Visits from Jenny

Jenny has been visiting Uni giving lectures on her own business Fashion-Enter! The information received during these lessons has been brilliant! She has highlighted the highs as well as the lows of setting up your own business and has opened up on a personal level in order to really give us a true insight into being an entrepreneur. I have managed to have a chat with her about the marketing side of a business and she actually gave a detailed lecture on it one day. Again, this is stuff I couldn't have found in a text book and was amazing to be able to ask someone any question that popped into our head. She outlined some of the areas of marketing I would have to look into for me. We completed a group project as part of her visits and for this; I was assigned the title of head of marketing. This gave me yet another chance to explore this area and practise promoting a company, our clothing company for 0-4 year old girls, Rosie-Lee! This was another great project to do as it gave a realistic example of being an entrepreneur within a business this time, working as part of a team and all having to communicate with one another to get the work done.

I had another tutorial with Tony today and the outcome wasn't great! However, I didn't have most of my work with me to show him as i forgot what we had planned, but still the tutorial made me panic and know i had to change my work. Its time to get my idea clear in my head and do the work i need to to make it clear what business I am presenting!

Competition for my business

I decided I needed to know my competition if I am to start a branding business. To do this I started the search for individuals in the branding business and I found a woman called Kate Elgood and her application on linkedin.com. This outlined some of the skills needed and the fact there are people out there doing the job I want to do in the future. Then I moved onto the companies. I found heavenly.co.uk and i-am associates and beyond a branding company based in London. From looking at these companies I learnt what services they offer and their strategies. It highlighted to me what they didn't do and where I could be better than them. I looked at websites that caught my eye because I plan to have a website for my business and as I can't visit a shop to see what the branding world is like, like you could a clothing store, websites are the next big thing. I have highlighted what elements of the website make them original and funky in my eyes and I have picked up several tips for my site and also where I could improve.

Comparative model...

To find out more about the marketing industry, I conducted an interview with the marketing executive of Mercedes Benz. This gave me an insight into what the marketing is like in a big company such as this one. It taught me more about marketing itself and also about the thoughts and feeling the person doing the job has about it. It also outlined to me some of the services that could be provided from my company. This was well worth competing and I gained some great information from it which I can use in the future.

Marketing Research Model....done :)
Now just to do the competitive model and finish BUSINESS PLAN!!!

Business Plan....

So.....the writing of the Business Plan is NOT going well! It feels like I have been banging my head against a brick wall for days with it now...just.not.getting.anywhere!!! argghhhh

Change of direction...

WAS- Creating a service where I am a Brand Specialist/Brand Manager and I would go into companies with failed brands, strip the existing brand bare and rebuild a new brand- which in turn will create brand identity and rebuild the target market. I could also work with smaller businesses to help them build a brand from scratch.


NOW- Branding pop-up shop that travels around Universities helping graduates brand themselves and get their work recognised and remembered. Also offering sessions about branding and marketing so the students can learn about the subject in a creative and appealing way. Building the students clients base and working with a marketing team to create their image to enable them to enter the industry with a strong start.


I changed this because I realised there was a gap in the market to help students and to be based on their University campus so that it is convenient. Students will be starting a new venture and I will be helping them to establish a start in their career, this will also be very rewarding.

My Progress....

For the past 2 weeks, I have been working away on compiling market research ready for a session on how to write a business plan.

Within this time I have been confused, clear, up and down! As my business is going to be based on branding, it is important that my market research is coherent as it is a huge part of what I want to be doing in the business for other people.

I was confused as to where to start with my research and didn't fully understand the task in hand, however, after reading the hand outs that were provided and doing some research of my own, things started to become clearer.

I have also been working on an additional feature to this area of work. This is branding of a fashion design student. This is to give an example of what the business would do and also practise some of the skills I know I will need to establish this business. It is going well at the moment. I have compiled a name, logo, packaging ideas, letterheads and business cards, website and blog and I will be focusing on marketing events soon.

Throughout all of this I have also been contributing to the group project that we have been set as part of this unit. I am also practising marketing within this as the head of the marketing team. We are creating a children's clothing company called 'Rosie-Lee' and it is my job to devise a plan for marketing and promoting this company.

So much to do....so little time!

My New Purchase!

Suggested to me in a Sarah James tutorial about my dissertation, that I buy this book. It is also going to be relevant to this unit as it will help me understand what goes on in the mind of consumers more and how to conduct affective advertisements but ensuring I don't manipulate consumers in any way. I am very excited to get reading this book and learning about the psychological side to branding as I find it fascinating!!!