A quote from this article that is particularly relevant to clothing advertising and brand identity is: "Today brands are built emotionally. You have to get a message across and show what the brand ideology means to her life."After doing a great amount of research for our presentation, we found that this is a very accurate statement. A lot of thought and planning goes into shooting clothing advertisements. When you think about it, the simplest form of clothing advertising would be to lay clothes on the floor and take a picture of them. However, as a consumer, you will almost never see clothing advertised in this way, because companies try to send more of a message in their advertising. Every element of the advertisement, including the appearance of the model, the background, the lighting, and the music are carefully thought out and planned to create a reflective reaction in the mind of the consumer. In this article, the author talks about Nine West, a company that has an advertisement showing three men staring at the sandals of a woman in a bar. Obviously, this advertisement goes far beyond just taking a picture of the product. Instead, it is showing that if you shop at Nine West and buy products from this company, you will receive more attention and be more popular than if you shopped somewhere else. It is important to note that the company is not just saying that by wearing one particular pair of sandals, you will look better. Rather, the company is saying that by becoming part of Nine West, consumers will become more fashionable, attractive people overall. This, of course, is a deceptive advertising strategy, but one that almost all clothing companies use. Wearing a product does not change what kind of a person you are; it just changes a part of your appearance.
Nike is an example of a clothing company that has extremely iconic advertising. Nike frequently uses very famous athletes in advertisements. Professional athletes are people who have worked very hard and experienced great success in their lives. They are people who are admired and looked up to, especially by the younger generation. Often times, Nike advertisements show an athlete performing his or her sport, and also usually have a short catch phrase, such as "just do it." In the advertisement that is included in my post, Lebron James is shown in an extremely athletic, dominant pose in an arena filled with admiring fans. He is the center of attention, and the words "will to win" show that he is an extremely motivated athlete. This advertisement is very interesting because the Nike logo does not appear on any of James' clothing. Even if the clothing that he is wearing is made by Nike, it is not likely that an everyday shopper would be able to buy the jersey that he is wearing. Therefore, Nike is trying to sell the idea that the company can help you become a successful athlete. This idea is more important than any individual product that the company could advertise.
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Brand image has influenced my decision to buy clothing on several occasions. For example, I have bought Oakley sunglasses that cost over one hundred dollars each of the last two summers. While I could have gone to a drug store and bought a cheap pair of knock-offs, I chose the Oakley's for several reasons. First of all, I know that Oakley is a very reputable company, and since I was looking for durable, high quality sunglasses, I knew that Oakley would be a safe, reliable option. Another reason that I spent so much money on Oakley sunglasses is that the company has a very iconic logo that is instantly recognizable to many people. Something about the message that this logo sends is attractive to me, as opposed to an inexpensive off-brand. Another example of how brand image has influenced my decision to buy an item of clothing is with Adidas tennis shoes. I have been wearing different versions of the Adidas Barricade tennis shoe for the last four years. Although I have had no complaints with the shoe, I also have not experimented with different brands to see if there is a better product. The Barricade is a shoe that many different professionals wear. It is not so much that I think I will be more like these professionals if I wear this kind of shoe, but I know that if Adidas is good enough for professional tennis players, it will be good enough for me. In regard to the second part of this question, I think that it really depends from person to person. When you look at a middle school boy wearing a tee-shirt that screams the word "Hollister" in bright blue lettering across the chest, jeans that are purposely torn or shredded at the knees and faded across the front, and a flat brimmed purple hat, I think that the clothes are defining the person. The consumer is looking for clothes that make a statement so that he does not have to. On the other hand, people who put more thought into the clothes that they buy can define the clothes. When people with very interesting personalities have interesting senses of fashion, the clothes become ways for people to express themselves. In this case, the person is defining the clothes and what it means to wear them.
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