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Introduction to Fashion Marketing and Research

Learn how marketing research can inform business decisions and predict upcoming trends in the fashion industry.

A model posing wearing a white garment and glasses.

Use data analysis to predict future fashion trends

Marketing research can help businesses understand both their customers and the industry as a whole.

On this two-week course, you’ll explore marketing research tools and techniques used by fashion companies and discover how to improve business processes and predict future trends.

Learn how to conduct meaningful marketing research

An understanding of marketing research methods in the fashion industry can help you discover untapped business opportunities and optimize your supply chain.

On this course, you’ll investigate various types of research, including analysis of economic indicators, market analysis, and consumer and product research and assess when to use each method to best effect.

With this knowledge, you’ll be able to conduct and interpret marketing research and retrieve useful data that can inform future decision-making.

Discover data analysis methods to improve your strategic planning

You’ll learn how to analyse data in a fashion industry context and how data mining and big data analysis can be used to improve long-range and short-range planning processes.

Using real-life case studies, you’ll learn how marketing research can improve business processes and help understand consumer behavior.

Explore color, material, and fashion trend forecasting

By understanding marketing research data, you’ll be able to interpret and track trends across the fashion industry.

You’ll learn how to interpret this data and forecast trends in color and textiles, as well as examining trends across fashion more broadly.

By the end of this course, you’ll have gained insights into the impact marketing research can have on understanding business processes and predicting future trends. With this knowledge, you can create reliable, long-term plans informed by relevant, meaningful data.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Marketing research in fashion

    • Course welcome

      In this activity, you will be introduced to the content that will be covered during this course. You will also get an overview of the topics covered during the first week of this course.

    • Marketing research

      In this activity, you will learn more about the most important factors leading to success in the fashion industry is that the company understands its target market and provides the merchandise assortment desired by its customers.

    • Conducting marketing research in fashion

      In this activity, you will learn more about the variety of techniques for collecting and analyzing data, in order to provide decision makers within the fashion industry with the most relevant data needed.

    • Strategic planning and decisions informed by marketing research

      In this activity, you will learn more about the strategic planning decisions in the fashion industry that can be divided into long-range planning and short-range planning. Long-range planning focuses on market trends.

    • Week wrap up

      In this activity, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge of the topics covered during the week. You will also be provided with a summary of the week's learning, and some insight on what to expect in the new week.

  • Week 2

    Color, material, and fashion trend forecasting

    • Weekly welcome

      Moving into the second week of this course, this activity will give you an overview of the topics that will be covered during this week.

    • Color forecasting

      In this activity, you will learn more about the process used by forecasting companies, textile manufacturers, and fashion brands to predict the colors that will be popular for upcoming fashion seasons.

    • Textile and material trend forecasting

      In this activity, you will learn more about the processes for predicting the fiber, fabric, and finishes that fashion brand companies and the ultimate consumer will desire in future fashion seasons.

    • Fashion trend forecasting

      In this activity, you will learn more about the research processes to predict trends in styles that consumers will want in future fashion seasons.

    • Course wrap up

      In this activity, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge of the topics covered during the week. You will also be provided with a summary of the week's learning, and some insight into other courses in this series.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Identify marketing research processes used by fashion companies throughout the supply chain
  • Describe types of marketing research used by fashion companies, including analysis of economic indicators, market analysis, consumer research, and product research
  • Compare applications of marketing research for long-range and short-range planning and decisions by fashion companies
  • Explain color, textiles and material, and fashion trend forecasting processes used by fashion companies
  • Identify resources fashion companies use in color, textiles and material, and fashion trend forecasting
  • Explain types of color, textiles and material, and fashion trend forecasting services used by fashion companies
  • Apply techniques for conducting and interpreting marketing research for companies in the fashion industry

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone interested in exploring marketing within the context of the fashion industry. It would be suitable for those considering a marketing career or those who want to further their understanding of marketing research from a fashion perspective.

Who developed the course?

Bloomsbury Publishing

Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes.and is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series. Bloomsbury has offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Oxford and Sydney. Within Bloomsbury’s Academic division, it publishes under Bloomsbury, as well as under a number of prestigious and historic imprint names.

Fairchild Books

With a history stretching back over more than 100 years, Fairchild Books is a world-leading publisher in the fields of fashion and interior design.

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform and has been providing high quality online courses for learners around the world over the last ten years.

What's included?

This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.

  • Unlimited access to this course
  • Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
  • Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you're eligible
  • Download and print your Certificate of Achievement anytime

Still want to know more? Check out our FAQs

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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