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Branding in fashion is the practice of creating an emotional connection with consumers. We do that by creating a brand that consumers can relate to and rely on. A brand isn’t just a logo, color palette, or tagline. It’s the emotional connection you create with your customer. Effective branding creates an experience that makes consumers choose you over your competitors.
Keenan Duffty, Fashion Business Essentials contributor and Director of Fashion Programs at Parsons, walks through the process of branding and how to build a brand from the ground up.
Watch the full video above to learn about:
- Why branding matters
- Can you launch a fashion company without considering branding
- How branding impacts pricing points
- How do you put together your branding
Why does branding matter in fashion?
Branding consists of your logos, your company’s name, color schemes, and fonts. It even comes down to the words you choose to describe your products. All of these things are essential to your branding. They define the mood you want people to experience when interacting with your brand. Your branding makes your company memorable. Whenever customers see your products, they recognize the packaging and know it’s your brand.
How important is branding to releasing my first collection?
Fashion branding is a systematic development of an overall image that communicates your company’s core values. How you present your designs to the world will determine whether people can relate to your brand and whether they will be willing to pay for it.
It would be best to spend considerable time sorting out your branding before launching your first product. Your brand should reflect who you are and what you stand for. Your branding also involves your price point. Are you a luxury brand? Are you a more budget-friendly brand? How will you price your clothing? You have to determine this before you start designing or sourcing fabrics.
What are the building blocks of a brand?
The first thing is defining your mission, vision, and value statement. These statements should briefly describe why you are in business and what you can offer to consumers. Once these elements are defined, it’s important to understand who your customer is. All marketing efforts should be guided by understanding the customer’s needs and desires. It would help if you then determined the key messages you want to communicate about your brand and what attributes will resonate with your target audience.
In addition to the marketing messages, consider all other ways you will communicate with customers about your brand. For example, do you have a logo? Do you have a tagline that goes along with it? Is there an overall look and feel to how you present yourself to consumers? This look and feel should be consistent across all aspects of your brand, including product packaging and retail spaces.
Are you interested in creating a fashion brand? Learn all the steps with industry-specific assignments and other key parts of the fashion business with the Fashion Business Essentials online course. Interested in fashion careers related to brand identity and marketing? Download this career guide and get matched with the fashion job of your dreams.
