Effective Promotional Campaigns in Fashion

Effective Promotional Campaigns

• Understanding merchandising processes is crucial for effective promotional campaigns.
• Marketers need to understand national and international markets.
• Key elements for marketers are trade shows, apparel markets, and business resources.

Trade Shows

• Organized by fashion industry organizations.

• Provide opportunities for meetings, conferences, and seminars.

• Manufacturers worldwide display merchandise during predetermined dates (typically three days).

• Functions provided for retail buyers during trade shows:

  • Merchandise ordering
  • Attending fashion shows and seminars
  • Meeting colleagues globally

• MAGIC (in Las Vegas) is a major US fashion trade show.

• Trade shows facilitate industry interaction, sourcing merchandise for the upcoming season, and discovering new sourcing opportunities.

• Trade shows provide valuable, potentially previously unknown information.

Apparel Marts

• Enclosed buildings for buyers and sellers to conduct business.
• Crucial in creating excitement and a sense of engagement.
• Major US apparel markets offer diverse marketing services, promoting brands and products.
• Services are designed to build excitement for products and educate buyers about potential sales increases and upcoming trends.
• Provide detailed product information (SKUs, wholesale prices, color options, and size offerings)

Business Resources

• Resident Buying Offices (RBOs) are formal fashion intelligence sources acting as purchasing agents
• RBOs provide information on consumer trends and offer services based on client requirements.
• RBOs must be aware of industry trends to properly serve clients.
• Trade publications offer valuable information on industry status, including women's wear and international buying markets.
• International fashion markets are frequently pre-marketed during predetermined weeks

London, Milan, and Hong Kong

• London is a major fashion marketing hub.
• Italian designers are known for craftsmanship, elegance, and creative design.
• Fashion organizations like the National chamber of fashion stimulate the Italian fashion industry.
• Hong Kong's fashion industry has faced challenges with sizing and quality, but has since improved.
• Hong Kong's trade development council provides information to designers and marketers.
• Madrid is another important fashion market.

Impact of the Economy

• Economic health directly impacts international merchandise purchases..
• Slowing economies lead to reduced merchandise sales.
• Companies often cancel international orders during economic recessions.
• Companies feature slow-moving merchandise during marketing campaigns.

Types of Buying Organizations

• Centralized Buying Offices (with central merchandising plans) handle all buying for a company from headquarters.
• Decentralized Buying offices (with departmentalized merchandising plans) divide buying responsibility by region, merchandise category and department.
• Decentralized offices allow a deeper understanding of market wants and needs by region and department.

Major Fashion Price Zones

• Major fashion price zones are designer signature, bridge, moderate, contemporary, and budget.
• Designer signature is for high quality and craftsmanship.
• Bridge pricing brings in the middle market.
• Moderate and budget focus on mass marketing.

Fashion Buying Seasons

• Planning and executing the buying season effectively is essential.
• Preparation involves monitoring market needs, forecasting trends, and budget management
• Fashion buying seasons often occur in the same week each year.

Fashion Theories

• Trickle-down theory suggests fashion trends originate with upper-income consumers and eventually reach lower-income groups.
• Trickle-up theory indicates how trends can start with lower-income groups.