Fashion Marketing and Promotion - Essay Example

Fashion Marketing and Promotion I. RESEARCH SECTION 1. Rationale for choosing your personal area of interest. I have always been inclined towards the visual arts. This interest resulted to my decision to take up Interior Design, a discipline which allowed me to practice my creativity while enhancing my ingenuity and my ability to understand artistic concepts to achieve the desired results. Spending three years learning the craft was genuinely enjoyable. I have come to improve my artistic skills, and learned to manage the spurts of ideas and turn them into really works of arts worthy of someone else’s appreciation. This experience also made me take up Fashion Marketing and Promotion. As maybe part of my artistic inclinations, is my personal quest to be highly fashionable and trendy, always up to date with the latest styles in fashion and beauty. I have a watchful eye towards the latest clothing designs, keeping track of famous brands and its new clothing lines. I am as interested in creating designs as well as finding the right strategy to market it, thus my current course fits me perfectly. At the moment, I feel like I am being molded into the profession that I eventually wish to embark in. I do not only practice my creativity, but also learn the science behind it. I get to understand the marketing concepts, create marketing ideas and be in touch with every aspect that makes up a really good brand. I am geared towards brand and product management, marketing and design all at the same time. And I feel that I am ready to learn more by advancing to the next step, which is being hands on in real company, with more tasks and greater responsibilities to handle. Moving from China to London has been inevitable, yet the crossover proved to be beneficial, as I am now exposed to another culture, with relatively other ways to execute creative concepts, and a totally different perspective to look from. The new opportunities fueled my desire to pursue a career in this field. I have met new people, explored new grounds and realized many other abilities that I have. This even prompted me to look beyond my initial goals and saw a whole lot of other opportunities for me to conquer. As a Marketing student, I have moved on to find interests in media and communications as a whole. Having spent the last few years being immersed in retail operations, I now understand that it takes a good communication plan and media connections to be able to successfully market my products. 2. Description of the process you went through to achieve your placement. Having spent the last three years learning all that is necessary to make me an effective fashion marketing professional, I am now set on being at the battlefield, so to speak. At this point, I am eager to put into practice all the concepts and learning, the theories and the ideas that I was able to learn in the classroom setting. I am focused on my goal, and to goal is to jumpstart a career in the retail industry as a Public Relations Officer. It was not difficult to create a shortlist of all the companies I wish to work for. There are a whole lot of clothing manufacturers in London, and even much more retailers found both in cities and suburbs, malls and commercial places, and even in e-commerce. I have decided to seek employment in a company that caters to similar products basically because I know that I already have a lot to offer in terms of education and experience. There would be lesser need for training in this aspect. I have over four years being a front liner for retail businesses, and I have gained knowledge first hand by meeting people, understanding their needs and wants and by being able to satisfy these needs through the products that I sell. Slightly veering away from Retail Operations, I would like to work on the other aspect of retail sales, which is Marketing and Public Relations. With this new discipline, I will be compelled to learn how to make effective campaigns in order to propel by brand to the top. Furthermore, the main job is to effectively create great campaigns that would solidify the company’s relationship with the general public. This way, the company’s image may be enhanced and maintained, and the brand to find greater appeal to its target market. II. REFLECTIVE ANALYSIS 1. Identification and evaluation of the skills used in your placement which you have learned on the course, including skills you needed but had not had access to. I have read that it takes specific qualities to succeed in Public Relations. Having strong communications skills is a must. Having an outgoing personality, friendliness and exuding self confidence would also be an advantage. There has to be good understanding of the human psychology, so that good and effective campaigns may be implemented. On top of this, there must be a huge amount of enthusiasm to get things going (Public Relations Specialist 2010). These qualities are traits that I believe I have. I am outgoing, I can effectively communicate. I express myself well through arts. I am in touch with the latest trends; I read a lot of magazines and have a great desire to learn. In the last few years that I stayed in London, I have also managed to start and keep friendships with people from the media, basically because of my current job. All these are helpful in my journey to become an effective PR Officer. However, there are a few things to improve. I have to learn to effectively communicate verbally and in writing, so that I may be able to write press releases, news updates and rejoinders as part of my career in Public Relations. Being able to write effectively is one key trait for a PR Officer, as the job entails so much communications work. As a Fashion Marketing student, I had exposure media identification and buying. I know how to make media surveys and create useful interpretative data basing on the findings. I believe that these skills would be useful as I start embarking on a career in Public Relations. 2. Reflective commentary based on your experiences in your work placement. All customers want value for their money. They spend on things that would surely satisfy their needs, and would hate to splurge on things that would not be beneficial to them in long run. They will look for the one that would closely match their preferences, and would not want to waste money and time for products that do not suit them. This is basically what I have learned being a Sales Associate in the last four years. Working for a retail shop means I have to deal with various types of customers. There are actually many types when it comes to preferences. But they basically are similar when it comes to finding great value. Knowing this, I am aware of the fact that companies work hard to build their brands for their target market. Companies find strategies to put the brand in its proper market position; make the product competitive and establish corresponding pricing strategies that would suit the brand and the product. But all these would be futile if the characteristics are not made public. There has to be a communication plan, a campaign that would tell the target market all the characteristics that this particular product has. Companies put premium on the job of media buying. It is not easy to just identify the right media vehicles. In fact, several studies have to be made and considered before advertisements are shown through the media partners. This is exactly the role of a Public Relations Officer. He ensures that all the right placements are made, and must create strong relationships with the media and the public as a whole to maintain market confidence in the product and the company. I have observed in my previous jobs that word of mouth can be truly beneficial to a product. Satisfied customers return to purchase more of the products, and most importantly, impart to their friends and families the level of satisfaction that the products provide them. With this, I have been very careful in ensuring that my customer’s needs are met. I provide the best kind of customer service, assist the customers in finding the right products and make my own commentaries regarding the product lines in question. This is something that I have learned firsthand. As such, I feel that I have performed the duties and responsibilities of a Public Relations Officer at the retail level as a Sales Associate. 3. A personal SWOT analysis STRENGTH I have strong career background in the fashion industry, particularly on retail operations, having been exposed to this kind of job for almost four years in two cultural settings. This is my ultimate strength as the experience has contributed a lot in my personal development as well. I have hands on knowledge on retail marketing, being on a front run as Sales Associate. I have learned the skills of communicating with customers, and I have developed a good understanding of customer service. Being able to interact with customers gave me the chance to hone my interpersonal skills. This gives me a solid background in Marketing, particularly in Public Relations. WEAKNESSES Needs improvement in terms of oral and written communication skills using the English language. As someone from another nation, I consider English as my second language, and this is something I need to conquer to be able to succeed in my chosen field. Needs to build and strengthen my network of media practitioners in London. I have been in London enough to meet friends and connections, but not enough of them from the media sector. Having s strong network of people from the media would definitely provide a good advantage for me. OPPORTUNITIES My current educational program will help me enhance my strengths and overcome my weaknesses. Having the experience and background sets me apart from other students, but of course, a diploma in marketing signifies that I have learned the essential concepts that would enable me to carry out the duties of a PR practitioner. Classroom training is still vital in building a career. There are many career opportunities in related fields which would help me improve my innate and acquired skills. London has many retail stores which could offer jobs to graduates like me (First 4 London 2010). THREATS Other students/ graduates of the same degree program who are also eyeing a career in the same field. Competition among marketing graduates is tough, especially among those who have more job experiences and have strong media connections. 4. An action plan to show how you will optimise your strengths and opportunities and overcome your weaknesses and threats. The action plan should also show what your plans are for the short, medium and long term. Having reached the last few months of my program, and being a few walks away from finally being called a professional, I consider everything as a journey, with the trip as important as the destination itself. I have long term goals – I wish to have a good career in Marketing doing Public Relations and even a bit of Brand Management and Marketing Services. I could also do Product Development, having finished fashion design. I can be well rounded. But to do this, I must first be able to conquer my weaknesses and maximize opportunities. First, I need to put more efforts in honing my communication skills. This is vital if I want to succeed in the Public Relations field. Being able to convey what exactly the message is would make me an effective professional. And I could only do this if I become expert in this language, and if I could use exact words that would represent my thoughts and the brand message as well. To do this, I must make an effort to read more and interact more with people in English. After conquering this weakness, I could say that I have achieved several steps in achieving my goals. I also need to put into practice the concepts I have learned from this program, which includes being able to highlight past job experiences to assure that I get the position that I want to acquire. Creating effective CVs and cover letters are the first steps towards catching the attention of employers. If I am able to portray my previous learning, there is a big chance that I would be trusted the responsibilities that I am applying for. There are plenty of job opportunities from the fashion Industry, and though there are many other graduates vying for the same career, I have a clear advantage having been exposed to the industry for a long time now. As a whole, I have a good background tucked under my sleeves, enough to enable me to embark in my chosen career. However, learning does not stop even for the experts of most experts. I should acknowledge that I still have a lot to learn and a lot to share in the future. Reference List Public Relations Specialist. Retrieved January 11, 2010 from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos086.htm First 4 London. Retrieved January 11, 2010 from http://www.first4london.com/directory/Retail/Department_Stores/ Read More