Dwijendra Kumar
A good product designed so painstakingly by a fashion designer needs to be marketed well so as to reach into the cupboards of a discerning customer and help him/her get suitable return on the investment. Herein comes the role of fashion marketing.
Marketing of any merchandise involves the process of creating awareness and launching a promotional campaign around the product. It is through the contents in print or on social media or via audio visual mode that a consumer gets requisite information about a fashion product. And therefore campaign launched turns out to be the face of the product.
Pic Courtesy: Aman Mathur Fashion House
However so good a product may be, if the campaign does not arouse curiosity in the consumers, it would not meet the desired response from the market.
No wonder then, a carefully designed promotional campaign to promote sales of fashion products and accessoris and to create awareness regarding the same is what we call the Fashion Marketing. This career may be an ideal choice for those having passion for Business of Fashion. Other characteristics of a good Fashion Marketer may be that s/he should have excellent communication and inter-personal skills, keep an eye on past, present and trend to come in the fashion field. S/he should be able to guide the design team with his/her inputs on what may sell in the market.
According to Fashion Designer Aman Mathur who is into Designer Wear with his brand Aman Mathur Fashion House in Lucknow, ” Fashion Marketing is one of the most important pillars of the fashion industry. Some of the main domains in fashion marketing are marketing strategies, brand imaging, styling, and visual merchandising. In fashion marketing we mainly focus on dealing with advertising campaigns and promotional events of the items, clothing, and accessories to the targeted customers. The ideas being how to showcase it in the market or how to increase the appeal of the products.”
“Fashion Marketing is different from the business of other products as Fashion Marketing is typically a media-driven endeavor that introduces your company to prospective customers. Whereas sales of other products are usually human-driven, with a salesperson introducing your company to a prospective customer, ” he adds.
Duties and Responsibilities
1. Designing campaigns to promote sales of the fashion products and also create awareness so as to create a good image about the same.
2. Determining budget for the advertising campaigns based on an in-depth research of the qualities of the product and need for the same amongst the consumers.
3. Creating catchy contents and using the same on various social media platforms eg. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Websites, Fashion blogs, pages devoted to new products’ launch etc.
4. Handling the marketing team, overseeing their work and guiding them to meet the desired results.
5. Pricing of a Fashion Product plays a crucial role in determining its sales. Fashion Marketer owns up this important responsibility
.6. What are the current trends and what would sell in the market; Fashion Marketers keep informing the same to the Designing Team.
Professional Courses in the Field
Leading names in the fashion education including National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India offers courses in Apparel Merchandising and Fashion Management which make an aspirant in the field of Fashion Marketing aware of nuances of the business side of fashion. A course in Fashion Communication does also come handy. Courses in Journalism, Sales and Marketing, Public Relations, Mass Communication, Management may also help.
Aman Mathur who has graduated in Fashion Design from NIFT is of the view that Fashion Education is something that’s a vast thing to deliver because every aspiring student has a different vision and career goals. E.g. few of them want to start their label or want to work under a brand or want to go abroad and work. So the training must be given according to their calibre , skills, and vision. The required basic knowledge can be attained from the fashion designing colleges but the expertise comes with the right training or the internships done.
Employment Opportunities
Once through the course and having done internship with a leading fashion designer, brand or company, a Fashion Marketer may pursue his/her career may by occupying one or more of the following positions:
1. Sales/Marketing/Brand/ Design/ Production Manager.
2. Head- Brand/ Fashion Marketing Team
3. Consultant- Branding/Fashion Marketing
4. Researcher/ Research Analyst – Market
5. Manager- Public Relations and Promotions
6. Purchase Manager
Skills Required
In addition to having inherent interest in the world of fashion, an aspirant in the fashion marketing should have following qualities to succeed in the field:
1. Creativity; so as to think out of the box and design promotional campaigns accordingly.
2. Social Media skills; be aware of various social media platforms and its use to promote fashion products.
3. Excellent communication skills since s/he would be in constant touch with Advertising Agencies and in-house designing team.
4. Must have interest in fashion trends and what the leading fashion influencers including film and sports personalities are wearing.
5. Must have interest and ability to research and analyse customers’ preferences, likes and dislikes.
“If we talk about the skills required for marketing, then the aspirants must have good communication skills He/ she needs to be updated with the latest fashion trends to create the right campaigns to appeal to the eyes of the customers. The person must know how to plan, direct, or coordinate marketing policies and programs. Few other skills include having good vision and entrepreneurial skills, ” Aman Mathur sums up.
