Blog 3
The University of the Arts community is now experiencing an unprecedented situation. The coronavirus outbreak and lockdowns all around the world highlight the importance of the Better Lives Unit. Now it’s more relevant than ever.
During the “Messaging fashion” classes, which I have chosen for my Better Lives project, we were asked to create a PR campaign that advocates for diversity, sustainability or social responsibility for a specific brand.
I and my groupmates were working on ZAFUL Brand – It is an affordable fast-fashion online outlet mainly focusing on Gen Z. While analyzing the brand’s values and the consumer. I realized how the work of the PR team is vitally important for the brand image. We spotted two main problems that are connected to Better Lives themes that we wanted to address – sustainability and social responsibility.
Since Zaful is a fast-fashion brand our group worked on some innovations that would help brand reduce environmental footprints to become more eco-friendly. However, our main focus was on the cause of mental health. After understanding ZAFUL’s targeted audience and main platforms for creating brand image(Social media) we spotted some issues. The brand uses “the same type” skinny, white, and young models on their social platforms, even though it’s position itself as an inclusive brand. That’s why our group decided to create a campaign in partnership with the “Young Minds” charity organization, which aims to help youngsters with mental health issues. ZAFUL’s perception of a body could negatively impact the teens’ who are struggling with self-esteem problems. Our group decided to use social media platforms to change the brand image by promoting our partnership with “Young Minds” as the role of social media cannot be denied especially now, when everybody is on social distancing. And they are the main source of communication with young people.
To sum up, this project helped me understand, especially as for Journalism student, how the PR role is important for the brand image. PR teams are like a bridge between society and the brand. And thus, it’s very necessary for them to create and transmit the right message to the public. They are responsible to face serious social problems. And working in the team helped me to understand that different perspective could create innovations which would make the fashion industry a bit better.