THE STITCHERY COLLECTIVE

SUBJECT: AMB379 -PR CAMPAIGNS STUDENTS: TESS TAYLOR: N5547903 HANNAH MORELOS:N2774836 ELOISE NOAKES:N7167792 ZED ZHAO:N 7244088 CONTACT: 0409 584 908

CONTENTS

1.0 2.0 2.2 2.3 3.0 3.1 4.0 4.1 4.2 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0

Background Situation Analysis Issue Statement Public Relations Objectives Target Audience Day In The Life Strategy Internal Action Strategy External Communication Strategy Tactics Timeline Budget Evaluation Methods References Appendicies

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1.0 BACKGROUND
The fashion industry is comprised of a multitude of enterprises working in the apparel, footwear, home textiles and accessories markets. With a global estimated worth of $900 billion per annum, the industry is highly competitive and demand driven and as such, companies are constantly updating their products to cater for the various trends and needs of its consumers (Mashkoor 2012, p8). As the consumption of fashion items increase however, so too does the environmental and social footprint across the industrys global supply chain. To ensure the industry remains sustainable, a number of organisations have dedicated themselves to educating consumers on the ethical and environmental ramifications of garment production; encouraging people to think and act more sustainably.

2.0 SITUATION ANALYSIS

The Stitchery Collective is a Brisbane-based organisation that facilitates workshops, exhibitions and community projects to help educate people about sustainable fashion consumption. As a non-for-profit organisation, The Stitchery Collective relies on the generosity of volunteers to run its studio and government grants to finance its projects. Its signature undertaking -The Sunday Stitch Lounge- is a once a month social club held in the organisations studio that encourages sustainable practice by providing people with a space and the necessary equipment to make, mend and/or alter their personal garments. It also acts as a forum for participants to exchange information about sewing, eco-friendly outlets and general advice on sustainable fashion. The Stitchery Collective is also involved in a number of off-site projects and collaborations that encourage people to question the humanitarian and environmental aspects of purchasing mass-produced clothing. In their client brief at QUT on the 8th of August 2012, The Stitchery Collective said they lacked the necessary time, resources and manpower to effectively showcase and facilitate all the workshops, exhibitions and projects theyd like to. A second interview with them at their studio in Fortitude Valley revealed this was due to their not having an effective internal communications strategy in place that helped them to identify organisational goals, target publics, desirable partnerships and administration procedures. Without this information they couldnt effectively identify, select and prioritise projects appropriate for and beneficial to the organisation. It also meant they were unable adopt a standardised approach for tackling projects, which they felt would lead to inconsistent and unpredictable project outcomes. They also felt the organisations website failed to actively engage with target publics.

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2.0 SITUATION ANALYSIS (CONT.)

2.1 SWOT Analysis

2.2 Issue Statement

The Stitchery Collective currently has no internal communications strategy in place to inform and guide its volunteers on its organisational goals and objectives. Consequently, its volunteers are ill equipped with the necessary information to promote the organisations brand and identity; and the necessary skills required to efficiently identify, prioritise and facilitate projects that reflect this brand and identity. The organisations external communications are not currently being utilised effectively either and neither enhance nor add value to The Stitchery Collectives image. These issues are having a considerable impact on the organisations ability to effectively engage with external stakeholders such project participants, organizational partners, funding bodies and the wider fashion community; and should be addressed immediately to ensure The Stitchery Collectives continued growth and success in the industry.

2.3 Public Relations Objectives

1) Position The Stitchery Collective as an authority on sustainable fashion in the wider Brisbane community within one year. 2) Develop an in-depth internal communications strategy for The Stitchery Collective over three months that will help inform, guide and empower existing and future employees on how to effectively select, facilitate, showcase and evaluate the organisations sustainable fashion projects. 3) Develop an external communications campaign for the stitchery collective over a 9-month period that will increase awareness of the organisation; and enhance its online presence and the way target publics interact it. p6

3.0 TARGET AUDIENCE

The public relations objectives outlined in section 2.3 require the Stitchery Collective target two main audiences throughout their campaign. The internal communications strategy is targeted at existing and future volunteers who work at and run the Stitchery Collective; and the external communications campaign will target audiences who would benefit most from the organisations projects, but who are also able and willing to spread awareness of the organisation; helping it reach the ultimate goal of being a recognised authority on and facilitator of sustain fashion consumption in the wider Brisbane community. The following research determined that students in Generation Y (those born between 1980 and 2000) were the ideal target market for the external communication campaign. According to the National Youth Fairs and Arts Scheme (2004, p.65), young people represent a large portion of total consumption expenditure in affluent societies such as Australia, but are also potentially societys most potent agent of change; making them ideal participants for projects at The Stitchery Collective. Enlisting the support of young people for sustainable consumption campaigns is also hugely beneficial as they directly or indirectly influence a large portion of family consumption; are more open to change; and the consumption patterns they acquire today will influence their patterns in adult life as well as that of their children (United Nations, 2002, p.54). A recent trend analysis conducted by WGSN also found that ethical and environmental issues do influence young Australians buying decisions, with most stating they were prepared to pay more for something that was made ethically and with respect to the environment (Melius, 2005, para 5). Lastly, Generation Y are not only familiar and comfortable with digital technologies; they also respond very strongly to electronic media and virtual campaigns; making them ideal targets for the external communications campaign, which focuses heavily on creating an engaging web site for the Stitchery Collective.

3.1 DAY IN THE LIFE

Following a Stitchery Collective girl on a typical Sunday: Wearing a designer outfit found at a local upcycling vintage shop, she starts with a breakfast of seasonal fruits and organic, local yogurt at her favourite caf while reading online about the latest fashion trends. Next she starts browsing for a new dress at a nearby shop to replace the one she donated to Vinnies last week. She looks carefully at the stitching and checks the labels to see how and where the clothes were made and eventually chooses an Australian- made and naturally dyed, sleek black dress. After lunch with a friend, she takes her old winter coat to The Sunday Stitch Lounge at The Stitchery Collective studio in Fortitude Valley and replaces the frayed lining whilst securing the loose buttons over a cup of tea with the volunteers. Later, just as shes leaving for a party wearing her new black dress, she starts a load of laundry with the temperature set to less than 30 degrees Celsius. After all, she is not only stylish, but also conscious and cool!

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4.0 STRATEGY
The Stitchery Collectives campaign strategy is broken into two stages and addresses the main public relations objectives and their target audiences as outlined in sections 2.3 and 3.0. Stage one is an action strategy, addressing the internal changes and stage two is a communication strategy, which focuses on the external portion of the campaign. The campaign will take place over a 12-month period and will be divided up as follows: The first three months will be dedicated developing an in-depth internal communications strategy for The Stitchery Collective that will help inform, guide and empower existing and future employees on how to effectively select, facilitate, showcase and evaluate the organisations sustainable fashion projects. The following nine months will focus on The Stitchery Collectives external communications re-vamping to establish the stitchery collective as a new revised facilitator of discussion and knowledge

4.1 Internal Action Strategy

The Stitchery Collective needs establish a clear identity for itself to better engage with its internal and external stakeholders. Creating a clear internal identity will give the Stitchery Collectives volunteers a stronger understanding of how they can contribute to organisational goals; enabling them to better identify appropriate projects and strategic partnerships, which will help position the Stitchery as an authority on sustainable fashion. A clear identity will also lessen internal conflict by providing a standardised guide for volunteers to follow; so there is no confusion and disagreements over projects, work schedules and roles Tactics that will be implemented to achieve this strategy include the development of a vision and mission statement, core values, a collaborators guide and communications guideline manual.

4.2 External Communication Strategy

Once the Stitchery has established a clear identity for itself, the second stage of their campaign will commence and involve communicating this re-vamped identity to external stakeholders; raising awareness of the Stitcherys projects; building and engaging with an online audience; and ultimately positioning themselves as an authority on sustainable fashion in the wider Brisbane community. Tactics for achieving this strategy will largely revolve around boosting on-line presence via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and a redeveloped website. The majority of online content will be via alignment and affiliation with other groups and organisations that meet collaboration guidelines. This would include hashtags on twitter linking The Stitchery Collective to organisations such as Jessica T jewellery design, The Suitcase Rummage and Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival and The Society for Sustainable Action. These organisations have established strong followings and share an audience with The Stitchery Collective.

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5.0 TACTICS

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6.0 TIMELINE
This campaign will be conducted over a 12 month period and is outlined in detail in Appendix 1. The first three months of the campaign are dedicated to an internal communications strategy and the remaining nine focus on external communications.

7.0 BUDGET
As a non-for-profit organisation, The Stitchery Collective has largely relied on government funding and grants. A budget of $2000 has been set for the execution of this campaign and is outlined in detail in Appendix 2. The outlined budget takes into account external labour costs for some elements where professional support will be required.

8.0 EVALUATION METHODS

The following evaluation methods will be used to determine whether the public relations objectives were met at this end of this campaign. * Audience and Reader Surveys: These response tracking surveys allow benchmarking (to what affect did the the external strategy change perceptions/ behavior in targeted publics. Do they recognise the Stichery as an authority on sustainable fashion? *Interviews: Informal sit downs with Stitchery volunteers to determine whether they have a clear understanding of the Stitchery Collectives identity and its goals; as well as whether they are able to identify and select appropriate projects for the Stitchery. Advertising Value Equivalents (AVE): Calculates the AVE to space or time. Editorial and advertising value are not equal. Editorial is often more credible than advertising because it appears as an independent objective comment. If a feature article is successfully written up in Peppermint Magazine, well determine what the cost of advertising for that publication would have been. Media Monitoring: To evaluate media placement throughout the campaign and see if the coverage was of a high standard and neutral, positive or negative; to identify the reach of each circulation forum; and see whether key messages were mentioned. Media Content Analysis with like likes of mailchimp.com: Computer-aided median content analysis systems produce numeric data, charts and graphs and evaluation qualitative criteria such as whether media coverage reaches key target audience, whether it focuses on the main issues and whether it contains the organizations messages. It can also measure share of voice compared with competitors and identify and track issues.

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9.0 APPENDICIES
1. Timeline 2. Budget

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10.0 REFERENCES
Argenti, P.A. (2003). Corporate Communication (3rd Ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill Arthur, Rachel. (2012). Social Media Platforms: Marketing Top Five. Accessed September 1 2012http://www.wgsn.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/ content/report/Marketing/Communication_Strategy/2012/March/global_social_ mediaupdate.html Gilley, J. (2009). Vision, Mission, Goals, and Objectives. In Praeger handbook vof human resource management: volumes 1 and 2. Retrieved from http://qut. summon.serialssolutions.com/ Bentley, M., Fien, J., Neil, C. (2004) Sustainable Consumption: Young Australians As Agents Of Change. Accessed September 12, 2012. http://www.deewr.gov. au/Youth/Programs/NYARS/Documents/SustainableConsumptionReport.pdf Fashion Industry: Ready To Face The Future. (2012). Industrial News, February 8. Accessed September, 20, 2012. http://blackkitepress.org/tag/size-combinations Fashion Adds Fuel to Fast-Growing Retail Ecommerce Sales. (2012). eMarketer, March 22. Accessed August 20, 2012. http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx? R=1008919 Marshall-Johnson, Ruth. (2011). Consumer Priorities. Accessed September 17, 2012.http://www.wgsn.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/report/Think_ Tank/2011/June/consumer_forecast20130/consumer_priorities.html Melius, L. (2012): Trend Analysis. Accessed September 17, 2012. http:/ /www.wgsn.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/report/Think_Tank/2012/ February/davos_2012_trendanalysis.html Mashkoor, Yasir. (2012). Success factors in fashion industry. PhD diss. Tampere University of Technology http://dspace.cc.tut.fi/dpub/bitstream /handle/123456789/21020/mashkoor.pdf? Sequence=3 United Nations (2002). World Summit Sustainable Development Plan of Implementation. Accessed September 19. http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/ documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POIToc.htm Van Riel, C.M.B. (1992) Principles of corporate communication. London: Prentice Hall

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THANK YOU

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