Why Is PR For Fashion Brands So Important?
The clothes speak for themselves, right? I mean if something looks good, it looks good! Oh, the naivety of the constructed reader, how sweet you are! No, unfortunately it takes more than just a good-looking item of clothing to be successful anymore. Gone are the days of the timeless little black dress. Instead, we live in a society of throwaway fashion and trends that come and go quicker than you can stick a label on.
What’s more important today, is securing good exposure for your brand, putting a unique and positive spin on it to ensure it can survive the first couple of seasons. Longevity is hard-won in the world of fashion. To secure it, you need all the help you can get. The always well-turned out team (I mean we would say that, wouldn’t we!) here at VerriBerri, an agency offering PR for fashion brands, want to explain why PR has become so essential in recent times for clothing brands.
Everyone’s Out To Get You…
No, this isn’t the start of a paranoid dream. The sad reality is that the media will sooner find ways to bring you crashing down, rather than celebrate your successes. They take a forensic approach to your brand, excavating old social media posts, ethical stances, methods of practice etc. to try and dig up any dirt on you that they can. Covering all your bases, therefore, is essential. You can’t be too careful anymore, and a PR team is well-versed in examining and auditing your brand for potential pitfalls that may lead to bigger crises down the line.
They’ll also encourage you be honest and accountable for past grievances your brand may have caused, rather than trying to cover them up – pretending you’ve always been perfect when you haven’t, is about the worst thing you can ever do as a brand. PR for fashion brands is about evaluating these sorts of things, and gently coaxing you towards making the right decisions and not necessarily the easy ones.
Take A Look Through The Looking Glass
A fashion brand’s optics has never been so important, that’s to say, how you look to the outside world. Are you making acceptable choices in line with society’s prevailing mood at that current time? Sustainable fashion, for example, is something that’s increasingly falling into the crosshairs of the world’s media. Sustainability from two perspectives, firstly in the sense of throwaway fashion, the kind forged in the sweatshops of East Asia.
Secondly, sustainability from an environmental sense. There are trends within trends within trends in the world of fashion; a PR team is able to help your brand sort the wheat from the chaff, in that regard. They can discern those trends that are worth pursuing, both from a financial viewpoint and a reputation based one. When you’re so deeply entrenched within your brand’s message, thought patterns and ideas, it sometimes takes an external influence to help provide that corrective balance. An agency offering PR for fashion brands is one such counterweight.
Relations In A World Where Reputation Is Everything
More than most, fashion is an industry impingent on a few people’s opinions. If someone in a Milan fashion house, somewhere, says that your piece is good, then the whole world crows in agreement. With something so subjective, ensuring positive B2B (business-to-business and B2C (business-to-customer) relationships is important. It doesn’t take much for you brand to garner a negative reputation in the fashion industry; only one or two ‘big names’ need pipe up and that’s it, you’re finished.
PR teams will attend events and fashion shows on behalf of your brand to build relationships. They’ll build the kind of meaningful, long-lasting connections; interactions which help build your brand a foundation and solid footing within the ever-shifting sands of the fashion world. Reputation is one of the key priorities of any team working on PR for fashion brands, and this shows no sign of changing any time soon.
Doing What PR Teams Are Good At
If a PR team has a bread and butter, then it’s the securing of coverage. It’s the sort of thing they could do in their sleep, blindfolded or drunk (maybe even all three at once, who knows!). Print media is by no means dead, despite what some may lead you to believe. It’s a thriving industry for many areas, the fashion sector being one of them. Pitching, press releases and articles all come as second-nature to a PR executive or assistant.
A time-consuming art that is often thankless, outsourcing your PR frees your brand’s own time to focus on what you know and love, the clothing. Having the ability is one thing, having the resources is another. Even if you were among the fortunate few who have the skill to carry out your PR in-house, the chances you are you won’t have access to the kind of PR platforms needed to contact any journalists of note. So, why is PR for fashion brands so important? Well, without it, you’re just not going to get talked about by the industry heavy-hitters that you want to be.
It’s a cutthroat business trying to look good. It shouldn’t be surprising when what one person sees as visually beautiful, another wouldn’t be seen dead in. A PR team will help your brand shift the industry goalposts to a position that best promotes and suits your brand.
If you say the word fashion, you may as well be saying the word flux. It’s a world that changes so quickly, that keeping on top of brand image is a full-time job. Fortunately, there are whole teams dedicated to doing exactly that, in the guise of PR squads. So, if you’d like to find out more about our agency offering PR for fashion brands, then get in touch! Contact VerriBerri today on 01376 386 850. We offer free non-obligation consultations to see how our business can help yours thrive moving forward. We look forward to hearing from you, just click here to fill out our contact form!
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