Use pr to make fashion week work for you

PR expert Louise Wood founder of LWPR believes effective PR often comes down to using the stories of the moment and there is no better trend moment than now, hot on the heels of Fashion Week. Here Louise advises on how to make trends your own: Do your homework It doesn’t matter if it’s London, Paris, Milan or NYC you can harvest a world of trends to meet your needs. Study Grazia, Daily Mail Online and Vogue or go purist at the British Fashion Council’s London Fashion Week site. Every one of them talks trends including hair; so distil them into the latest fringe, texture, shade, colour technique (Ombré anyone?), length, silhouette, volume or dressed hair look. Make notes, create a Pinterest board on your tablet or smartphone for your clients and write up a little trends press release from your own salon’s point of view for your local media.  We find a lot of local magazines love a tie in of the Schwarzkopf Essential Looks story with the trend head shots along with local salon commentary so use a mix of what you know and what your manufacturer can support you with. Talk it up Trend conversations show that your salon is keeping its finger on the pulse of fashion. So share information, tips, techniques and photographs on your website and blog. Make a plan for a daily comment on the looks you love and why on your social media. Open a social media ‘trends clinic’ so that followers and friends can ask questions and even put posters or clings on your window to celebrate how your salon is ‘trending now!’ Share YOUR take on trends Take some great before and after shots on your smartphone to show a trend transformation on a colleague, client or even yourself. Set your phone camera to high res so you can send the photo to the press as large as possible! Write a release that introduces you, the salon and the trend; bullet point how it’s done and why it’s great; conclude with a little call to action such as ‘a cut and colour at Our Salon starts from £75, so be on trend and call…’ Email it and send it pasted in to the body of the email AND attached plus attach the image separately, follow up with a call. Alternatively look to your manufacture for great high quality photographic work that captures the trends. Get excited in the salon Every team member needs to be on trend, so hold a trend workshop, help everyone put their own mood board together and role play how they will introduce trends into client conversations. “Fringes are going to be massive this season. A fringe will frame your eyes and really give you a totally new look. I can scatter some slices of dark chocolate shades through the front to add depth too.” So keep it fresh in every way you can and get the attention of clients new and old. The fashion world is a whole six months ahead of us mere mortals, so there is a whole season to plan for! ​For more informative and inspirational business news and features subscribe to HJ