Style Me Capstone Project

Comprehensive Media Kit for The Stylistic Xperience

Howard Winchester
Morgan State University

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GOALS
This project will provide the business with a much-needed interface to compliment its
relations with its audience including but not limited to Social Media reform, product and
service information, press releases, audio and visual advert ideas, and much more. The
SX is a new business that is still in its beginning stage of life and is open to advice and
support to help build brand awareness. At the end of the project the following goals will
have been reached: (1) Increase in Brand Awareness, (2) Increase in Social Media
Reach/Impressions, and (3) Media Competency and Acknowledgement.

WHY THE STYLISTIC XPERIENCE ?

The SX is a local fashion boutique founded in December 2013 by my best friend Joseph
Kamara. Besides having an automatic relationship with the CEO of the business, The SX,
its mission, and brand potential are what ultimately brought me to choose it for my
Capstone project. The business is a one stop shop so to speak for its customers,
providing not just a place to shop for the latest in womens fashion, but also an
experience. It offers style services that are beneficial to numerous publics and creates an
atmosphere that has been lost not only by online shopping but retail in general. The
business, because it is a new company has an immense amount of potential and I believe
that with the right research, plans of actions, and effective hard work, the brand
awareness can grow as well as the company as a whole.

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RESEARCH
I started the project September 25, 2014 after having a conversation with Joseph about
the needs of the company, the skills I possessed that could potentially help the business,
and the future and what the company needed to do after the project was complete to
sustain what I had [planned] to have successfully completed. As all public relations
practitioners know, research is the biggest part of this field. I immediately set out to
research what the company had done the past few months to arrive at the place that it was
currently at. I researched the data of how the business currently was performing in order
to effectively propose quantitative realistic goals to set for myself to achieve by the
conclusion of the project. As noted below, the company had three major social media
entities prior to the project Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Because the campaign
would last for two months, I gathered information for the months of August and
September to use as platforms for my measurements on how well or unsuccessful my
project was. As of September 30, 2014, The SX held 750 twitter followers and 1100
impressions from its twitter activity. Facebook is the companys next biggest social media
entity. As of September 30, 2014, the company held 2544 impressions, an average of 54
impressions per post, and 47 posts total. Finally with its Instagram, The Stylistic
Xperiences held 997 followers and 64 impressions.

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3000
2500
2000
Followers

1500

Impressions
Average Impression

1000
500
0
Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Through my research I also realized that the company didnt have a media presence
having done zero interviews or advertising. With all of this information I then set up with
the messages I wanted to create, the channels I would use to deliver those methods and
the tactics I would use. The SXs key public of consumers is women 18 45. The
messages sent to them had to tie into the brands mission state of empowering women
through personal style. I had to make sure that the messages they received helped to paint
the brand in a light that made it not only interesting but also competitive. Womens
Clothing is one of the most competitive fields to enter because almost every brand has a
womens brand and women are more interested in what they are wearing than men.
Making sure that we were a brand they could trust and a brand of quality was key to pull
them in. The second key public was the media. The SX had no media exposure, which
needed to change because without media the business would remain extremely local.
With all this information I set forward to set out three goals: (1) Increase in Brand

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Awareness, (2) Increase in Social Media Reach/Impressions, and (3) Media Competency
and Acknowledgement.

MESSAGES

AND

TACTICS

Key Public Women 18 45

Message: Where Shopping and Styling make the perfect collision
This message was the overarching message the company pushed over the past two
months. One of the biggest things that consumers and visitors said they didnt like about
the company was its website. Its not interactive enough, I dont really feel like Im even
on a clothing site were among the top responses I received through my research.
Consumers wanted not only quality products but also a quality shopping experience. The
message has multiple meanings; it taps into the two main things the company offers
Personal Styling services and Clothing & Accessories and also helps to offer not only
quality products and services but a quality shopping experience; the perfect collision.
Key Public The Media
Message: Who are we? Were the next best thing in fashion, a Stylistic Xperience.
One of the biggest things the company needed was more media exposure. Up until the
day I joined, they had no media presence. I began drafting press releases for upcoming
events and milestones the company had to get a story ran of course but to also get the
media familiar with who we were. Three of the biggest stories that occurred during the
past two months were the launch of the Fall/Winter Collection and Website Revamp, The
Style Me Contest, and the Winter Trunk Show. Aside from press releases, I booked
interviews for the business including online radio shows and local magazines.

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A number of tactics were taken the past few months to achieve my goals and to push the
two main messages listed above to our key publics.
1) Website Makeover As mentioned before one of the biggest complaints was the
website. I worked with the CEO and web designer to create a site that was
aesthetically pleasing, interactive, but not to complicated. The new site took
elements from style.com among a host of other fashion sites to create what it has
become today. The site is more interactive and places social media posts and key
items on the front page. The front page also includes the new fashion blog.
2) Fashion Blog Another addition to The SX was a new YouTube account used for
weekly Fashion Vlogs featuring the head stylist of the styling team. The premise
for the blogs was to give consumers an in-depth look at the current trends of the
fashion world but to also give validity to Simeone (the stylist). When it comes to
styling, people want to make sure that the stylist knows what they are doing. The
vlogs serve as a glimpse into Sims work as a stylist so that consumers know first
hand visually whom they are working with.
3) E-Mail Capture To gather more consumer information and to also create a
loyalty system, I input an e-mail newsletter system via the brands Facebook page
and website that captures demographics about customers. The email system
allows The SX to send targeted emails to certain people etc.

STRATEGIC CRISIS COMMUNICATION

On November 5, 2014, I was notified by the CEO of the company that the website was
hacked and breached internally. A number of customers information was compromised

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by the breach. I was not familiar with Crisis Communication and after doing research and
seeking advice I determined this 5 Step Crisis Communication Rule Guide.
Step 1: Who Is Affected? The customers who have ever made a purchase on the site
were the ones affected.
Step 2: To What Extent Are They Affected? Credit card information, names, mailing
addresses, e-mail addresses were at risk of being breached by the hackers. The customers
were at risk of fraud activity and non-authorized transactions being placed on their cards.
Step 3: How Are They Affected? The customers were affected through their accounts.
Each customer is required to sign up for an account on the site before being able to
successfully complete their purchase. When the purchase is complete the information is
stored name, address, credit card number through this system their information was a
sitting duck for hackers to take.
Step 4: Give Assurance After having a conversation with the CEO we opted to take the
website down and launch an investigation with local authorities. The site was down for
13 days but any one who went to the site was greeted with this message:
Due to a security breach, The Stylistic Xperience has been temporarily shut down. If you have ever
shopped at our boutique and believe that your information may have been compromised, please send us
an email at support@thestylisticxperience.com. This breach is currently being investigated.
Thanks for your patience and understanding. Our team is working relentlessly to solve this problem.

We also contacted all the customers who made purchases through the site letting them
know the situation, what was being done to fix it and how we were going to rectify it. To
also further the assure customers, we sent out emails to everyone chronologizing the
events that occurred over the 13 days which included the breach, the site being taken

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down, the authorities being involved, and the purchase of a new security software.
Customers wanted reassurance their information wouldnt be hacked again.
Step 5: Incentives Once we gave the customers reassurance and expedited the issue so
that we kept attribution low, the final step was incentives. Once the issue was rectified or
at least the immediate threat gone we had to pull customers back in because while the
issue was over, the attribution was still pretty high. We sent an email coupon out to every
customer on our mailing list letting them know that we appreciated their business, that
the issue was resolved, and for being loyal to the brand through that difficult time,
offering them 30% off.
Through the entire crisis we were 100% transparent with our public, which was key to
regaining their trust. If they felt that we werent then attribution wouldve stayed high and
brand loyalty wouldve diminished.

SKILLS
Throughout the past two months a number of skills Ive learned throughout my time at
Morgan have been put to use. Being able to effectively research topics has been one of
the biggest skills Ive used. During the first week and a half I sent out surveys to the
previous customers of the company via email asking what they liked and disliked about
the website, what they wanted to see on the site that wasnt there, among a host of other
questions. I used analytical data to find information about the social media impressions
prior to my joining. My research also lead me to determine which traditional media
outlets would be best for the key message to be sent to for the most favorable results.

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Another skillset I utilized was persuasive writing. The brand is still new and virtually
unknown, and through press releases and the creation of the media kit, I helped to
increase visibility as well as media acknowledgement now and in the future. I also wrote
pitch letters to businesses including Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales for partnerships
with the company, which lead to initial business meetings with the CEO. Another skillset
used was crisis communication, following the hacking of the companys website.
Developing a comprehensive Crisis Communication plan was something I had not done
before but learned about and executed.

DATA
At the conclusion of my project on November 24, 2014, the company garnered 804
Twitter followers total, an 8% increase, and 5700 impressions from its activity on twitter
an astounding 645% increase. During my tenor working for the company I helped
increase the overall engagement with its followers on Facebook by 22% up to 3113
impressions, increased the average impressions per post to 76% and did it with 6 less
posts in total. I also increased the amount of likes the page received from 385 to 448 up
16%. Finally with its Instagram account, The Stylistic Xperiences held 997 followers
and 64 impressions and increased to 1077 followers an 8% increase and 194 impressions
a 194% increase.

FacebookAnalytics
August

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OverallMonthlyPostReach:2473Impressions
AveragePostReach:57Impressions
#ofPosts:43

September
OverallMonthlyPostReach:71Impressions97%Decrease
AveragePostReach:18Impressions68%Decrease
#OfPosts:4
91%Decrease

October
OverallMonthlyPostReach:1794Impressions2427%Increase
AveragePostReach:69Impressions
285%Increase
#OfPosts:26
550%Increase

November
OverallMonthlyPostReach:1319Impressions26%Decrease
AveragePostReach:90Impressions
30%Decrease
#OfPosts:15
42%Decrease

OverallPre
OverallMonthlyPostReach:2544Impressions
OverallAveragePostReach:54Impressions
Overall#OfPosts:47

OverallDuring
OverallMonthlyPostReach:3113Impressions22%Decrease
OverallAveragePostReach:76Impressions41%Increase
Overall#OfPosts:41
13%Decrease
OverallPageLikesAugustSeptember:385
OverallPageLikesOctoberNovember:44816%Increase

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3000
2500
2000
Likes

1500

Impressions
Average Impressions

1000
500
0
August

September

October

November

3500
3000
2500
2000

Likes
Impressions

1500

Average Impressions

1000
500
0
Pre

During

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TwitterAnalytics
AugustSeptember
OverallFollowers:750
OverallTweetImpressions:1100

October
OverallFollowers:8098%Increase
OverallTweetImpressions:2500127%Increase

November
OverallFollowers:8040.62%Decrease
OverallTweetImpressions:5700128%Decrease

OverallPre

OverallFollowers:750
OverallTweetImpressions:1100

OverallDuring
OverallFollowers:804
7%Increase
OverallTweetImpressions:8200645%Increase
6000
5000
4000
Followers

3000

Impressions
2000
1000
0
Aug. - Sept.

October

November

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9000
8000
7000
6000
5000

Followers

4000

Impressions

3000
2000
1000
0
Pre

During

InstagramAnalytics
AugustSeptember
OverallFollowers:997
OverallEngagementImpressions:65

October
OverallFollowers:10687%Increase
OverallEngagementImpressions:12085%Increase

November
OverallFollowers:10770.84%Increase
OverallEngagementImpressions:19462%Increase

OverallPre

OverallFollowers:997
OverallEngagementImpressions:65

OverallDuring
OverallFollowers:10778%Increase
OverallEngagementImpressions:194199%Increase

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1200
1000
800
Followers

600

Impressions
400
200
0
Aug. - Sept

October

November

1200
1000
800
Followers

600

Impressions
400
200
0
Pre

During

EVALUATION
At the close of this project I looked back and saw that I had indeed accomplished the
three goals I set out to fulfill. I increased Social Media Impressions exponentially. I

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increased brand awareness having more visitors to the site than previous months. And
finally I introduced and increased media awareness with numerous interviews, press
releases, and advertisements. I believe that this project was extremely successful and if
the company abides by the actions Ive already set in place then they should succeed in
the future.