Just like people judge a book by its cover, they judge your product by its packaging. So how do you create a great first impression? Enter Lizzièe Jeréz, a 15-year veteran packaging designer who specializes in working with lingerie brands like Smart & Sexy, RBX, Christian Lacroix and others to create powerful packages that add value to the product inside them.

In today's episode, we discuss:

• What makes for a good package (3 things)
• How much to spend on packaging (as a percentage of product value)
• How to stimulate all the senses to create a powerful brand statement with packaging
• 6 big mistakes brands can make when designing packaging
• A real-life example of how a negative packaging experience can go viral.

Resources:

Lizzièe Jeréz: lizzieejerez.com

The Fashion Consumer: thefashionconsumer.com

The Fashion Consumer on IG: Instagram.com/thefashionconsumer

Elissa Bloom knows a thing or two (or ten) about what it takes to grow a young fashion brand. As the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator, she has helped dozens of fashion and accessories designers successfully grow their businesses.

In today's interview, she shares:

• The smart way to learn about your customers (common sense but not common practice)
• The biggest misunderstanding most new designers have about their customers
• The biggest mistake new designers make when pricing their collections
• One entrepreneur's simple yet brilliant solution to looking great even into old age
• A proven way to increase the chance of a winning line extension

Resources:

Philadelphia Fashion Incubator: philadelphiafashionincubator.com

The Fashion Consumer (TFC): thefashionconsumer.com

Instagram (TFC): instagram.com/thefashionconsumer

Libby Basile is Editor of The Lingerie Journal, a well-known trade publication in the intimates business. She has been writing about intimate apparel since 2006 and has been a contributor to The Lingerie Journal since it launched in 2008. In today's interview, we'll discuss:

• Some recent big shifts in the influencer world… and how they're catching some brands out.
• The story of one firm's goal to build a line of nude lingerie for different skin tones. A simple but brilliant solution.
• The massive ongoing shift in the way women see their bodies… and what that means for marketing departments.
• The coming opportunity in the "Alpha" Generation… and why it makes sense to start paying attention now.

Plus, Libby has a lot to share on the current and upcoming trends in the intimates space.

Resources:

Web: thelingeriejournal.com

Instagram (The Lingerie Journal): instagram.com/lingeriejournal

Web: thefashionconsumer.com

Instagram (The Fashion Consumer): Instagram.com/thefashionconsumer

Emily Lau started The Little Bra Company to offer petite consumers bras built for their frames. It turns out, Lau tapped into a large, growing consumer segment.

You'll learn:

• The biggest challenges the petite consumer faces when buying clothing
• A really smart way to test market demand
• How to turn the petite customer into an evangelist for your brand
• What the petite market really, really wants… and how serving them on this point can create life-long customers 

About the Guest:

Emily Lau founded The Little Bra Company (TLBC) in 2007 because she couldn't find any attractive bras that fit her smaller frame. Since then, Emily has turned The Little Bra Company into the go-to brand for small-busted women – specialized fitting and feminine styles ranging in sizes 28A through 34C. A ULC graduate and former writer-producer, Lau finds fulfillment in knowing that she makes her customers happy by meeting their needs. 

Resources:

The Little Bra Company (TLBC): https://www.thelittlebracompany.com/

Instagram (TLBC): https://www.instagram.com/thelittlebracompany/

The Fashion Consumer (TFC): https://thefashionconsumer.com/

Instagram (TFC): https://www.instagram.com/thefashionconsumer/

Michael Solomon, Professor of Marketing at St. Joseph's University, wrote the most popular textbook on consumer behavior. He's spent his career working to better understand what drives people to buy things, and he shares some real gems in this interview:

• The surprising power the designer has over the fashion consumer – and most designers are unaware of.
• The psychological reason we love to put things into boxes and how that hurts our ability to move product.
• A 419-year-old text that perfectly explains why the fashion business exists.
• The lessons of Lululemon: How to combine two categories to create a new breakout third one.
• What the auto industry can teach us about the Fashion Consumer (hint: it has to do with giving them what they want).
• Understanding the NEW buying process: What Google understands that the fashion business (mostly) does not.
• How unavoidable life changes are contributing to the biggest underserved fashion market on earth and how to tap into it.
• A new key category that is guaranteed to grow even if the economy (and most disposable income) takes a major hit.
• Fill in the blank: "Your customers are the best __________." What that means for fashion companies in a social media world.
• A blunt discussion on whether the mainstream fashion consumer is really willing to pay for sustainable products.

About Our Guest

Michael Solomon is a marketing professor who literally wrote the book on consumer behavior. Hundreds of thousands of business students have learned about marketing from his books, which include Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being – the most widely used book on the subject in the world. He is also the co-author of Consumer Behavior in Fashion, a familiar title for many of our listeners, and has worked with some of the biggest names in fashion including H&M, Under Armour and Calvin Klein. Today we're discussing some of the key insights from his newest book, Marketers, Tear Down These Walls!

Resources

Web: www.thefashionconsumer.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefashionconsumer/

Robert Wilde has a special gift. He uses photography to tell powerful brand stories that go beyond the images. Although he doesn't think of it as branding. For him, it's something deeper. Something that all human beings secretly want.

The Highlights:

• Why today's "porn" sentiment trend is wrong, and why it's doomed to fail.
• Amateurs focus on the image itself; professionals focus on making it do this.
• The (very counterintuitive) lesson for all modern creative directors… as pulled from 1920s Russia
• The power of sentimentality and how to use it to elevate the fashion object.
• The most important question you need to ask before taking the first photo.
• The three elements of a powerful campaign.
• Everyone has an internal ad-blocking filter. Here's a guaranteed way to get through it.
• How to put together a great campaign on a budget – where to invest and where to save your money.

About Our Guest

In Robert Wilde's own words: I'm a world citizen, and any fashion company is a world citizen as well. There are so many stories, so I start with one for my clients, one that is visually absolutely theirs and that engages. Then I'll tell another. It has to come from experience and from the heart. Visual Stories are still photography and film/video, individually developed story and world for each client.

Resources:

Robert Wilde: https://www.robertwildephoto.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertwilde1/

The Fashion Consumer: https://thefashionconsumer.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefashionconsumer/

Pam Danziger has spent years researching the 37-million households that will drive disposable income spending in the US market for decades to come: the HENRYs or High Earners Not Rich Yet.

You'll learn:

• The easy way to spot a HENRY – 80% of them can be spotted by this common demographic marker.
• What brands must do to earn "street cred" with this market.
• Why it's simply not enough to hire greater diversity. Why you need *this* as well.
• How to make sense of the paradox that HENRYs are both value shoppers and luxury consumers at the same time.
• The subtle yet profound difference in this market's definition of "luxury" and how it will affect the luxury business for decades to come.
• The new "4Ps" and how they apply to the HENRY market.

About Our Guest

Speaker, author and market researcher Pamela N. Danziger (Pam) is internationally recognized for her expertise on the world's most influential consumers: the American Affluent, including the HENRYs (high-earners-not-rich-yet).

As founder of Unity Marketing, Pam's research provides brands with actionable insights into the minds of their most profitable customers.

To learn more about Pam's work and to get in touch, visit https://unitymarketingonline.com/

Resources:

Web: https://thefashionconsumer.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefashionconsumer/

It might surprise some listeners to learn that, after millennials, seniors are the biggest customer base for lingerie brands.

But how they approach the buying process is very different. Why that is and how to reach them is the focus of today's conversation.

Specifically:

• What motivates the senior market to spend money on quality lingerie.
• The two things this market secretly, desperately wants from lingerie brands.
• How to grab their attention – a big opportunity since hardly anyone is doing it.
• The surprising reason the senior market is such an opportunity for quality lingerie brands right now.
• The term marketers love to use with this group – and why seniors hate it so much.
• Where to look to better understand the senior market (not where you think).

About the Guest:

An internationally recognized expert, Elisabeth Dale knows a lot about breasts and the senior market. This week, we tap into that wealth of knowledge to bring you insights on what motivates the senior market to spend money on quality lingerie, the two things this market secretly, desperately wants from lingerie brands, and how to grab the attention of seniors

Resources:

Web: https://thefashionconsumer.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefashionconsumer/

We talk with Ellen Lewis, founder of the popular LingerieBriefs.com. In this podcast you'll learn about the huge opportunity and challenge with the lingerie-as-outerwear trend, the #1 factor driving U.S. millennial lingerie purchases, why the biggest players in the lingerie business always seem behind the curve on the innovation front (and how they're adapting), and plenty more.

Highlights:

• A brief look at the cultural shifts driving the lingerie business today
• The huge opportunity and challenge with the trend toward lingerie as outerwear
• The biggest factor driving U.S. millennial lingerie purchases
• The reason the biggest players in the lingerie space seem behind the curve on consumer trends
• Why European lingerie brands have so much trouble breaking into the US foundational garment market.
• A blunt discussion about the challenge brands have in using Amazon
• How the lingerie world may change over the next 10 years

 Links & Social Media:

Web: https://thefashionconsumer.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefashionconsumer/

Curvy customer expert Holly Jackson talks about what it takes to succeed in the plus-sized market.

Holly Jackson is a specialist content writer and consultant for the lingerie industry, focusing on plus-size lingerie and fashion. Her work has been featured in Vogue Italia, on The Toast, Buzzfeed and other magazines and fashion sites.

Highlights:

• What makes the curvy consumer the most profitable major segment of the fashion market (it's not just that the market is growing)
• The unique motivation that drives plus-size fashion purchases
• How to successfully tap into the "political spender"
• A botched rollout that caused a much-loved brand to get a lot of negative press in the plus-size community
• The #1 biggest complaint curvy customers have about most brands… and the opportunity it creates
• A counterintuitive (but obvious) way to sell more to this market
• The most common pitfall of trying to sell to this market and how to avoid falling into it

Links & Social Media: 

Web: https://thefashionconsumer.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefashionconsumer/