As production manager, I have worked with so many different clients. All of them with different backgrounds and, mostly, no idea how to build their fashion brand. Aside from product development and production management, one of the things that I always guide my clients through is building their brand image. I have mentioned this before and will repeat it here, building your brand image is something that needs to happen at the same time as product development and your branding needs to be coherent to your products.
Ok, something that people tend to forget when starting their new brand is how important branding and marketing are. We all know that designers want to present the best quality and the most unique styles. We get it! But expending all your money in development and forget to budget marketing and branding materials is the same as making sure you will produce a bunch of amazing products and sit on inventory forever… No, nobody wants that! If you are a brand new designer who is starting a fashion brand, building your brand’s image, logo, color pallet, and mood board is something that needs to happen when you start designing your first collection.
Yes, designs, colors, and inspiration will change from season to season, just like trends change all the time, but your brand identity will stay the same. That is how people will recognize you and that is the material you will present to boutiques (in case you do want to work with wholesale). It is easy to develop an amazing product and save money in photo shooting, but the photo shoot is exactly what will catch customers' eyes. Is a high-quality cashmere dress worth an iPhone photoshoot with your best friend because you think she is cute? Exactly… Your branding needs to be coherent to your target customers, price point, and product.
When it is about producing offshore or locally, the most asked question is: what is the difference between these two options? Well, the minimums! As I mentioned in previous posts, any offshore manufacturer will require high minimums, which means you will have a large inventory. Producing in the US might be flexible in terms of MOQs but it costs way more and if your costing is higher, your selling price will be higher too. This means that, if you decide to produce offshore, you will have to work with a marketing company that will help you sell all the units you produced. Or, if you decide to produce locally, you will have to work with a marketing company that will make you sell your products at a higher price point. The budget you have to develop your collection can help determine how much you will need to add to marketing and branding.
High-end products with a high price point result in a brand presentation and a marketing strategy coherent to the products. Lower price points and high volume of inventory resulted in a brand presentation and a marketing strategy coherent to the products. It might sound super simple and stupid (lol), but it is true. When launching a new brand, the main thing is to make sure you have a separate budget to invest in your brand identity and marketing. After all, you do not want to save money on the material that will represent who your brand is.
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