Front Row Fashion PR features insights from successful Fashion PR pro’s on a variety of topics relevant to the marketing professional and fashion designer.
Melissa Trovato is President and Founder of Melt Management, a NY-based fashion PR and marketing firm that bridges the Australian and US markets to help Australian fashion brands like Seventh Wonderland, TL Wood and Natalie Chapman to create long-term, sustainable futures in the United States. As Melt prepares for Rosemount Australia Fashion Week in Sydney in May, PR Couture checked in to learn more about fashion in Australia and Melissa’s thoughts of successfully introducing your brand into new markets. You can follow the MM team on Twitter @meltshowroom_cp
What is your background? How did you get started in Fashion PR?
I have been in the fashion industry for 15 years and I have been exposed to all facets of the business from manufacturing, sales, management, design, and of course marketing and PR. It was important to me to gain a strong insight and experience in all areas of the business as this really helps me to build solid marketing programs for my designers. As the General Manager for Tigerlily and Vice President of Jets Swimwear I have had the luxury of handling big campaign budgets. The biggest lesson I have learned is that it is not the amount of dollars spent on a campaign, it is the strength of the concept, product, and creative team on board. The most successful campaign I have worked on was also the most cost-sensitive.
What is the main goal of Melt Management?
At Melt, we provide a full service product to our designers. We believe that sales, marketing and business management go hand-in-hand. We do not just “represent” designers, we “manage” them. We offer a one-stop-shop service for emerging and established brands making it affordable to obtain both marketing and sales functions. We try to eliminate that third party dynamic and become an extension of our client’s business. Our methodology has proven successful thus far.
Angelic Dress, Seventh Wonderland
How have you seen PR evolve and change since you got started in the industry?
As the PR mediums have changed and evolved over time, so have the strategies to marketing brands. With New Media being a key medium to communicate brands, print no longer has the monopoly. Even though there are more communication mediums, there are also more designers popping up every day making the market place fiercely competitive. This is why a strong brand identity is paramount to separate “lines” from “brands”.
How do you begin to introduce an Australian designer to the US market? What are the main challenges?
Just like any brand, we would commence by doing a competitor analysis report to ascertain their market position and how they add-value. We determine their competitive advantage and convey how their Australian decent offers a fresh perspective and newness in direction. The main challenge is cultural. For the most part, the US market is more conservative unlike Australia. It takes a few seasons of customer feed back for the designers to incorporate styles more applicable to the North American audience. It is important to retain the Australian flavor as Aussie fashion is beautiful and unique. Once they find a balance between the two from a design-direction perspective, they become a player in the game.
Are there any differences in regards to Australian fashion media vs US?
The mediums are the same but on a much smaller scale. There are not as many publications or broadcast options as North America so relationships need to be even stronger back home.
What are three tips for an independent designer looking for exposure in another country?
Have a marketing budget
- You need to be prepared to allocate some dollars in launching the brand. You don’t need to spend lots of money to be effective these days.
Qualify your PR representation carefully
- Insure that the firm you sign up with is the right cultural fit for your collection. You also need to weigh up the pros and cons to teaming up with a larger agency or a small boutique company. The bigger guys may have the contacts and “know-how” but they may not give the brand the attention it needs during it’s infancy stage in the market.
Set Key Performance Objectives (KPO’s) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
- Define your goals with your PR rep so everyone is clear on what the deliverables are.
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