The Mountain and The Wave

Its time for my group's presentation! Here are the answers to our questions, and the article is "Specialty clothing retails this fall want to let shoppers know that they, too, are a brand" by Jennifer Steinhauer.

• Select a quote from this article and explain how it relates to clothing advertising and brand identity.
     " 'Today brands are built emotionally,' Ms. Lastrina said. 'You have to get a message across and show what the brand ideology means to her life.' " is almost the whole point in this article compressed into one sentence. Also, it is very relative to clothing advertising and brand identity. This shows how important the reflective elements of the design and the company is. The products aside, the image of the company is very important. Companies need to address the people prospective costumers in the emotional aspect also. What a brand stands for, what its iedology means to someone is very important in advertising.
    
• What are some examples of clothing companies that have iconic advertisements? Include an image of one of your examples and explain what it says about the brand. Who are they marketing to? What are they selling (both physically and reflectively)?
    
  I believe Quiksilver has iconic advertisements and an iconic image.

This is an example of an Quiksilver ad. The clothing is almost not visible. Obviously the guy is wearing some Quiksilver products but the main things on this picture are the board, which stands for surfing, and the wave/ the sea. The company is an icon for boarders; surfers, snowboarders, skateboarders... Although they sell all different kinds of clothing gear; from t-shirts and sweatshirts to wallets and bags, they promote themselves through ads based on one of these boarding sports. Their tactic can be perceived as just renewing and polishing their iconic image. They tell you; "if you want to be like a boarder, if you want to have their style, or if you are a boarder, you have to wear Quiksilver.

• How has brand image influenced your decision to buy or not buy clothing? Do the clothes define the people, or do the people define the clothes?
   
  Never a brand image made me buy one of their products. For an example, (I know they are for girls, but even if there was an equivalent to them for men), I would never buy an Ugg. I do not care if everyone has them, I do not care if they are popular. I just dislike their looks. I see Ugg's as Medieval clothing; like a sheep fur wrapped around one's feet.
  Furthermore, I believe clothing defines people. Or maybe defining is a very strong word at this point. But from the cloths they wear, assumptions can be made on people, and just like any other assumption these need not be true. However, everyone is going to keep on making assumptions and assuming their through. Therefore, the clothing one wears has an effect on how one is viewed by others.