Feathers marketing boss: ‘fashion brands are wrong to only hire PR people and not marketers’

Melbourne fashion brand Feathers Boutique has turned to traditional advertising for the first time and hiked its marketing budget to raise its profile amid the retail squeeze.

Launched through creative agency The Reactor, the brand is spending heavily on photography in a print and social media campaign that comes a year after Feathers hired its first marketing director.

Previously, the company relied purely on PR and rock posters, the lower-end of outdoor advertising typically used by music bands. But this year, the brand has “significantly” increased spend on marketing and rethought its media strategy.

“Fashion typically doesn’t do marketing well,” head of marketing Poppy Key told Mumbrella. “One of the big mistakes brands make is to just hire PR people and not marketing people. Of course PR is important to get a brand talked about, but a broader understanding of marketing is essential for fashion brands these days.”