The 7 P's of Promotion

The Marketing Mix

The understanding of Marketing Mix, or otherwise known as the "7 p's " of promotion, is fundamental to building a successful fashion brand. It's all about getting the right product out to the right target market, at the right time, if you want your product to sell well. If any of these seven points are misjudged even slightly, this could mean disaster for the company, and someone may end up in the firing line.
♡ Firstly, there are the four original P's: product, place, promotion and price. The product should be something that your specific customers want and need, for example: an bardot top would sell to women aged 15-28 with a relatively stable income, who enjoy keeping up to date with the latest fashion trends. This therefore persuades them to purchase the product from the brand as customers feel as though their money will be spent well. The product should also keep within a brand's identity as this encourages brand loyalty from customers.
♡ Place comes next. This determines where the product should be sold within the fashion market. The bardot top would sell well in a fast fashion retailer like Topshop, as bardot and other fast fashion designs change quickly and fast fashion retailers are accessible to the target market.  Place also includes online retailing, direct sales and wholesale.
♡ The price should represent good value for money; if the price is too high the consumers will feel as though they are being ripped off. If the price is too low however, they may feel that the product is cheap and may not last any time at all.  It's all about finding the middle ground. A bardot top from Topshop ranges from £22 - £45 depending on the material and decoration used. The price should also fit in with  pricing for the whole brand. If a price is too different it will stick out like a sore thumb!
♡ The promotion is how brands advertise their new products to their target market. This could be through magazine features and editorials, television adverts, youtube adverts, social media platforms, posters or leaflets just to name a few. All of these channels would be used if the brand was using an IMC ( integrated marketing campaign) or omni channel campaign.  However, some brands have to be selective in this, as some advertising channels may not be seen by some age ranges. Where Topshop often uses social media and online lookbooks to promote new products, an older age range may not see this as they may not use social media as much as younger consumers. Therefore, magazines or television adverts would more likely be seen by them. 

Then there are the extended P's. These aren't absolutely essential for the brand, however it helps if the brand has these.
♡ People - These are the people that give the brand personality and keep the brand afloat. These people can range from managing directors, to store managers to general staff. Having the right people to run the brand or stores, makes the brand experience much nicer for customers and entices them to return to the brand. This can also include celebrity endorsement for brands. For example Alexa Chung has collaborated with Vogue for a mini  Youtube series on elements or the fashion industry, and Adriana Lima often does store visits to US Victoria's Secret stores to help promote the brand.
♡  Process -  This could include online shopping, free returns, free delivery, next day delivery, personal shopping and in store delivery.
♡ Lastly, there is physical evidence. This may include receipts or the EPOS system which records company sales.
   



Until next time
Anna xx

Image references:
https://m.topshop.com/en/tsuk/product/striped-bardot-top-5054649
http://marketingmix.co.uk/