marketing strategy is how exactly the brand aims to achieve and implement the marketing aims will use a penetration pricing strategy and will offer products at a typically lower price than and objectives. Rise Apparel, as a start up business project, will need to really communicate to their competitors; this will generate a small mark up profit, however, it will boost the quantity consumers directly, and will need to market the brand effectively mainly to gain initial awareness of sales which will lead to more people endorsing the brand. The market will be narrow, as from a range of youth networks. networking the brand initially will attract a small geographic segment (based in Sussex). However, as a long term strategy, the brand will operate a cost leadership strategy, by keeping prices low and aiming to target a broad youth market.

The brand will of course be different in terms of design, so it can also be implied that the brand is also offering a differentiation focus strategy, as the brand is bringing original designs to a narrow market. The brand wants to be perceived as exclusive and not a clone of high street brands and products, as consumer demand suggests that they desire new and interesting brands. Consumers no longer want to see their peers wearing the same products as them, and instead want clothing that no one else has or is not strongly recognised; therefore differentiation is still a main requirement for the marketing strategy and corporate objectives.

Long term, after attracting a broad youth market, the brand is likely to develop a Diversification strategy in order to bring different products to a broad market. This is only possible once the company has the resources and financial funding to produce more Eventually, the brand may expand into new youth markets, such as an urban market, or even a rural intricate and unique designs. market, with new products designed for these markets. The brand will need to constantly adapt the strategy to changing market needs and shifts in consumer behaviour, therefore futuristically; a Diversification strategy or a Market Development strategy will be undertaken long term.

Marketing Programme
Marketing Programmes can be used to as a resource to determine exactly how a company will implement their strategy, by specifying the actions involved and the intended marketing activity. Knowing how the market responds to particular marketing efforts is important for choosing the most effective marketing actions. ACORN consumer profiling identified that young people are the highest users of the internet, social media, tablet computers and smart phones, as well as suggesting that this demographic responded well to direct marketing via email and text messaging. Therefore, marketing actions will be based dominantly around these methods. Word of Mouth marketing is also known to be increasingly effective, especially against traditional forms of communication such as advertising. According to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, 39% of consumers are influenced a great deal by reviews of companies by friends and family. 66% of consumers asked mainly spoke about brands positively, and additionally 92% of consumers worldwide trust recommendations from friends and family more than any form of advertising, up from 74% in 2007 (WOMMA, 2013). With statistics this strong, the brand will aim to use buzz marketing to create a talking point.

Objective

Build Awareness Market Amongst the Penetration Target Consumer

Strategy Marketing Programme (Marketing Actions)

Advertising: Advertising can be done through a range of mediums, however, it is generally very expensive. The most cost effective method of advertising would be through Facebook, as the youth market is very receptive to social media. It allows the brand to choose their target market by age, interests, gender and geographic location, and starts from 10 per day, and as a result draws in more page likes and therefore builds awareness. Another method of advertising could be through flyers, posters and local magazine adverts that attract a youth market. Networking: Networking is a cost efficient method of marketing, and can be executed through peer groups, local trading events, suppliers, other t-shirt brands and possibly people working within the industry at a high level. This will generate awareness and build positive relationships, therefore increasing the chance of positive word of mouth marketing. Events Marketing: Events where a significant number of people attend is a tactical marketing method in which brand awareness can be raised. It will allow consumers to browse the tangible product, as well as build awareness to passersby. Giving away sales promotions and freebies will also attract positive word of mouth marketing and will create favourable brand perceptions as a result. In addition, competitions at events can help engage the consumer. Rise Apparel has already secured two events; Southampton and Music Clothing Fair (11th May 2013, Soul Cellar) and Cobbfest (17th-18th August 2013, Chilley Farm, East Sussex), which will work in favour of boosting awareness. Flyers can be used to promote specific events. Personal Endorsement: Asking friends, family and peers to wear the clothing can be a successful method in which to build brand awareness. Endorsing the brand myself would allow other people to see the brand and be exposed to the name, and if others do this, it is likely to draw in website page views and social media followers and likes. Social Media: Social media is vital for increasing brand awareness. As discussed above, Facebook advertising is an option, however, it can also be a great resource for creating brand awareness for free. Like and Share competitions spread the word of the business fast, generate more likes and expands into different peer groups. Creating favourable brand perceptions is a key objective for any start up business. Rise Apparel needs to justify the brand to potential consumers in order for them to like it. On average, a person mentions a brand 60 times a week both online and offline (WOMMA, 2013), therefore creating a positive point of communication is necessary. Viral marketing: Viral marketing can be conducted through updates on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. In order to meet the objective of creating positive perceptions, the brand can use a humorous element and post funny statuses to engage the consumer. Excellent customer service: Ensuring the consumer gets fantastic service will make them more likely to recommend the company to other people, which additionally attract positive word of mouth marketing. This can be done through fast email responses to questions and queries, sorting out arising problems as quickly and efficiently as possible, and through freebies and nice packaging (present style treat). Freebies at Events: Giving out free promotional materials, such as stickers, discount flyers and other cost effective treats such as sweets and glowsticks will help create favourable perceptions, and is also likely to create a talking point for word of mouth marketing. This will be implemented at pop-up shops and events. Boosting sales will lead to growth, the most significant objective and motive for creating the brand. With any start up brand, with lack of awareness and market share, it is crucial to appeal to the market and appear better than competitors, which the brand will undertake through a competitive cost focus strategy. Cost Focus: T-Shirts will aim to be under 20 and will aim not to exceed 25. T-shirts will make a small mark up profit; however, hopefully this means that the designs will sell in higher quantities. Sales Promotions: Sales promotions, such as discounts and free shipping, will inspire and hopefully encourage consumers to impulsively purchase, which in effect will boost sales. Many young people feel inclined to wait for a sales promotion in order to save money, and use it as an opportunity to buy. These sales promotions can be tactically placed at the end of the month (payday) and at the beginning of student loan days, in order to draw in consumers that have disposable income to spend. Personal Selling through Events Marketing: Holding a stall at an event, or even a pop up shop, will be aiming at a wide demographic and will hopefully allow the brand to build a direct, personal relationship with the consumer. It will hopefully attract consumers who like the brand, but have not yet been made aware of its existence, therefore purchase an item there and then.

To Create Market Favourable Brand Penetration Perceptions

To Boost Sales

Cost Focus

Marketing Programme
Objective
To Design New Products

Strategy Marketing Programme (Marketing Actions)

Product Development

Ensuring the brand is regularly updating the product range and expanding ideas, as well as thinking creatively, is part of the development strategy after the initial and desired success. Therefore the brand will follow a product development strategy. New Categories: Delving into new product categories will expand the product range and therefore offer consumers more choice, which will essentially boost brand loyalty. Initial first categories can be sweat shirts, bags, backpacks, sunglasses and hats. After time, this can develop to include leggings, jackets, shorts, underwear, socks and jewellery. New T-Shirt Designs: This can be done fairly easily from the profit made from the first collection of t-shirts. They can be inspired by creativity and imagination as well as forecast WGSN youth trends. This will boost repeat sales, therefore boosting brand loyalty. Sublimation: Dye sublimation is a t-shirt printing process that covers a whole t-shirt with a print, which is proving popular amongst the UK online t-shirt youth market. Unfortunately, this method involves high order quantities and is expensive to do; however, in the future it could be worth investing in a heat transfer press to achieve the sublimated look. This will hopefully get more consumers engaged with the brand, therefore boosting sales and brand loyalty. Tie Dye: Creating tie-dye designs is a popular and cost effective method of creating vibrant, colourful and bold t-shirts. WGSN has favoured this trend amongst the youth market, especially with festival culture. Creating workshops at a festival for tie-dye your own tee where consumers could make their own tie-dyes with their favourite colours could be an interesting marketing tactic to engage the consumer, create brand loyalty, and give them a completely original and exclusive t-shirt, with the souvenir element of their festival experience included. As an online business, the brand will need to make a website that aims to provide a bricks and mortar experience, in order to generate as many sales as possible. It will need to be optimised, engaging, interesting, and visually appealing with a simplistic layout. Online Store: Creating an online store is necessary for the business to generate revenue. Primary research claimed that consumers liked websites which were easy to use, easy to pay, with additional features such as zoom, measurements, and images of people wearing the clothing to see how it looks. This can be done simply through a website hosting website and will deliver the experience consumers desire from an online store. Links to Social Media: As social media is a dominant feature for viral marketing, the importance of allowing the consumer easy access is crucial. The brand aims to expand into Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pininterest. It would also be useful to include a Twitter widget to display tweets and images directly from the website. Cheap Postage and Packaging: Consumers can be put off buying a singular item with the average postage and packaging fee being 3.95 and it is likely that initially the consumer will only purchase one item at a time. Therefore, the brand will offer the postage and packaging at the actual cost, therefore making the consumer feel more inclined to purchase. Interactive Media: In order to increase page views and the average time spent viewing the website, the brand will need to make the website interactive and engaging. Including a music playlist of indie rock music will justify the brand to the target consumer, as well as potentially introduce them to new likable music. Another method could be a mini game placed on the website homepage; young men typically are interested in gaming, and take part via games consoles, the internet, smart phones and tablet computers. Daniel Hayes, a personal friend, works with games programming and has agreed to create a mini game for the business; this will promote his game, as well as promote the brand. Buying the game as an app could give the consumer a discount on a t-shirt, and vice versa. Social Media: The youth market is very inclined to use the internet on a daily basis. Therefore, the brand will need to build a strong online presence through social media in order to build awareness and engage the consumer. Social media can be updated regularly, and offer sales promotions, competitions, and a chance for any consumer input and communications. Search Engine Optimisation: SEO is a contemporary method of promoting a website. In order to make Rise Apparel easy to find, as well as attracting new consumers, the brand will need to look into methods to optimise the site on search engines. Google Adwords is useful software to have to do this, in order to monitor consumer behaviours and searching patterns. It is important for any business to gain consumers; however, it is just as important to retain them. The brand needs to create a connection with consumers, so that they are able to identify and relate to the connotations and values promoted. Personal Selling: At events, personal selling can be conducted through direct face to face communication with the consumer, by creating a bond and friendship with them. Online, this is more difficult to achieve, but can be done so through personal emails and social media messages. It is essential tone of voice is kept casual, friendly, yet informative. A sense of professionalism is also essential. Personal selling creates a direct relationship with the consumer, a connection which creates favourable perceptions of the brand, which then creates long term brand loyalty. Exclusive Sales Promotions: Existing consumers have already proved their support and likability of the brand; therefore, rewarding them and showing appreciation and gratitude for their custom will help build loyalty and will encourage repeat sales. This could be heavy discounts, free shipping, or an exclusive gift with each order within a particular time frame, exclusive to existing consumers to make them feel special. Excellent Customer Service: Excellent customer service will always create favourable perceptions of a company, and as a result, the consumer will feel more inclined to purchase again from the same company. If the consumer feels they have been neglected or negatively treated, they will definitely feel inclined to tell people and not repeat buy. Packaging: Packaging can be boring, unimaginative and dull. By making an order seem like a present, wrapped up with time and care put into it, the consumer will feel like the brand has treated them and has gone to the extra effort to make them feel special. Doing this will generate brand loyalty, as well as act as a talking point in which positive word of mouth marketing is generated. Freebies: Giving away freebies, which are fairly inexpensive to do, again shows that the brand is willing to go to the extra effort to make the consumer feel special, therefore creating a connection to the consumer. Freebies could include glow sticks, sweets, key rings, postcards, product samples, and vouchers. Direct Marketing: Young people are responsive for direct marketing methods such as email and text, as suggested by ACORN, 2013. By communicating sales promotions, events, and any general worthwhile news to consumers will enhance brand loyalty.

To Build an Effective Website and Create a Strong Online Presence

Market Penetration

To Create Brand Loyalty

Differentiation Focus

Marketing Calendar 2014

Month
January

Dates

Marketing Actions

Marketing Intensions
To engage the consumer via social media and boost brand loyalty. To generate buzz and engage the consumer. To boost sales. To build brand awareness To boost sales.

New Year Giveaway Photo Competition: Consumers upload their funniest New Year pictures for 1st (New Year) 6th-9th (Student Loan) the chance to win a Rise T-Shirt.

February March April

1st (Pay Day) 14th (Valentines Day) 1st (Pay Day) 17th (St Patricks Day)

Best New Years Resolution to win a bag/ keyring. 10% off (Student Loans will be coming in, therefore this market will be more eager to spend) Facebook advertising for seven days Love yourself one day promotion, 15% off.

Pay Day Flash Sale Limited edition four leaf clover design giveaway for best St Patricks Day photos/ stories or Like and Share Competition Easter Egg Hunt, Like and Share, Comment with Answer (Hide clues and mysteries in the Rise 14th- 19th 23rd (St Georges Day) Facebook Timeline). Easter Egg giveaway & free promotional goods. St Georges Day- 10% off 28th (Student Loan Free Shipping (Summer Term Student Loan) Day)

To boost sales. To engage the consumer via social media and boost brand loyalty or to build awareness, as well as generate buzz. To engage the consumer via social media and boost brand loyalty and create favourable brand perceptions. To boost sales. To boost sales. To build brand loyalty. To build brand loyalty. To engage the consumer via social media and boost brand loyalty. To build awareness and boost sales. To boost sales. To build awareness and boost sales. To boost sales and boost brand loyalty. To build awareness. To build awareness. To build awareness and boost sales. To boost sales and create favourable brand perceptions. To engage the consumer and create buzz. To boost sales. To boost sales and build brand loyalty. To boost sales, create favourable brand perceptions and boost brand loyalty. To build awareness. To create favourable brand perceptions and boost brand loyalty. To boost sales and create favourable brand perceptions. To boost brand loyalty. To build awareness.

May June

5th (May Day Bank Holiday) 29th 1st- 4th (Pay Day) W/C 12th (World Cup) 1st (Pay Day) 15th (Events) 25th-30th 1st (Pay Day) 15th (Rough date of Cobbfest) 25th (Bank Holiday) 1st (Pay Day) 15th 27th (Student Loan) 1st- 5th 10th-15th 31st (Halloween) 5th (Bonfire Night) 15th -17th 25th-30th 1st-7th 14th 28th

10% Off Launch Summer product range (sunglasses, backpacks, flip flops)

July

August

Any orders receive 15% off their next order World Cup: Predict Englands First Game Score to be entered into a prize draw, like and share competition Glastonwick Festival (Beer and Music Festival in Coombes, West Sussex) (Dates TBC) Pay Day Promotion 15% off Hastings Beer and Musical Festival (Dates TBC) Eastbourne Extreme Sports Festival (Dates TBC) Mid month; Free Shipping Facebook Advertising Like and share competition Cobbfest (Music Festival, Chilli Farm) August Summer Bank Holiday, 15% off or buy a t-shirt and receive a free canvas bag/ free pair of sunglasses with every order Best Freshers stories win socks/ sunglasses Seasonal Sale/ Clearance Free shipping and 10% off (Student Loan) Introduce Winter product lines (hats, scarves, sweatshirts, socks, bags, leggings) Facebook advertising Halloween Free Shipping Free gift with every order Any orders receive 15% off their next order Like and Share competition Free Christmas Postage Christmas Giveaway (Find the Present Facebook Timeline, Like and Share) Best Christmas Party stories to win a bag/ accessory

September October November December

To boost sales. To generate buzz and create favourable brand perceptions, and to also build brand awareness. To generate buzz and engage consumers.

The Design Process

Ombre Designs

As discussed in the business and marketing plan, design will be a high focus priority within the business venture and will be a unique selling point amongst the youth market. From using the trend analysis conducted in the research section, trend concepts can be applied to the design of the t-shirts, and adapted in an exclusive and personal method.

Ombre has been a trend of 2012/2013, from hair colour to t-shirts. Whilst collating ideas for designs, it is important to consider what is within suppliers/ printing companys capabilities, how expensive it will be to do, time taken to complete the order and the price of the overall job. Ombre was an idea which is very likable within the youth market at the moment, and is a cost effective method of making t-shirts which are visually appealing to a broad market. It can be done by the business; by buying some plain logo printed white t-shirts from suppliers, and some Dylon hand fabric dye and simply dipping the colours into the dye carefully. In order to incorporate trends, colours such as blues, purples and pinks are very trendy. Pastel colours are also popular amongst both men and women styles and trends, or the brand can also offer grunge styled alternatives in order to attract a wide market share.

Splatter/ Marbled Designs

Initially, the brand identified the youth market on WGSN as the Europe Indie Youth market, specifying with the Hipster Grunge look for menswear and the Pretty Pop Grunge look for womenswear. Splatter and marble wash t-shirts can be denoted as a grunge based trend, therefore this look and style will suit the identified WGSN youth markets. This method could either be printed directly onto a t-shirt, or achieved through careful hand dying techniques.

The splatters for example, can be done u sing a paint brush and flicking dye all over a t-shirt, whilst the marbles can also be achieved through dying and washing techniques. Of course, printing onto fabric will have a nicer and sharper finish than hand dying; however, hand dying would save on cost and therefore increase the rate of growth within the company from higher profit margins initially, which can then be reinvested into more interesting and unique designs.

Slogan designs have proved popular on the high street for youth markets in Autumn/ Winter 2012 with this trend set for continuing into Spring/ Summer 2013. This trend is basic, with slogans such as Nerd and Geek becoming the most desired. However, as an independent brand, Rise aims to bring something new and different and alter the common high street trends into an original and more versatile look. Therefore, the design has incorporated and captured the brands name and connotations by using the slogans Rise and Shine, which promotes a sense of positivity as well as incorporates the connotations of a glorious summers morning, and Rise Above which promotes a sense of striving to be the best, being motivated and determined, as well as a sense of ambition and power which the youth market strives for in terms of self-worth. Rise and Shine is captured with calligraphy style typography, which is visually nice when placed onto a t-shirt. Rise Above has captured the high street trend, which has been adapted from Katherine Hamnetts iconic designs of the eighties. Both of these slogan t-shirt designs can be aimed at a broad unisex market, and designs are adaptable to a wide range of colours and patterns.

Slogan Designs

Pastel Designs
Pastel colours have been seen throughout youth fashion trends through 2012 and 2013. The trend tends to use colours such as pastel pinks, blues, greens, oranges, yellows and purples to capture rainbow styled looks, and has been popular amongst t-shirts, accessories, nail varnish, cosmetics and hair colours. Despite being a dominant female trend, young men do tend to wear this trend as well, as WGSN published street shots of men utilising the trend, as well as many high street retailers offering pastel themed designs throughout their menswear departments. Rise Apparel aims to deliver unique designs, items that are exclusive to the brand and therefore cannot be bought anywhere else. Ideas experimented with were patterns, gradient blurs from colour to colour, puzzles and the Rise circle on a plain t-shirt. Some consumers enjoy their t-shirts covered in a print, however, some consumers also prefer the more subtle designs such as the Rise Pastel circle. This trend would ideally be styled with dark colours to balance out the vibrancy of the pastel colours.

Buddha
Buddha is the ultimate symbol of Buddhism, a religion strongly based in Asian culture. The Buddha design incorporates the menswear Naive trend, which has filtered through from the Post-Urban Traveller Macro Trend. Commonly, young people have the desire and ambition to travel the world, with countries in Asia and Australasia becoming dominant favourite destinations. It is an aspirational concept of young people, with a high proportion saving their money from their casual jobs in order to afford a long holiday to a variety of destinations, typically associated with gap years between education and work. With other religious symbols having been highly in trend recently, such as Christian crosses, pagan circles and Hindu bindis, it seems logical to combine the Naive Symbols trend with Buddhism symbolism. This image was taken from a personal friend who went travelling around Thailand. The design can be adapted to the Rise circle logo, or as an A3 screen print, or potentially a sublimation print.

Floral

Floral is a long term mature trend which has been seen on the high street for a number of years now. However, floral is such a wide spectrum, therefore the trends within this trend are regularly changing. Secondary research noted that brands tended to mix the floral trend with more recent trends, such as Hype creating a floral camo t-shirt, and River Island combining the geometrical triangles to a floral print. As Rise is a new brand, designs which accommodate a long product maturity is the most tactical method of making profit, rather than having to place the items in seasonal sales and decreasing the mark up in order to sell them. Therefore, the Rise designs are pretty basic initially, but these can be developed as the brand expands and grows. The designs experiment with the sublimation t-shirts, as well as the standard Rise circle logos. Of course, the circle logos can be versatile in terms of colour, such as the pastel colour trend, merging with a floral Rise circle logo. WGSN forecast 90s Florals to be the key trend, so this idea can be developed with more floral photography being conducted over the summer to then accommodate the trend.

Fantasy Pony
Fantasy Pony was a trend outlined for Spring/ Summer 2013 by WGSN for Europe Indie Youths. My Little Pony, rainbows and unicorn motifs are stylish graphics amongst the female youth market, and in order to accommodate this, plenty of designs have been created by using horse silhouettes and filling them with pastel graphics created on Photoshop. The fantasy pony trend has been combined with florals, galactic, and cloud prints in order to combine trends and heighten its potential success as a desired design. Young girls often go through a phase where they are fascinated by horses and ponies, by owning toys such as My Little Pony and taking an interest in horse riding. Childhood seems to be a stylish aspect of youth fashion at the moment, which makes the fantasy pony applicable and worthy as a trend. Developing this trend further could be to incorporate Barbie and cartoon characters, which can also be adapted to the menswear market (90s cartoons are forecast to be significant trend for menswear indie youth).

Kaleidoscopes
Kaleidoscopes were forecast to be a trend amongst the unisex indie youth market, so designing them has proved to be a useful learning process. Simply getting an image and manipulating it on Photoshop to look like a kaleidoscope has resulted in the most visually pleasing and unique designs, as well as incorporating other trends into the kaleidoscope such as galactic, fruit, florals and animals to create desire for them amongst the youth market. The patterns have also combined the WGSN trends such as neo-tribal and fragmented geometric, which will help boost sales amongst the market. Despite these being the ultimate favoured designs, it will be difficult to provide these products due to the costs of printing them, however, it would be ideal to launch similar designs in the future as the brand grows and expands and becomes desired to the target market. In order to accommodate this high cost, the Rise circles have been produced with all these patterns and can be printed on the dominant colour of the pattern, such as the galactic pattern being placed onto a purple t-shirt at a much lower cost.

Photographic
Photographic t-shirts were popular styles offered in the high street within the trend analysis for 2013. The photographic designs can be printed large (less expensive), or covering the whole t-shirt. The trends within photography on t-shirts seem to be based around the idea of aspirational or prestige locations, such as LA and Amsterdam, however, Rise as a brand wants to promote interesting and cultural photographic designs in order to capture the desirable traveller backpacker aesthetic. A personal friend and aspiring photographer Josh Magin has taken some beautiful pictures documenting his travelling experience, and has given permission to use his imagery. The imagery chose ranges from urban landscapes to paradise settings, which has the potential to appeal to consumers with a strong interest of travelling, or who are influenced by global cultured designs.

Photoshop Brushes
As an initial attempt at learning the concept of design, it seemed like a quick simplistic method to download Photoshop brush sets which could be used to construct a visually appealing image to be placed onto a t-shirt. With inspiration from trends, and the aspiration to eventually branch into sublimation dyed t-shirts, designs were created such as clouds, flowers, galactic, speckled, a nights sky and lightning. These t-shirts were all created from downloaded Photoshop brushes, and turned out quite creative and visually vibrant. These designs can be considered for future use, once the business has grown and is able to order sublimation tees, or on the other hand, fabric can be printed onto a belt printer and then sewn into t-shirts by a seamstress.

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous designs were created just out of spontaneous ideas. Pinstripe seemed to emerge as trends with leggings and jeans, so creating a t-shirt like it seemed logical, which then led on to the thought process of creating a zig zag print, which is relevant to the fragmented geos trend. This thought process led on to creating a tribal colourful zig zag print using colours reminiscent of African design. Whilst thinking of ways to express the brand in writing visually, scrabble also seemed like a relevant design, especially as this trend was popular in 2011, and throughout accessory ranges such as rings and necklaces. Dandelions, reminiscent of summer days and youth, is another design created to represent the brand. Patterns and prints were experimented with on Photoshop to create vibrant designs, and finally, the plain Rise t-shirts were designed for the more simplistic and subtle market, in order to broaden the spectrum as much as possible without ruining the strong branding.

Buying and Merchandising

Supplier Criteria
As funds to start the business are limited, finding a supplier that offers no minimum quantities is essential. Ideally, it would be great to use a supplier that printed on American Apparel in order to gain a nice quality and fit, as well as the reassurance that the brand will be completely ethical within the entirety of the supply chain.

Requirements for a Supplier;

No or low minimum orders Low prices Supplies American Apparel designs Offers a variety of different printing methods Offers a finishing service

After emailing a large quantity of companies, it became clear that dye sublimation designs were difficult to gain at a lower price with no minimum orders. Many companies offered this service with a minimum order of 144 per design, unless sourced from customised gifts companies, which offered a price usually around or over 30 (this would make t-shirts expensive and difficult to sell, and would ruin the brands affordability promise to the consumer). Not many companies offered a no minimum quantity service all together, as screen printing was charged with set up costs and usually a minimum order of 25. It became difficult sourcing suppliers.

Ideal Suppliers Found;

Kustom Clothing: Kustom Clothing offers no minimum quantities, at a low price and supply American Apparel products. They also offer a range of different printing techniques, although the maximum size they can print is A3. Chameleon Clothing: Chameleon Clothing specialises in custom tie-dying, and offer this service with a minimum order quantity of thirty pieces. However, with tie-dyes in stock, they offer a printing service with no minimum order quantities. They also offer a printing service for the customers custom designs at very low, competitive prices. Sub Luv: Sub Love operates a dye sublimation all over printing company. They offer a low price with a minimum order of twenty pieces. Once the company grows, all profit will be invested into getting the sublimated designs printed all over a t-shirt.

Lead Times

Lead times are important to consider in the fashion industry, especially if products are being delivered internationally. Jackson and Shaw claim that European shipping will be arrive within 1-2 weeks by road. As the brand will operate and work with UK suppliers initially, turnaround time should not take longer than two weeks. Kustom Clothing claim that from the order being placed, with production time included, delivery is 7-10 days, with an express service available for more urgent orders. Chameleon Clothing offers a similar delivery time. Sub Luv does not specify, but due to the dye process, it could take longer to be shipped, however, shipping time would be fairly quick as they are a UK based company.

Buying and Merchandising

Choosing the First Order Designs
Making the first order was difficult to do, especially due to lack of funding, therefore only small quantities and limited designs were chosen. Firstly, email correspondence needed to take place between both myself and Kustom Clothing and Chameleon Clothing. By establishing that their services could meet the initial requirements of the business was essential. From this point, designs needed to be finalised and chosen. Recognising that the brand initially needs to appeal to a broad market to generate quick sales to enable growth led to the decision of the first design orders, by choosing both very plain, subtle designs to more outgoing vibrant designs. American Apparel t-shirts have the ability to sell well. They hold their colour and shape within the wash, feel very soft, have been made ethically and are supreme quality. With personal recommendations from peers who shop with independent brands, it was clear to see that the American Apparel brand was favoured and always preferred. With such a good reputation as a brand, and by having strong features and functions of a t-shirt, it was a clear choice. Additionally, plain American Apparel t-shirts sell for at least 20 in UK stores, so a high mark up profit could be made. American Apparel also offers many different styles, textures and fits with their t-shirts. By looking through the Kustom clothing catalogue, the famous tri-blend was chosen in cranberry, and the soft 50/50 blend was chosen in heather black, both with a simplistic white Rise typography logo on the left breast of the t-shirt. Fantasy pony was a trend that also would be selected for the first order. Due to how colourful the graphics were, design was limited to only one of the ponies in order to get a more cost efficient deal. The branded Rise pastel pony was chosen, to be placed on a black t-shirt to stand out and appeal to a more dark dressing market. Chameleon Clothing as a company specialise in custom tie-dye wholesale clothing, and by initiating contact, they sent a brochure of the designs they had created and had in stock, which had no minimum order. The company offered an Acid Scrunch tie dye, which featured blues, pinks and purples, quite similar to the galactic trend, which resulted in an order to incorporate the tie-dye trend, with the white Rise typography logo placed on the left breast. The rest of their printed t-shirts are printed onto Gildan 4100 Premium Softstyle, giving a soft, quality feel. When designing, it was a recognised potential problem that it would be difficult, both financially and with time, to get the all over print created, so this was accommodated with the design placed within the Rise circle logo as an alternative. As a final decision, the Rise circle green scribble pattern was chosen, as this meant there were only three colours therefore cutting cost, as well as it being a visually appealing design.

Six T-Shirts 1x Small, 2x Medium, 3x Large

Six T-Shirts 1x Small, 2x Medium, 3x Large

Ten T-Shirts 1x Small, 4x Medium, 5x Large

Ordered from Kustom Clothing on the 8/4/2013

**As the brand will be aimed dominantly at a male market, with the female market purposely going for an oversized look, sizes were ordered dominantly in medium and large as a rough prediction of sales. Once the company grows, order quantities for Small and Extra Large will increase, depending on how the market responds.

Six T-Shirts 1x Small, 2x Medium, 3x Large

Six T-Shirts 1x Small, 2x Medium, 3x Large

Ordered from Chameleon Clothing on the 8/4/2013

Buying and Merchandising

Extras and Mark Ups/ Profit
Calculating the total cost of all the materials involved in the selling process of the garment will allow the brand to make a significant amount of profit without making a loss. Once the t-shirts were ordered, it became relevant to order extra materials to establish the total cost of the whole business venture. The White Rise Green Circle t-shirt was the least expensive to print, with the cotton feeling soft against the skin and the print bold and vibrant. In order to compensate for the low mark up of the American Apparels, this t-shirt has been priced at 18 which is affordable to the youth market yet highly profitable, and will likely to be used in sales promotions and competitions, which is a good marketing technique to be cost efficient and build brand awareness due to the fact it is the largest rise logo and will spread the name around. In addition, the Rise Pastel Horse, is also set to be popular style, and makes a high mark up of 62%. Again, this style can be used within sales promotions and competitions in order to boost sales, as this style is a less great loss than the American Apparel styles.

Extra Requirements
Mailing Bags (5.00 for Fifty Purple Ones with Seals, in mixed sizes) Stickers (With VAT and Shipping Included, 25) Personalised Brand Tags (26.80 with VAT & Postage) Swing Tickets (8.00 Including Card, Printing and Ribbon) VAT (Added onto T-Shirts): 63.66 Shipping for T-Shirts: 15.42

The Rise Tie Dye makes an average mark up at 41%, however, it is likely this will be a popular style due to feedback from peers and tie dye itself is very stylish and is set to be a massive trend for Spring/ Summer 2013. This Current designs will also be replenished, however quantities will vary depending on is why this style was ordered in the highest quantity compared to other their popularity, for example, the American Apparel t-shirts may be highly popular and designs, as it is predicted that this product will have the largest demand. the tie dye not so much, therefore when stock needs replenishing, the revenue will be Excluding the total VAT and Shipping for T-shirts, the extra requirements reinvested into the biggest selling designs and in larger quantities in order to prepare total 64.80. The mark up of the cost price of the products, excluding the extras such as for the high demand. stickers as swing tickets, would be much higher. However, it is more logical After doing the workings out, it is evident that some t-shirts will generate to make considerations of the extra resources and outgoings involved for Eventually when the brand has grown further, investing in new product categories higher mark ups than others. In American Apparel stores in the UK, the creating the brand, to gain a more accurate calculation of profit. such as vests, leggings and sweatshirts using the Sub Luv supplier is an idea, as well tri- blend sells for 19, whilst the 50/50 sells for 16; however, as a as exploring other avenues such as backpacks, sunglasses, hats, and basic accessories. branded item consumers will be willing to pay more. The mark up is already With each category launched, a small order quantity will be an initial tactic to trial out Future Intensions low, so lowering the price would lower profit margins significantly to the their popularity to prevent making a loss for unpopular products. From this point where it is not even worth doing. Buying higher orders will result in a judgement, higher quantities will be tactically ordered for the best selling items, with In order to accommodate the lack of experience and knowledge of the lower price and free shipping, therefore in the future, it will be possible to behaviours of the market, only small quantities have been ordered, which less popular items generating quick sales from discounts, online competitions or being lower the price and still make a higher mark up profit. sent to semi famous/ famous bloggers as a tactical method to endorse the brand and will inevitably act as a trial to determine what designs are considered build awareness. popular amongst the target market.

Future intensions for buying and merchandising involve branching out into sublimation t-shirts with Sub Luv in the next season, using the profit generated from the first initial sales as well as further personal financial investment into stock.

T- Shirt Style

American Apparel Tri-Blend 6 Cranberry T-Shirt American Apparel 50/50 Heather Black White Gildan Rise Circle Logo T-Shirt Black Gildan Rise Pastel Horse T-Shirt Rise Acid Scrunch Tie Dye
6 6 6

Quantity Basic Garment VAT (Per T-Shirt) Shipping (Per Price T-Shirt)
10.00 10.00 6.31 7.47 10.02 2.17 2.17 1.27 1.50 2.00 1.20 1.20 0.25 0.25 0.25

1.91 1.91 1.91 1.91 1.91

Extra Requirements Total (Per T-Shirt)

15.28 15.28 9.74 11.13 14.18

21 21 18 18 20

Retail Selling Price

Mark Up (%)
38% (5.72) 38% (5.72) 85% (8.26) 62% (6.87) 41% (5.82)

10

Photography and Styling

For the initial launch of the project, two different photography shoots took place; One in a woods (Abbots Wood , and one at an iconic English beach (Holywell, near Beachy Head, Eastbourne.)

Shoot 1: 23rd April 2013

Shoot one was done using the model Lucia Tarrant, who has a basic background in modelling and a semi famous fashion blog, so hopefully the photography can be used for promoting the brand as well as herself. She is very photogenic and has the type of look the brand aims to promote within the female market. The shoot was done on location, as the brand aims to appeal to the idea of young people out, having fun, rather than the false aspect of a studio; however, this could be done in the future to meet the marketing criteria, in a particular theme for example. For the shoot, she was directed to do particular poses, ranging from smiling, natural poses to silly faces, to more sultry photography usually associated with fashion. The photos came out fantastic; the photography covered every first initial design, and successful images were captivated for each design. With her make-up, she wore slightly heavier than average eye makeup to make her eyes stand out in the imagery, but her makeup was typically quite everyday and natural as the brand aims to appeal to quite natural looking women. In terms of styling, the model brought her own clothing and accessories. She is highly fashionable, which was particularly useful seeing as the brand is partially trend led. The criterion that was given to her for the shoot included basic items, as any loud accessories or clothing would have distracted the audience from the brands products. In conclusion, the shoot was successful and some fantastic imagery was captured, however, lighting within the woods was difficult to accommodate. Conducting the shoot on a less sunny day could have worked more efficiently; however, Lucia Tarrant will be used for future shoots in either different locations or within the studio with the next launch of new products. She promoted the clothing well, by looking good within the clothing and her general aesthetic of promoting youth culture amongst women (which is highly dominated around looks, style and fashion).

Shoot 2: 28th April 2013

This shoot was conducted on Holywell beach with some personal friends, Samuel Coe, Vicki Lamberton, Tim Robinson and Nick Moore. As a peer group, they are aspirational; always determined to have fun and make the most of life, well educated with good morals, which is ideally the values the brand promotes. It was important to do this shoot with male and female models to promote the fact that Rise is a unisex brand. The beach is a beautiful location, located on the South East coast in Eastbourne, very close to the infamous Beachy Head. This shoot was all about capturing the fun and positive connotations associated with the beach, from a youthful perspective. During the shoot, they were all directed to do various activities and pose in a way which really promoted a sense of friendship, fun, energy and optimism. The styling was very basic, as they were all asked to dress simplistic again not to distract the viewer away from the brands clothing. To summarise, the shoot was a success and some good photography was captured. The only criticism to make is that the participants were more difficult to direct and due to the camera battery running out, it was not possible to get more locations incorporated into the shoot. However, after editing, there will be some fantastic imagery really captivating the brands heritage of being based in East Sussex.

Digital Branding Mock Ups

Mock Up One Mock Up Two

Creating an actual and real online e-commerce website is going to become a final outcome of this project, so it was therefore relevant to experiment with different website layouts to give an overall idea of what the website could look like visually, and how dynamic and effective this could be. In terms of branding, the basic logo will be used, rather than one of the patterned/ printed ones, as this logo is the dominant adaptation and will not alter with time and trends. Incorporating the Pastel design will essentially be captivating the attention of viewers with its bright, vibrant colours, as well as meeting trend expectations and justifying the brands identity visually. Links to social media sites are critical to engage the viewer. Mock up one is the personal favourite, with inspiration taken from a traditional clothing brand website, which typically places the logo in the top left hand corner, with a central image and a page bar across the top of the page. This mock up purposely has a lot of white space which works well at balancing the simplistic pastel design as a header. The image is the central focal point, drawing in the viewers attention. This mockup will be used as a guide for the final website. Mock up two is a likable layout due to the central image, the vibrancy and it would be easy to navigate, however, the pastel pattern is too overpowering in this. The logo is not the traditional circle, and despite being recognisable and dynamic, it does not work as well as the original circle logo. Mock up three looks at a layout which is not widely used and not typically traditional of a fashion brand, and does stand out visually. However, this layout, despite the content, looks quite outdated and could be difficult to navigate. The logo and pastel design draws attention away from the actual concept.

Mock Up Three

Digital Branding Mock Ups

Social media is the most crucial aspect of the marketing strategy, and as a result, the Rise branded social media pages will be the most effective marketing tool and will therefore need to be optimised to their greatest extent. This is the Rise Facebook page, however this will need further development with the launch of new products and designs. Visually, it is bold and stands out, with the branded Rise pastel design as the cover photo and the Rise green circle logo to promote the circle design being launched in the first product line. The social media pages will be used to communicate to brand to consumers, by updating statuses, generating hype over new designs, creating awareness of events where the brand will be selling at, promotional imagery, competitions and engaging loyal consumers through tagged images. In order to keep the brand fresh and exciting, the imagery used in this mock up for example, will be altered to incorporate the brands values and connotations. To generate and build awareness, the brand will eventually endorse Facebook advertising to boost page likes and views, therefore the social media aspect will need to be updated and changed frequently, with the brand posting statuses to interact with the consumer.

This is the mock up for the official Rise Apparel Twitter page. It is generally more difficult to engage Twitter users, without creating a talking point. Therefore, the Twitter page will need to be more dramatic and appeal to the consumer through language as opposed to alerting the consumer of a new product available. Generating a buzz could involve either competitions, or humourous anecdotes, which creates a positive perception in the eyes of the consumer, which then helps the consumer connect with the brand and enjoy reading Tweets. Encouraging product reviews through hash tagging will also help build the brands reputation. The Rise Twitter page, very similar to the Facebook page, incorporates the Pastel design and promotes the upcoming Cranberry American Apparel Tri-Blend T-Shirt as well as the Rise green circle design. The Twitter page needs to be visual in order to make it interesting and exciting for consumers to browse through tweets and engage with clicking links. The Twitter and Facebook pages are automatically linked, so updates from Facebook are instantly promoted through Twitter.

Visual Marketing Communications

(Back)

(Front)

Business Cards
Business cards are fantastic for networking, and improving employability amongst potential employers. The business cards are double sided, one side is visual whilst the other has basic contact information, links to social media and a Quick Response code that can be scanned, which will redirect straight to the official Rise Apparel website. The cards were designed with simplicity in mind, with the intention of being vibrant, distinctive and dynamic. This has been achieved with the branded Rise pastel design and bold logo, with a simple typography applied to make it legible.

Signage
Signage may not be entirely relevant at this stage of business development, however, with future events and potential opportunities to attend fashion trade shows, it certainly is a realistic possibility. The signage has been created with the intention of causing impact amongst the target audience, whilst retaining a sense of visual appeal. It has to be effective in targeting and drawing people in to approach the stand, have a look, and potentially buy as a result. The stands arent bland, but are not too overpowering either. For Cobbfest, an event Rise is aiming to sell at in August 2013, obtaining signage will be essential to be perceived as a credible brand.

Consumer Communications: Packaging Consumer Communications: Swing Tags

Swing tags act as a pleasant finishing to a garment and also make a brand gain credibility in the perception of the consumer. By having swing tags on a garment which look appealing, appear good quality and are eye catching, the consumer will feel the pleasure of receiving the garment to a greater extent, as this gives an elevated feeling which is associated with new products and luxuries. There are two different swing tag designs; a circular one with the dominant Rise logo, and a rectangular pastel design with the typography Rise logo. The preferred swing tag is the rectangular one, as personally, it seems to have stronger connotations of luxury and therefore leads to more favorable perceptions. However, it would also be good to use the dominant logo to enhance the branding of the product, which will give the company a stronger and more clarified identity/ personality. It was mentioned within the marketing strategy that the brand intended to make packaging seem more like a present or treat as opposed to a basic plain mailing bag. Therefore, bright metallic colours will be applied to make the package colourful and eye catching, and potentially a small bow, which are very cheap at wholesale prices. If it is possible with the cost, ordering shirt boxes with the pastel pattern would be idea. Once the consumer has got past the outside packaging, their product will be wrapped in colourful tissue paper sealed with a Rise sticker. Consumers tend to appreciate attention to detail, which will boost their perceptions of Rise positively. These mock-ups demonstrate roughly how this should look and how it will be achieved. Mailing bags are relatively cheap when ordered from websites such as Amazon, so achieving this will be simple to do and cost efficient. Carrier Bag Shop, an online website which specialises in supplying both custom and plain bags and packaging are also a potential supplier of packaging goods, due to their affordable prices and their wide product range, all of which appear to be good quality.

Consumer Communications: Promotional Materials

Promotional materials are a fantastic method of creating favourable perceptions whilst heightening brand awareness and creating a buzz. Ideas for freebies which are appreciated by the youth market include keyrings, canvas bags, lanyards, lighters and bottle openers. However, these custom made products have high order quantities and can be costly, so this will be implemented as more of a growth strategy for the future. However, canvas bags are low cost and can usually be ordered in smaller quantities, which can be done through the Kustom Clothing supplier, so this can be achieved fairly quickly after launching the brand.

Marketing Mix and Product Analysis

Product
The brand has purchased five initial products for selling. Ideally, the brand is looking to dominate products with American Apparel wholesale, however, three of the initial products are printed on Gildan 4100 cotton t-shirts. Currently, the brand will begin with only one category, which consists of a variety of unisex t-shirts. These consist of two plain American Apparel designs, printed on exquisite cotton, one of which is a tri blend cranberry and the other a dark marbled grey. Other designs consist of a purple, blue and pink Gildan tie dye, a white Gildan Rise green circle graphic, and a pastel horse graphic on a black Gildan t-shirt. The products are a high quality and are of a nice fit. Brand tags have been sewn into the bottom left hand corner to give the brand a sense of authenticity. In the future, the brand aims to grow enough to supply sublimated designs, and expand the product categories to hats, bags, leggings, sweatshirts, sunglasses, socks and scarves. The products are all uniquely designed, making them completely exclusive to the brand, and offer youthful and stylish designs to the market.

Product Categories Analysis

Fad Product
The fad product of the brand will most likely be the Rise pastel pony t-shirt, which will be in high demand for the summer due to trend analysis based around competitor analysis and the desires of the youth market. Therefore, sales will indicate a quick growth, with a short maturity time before declining, at which point new fad products will be launched.

Sales

Time

Classic Product
The classic product will be the plain Rise tri blend American Apparel t-shirt, and the plain Rise 50/50 American Apparel t-shirt. These products consist of neutral, dark colours, with a simple Rise left breast logo, and have a classic slim fit. This product will maintain a long maturity, and can be extended with further colours.

Price

The brand aims to be affordable to attract a young market. External circumstances, such as the recession and rising student tuition fees, mean this market have a small amount of personal disposable income, however, fashion to them is still a main spending priority. The brand is high quality but offers a low price, therefore following a penetration pricing strategy; entering the market at a low price to gain market share over competitors. Products range from 18 to 21 currently, however, sublimation products ordered in will be slightly more expensive due to higher printing costs, and other categories such as hats will bring a lower entry price.

Sales

Time

Fashion Product
The fashion product will consist of the Rise tie dye design, due to trend analysis indicating that this style is in large demand for Spring/ Summer 2013, however, this trend will also be altered and adapted to meet trends. Tie dye trends will alter due to patterns and colours; therefore, the product will have steady growth due to design adaptations, and then will eventually decline after a significant maturity phase.

Place

The brand will mainly take place online, as a pureplay brand. The brand will ship to the UK and will potentially ship internationally, depending on demand. The brand will aim to sell at local events based in Sussex, such as Cobbfest and Glastonwick festivals, and eventually expand nationwide to credible and high attended festivals and gigs. Soul Cellar in Southampton operates a clothing and music fair monthly, which will also be an ideal selling event. This gives consumers the choice as to whether they would like to see the tangible product before making a purchasing decision.

Sales

Time

Promotion

Promotion is heavily surrounded around social media and word of mouth. The brand will update their social media pages, and will include interactive Like and Share competitions, and will encourage consumers to post images of themselves wearing the brand. Advertising to gain awareness can be done through social media, such as Facebook, and can be targeted at a particular demographic/psychographic/ geographic segment. A potential idea is collaborating with a games programmer, Daniel Hayes, to update the Rise website with games and features to create an amusing website that becomes a talking point amongst friends.

Style Product
The style product will consist of the Rise green circle design. This is quite a generic and open design. This product will be likely to have a steady growth, a short maturity, before a quick decline. Once the design begins to decline, Rise will launch the same design with a different circle motif or print, which will then create growth for the product, which will happen consecutively for a significant period of time.

Sales

Time

Conclusion of Development
The research was well utilised for the development process, and was applied and considered through each process involved with creating the brand. Development was very practical and creative, as well as theory and thought based. Initially, development needed to incorporate branding in order to progress to designing, buying, merchandising, styling, and photography, therefore it was crucial to complete the branding and use this as a starting point for the rest of the project. Once the branding had been developed, looking at the potential of the project realistically in more depth and contributing creative thoughts and ideas for marketing also needed to be achieved to establish the brands identity, and what exactly the purpose of the business would be in terms of goals, objectives, strategy and achievements. This is when a business and marketing plan was developed, which incorporated the ideas and concepts of the brand, as well as how realistically the business can be marketed and monitored in terms of objectives. The information from research regarding competitors, the external market, and ACORN consumer profiling identified how consumers responded to marketing and what methods were most successful, with the key resource being social media. Therefore, social media was incorporated and adapted to the marketing strategy and programme, which is beneficial mainly due to cost efficiency. Developing digital design concepts proved to be challenging, due to lack of experience using software such as Photoshop. However, the designs were adapted from trend analysis and proved themselves as unique and original, and as a result will be taken forward and used for the brands product mix, depending on funds for the business. From the designs, finding a supplier which met business requirements would enable the brand to be developed even further, from an idea to a realistic business venture. Once the products had arrived, the idea of this business became very real and met the requirements that were originally set out to be achieved; from this point, development of a website, consumer communications and styling was executed in order to prepare for the launch of the business. This will inevitably improve employability prospects after university as it displays an efficient and practical working attitude. To conclude, the development of the brand was a long and difficult process. Despite this, the branding and products are completely relevant to the vision that was initially outlined at the beginning of this project. A sense of clarity, enthusiasm and direction has been achieved with the development as the business appears to be a realistic and profitable concept. The final outcomes will hopefully reflect this and show how far the project has come, from being a brief idea to a fully developed vision. Launching the brand will be the next step, as development will continue with the growth and success, which will constantly be updated and adapted to the market in terms of design and marketing.