Faith Head

The purpose of a brand is an important aspect of a businesses identity and plays a significant role, specifically with more recent generations, in whether a consumer will purchase a product. For a brand to succeed and attract consumers, they must ensure their mission, their vision, and their values are at the forefront of everything they do. ‘Brand purpose is a company’s “why”- its reason for being and the things it stands for’ (Qualtrics, 2023). 

A brand’s philosophy is just as significant in attracting consumers as the product itself. Although in the past consumers were concerned with what a brand stood for, this has become increasingly more important in recent generations. Millennials and Gen Z specifically, expect companies to incorporate their values in everything they create as well as ‘establish clear stances on social and political issues’ (Curry, 2020). In fact, a 2018 survey from DoSomething found that ‘76% of respondents said they have purchased or would consider purchasing from a company to show support for the issues the company supports, and 67% had stopped purchasing or would consider doing so, if a company stood for something that didn’t align with their values’ (Curry, 2020). As such, a business’s values and how they portray their purpose to consumers, can heavily determine whether an individual will buy from a particular brand. 

However, a brand cannot simply just voice their values, they must be active in what they state they believe in. A company must invest in the issue in a comprehensive manner, meaning going beyond making donations or running a one-time ad campaign, they must communicate about given issues in a way that demonstrates the company understands the nuances of the issue and deeply cares about the topic. For example, a company cannot decide that it wants to invest in racial equity and expect to make structural change overnight, but rather must first infuse into their internal operations, values, and mission before taking a public stand (Curry,2020). 

An example of a company that incorporates their values and their purpose within their brand is TOMS. TOMS focuses on both environmental and corporate philanthropy, and this is displayed through their products. For example, TOMS shoes are made with vegan materials and are made using sustainable practices (Londrigan et al, 2018). Not only is TOMS voicing their concerns with the issues surrounding sustainability and the environment, but they are also actively contributing to resolve the issue. 

For brands to appeal to consumers, they must look at what the demographic they are trying to attract, and then look at what these consumers are expecting/ wanting to see from brands and products. Gen Z in particular, are ‘looking beyond tangible products and actually trying to understand what it is that makes the company tick. What’s its mission? What’s its purpose? And what is it actually trying to build for us as a society?” (Finneman B, 2020). 

Brands communicate their purpose to Gen Z in various ways. Being ‘digital natives’, the most effective way to communicate to Gen Z is through online platforms, particularly social media. Digital natives often turn to the internet when looking for any kind of information, including news and reviews prior to making a purchase (McKinsey and Company, 2020). The McKinsey and Company report says that, in particular, ‘video-sharing social media sites have seen a meteoric rise as Gen Z comes of age. TikTok currently rules trends, feelings, and culture for Gen Zers, who make up 60 percent of the app’s one billion-plus users’ (McKinsey and Company, 2020). Therefore, brands can utilise the platform, and use it to communicate their purpose to their consumers (Gen Z). Additionally, brands can communicate their purpose to Gen Z through the incorporation of celebrity’s/ influencers that share the similar beliefs/ values. For example, the Nike x Billie Eilish AF1 Low collaboration uses leftover material waste from the artists prior collaborative AF1 High to create new aesthetic for iconic silhouette (Nike newsroom, 2022). Eilish is known for her involvement in climate activism and sustainability. Thus, underscoring both Nike and Eilish’s shared commitment to taking action to create a better world (Nike Newsroom, 2022)- communicating to consumers, particularly Gen Z, their purpose and belief of taking care of the planet. 

References 

Qualtrics, (2023), What is brand purpose and why is it important? Available at: https://www.qualtrics.com/uk/experience-management/brand/brand-purpose/#:~:text=Brand%20purpose%20is%20a%20company’s,niche%20it%20seeks%20to%20fill. (last accessed: 27 October 2023)

Curry L, 2020, How Brands Can Follow Through on the Values They’re Selling, Harvard Business Review, Available at https://artslondon-my.sharepoint.com/personal/r_zilkha_fashion_arts_ac_uk/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fr%5Fzilkha%5Ffashion%5Farts%5Fac%5Fuk%2FDocuments%2FFBS%20Intro%20To%2FFBS%2DIntro%20To%202023%2FLectures%20and%20Seminars%2FWeek%205%2FHow%20Brands%20Can%20Follow%20Through%20on%20the%20Values%20They’re%20Selling%2Epdf&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fr%5Fzilkha%5Ffashion%5Farts%5Fac%5Fuk%2FDocuments%2FFBS%20Intro%20To%2FFBS%2DIntro%20To%202023%2FLectures%20and%20Seminars%2FWeek%205&ga=1(Last accessed: 26 October 2023)

Londrigan, M.P., & Jenkins, J.M. (2018), Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Fashion Supply Chain Management, Fairchild Books, (online) Available at: https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781501317798&tocid=b-9781501317798-chapter3&pdfid=9781501317798.ch-003.pdf (last accessed: 27 October 2023)

Finneman B, (2020), Meet Generation Z: Shaping the future of shopping, McKinsey and Company, Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/meet-generation-z-shaping-the-future-of-shopping#/ (last accessed: 27 October 2023)

McKinsey and Company, (2020), What is Gen Z?, Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z (last accessed: 28 October 2023)

Nike newsroom, (2022), Nike x Billie Eilish AF1 Low, Available at: https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-x-billie-eilish-af1-low (last accessed: 28 October 2023)

The four pillars that dominate the fashion industry are Planet, People, Profit, and Purpose. The profit pillar focuses on providing economic benefits for a fashion business (Redress, 2023). Ultimately art and commerce go hand in hand, one doesn’t exist without the other. Businesses must find a happy medium between increasing revenue and creating products that are creative. Although the fashion industry strives to promote creativity and present fashion as an art form, the main purpose of a business is to simply make money. 

The fashion industry is one of the biggest industries on the market. The revenue of the global apparel market was calculated to amount to 1.53 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022, a slight decrease on the previous year. However, revenue was forecast to increase in 2023, to more than 1.7 trillion dollars (Statista, 2023). 

Within the entirety of the fashion industry, there are various sectors that differ from one another. Some of these include luxury fashion, high street fashion, sportswear, kids wear, etc. Based on McKinsey’s analysis of fashion forecasts, the luxury sector is expected to grow however, the rest of the fashion market will struggle to deliver significant growth in 2023. This analysis of fashion forecasts projects relatively slow sales growth of between -2 and +3 percent, weighed down by a contraction in the European market (expected to shrink between 1 and 4 percent). China and United states are expected to fare better, growing between 2 and 7 percent and between 1 and 6 percent respectively. 

(McKinsey and Company, 2022)

However, during uncertain economic times, brands must find ways to remain competitive and still generate income whilst also promoting creativity and expressing their brand values. Inflation is at the top of executives’ minds for the coming year, according to results from the annual Business of Fashion and McKinsey State of Fashion Survey. They expect that inflation will undercut consumer demand, pushing shoppers to curtail fashion spending or trade down for less expensive products as their energy and grocery bills spike (McKinsey and Company Report, 2022). In order for fashion businesses to continue to strive during these difficult financial times, they need to understand and utilise social media. Social media allows businesses to market their products and promote themselves digitally and therefore, reaching customers from behind a screen. A good example of this is the significance of social media throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. As the Covid-19 pandemic worsened, people were forced to take social distancing measures and fashion retailers had to close stores and discontinue production (Fashion and Textiles, 2021). Fashion businesses saw a decline in profits and therefore, the majority turned to digital marketing and social media as a way to remain in business. 

Moreover, there are numerous stories of brand decline that a significant number of luxury brands have experienced (Miterfelner, 2023). According to Kapferer (2012) and Thomas and Kohli (2009), reasons for brand decline and deletion, which lead to loss of brand equity, include quality that is forgotten or non-significant differences, the missing of new trends, offering mono products, distribution issues, weak communications, the inability to stay with the target market, mismanagement by big groups which weaken brands they purchased, environmental factors and, finally, the departure of the creative director. (Mitterfelner, 2023). As such, in order for brands to remain afloat, they need to ensure they are on top of such factors.

Contributing to this, creative directors must find ways to bridge the gap between creativity (art) and commerce. Executive MBA (Fashion) at London College of Fashion continued their series of events with a fashion business panel discussion on the divide between creative vision and commercial reality, bringing together a panel of industry experts who try and manage the relationship between money and unique vision on a daily basis. (Crook, 2017). The group collectively agreed that fashion businesses must collaborate with their consumers who will have their own interpretation of the relationship between creativity and value for money from the product ranges that they choose to buy (Crook, 2017). 

References:

Redress Design Award, (2023) Circularity in Fashion, Available at:

https://www.redressdesignaward.com/academy/resources/guide/circularity-in-fashion (Last accessed: 20 October 2023)

Statista, (2023) Global apparel market- statistics and facts, Available at:

https://www.statista.com/topics/5091/apparel-market-worldwide/#topicOverview (Last accessed: 20 October 2023)

McKinsey and Company Report, (2022) The State of Fashion 2023: Holding onto growth as global clouds gather, Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion#:~:text=Dire%20consequences%20for%20fashion%2C%20one,annual%20revenues%20before%20the%20pandemic%2C&text=entails%20joblessness%20or%20financial%20hardship%20for%20people%20across%20the%20value%20chain. (Last accessed: 20 October 2023)

Fashion and Textiles, (2021), Global fashion retailers’ responses to external and internal crises during the COVID-19 pandemic, Available at: https://fashionandtextiles.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40691-021-00260-x#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20as%20the%20COVID%2D19,and%20cancel%20orders%20from%20suppliers. (Last accessed: 21 October 2023)

Crook, J, (2017), London College of Fashion, Compelling Fashion Business: Bridging The Divide Between Creative Vision and Commercial Reality, Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-fashion/stories/compelling-fashion-business-bridging-the-divide-between-creative-vision-and-commercial-reality (Last accessed: 21 October 2023)

Mitterfelner, O, (2023), Decline and resuscitation of Luxury Fashion Brands, Luxury Fashion Brand Management, Chapter 6 page 135, (online) https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=7260416 (Last accessed: 21 October 2023)

When it comes to the fashion industry, the people are at the forefront of a brands focus. Fashion, beauty, and wellbeing choices are an integral part of consumers daily life (Gee, 2023). Without consumers, the fashion industry simply wouldn’t exist, it’s the people that keep the fashion alive. The people should be at the heart of everything a business does and as such, the people’s want, needs, expectations, and values should be communicated through the business’s own values and products. 

Generation Z comprises people born between 1996 and 2010 and this generation’s identity has been shaped by the digital age, climate anxiety, shifting financial landscape, and Covid-19 (McKinsey and Company, 2023). Gen Z is a growing generation that are the first to experience their whole lives exposed to the digital world. As consumers, Gen Z focus more on factors such as sustainability and equity, as well as seeking out inspiration through clothing and garments. According to Amed, et al (2019), ‘Shoppers, particularly younger ones, have social and environmental issues on their minds’. Due to Gen Z’s monumental focus on such issues, there is an expectation for businesses, including those within the fashion world, to address these through their brands, their products, and within everything they do. 

In response to the needs of Gen Z, businesses must fulfil their expectations through their brands and what their brand stands for. As mentioned previously, Gen Z are attracted to brands that highlight the importance of sustainability and equality yet, there are various ways in which businesses can appeal to this demographic. According to the report by McKinsey and Company, (2023), Gen Z demands purpose and accountability, the creation of more opportunities for people of diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, and rigorous sustainable and green practices. Furthermore, Gen Z are far more likely to participate on online shopping than previous generations and as such, businesses within the fashion world must take this into consideration when appealing to consumers of this generation. Being the first generation to have grown up entirely in the digital age, ‘social media platforms are their primary sources of information and inspiration. To promote you brand to Gen Z, it is crucial to have a strong social media presence’ (Animus marketing, 2023). 

Moreover, inclusivity and diversity are significant when it comes to the people. Consumers want to see brands being inclusive and diverse and want to see this being communicated through products, campaigns, social media etc. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways including various model sizes, various ethnicities, various sexualities, various ages, the inclusion of disabilities. For instance, the fashion industry predominantly represents the western ideology of beauty. ‘Globally, Western beauty “ideals” pressure women and girls to conform to a fair skinned, youthful, thin, toned, able-bodied and physically “good looking” woman’ (Mckay, et al, 2018). 

Fenty Beauty, British Vogue (Fetto, 2023)

Fenty beauty is a beauty brand centred around ethnic diversity, includes a foundation range of 50 shades that include shades for everyone and a marketing campaign that was as diverse as they come (Fetto, 2020). ‘Fenty Beauty connected emotionally with women who had long been treated as though they didn’t exist by the beauty industry. It not only highlighted the importance of being seen, it provided to the industry that women of colour have huge spending power, and that black can, and does, sell’ (Fetto, 2020).

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.yorksj.ac.uk%2Fchloelansdall%2F2021%2F03%2F25%2Fblack-lives-matter-movement%2F&psig=AOvVaw3cmAysmyQ3Eec9D46P5Fjs&ust=1697365292278000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CAUQjB1qFwoTCPj3j8yo9YEDFQA

With the fashion industry run by people, there are several skills that businesses expect from their employees, and their brand holistically, to be successful. There are of course the general skills including organisation, time management, communication, creativity, adaptability, etc. However, there are a variety of other skills that are significant currently, and that may vary from brand to brand, industry to industry. For instance, with consumers such as Gen Z, the importance of digital and technological skills is significant if brands want to reach this particular audience. Additionally, fashion-tech skills are constantly emerging and growing (Cifre, 2021). Thus, brands need to be ‘web-savvy’ and stay up to date with the latest technological advances- also including the development and changes within the social media realm. 

References

Gee, L (2023) lecture, Welcome to Fashion business School, London College of Fashion 25 September 2023

McKinsey & Company (2023), What is Gen Z? Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z (Lat accessed: 13 October 2023).

Moran, G. (2022) Drapers, Gen Z and Millennials. Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/gen-z-and-millennials-2022 (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)

McKinsey & Company (2023), The A to Z on Gen Z. Available at: Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured- insights/themes/the-a-to-z-on-gen-z (Last accessed: 14 October 2023) 

Animus Marketing (2023), How to Market Your Fashion Brand to Gen Z. Available at: https://animasmarketing.com/how-to-market-your-fashion-brand-to-gen-z/#:~:text=Gen%20Z%20is%20the%20first,media%20presence%2C%20especially%20on%20TikTok.?utm_content=cmp-true (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)

Mckay A, Moore S, Kubik W (2018), Western Beauty Pressures and Their Impact on Young University Women, International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies, American Research Institute for Policy Development, Vol. 6, pg. 1. (online) http://ijgws.com/journals/ijgws/Vol_6_No_2_December_2018/1.pdf(Last accessed: 14 October 2023)

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna (2023), Beauty for All, Available at: https://fentybeauty.com/ (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)

Fetto, F (2020), How Fenty Beauty Changed The State of Play In The Industry, British Vogue, Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/rihanna-fenty-beauty-diversity (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)

Cifre R A (2021), New FTAlliance report unveils the 8 key future jobs in fashion-tech, University of the Arts London, Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/knowledge-exchange/stories/new-report-unveils-8-future-jobs-in-fashion-tech (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)