War of the words

Most Australian designers are willing to put their money where their mouth is but when it comes to publicity, they want it cost-effective and efficient. Assia Benmedjdoub asks advertising, PR and fashion representatives for an official verdict on what works best.

Whybin/TBWA national planning manager Paul Mayes
Try this at home. Grab a copy of your favourite fashion magazine. Or perhaps not your favourite one, given what I'm going to ask you to do. Tear out all the fashion ads and all the photo features. Cut out the logos on the ads. Then lay the pages out side by side and try to spot the differences.
There aren't very many, are there? Similar locations, lighting, angles, layouts, models, poses, and even facial expressions. And, scarily often, similar clothes.
It's a result of the quandary that most fashion brands find themselves in. If they don't do things in the currently fashionable way, they're not in fashion. But if they do, it leaves precious little room for brand self-expression. That's why so many fashion ads rely on huge logos for their branding.
So why bother to advertise? Well, advertising can fulfil a number of different roles for fashion brands. But in practice, three tend to dominate.
Firstly, advertising allows the advertiser to expose the product they want to show in exactly the way they would like it to be seen. It's a level of control that is difficult to achieve in PR.
Secondly, and this often becomes the dominating issue for advertisers who don't have their own retail outlets, the promise of doing advertising helps gain retail distribution.
Thirdly, there's a belief that if you advertise in a media title, it will support you by giving better, more positive editorial coverage.
In the rush to satisfy these three requirements, combined with the desire to look fashionable, the longer term brand-building and distinguishing potential of advertising often gets lost in the mix. But the rewards are there for those who can see advertising as not just a product showcase, but a way of building brand awareness and more importantly an identity, an image, and a relationship between a brand and the consumer. An idea of who the brand is and what it stands for.
As fashion product changes faster, with companies like Zara getting new product from design to market in just fifteen days and everybody desperate to be "on-trend" as quickly as possible, those intangible brand values may well end up forming the only enduring difference between one brand and another. Advertising - from traditional magazine ads to mobile phone screen wallpapers - will become even more important as one of the few ways in which brands can truly distinguish themselves.
How? It's for each individual brand to discover or create something different. In our agency, we've ranged from "Sic'em Rex" to "fcuk".

Worling Saunders director Adam Worling
If you are in the fashion industry, chances are you have a customer that invests heavily in purchasing magazines and newspapers, surfing the web, watching movies and television and talking amongst their friends. All of these activities create opportunities for the exposure of your brand and product to these media savvy customers.
I believe PR is the most effective tool when used to establish a new business. But more often than not I hear the words, "but we can not afford it". Why not I ask? Did you add into your costings the percentage of freight, cutting of the garment, make, accessories, packaging and discounts for retailers? I am sure any good business has - then why not build in a percentage for PR?
Fashion Editors are always looking for something new - it is the fashion industry after all - an industry that constantly changes from summer to winter - whether red is in or out - is it long or is it short?
What a wonderful opportunity this creates for a new business to create a buzz.
Good PR companies will meet with designers and work out the best possible opportunities for editorial exposure. Additionally a good PR will also be honest about a collection and if there are some weak parts, will suggest slight changes or remove them from the collection that is showcased to the media.
Do remember, quite often that the best selling styles might not raise any interest from the media.
Advertising is a wonderful and truly powerful medium for being able to secure a certain page in a magazine, a banner on a website or a TVC as it allows the portrayal of the exact message you want consumers to know about your brand.
Agreed it is effective, though it can also be an expensive process. But how can you make it cost effective?
I strongly believe that an advertising campaign should be backed up with a PR campaign that works in tandem with the advertising team and the media that it is placed with to create unique and original value added opportunities.
Worling Saunders helped launch Aldo into the Australian market with a strategic PR campaign with Shop Till You Drop that was then backed up with an advertising campaign.
Additionally, very few fashion companies can afford to advertise in all their target publications 12 months of the year. A solid PR company that can deliver should be able to have the presence of your brand in most issues throughout the year.
My belief is that PR is a long-term commitment, not just a stunt or a one season wonder.
Effective PR will continue to build on the profile of a brand each season - managing the good with the sometimes bad. Your aim is to have your customers reading and seeing positive exposure of your brand with the desired result being that they want to buy into the world of your brand.
An industry standard is that PR is believed to be worth three times the value of an advertised page. The justification behind this is that, for example, a person chooses to purchase Cleo magazine and most probably buys this magazine each month - hence they believe in what Cleo stands for. So if Cleo then says this is the floral dress of the season then chances are if they are looking for a floral dress this is the one they will go seeking for.


Cue Clothing Company marketing and PR manager Kirsty Brockhoff
Each season it is our aim to secure a combination of strong advertising opportunities backed by key editorial and PR endorsements to provide invaluable support for the new season on Cue.
With a high level of fashion advertising in place to support a highly competitive market - and increasingly hectic schedules - finding a captive audience is becoming more and more difficult.
Therefore, to ensure that we continue to connect with and nurture our relationship with current and potential customers - we aim to communicate on a number of different levels to ensure that Cue remains top of mind.
Season launch involves a combination of aspirational advertising campaigns and a focus on securing key editorial endorsements to ensure Cue has a strong presence in the market place and able to communicate with our customers on a number of levels.
From outdoor to print advertising, editorial endorsements, centre promotions and customer events - the aim is to ensure a good balance of support for our brand across a multitude of opportunities.
The first Cue bus campaign was launched in 1971 - and our advertising campaigns are still taking over this town!
There is no doubt - be it our past or present - the impact of a fashion moment via a Cue ad campaign certainly strikes a connection with customers and evokes brand loyalty.
Cue ad campaigns allow us to create a message that is 100% behind the brand. A Cue ad campaign aims to communicate to 'girls on the go' so the focus is having presence in high impact areas such as the CBD and fashion precincts that offer a great platform for high fashion.
The key difference between advertising and PR for Cue is that PR offers a 100% independent view - a real endorsement - not a message generated by Cue.
PR offers an independent interpretation of what is in store for the new season and the opportunity to educate consumers on current trends and your brand - and being independent it will always carry great weight in the eye of the consumer.
With new designs arriving in store each week it is impossible for a Cue ad campaign to showcase the complete, new season direction - so PR and editorial endorsements are a key in generating interest in the brand and driving traffic in store on-going.
A direct response to editorial endorsement is also much more common so it is easier to quantify and gauge its success.
However, the general focus can tend towards trying to find the next big thing in fashion - so the Cue design team works hard to ensure that we are continually on the mark and able to secure a constant presence in the major fashion magazines.
There is no doubt that editorial support and endorsements from the leading fashion magazines and media can raise our profile and have a positive impact on business.
All advertising, marketing and PR is generated in-house which allows 100% focus on all levels and ensures a dedicated team that knows the brand backwards.