Fashion Marketing: What is it?

Simply put, fashion marketing is the advertising and marketing of fashion-related items, including clothing, shoes, and outerwear, and accessories like jewelry, neckties and handbags. While the explanation is very simple, fashion marketing is not! Many items related to the fashion industry are luxuries for consumers, so marketers must create a need in the minds of consumers. They also need to stay on top of trends in fashion and need to understand the best outlets for reaching their target consumer, including social media and other forms of advertising.

A person working in fashion marketing also needs to understand the industry overall, including public relations, retail buying, how trends are set and followed, product development, brand management and publishing in the fashion world. They would also need to have a basic understanding of fashion itself when it comes to textiles, graphic design, and color coordination.

The fashion industry also has unique facets and features when it comes to marketing, for example, shows at Fashion Week that are held around the world, popup stores, their relationship with the publishing world, and industry collaborations. A person working in fashion marketing would need to understand how all of these impact marketing trends and how they are used to market a particular designer or label. They would also need to understand the difference between local marketing needs and marketing used for fashion with an international customer base.

Because fashion-related products have such a quick turnover, fashion marketing is a fast paced industry with constant pressures to create new campaigns for their products and to create brand awareness. The industry often uses social media to create that awareness so anyone involved in fashion marketing needs to be savvy as to the latest trends, not just in fashion, but in how buzz is created for that fashion. Consumer attention on social media changes almost as quickly as fashion itself, with users always finding new websites and apps that are fashion related, and marketing professionals need to be aware of these changing trends.

Those that want a career in fashion marketing often need to take schooling in marketing but also in fashion design so they have a basic understanding of how the industry works. They may also want to consider classes in publishing as the fashion industry has such a strong reliance on print ads and glossy magazines for its marketing. Fashion retailing is also important to understand, as this is the process of getting items on store shelves and then selling them to the consumers.

A career in fashion marketing is challenging but can also be very rewarding. Those who work in fashion marketing are often well ahead of the trends and may be invited and even required to attend the top shows in the industry, and may work with many labels and designers to create new campaigns and marketing ideas for their work. Anyone that loves fashion and that loves advertising would do well to consider a career in fashion marketing.

Be the first to comment