Purpose
Purpose is essential for a brand to establish, develop and stand out in the fashion industry. To form a purpose a brand must use a strategy, this is a plan of action for the journey of a brand. They must consider mission, values and vision this means a brand shows understanding of their current position, what’s important to them and their future ambitions. Brands mostly communicate their purpose to the general public through a mission statement on their website which they then strive to follow throughout their business journey. These days most brands aim to create a better world through their actions and remain conscious of their impact on earth. Research conducted by Zeno Group found that when a brand has a solid purpose consumers are 4x more likely to purchase products and 4.5x more likely to recommend the brand to friends or family (Forbes, 2020), this demonstrates the power of purpose as it creates a trust between the brand and consumer.
There are many brands that surround their mission statement on ethical practices which will help them be seen in a positive light by consumers and demonstrate their core values. These ethical practices may focus on sustainability, an example of a brand that has this purpose is Eileen Fisher who concentrate on upcycling with the take back and reuse program. This program aims to prolong the life of Eileen fisher clothing by providing good as new cleaning and deciding if it’s in a good enough condition to resell in their renew stores (Gwilt, 2020). Another brand that makes their purpose clear is ASOS, they state on their website the importance in self confidence and inclusivity which is clear through the representation in their marketing.
Appealing to Gen Z is vital within the fashion industry, this generation are most demanding on purpose and accountability from brands specifically advocating for diversity and sustainability. Gen Zs needs mean that brands must become completely authentic in their actions to gain the consumers trust (Mckinsey, 2023). A well known brand that has connected with generation Z is Nike who have collaborated with Billie Eilish, a current day mainstream artist who continuously advocates to protect the planet, and created a collection of their signature AF1 trainers that used recyclable materials from the artists prior collaboration with the brand (Nike, 2022). This campaign cleverly combined a Gen Z star who has strong values surrounding sustainability to create a collection focusing on recycling which generated the authenticity generation Z have been searching for from a established brand.
bibliography:
Aziz, A (2020). Global Study Reveals Consumers Are Four To Six Times More Likely To Purchase, Protect And Champion Purpose-Driven Companies. [online]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/afdhelaziz/2020/06/17/global-study-reveals-consumers-are-four-to-six-times-more-likely-to-purchase-protect-and-champion-purpose-driven-companies/?sh=1423e78435fe [accessed 27/10/2023]
Gwilt, A. (2020). A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion. London: Fairchild Books. [online]
Available at: https://libsearch.arts.ac.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1452042&query_desc= [accessed 27/10/2023]
McKinsey & Company (2023) What is Gen Z? [online]
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z [accessed 27/10/2023]
Nike (2022) Nike x Billie Eilish AF1 low [online]
https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-x-billie-eilish-af1-low