Lost and Found Vintage Social Media Campaign

How can a targeted social media campaign, composed of photo, video and graphic design content, lead to increased engagement with a vintage pop-up store in Philadelphia?

Topic:

As a regular customer of Lost and Found Vintage in Northern Liberties, and avid vintage/ thrift shopper in general, I have a keen interest in promoting second-hand shopping. Throughout my time as a Communications major as SJU, I have gravitated towards social media design, photography and video production. For my senior capstone project, I would like to combine my passion for vintage shopping with practical skills I have acquired throughout the past 4 years. Social media marketing is essential for a small business’ success, especially if the brand is seeking a younger audience. As second-hand shopping becomes increasingly popularized and competition amongst vintage shops becomes greater, there is a clear demand for engaging marketing strategies within the industry.

Currently, I am a marketing intern for an engineering, design, architecture firm in New York. It is my goal to stay working in New York, but I would prefer to work in marketing in the fashion industry. This project will allow me to explore the fashion industry in a more intentional way as I work alongside experts. In completing this project, I not only want to provide a social media campaign strategy, but I also want to learn about industry and speak with various experts about how they are involved in fashion. 

Form:

My project will be a 6 week social media/ marketing campaign. I will create 30-40 posts that include photos, videos and graphic design posts. The campaign will target men and women who are seeking unique, sustainably sourced clothing. The campaign will promote vintage clothing and give viewers insight into the women who run Lost and Found Vintage. The campaign will not only promote products and increase sales, but it will also educate viewers on vintage clothing, sustainable fashion and women-run small businesses in Philadelphia. 

Inspiration:

• @lazysundayshome – I like the eclectic feel of this account. I would like to implement product displays in my campaign like this account does. I like how product displays are done in photo and video form. I also like how the pop-up dates are presented monthly in a fun and creatively designed post. I would like to implement a monthly schedule in the campaign I create. Unlike this account, I would also like to incorporate an educational element that shows viewers the behind the scenes of curating a vintage store and historical information about products. 
• @amtvintage – I love how engaging this account feels. This account perfectly combines photo, video and design. I like how this account engages with customers and the owners. The account feels very personal yet professional. I would like to incorporate video content similar to this account. Video content on this account is a combination of fun tik tok style videos and more heavily produced/edited video. Unlike this account, I want to include smaller campaigns within the bigger campaign that focus on sustainability, small businesses and specific brands. 

Technology and Materials:

For my project, I will need a Canon camera and microphone from the Comm gear room. I will need my phone for video and photo as well. I will use Premiere Pro for video editing and CapCut. I will use Photoshop for photo editing. I will use Canva for graphic design elements that I add to photos. I would also like to incorporate some film content for this project because it is on brand with vintage products. I could use film photo scans in posts or in video content. If I were to include film content I would need ~$50 for 2 rolls of film and development. 

Audience and Impact:

The primary audience for this project is men and women who are interested in vintage shopping. It will be easiest to promote the campaign to people who are already interested in vintage shopping. For regular customers of Lost and Found Vintage, the campaign will hopefully give them insight into behind the scenes footage of how the shop is curated and the women behind the management. The campaign will hopefully enable these viewers to have greater appreciation for the shop and encourage them to engage more deeply with the management.

The secondary audience is men and women who are interested in fashion, but not necessarily vintage fashion. This campaign will hopefully broaden their perspective on fashion and encourage them to seek out secondhand clothing. Through product marketing and education, these viewers will learn more about vintage shopping and in turn be compelled to check out the shop.

Prior Experience:

@thefaceoffemale – In COM 202: Visual Design, I created an Instagram account that revolved around feminism. In the account I engaged with photography, videography and graphic design. I took photos on a Canon camera, filmed short interviews, and created engaging graphics on Canva. My project will be similar to this in that I will be creating photo, video and graphic design content. Unlike this account, I will be working alongside a client to fulfill their vision. I will be working with an existing brand that is much more focused. I also want more video (reels) content in this campaign that resembles Tik Tok videos. Rather than simply being an educational account, this project will also market a company. 

Educational Experience:

This project is a culmination of Visual Design, Digital Field Methods and Non-Profit Communications. I will use the hard skills I learned in Visual Design and Digital Field Methods to create content using camera/video gear and editing software. I will use the soft skills I developed in Non-Profit Communications to engage in co creation and co design with the client. As I have stated, my goal is to create a platform for Lost and Found Vintage to flourish, not to rebrand the shop. I want to highlight the women who are behind the management and give viewers a look into their world. I will heavily rely on the input I gain from Jenny and her team. As I have learned in many of my Communications classes, social media is a medium for messages, brands, and visions to operate. Marketing on social media is a form of communication, one that typically resonates with younger audiences. In this project I will use the hard and soft skills I have developed over the course of my time at SJU to provide a visually engaging social media account that reflects the ideas and aspirations of a local Philadelphia community partner. 

Research:

The most important form of research that I need to do for this project is learn about the Lost and Found Vintage brand/ vision. As of now, the shop has very little social media presence. The brand solely relies on the in-person shop. It will be my job to meet with the store manager, Jenny, and learn about her experience, goals and prospects. While I have many ideas for the campaign, what will be most important is capturing the essence of Jenny and Lost and Found Vintage. I don’t want to rebrand the shop, but rather create a space online where the brand can communicate with the fashion community. 

Obstacles and Resources:

Because I am working directly with a client, I will be relying on them a lot throughout the process. I will be relying on Jenny’s responsiveness, timeliness and availability to meet throughout the semester; therefore, the success of my project will be reliant on Jenny’s schedule. In the real world, business owners are very busy and can’t meet with social media specialists at any moment, so this will be a good example of working with real clients. To combat this obstacle, I will try to meet with Jenny as much as I can in the beginning of the semester and find times in the week where we can meet regularly. 

Timeline:

• Week 4 – Meet with Jenny and develop a vision for the campaign.
• Week 5 – Map out 6 week campaign. Rough sketch of what feed will look like. Develop posts for weeks 1-3. 
• Week 6 – CONTENT WEEK! Go to shop and film product displays, interviews, and customer try on hauls.  
• Week 7 – Edit content from the week before. Post 1st week campaign – 5 posts. Develop posts for weeks 4-6.
• Week 8 – CONTENT WEEK! Go to shop and film product displays, interviews, and customer try on hauls. Post 2nd week campaign – 5 posts. 
• Week 9 – Edit content from the week before. Post 3rd week campaign – 5 posts. 
• Week 10 – CONTENT WEEK! Go to shop and film product displays, interviews, and customer try on hauls. Post 4th week campaign – 5 posts. 
• Week 11 – Edit content from the week before. Post 5th week campaign – 5 posts.
• Week 12 – FINAL WEEK. Edit remaining content and post 6th week campaign – 5 posts.