The Last Blog

This week is sadly the last week blogging for PR research.  Through the last eleven weeks I have been able to learn and relate the different topics discussed in class to fashion and entertainment concepts and blog about them.  For our last week we have been asked to comment on two other blogs. 

The first blog that caught my attention was Kayla’s blog on surveys.  Her blog discussed the different ways the fashion industry uses surveys through questionnaire or interviews.  She goes into specific examples of how online surveys are used to distinguish popular fashion opinions and how the surveys can help fashion companies see what their consumers are thinking and how to make their shopping experiences better.  The example she used about the “jeggings” question was interesting to me because I would have immediately assumed that everyone knows what jeggings are.  That specific survey did a great job in making sure that everyone understood the question and gave equal opportunities for a response.   Another example used was the way Macy’s and Aldo have online surveys for their customers in hopes to see the positive and negative aspects of their products.   When researching for this specific concept I was amazed by the vast amounts of surveys available to the public. 

The Following week we had to discuss experimental research.  In these blogs I found Fran’s which discusses a potential experiment done on social media.  This concept was interesting because as we know, there is a fast growing interest for social media and companies are always looking for new and inventive ways to ensure their companies success.  Fran talks about measuring how effective social media is in getting a company name out to the public and different benefits of the experiment.  She also posted a graph showing the drastic change companies made in their usage of social media from 2007-2008.  It was fascinating to see how many companies decided to use social media. 

Through the past eleven weeks it has been extremely interesting to see the different ways research is used in our everyday lives.  We are constantly observing and adapting our lives to new information which is what research is all about. 

Experimental Fashion

Experimenting with fashion is always risky business.  There is always the concern of…will this look work? Or how will people react to this new product?  Designers today have a new outlook on fashion and have started to experiment with different influences, fabrics and design cuts to make new and embellished creations for upcoming seasons. 

Fashion is an extremely powerful aspect and lately it is doing a lot more than just making statements.  As one of the largest industries in the world, it greatly relies on agriculture and is one of the most heavily featured aspects in the media.  Because of this the fashion industry has taken it upon themselves to become more socially and environmentally responsible.  It has come to some peoples attention that transgression is huge in fashion through their use of sweatshops, hazardous working conditions, unfair wages for workers and on the ecological end, uses high amount of toxic chemicals, pesticides and water wastage. 

These conditions did not stand well for people in the fashion business and for consumers buying the products.  With that said the organization called Global Action Through Fashion came along and changed the way you can wear and buy fashion in a ethical and conventional way.   The people at GATF are taking it upon themselves to educate both the fashion industry and the consumers of the different ways fashion could actually be hurting our environment.  Designers such as Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Versace took interest in this experiment and recently made this year’s New York fashion week into a showcase of one of a kind designs made from recyclable, sustainable and earth-friendly materials. 

Because fashion is so powerful, this fashion friendly experiment did extremely well with the public expanding to other well known designers and stores.  Although  this experiment may not have had a control group, the different variable are seen in two different groups of people: The people who are informed and change the way they shop and the people who are informed and still chose to buy from manufacturers using inhumane sweatshops and toxic chemicals.  It may not be easy to escape all the conditions of unethical fashion, but there are definitely ways to go about ecological shopping. 

Everywhere you look recently there are reminders on how to keep the earth green and planet clean.  It is important that an industry as influential as fashion takes their stand on the environment, and they did so by experimenting with eco friendly fabrics and new and improved ways on advertising and reusing their products. 

Surveying the Public

When typing in entertainment surveys into Google I was overwhelmed by the response that came up.  As one of the most popular and used research methods in the PR industry, surveying is a cheap and easy way to get examples on experiences and actions people feel strongly about.  In the world of entertainment and fashion surveys are taken daily to see which brand is more well liked, which shoes are the new “it” trend and which new celebrity bachelor has taken our hearts this week. 

When looking through the different survey sites, it was fascinating to see the different topics and results.  There were surveys on music, movies, fashion, television and so much more.  It is important that we take these surveys into consideration when doing research because if done properly, they are a extremely helpful and factual way of gaining incite on a certain topic. 

It is important to use surveys in entertainment so you can have a feel and understanding of what the public is interested in.  As a whole, we tend to change our minds very quickly and surveys are an simple and quick way to get new information we are interested in.  One specific survey site that I found that was of interest to me surveyed different people on upcoming music albums, video gaming devices and new movie releases to gain insight on whether people were interested and intended to buy the product. 

In the world of fashion Elle Magazine goes above and beyond the call of surveying and took it upon them to question young adults on relationships, shoes, clothing and so much more.  Surveys like this are of interest to majority of females and are a great way for that demographic to learn new information and gain knowledge on new and up coming trends.