Celebrating 100+ Articles in 2 years as a Fashion Columnist with the B&FT

“The great victory, which appears so simple today, was the result of a series of small victories that went unnoticed” Paulo Coelho

Today, I am counting my over 100 articles as a Fashion Columnist with the Business and Financial Times Newspaper (the leading financial newspaper in Ghana) since starting out in July 2016.

Maybe I should tell you how it all started.

I started this blog in October 2011 (yes, it's been 7 years now) when I discovered the career path I wanted to chart; pursue a career in Fashion PR. As a fresh graduate from the African University College of Communications, I wasn’t sure what next for me after my graduation as I was by then working as a Cashier with Tigo Ghana (now Airtel Tigo). I wanted a job in PR but no one will hire me because I didn’t have experience in PR.

I decided to start a blog where I can share my experiences and ideas on how PR could be helpful for Fashion brands. Among topics I wrote on included Creating a Fashion Brand Identity, building your Beauty Brand Using PR amongst others. Even if it was once or twice a month, I was writing.

By mid-2016, I had resigned from my job with Global Media Alliance and was ready to take on a solo path which means taking this blogging to a different level.  

But guess what, I met Bernard Ashiadey one day at a Fashion Event. (Something you will mostly find me doing). We talked and he said “Oh Faith, what do you think if you could be writing on Fashion for the B&FT on Fridays. Since I handle the Lifestyle insert on Fridays, it could be a perfect fit” I couldn’t believe it, yes I had just been handed this opportunity that you have no idea I had been meaning to go ask for.

I had my first published column in July 2016 and since then, my article has been published each week.

I named my Column “Fashion & More with Faith Senam” to cover all fashion, beauty and lifestyle related event or activity. I have written and featured over 100 articles so far and counting.

Honestly, there were few times I nearly gave up because I thought I had exhausted everything I wanted to write about and had writer's block. Also because of some of the frustrating moments when I reached out to designers to feature them and they would simply ignore me or won’t send me the information needed and my submission deadline was due.

Now, I feel like I am ready to take this to another level because there is a lot to say, know and learn about within the fashion space. I review events I attend and share my thoughts on issues affecting fashion businesses. I am looking forward to growing this into a great and informative platform and powerhouse. (watch out)

If you have an amazing brand, event or wants to launch your new collection or product or need some reviews done for you, hit me up via email at faithsenam@gmail.com.

Congratulations to me and cheers to us working together in the future. 

Faith Senam Ocloo
Fashion Public Relations 
Fashion I Beauty I Lifestyle I Arts

Challenges of being in the Spotlight as a Fashion Business Owner

Just like the entertainment industry, being in the spotlight in the fashion industry comes with challenges as well. Typically in Ghana, designers are seldomly seen except during fashion shows and events. Most of them are busy working behind the scenes creating designs and even doing all other jobs.

They have hesitations about being in the spotlight. As a PR person, I have heard and worked with clients telling me how they dread being in the spotlight. Among some of the things they say include wanting people to know the product and not themselves, they feel they are not yet ready for the spotlight and all the ‘drama’ that comes with it, it comes with a lot of pressure they are not ready for.

Undoubtedly, being in the spotlight can be quite frustrating and consuming. It also means there is a lot of pressure on you to begin to look and act a certain way just because you feel everyone else is watching.

In an era where consumers are becoming more complex, there is the need to connect with your community. Consumers of your product or service don’t just want to know who is behind their favorite brand but also demand to know what they do and how they do it. They want to be able to reach out and connect with owners.

You will be wrong to think that your community doesn’t want to know you and to think that you can get by with hiding in the background while your brand thrives. Guess what, you are your brand and if you want people to connect with it and believe in it, you can’t pretend you don’t exist.

While being in the spotlight could offer opportunities to the brand such as creating visibility, being able to connect with your consumers and tapping into your spotlight and driving them into action(purchase), it can also come with some challenges if not carefully managed. You may also consider the following:

No privacy

Being in spotlight means your everyday life is being laid before the public domain for people to talk about. You should also know that people will be very much interested in your successes at the same time your losses and embarrassing moments. Your privacy is taken from you with anyone connected to the brand in any way feeling they ought to know what is happening in your life and are unapologetic about that.

Lost sense of Self

A lot of celebrities find themselves loosing their own self and their personal values by being in the spotlight. This is because they are compelled to live a certain way because of the constant thought of someone watching them. Loosing your sense of self could also be detrimental to your overall brand goals and objectives.

Imposter Syndrome

Bewildered by their fame, many celebrities begin to create a far from perfect image of themselves. Knowing that it is unrealistic, there is very little they can do to change that because they have been swamped into this whole stardom and are being led into faking what they are not. The loss of the spotlight after being at the center of attraction and attention can leave people feeling bereft of purpose and importance.

While it may be advisable to push your self out there because you want to be able to connect with your customers or fans, you should invest in managing the spotlight such that it doesn’t get you into a myriad of problems.

This article originally appeared in the Business and Financial Times Newspaper on 29/03/2018

Image Credit: Google Images

Faith Senam Ocloo
Fashion Public Relations
Fashion I Beauty I Lifestyle I Arts

2017 in Fashion: Recap of the Year

This year has been another great one for fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands

Just like each year, there have been new entrants onto the fashion scene and we have also seen an all most ‘no show’ from some of established brands. It was really exciting to see many others thrive to stay top of mind throughout the year.

One game changer for this year has been social media as it continuously play a crucial role for many fashion brands who have been able to build their brand presence online. They have created campaigns and contents that gave them a voice and made them match up to even established brands. 

Touching on major happenings in 2017, the challenges and the opportunities as we look forward to a greater and more fulfilling 2018.

Fashion Designers

There were quite some designers who have worked real hard this year to keep their brand visible and grow more reach. The likes of Sima Brew with her stunning Red Carpet Gowns, Ophelia Crossland, West African Ambassador for Swarovski, Christie Brown showcasing at Lagos Fashion and Design Week, Nadrey Laurent rebrand from Totally Ethnik, Afromod Trends showcasing in South Africa, Charlotte Prive, Atto Tetteh, Abrantie the Gentleman winning 

Designer of the Year Awards and a host of many others have had a great year as they worked at keeping their brand visibly all year through both online and offline.

This year also saw the return of DuabaSerwa with its Nsubura collection and subsequently showcasing at Glitz Africa Fashion Week 2017.

Without a doubt, the young fashion designers emerging have a lot to offer and I can’t wait to see what they add on in 2018. Designers such as Lakopue, LJ Couture, Qwame Owusu have equally had a great year as they have left quite an impressive impression on our minds.

Fashion Shows and Events

Fashion shows are known to be the biggest events on most fashion calendar anywhere. This year started off with Accra Men’s Fashion Week (AMFW) in May, Mercedes Benz Africa Fashion Festival (MBAFF) in July, Glitz Africa Fashion Week (GAFW) and Accra Fashion Week (AFWk) in October. These events have had their fair share of setbacks in terms of publicity, organization, venue and timing. Nonetheless, they managed to pull through their events successfully as we look forward a more revamped ones in 2018.

The graduate shows couldn’t be left out. Radford University, BlueCrest University, Joyce Ababio Creative College and Design, Riohs Originate and Dreams College of Creative Arts all organized their graduate shows in a grand style this year.

Other events that took place in the course of the year are Fashion Forum Quarterly Series, African Fashion Voices by African Fashion Guide, Jump on Glitz and crowning it with the Vlisco & Co launch at the Untamed Empire.

Fashion Media and Bloggers

The fashion industry couldn’t have survived without fashion media and bloggers as they brought us all we needed to know in the fashion world. From designer Lookbooks, Features, Events, Style tips etc these platforms have continued to curate and bring us daily contents. The likes of Debonair Afrik, TrendsandBlends, AuntieOboshie, Fashion Ghana, YaaSomuah, Ghana fashion marketing amongst others have been constantly on the radar throughout the year.

Hopefully 2018 will bring good fortunes in regards to more collaborations and unique contents, live coverage. Looking forward to a new year full of energy and great contents from these media platforms.

Fashion Awards

Awards are crucial for any organization in business to gain recognition for its products and services and the fashion industry couldn’t be left out of this. Winning awards allows you to distinguish your company/brand from competitors. This year, we witnessed only two (2) awards. The Glitz Style Awards and Afroma Awards.

Hopefully in the coming year, we will see Ghana Fashion Awards bounce back bigger and better or other industry awards that will recognize and reward great talent.

Challenges and next steps

The fashion industry in Ghana still struggles with many issues. First is lack of a body to regulate and support designer’s work and their creativity. No organization has been able to succeed in pulling the various stakeholders under one umbrella. With a fashion council or board, fashion designers and other creatives can begin to work effectively with support from government and other institutions and gain direction to be able to build global brands.

Also, with a fashion calendar which clearly shows which event is on which date, organizers will begin to take note when choosing dates for their event. That way, the incidence of having both GAFW and AFWk on the same weekend won’t occur again.

As we get ready to celebrate the Season and New Year, I wish all B&FT readers a wonderful season. I look forward to a greater 2018 as I bring you more exciting features, personal thoughts and news on “Fashion & More with Faith Senam”

Have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

(Post originally published in my column in the Business & Financial Times Newspaper on 22nd December 2017)

Faith Senam Ocloo 
Fashion Public Relations 
Fashion I Beauty I Lifestyle I Arts

Targeting the right customer for your fashion brand

Photo Credit: Shotbyese

There are many fashion businesses in Ghana that are still yet to define which segment of the fashion market they belong or target. Be it a luxury or mass consumer brands, knowing who your customers are sets the tone for success of your fashion business.

Understanding your customers means knowing their interests, needs, demographics, lifestyle and purchasing power amongst others. Every aspect of your brand’s marketing has to correlate with your ideal customer. Your brand identity, positioning, attributes and brand building process are better developed and guided by what you know about your potential customers.

This implies that, knowing your target market helps you right from the start till you are able to achieve your overall brand and business goal. Once a decision is made to launch your own fashion brand, this should be clearly answered; who is your target market?

For many entrepreneurs, they think it’s best to target as many as possible. But the truth is that you will be spending lots of money producing and sending your designs to everywhere and most probably the wrong places. Especially because you have failed to know who your customers are and how to get to them. When the right targeting is done, you are able to position your brand advantageously to sell and eventually grow your business.

The ultimate goal of every business is to sell and make money. No matter how you could be producing the best collections or designs that could look good on almost any fashionable woman or man, when you fail to know how to match your designs and brand to the right customers, you could definitely be missing the ultimate goal. 

As a Fashion PR representative for one of the leading fashion brands in Ghana, we have had several invitations to participate at trade shows or pop up events. Being a high-end to mid class brand, we carefully analyze the event and anticipate the kind of people the event is targeting. Are they the kind of people we want to reach? Will they be interested in our designs when they attend the event?  Will people be able to afford or buy our pieces when they come there? These are some of the questions we try to answer before accepting or declining the invitation. You don’t need to be everywhere just because you have been invited. 

Be it a luxury brand or mass market brand, carefully analyze where you want your brand to be and decide what is best for your brand. For instance exhibitions, pop up events, sales events are best for mass market brands whereas, private sales, presentations are best of luxury brands.

The success of any business is knowing where and how to get your product to your customers and the best part is they being willing to pay to get that product because it meets their needs. This means that knowing and understanding your customer’s needs helps you to plan your marketing and sales strategy to your advantage and grows your fashion business into new markets and territories.

Faith Senam Ocloo 
Fashion Public Relations 
Fashion I Beauty I Lifestyle I Arts

Gaining Press Coverage for your Fashion Brand and Event

Getting press coverage as a fashion designer for your brand or event is a big deal for your brand as it opens several opportunities for the brand. In as much as some designers have great relationships with editors and journalists in getting their brand featured at one point in time, it is also important you take note of the following points below in gaining media coverage for your brand.

Press coverage is important as it creates a lot of positive momentum around your brand. It also opens up to you opportunities that exist that you might not know about, creates visibility for your brand amongst others.

Your Brand or Event must be Newsworthy

Not all events are worth pitching to the media. Truth is, editors are always looking for new and exciting brands and products to feature.  They will be glad to have a newsworthy information from you. Let’s say the launch of your new fashion brand, new collection, new product line, fashion show participation etc. All you ought to do is ensure that they are have been captured in the right way that will get their attention hence it should be done the right way. So ensure that your brand has that one new and exciting that will make editors want to have it featured.

Know the Timing to Pitch for Feature or Coverage

Timeliness is very important when pitching your brand to be featured. Fashion content also thrive on timeliness to see to it that your story is featured at the right time be it for traditional or digital media. In pitching your brand or event story to the editor, make sure it is done considering the timing of the brand, the editorial calendar of media especially for magazines. Timeliness also means ensuring that the kind of story you are pitching to the editor at the time. This guides you on when to pitch and when not to pitch.

Pitch to the Right Editor

Content interest varies from one media house to the other. Same as one editor to the other. There are different editors who have different subject interests. For us in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle space, we need to focus on pitching rightly to the fashion and lifestyle editors who will gladly welcome our content.  But first, you need to fit into their formula in order to catch their attention, because they surely have a house style and editorial policy they work with. Focus on building good relationship with the right fashion editor over time.

Whereas gaining press coverage for your fashion brand or event creates several opportunities for your brand through visibility and awareness, it does not directly generate sales for your brand. You need to further employ various strategies such as marketing and social media drive to compliment your feature and coverage and drive people to action.

This post was originally published by the Business and Financial Times Weekend Paper.

Faith Senam Ocloo 
Fashion Public Relations 
Fashion I Beauty I Lifestyle I Arts

RECAPPING MY JULY MONTH

Photo Credit: Dextdeephotography

July month started off on a really exciting note. Am sure you have by now seen and read 2 or more articles on my column "Fashion & More with Faith Senam" published in the Business and Financial Times weekend paper.

"Fashion & More with Faith Senam" column as the name suggests is anything about Fashion, Lifestyle, Beauty and more in Ghana. From tips, features, events, spotlights etc

I couldn't be any much thankful. Its really worth a good chilled jar of beer (lol, as if I drink beer). 

But hey, am really thankful to Bernard Ashiadey, of the B&FT for the opportunity to continue to share some of the works I started on this blog few years back to a more larger audience. 

Thanks to you Gameli Hameleo (Livefmghana), Ebenezer Anangfio(Ghanagist), Ghanaweb for the publication. And to you all for every like, retweet, reshare and repost. 

If you havn't read any yet then check here, here, here and here and look out every week for my column and articles.

I also had the opportunity to speak to some young ones during the African University College of Communications (AUCC) Open House Session on the impact of AUCC on my career and professional life and why they should make AUCC their preferred choice. It was indeed an honor.

I know August will be a new level after attending all the 5days straight annointing and soul uplifting Greater Works Conference. Am challenged to pursue and receive the perfect gift God has in stored for me.

Thanks to @DextdeePhotography for the photos during our shoot for Totally Ethnik's new Collection at Aqua Safari, Ada (Such a beautiful place).

See you in August. Am out! 

Faith Senam is the founder of E’April Public Relations, a boutique PR firm. Senam is a fashion public relations specialist with interest in fashion, beauty and lifestyle. She can be reached on +233272686959,  faithsenam@gmail.com, @senamapril on Instagram and @faithsenam on Twitter.