Beyond the Catwalk: Investigating the Use of Public Relations in the Australian Fashion Industry

Research Findings Summary Fashion PR does not easily fit into mainstream definitions of public relations operating as a management function within a corporate environment. Fashion PR is assigned a low status due to its association with marketing, promotion and publicity, and its reputation as a glamorous, superficial, and highly feminised industry. All but one participant perceive fashion PR to be part of the marketing mix. Public relations is seen as a more financially viable option for brand promotion. Participants view their field to be more than just promotion and publicity. They perceive their work to be professional, where professional means working to meet the goals and objectives of their client or employer. Participants described their work as strategic, adaptive and dynamic using a combination of craft (i.e. media relations, celebrity endorsement) and professional (i.e. strategic communication) practices to meet goals and objectives. To some extent, all practices were perceived as strategic in that they are informed by research, carefully planned to meet organisational goals and objectives, require ongoing negotiation and relationship management, and aim to position the organisation or client in ways that are relevant to various stakeholders. Practitioners embrace strategy is terms of research, objective setting and planning, however the use of formal evaluation methods was found to be inconsistent. Participants attributed this to being time-poor and also suggested that interpersonal communication with clients is a more effective method to appraise outcomes of fashion PR campaigns. The Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) was not considered relevant to the participants work, as they perceived the institutes focus to be corporate and government sectors. All participants acknowledged the huge impact social media is having on fashion PR. Social media was perceived as a medium you have to engage in, or risk getting left behind. However, social media use in the Australian fashion industry revealed weak boundaries between public relations and marketing. Case studies demonstrated that the fashion industry is not yet embracing the potential social media offers to engage with fashion publics and consumers; rather the industry uses social media platforms primarily for one-way promotional purposes.

View the entire thesis at http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/10204/.

Leah Cassidy (BA MassComm) (First Class Honours in Public Relations)

leah.cassidy@hotmail.com

+61 439 137 103

@LeahMCassidy

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