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Old 01-04-2013, 20:30
george.millman
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I found this article written by a teenage girl about sustainable and ethical clothing:

http://www.eco-age.com/item/3358-Eth...ge_Perspective

It's something that I am very interested in, but at the moment I don't think it's something people associate with teenagers. I wonder if we could turn that to our advantage? I think if we focus on ethical, then we have something special in our brand because we're trying to make teenage boys aware of these issues, we're filling a gap in the market and that does change something socially. However, we would need to work out if it's really feasible to make this the next big thing among teenagers, as it is a big risk and if it doesn't pay off, it will completely kill my chances of winning this competition. How do things become fashionable? How do clothing companies make people want their product? To be honest, I know little about clothing. I wish we had focus groups.

By the end of today, I want to decide whether we are going to focus on ethical or going down a different route. I'd really like to do ethical as if it's a risk that pays off it will be brilliant for me, but at the moment I'm not entirely confident that it will pay off.
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:31
george.millman
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Great! I've already had some ideas, what do you think?
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:32
Stuart25
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Just to confirm, you are producing a brand that will feature on items of clothing and producing a pitch about your brand and the items of clothing used.
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:34
puppylove7
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Great! I've already had some ideas, what do you think?
I agree about your comments about ethical clothing. It would be great if it worked and could be successful but it would be a big risk and I wouldn't want to lose it for you.
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:37
george.millman
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I agree about your comments about ethical clothing. It would be great if it worked and could be successful but it would be a big risk and I wouldn't want to lose it for you.
Do you have any other strong ideas? We need to have something specific I think, we don't just want to be another teenage clothing brand; and if we can't think of anything specific other than ethical, then I think we might as well take the risk as we have nothing to lose.

Do you like my thoughts about teenage boys being a better target market than teenage girls as well, because of competition? Although having said that, if we do ethical, then I think girls might be more aware of the sweatshop issue than boys would, so maybe going for ethical AND male might limit our market too much.
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:39
puppylove7
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Do you have any other strong ideas? We need to have something specific I think, we don't just want to be another teenage clothing brand; and if we can't think of anything specific other than ethical, then I think we might as well take the risk as we have nothing to lose.

Do you like my thoughts about teenage boys being a better target market than teenage girls as well, because of competition? Although having said that, if we do ethical, then I think girls might be more aware of the sweatshop issue than boys would, so maybe going for ethical AND male might limit our market too much.
Your ideas are really good but I agree. Boys wouldn't care about ethical stuff.
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:44
george.millman
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Your ideas are really good but I agree. Boys wouldn't care about ethical stuff.
My problem is that I think if we do ethical, then it doesn't work to choose either boys or girls to target, and we should choose both. The brief says that we need a clear target market... is there any other way we can target a certain type of teenager other than by gender?

I thought we might try to create quite formal teenage clothes for a serious occasion - not overly formal, but about halfway between formal and casual. You don't really see that type of clothing aimed at teenagers, and I think it might serve as a bit of a confidence boost. I know as a teenager myself, I nearly always wear black hoodies, but if I dress a bit more formally, I tend to feel a bit more confident within myself. So could we have a semi-formal clothing range, for teenagers who take themselves seriously, and ethical? I haven't really seen anything like that on the market. I'm not sure if that's because no one has thought of it, or because it wouldn't sell. Opinions?
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:48
george.millman
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Oh, and I found this article as well:

http://www.realthread.com/blog/6-tip...-clothing-line
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:52
puppylove7
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My problem is that I think if we do ethical, then it doesn't work to choose either boys or girls to target, and we should choose both. The brief says that we need a clear target market... is there any other way we can target a certain type of teenager other than by gender?

I thought we might try to create quite formal teenage clothes for a serious occasion - not overly formal, but about halfway between formal and casual. You don't really see that type of clothing aimed at teenagers, and I think it might serve as a bit of a confidence boost. I know as a teenager myself, I nearly always wear black hoodies, but if I dress a bit more formally, I tend to feel a bit more confident within myself. So could we have a semi-formal clothing range, for teenagers who take themselves seriously, and ethical? I haven't really seen anything like that on the market. I'm not sure if that's because no one has thought of it, or because it wouldn't sell. Opinions?
Personally I believe ethical clothing could work. But with girls. We need a brand as well though.
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:58
puppylove7
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Sorry I have to go! Will help more tomorrow!
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Old 01-04-2013, 20:58
george.millman
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Personally I believe ethical clothing could work. But with girls. We need a brand as well though.
Do we definitely need to focus on gender? I think if we're doing ethical (which bluntly I think is the best idea we're going to get, and I am a little eager to see if I can pull it off) we should be gender neutral. Boys may be less aware of the ethical point than girls, but there are also a lot of girls who really couldn't care less about it, and I think it's about targeting the right mindset of teenager, rather than gender. What do you think of my 'teenagers who take themselves seriously' idea? It's a way of challenging the idea that serious doesn't have to mean boring, it's fun to wear casual/formal, it's cool to wear casual/formal, and that target market is likely to be the kind of teenager who is aware and interested in the world around them anyway. I'm not sure it would appeal to enough people to make us big sellers though - but I suppose if we could push the 'taking yourself seriously is cool' idea, that could become the next big thing and we could challenge stereotypes about teenagers as well.

Now, for brands... I haven't got any good names right now (I'll get my thinking cap on), but if we're doing casual/formal, it's not likely that the whole of the garment will be covered in logo. I think if we could get something that is quite small that could be on a sleeve, but in a prominent place and designed in a way that will make it an obvious logo, that would be the best idea. But if you hate it, please say so.
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Old 01-04-2013, 21:00
george.millman
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Sorry I have to go! Will help more tomorrow!
Okay. I want decisions about our aims and target market completed tonight, so if you have to go, I am making the decision to use our best idea, which is formal/casual clothing, aimed at teenage boys and girls who 'take themselves seriously' and produced in an above board, ethical, sustainable way. I will have a think about brand logos and brand names, and also about which garment in each category we should go for.

I'd like to get started reasonably early tomorrow if possible. Before 12, say.
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Old 01-04-2013, 21:09
puppylove7
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Oh I'm taking my grandma home tomorrow so won't have access to my laptop til I get back about 2/3ish sorry!
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Old 01-04-2013, 21:12
george.millman
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Oh I'm taking my grandma home tomorrow so won't have access to my laptop til I get back about 2/3ish sorry!
Okay. Well, it's not the best thing, but I suppose there isn't much either of us can do about it. As early as you can, please, as I'd like you to create the logos on Paint as I don't have the programmes to do it (I can try to download it if it comes to that, but I'm not that experienced at using Paint, so I'd probably mess it all up. And I don't know for certain I could download it successfully).
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Old 01-04-2013, 21:21
puppylove7
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Okay. Well, it's not the best thing, but I suppose there isn't much either of us can do about it. As early as you can, please, as I'd like you to create the logos on Paint as I don't have the programmes to do it (I can try to download it if it comes to that, but I'm not that experienced at using Paint, so I'd probably mess it all up. And I don't know for certain I could download it successfully).
I'm rubbish at Paint but I'll give it my best shot. Sorry it was a last minute thing what I'm doing tomorrow.
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Old 01-04-2013, 21:27
george.millman
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I'm rubbish at Paint but I'll give it my best shot. Sorry it was a last minute thing what I'm doing tomorrow.
Thanks. Well, this task is different in that it's purely my performance being judged and not both of us, so hopefully your commitments won't make a difference to my success/failure (hopefully success, fingers crossed!) It's all on me to do a good job.
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Old 02-04-2013, 12:34
george.millman
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Hey, I've been thinking about brand names. What do you think of something like Consciousness? I thought that name might be good as it's simple and incorporates both of our aims with this brand. You can be conscious of the world's issues and that you are doing something to help by wearing sustainable clothing; you are also wearing something smart and fairly formal, and that makes you more alert and conscious.
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Old 02-04-2013, 15:07
puppylove7
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I'm back. I've been thinking about this and think formal clothing may not be the best idea as I believe teenagers hate wearing formal wear so wouldn't buy it. Ethical clothing isa much better route to go down imo and I thought of maybe a slogan like Ethi go go or something?
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Old 02-04-2013, 15:20
george.millman
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I'm back. I've been thinking about this and think formal clothing may not be the best idea as I believe teenagers hate wearing formal wear so wouldn't buy it. Ethical clothing isa much better route to go down imo and I thought of maybe a slogan like Ethi go go or something?
I wasn't thinking totally formal, but more casual/formal. I don't mean grey and boring clothing, I mean clothing that isn't overly severe but adds a ring of confidence to it. I was thinking sort of like these images - they're casual, but smart at the same time:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&...ml%3B450%3B470

http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&...ml%3B504%3B388

I'm just thinking that the brief does specify that we need a target market, and while I think ethical is a great theme, using it doesn't really narrow it down to a certain type of teenager (i.e. male/female), so I was thinking 'teens who take themselves seriously' might be a way to go about things. How you feel about yourself is expressed in the clothing you wear, and we'd be spreading the message that it's good to take yourself seriously, it's cool to wear formal/casual and this could be the next big thing. These are likely to be the kind of teenagers who understand and care about the world's issues and the problems with clothing production anyway.

That's my reasoning anyway. If you hate it please say so, but if we don't do 'teens who take themselves seriously' then we need another target market, because the brief states that we need one.

Oh, and I like your 'Ethi' brand name suggestion as well, I think it's quite nice.
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Old 02-04-2013, 15:31
puppylove7
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I wasn't thinking totally formal, but more casual/formal. I don't mean grey and boring clothing, I mean clothing that isn't overly severe but adds a ring of confidence to it. I was thinking sort of like these images - they're casual, but smart at the same time:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&...ml%3B450%3B470

http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&...ml%3B504%3B388

I'm just thinking that the brief does specify that we need a target market, and while I think ethical is a great theme, using it doesn't really narrow it down to a certain type of teenager (i.e. male/female), so I was thinking 'teens who take themselves seriously' might be a way to go about things. How you feel about yourself is expressed in the clothing you wear, and we'd be spreading the message that it's good to take yourself seriously, it's cool to wear formal/casual and this could be the next big thing. These are likely to be the kind of teenagers who understand and care about the world's issues and the problems with clothing production anyway.

That's my reasoning anyway. If you hate it please say so, but if we don't do 'teens who take themselves seriously' then we need another target market, because the brief states that we need one.

Oh, and I like your 'Ethi' brand name suggestion as well, I think it's quite nice.
I suppose it could work but it would only be a small target market. Would it really be a big brand? Thanks, I'm glad you like my brand name, I was quite proud of it.
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Old 02-04-2013, 15:44
george.millman
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I suppose it could work but it would only be a small target market. Would it really be a big brand? Thanks, I'm glad you like my brand name, I was quite proud of it.
It is a small target market, but I think if it became popular then it could grow bigger. If taking yourself seriously became the done thing, and it was seen that this was actually quite a cool thing to do (and I think it is; I'm young and take myself seriously, and I enjoy it and it doesn't prevent me from having a good time) we might get more young people coming around to that way of thinking.

Having said that, I do understand the risks, and I realise that we're taking quite a big gamble to do this. Do you have any other suggestions for target market? This is the only one I can think of. I think that in this case at least it's better to have a small target market than none at all because if we don't have one we're not following the brief, so if we don't have a good alternative we will have to use my idea.
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Old 02-04-2013, 15:46
puppylove7
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It is a small target market, but I think if it became popular then it could grow bigger. If taking yourself seriously became the done thing, and it was seen that this was actually quite a cool thing to do (and I think it is; I'm young and take myself seriously, and I enjoy it and it doesn't prevent me from having a good time) we might get more young people coming around to that way of thinking.

Having said that, I do understand the risks, and I realise that we're taking quite a big gamble to do this. Do you have any other suggestions for target market? This is the only one I can think of. I think that in this case at least it's better to have a small target market than none at all because if we don't have one we're not following the brief, so if we don't have a good alternative we will have to use my idea.
It's just I don't know many people who would take themselves that seriously. I think we should do ethical clothing but have it for the target market of teenagers who "want to make a difference". I believe people would spend a lot in clothes they believe in and it would be good quality.
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Old 02-04-2013, 15:53
george.millman
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It's just I don't know many people who would take themselves that seriously. I think we should do ethical clothing but have it for the target market of teenagers who "want to make a difference". I believe people would spend a lot in clothes they believe in and it would be good quality.
Okay, maybe that is a better market actually. I think we'll go with that, it sounds better than 'teens who take themselves seriously' - which does in all honestly sound a little boring, even though that's not what I wanted to convey. Now, let's talk product.

One reason I wanted casual/formal was that it meant that in addition to having a target market, we would have a consistent idea for our range of products. The choices we have been given are:

1. Short Sleeved T-Shirt
2. Formal Long Sleeved Shirt, Hoodie, Jumper, Long Sleeved T-Shirt, Polo Shirt, Sweatshirt
3. Hoodie, Jacket
4. Any Accessory (Gloves, Scarves), Hoodie, Polo Shirt, Socks, Underwear

So, category 1 has been chosen for us. In category 2, I don't think we should have a hoodie, jumper or sweatshirt, as I think that's too obviously what teenagers wear and I'd like to go for something a bit different. My suggestion would be a long-sleeved T-shirt. In category 3 we should have a jacket (what kind though? I'd rather avoid leather as that comes from cows, which raises questions about ethics. Maybe artificial leather?) and in category 4 I'm thinking a polo shirt would be the most consistent with the other suggestions.

Shall we go with my ideas, or do you have any points to make first?
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Old 02-04-2013, 15:56
puppylove7
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Okay, maybe that is a better market actually. I think we'll go with that, it sounds better than 'teens who take themselves seriously' - which does in all honestly sound a little boring, even though that's not what I wanted to convey. Now, let's talk product.

One reason I wanted casual/formal was that it meant that in addition to having a target market, we would have a consistent idea for our range of products. The choices we have been given are:

1. Short Sleeved T-Shirt
2. Formal Long Sleeved Shirt, Hoodie, Jumper, Long Sleeved T-Shirt, Polo Shirt, Sweatshirt
3. Hoodie, Jacket
4. Any Accessory (Gloves, Scarves), Hoodie, Polo Shirt, Socks, Underwear

So, category 1 has been chosen for us. In category 2, I don't think we should have a hoodie, jumper or sweatshirt, as I think that's too obviously what teenagers wear and I'd like to go for something a bit different. My suggestion would be a long-sleeved T-shirt. In category 3 we should have a jacket (what kind though? I'd rather avoid leather as that comes from cows, which raises questions about ethics. Maybe artificial leather?) and in category 4 I'm thinking a polo shirt would be the most consistent with the other suggestions.

Shall we go with my ideas, or do you have any points to make first?
I agree with 1, 2 and 4. I think with 3 we should go for the hoodie as we want people to buy the product and teenagers are more likely to buy a hoodie than a jacket imo as hoodies are normally cheaper and are frequently worn instead of jackets.
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Old 02-04-2013, 16:02
george.millman
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I agree with 1, 2 and 4. I think with 3 we should go for the hoodie as we want people to buy the product and teenagers are more likely to buy a hoodie than a jacket imo as hoodies are normally cheaper and are frequently worn instead of jackets.
Hmm, perhaps you're right. Hoodie then.

Okay, so I think we've got our products sorted. What about our logo? I was thinking something quite small, but distinctive, that we can have on a sleeve, almost like a badge. Maybe a small circle of black with our name and some kind of picture?
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