Building Your Personal Brand

Your Name: Margaret Boyle

Discussion Section: 318
Discussion Section Day and Time: Friday at 9:55 AM
Your TAs Name: Kelly Goldthorpe
Your Year: Sophomore
Your Major: Retailing

Step 1: Identify Your Target and State Your Objectives for Your Next Career Move
Target Industry/Field: Corporate Retail/ Merchandising
Target Company/Program/Organization: J. Crew
Target Job/Position: Merchandise Analyst
Primary reason why are you passionate about this goal: I am passionate about obtaining the
position as Merchandise Analyst at J. Crew because I have always wanted to work for a company I
respect and for a product that I love. I have been wearing J. Crew clothing for years, and I appreciate
their value of quality clothing and consistency.
Specific Date for achieving this goal: August 1, 2017
Employer perception of top 3 requirements for success:
1. Eagerness to learn
2. Analytically minded
3. Self-motivated
Reference: https://www.jcrew.com/help/careers.jsp

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Step 2: Analyze Yourself (Complete Strengths and Weaknesses in your SWOT)

Strengths
1. Initiative

2.
Organizational
and planning
skills

3. Adaptable

Weakness
1. Impatient

Rationale/Support
1. I think initiative involves being proactive, identifying needs and coming up
with solutions, providing ideas, making improvements, and taking steps to make
the company better. I assisted with recruiting volunteers for the first
Serve.Taste.Give event while working as an intern and brand ambassador for
SERVE60. I helped with set up and worked throughout the event assisting
attendees with whatever they needed. I also, assisted with preparation and
planning for the 2nd inaugural event and helped make improvements from the
previous year. The reviews benefited from the improvements, and customer
satisfaction greatly increased.
2. Being organized involves paying attention to detail, prioritizing work, using
resources effectively, meeting deadlines, and achieving objectives and goals.
When I worked as an IT intern for Johnson Controls, I worked on multiple
projects at once, kept track of my findings in organized databases, and reached
my goal in a timely fashion. I successfully located and placed PC refresh orders
for 211 of 289 PCs in a three-month period. This in turn saved Johnson Controls
money because new PCs are typically lower in cost and ensured that the
PCs in the environment are under warranty. If I did not work on this initiative,
these PCs wouldve been over looked, and some JCI employees would not be
up to date with the latest technology.
3. I think its important to be adaptable while working in the retail industry
because there is never a day that is just like another. When dealing with
people, there are so many uncontrollable variables; therefore, its important
to be comfortable changing the way one approaches their work, talks to
internal and external employees, and adjusts to new deadlines. I had to work
with people who had very different personality types, levels of patience, and
workloads. I had to adjust how I spoke to them while remaining professional.
For example, recruiting student volunteers is a lot different than enforcing
company policy to Johnson Controls employees. Most students seek out
activities such as volunteering, where as, employees tend to avoid policies
that are unimportant to them. I had to be persistent and stern while still being
civil. For recruiting, I had to be approachable and gain credibility in order to
sell SERVE60 as a brand. The number of PCs that I turned over and
volunteers that I recruited show that I succeeded in adapting to different
situations.
What will you do this semester to address your weakness?1 When will
you accomplish this?
1. I can be impatient while working with other people who dont work at the
same pace or put in the same amount of effort as me. For example, I have
been working on a group project for my marketing class and people are not
as concerned with deadlines or the quality of their work. I am trying to work
on giving people ideas but not taking over their roles.

1 Think about how these weaknesses are relevant to your target and what you can specifically do to begin to
address them. Consider campus and online resources that might help you.
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Step 3: Analyze Your Target (Complete Opportunities and Threats in your SWOT)
Opportunities
1. J. Crew has the opportunity to allow
customers to buy products on social networks
Reference for #1: https://nrf.com/news/pressbuy
and
http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.library.wis
c.edu/display/706118/

2. J. Crew has the opportunity to implement

technology within their stores that would
create a connection with consumers.
Reference for #2:
https://nrf.com/news/creating-the-connection

3. J. Crew would benefit from adding

additional services to their stores and create a
fun and accommodating environment in order
to make the stores more experiential.
Reference for #3:
http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.library.wis
c.edu/display/685961/#atom5
And
https://nrf.com/news/restaurateursmoonlighting-stores

Threats

1. One potential threat for J. Crew is the fact

that new Mens clothing companies are
opening with personal stylist and direct
shipping methods.

Reference for #1:

http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.library.wis

Rationale/Support
1. Social Media sites such as Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, and Pinterest already post ads for many retail
companies, but there is talk of social media
beginning a buy button. With the large number of
people who visit these sites, this could greatly spread
brand awareness and give J. Crew customers easy
access to their product: As of March 2014,
Instagram had 150 million monthly active users,
Twitter reported that it had 215 million monthly
active users as of October 2013, and Facebook
reported that it had 1.23 billion monthly active users
as of December 2013. With these high number of
adamant social media users, J. Crew could
successfully increase sales with this new shopping
approach.
2. This can include the sales associates using
devices to find items and styles or customers doing
the samealong with making the purchases directly
on their phones. The more that technology is used,
the more data retailers can collect on their
customers. This data can be used to make their
shopping experience easier the next time around and
tailor promotions to their personal preferences.

3. With Ecommerce increasing its role in the retail

industry, companies have to find ways to attract
people into the stores. J. Crews stores are elegant
and traditional, probably similar to the homes of the
consumers that buy their product. They could make
the customers experience mean more than just a
purchase at the cash register by displaying couches,
coffee tables, catalogues, and beverages within the
store. Since J. Crew now has a childrens as well as
baby clothing line, they could also have a play area a
long with childrens snacks. This would show that
they are family oriented and enable the parents to
stay and shop longer.
If hired, what can you do to mitigate the top 3
threats that you have identified?
1. It is no secret that most men dread shopping for
clothes, and would prefer to have it done for them.
Two recently new companies came up with ideas to
make men spend money without stepping foot in a
store. Trunk Club, which has its headquarters in
Chicago, is a mens online personal stylist. They
gather information about each individual customer,
put together trunks with complete outfits, ship it to the

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c.edu/display/703282/
And
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50coolest-new-businesses-in-america-201212#hallmadden-17
And
https://www.trunkclub.com

2. The norm for men and womens work wear

is changing, and people are dressing more
casual. This is a threat to stores like JCrew,
Banana Republic, the limited, etc. because
people have less of a need for traditional
business attire
Reference for #2:
http://store.mintel.com/mens-and-womensworkwear-us-july-2013
3. 3D printing will be a potential threat within
the coming years.
Reference for #3: https://nrf.com/news/whencustomers-become-designers
And
http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/10/31/3dprinted-textiles-bradley-rothenberg/
And
http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy.library.wis
c.edu/display/706240/?highlight

customer, and accept any returns. Hall&Madden is

another online retailer that sends business shirts to
men on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. This
makes shopping effortless, and therefore, raises a
potential threat for J. Crew. If I worked at J. Crew, I
would research why it is most men do not enjoy
shopping and implement changes based on my
findings. Studies show that men of all household
income levels would shop more often if they could
find styles that they like. Therefore, I would suggest
implementing an in store app that would direct men
to styles that match their criteria and needs. This
way, shopping is made easier for men, but J. Crew
would not have to pay for the expenses of shipping
and returns.
2. I could study the trends of what people are
wearing in business environments, what their needs
are (comfort, style, etc.), and why they buy the
clothes that they do. With this information, I could
make suggestions for future inventory and decide if it
would be financially beneficial to decrease the
amount of formal business attire bought.

3. 3D printers have mostly been used for plastic

items such as toys, but many people are
experimenting with new products. Products of 3D
textile prints have already been worn on runways,
and the attention to these new devices will continue
to grow in the fashion industry. They might create
opportunities for stores to attract customers that want
to customize their purchases, but as 3D printers
become more widespread, and prices go down,
consumers can purchase these devices for their own
use. Consumers would be able to find the trends they
want and create them without even going into stores
and making purchases. As I touched on earlier, the in
store experience is going to have to expand and
become incentivized. This threat could be mitigated if
J. Crew provided other services, created an incentive
rewards system, and/or made the shopping
experience fun. If I was hired, I would brainstorm
what activities the target market participates in and
how that could be incorporated into the store
experience.

Step 4: Develop Your Personal Brand 4A: Unique Selling Proposition (USP) 2:
I use my experience with brand promotion, knowledge of current fashion and trends, as well as, initiative and
drive to succeed in order to assist in choosing products and creating ideas that excite current customers and
attract new customers.

2 Refer back to your Strengths and your USP. This should be a maximum of one sentence.
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4B: Demonstrate your USP with a STAR story:3

This is where you practice communicating your USP.
Anyone can claim I am a good leader. Demonstrating how you have used leadership skills to benefit your
organization is far more powerful than an empty claim. Example: As president of XYZ organization I created
and managed a team to develop and execute a fundraiser that exceeded our financial goals by 20%.
Situation

Complete your story:

I worked as an intern and brand ambassador for SERVE60, which is a nonprofit
organization that connects individuals who want to serve with nonprofits that are in need
of volunteers. My internship started as a volunteer experience at their first inaugural event
called Serve.Taste.Give. The annual fundraiser is a culinary competition that aims to
provide hunger relief for families in need. With this opportunity, I gained valuable
experience in brand promotion and used my initiative in contributing ideas to improve the
event.

Task

I had to recruit volunteers, promote the event, over see the other student volunteers, and
assist the attendees with anything they needed. For the second annual event I had to
come up with improvements and assist with planning and promotion well in advance.
Because SERVE60 is a nonprofit organization, we had to be creative with our planning
and promoting in order to stay within a budget. Working with an extensive group of
volunteers instead of paid employees was challenging at times because they had less of
a sense of accountability.

Action

I spread awareness about the first event by passing out flyers around campus. I used my
interpersonal skills to promote the event and inform people about the cause, as well as,
how and where to buy tickets.
I also recruited students to work as a team of volunteers. During the event we assisted
with set up, check in, serving meals, and cleanup. While completing these tasks, I made
observations as to how the event was running, what was beneficial, and what
improvements could be made for the following year. My boss asked me to meet with him
to discuss what I thought of the event, so I put together a list of comments from the
attendees as well as my own ideas for improvements for the coming year.

Result

I was then able to assist with planning and promotion for the 2nd inaugural event, and
helped make changes from the previous year. I helped promote the event on social media
and recruited more volunteers so the event could run more smoothly.
Thanks to the early planning and promotion, we benefited from our improvements through
gaining more community attention, doubling our volunteer base, increasing customer
satisfaction, and hitting our goal of providing 15,000 meals to families struggling with
hunger. Beyond these tangible accomplishments, I also gained communication skills,
enhanced my ability to meet deadlines, and forced myself to think outside of the box while
facing challenges and solving problems.

4C: My Personal Brand Positioning Statement (Elevator Speech): 4

Hi. My names Margaret Boyle, and Im a sophomore majoring in retailing at UW-Madison. The constant
changes based on new technology and what the consumers want is extremely interesting to me, so it is my
goal to attain a merchandise analyst job at J. Crew in New York City. I have been involved in the student
retail association at school, and I had an internship as a student brand ambassador for SERVE60. These
sparked my interest in working in retail, but also in working for a brand that I respect. I am passionate about
the products at J. Crew, and I would use my experience with brand promotion, knowledge of current fashion

3 Refer to the Hint on page 3.

4 Refer to the Hint on page 3.
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and trends, as well as, initiative and drive to succeed in order to assist in choosing products that excite
current customers and attract new customers

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