Upfront is a fashion label devoted to providing extreme levels of comfort for your feet. Our goal is to bridge the gap between street fashion and sportswear inspired by nature. Our vision is inspired by the idea of identifying with patterns within nature to satisfy comfort in a familiar way. We push the common need for self-expression in upcoming and
present-day generations. Upfront is worth your time and worth to exist because Upfront is a brand that not only represents design and fashion, but also awareness and sustainability. Upfront are to be worn proudly as a means to share your eco-enthusiasm and instill the importance to support products, companies, and individual behaviors that promote and demonstrate good recycling practice and a green lifestyle.
Each of these shoes will look like average high-end shoes, but made from recycled and cheap material, each of these shoes could get up to 150 to 200 dollars. It is way below what our competitors are pricing and should, therefore, earn Upfron many potential purchasers with different income. We want our clients to enjoy the comfort of the shoes and at the same time be proud and show off their new kicks.
Because no one has every approached this market in this way, I believe that this new technology and shoes design could bring lots of profit.
Current Situation:
The reason why I strongly believe that there is a need for this brand is because no one has achieved this style or this design. No one has a story like our company. All our designers strive to design simple, and at the same time high-quality footwear that provides extreme comfort. Yes, we are incorporating designs that are already out there but we want to be able to produce a product that bridges two different styles of shoes. With our newest technology of making shoes with recycled material, I believe that we could not only provide fashion, but have people be more aware of environmental needs and current situation.
Target Audience:
UPFRONT target audience is people who enjoy high-quality footwear. We want to target people who want to enjoy footwear that bridges the gap between street fashion and sportswear. Designing something with such simple and organic material, but having them to look like high-end shoes is the main target of the brand. In conclusion, people who enjoy high quality footwear are the main target audience, as has been mentioned before.
Objective:
Our design tries to show case beauty that our earth has to offer, keeping each of our designs simple and clean but have a unique personality to it. Our shoes will be partly made out of recycled material (Polyester). By doing this we will make this world a more ecofriendly environment, cutting down waste. Hoping to raise awareness and get the consumers to be more interested in going green can help us promote eco-friendliness amongst the audience. At UPFRONT, we think that buying one of our products means to be taking the green step in it.
Creative Strategy:
1. Conservation of materials
All the new products are made from the raw materials, which are procured from harvesting the earth natural resources.
2. Saving Energy
When there will be less demand for new products, then, of course, less products will be produced, which will help us in saving energy. Conservation of energy is the key element for the fight against climate change.
3. Saving money
When you recycle old products and have less dependency on new product, obviously, you end up saving some money. That money can then be used for other purpose. In the long run, using this method would have certain benefits.
Execution summary:The objective will be achieved by using recycled material, which will cut down the waste and promote eco-friendly and green business. It will also help us to raise the public awareness about eco-green products and be beneficial for the general support for the brand. Also, our creative strategy will make the product stand out from other products of the same sort, with the advantages of such method described in the Creative Strategy section. It will help conserve the materials, save energy and save costs. Thus, the execution of the methods chosen for Upfront fashion label are thought-out and beneficial.
Implementation process:
Implementation process follows the process of defining the objectives and setting up the strategy. Since it has been agreed upon using polyester (PET) recycled materials to create the part of the Upfront shoes, the main goal of implementation process is to secure the availability of this material in the related domestic factories. Also, since Creative Strategy talks about the saved money being potentially used for other purposes, it is a key goal to make up a budget plan for potential ways on what the saved money can be spent in order to present a credible plan for further actions. Finally, another important aspect of the implementation process is to set up correspondent marketing plan for raising awareness about the brand’s actions amongst the target audience and promote the product properly.
The shoes will come in three forms: designed for males, females and unisex. Thus, it will attract more potential purchasers.
Upfront will guarantee its customers eco-friendly shoes with modern design and high durability. However, Upfront will hold no accountability for shoes damage in case they have not been used properly or have had improper actions applied to them, which have lead to their damage.
Development budget:
Development budget will include contracts with polyester (PET) manufacturers, money which will be spent on promotion (according to marking plan), calculating the saved money and setting plans on what the saved money will be spent. Also, the precalculated price for shoes ($150-200, as stated in introduction) will reflect the development spending. Also, a flexible discount (either seasonal or a loyalty program) might be developed in order to promote the product further and make potential purchasers interested in it.
Fee schedule:Following the practice of most developed organizations, the required fee will be subdivided into three parts: one third of the price will be required when the Project Brief is signed off, one third when the design direction has been agreed and the final third upon completion. Although many client do not agree to any fees before the start of the project, Upfront will do its best to persuade them to trust the company and provide them with solid Money Back Guarantee policy. Thus, developing mutual trust should strengthen ties between the buyer and the organization.
Development schedule:
As for development schedule, the delivery will take 10 days at most – as it is in between one and two weeks, which will allow Upfront to complete the project on time. However, the delivery into places which are hard to reach should be restricted by a specific list, and the delivery time for it should be stated as “around two weeks”, as two avoid any cases of emergency and client’s dissatisfaction with the delivery time. The client is welcome to provide his feedback within one week from delivery, as it is sufficient time to try everything out and see what advantages and disadvantages the product has and, if he fails to do so, his further feedback is no longer valid.
Conclusion:
Thank you for UPFRONT a chance and looking over our proposal. I truly believe that in our future collaboration we will change the way this world views footwear, and the view of different usage on recycled material. The designs our designer come up with will definitely set our design apart from everything that are out there, making us outstanding and becoming the leading company to create recycled material footwear.
Team Biographies:
Our team consists of six people. They are individually outstanding designers and businessmen.
John Choi:
He is one of our footwear designers. He graduated from Pratt institute of industrial design 2015. He is one of the co-founders of UPFRONT. Most of his designs in college were consisted with wood. He really loved to explore within the natural materials. He loved the texture and the smell every wood gives out, this is why he wanted to create a fashion brand where the design is kept to the minimalist but has its own identity, like every wood and tree out there.
Richie Chen:
Our other footwear designer is named Richie Chen. He also gradated from Pratt institute industrial design 2015. To describe Richie, I could only say he is an individual who is curious at everything and questions everything. Having a person like this constantly challenges us and makes us aware of possible questions or problems that could come up.
Michael Hayashi:
Michael Hayashi is in charge of digital and graphics design. Graduated from Pratt Institute graphic design major 2015. With his help and contribution, we are constantly keeping our social network page refreshed and updated. This is twenty first century; a world where Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are becoming a big influence in everyone’s life. Not only does he take charge of the social media aspect, but he also keeps our website modern and clean so the user interface gives the consumer a nice, clean and modern atmosphere.
FredyXin:
One of our first businesses majors in our team, Fredy Xin is our NYU Stern graduate, and he was very much interested in the fashion field. When I first told him about our initiative and our goal, he believed that this could be the next big thing, and could bring environmental awareness to a whole different level. He comes from a family of businessmen, which brought up the standard of our company and made us keep up with the speed of the nowadays business world .
Bolin Wu
Bolin Wu is second business major in our team. His and Fredy Xin’s background are very similar. He is a recent graduate from Bentley University, studying information design and corporate communication. They both come from business families, and they are both aware that recycling is what people are looking into. We were very privileged to have both of these brilliant people join our team.
