Today, we're returning to a topic related to how brands, whether fashion or beauty, stand out in their industry today.
In a case study that we found in Business of Fashion, which is already a reference in providing the latest information on what's happening in the fashion world, it addressed the issue that it is essential to have a guide for marketing a brand - how it positions itself, its values, what its target audience is, what its developments are, its mission, among others. But one aspect that we find interesting is associated with the way people see brands, which already exist and continue to emerge, in the fashion industry is the emotional, inspirational and connecting factor that the brand has with the product it creates and for which it is recognised.
Nowadays, the fashion industry is extremely competitive, there is something new around the corner, what may be the best today may no longer be good enough tomorrow and there is competition. In this way, marketing becomes important for brands as a way of keeping updated, of being culturally in line with what is relevant and, above all, as a way of being seen.
In the article we analysed and gathered information on, after the great marketing boom of 2010, today we have the particularity of being able to mix new and old tactics to create the best marketing strategies. This allows brands that have been in the industry for longer to adapt, while the newest brands can understand what is being done and what they can bring to the table.
When we think of marketing, we almost always refer to how we can develop a brand's image with a particular product. It is the area within a brand that is dedicated to the functioning and development of the relationship that the brand creates with those who consume, wear and use it. It's one of the real keys to the brand's operation and the way we want to present and convey the message of a particular product or even the brand itself. It's a factor with growing influence, as it can have an impact on almost all the other fields that make up a brand.
Image and message are two aspects that complement each other. Just as important is the story behind a brand. If you think about it, the great brands and those that continue to emerge have their own story and create a narrative around a product or collection. The research process, the creation process and the way it is positioned and shared are all linked. In this way, there can be many explanations, intentions and motives for creating and presenting a product: the colours we use are intended to convey a certain feeling; the sizes we use allow us to include more people who can wear a pair of trousers; a jumper with a certain pattern created by the designer with inspiration from a trip he took; the inspiration for a certain collection comes from an imaginary created in which the main element is Nature. These are some of the countless stories and explanations that we can see, which make people identify or not with what is created.
Nowadays, one of the first things mentioned to explain a certain product or collection is how the idea came about, what the particularities are and, sometimes, there's always a funny story behind a pattern, T-shirt or any other product. That said, a particular item or brand needs to have a story - one that inspires and makes you identify with the people who wear it and who start looking at the brand; one that conveys emotion - you feel confident and good in a dress, you feel included in a pair of trousers and you feel happy in the fun pattern of your favourite brand's jumper; that allows a connection to be created with the people who wear and use it - the brand's image conveys a certain standard and its own style, which will often allow people with similar tastes and a "sense of style", or even who are looking for a certain type of garment, to go and find that brand because they know it's something they're almost guaranteed to find. These characteristics allow a relationship to be created between the two — brand and the people.
We consider these aspects to be the best ways for a brand to do marketing. However, we will always have the opportunity to develop and perhaps include other attributes to the mechanisms that a brand already has. Creating a connection with people has turned out to be crucial for the brand to stand out and remain in people's eyes, and to become something culturally relevant and necessary for those who follow and use the brand, and even for those who are just getting to know it.
After reading this case study, it was inevitable to start thinking about how Wedoble could place itself in this topic of the essential marketing guide for a brand today and, at the same time, how we have developed a strong connection with those who have been with us since day one and also the most recent ones. As a brand that's been around for over 20 years, we've seen this boom in marketing and its ever-increasing influence on how a brand operates. It has therefore become essential for us to adapt and create mechanisms that it would be unthinkable not to have today. One example we can give is our website - its presentation, image, information and functionality are crucial aspects to be kept updated.
Wedoble has always defined its garments as something that would give security, comfort and joy to the little and not so little ones who wear them. Knitwear is our brand image, which is why we wanted to create something that would allow us to put into practice our speciality in smaller, more detailed garments that require attention to every detail. Our origins meant that we wanted to develop our production techniques more with knitwear, which is why our collections are mostly knitted.
We believe that this explanation is only part of the story. We can add to it by saying that the fact that we work with knitwear allows us to present each piece with certain details, new techniques and forms of production and new perspectives on how to make a bodysuit, jacket or trousers comfortable, with quality and suitable for children's mobility. Throughout our journey, we have been recognised for this work and this motivates us to innovate.
Before we look at the above-mentioned aspects associated with Wedoble, there is one aspect that we want to make clear and that makes perfect sense to us when we present our brand - sustainability. Being an environmentally friendly brand is extremely important to us and nowadays it's a characteristic that people are increasingly looking for. So it's part of our image and the message we want to transmit, which becomes another aspect for those who have a relationship with our brand.
To return to the indicators presented in the article, we can start with the various associations that each collection gives our little ones. The collections dictate different textures, ideas and emotions. The autumn/winter collections - the warm baby, cosy colours that give us that holiday fun. The spring/summer collections - the fresh baby, with a light colour palette, knitted with softer or rustic stitches. In addition, we take into account all the new things we can bring to each collection and product, but we never forget that we want to maintain our image and the reason why people think about, associate with and use the garments we create. So there is this management between the expectation of those who know the brand and a continuous effort to do more and better for those who follow us and get to know us.
The idea of bringing something emotional and inspirational to the product that a particular brand has, we think is a point that we can associate with Wedoble. The fact that we produce pieces that can be linked to children's special moments - we can give examples such as the first outfit that parents put on their baby after birth or that jumper that the little one wore when they took their first steps. In addition, if the parents decide to have more than one son or daughter, there's a chance that these items will be passed down from generation to generation and thus bring back even more important memories and meanings for the whole family.
The family factor is something very strong in the people who work at the brand on a daily basis, as well as for those who wear our garments. There are many emotions and memories here. Also, maintaining contact with those who have trusted us, want to come back and recommend us to others is very important to us and makes us feel proud of the journey we have made so far and bring even more happy moments to everyone.
When we talk about marketing and the components mentioned above, we think we have a good mix of practices. If we're talking about new practices, we can mention that we favour constant communication, presence and activity on social networks and the brand's website, which are two channels that allow us to publicise and share our work, news, take into account the various opinions and understand what people think about the new collections. It's important to maintain this contact with people and make them part of our community.
What's more, we're addressing an important and unique experience in people's lives - creating their own family. Knowing that people trust our work is inspiring and emotional for us, in the sense that it makes us extremely proud of our journey so far and gives us the motivation to keep doing more and better.
It is undoubtedly essential to take this sphere into account when operating any brand. It brings us closer to people and, in our case, we are inevitably emotionally connected to the babies that are born, their parents and the new families that are created. This connection has always been the basis of our brand and we want it to always be linked to the comfort and quality we want to provide.
Throughout these 20 years of existence, it makes us proud to be one of the references for many people, both for the brand itself and for the innovation we always want to introduce - one example is the Wholegarment seamless production, which provides greater comfort and movement.
Indeed, we have confirmed that this emotional and inspirational factor with the product is something that must be worked on, as it will be a major influence on how we present our brand, people's perspective and how we can always become relevant in the work we do, especially in an industry like fashion.
Our history and our purpose make us an authentic brand with an emotional and inspirational relationship with people. We want to maintain this contact and for our clothes to always do their part too - make people happy and give comfort and quality to our babies.
It's great to revisit this kind of topic and try to understand how Wedoble can keep up with the developments in the fashion industry. In this case, with what is considered essential when it comes to marketing a brand and how it can be a constant in an increasingly competitive and constantly evolving environment.
What about you? Do you agree with us? We want to know if you like these themes about the new ideas and perspectives emerging in the fashion industry and relate them to Wedoble. Feel free to make suggestions for more topics that we can try to relate to the brand and, in this way, make new perspectives known. We want to know your opinion.
