So... I think we could "spiff up" our marketing strategy... How does dolling out $2 million dollars sound?

(Discussion based on article Specialty Clothing Retailers This Fall Want To Let Shoppers Know That They, Too, Are A Brand by Jennifer Steinhauer. First of all, Jen, your title is not concise- as a matter of fact, it's long at best!)

"Today brands are built emotionally,'' Ms. Lastrina said. ''You have to get a message across and show what the brand ideology means to her life."

and 

''The campaign depicts women wearing very uncomplicated looks -- a simple red suit, a white blouse or a heavy fisherman's sweater -- while going about daily tasks such as walking the children to school, preparing dinner or getting a parking ticket."

Okay. Clothing Advertising. Brand Identity. These two concepts seem a bit complex to really discuss here where no one can hear my copious "likes" trying to defend my ideas... but as she says people respond emotionally to advertising and therefore to brands. So what you want your brand to feel like, you need to portray. 
I find it completely appealing that a clothing ad would portray a women getting a parking ticket- it's such a cute idea! Nowadays the advertising industry has to use many different strategies to capture people. SALE SALE SALE is one way, but some specialty retailers can't always follow suit and slash every price by 50-75%. What this quote shows is how the specialty retailer is trying to portray the woman who wears their clothes; Multitasker, Cares about herself without all the fuss. That's what they want the brand to signify.

A clothing company that has an iconic ads, to me, is Marc Jacobs. There's the boy dressed in dresses and celebrities or models looking totally awkward. The colors are often a bit... off... but I notice it. That's what counts right? I mean young people from around 16-35 are bombarded with ads and the like as well as "conformity." Marc Jacobs is selling clothes and an opportunity to be unique, different- stand out.

 Sure brands have made me want or not want an item. Sometimes off-brands are actually seriously problematic. Take VibramFiveFinger shoes... off brands aren't made with the same technology and purpose- they just have recreated the image. I'm a big fan of looking at high-end fashion but buying lesser (or unknown) brands for a better price. No skin off my back to not have a label on me. And some celebrities make you want or not want a product. If Keira Knightly was the model for a perfume (she is...), I'd be more willing to smell it than if, I don't know, Beyonce was the model. Then there are scandals. Like the Tiger Woods one- Do I really think Nike supports cheating? NO. They can't help it if their model turns out to be a jerk. It's all risky business! Anyway...

When you wear an outfit you want to look confident in it so that you "wear the clothes," and the clothes aren't "wearing you."I think in certain cases people define clothes... but many times what you wear "says something" about you. (Ever referred to a person as "goth?" You looked at them and their clothes and decided that they were goth. Now you have all these wonderful connotations for that person and it was all based on what s/he was wearing!!)