Task 3

How will I promote myself - what do they want to hear?

Taking into account the ‘Marking communication mix’, the first method that I thought about was promotion via the internet, as it has a variety of options within one place, for example, if I was to put my designs onto t-shirts and sell them, a successful way of promoting this type of product is through website banners on appropriate sites such as MySpace. Another example of promotion on the internet is through your own website, this would be appropriate because if somebody sees your work, you want them be able to find you and most people will ‘assume’ that a graphic designer would have a website. However, for this to be successful you need to take into account ‘site maximisation’ so that ‘you’ will be easy to find through search engines. Another way of using the internet for promotion, is through collective sites, as they will take care of the ‘site maximisation’.

I also feel that direct selling could be an effective way of promoting my work, for example, if your work is available from a shop or stall, there is the chance that people will see it when simply browsing around town and they may not have been intentionally looking for ‘it’, but will buy it because its there and they don’t have to pay delivery etc. and specifically if its a stall where the designer (me) is, they can build a trust. The main negative point of this is how time consuming it can be; as a designer, you can’t be in two places at once however, if it is a secure stall, there is the option of have a sketchbook or Mac at hand to design when not busy.

While doing my ‘place’ analysis, these were the two marketing methods that stood out as
the idea behind place is to ‘choose the most effective distribution channels for your practice’. Direct selling was the first ‘place’ that I looked at and for this the internet and obviously, direct selling (as a promotion method) would be useful. Examples of how the internet would be effective in this instance is through my own website and direct selling to sell my work to the public. Other places that I looked at were retailers and sales agents, for example selling work through an established retailer, with a good client base, would give them a higher chance of getting seen and bought. Specifically in Leeds, shops like Off the Wall are popular with students because they sell large posters, but recently they have starting selling designers prints in their ‘Off the Wall gallery’.

Another method I looked at was public relations. Primarily, I didn’t think I would have chosen this because I couldn’t think of how it could have benefit me, but when I thought of graphic in the context of t-shirts (as I did before, for the internet promotion example), I realised a very strong way of getting new brands seen by the target consumer is to sponsor bands, which takes care of the ‘place’ because it will be wherever the band are when they’re wearing it, be it for a gig or a photo shoot. Fans of that band will see what their ‘idols’ are wearing and feel that if they wear the same, they are ‘closer’ to them, it also gives the brand credibility. Essentially, the ‘fans’ trust the opinions of the band.

The last marketing method that I have chosen to evaluate is direct marketing through things such as business cards and magazine inserts. Business cards will be most effective when they are well designed, especially for a graphic designer as it needs to memorable, have appropriate contact info on it and show your ‘style’ or skills. Magazine inserts are sometimes effective, but only when they are in the right context, for example if you’re trying ‘rock’ band t-shirts and you put a magazine insert in Heat magazine, it isn’t going to reach the right audience. Tailored promotional packages are also effective because not every piece in your portfolio will necessarily appeal to all clients, so if you pick out specific pieces of work that you think would appropriate to their ‘brand image’, it will stand out more rather than being diluted by other ‘not-so-appropriate’ designs.

Through analysing marketing methodologies and where are the right places to market my practice, I feel more confident that I won’t waste valuable time and money in the future on trying to promote my work in every possible way.