With well-documented shifts in consumer behaviour and emerging technologies, it is more important than ever for our London College of Fashion (LCF) Founders and Freelancers to understand these challenges. In collaboration with Gate One, Graduate Futures hosted LCF Founders Club members at an exciting networking event designed to explore the changing face of retail.
The conversation centred on adopting effective customer acquisition strategies to mitigate the challenges that businesses face in the current retail climate. Led by Abby Grattan, a management consultant at Gate One, the panel included:
The LCF Founders Club provides LCF alumni who are freelancers or business owners the opportunity to harness invaluable resources, engage with specialists, and with the entrepreneurial community. As a leading digital and business transformation consultancy, Gate One’s support for our Founders Club is invaluable. The event provided our Founders with a unique opportunity to connect with Gate One Consultants and obtain a fresh perspective to help steer them on their entrepreneurial journeys.
Gate One’s approach to consulting mirrors many entrepreneurial values. We tackle client problems that require agile thinking, creativity, and grit. This gives a natural synergy between LCF Founders and Gate One consultants who share similar values.
An overarching theme of the discussion was the transformative power of storytelling in conveying a brand's vision and values, and the sharing of success stories to engage customers, whether this be through blogs, informative newsletters, or targeted social media campaigns. Rebecca Morter commented that “you need to bring your customer on the journey, telling your story, and it’s that story that is effective at converting customers and bringing them into your world”.
Other key takeaways included prioritising inclusivity within your strategy to ensure you have diverse audience representation within your work. It was highlighted that community building by focusing on creating a space where customers feel valued is imperative in today’s markets, and how leveraging LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities for lead generation can really help Founders focus their attention. The need to do this in an authentic way was emphasised, so as to create stories which resonate with your audience.
But just don’t take it from us – hear from some of our LCF Founders Club members who were at the event!
What was the highlight of the event at Gate One for you?
The event enabled me to gain valuable insights and perspectives into marketing from the panellists. It helped fill grey areas, which allows you to direct your strategy in a new or effective way.
What benefits have you gained from being a member of the LCF Founders Club?
Access to these events is incredibly helpful. Networking with students, alumni, and industry experts has allowed me to adopt a new approach. The pool of diverse experts I met through the Founders Member Club has proven invaluable to the strategy I am developing.
What was a key takeaway from the event?
The ease of the language used by experienced business professionals when talking was motivational and matter of fact, taking the scariness away from the unknowns of business: everyone must go through failure to push through and learn from. A favourite quote from the night was from Ali Burton, founder of Catch Cameras, who said: “keep testing, what doesn’t work doesn’t matter.”
What opportunities have you received from being a member of the LCF Founders Club?
Opportunities to meet up to network and talk with other founders, guest speakers about ideas, and plans really brings them to life and develops confidence in communicating. The club and meet ups have been encouraging and guiding my understanding of how to navigate and position myself and my business within my field whilst gaining great connections for making things happen.
What was the highlight of the event for you?
As a startup in the process of reaching out and connecting with B2B clients, one of the key highlights was hearing from Rebecca Morter, the founder of Loan Design Club and her unique approach to identifying and reaching the right customers. It was also refreshing to hear an open discussion about pivoting business models and marketing strategies in response to shifting consumer behaviours.
The event reinforced the importance of building authentic connections and ensuring our brand remains relevant and adaptable in the current retail ecosystem. - Kadha Collective
What opportunities have you received from being part of the LCF Founders Club community?
Being part of the LCF Founders Club has offered us valuable opportunities, including: