J Barbour & Sons PR Student Placement
Blog 3- September
During September I created a lot of dropboxes for the press as a lot of new collections and collaborations are due to launch. I created drop boxes for collaborations Barbour x C.P Company and Barbour x Cheaney. This included renaming the imagery and flat shots, compiling the images and press release into the correct Dropbox folder and sending them to the relevant contacts. Although creating the dropboxes got quite monotonous, I like to do them as I get to preview the imagery and see the collection ahead of launch. I also had to rename the imagery for Barbours Christmas advert, which is yet to be released. I found it interesting to know how far in advance brands plan and produce content for Christmas so ahead of time. Barbour’s Christmas advert focuses on Paddington Bear and getting sustainability messaging through in a nostalgic way.
Barbour x C.P Company
Barbour Christmas Advert 2021
I have also begun getting more confident with daily tasks such as updating the global marketing rotas to show the head of the company who is in the office each week. In order to do so, I sent out a weekly email reminder to each department and then filled in the excel accordingly. I am slowly getting more confident contacting and talking with members of other departments and getting to know others within the business.
I have begun to understand the PR sampling process. For example, Press Sample Requests will come in through the PR email and I will have to order the product needed using a sales order form and conversing with the Sales department either over email or phone. I then arrange to get the product sent to the correct address, and sometimes I set up a collection for when the product is on loan to get it returned back to the business. Press requests come into the Barbour Press email from stylists for shoots, celebrity gifting requests and product placement within publications/ productions.
A big part of September was the British Vogue x Barbour Design Competition. This was announced on the Barbour website. Entrants had to re-design a classic Bedale Barbour Jacket and the winners would have their Jacket made, presented in British Vogue and auctioned for charity. I helped organize the entries and researched organizations and universities which I then contacted about the competition. I reached out to Universities which had Fashion Design courses as well as organizations such as Art Galleries and Fashion Museums via my Barbour email. This helped me gain confidence in writing emails in a professional manner, getting across the information needed concisely and effectively. I felt very trusted by my team that I got to reach out to these organizations and represent the Barbour brand in doing so.
Barbour x British Vogue Competition 2021
The finalists of the competition were selected by the Barbour design team. I found it interesting how the design team picked the finalists, as the 5 designs they picked needed to align with Barbour’s values and aesthetics. The 5 finalists then visited Barbour House in person during September and had a meeting with the team to discuss the making of their Jacket design. I helped look after the finalists when they visited and made sure to be chatty and friendly while representing the brand professionally. I am really excited to see first-hand the jackets come to life and the processes behind the competition.