After Uni with Amy Nicholson (Part 2)
Alumni 22 June 2016
Hi all. It’s now a whole year since I finished my degree in Fashion and Textile Retailing with the School of Materials and I have fond memories of the final stages of the course. The deadlines, the all-nighters, the excitement of the DFB Degree Show, and, eventually, the relief of the Materials Ball and knowing I had done all I could in my degree. All that was left was to wait for my results!
In September 2015 I started a year-long graduate scheme at a consumer insight and trend forecasting consultancy. The company helps brands from various sectors, including Michael Kors, Google, and Jameson’s, future-proof their businesses.
During the scheme I have been moving around the different areas of the business to gain a full understanding of how each department contributes to our deliverables. I took on the role of Client Services Manager as my first position, becoming a point of contact for clients and helping them to understand our future trends information. In this role I was researching and pulling together information from our vast database of insight to create a relevant package for clients. These packages would help them to better understand their consumers. Some of the more unusual requests I received included researching the future of milk and mattresses!
After Client Services I worked on the editorial branch of the business, known as LS:N Global. This is similar to WSGN, but with a wider breadth of sectors such as beauty and fragrance, food and drink, and retail. This role gave me a chance to develop my writing skills as I submitted daily articles on the latest innovations and also wrote longer thought-leadership pieces. As part of the editorial team I was required to pitch stories on a daily basis. This required long hours of research and a constant refresh of the latest innovations.
The knowledge gained during my degree came in very useful during the editorial part of my graduate scheme, providing many insights into the articles I wrote. I have written long-form articles on the rise of Athleisure and the current state of luxury brands adopting a fast-fashion mentality. The main highlights for me were the interviewing of CEOs of tech start-ups like Mondo and getting the inside scoop on Athleisure from the founders of Lulelemon sister company Kit and Ace.
I was also fortunate enough to discuss the future of the traditional fashion calendar with Pascal Morand. Pascal is the Executive President of the fédération française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de mode – the French equivalent of the British Fashion Council. In my role as a journalist I was also give press access to report on shows that brought together retail experts to discuss the latest innovations. These included summits like FashTech 2016.
After three months of working on the editorial arm of the business I moved into a new role in Strategy, working on bespoke strategic direction for clients. I was assigned one particular project, working with a major broadcaster with a digital-only youth channel who needed direction on how to conduct their marketing strategy. As part of this work I was researching the future of digital entertainment and communication to a youth audience. This is a hugely exciting project to be a part of as the media landscape is changing at such a fast pace. If you consider that Snapchat is only five years old and has just overtaken Facebook with daily video views of over 10bn, helping brands communicate in a new digital age is imperative to their future success. Alongside advances like Facebook Live, and with a wider adoption of AR & VR, traditional media and broadcasting companies cannot afford to ignore these major changes in how consumers engage with digital media.
Having proven myself to be hard working and capable in my graduate role, I have been offered a permanent position as Junior Researcher with the Strategy team! As a company that covers 14 different sectors, my research is fascinating and can span hospitality, financial services, and Japanese beauty trends all in one week. I look forward to the next challenge that my new role throws at me and I hope to keep you updated in the ever changing world of trend forecasting!
Thanks for reading.
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