When I first started looking for a way to advertise my clothing brand, I was convinced that magazines would be the best way. I had seen luxury clothing in the pages of magazines since I was first able to read and naively assumed that getting my clothes on one of those pages would be my way to success. And while it was certainly the way for some, in the end, my clothing was unique, and I needed advertisements to reflect that.
At first, I toyed with the idea of hiring a music video production service. Showcasing my clothes in a music video seemed like a fun and novel idea – almost like a fresh version of product placement. However, I quickly decided that it would not be serving the customer segment I wanted to target. Besides, at the time I was a high school student with virtually no money and no musical talent. I couldn’t hire a videographer and expect the video to turn out well if I had written the song myself. The thought is laughable even now.
I really hit the jackpot when I spoke to the company itself. They were experts in marketing video production for Melbourne businesses, and after viewing my brand statement and all the information I had written about my customers, they suggested I try animation. I was initially confused – why would anybody buy clothes without seeing what the real thing looked like first? But the experts at this company seemed to really understand my idea and asked me to simply trust them.
They offered a more affordable price for their first video with me, which I must admit was what ultimately swayed me to work with them. Everything they did to get me to work with them really showed how passionate they were about my clothing brand idea. I learned from these guys that compromise is an important part of both teamwork and leadership.