Telfar Clemens + Brandon Blackwood

Initially I had wanted to title this blog post, “Telfar Vs. Brandon Blackwood”; but after seeing that big bold sentence at the top of my page, I was instantly turned off. You see all brands are faced with competition. However Black brands that fall under luxury tend to face an even greater amount of tension through this competition, because there’s this idea that there can only be one, AND THATS NOT THE TRUTH!

Telfar Clemens and Brandon Blackwood are two amazing designers. The designs of their purses give me so much light and I honestly want to buy them ALL. However the two brands are very different and tend to get lopped together because the designers are both African American. Through research I have noticed that Brandon Blackwood loves to promote, sharp, clean images where every pixel is perfected. It gives the traditional vibe of luxury with some fun, new twists. However, Telfar runs his social media pages very differently. Rather than striving for perfection, Telfar focuses on inclusivity and community. His content ranges from funny Tik Tok post from consumers, viral Twitter memes, and of course your expected and perfected editorial shots. I believe that this is a very effective strategy for Telfar. From the start of his brand Clemens has ensured inclusivity by closing the gender cap and making sure that his products remain an affordable luxury for everyone and anyone. The emotional and well crafted content on his page aligns perfectly with his brand message and truly makes customers feel appreciated, connected, and heard. If I were running the brand I would make sure that Clemens and his team continue to run there page exactly as they are, and try to spread out that same sort of content on Tik-Tok.

Telfeeeezie

As soon as I heard we had to research a digital brand, my brain started getting pulled in various directions. At first I thought about special beauty products I get online and then I began thinking about fast fashion brands such as Pretty Little Thing and Misguided. However, I realized that a lot of these fast fashion brands are the same and that their digital marketing strategies tend to be boring and repetitive. However, fast fashion led me to think about the brand Telfar(I am not sure why), and how they make online shopping more fun, accessible and unique.

I noticed the brands well thought out strategies when I was doing my own personal shopping and instantly knew it would be a great brand for the assignment.Telfar has an extremely sound strategy of emphasizing the effects of community and making luxury fashion more inclusive for all. These core values of the brand are prevalent in many of the brands initiatives. For starters they have created a bag security program, that works as an all included presale, where consumers can purchase their every want and need. They also started a public access network by the name of Telfar T.V , which is easily available to everyone and allows the Telfar community to connect.

In my eyes Telfar is pretty perfect, but there is always room for improvement. If I were running the brand, I would recommend trying to find more ways to share the quality of various products. A big fear that many people have when online shopping is quality. Telfar finding fun ways to show that their products have a good quality and server their purpose will lead customers to trust the brand and continue to make purchases. The brand could also allow consumers to customize pieces online. Many Telfar wearers have already began hiring third parties to design their bags, and Telfar is missing out on the action.Overall I think that all of Telfar’s strategies are smart and actually make customers feel as if the brand cares about them rather than solely pushing a product, which is why they have transitioned into a true fashion mega-house.

Me and Marketing?

Hi, my name is Cienna Nkem Makolo and I am 23 years old. If you’re wondering what “Nkem” means, its “your mine” in Nigerian-Igbo. If you weren’t wondering, appreciate me teaching you some of the Igbo language and expanding your knowledge on a fun topic.

From the information given above it is is clear that I am Nigerian. However, I cannot forget to mention that I am also half Jamaican, which is equally as important. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to grow up in these these amazing countries with perfect climates. Iinstead I grew up in the small town of Scarsdale, which is in Westchester County. Although, Scarsdale has its perks, the weather has never been one of them.

Moving forward, I graduated from Syracuse University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Rhetorical Studies and a minor in African American Studies. Currently, I am studying at New York University to obtain my master’s degree in Integrated Marketing, with a concentration in Brand Strategy.

The goal of this blog is to remind me of where I started within the Integrated Marketing field and eventually showcase what I’ve learned throughout my journey. This will be a process of relearning skills, expanding my expertise and connecting with like-minded individuals who will have a positive effect.

One of the immediate way that my expertise will be expanded, is with the help of the Digital Marketing course. I believe that digital marketing is any form of online communication that portrays a message that is beneficial for a brand.The information provided in this course will allow me to strengthen my online tactics and create more sophisticated online strategies within my future careers.