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Overall Evaluation

This module has been very challenging and hard in different senses. There has been a pandemic going on which means that I haven't been able to make my way into university or completely my module with the outcomes that I had originally wanted. However in some senses it has been my favourite module as I have been able to basically do what I want and rebranding Oh Polly has been very interesting and fun at the same time. If this pandemic wasn't going on then wanted to aim to get all of my outcomes printed and put together in order to show you what they would look like in person. It would have also been able to show if my photoshop skills where good enough in order to produce clear packaging. I strongly believe that I have had two aspects that have gone really well during this project and that is the Spring collection and the Autumn leaflet. I have been able to meet what I originally said I was going to do and make sure that they translate the message and emotions that I want to for the particular season. My ideas have changed as the module went on mainly due to the pandemic. I looked into creating a Christmas and Halloween packaging as well. However, I realised that these two seasonal holidays are both very close to the beginning of the season therefore it wouldn't have fitted in with the timescales of when the seasonal packaging was out. I also wanted to create a summer beach bag for the Summer gift however due to the pandemic I couldn't get it printed therefore, I looked into it a little bit more and realised that on a whole getting a sponsor from another brand would be a lot cheaper for the company. Overall, I believe that this packaging and ideas will be very successful for the branding it will entice my customers and new customers a lot more. I have made sure that we are very clear on all of our charity work and where our customers money goes in order to show them that we don't keep it all. I have also changed the elements that they wanted and expanded on what they liked in order to make sure that it meets there needs and demands as such as I possibly could. Due to the packaging only being at a certain time of the year it will become collectables as people will want the whole range of gift boxes. I believe that this will strongly keep my customers interested and people will naturally post about the brand and tell people about it therefore we will get lost more new customers.

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Future plans

In order to make Oh Polly stand out amongst the other fast fashion brands I wanted to create some schemes that the brand will begin to introduce in order to make sure that they are standing out and doing more for their customers. 

Due to the current situation of the coronavirus pandemic, Oh Polly have had to think fast in order to find a way that they will stand out amongst other brands and still have regular customers. Oh Polly have decided that they need to find a way in order to donate the the National Healthcare Service to show that they are supporting the country as much as they can. They have set up a scheme where every order that is made during this pandemic they will donate all of the profits to the NHS to make sure that they are getting the support that they need. Along with this they have given you the option the send it old bed sheets and fabrics for our fashion designers to transform them into masks, scrubs and wash bags for the NHS workers to help support them in everyday that they can possible. After all of this is over they have decided that after every 10 orders they will donate 10% of the 10th order to the NHS charities to make sure that they are still getting support just incase another pandemic happens.

Second Hand Outlet 

This is a scheme that I have thought about creating because I wanted to make sure that my brand targets everyone in the age bracket with any type of income. This is an outlet that the company will be selling out of season items that didn't sell during that particular season along with garments that people have sent back. These garments that have been sent back will be graded into different categories such as new, worn a few times, worn and need repairs. I have decided to create this scheme because people who have missed the returns date we have made up a scheme where they can still send some stuff back and get something out of it. When you are a member you are able to receive a larger amount of discount however it is 5% for each item that they have sent back. This will be one time code and they will be able to use it on another purchase from the brand. This is good for the environment because it starts to bring in reusable clothing as fashion is one of the biggest polluters with garments that people are throwing away the have never been worn. Our aim is to eventually start to sell clothing items that aren’t from Oh Polly this is to start bring in the reusing items into todays society. I believe that this is a very good idea as they are able to make sure that everyone they can wear the high quality Oh Polly garments no matter what income you are on. 

Membership Scheme 

I have decided that one way to keep my customers constantly coming back is if they get something out of the company. Therefore I believe that these membership schemes are the best way to keep my customers shopping with us. There are 3 levels are memberships depending on how much you would like to spend, obviously the more money you spend annually means that you will get more benefits from the brand. The are ranked bronze, silver and gold.

Bronze

This is the lowest membership scheme therefore you get very minimal benefits from the company as you aren’t spending that much money with them. You get free standard shipping and returns on all of your orders. 10% discount and an extra 5% discount when they sent an item back to the second hand outlet. The price of this membership scheme is a one time payment of £9.99 per year this is the minimum as it covers the cost for the unlimited shipping that they are receiving 

Silver

As they are start to spend more money I have decided that they are able to choose weather they want to pay monthly or just one upfront annually cost. This scheme is £35.00 per year or a monthly payment of £3.00 per year. You get a few more benefits than the bronze membership as you are spending a lot more money. You get free standard shipping and returns, 20% discount, an extra 10% discount when you send an item back to the second hand outlet and you also get a gift at Christmas worth £20. 

Gold

This is the ultimate membership scheme and you are benefitted by a whole range of things. The price of this is a one time payment of £70 or a monthly payment of £5.99. As this is expensive you will benefit from a lot of things. Free next day shipping and returns, 30% discount, an extra 10% when you return an item to the second hand store, first look on any new collections and sales to make sure that you get what you want first, you will be gifted an item worth £50 at Christmas, there will be a loyalty scheme where after 10 orders that you keep from the brand you get an extra 10% off your 11th order and finally you will have an extra submission into any competitions/ giveaways that the company are doing. 

Due to paying monthly for the two high memberships there are terms and conditions for the gift. You will only receive the gift once you have paid the full amount. For example: if you pay a one time upfront cost on the 20th November 2019 and your birthday is 22nd November 2019. You will receive your gift on the 22nd of November 2019. However if you decide to pay monthly for this scheme and your first payment is 20th November 2019 you won't receive your birthday gift until the 22nd November 2020 as you would of paid the full amount then and it makes sure that they company aren’t loosing loads of peony sending out gifts to people.  

When you apply for one of these schemes you will be taken to this page. I have made it very straight forward where you will literally click sign up and be taken to a page where you just fill out your information (name, age, address, email and bank details). I believe that this is a very good idea and will be very effective because people will want to pay that extra bit in order to benefit from it  due to the fact that they are constantly shopping with the brand. 

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Evaluation - Refund and Exchange Slip

I have rebranded the refund and exchange slip that you receive inside the parcel in order to make sure that you list what you are sending back and why. I have decided that in order to show that the company are looking at helping the environment as much as they can. I decided that it was best to move it online and only include the leaflet for the week before the collection drops and the returns label. This is because fashion is a big polluter in the world today and in some ways we need to compromise and figure out whats best whilst cutting out what we really dont need, and I believe that the slip isn’t an essential in the packaging therefore they could move it online. 

As you can see above these are the main factors that the fashion industry is ruining the environment. Brands need to look at ways that they can help the environment even if it is just a little bit everything counts and will help in the long run. 

At Oh Polly I am looking at making them paperless/ reducing as much paper waste as I can. I have designed an online returns slip where you fill it out online and send your parcel back this is to list the amount of paper that is included in the parcels. Not every order gets returned therefore we don't need to include them in every order. If we do this online it could potentially limit the amount of paper waste that the brand waste along with cutting down on the printing costs massively. 

As you can see below is the online returns slip.

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Evaluation on Leaflets

This idea came to mind when I realised that I wanted to find a way in order to promote the companies next collection, this would then lead to a massive boost in the sales as the customers will get excited for the next drop. I had to look into trends that are predicted in the future in order to make sure that I could then plan and make sure that it all links in with the trends. 

Spring

I have created a leaflet that will be inserted into the parcels a week before the collection drops this is to make sure that they get the word out there on what is coming next for the brand. In order to look into what the next collection is going to be I have had to look and research the trends from WGSN.

The trend is called Retro Resorts. This is for an Springs/Summer 2021 collection. This trend was the feed into the appeal of escapism with designs inspired by retro resorts and pool parties. This makes sure that everyone replaces the retro sportif silhouettes with the looks that feel more glamorous and grown-up. Their key styles included the triangle with the elongated under band and bandeau cuts. For the colours they wanted to make sure to work on the #powerpastels, which can be used to revitalize commercial stripes and the tie-dye effect. Therefore, after looking into this trend I have been able to create a leaflet that is stuck to these colour schemes for the whole of the spring collection. From the garments to the packaging in order to make sure that it is very clear what the collection is based on and for. (https://www-wgsn.com.ezproxy.bcu.ac.uk/content/board_viewer/#/84517/page/6)

I believe that this leaflet has been very successful as well this is because I have been able to portray the trend message and show people that there is a new collection that is about to drop whilst giving people a insight into some of the garments.

Summer

This leaflet has been based on the neon colour scheme for the summer collection. The trend that I have based it on is called phantasmagoria. It is all about bright and bold colours and being able to stand out amongst the others. During the summer season people are going on holidays (mainly party holidays) and going on nights out therefore people want to wear clothes and colours that make them stand out and make their summer skin stand out. I believe that this leaflet is perfect for the summer season because I have really been able to reflect the types of things that my customers will be doing and wearing my garments too. 

Autumn

This leaflet is based on the cosy collection that Oh Polly will be bringing out. This is completely different to the other collections that they have brought out therefore I wanted to make this leaflet different. The trend is called softly brushed, and it is based on cosy textures and comfortable easy to wear clothing. The fabrics that are being used for this are knitwear, borg (sheepskin like), recycled and natural yarns, wool and polyesters. Due to my packaging saying “cold, cosy nights, warm blankets and hot chocolates”. I believe that this is a perfect match to the collection. My customer audience are going to want to make  sure that they are comfortable and cosy during the cold season and especially after the pervious two season of partying. https://www-wgsn-com.ezproxy.bcu.ac.uk/content/board_viewer/#/85666/page/6

Winter

Finally, they have had a change again and back to the normal similar garments that Oh Polly specialise in. The winter season includes the seasonal holiday of Christmas and most people tend to have lots of celebrations for the year along with celebrating the end of the year and beginning of the new one. Many people want to stand out swell and look the best they possibly can. Disco Inferno is a style that WGSN have predicted therefore I wanted to look into what types of garments we can produce in order to match this trend. The trend on recycling sequins and beads in order to add sparkle to evening wear. It is trend that was created around the 1980s and is slowly coming back in the 2020s therefore we have been able to look back on the past and see what garments they wore and turn them into a modernised version. As you can see on my leaflet I have included all of the sequins and made it very sparkly in order to translate the party and celebrations that will be occurring during this season. I believe that this leaflet has been very successful in order to reflect the trend and collection that the brand have produced. (https://www-wgsn-com.ezproxy.bcu.ac.uk/content/board_viewer/#/85796/page/11)

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Evaluation on packaging

Boxes

I have decided that i wanted to keep the boxes as the delivery packaging. This is because when evaluating my questionnaire results i found that the customer audience wanted to make sure that I kept the box as it made them feel like they where receiving a present and made the parcel very personal. I also found that when the garment is in a box it is well looked after and wont get damaged, this then shows that the company are showing that they care a lot about the garments as it has taken a lot of thought and time to create the particular garment. 

Original Packaging 

This packaging will be used throughout the year as the main packaging, this is where the packaging family will start from. This packaging is a pastel pink colour and it is very symbolic for Oh Polly as they have had this colour for their packaging since they started out therefore this is why i wanted to keep it the same just with the updated logo. I wanted to make sure that it was kept the same in order to make sure that the brand can keep up their brand recognition. 

Spring

For the Spring collection I wanted to use the colours that symbolise this season. During this season you have the seasonal holiday of Easter. This is the celebration of new life where we celebrate the reincarnation of Jesus after his death. The things that symbolise this season are things such as baby animals and newborn babies along with blossoming flowers and new growth. This then leads onto the colours schemes that resemble this time of the year these are pastel colours. Due to looking into this I have decided that I want to use the pastel colours of pink, blue, green and yellow. After I began designing the pastel pink packaging however, I decided that this was very similar to the original packaging and I wanted to prevent this as much as I could. Therefore, I had to rethink and find another colour. This led me to use the pastel purple shade instead of the pink. For each of the packaging I wanted to include a quote that is based on the season just to add another added personalised touch.  

When you open the box I have added a quote saying “let your inner beauty bloom”. I have done this because the customer audience said that they like the quotes inside as it is a little personalised surprise when they open the box. 

I believe that the colour scheme is one of the best things for this collection this is because it is very fitted with the spring theme this mens that even if it wasn't the season or any indication that it was the spring packaging you would still be able to tell that it is based around a spring theme

I would improve on adding more patterns and making sure that the colours are the same as they display on the screen as they would when they get printed. Finally, I would also add a little bit more to the font such as some black silhouettes of flowers in order to give it that extra touch and make it stand out that little bit more. 

Summer

I wanted to make this packaging bright and bold. Most people enjoy long summer nights where they are partying all night long. Most of the swimwear collection comes out during this season this is because most people go on their annual holidays abroad in order to get a bit of sun and relaxation. Due to the customer market that Oh Polly target they tend to go on girls holidays and partying holidays. The bright colours make their summer tan pop and makes them stand out with their summer glow. These bright neon colours all remind me of summer time as people go out to clubs and party during this season a lot more than the others therefore the neon lights are also reflected in these colours. The equation on this box is. “Travel as much as you can, go as far as you can because life boring when just living in one place”. I believe that this quote fits this season very well due to the fact that a lot of the customers decide that they want to go traveling therefore this quote motivates them to do what they want to. On the other hand Oh Polly was founded due to the fact that on a travelling trip the co founders Claire and Mike both wanted to help fund Cambodia therefore they wanted to set up a company that would be very high in profits in order to make sure that the Cambodian people all get education and goo facilities. I believe that all of these colours all go very well together and you can clearly see that they are a collection together. 

Autumn 

I wanted to add a little bit more and start to move away from the minimal theme, this is due to the fact that the colours for this packaging is very plain therefore they need to have that little bit extra on it, in order to make sure that it makes the customer enjoy their experience when shopping with the brand. I wanted to create something that would very clearly symbolise the season therefore I mind mapped all of the things that remind me of the autumn season. 

After looking into my mind map I realised that the colours are all mainly browns and oranges. During this season a lot of trees and plants all start to loose their leaves due to the colder weather therefore they die before falling off the tree this is the reason why they change colour. I also saw that people tend to have more cosy nights in along with hot chocolates and sitting around bonfires. I wanted to show all of these elements on my packaging as they're the things that people get excited for during this season. 

As you can see above I have been able to create the autumn leaves on the packaging and I have used a range of leaves showing that a lot of trees/ plants will be shedding their leaves during this season. However, i have included green leaves as there are a few plants that don't loose their leaves during the colder seasons and they stay green all year round. This also goes with the brown/ taupe background that i have included. I went for this shade of brown because it wasn't too dark but wasn't too light in order to make sure that the leaves and the logo stand out very clearly on the packaging. The quote that I have used for this packaging is “Cold, Cosy Nights, Warm Blankets and Hot Chocolates”. I have used this because it is all of the things that people do in the autumn season in one sentence therefore it gets people excited for the times that they can just chill and stay in watching movies in the brands loungewear. 

Winter

For the winter packaging I have changed it up a little bit to what I originally decided on doing. I wanted to make the parcel feel like present as my customers have all said that when they receive the products in the boxes it somewhat feels like a present. Therefore, I wanted to really emphasis this during the gift giving season. I have stuck with the white background theme for winter. In order to emphasise some of the weather that occurs during winter such as snow. This season also includes the seasonal holiday of Christmas, this is where people join together in order to celebrate the birth of christ hence the reason why I have created a present theme as you never know if these parcels are going to be sent as presents.  I have included a personalised message on the front where we can write the persons name on the front of the box as a little personalised message. The quote that I have used inside says “wishing all of our loyal customers a very merry Christmas”. This quote shows that we really appreciate out customers and we value everything that they have done for us in order to help our brand grow. I wanted to make this packaging very personal and special as this is a season where everyone makes each other feel special. Therefore I really wanted to target our customers and give them the personalised touch that I know they love. I believe that this is a very successful packaging as it has linked to what my customers said they loved “personalised and the feeling of receiving a gift” and that is exactly what we have done. 

Tissue Paper 

I have decided to wrap all of my products in tissue paper instead of plastic bags this is to make sure that we are finding ways in order to protect the environment. This will reduce plastic massively as all of our packaging will then be reusable completely as you will also be able to gift wrap the boxes and use them as gift boxes or storage boxes.  The tissue paper WONT be stuck together with any type of sticker or anything in order to make sure that there will be no rips of tears, to make sure that my customers can then reuse the tissue paper for gift wrap. The tissue paper will be plain and will match the packaging that they receive. 

Spring: Pastel colours will match the pastel colour boxes

Summer: Neon tissue paper will match the neon boxes  

Autumn: Will be the same brown as the packaging boxes 

Winter: Will be the same colour as the red ribbon in order to add a bit of contrast 

I believe that this is a very good idea because I know that there are no other fast fashion company that are using reusable packaging as they are trying to keep their packaging cost to the minimum therefore, they are using cheap plastic bags for all of their products. 

Added extras 

This will be an added item that will only be in the boxes for the duration of the special packaging. This is just to give our customers something else and I strongly believe that it will make people want to buy from Oh Polly more due to the fact that they will be seeing and hearing that people are receiving little gifts inside their parcels. Pretty little thing did something like this a couple of years ago and they boomed in sales and people where buying with the brand in order to get the little gifts therefore they had more people trying items from the company. For each of the packaging I wanted to make sure that I am able to include something that relates to the season. 

Spring: A packet of Cadburys mini eggs will be in there parcels this is because it is one of the main things that remind people that easter is coming which is in the spring season. Plus it will be on a contract with cadburys as they have decided to sponsor us therefore we have received another type of income form his that can be donated towards charities.

Summer: Its been hard in order to figure out what to include I this parcel. I first started looking at beach bags with the Oh Polly logo on but then I realised that it is another cost that the brand could save on. Therefore we reached out to Neiva and wanted to see if they would be willing to sponsor us with any of their suncreams. They came back o us and said that they will create some little gift bags of sun cream and aftersun in them in order to make sure that all of our customers are protected during this season. This will show our customers that we are really thinking about them because we want to make sure that we are keeping our customers protected. 

Autumn: After doing some research I wanted to make sure that I am still using something that links to the season. I found these chocolate spoons that when you place them in a cup with some hot milk they melt and turn into hot chocolate. These are very cheap to buy therefore the company aren’t then splashing out a whole huge amount of money on them. These will come in two different flavours and people will enjoy a nice warm cup of hot chocolate in this cold season. 

Winter: As it is even colder I wanted to give my customers something that that they can snuggle up at night time during the cold season and watch Christmas movies. I opted for some Christmas fluffy socks. I believe that these are perfect for this season and they are very cheap to bulk buy. There will be three different type of socks Father Christmas, Elves and Rudolph however each parcel will only contain one. 

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My Plan

I have decided to have a lot of thought into the packaging and how i am going to do this. I have decided that the best way in order to make sure that my customers are up to date as much as they can is to have a special packaging design for the first 10 days of the new seasonal collection. These will be Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. As the original packaging is going to be kept the same just with a new logo I have decided to include a leaflet in the style of a look book of the new collection that is coming up in order to make sure that my customers know the drop dates of the next new collection. These will be included in deliveries a week before the launch. 

Each box will be carefully designed and put together with things that symbolise the particular season. 

I strongly believe that this will keep the customers very interested and will keep them coming back as they will get excited for the next lot of special packaging. 

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Importance of Packaging and Logos

Packaging

Product packaging is an important customer touchpoint. This means that it is one of the first things that the public sees around town when customers are walking around with their bags after purchasing from the brand. Packaging often encourages value perception to the customer, for example cheap packaging equals cheap products. Where as Oh Polly sell high quality products therefore they thrive in their packaging and make sure that they want to give the customer the best experience that they can. On the other hand, packaging can form a significant element of your cost price. This is because you need to make sure that you cover all of your overheads when pricing up a garment this is to make sure that you are a profitable company. Environmental factors play a huge role in the decision surrounding packaging this is because every company wants to make sure that they are helping the environment as much as they can. Especially how there has been a massive change in plastic waste over the last couple of years because the government has seen that it is damaging the planet the most. Everyone is trying to use less plastic therefore companies have started to charge for plastic bags or converted to using paper/ cardboard for their bags. The type of product and method of sales will drive your packaging needs (online vs in-store). Where packaging is manufactured can have a significant impact on your critical path. 

Brands use packaging families this is to ensure a consistant look and feel across their products. Colour is an important tool in growing brand recognition and luxury brands invest heavily in packaging as part of the sales ritual. Brand like tiffany & co and Victoria Secret are very well know for their packaging and the colours that they use. This means that if the colour is used anywhere else then it automatically reminds the customers/ public of these successful brands. 

Logos

When looking into creating a new logo or reworking a new and existing logo, you need to consider the font of your brand name along with any of the motifs/ emblems. They are the most memorable touchpoint for the customers and this is what will be the name for the brand and it will identify the company. The logo will be all over everything therefore this is what the customer would see the most when recognising the brand. Logos are often inspired by the history of a brand and should communicate the vision and purpose of the brand. You should always consider the audience, plan for the future and keep it simple. Logos have to work not only on clothing and packaging but also across all websites and social media platforms. 

Nike 

In greek mythology, Nike was the goddess of speed, strength and victory. The brands founder Phil Knight commissioned student Carolyn Davidson to come up with a new logo for the brand. He did not initially love the design however was facing a tight deadline, stating “i dont love it, but it will grow on me”. Davidson was payed $35 for the swoosh design which symbolises speed and fluidity. (http://web.archive.org/web/20071023034940/http://www.nike.com/nikebiz/nikebiz.jhtml?page=5&item=origin)

Here is a history of the logos for Nike and as you can see they have kept the swoosh emblem for nearly 50 years now. Therefore, they have been able to build the brands recognition on the swoosh and grow with the emblem. in todays society the brand doesn’t need to have the name with the emblem as the emblem has built up the recognition it needs. Along with anything that symbolises the swoosh means that they link it to Nike. 

Apple 

In the Steve Jobs bibliography, jobs said that he had just come back rom an apple farm and thought the name sounded “fun, spirited and not intimidating”. Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak wanted to create a company that went against the cold, technical and intimidating image computer companies had at the time. 

As you can see the first logo they have included the apple farm that founder Steve Jobs had visited before coming up with the brands name. They then went on to change the logo massively the year after and have kept it pretty much the same after that. The colours have changed over the years however they have managed to build up the recognition just like nike where they dont need to put the brands name near it, the emblem is just enough for the public to recognise the brand. 

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Oh Polly Packaging

Logo

The logo for OhPolly has been the same for a very long time now. This could be because it is very effective therefore they dont need to change it or the company has overall been too busy in order to look into other elements therefore they have put it to the backs of their minds. I asked the customers what they liked and didn’t like about the logo. They said that the believed that the hand-written typeface is the best part this is because they believe that it adds a very personal touch to the logo. As it gives off the effect that they need are receiving a present. It makes the customer feel that the company are giving them a garment that is personal to them. This adds to the experience that the customer is getting when shopping with Oh Polly. This is a very similar point that the I believe in. The logo has been very effective over the last few years and the handwritten typeface adds a feminine element along with a personal element. The customers didn’t like the fact that it had been the same for so long, they believed that it needed to have a little bit more to it. After taking on this information I believe that I want to make it clear to the customers that I am taking on their points in order to make sure that the logo is something that they love and recognise. My idea when looking forward for the brand is to keep it near enough the same whilst also taking on the customers opinions. I am going to change the typeface of the serif font and add a little hand drawn love heart somewhere on the logo. I will be doing this because I want to keep the main focus of the handwritten typeface the same as that is what the customer audience love about it. 

Delivery box/ plastic garment bag

Similar to the logo I asked my customers what they loved and didn’t like about the packaging. They said that the box is very effective as it protects the garment and it gives you the same feeling as the the hand writing does. It makes the delivery feel very personal and as if you are receiving a present. They have also said that they believe that the minimal theme is effective and on trend. Famous influencers such as Kim Kardashian is very big on the minimal theme, she also has a very large influence of the younger generation therefore, I believe that this is the best format for the companies packaging. The customers stated that they believed that it needed a little revamp as it has been the same for so long. However, they dont dislike the packaging as they can see that it has been effective for such a long time and still does look really professional. I have decided that I want to continue with the seasonal and limited edition packaging and keep the original packaging the same just with the new logo. I will be doing this because the customers have said that there isn’t anything they dislike about the packaging they just want the logo to have a little bit more along with the seasonal packaging for a new collection. 

Clothing Tag

The clothing tags are very similar to the box’s but I have also undertaken the same process and asked my customers what they like and dont like about the clothing tags. They said that they dont have any faults with the clothing tags. However, they do really love the fact that the social media platforms have been included onto the clothing tags. I want to make sure that they stay the same to the boxes therefore I have a clear packaging family.

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My ideas

01.04.2020 - For this signature project I have set myself the task of rebranding the fast fashion brand Oh Polly. After evaluating my results I have decided that I want to create a range of packaging for different occasions such as seasonal and limited editions such as Christmas time and valentines day. This would entice my customers and make sure they buy more as the packaging will become a collection and people will want to buy more so they can collect the whole range of the products. 

Seasonal and Limited Edition Packaging

For the seasonal packaging I will be looking into the key colours that symbolise this particular season. 

Spring 

Spring colours normally mean pastels—shades of yellow, green, pink, blue, and purple that cleanse the palate after months of black, brown, navy, mustard, and burgundy. (https://www.glamour.com/gallery/spring-2019-color-trends)

Summer 

For summer I will be looking into bright colours as this is full of sun and goof times. I will look at neon shades as this symbolise a good time and people enjoying themselves and people going on holiday and the majority of my customer audience will be going on party holidays therefore I believe that these fit into the theme very well. 

Autumn 

This season is where the weather starts to get colder and the days become shorter. The colours that resemble this season would be oranges, browns and reds this is because the leaves start to fall off bushes and trees turning them yellow and orange. This season also has the seasonal holiday of halloween which leads to things such as pumpkins and spooky things therefore this would be a very good seasonal holiday to produce a limited edition as people would be buying a lot of garments in order to dress up. 

Winter

This is when we start to get snow and ice along with the seasonal holiday of Christmas. Colours such as whites, blacks, navy and emerald greens symbolise this season along with reds, greens, blues and silver symbolising the festival holiday. Many people have Christmas parties therefore Oh Polly’s sales go up as a lot of people want new and good quality dresses for these particular parties. 

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Competitor research

I have chosen these brands because they have a lot of similarities with Oh Polly this means that I am able to compare how they work and are successful with my brand along with the competitors having some differences and to see how the differences impact Oh Polly and make it stand out compared to the competitors. All of these brands also decide to advertise and promote their business in very similar ways such as instagram and all of the social media platforms whilst working with famous influencers. 

House of CB

This is a company that has been around since 2010. It was founded by a 17 year old at the time called Conna Walker. The company started off as an online business just like Oh Polly. However, they have managed to build their company up over the years and succeeded into opening 5 stores in the UK and 2 in the US along with appearing in 50 Topshop stores. House of CB are known for their figure hugging tailored pieces. In 2016 they have introduced a sister brand called mistress rocks. The products House of CB produce are very similar to Oh Polly this is because they have high quality dresses and tailored pieces. The brand has also been able to expand its collection similar to Oh Polly by introducing shoes, swimwear and accessories. The customer audience for this brand is very very similar this is because they are the same age range and gender. The only thing that is different is that this brand is very high end and is more expensive therefore even though the customers are the same age range and are into similar things they have a lot more disposable income due to the fact that these garments are near enough double the amount of Oh Polly’s. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_CB)

Topshop

Topshop is a multinational fashion retailer they have built the company up and now have over 500 stores of which around 300 are in the Uk and 200 are worldwide. This successful fashion retailer was founded in the 1960s and started off in a department store. By 1974 the department store started to close down and Topshop was put into the position of weather to open their own stores or not. They had started to become very successful in the first years of the company therefore they decided to take the jump and build their own stores. As you can see the company have been very successful and they have been able to build up an annual turnover of millions of pounds. The similarities that the company has with Oh Polly will be the customers this is because they target the exact same age range and the pricing of the products are very similar. However, the types of products that they sell are different Topshop sells a lot more casual and day to day products therefore the customer audience would tend to go to Topshop for their daily clothing and come to Oh Polly for evening wear and events wear. As Topshop has been around for many years now they have rebranded their company so many times and they have been able to continue with the customer audience and attract a lot more customers. (https://www.glamobserver.com/topshop-story-and-business/)

Pretty Little Thing

They are a UK based fashion retailer aiming their sales at 14-24 year olds. The company is owned by the Boohoo group and have a main head office in Manchester along with other offices in Los Angeles and London. The brand was originally founded in 2012 by two brothers, they started as just an accessory brand. However, it has rapidly grown and has now become a major fast fashion brand in todays society. They sell a very wide range of garments such as some mega cheap ones that are low quality and fast to produce or some higher quality that cost a little bit more and are made with stronger fabrics. Fashion influencers such as Miley Cyrus, Michelle Keegan, Rita Ora, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj helped grown the brand when they promoted the company to their followers/ fans. The brand has now partnered with companies such as Asos and Lipsy whilst multinational brand Next sells their products on their website. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PrettyLittleThing ). I believe that this company has massively grown because of the influencers that have advertised it. Along with the way that they target their customer audience, what I mean by this is that they realise that the particular age range are either going to be students or just started careers therefore they wont have massive amounts of disposable income. The brand constantly are holding sales and limited time major discounts this boosts their sales as people see limited time and think they need to buy straight away along with helping by giving them an all year round student discount. Pretty little thing are one of the major fast fashion companies at the moment and I want to pick out what Oh Polly can do differently to this company in order to make them stand out. The packaging for Pretty Little thing is very basic and even though it is covered in their well known unicorn pattern. The material that they use for their packaging is plastic this is very bad for the environment and I would like to find a way in order to make a sustainable packaging or reusable packaging in order to make sure that Oh Polly isn't damaging the environment as much. 

Boohoo

Boohoo is are another popular fast fashion brand. They sell cheap and low quality clothing in order to make sure that they can keep up with the fast fashion industry they want to be able to make clothes fast and sell them fast therefore they aren’t always the best quality. It was founded in 2006 and was originally aimed at just females aged 16 - 30 however, over the years they have been able to produce a mens range called boohoo man who also provide cheap  and low quality fashion garments in order to be able to keep up with the evolving fast fashion industry. The price of the garments are overall very cheap and range between £5 - £30ish. The brand also constantly have deals and offers on which draw in the attention of customers and more sales as everyone loves a bargain buy. They sell all of their products online and have fast shipping which means that people get their garments within 2/3 days of ordering. The packaging for the brand is very similar to pretty little thing and this is plastic bags, this is because they are very cheap to buy I production and you can get a lot more for your money. I want to make sure that oh polly moves away from this as it will make the brand stand out amongst the other fast fashion brands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boohoo.com

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Expanded research into Oh Polly

I have decided to send out some surveys this then shows me what my customer audience like about the brand and why they shop there. It also will show me what they like and why. This will help me to make sure that I am meeting their needs and demands in order to make sure that this rebrand will be successful.

The questions I asked where,

What do you like about the Oh Polly logo?

Do you think it needs to be updating?

What do you look for when receiving packaging?

Do you like to receive a range of packaging? For example seasonal or a special edition.

What type of packaging do you like?

Who are your top 3 influencers?

What are your favourite colours? 

The responses that I have received have been very positive and have been able to guide me into the right direction when looking at how to rebrand the company. 

Responses

As you can see above these are the two first questions and already the response’s have been positive in the sense that the logo does need to be updated. The customer audience have all said that they do really like the logo however they believe that it just needs that little bit more as it is just black writing. However, they said that they wanted to keep the contrast of the hand writing and the bold serif font as the hand writing gives the packaging a personalised touch and it makes the customer feel like that particular product has been designed just for them. 

This shows that the customers want to receive a different type of packaging for each delivery this could be for the launch of the collection that goes with that season or the special occasion. 

For these answers I want to merge the two answers together this is to make sure that the customers look and realise how much thought and consideration goes into the packaging along with the garment but also making sure that it is a very top quality packaging in order to make sure that they take pictures and post about the brand to get some recognition and it is also another way to advertise. 

After looking at the responses it shows that Oh Poly needs to be rebranded due to the fact that their look is very tired and outdated. This response has been made from the customer audience who are key for this project as I need to make sure that they feel involved and like the new packaging in order to make sure that they continue to buy garments from the brand. 

Due to the work and support that the brand does for Cambodia I wanted to look into a way that the brand can support their customers and help impact them when donating money to certain charities.

Looking into what is going on in todays society will impact what I am going to do and how am I going to keep the customers coming back for more. In todays society there is a huge pandemic that is going around called coronavirus (covid-19) it is killing thousands of people worldwide in a 24 hour period. It is a virus that attacks your respiratory system. This virus started in Wuhan, China and it is believed to have been carried in animals. The virus originated from a wet market in wuhan selling live and dead animals that carried the virus which was then passed onto humans when they ate them. It started attacking people that have underlying health issues and the government and all the health organisations believed that it wouldn't get much worse than that. However the virus has built itself up and has started to attack younger people and people with no healthy issues. Near enough the whole world has gone into lockdown and people aren’t allowed to leave their homes unless it is absolutely necessary such as a key worker, going for food shopping but only one member of a family/ household is allowed in, medical reasons such as going to the doctors or collecting medication and 30 mins of exercise near your home. As Oh Polly is an online business this helps in their favour massively as people aren’t allowed to go clothes shopping this means that everyone will be looking online if they need to order clothing garments. However, due to everyone having to stay in people wont be buying clothing for special occasions and they would only be buying clothing items to lounge around their houses in. Oh Polly sell a majority of garments for occasions and nightlife therefore in order to keep their sales up I believe that they need to increase the collection of lounge wear. This will boost the sales as it will give regular customers the high quality garments that they go to the website for but in items that they can wear during this pandemic. Another point is that the NHS is under a lot of stress and they are looking for every little bit of help that they can. Therefore, I believe that Oh Polly will be able to boost their sales if they donate a percentage of the sales that they have during this pandemic. This will help the company to stand out and the public will want to buy from them as they are getting something in return of donating some money towards the NHS. Along side of this I think that Oh Polly need to create a collection of new dresses and night out garments that the customer service will want to buy for when the pandemic is over as a lot of people will want to celebrate and party after all of this therefore sales will boom after the pandemic because people will want to buy new outfits in order to celebrate. (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/02/coronavirus-pandemic-what-is-covid-19-virus/)

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Primary research

31.03.2020 - 

As I have decided to choose the brand Oh Polly for the company that I am going to rebrand. I will be explaining to you who they are and everything about the brand. 

Who is Oh Polly?

They are a rapidly growing fast fashion selling women’s clothing internationally. They have expanded their company and now have offices in Glasgow, Liverpool, Los Angeles, Dhaka and Gungzhou with over 250 employees in the Uk and 300 employees worldwide. https://www.google.com/search?q=who+are+oh+polly&oq=who+are+oh+polly&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.2596j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. 

Their vision and purpose is to make sure they produce high standard and high quality products along with outstanding customer service. They started with designing dresses however over the 3 years they have been able to expand their products and now sell a huge range of garments. Such as two pieces, tops, shoes, skirts, swimwear, bodysuits, leggings, playsuits, jumpsuits, trousers, shorts, coats and jackets. Some of these garments are split into a range of collections and collaborations such as embellished, bandage and petite along with the wide range of collaborations with top influencers. Such as Tammy Hembrow, Emily Shak and Stassie. Oh Polly’s target market are females aged 18 – 30 years old, this is due to two reasons one being because these are the prime ages when attending events and going out. The other point being because as it is online and social media based they are targeting the younger generation as they are growing rapidly and are the main focus to be influenced by all of the online influencers they the brand use and collaborate with. The brand sells all their products online this is because they believe that the online fashion industry is growing, and they have been able to show that as successful because they have been able to grow their followers  to 2.9 million on Instagram and website to 2 million monthly viewers in just 3 years and that is only on average. 

As you can see from the images above the influencers that help promote the company have a very large followings such as Tammy Hembrow with 11 million followers this means that it could reach the same customers that follow Oh Polly on instagram but it will also help them gain followers as it will reach a lot more people. People who follow these influencers are very inspired by these people this means that when they see them post and tag Oh Polly they will then click on the company and have a look at them leading them to potentially buy products from the brand. This is due to the fact that their influencers wear the products meaning that they will aspire to look and style themselves like them. Oh polly have also created two more instagram pages for the shoes and the swimwear. This is to boost the platform that they have. The brand tends to do a monthly giveaway and in order to enter the free give away you need to tag people in the comments section and follow all three of the instagram pages. This builds the platform as people are tagging lots of different people constantly and following all of the brands pages. 

The price range for Oh Polly products is expensive compared to some of the other fast fashion brands such as Miss Guided  however, in my opinion I believe that they are much better quality and the time and thought that has gone into these products is very high.

I have also done some further research and looked into who has wrote about Oh Polly and what positive and negative things they have been saying about the brand. I have done this because I strongly believe that people get a very good opinion and recommendation on word to mouth. This is because they are able to trust opinions from ordinary people that have shopped from the company or news articles that have been produced in fashion magazines and not just relying on famous influencers opinions as they are usually getting paid for a biased opinion.

I came across an article from the times and how and why the company was created. Claire Henderson and Max Branney said that they started off after travelling the world and seeing the poverty that is going on in Cambodia. They started off buying and selling clothes on eBay and any money made they then send off to the charity that they have created in order to send it off the Cambodia. After the algorithms changed for google they realised that they needed to create a plan b and find another way that they can produce a very large profit for the charity. They saw a gap in the market and decided to create women’s clothes. I believe that this is a very inspirational way into creating a brand because they have a reason and purpose for creating the company and it is a very good cause. The brand has continued to donate money towards Cambodia and they have regular trips in order to see what the money that they’re donating is doing.  (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/oh-polly-founders-mike-branney-and-claire-henderson-fashion-inspired-by-the-killing-fields-x95dwtmx7)

After doing a little bit more research I managed to find an article wrote by Claire Henderson herself about what really is the heart of the brand. She repeated that she started raising money for Cambodia by selling all of her stuff such as old clothes and university books. Henderson managed to raise enough in order to fund a whole classroom and employee a teacher, this then showed and pushed her in order to come up with an idea of raising more money. This is where Oh Polly was created. The brand has managed to build a school and fund over 300 children that have all come from very poor backgrounds in order to help them live a better life. The charity that they have created is called the Brannerson Foundation created from a mash-up of Max Branney and Claire Henderson’s last names. In 2018 alone the brand donated 76K to the Brannerson foundation this was made from only 5% of the brands overall profit.(https://www.ohpolly.com/heart-of-the-brand)

This is very close to the founders hearts therefore they want to make sure that by rebranding this company it will help to boost the sales and increase the amount that they are able to donate the Cambodia and many more charities in the future.

After I had found this information I wanted to figure out where the name Oh Polly actually came from. I decided to message the founder myself via instagram so I could get to the bottom of it. She replied with “Polly is the name of a girl I supported in Cambodia, she was one of the first kids I started to support. She had a super difficult start to life 9she was already 11 when I first met her), but if there is ever anyone who’s kicked ass in life despite whats been thrown at them - its polly. I wanted to name my business after her. She’s big now in the city and I dont quite think she understands that theres a whole brand named after her that people wear out every weekend. Also, I had to add the ‘Oh’ because polly.com was too expensive and I couldn’t afford the domain at that time so I had to get creative.”

I have also asked one of the CEO’s a few more questions about Oh Polly and their response was (28.05.2020 - I have left this to the absolute last minute in order to add this and see if she had replied. however, unfortunately she didn't come back to the questions that I had sent her.)

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How to write a brief?

When writing a personal brief you need to make sure that you answer a lot of questions in it. This is to make sure that your concept/ narrative is very clear and understanding to the reader. It doesn’t need to be paragraphs look it needs to be clear and straight to the point. The layout for a clear brief looks a little bit like this;

Name

Fashion + textiles foundation

Pathway title 

‘State project title’ (make it personal, thoughtful, appropriate for the outcomes that you are creating)

‘State the aim of the project’ (what are you setting out to achieve; what is the idea? who/ what is it for? A thoughtful/ focused/ sedative sentence or two about your project)

‘Brief statement’ (expand on the aim, why and what; overall idea; vision motivation, inspiration, rational/ reason. A paragraph or two that we should be carefully written, descriptive, thoughtful, intriguing and inspiring)

‘Objectives’ (how are you planning to achieve this? what is your plan of action? what are you researching and how do you do this? What ideas will you explore and develop? what is the context and how do you plan to demonstrate/ present this?

MY PERSONAL BRIEF

Lauren Gregory

Fashion + Textiles Foundation

Fashion Branding and communication 

For my signature project I will be looking into rebranding an existing brand that is already out there. I have decided to do this because it will help me build on the skills that I will use when going into my careers as this will be working for a brand. The outcomes that I am looking to make will be a whole new range of marketing materials such as packaging and a website. This will also include a look book that I will create after predicting the new collection that the brand will be bringing out. The aim of my project is to be able to produce a new family of marketing materials for the popular brand Oh Polly. I am going to be using this brand because they haven’t really changed their packing or marketing materials a lot through out the years its been around. This will then portray a thoughtful and focused rebrand that the customer audience will love. I will achieve all of these outcomes by being able to find primary research of my customer audience and brand. Whilst finding secondary research of competitors and how they have been able to rebrand their companies and still keep the customer audience and entice more customers. I will look into upcoming trends and existing trends so I can see what my target audience like and dislike. I believe that Oh Polly needs to be rebranded as they have had the same logo and look for a very long time now therefore, I strongly believe that the customers will want the company to be rebranded in order to give them a new look. Also, the company aren’t being as sustainable as they can. Due to the companies vision and purpose in order to be overly sustainable it wouldn't work with the brand completely however, there are elements that the company can improve and fix in order to make them some what sustainable. 

26.04.2020

In order to create a personality from the brand and make it stand out amongst the other fast fashion companies, I need to look into what the competitors are doing and how my brand can do it bigger and better in order to stand out. I will be looking at current situations in today’s society and see how my brand can adapt to that and make sure that I can keep my customers loyal and entertained. Currently there is a pandemic going on in the world. The whole world has gone into lockdown meaning that the public cannot leave their homes unless it is for essential food shopping, medical supplies or if you are a key worker. Other entertainment businesses such as pubs, bars, clubs etc have all been closed. This causes a problem for Oh Polly as they mainly specialise in smart, occasional fashionable garments. This means that customers won’t be buying products so much due to the situation as people won’t be going out anywhere. Oh Polly are going to have to step up and make the loungewear collection bigger. I also, want to find ways in order to make my customers involved and make sure that they stay loyal to the company. I will be doing this by creating daily competitions and events online this is in order to make sure that the customers are constantly checking back at the social media pages and it will also give the brand some more promotion due to the fact that people will be posting about it. Finally, I want to make sure that the company are moving towards sustainability as fast fashion is turning into one of the biggest polluters in the world. I also want to set up a membership scheme for all of the loyal customers this will come at a yearly cost where they will get benefits, first look offers and postage for the year.

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Presentation Pitch

Due to us having to create out own concepts/ narrative. We need to be able to pitch our ideas this is to make sure that we have selected a clear pathway for the signature project. 

I have created my presentation and have included a large range of things in it in order to portray my message and idea clearly. 

When creating this presentation I had to ask my self lots of questions in order to make sure that I had covered everything such as;

What skills will you draw upon and develop throughout this project?

Are there any new skills/ techniques/ materials you want to explore?

What concepts/ narrative have you chosen?

Why have you picked this theme?

What is it that interest you about this?

What will you research into first? your starting point for research

What search terms will you use for secondary research?

Where will you begin your primary research?

What fashion designers/ artists/ stylists do you think you will look at to support your work?

How will you begin your experimentation process? what techniques or materials will you begin with?

After I had narrowed all of this down it was a lot easier for me to then go on and write my actual personal brief as I had a clear understanding on what I was going to do and achieve. 

After presenting this pitch to my tutors I managed to receive some very constructive feedback which I will then action upon in order to progress to produce a very high quality project. The feedback they gave me was to create some questionnaire’s about Oh Polly so you are able to figure out exactly what the customer audience love and what they think that you should update, you would also find out the stuff that the customers like and who their influencers are in order to make sure that you are targeting the correct famous influencers, whilst I am doing this it will also give me a reason into why I am rebranding the brand and pick out what exactly needs changing and why. They suggested that I should also look into news articles, blogs and reviews as to what has been said about the brand this is to also see what needs improving and what is helping the company boom whilst making sure that they have also managed to get the correct reputation for themselves. They said that whilst I am doing the primary research into the brand and the competitors they would like me do go deep find how they came up with these names, unpick and annotate the packaging from the brands and to expand the experimentation process. 

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Introduction

This module will allow you to plan, develop and deliver. A project that draws on your own, personal creative strategies to facilitate the realisation of ideas appropriate for progression on your BA course. 

What is your inspiration and concept?

In order to figure out what pathway you want to go down you need to think about what inspires you in order to make sure that you are doing something that you are passionate about. “To help identify the focus for your project research ‘inspirations’ from the past and present”

GARETH PUGH AW 2017 COLLECTION

“This collection was about politics… Some may have found this dour, nearly all-black show a shade melodramatic. But in his envisioning of a dystopia that felt disturbingly near-at-hand, Pugh demonstrated a genuine understanding of this moment’s political stakes. He was attempting to elucidate the lived reality of Western society that routinely spies on its citizens, rounds them up, ships them away, or does violence to their bodies for the crime of being somehow, arbitrarily, Other. To this reviewer, at least, Pugh’s collection felt, finally, properly savage.” - https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2017-ready-to-wear/gareth-pugh

In my opinion this collection is very dark this suggest that the society at this time was in a very dark and negative place. This collection has really amplified the political side of society really well and Pugh has been able to express and portray this throughout his collection for people that don’t know what happened in politics during this era. 

Another designer that gained their inspiration from things around them is Bugs Garson. 

BUGS GARSON; DRESSING THR LETTERS MY GRANDMOTHER WROTE

Bugs Garson’s MFA Collection was inspired by letters sent between her Grandparents. She used their letters, photographs, visual inspiration from their home and ephemera to create a narrative. “I treated each letter as its own individual narrative and built out the visuals from there. I thought it best to approach the letters as if I was approaching a script. Everything was then viewed in a cinematic light, questioning the surroundings, the people the actions and the lighting. I wanted everything to be taken into account in quite a literal manner.”

https://1granary.com/designers-3/schools/parsons/bugs-garson-dressing-the-letters-my-grandmother-wrote/

https://www.thelovemagazine.co.uk/article/whats-it-like-studying-at-the-top-fashion-school-in-the-world-pt-3

http://www.fashiondesignandsociety.com/bugs-garson/x1wcql9i2tuqo05cpkca0zhrg0fe0x

in my opinion I believe that this is a very nice and warming collection. Garson has been able to amplify the love and affection that her grandparents had and how they had to communicate with one another. She has been able to create a very fashion able and on trend collection that anyone can wear. The inspiration and message of the collection is very clear as well which is very inspirational as she has been able to stick to her concept very clearly. 

Concept

You need to identify a concept/ narrative that will sustain your 8 week project. it needs to be an idea that you feel very passionate about, which inspires and engages you in order to make sure that you conduct critical research. 

When looking into outcomes you can create a range of different things such as;

Styling

Magazines 

Look books

Trend forecasting

Branding

Garments

Accessories 

Fashion Textiles

Interior Textiles

Film

All of these are valid outcomes for the final project. However, you need to remember that ALL of the outcomes you create need to be supported by strong research, experimentation and development of your ideas. 

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MODULE 4 - SIGNATURE PROJECT

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Attached here is the powerpoint for our group.