Promotional channels in fashion marketing

A promotional mix combines different types of promotional tools to promote a brand’s products and services, and to communicate its message to consumers. The ultimate aim, of course, is to support sales and persuade customers to purchase. Similarly, with a promotional mix that includes advertising, sales promotion, and PR, fashion marketing has specific promotional channels. The important promotional channels in Customer segmentation in fashion marketing are given below.

Fashion Press

Before the rise of the digital ecosystem, fashion industries used specialized magazines as part of their communication strategies. Magazines still play an important role in fashion promotions. Fashion magazines, both print and digital, and fashion bloggers perform a vital role in terms of advertising. The magazines premier new season styles and profile hot trends for the season. With digital transformation, brands also use visual platforms like Instagram, which, while running a story, can have customers swipe up or click on a call-to-action button.

Fashion Shows

Fashion shows are important for designers because they generate PR and publicity. They are a great opportunity for promotion. Fashion shows not only display clothes but also engage with social issues.  Many brands are now gaining press coverage for the ingenuity of their digital presence. Brands are now slowly moving back to physical shows after a year of lockdowns and pandemic-related restrictions. There are fewer fashion weeks now. Gucci has already announced that it is scaling back its catwalk presentations. It is going to put up two ‘seasonless’ and co-ed collections per year to embrace sustainability. Fashion shows that use renewable energy like wind and solar can give a brand a positive image and help with its promotion. Fashion shows can also be held as special in-store events to reward loyal customers and social media followers.

Window Displays

Windows provide an excellent marketing opportunity for retailers. They are many brands’ prime areas of visual contact with potential customers. A quick glance at storefront displays creates an impression of a brand in a shopper’s mind. Hence, window displays can be used to reinforce brand identity.  To engage audiences, stories can be used in-store displays. The story can showcase a new seasonal trend or designer collection, for instance. Many brands include digital media in their displays. For instance, The Liberty of London ‘Scan to See’ window campaign attracted viewers with clues about products sold in the store. Each window featured a large QR code which was linked to an online brochure revealing the story behind the product’s manufacture.

Social Media Influencers

Fashion brands collaborate with influencers to boost engagement. Some high-end fashion brands collaborate with influencers to keep their brand relevant and spoken about. For instance, Gucci has picked up on viral trends with its #GucciModelChallenge, where users recreate Gucci-inspired looks using their own clothes. This trend went viral on TikTok, and Gucci has decided to feature talents that took part in the challenge in a new video project with TikTok themselves. Balenciaga launched a shoppable campaign on TikTok over the Christmas period. The videos by the campaign resulted in more than 25 million views, exposing the brand to a younger audience, and resulting in 4.5 million clicks to its landing page.