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Fashion Communication

People

Sadaba T.

Course director

San Miguel Arregui P.

Course director

Description

Course Objectives

  • Knowledge of the main communication strategies in the fashion sector, and strategies for specific situations such as crisis communication

  • Knowledge of the variables that come into play in communication plans

  • Comparative analysis of the different tools used in business communication.

  • Comparative analysis of the so-called "traditional media" and the new media

  • Knowledge of influencer marketing plan and the tools required for its development.

  • Knowledge of the opportunities offered by influencer marketing for the development of business strategies and consumer knowledge.

Course Description

Fashion Communication includes communicating the brands, designers, single products, or collections, while reaching potential customers through various media channels. If the fashion product incorporates the tangible dimension of the goods, it is through communication that fashion brands can create emotional associations, consumer benefits, and a lifestyle.

The tools and media channels used by fashion brands (TV, magazines, posters, editorial books, lookbooks, fashion shows, etc.) will be discussed within the course.

Business to Business and Business to Consumer communication strategies will be presented using extensive case studies.

In recent years both official online communication and User Generated Contents have started to play a major role in the fashion communication domain with the dynamics of single users/laypeople co-creating the image (and reputation) of brands, and shaping the very concept of what is fashionable (and what is not), Social Media Systems are also used by famous bloggers, celebrities, and social media influencers, who are helping companies to communicate in new ways. These aspects will be also discussed within the course.

Learning Methods

Lectures, case study, workshops.

Attendance

Attendance is requested because part of the evaluation will be during classes

Exam Information

Written test (60%) and workshops and in class participation (40%)

Required Materials

Harvard Case Study:

  1. Elberse, A., Ferrer, J., Gough, E., & Katsarou, V. (2013). Vogue: Defining the Culture of Fashion. Harvard Business School Case, 514-036.
  2. Elberse, A. (2015), Burberry in 2014. Harvard Business School Case, 515-054.
  3. Keinan, A., Maslauskaite, K., Crener, S., & Dessain, V. (2015). The blonde salad. Harvard Business School Case, 515-074.
  4. Wells, John R., and Galen Danskin (2013). Benetton Group 2000. Harvard Business School Case 713-510, (Revised March 2014)

References (not required):

  1. Brown, D., & Hayes, N. (2008). Influencer marketing. Routledge.
  2. Gladwell, Malcolm: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Little, Brown and Company, 2000.
  3. Harris, C. (2017). The fundamentals of digital fashion marketing. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  4. Kalbaska, N., Sádaba, T., Cominelli, F., & Cantoni, L. (2019). Fashion Communication in the Digital Age. Springer.
  5. Lakoff, George: Don't Think of an Elephant. Know your Values and Frame the Debate. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004. (Translated into Spanish by Universidad Complutense Publishing Dpt.)
  6. Luntz Frank: Words That Work. It's Not What You Say. It's What People Hear. Ed. Hyperion, New York, 2007.
  7. Penn, Mark J.: Microtrends. The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Change.Twelve, New York, 2007.
  8. Sádaba, T. (2015). Moda en el entorno digital. Pamplona: EUNSA.
  9. Sádaba, T., SanMiguel, P., & Gargoles, P. (2019, July). Communication Crisis in Fashion: From the Rana Plaza Tragedy to the Bravo Tekstil Factory Crisis. In International Conference on Fashion communication: between tradition and future digital developments (pp. 259-275). Springer, Cham.
  10. Salmon, Christian: Storytelling: la máquina de fabricar historias y formatear las mentes. Península, Barcelona, 2008.
  11. SanMiguel, P. (2020). Influencer Marketing. Conecta tu marca con tu público. Colección acción empresarial. LID Editorial.

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