Internship Project December 8, 2014

Professor Wendy Bendoni FMRK 490 Internship

Chelsea Wilson

Outline

•  General Information

•  Organization

•  Employment & Training

•  Major Organizational Activities

•  What does the organization do?

 

Taylor Lungren

Jessica Edler

While the brand Chloe Oliver dances between the lines of “ever on trend” and “a timeless statement”, the girl Chloe Oliver dances between the fragments of Jessica & Taylor’s imaginations. She is ever evolving, but always true to her roots. She invokes a curated appreciation for vintage, a hereditary understanding of the classics, and an incessant pursuit to push all boundaries. Chloe Oliver as a brand seeks to provide women with go-to statement pieces that are as wearable as they are irreplaceable. In the Chloe Oliver closet you will find something for the girl next door, something for the vixen, and everything for the girl with a refrigerator stocked only with champagne.

Taylor Lungren co-founder

Jessica Edler co-founder

Chelsea Wilson intern

Organizational Chart of the

Company

Employment & Training

•  Chloe Oliver was in need of a marketing/social media coordinator. I was interested in this company due to the small nature of the brand and hoping to be fully immersed in all aspects of the company. I have worked for larger corporations and I was hoping for a change in pace. As a design-based company I was interested in learning about the design & manufacturing process in addition to the marketing side of things.

Why seek employment

with this organization

•  Initial contact was made through email. •  After initial contact via email, I had a phone interview

with Taylor and Jessica, where we discussed me taking over their social media accounts and helping to market their brand.

Hiring Process

Employment & Training

•  Chloe Oliver has never had an intern before, therefore the training process was very informal. Basically, I received an overview of the day to day operations. We discussed boutique orders, shipment dates, sample deliveries, market week and elements of social media. The first week was a transition, they began delegating their workload, and over time I became responsible for specific tasks.

Initial Training

•  Positive: Seeing as they have never had an intern before, they did not really know what to do, therefore they started making lists of tasks they thought I could do, & each day we would prioritize the list & I would begin the tasks checking them off as I go.

•  Negative: They were very unorganized at first which made me a bit overwhelmed, but once I figured out how they worked we formed a routine.

Positive & Negative Aspects

Major Organizational Activities

What: Design clothing

Purpose: provide women with go-to statement pieces that are as wearable as they are replaceable

Product: design clothing, produce samples, show samples at market week, buyers select pieces to buy, Chloe Oliver goes to production based on sales at market week, and then deliver goods to major companies and boutiques on order. Price: when selling to majors (Anthropologie, Nordstrom Rack, etc.) and boutique orders they sell the clothing to them at the wholesale price and the price of the items sold on their website are a 2.2 market up on the wholesale price. Place: logistically they are the designers/wholesalers. They design clothing that is then sold at wholesale prices to buyers who use a 2.5 market up to sell at retail price. Promotion: they have a public relations representative that handles all Chloe Oliver PR and networks to get their brand out there, along with finding bloggers and celebrities to collaborate with. Advertising is done strictly through social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, & Brand Blog). Each showroom Chloe Oliver is in has sales reps that represent the brand and sell the clothes to different markets.

Project: Social Media Coordinator

Social Media Coordinator

Upon initial contact with Chloe Oliver, it was essential to me as an intern to gain professional on-the-job experiences that will enhance and complement academic instruction. As a fashion marketing major, I really wanted an internship entailing the duties of a social media coordinator. Knowing initially that Chloe Oliver was design-based I was hesitant, not knowing how I could be beneficial to them. Over the course of my interview I realized that they were in desperate need of a social media coordinator to organize all their social media marketing content and develop a singular approach for each platform. As an intern, you have a responsibility to help enhance the day to day activities. Before I started, I researched all of their social media accounts and developed a plan of action. As a company consisting of only two people, it was difficult for them to maintain consistency among their social media channels. They gave me free reign to organize content as I saw fit, and over the course of three months I feel I have successfully captured an audience and increased brand awareness. Seeing the impact of my social media strategy become successful, I felt it was a necessary component to focus on for my project.

Introduction

Social Media Statistics (recorded September 1, 2014)

Twitt

er

• 556  tweets  • 3  photos/videos  

• 209  followers  In

stag

ram

• 601  posts  • 1195  followers  

Pint

eres

t • 32  boards  • 431  pins  • 3  likes  • 83  followers   Fa

cebo

ok

• 829  total  page  likes  

• 66  people  talking  about  it  

• City  engagement:  Los  Angeles  

• Ages:  25-­‐34  years  old  

Social Media Strategy o  Increase brand awareness

o  Become more active & engage with followers

o  Develop posts specific to each platform

o  Collaborate with bloggers (increase awareness)

o  Maintain hashtags (#chloeoliver, #caughtinchloeoliver)

Twitt

er

• Post  2x  a  day  • Media  /  lifestyle  posts  

• Anthropologie  retweets  

Inst

agra

m

• TARGET  MARKET  • Post  2x  a  day    • Lifestyle  • Product  • Repost  • Hashtag  fashion  /  style  

• Tag  people  • Edit  photos  • Stylize  account  

Pint

eres

t • Pin  daily  • Become  a  lifestyle  brand  

• Upload  product  photos  

• Upload  photo-­‐shoot  photos  

Face

book

• Update  1-­‐2x  a  week  

• Always  update  with  a  photo  

• Link  to  blog  • Use  to  promote  blog  

Instagram Instagram is where a majority of their followers stem from. I believe their target market is specific to Instagram and that is where I have seen the most reach, engagement, interaction, and excitement about the brand. Therefore, I have focused a majority of my efforts on creating content specific to Instagram and our Chloe Oliver followers.

o  This post was the most successful post to date, in terms of likes.

o  Shopvandevort is a successful online only boutique, that shot their own lookbooks, and would then allow us to use their images to promote our product.

o  Instagram was the most successful platform in terms of engagement, interaction, and reach.

o  Over the course of three months, we have gained over 300 new followers and began partnering with bloggers/photographers to promote the brand and increase overall awareness.

Facebook Facebook was a difficult platform to increase awareness and encourage interaction. I found that only specific posts do well on Facebook. Specifically, when I posted anything about Anthropologie I found there to be more engagement then usual, and the post would reach hundreds of people as oppose to a dozen or so.

STATICTICS

Successful Posts

Twitter Twitter too was a difficult platform to increase awareness and encourage interaction. I found that only specific posts would get retweeted & liked on Twitter. Specifically, when I posted anything about Anthropologie I found there to be more engagement then usual, Anthropologie would usually retweet or favorite the tweet, and the post would reach hundreds of people as oppose to a dozen or so. I also found that when I posted separately to Twitter, rather then post through Instagram, having the picture visually present attracted more viewers than just the link.

Pinterest Pinterest was the most difficult platform to increase brand awareness and entice interaction. I found that people pinned Chloe Oliver without realizing it was a specific brand, as Anthropologie was promoting it through their pinterest. Pinterest was a challenging platform to penetrate more specifically, I did not focus on using a particular social media strategy, rather I focused on organizing their existing boards, deleting boards that were repetitive, and renaming boards to reflect the nature of the brand. In the future I plan on focusing more of my attention on Pinterest, and finding Chloe Oliver’s niche market and generating content that is appealing to their followers so they repin our products and increase brand awareness.

C.O. Blog (Squarespace) Chloe Oliver’s blog is run through Squarespace. Besides Instagram and Facebook, I believe their blog is a significant platform for the brand. Today, every brand has a blog and you are looked down upon if you do not. The Chloe Oliver Blog is a reflection of the designers, as well as their hobbies, interests, and of course designs. Having a blog is a great way to not only personalize your brand but connect with viewers on a more personal level. For the blog, I did weekly posts, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday, and on Fridays. One post was typically product driven (blogger collaborations, Polyvore designs, and outfit inspiration) and then on Fridays we had “Friday Bubbles” which would feature a cocktail of the week. In the future, I would like to do more lifestyle posts, and increase overall awareness of the brand’s blog.

Blog Posts

Social Media Statistics (recorded December 1, 2014)

Twitt

er

• 620  tweets  • 20  photos/videos  

• 312  followers  

• OVERVIEW  • +  64  tweets  • +  103  followers  • +  17  pictures  

Inst

agra

m

• 679  posts  • 1501  followers  

• OVERVIEW  • +  78  posts  • +  306  followers  

Pint

eres

t • 25  boards  • 558  pins  • 21  likes  • 88  followers  

• OVERVIEW  • More  organized  boards  

• +  127  pins  • +  5  followers  

Face

book

• 869  total  page  likes  

• 66  people  talking  about  it  

• City  engagement:  Los  Angeles  

• Ages:  25-­‐34  years  old  

• OVERVIEW  • +  40  likes  • Avg.  post  reach  440  people  

Summary Overall, becoming a Social Media Coordinator for Chloe Oliver was a dream come true. Initially, before taking full reins on all social media accounts, I did some research, analyzed all of their accounts and developed a strategy with clear goals of what I wanted to see evolve from their social media accounts. Specifically the goals I initially set for each account are as follows: Instagram: post 2x a day, lifestyle and product based posts, comment and interact with followers, reach out to bloggers for collaborations, use #caughtinchloeoliver, and ultimately gain followers and increase brand awareness. Twitter: post 2x a day, develop a voice around key passion points, use promoted tweets or trend features to support key messages, and use relevant hashtags. Facebook: post 2-3x a week, post with a picture always (more engagement), rotate header photo according to seasonal collection, and use creative content that evokes engagement (videos, BTS, contests). Pinterest: pin regularly, pin all clothing on website to boards, like, follow, repin, and comment on others pins, pin blog posts onto pinterest with link, create a story among boards, pin looks and lifestyle idea of products in their real environment. In summary, developing a social media strategy and implementing it was a very valuable experience for myself as well as the company. Before, they did not have a strategy or method to posts, now we have developed a more organized approach to social media and in turn that has helped generate brand awareness and consistency throughout all platforms.

Job Proposal

As my internship was coming to an end, we discussed developing a position for me to stay and work for them part-time. As they are a start-up company, I developed this job proposal and presented it to them. Knowing they can not afford me full-time, we discussed pay and benefits I would receive as a part-time employee. We agreed on an hourly rate, and a minimum amount of hours I would dedicate to being Chloe Oliver’s Social Media Coordinator. Knowing their financial standings, I created this job proposal to show them what I am worth and that when there comes a point in time they can hire me full-time, these are my expectations.

Conclusion In conclusion, I could not have found a better more fitting internship than this. I learned a ridiculous amount that I never expected to learn. Being able to learn about the design and manufacturing process was an impactful experience and will be useful in the future. Specifically, working on this project enhanced my knowledge about marketing and digital strategy. I learned a great deal about myself and what I want to do in the future through completing this project. Being able to take full reins on their social media accounts was nerve-racking and thrilling at the same time. As I was in charge of all social media accounts, it was my responsibility to develop a social media strategy that would be effective and increase users, followers, and brand awareness. By being in charge of developing a social media strategy, I learned a great deal about who the consumer is, the target market specific to each platform, and what content works and what content simply does not. Along the way I had to revise my strategy and adapt to what the followers wanted. In completion of this project I realized how enjoyable becoming a Social Media Coordinator would be. As an intern, I learned the inner workings of a company from the accounting, to the design process, the manufacturing process, sales, buying, and collaborating with others, I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did nor realize the job I wanted to attain upon graduation. Completing this project has helped me gain a better understanding for marketing and digital strategy. I have been offered a part-time job as Chloe Oliver’s Social Media Coordinator as well as been given the opportunity to do free lance social media for a few other brands as well. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and have learned a great deal about myself as well as future endeavors I want to pursue as a career.

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