by FASHION MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
That is what I felt and saw few years ago in a building of LVMH, inside of their famous black elevator – quiet, no sound, no light – nothing, scaring like everything was over … but when I went out …wow – bright products and visual merchandising, design, music – suddenly everything became brighter and clearer …
Looks like in business – every day there are the same things – and once you stop to feel… You need changes. Consulting – is a kind of black elevator that will shake you and highlight the points, direction and strategy. Everything will be new. Everything you did not think about …or forgot.
And also it will give you the information. When I was a child my father told me that “information is the most expensive and the biggest value in life”. At this site, and during our meetings, we’ll talk about management in fashion industry, but not by scientific, theoretical language of consulting (looks like the specialists speak this way just to be mysterious, to look genius and to be paid more); we shall speak by examples and cases, by practical simple language. I really missed that when I was studying in London and Paris, when I was making first start ups and developing many directions in fashion industry – retail, advertisement… All this came to me later. Entire management is not the papers; it is something what you face every day. And that works.
We begin today with Branding. When I was a baby and collecting labels from expensive French dresses, I did not know that my hobby was called branding. And I did not know that later, when, during the moments of loneliness and sadness, I was speaking with these dresses (almost by Remark), and when I was interested by the lily on the arm of Milady (“The Three Musketeers”).
But once few years ago in Paris I saw the first advertising of the perfume “Parisienne” by YSL, which was all about my dreams of the moment – to become a part of them, Parisians, beautiful, sexy and at the same time free and independent. The slogans, brand message shouted to me: “Live and love now without delay” – constant words of my psychologists to me. So, I was running to buy this perfume (stayed faithful to it for many years) … And soon, nine months later, I got my daughter. This way branding came into my life forever.
And that is exactly what marketers call “managing the brand to involve into the customers’ stories”- the innovation in branding (and not vice versa, as before – not to engage customers into the brand’s story).
TIP: take consulting and make the profile of your client, think about what he is, and how he would like to see himself, what is it his story, mood, objectives, problems now. Try not to analyze data – age and geography (not the most important now), but only his emotional situation. Now it is more difficult for a human to solve the psychological problems than vital. For this he is ready to pay – so create his mood board, involve your brand in his story, make him happy. Then he is going to become your loyal client, and he’ll make you rich!
There is the world crisis and the catastrophe with the sales in Ukraine. The fashion sales are few times less in 2015 (in 2014 – 50% less and 14 fashion brands,8 fashion networks left Ukraine).You think that the war is the problem? Or inflation? Or crisis?