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| IMAGE COURTESY OF JIMMY CHOO |
It's been some time now that the two of us have been working together and we quickly realized that each of us brought something to the "team" that the other didn't exactly consider their strong suit. However, over time I think we've started to really soak up each others talents to evolve, in a sense, and become more well rounded. Criss has a serious knack for understanding branding and the work that goes into creating, developing and maintaining a brand image. I on the other hand have always admired it but never really had a passion for it the way that she does. It wasn't until the creation of MAL AND CRISS that I began to seriously have a deeper love for the world of branding. Our lives are consumed with brands... and it's impossible to not pay attention to the way each brand works now.
With MAL AND CRISS as our new project.. and "baby" for that matter, I have noticed that I pay attention to so many different details in regards to other
brands. It's amazing to see how quickly our own brand,
MAL AND CRISS, has evolved in just one year. Going back to what I said about Criss and I bringing different talents to MAL AND CRISS.com, something that I have always paid attention to is the way that clothes are styled, the detailing that goes into merchandising in a store or simply the layout of an email blast or magazine spread; But somewhere along the way, I hadn't realized what I was doing was also analyzing the brand image and the branding that was being projected. Going to school for fashion marketing has changed the way I think for the better.
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"How crazy is it that today,
we can be Tweeting in
real-time with a CEO,
Creative Director or even
the designer of a brand."
-Mallory McLane
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When it comes to branding for companies these days, a few major things have changed the way branding is done, one being SOCIAL MEDIA. How crazy is it that today we can be Tweeting in real-time with a CEO, Creative Director or even the designer of a brand. Brands no longer rely on only print ads and commercials to get the word out about who they are and what they represent. With Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Tumblr, Pinterest and more, brands are able to communicate on a more personal level with their target market. The second thing changing this whole process of branding is that not only are we Facebooking, Tweeting, and Tumbling, we're now doing it from our phones and pumping out information at an even faster rate. With that being said, brands are able to share pictures and videos and talk about styling tips and product knowledge that we wouldn't otherwise, be receiving on a daily and/or hourly basis. It's not even just the fact that we're receiving this new information from these brands, the delivery process and the filter in which the information is "sifted" through reinstates who they are, giving us, the consumer, what I like to look at as a pretty little package all wrapped up with a satin bow.
My senior thesis will navigate the realm of social media through the eyes of a creative director, to understand and further explain the importance of social media, as a means to communicate with a specified target market. It is incredible to me that bloggers, similar to ourselves, have made it to such great lengths of working with well known companies to promote their products, when it all started with 1 post and lead to a book, a clothing line, a career... a company. If bloggers can be pushed to the front lines of advertising and marketing for huge companies, what's next? Suddenly people are looking more to the blogger who can relate to them than they are the magazine who was originally providing them with the information first hand. At this point, the bloggers point of view has become the "most desired" point of view, and also first hand information, as bloggers take front row seating in the world of fashion.
Yours Truly, #Inspired.
Food for thought:
BRANDS that are well managed and promoted
