Purpose
Trees have the purpose to provide 70% of the world’s oxygen, whether it is a cup or a laptop. Everything around provides a purpose. But what is most important? is that each one of us has an individual and unique reason why we are on this earth. Purpose is the final pillar of sustainability at the University Of The Arts London. The purpose of this blog is to give readers comprehension as to why every fashion brand has a purpose.
Consumers can understand the purpose of a brand through brand philosophy. Brand philosophy represents a sense of pride in what a brand is about(Brand Master Academy, 2022). Brands want their customers to feel the class money can buy (Isaac Jeffries, 2016). Brands practice this by having a mission statement. A mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of a company(Dictionary Cambridge, 2022). For example, the Fashion brand Zara’s mission statement is to “give customers what they want and get it to them faster than anyone else”. Having a mission statement creates a sense of identity for fashion brands like Zara and allows brands to measure and ensure they are working and creating products that align with their mission statement, this also provides an ideal vision for the company’s future and directs its growth(Indeed, 2022).
Vision answers the question of ‘Where does a brand wants to be?’ and ‘What are the future goals?’. Brands having a vision drives success as this gives the brand something to work towards, motivates employees and differentiates the brand from competitors (David Aaker, 2022) For example, sports brand Nike set three goals that they hope to have met by 2020 one being to ‘minimise its environmental footprint’ (Londrigan, M.P, & Jenkins, J.M, 2018, loc 41-60). Nike having this goal would then be broken down into steps they will take to get there this could be done by creating a vision board for the brand.
A value proposition is a ‘commitment made specifically to a targeted audience’ (Casey Schmidt, 2020). This gives customers a clear insight as to what the companies values are and the service that the brand wants to provide to their consumers (TechTarget, 2022) Luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton targeted audience is 18- 54 women who earn high yearly salaries of $75,000 or more. Louis uses value proposition through their exclusivity in their bags which enables Louis to charge their high prices. The Louis bag sells an image of status, and they want their customers to feel the class money can buy (Isaac Jeffries, 2016).
- Brand Master Academy (2022) What is brand philosophy. Available at: What Is Brand Philosophy? [+How To Find Yours] (brandmasteracademy.com) / (Accessed: 25 October 2022).
- Casey Schmidt (2020) Canto. Available at: Break through barriers with a brand value proposition | Canto (Accessed: 23 October 2022).
- David Aker (2014) It Starts with a Brand Vision: 6 Key Components of Successful Models. Available at: Brand Vision: 6 Key Components of Successful Models | Aaker on Brands (prophet.com) / (Accessed: 26 October 2022)
- Dictionary Cambridge (2022) Mission statement. Available at: MISSION STATEMENT | English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary / (Accessed: 25 October 2022).
- Indeed (2022), Why is a company mission statement important. Available at: Why a mission statement is important: uses and examples | Indeed.com UK / (Accessed: 25 October 2022).
- Isaac Jeffries (2016) Value propositions. Available at: Value Propositions — Isaac Jeffries / (Accessed: 24 October 2022).
- Londrigan, M.P., & Jenkins, J.M. (2018). Fashion Supply Chain Management. New York City: Fair Child Books, An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing inc.
- Tech Target (2022) Value proposition. Available at: What is value proposition? – Definition from WhatIs.com (techtarget.com) / (Accessed: 23 October 2022).