Fashion Marketing & Branding

Mary Button Summer 2013

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| D E N MA R K |

b Ac KG R O U N D
Located in northern Europe, the Kingdom of Denmark is Scandinavian/ Nordic country, rich in history and tradition as well as progressive change. Home to nearly 5.6 million Danes, Denmark is a country made up of vibrant cities, beautiful country sides, many islands and thousands of miles of coastline. The countrys government is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy, currently lead by Queen Margrethe II and Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Among many things, Denmark is known for its social balance and equality, universal welfare, healthcare and education, and its commitment to becoming a greener society. Consistently ranking high on the European Commissions Eurobarometer for well-being and happiness, Denmark was recognized by the UN Conference on Happiness as the happiest nation in the world in 2012.

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FA M I LY

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cOMMUNITY

Family is an important part of Danish life. Danes pride themselves on maintaining a healthy balance between work/professional ambition and family, happiness and relaxation. Work structure in Denmark allows for a great deal of flexibility, allowing Danes to set parameters for their work schedule that function best for them. Equality is another integral part of Danish culture. In most households, both parents work and it is unusual for a mother to be a stay at home parent, in fact, many women hold more advanced degrees then their spouses. Additionally Denmark was the first country to give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples with the establishment of the registered partnership in 1989. Within the community, many events and celebrations are held together. Socialization is an integral part of Danish society. Whether it be participating in sporting events together or joining friends and family at a street festival, Danes are happiest when they are together. In fact many Danes credit their positive and healthy relationships with one another as one of the main reasons for their happiness and satisfaction living in Denmark. Research show what makes the Danes so happy is that they are very trusting of other people they dont know. Trust helps make people happy. Also just as importantly, Danes feel empowered to be able to change something in their life if they dont like it. The great thing about Danish society is that it doesnt judge other peoples lives. It allows them to choose the kind of life they want to live, which is sometimes not always possible in other countries, so this helps add to the overall satisfaction of people living here -Professor Christian Bjornskov

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C U L T U R A L C O N S U M E R B E H AV I O R

H O L I DAY TRADITIONS

 Denmark culture has a wide array of traditions especially for holidays. Many of these traditions are similar to those practiced in the United States, but Danes have unique customs for many of their larger celebrations. First in the calendar year is celebrated before the beginning of Lent, which is the Danish equivalent to Carnival or Mardi Gras. During Fastelavn, children dress up in costume and go door-to-door asking for candy or change, much like trick-or-treating for Halloween in the U.S. Additionally, children partake in a game translated as Kick the Kitty Kat, in which kids take turns hitting at a hanging wooden barrel filled with candy and small toys. Two winners emerge at the end of the game; the Cat Queen- the person who broke the barrel, and the Cat King- the one who knocks down the last of the barrel. Parties for Fastelavn include grand meals and Fastelavnboller, a sweet bun. For Easter, Danes have a special tradition of sending teaser letters. Teaser letters are anonymous riddles written on cut paper. The letters are signed in a series of dots corresponding to the number of letters in the senders name and sent with a snowdrop, the first flower of the year and a sign of the end of winter. The object of the teaser letters is to identify (or avoid being identified as) the sender of the letter. The loser owes the winner a chocolate egg. Following Easter is the Christian Pentecost or Whitsun; the day the Danes regard as the awakening of nature. On this day, Danes either stay up the night before or wake up early in the morning to go out and watch the sun dance. Usually this is accompanied by a picnic and followed by a day of celebrations welcoming the sun back to Denmark. On June 23, the day before Midsummer Day (also the birthday of John the Baptist) and regarded by the Danes as the summer solstice, friend and family gather together for a dinner celebration and then proceed to area bonfires, historically lit to keep evil forces away during the shortened night. The bonfires and celebrations mark the end of the school year and official beginning of summer holiday for students. Midsummer Day is the last major celebration before Christmas. Christmas is a month long celebration for the Danish people, with many cultural traditions. Throughout December, families count down the days until Christmas with countdown candles, advent wreaths and, for the children, advent calendars with daily treats behind each numbered location in the countdown. On the 13th of December, Danes celebrate St Lucia Day by performing a ritual inherited from Sweden in which a group of girls dressed in white, lead by one wearing a wreath with candles on her head, process through the halls singing the Santa Lucia song. Traditions involving the decorating of Christmas trees in Denmark date back to the early 1800s, and today the trees are usually adorned the day before Christmas Eve with fairy lights, cutout pixies, hearts and candles, usually in red and white for the Denmark flag, a tradition established following the occupation by Germany during WWII. The largest of Christmas celebrations occur during the Christmas days, Christmas Eve through Boxing =, in which Danes celebrate with family and friends and enjoy the time away from work. Traditionally, children received gifts from a Christmas pixie, but today Father Christmas, a tradition from America that grew during the late 19th century, has replaced the role of the pixie.

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S TAT E

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GREEN

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Denmarks vision for a green future means becoming independent of fossil fuels by 2050. Sustainability and greener living is a movement that stretches across the country. Most notably in Denmarks green culture is the large population of Danes who utilize bicycles as their primary mode of transportation. Denmark was a biking nation from the 1930s until the 1960s when cars finally took over the city, but in the 1970s and 1980s, bikes slowly made their comeback. Cities adapted their streets to include large bike lanes to make biking as safe as possible for residents. Businesses, schools and places of work added copious amounts of bike racks to accommodate the growing population of bike riders. In addition to a large number of bike riders, Denmark has also implemented the use of solar and wind energy to help remove the countries dependency of fossil fuels. A field of solar panels on one of Denmarks islands provides enough energy to provide heat and heated water to the adjacent community. New buildings in Denmark a being built within this green model; for example the new UN building, built in Copenhagen, has solar panels on the roof to provide energy to the building, seawater from the port on which it is located is pumped into the basement to help cool the building, water usage is reduced by 60% by using collected rainwater, furthermore, over 600 bike racks were installed to encourage employees to bike to work. Overall these advances help reduce the buildings energy consumption by 55%.

FA S H I O N

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In todays Danish society, sustainable, green design is the corner stone for all design, architecture and fashion. Traditionally Danish design was focused on three characteristics; the user, respect for materials, and attention to details. Todays design still upholds these values, adding a use of responsible materials and production methods. New building designs utilize green technology to prepare them for Denmarks even greener future. Designers of products focus on creating long-lasting, quality products that people can feel good about investing in. Denmarks fashion scene is ever growing. Copenhagens Fashion Week had grown to become the largest in the Scandinavian countries and a viable presence amongst other European shows. Like other categories of design, fashion designers are moving to creating more sustainable and responsible garments without dismissing the functionality and design of the garments. Fast-fashion is quickly being replaced with timeless pieces made of quality materials that can be worn for years or exchanged with other Danes at clothing swaps. Fashion companys are changing their methods for production to make their products more responsible. From using organic fabrics produced in the most sustainable methods, to paying factory workers fair wages, designers are looking to provide the eco-conscious Danes with products they can support.

SOURcES
C U L T U R A L C O N S U M E R B E H AV I O R
WWW.DENMARK.DK W W W . c I A . G OV W W W . T H E LO c A L S . D K W W W . c O P E N H AG E N FA S H I O N W E E K . c O M W W W . c O P E N H AG E N M E D I Ac E N T E R . c O M W W W . F L I c K R . c O M / D E N M A R KD O T D K

CONSUMER PERSONA

Consumer Persona

Consumer Persona | CAMILLA ANDERSEN

Camilla Andersen is a 37-year-old Danish woman. She and her husband Henrik recently celebrated their 1 1th wedding anniversary. Together they have three children, Jesper age 9, Jette age 7 and Johanna age 1, as well as a border collie named Nanna. Camilla works full time as the editor of the popular Danish womens magazine, Femina, while Henrik works as the director of finance for a firm that provides support for eco-friendly and local businesses, providing their family with an income that allows them to live comfortably in the posh Copenhagen neighborhood, Frederiksberg. While Camillas job is very demanding, making time for her family is extremely important to her. On weekends they enjoy partaking in the many offerings of the city, whether it be bike riding through Frederiksberg Gardens, visiting the animals at the zoo or pursuing the shops along Gammel Kongevej. Born and raised in Copenhagen, Camilla truly loves her city and country, celebrating and supporting that what makes them unique. From buying from local business and artists, to participating in community events and festivals, Camilla immerses herself and her family into Danish society. Camilla and Henrik consider themselves to be foodies and enjoy spending a weekly date night together discovering new restaurants or visiting old favorites. She loves having fresh flowers in her home and office and frequents the flower stand in her neighborhood. In her spare time, Camilla enjoys reading books, especially those on history and culture. Her design aesthetic combines the clean styling of Scandinavian design with classic, timeless pieces while incorporating unique interest pieces both in her home and wardrobe. When shopping, Camilla prefers to support local business and designers. While shopping for her wardrobe, Camilla looks for smart, fashionable pieces to match her high profile job. She looks for well-designed, well-constructed, high quality pieces that will last longer then one season, and will keep up with her and her very active lifestyle. Her ideal outfit can go from concept meetings at the office, to an afternoon in the park with her kids and Nanna, to out to dinner with her husband in the evening. In addition to shopping for herself, Camilla enjoys buying clothes for her kids. They too live busy lives that demand a wardrobe that is versatile and durable. While her personal style tends to be a bit more reserved, Camilla likes to be a bit more adventurous with her childrens clothes, shopping for fun prints and graphics, bright and bold colors and whimsical silhouettes. In addition to clothing, Camilla often returns from shopping trips with at least a few books to add to her home library, a new item for the kitchen or home, and a special treat from the dog bakery for Nanna.

CONSUMER PERSONA

CONSUMER PERSONA

SOURCEs
CONSUMER PERSONA
cph-daytoday.com dagens.dk dejligedays.blogspot.com denmark.dk.com dst.dk femina.dk housebeautiful.com janegoodrich.com visitcopenhagen.com

CONsUMER REsEARCH
The purpose of this research strategy will be to gauge the effectiveness of a new advertising campaign for a Danish Childrens wear brand. The research will be qualitative, structured as a focus group discussion among the targeted consumer. The target consumer is working mothers in their 30s shopping for their children who are between the ages of 4-10. These mothers have a steady income and would be considered in an upper middle income bracket. They are looking to invest in quality, well designed clothing pieces for their children and would prefer to buy from local or small-scale designers as opposed to big-box or mass-produced brands. Since the brand itself is small and plans to stay within the Danish market, the sample size for the focus groups will be small. A total of three different groups comprised of 7-10 women fitting within the parameters of the target consumer will be used. The focus group will be lead by a moderator who will prompt the group with questions and will be recorded for further review. The research is in the early learnings stage and the results will help the management and marketing teams edit and develop the campaign. Since this campaign will only gauge the opinion of the mothers, a separate research strategy will be used to gather data from children on the campaigns appeal to them. What is your first opinion of the advertising campaign? How do you think your children would respond to this campaign? From this campaign, how would you deem the appropriateness of the product/brand for your child? Where do you think its most appropriate for your children to encounter advertising? (i.e. internet, T.V., magazine, posters etc) Are there any places you think are inappropriate for children to encounter advertising? From this campaign, how much would you expect to pay on average for an outfit from this brand? Can you distinguish the level of product quality from this campaign? If so, how would to classify the level of quality? From the campaign, do you think the brand meets your expectations for brands you would buy childrens clothing from? If you were not familiar with the brand or product, would this campaign encourage you to find out more about the brand/product? What could the brand do or change in their advertising campaign to earn your business?

CONSUMER RESEARcH

B R A N D I N G S T R AT E G Y

Marketing, Retail, & Branding Strategies

Original Brand
B R A N D I N G S T R AT E G Y
Traehus is a childrens clothing boutique in the Frederiksberg neighborhood of Copenhagen. They offer a selection of organic, eco-conscious, and free-trade clothing and soft accessories for babies and toddlers. The overall feel of the brand is a woodland dream- the clothes are all in soft, muted, pastel tones, the decor is sweet and woodsy with a lot of baby animals motifs. The current brand targets mothers that want to buy socially responsible clothing for their children and have enough income to do so. Being located in the posh, family-friendly, neighborhood Frederiksberg, makes Traehuss location ideal for attracting these customers. The brand is repositioning because it has been taken under new ownership. The new owner is a designer who wants to produce the stores product in-house as opposed to sourcing from other designers. With this change in product the designer also wants to change the aesthetic of the brand to be more modern, clean and graphic - a growing trend in Scandinavian design that seen less often in childrens clothes. The brand will maintain its commitment to organic, fair-trade products but will increase its appeal by also being locally designed/produced.

traehus

B R A N D I N G S T R AT E G Y

Re-Positioned Brand
B R A N D I N G S T R AT E G Y
The new Traehus will be bold, clean, graphic and fun. It will expand its product offering to include sizes for 4 - 7 year-olds. Polka dots and stripes will be abundant amongst bright, fun colors. The clothes will be high quality with a unique, handmade feel to them. Kids will love the fun prints and color and comfortable silhouettes and moms will love the quality of the garments as well as being able to support a local business/designer. In many ways, the targeted market will remain the same; marketing to mothers with young children who have money to invest in quality products they can feel good about purchasing. The biggest change between the old and new brand, is the new look and the addition of in-house designed/produced garments.

traehus

Brand equity includes the brand names positive association as a local brand/store/designer, the eco-conscious and socially responsible production standards, as well as being the only childrens brand in the neighborhood with a modern/graphic aesthetic. Brand assets are the logo and font.

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B R A N D I N G S T R AT E G Y

traehus

Re-Positioned Brand Elements

The new store environment will be clean, bright and inviting. The walls will be painted a fresh white. Simple built in shelving units will keep extra product tucked neatly away eliminating a cluttered feeling. The store will be inviting to children with a lofted tree fort play area, allowing Mom to make her choices. Modern light fixtures will keep the store and product well lit. The shopping bags will be 60 Bags printed with the Treahus label. 60 Bags are made of a specially material that allows them to decompose 60 days after being discarded. These bags will add to Traehuss commitment to the environment. Hang tags on the garments will be clean and simple with the logo, name, description, website and address printed on recycled kraft tags. The website, like the store will be clean, bright and simple making it easy for customers to find information and make purchases online.

B R A N D I N G S T R AT E G Y

traehus www. traehus.dk.com

traehus
who we are shop spotted! like us contact

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B U Y I N G P Ac K AG E

Buying Package
The emphasize for Traehus products in the highest level of quality at a boutique/high end price point. This line for Girls Spring 2014 include trends such as: watermelon as a feature color, pops of neon, stripes, polka dots, graphic elements and A-line dresses. As a brand focused on sustainability, Traehus avoids anything too trendy in order to make their products hand-me-down friendly without looking outdated. Elements of the collection are easily mixed and matched and many can be worn into different seasons, allowing the consumer to get the best use out of their investment. As Traehus currently only has one location, a limited amount of product would be produced. For these particular pieces, they would be carried in toddler (2T) through size 7. More units of sizes 4-6 will be carried then other sizes as this is the most popular size range and often sells out quickly. Any remaining stock left after end of the season markdowns will be donated to local charities as part of Traehus commitment to the community and environment.

B U Y I N G P Ac K AG E

M A R K E T I N G / A D V E R T I S I N G S T R AT E G Y

Marketing/Advertising Strategy
As a young, local small business, Traehus will utilize as many free advertising outlets as possible including word-of-mouth and self promotion on social media outlets. When appealing to young mothers, reaching out and connecting with them on social media keeps them engaged in the process and the product. Consumers who find supporting small, local businesses important want to see the face(s) of the business and social media is a great, free way to do this. Word of mouth is another strong marketing strategy for Traehus because these young mothers may be involved in mommy social groups, send their kids to the same schools or even just interact with other parents when at the neighborhood park, and will be more then willing to talk about Traehus when asked where they got the shirt/dress/etc that their child is wearing. The first major marketing need is for the grand re-opening of the store after its repositioning. Not wanting to isolate its old customers or confuse people, the opening will be phrased as a re-opening rather then trying to introduce the brand as a totally new store. Graphics used for the promotion will be fun and exciting to encourage people to come to the re-opening party as well as graphic and bold to convey the brands new aesthetic. An Instagram post is the perfect quick visual ad because it can be re-posted by other users to spread the word, and daily posts can include different sneak peaks at the introductory line. The cover photo on the Facebook page, quickly conveys the event information to anyone visiting the page. Again, daily photos will be shared, counting down to the opening, and building excitement. Business card sized speech bubble flyers are more appropriate for in-person interactions and to give out supporters to pass on to their friends and families. After the initial excitement of the opening wears down, it will be important to keep customers coming back. To do this, a loyalty program, the clubhus, will be created to give rewards to frequent shoppers and keep them informed of special events and promotions. To include the kids in this idea, one card will be for mom/dad, and a special card for kids will allow them to participate as well. The kids card will have a portrait box on the back for them to draw their self portrait as well as sign and date the card. Kids who bring their card with them when they shop with mom/dad will receive a special candy or toy prize.

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Grand Re Opening
2 Feb 2014 | 5972 Godthbsvej
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SOURCEs
Aprilandmaymini.blogspot.nl Badenbaden.jp Behance.net Cosmocricket.typepad.com Couture-enfants.tumblr.com Design-conscious.co.uk Designeast.eu Etsy.com Justbymanon.nl Luvocacy.com Modernfurnitureart.com Noeandzoe.com Orangemayonnaise.com Plusdemille.blogspot.com Pinterest.com Rstyle.me Splendid.com Spoonflower.com Spudgetikka.com Stellaandhenry.com Target.com Twiggyandlou.blogspot.co.uk Zara.com 60bag.com