Due to a number of factors, the consumer mindset is changing. While we understand how this affects our bottom line, it is less clear what changes brands and marketers can make to reduce the negative impact and emerge as stronger, more profitable brands.
At Fashion’s Collective, we maintain that marketing needs to move toward a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the consumer as an individual. This understanding can power more meaningful brand interactions, establish real connections with customers and generate longevity and success for brands.
In our work, we have been fortunate enough to encounter Ben Barry, CEO of the Ben Barry Agency, a model consultancy headquartered in Toronto, Canada. His company scouts and sources models of all ages, sizes, colors, and abilities for fashion and beauty brands, including Old Navy and Armani.
Ben has been the subject of feature interviews on Oprah, CNN, MTV, and Fashion Television, and his work has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Globe and Mail, and Glamour.
In addition, through his PhD studies at Judge Business School at Cambridge University, Ben has conducted extensive research on perceptions of beauty around the world and the cultural shift in consumer mentality. Today, Fashion’s Collective discusses with Ben the cultural deviations he has detected and what the implications are for brand marketers.
FC: In studying the psychological aspects of body image, what have you uncovered that can be applied and interpreted as a marketer?
My research of over 3000 women between the ages of 14 and 65 in Canada, the US, and UK found that women are more likely to purchase a fashion product when they see a model who resembles them – their size, age, and ethnicity – in the ad. My finding suggests that there has been a shift in the mindset of today’s female consumers; they do not passively absorb idealized images of models, but instead are skeptical and savvy of their fantasy.
Their history of interacting with fashion ads has taught them that no amount of shopping and dieting will ever allow them to mirror the beauty ideal. Their saturation of ultra thin models has left them jaded, bored and uninspired by their beauty. Their exposure to the rapid flow of information and social networking has taught them to question and challenge advertising images. Armed with such knowledge, consumers no longer buy fashion in the hope of fulfilling an impossible fantasy but instead purchase it to achieve a dream that can come true.
FC: How can brands use this information and insight to better connect with their audience and form more meaningful interactions?
My research suggests that unrealized economic potential exists for fashion brands that feature models that represent the demographics of their consumers. To increase sales, fashion brands are advised to select models that mirror the ages, sizes and backgrounds of their target market rather than models that all represent the Western beauty ideal — or, in other words, to replace their strategy of “hope in a jar” with what I term “aesthetic realism.” Managers should note that my findings do not support the end of size zero, but instead the start of body diversity.
This conclusion does not mean that women want to do away with images of aspiration. The very opposite is true. The worst thing a fashion brand could do is to feature physically diverse models in images that resemble a driver’s license mug shot, with poor styling, clothing and photography. Instead, women want to see models of a variety of sizes and ages that have the same glamour, artistry and poise as conventional fashion models.
FC: When we talk about the shift in mentality, the words authenticity and transparency keep coming up. For me, this forms an instant association with social media. What role, if any, do you think social media plays in these shifts in thinking?
Street style blogs, more than any other social media, have facilitated the shift from artifice to authenticity by showcasing clothes on people of all ages, sizes and backgrounds and celebrating them as champions of style. In a world where our fashion cues come from “the worst bikini bodies” in tabloids or photoshopped images of perfection in fashion magazines, street style bloggers highlight the one group we still believe in – real people. Looking at their images, we see ourselves in them and picture their styles on us. They inspire us to play and experiment with fashion because they remind us that fashion is not only a great form of self-expression, but also a whole lot of fun.
Photo Credits: Ben Barry photographed by Claudia Hung
Edited by: Gina Conforti
