Instagram Inspiration - Lauren Conrad

Another source that I was still yet to try out in terms of secondary research was Instagram. The reason why I wanted to ensure that I had covered the basis of this was because of the rise in this social media platform as of late. This has really took off which has allowed people and even the celebrities to post whenever they like. All forms of shops including Selfridges have set up an instagram page to allow the consumer to view snippets of what is coming or what has been a best seller. I found that when looked at their own instagram page this was something that I wanted to add to and create a new one especially for the flower service. This would allow new hash tags and allow the new, replenished audience to become aware of the updates that this will then have.

I visited Instagram because I knew that I would be able to find some forms of inspiration for the flower service whether this be colours, arrangement, style, or general inspiration. I knew I would then have some other method of inspiration to work from.

The first page that I came across that I found to be intriguing was Lauren Conrad the famous model. She regularly posts about getting flowers sent as a gift, or by delivery. As this was so I want to showcase some of the flowers she posts as I found that they are not only pleasing on the eye but they are unique and presented in a simple way but this is sophisticated and classic giving off that chic look which is what I want for th luxury brand of Selfridges.

Here are the images that I saved from the Lauren Conrad instagram this shows the beauty of the flowers and how a simple piece of arrangement can change the way the product is viewed. In addition, the way in which they are photographed means that they are presented in a pleasing manner and allows the close up shots to express the power of the flowers. This is something that when I have planned a shoot out I will look into more detail in. The use of ribbons and the like of cups by placing the flowers in this again makes the whole presentation form more innovative and would allow the brand of Selfridges to stand out.
The use of the colour palettes again is what stood out to me with all the pastel colours and the vibrant colours. This is something that I need to also consider with it being launched in Spring/Summer 15 this means that the spring pastel colours will be on trend along with the brighter ones.
All of which i will have to consider when going into a florists and looking at exactly what it is they can offer me.

Pretty Little Thing Talk Notes - Digital Marketing

During class time, my tutor had arranged for a talk to be set from a previous Missguided employee who now works for Pretty Little Thing. This talk was extremely beneficial for giving us some facts and knowledge on digital marketing. Here are some notes I made from the talk that I think should be able to guide me and help me along my development process.

• Campaign goals and tracking are key - you need to ask yourself what are you trying to achieve? through campaign how will you know what/when this is achieved?
• Stronger forms of promotion are showcased towards the middle of the month due to people being paid soon.
• The last week of the month there seems to be a push for promotion with payday fast approaching. This is strategic planning and persuasion which can help the consumer to make orders.

• Target consumers can be supported through the use of Google Analyitics. This can give information on Facebook, Data in general and Mintel.
• When designing and formatting this you need to consider the convent and the engagement strategies to allow this service to come to life and stand out from the crowd.
• Need to examine current customer behaviour and see whether your service can apply to this or are you then bringing a whole new consumer into the brand.
• Competitors offer - what can they offer their consumer. How are you going to over come them being a threat to the service? can you test this out?
• Offers allow consumers to feel as though they are willing to spend more money so these need or should be considered.
• The site and social means need to always integrate.

• You should only post on social between 5-7 times a day
• First thing in the morning and last thing of a night are the best time to catch peoples attention - coming in from college, work.
• Plan out a day in the life of the consumer and you will become aware of the best times that you will contact your consumers.
• Mobile is becoming a key factor within society - tracking! social, website, email.
• 3 emails a week based on the consumers lifestyle is plenty ( Sunday is the best day to send out as majority of consumers check in over the weekend to see what they have missed)

• Budgeting and measuring - How much budget do you have? Look to Google analytics, email platforms, 3rd part reports, google trends.

General Inspiration Images

To ensure that I try and cover all the innovative outcomes possible, I was again searching on Tumblr and Pinterest to try and find creative layouts and designs that I could possibly imitate and include within my service that I am providing for Selfridges.

The first of images that I came across were from tumblr.

The first image is of candles that can come in different shapes. I found that this was pleasing on the eye and could be features within my service. They could come as a variety of different flower shapes with different colours and a collection could then be based within this to allow collectable items. This would allow the consumers to either buy them as they are or buy the kit which they could then make at home. This would allow more action between the consumer and the product which could be successfully placed together. This would or could possibly encourage the consumer to come back to the store to buy into this more so. This is just an idea but I was drawn into this.

The second image is a lampshade that has buttons stuck within this. This again was another product area that stood out to myself. When I first seen this I initially thought that this would be great with real life flowers stuck onto this however, it would require a lot of maintenance and i doubt consumers would like the up keep. So my second thought was to possibly create synthetic one of  different colour however, i am unsure as to whether this would be successful.

Broaches was already an idea of mine which would be placing a new real life flower onto the clip which could be changed regularly. This would allow a fresh essences to be present when wearing the item and i believe this would be extremely innovative and creative enough to allow consumers to also want to wear one.

The head garlands was another form of accessory that  I want hoping to create however, I am unsure as to whether this would work and how i would go about this. This however, did stand out to me as an innovative and intriguing product.

The use of the birdcages was another option that I thought could work really really well as I found these to be aesthetically pleasing and allows the accessory as well as the flowers to shine and become a form of decoration. If I am able to get my hards on a birdcage this is also something I will consider to use.

All of these images inspired me in some way or another. I have found that I could keep looking and looking for images as the flower industry is so broad and there is so much to try and look into. I think I will leave this for now and look on another source and then this be it otherwise I will find myself to never be narrowing this down. 

Week 7 Timelog

This week has most probably been my most successful week to date. I feel as though I have managed to get a lot of research completed and found that my idea and service is most definitely going to come to good use with the consumer that this is targeting. This will allow myself to be able to gather more development and have a substantial amount of inspiration to look over and try and plan out what I want my images to be like and how i will go about trying to re-create this.

During this week I have focused on research this being my main priority. I have looked into sources such as Mintel, WGSN, Pinterest, Tumblr and general pieces whilst also looking into and analysing strategies that competitors are focusing on. All of which has helped me with my inspiration. This has displayed how important and how much on trend the florist industry is and how much impact this has on consumers when they are carrying out their shopping. This has made it sure to myself that I want this to be a work of art, a piece of decoration and an in depth gift rather than not thought being placed into this whole buying situation.

By looking into the behaviour of consumer and finding out that sometimes they pass by and go straight to what they are looking for means that my service needs to be aesthetically pleasing and engaging which makes the consumers intrigued which will then persuade them into wanting to purchase something. During this week I have collected a lot of imagery that I have found to be pleasing and different which allows your imagination to take over and wonder how this has been created and who thought of this whole process. This has motivated me to try and be as innovative as i possibly can be.

This week has been extremely helpful. Within the next week I want to progress even further and look into colour schemes, digital marketing, trend research, icon and logo ideas and also look into other secondary sources. This will again allow further progression.

Report Guideline Notes

• Understand the brand - communicate throughout the report
• Research investigation (personal outcome)
• Clearly defined sections (Simple communication)
• What is your objective?

Research Plan

• Company/industry context/competitors (perceptual map)
• Customers
• Product
• Market segmentation
• All aspects of design
• Current promotional trends
• Future directions

Types of Research

• Primary (visuals,interviews,questionnaires)
• Secondary (Mintel, magazines, articles, internet, books, journals)

Sources

• Mintel
• WGSN
• Magzines
• Internet
• Focus Groups
• Journals
• Books

Define your aims

• What should I focus on?
• Market, SMART objectives, 5 It's, 6P's, Summary/Conclusion

Question the appropriateness of everything you are including (PRIORITIES)

Structure

• Title
• Contents list
• Abstract
• Methodology
• Lit Review
• Introduction
• Market Segmentation
• SMART OBJECTIVES
• 5 It's
• Main Body
• Summary/conclusion
• Bibliography
• Appendicies

Market Segmentation

• How is the market broken down?
• Where does the product/service sit?
• Market Level
• Who are the competitors? Do they pose a threat?
• Target market
• Need? Desire? Want?

Smart Objectives

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time

Product/Service

• What are the features?
• USP
• ESP
• Styles, colours, ranges, features, brand extensions
• Life Span

Price

• Look at competitors
• Price strategy
• Will it make a profit?
• Price reflection

Place

• Is it available in the right place?
• IS it good footfall?
• What does the store look like?
• Where will it be sold?
• What are the benefits?
• Is it available on global or inter nation scales?
• Available in particular places?

Promotion

• Communication
• How can you reach your consumer?
• What promotion works best?
• Specialist advertisment?
• Specialist advertisements
• Communication specialist
• Objectives
• Raise awareness

Things to consider;

• Packaging
• Celebrity endorsements
• Sponsorshop
• Press releases
• Launch party
• Graphics
• Advertising

People

• Specialist skills from staff?
• Trained in a special way?
• Particular selling technique?
• What customer service can they offer?
• Uniform or corporate clothing?

Persuasion

• How will you persuade the consumer?
• Do the brand values equal the consumer values?
• Does the lifestyle represent the service?
• Understand the gap in the market
• What message will the promotion communicate?

Campaign Planning Notes

• Focus on retail and adaptation
• Understanding how to communicate with the consumers

Research

• Brand ethos
• Product/service
• Market trends and competitors
• Consumer insight
• SWOT
• Set smart objectives, aims and KPI's
• Get the message right
• Remember the 6P's
• Create a timing plan
• Think about consumer relations management and corporate responsibility
• Measure engagements
• Measure interactions (social)

Think to consider

• When will creative working be completed?
• When will this then be sent to print?
• How will you gain sales? Why the product you have chocen?
• How will you gain loyal consumers?
• What are they key elements for the campaign?
• A creative hook is needed!!

Introduction Planning

A Recipe for Writing an Introduction

An Introduction should contain the following three parts:

1. General Background.

In this part you have to make clear what the context (product/service within market) is. Ideally, you should give an idea of the USP/ESP of the market level you are aiming towards. Keep it short this part should be less than a page long.

2. The Rationale

The background leading problem could be consumer behaviour / dip in the market / over saturation, competitor approach
 

If there was no problem, there would be no reason for writing a report, and definitely no reason for reading it. So, please tell the reviewer why she should proceed reading. Consider including abridged evidence to back up your decision.  

3. The Proposed Solution.

You may outline the essence of the report. Here you have to make sure you point out what are the novel aspects (unique about your campaign) of your work.

In addition there can be the following optional ingredients:

4. An anticipation of the conclusion

For example consider how the campaign is expected to affect, consumer reaction, competitor reaction, brand profit, brand profile and/or their approach to corporate social responsibility.

                                                                                                                                

This is the hand out that was sent out by my tutor. With this being so I am going to use this to help me begin writing up my dissertation to allow further development to take place. With my tutor wanting to see this and look over this, this is something that will have to be completed by the end of the week.

I want to include the background of the service  so explaing what this will entail, how this will work, what features will be dominant, the reasoning for creating this service, the reason for selecting Selfridges as a brand and point out the key points about the service. These will include why the consumers will want to shop there over every other place. This needs to be engaging to allow the reader to want to read on and finish reading the whole dissertation.

This will be written the the end of this week and posted on this blog to show that I have created a draft of the introduction and ready to begin on the next section.