Berkeley College Honors Student Explores the Intersection of Fashion and Digital Marketing
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Senior Associate, Media Relations
973-200-1048
Chanel-Donaldso@BerkeleyCollege.edu
Photo Caption: Audrey Carioti of New Providence, NJ, who will be graduating from Berkeley College in May with a Bachelor of Business Administration – Fashion Merchandising and Management, was awarded Best Honors Thesis, Best Honors Thesis Presentation and Academic MVP at the Virtual Honors Program Symposium for continuing and associate degree transfer students on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, for her thesis, titled “The Digitized Fashion Footprint: Expounding on the Need for a Digital Marketing Strategy.”
Like most modern industries, today’s fashion brands cannot exist without technology. “The brick-and-mortar way of conducting business has become a dying form,” said Audrey Carioti of New Providence, NJ, an Honors student at the Berkeley College Woodbridge campus who will be graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration – Fashion Merchandising and Management in May. “If firms do not adopt technological platforms and methods, they will become extinct,” she added.
Carioti was awarded Best Honors Thesis, Best Honors Thesis Presentation and Academic MVP at the College’s Virtual Honors Program Symposium for continuing and associate degree transfer students on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Her thesis, titled “The Digitized Fashion Footprint: Expounding on the Need for a Digital Marketing Strategy,” explored the ways that fashion retailers have adopted technology to remain competitive.
“Technology is embedded in every task and process of the fashion industry. Starting with the design, then manufacturing, then ultimately buying and selling, and finally marketing,” said Carioti.
Long gone are the days when major fashion retailers could rely solely on brand identity and pretty window displays. Instead, Carioti’s findings suggest that in an increasingly cutthroat market, companies must adopt an intense multi-tiered approach to stay in business.
Marketing Strategies to Remain Competitive
Key to surviving in fashion is the adoption of an omni-channel commerce strategy, an approach that serves and advertises to customers in multiple places simultaneously. Retailing and marketing on as many platforms as possible, like mobile devices, computers, brick-and-mortar stores, television, radio, direct mail, and catalog, has become “a universal implementation among fashion firms globally because of its success rate,” according to Carioti.
Carioti notes that brands should also consider the values and preferred shopping mediums of various generational cohorts when determining their marketing strategy. For example, Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, prefer brick-and-mortar stores, which is in stark contrast to the preferences of Generation Z. This cohort, born between 1997 and 2012, is technology-driven and values immediacy. Generation Z prefers to shop online or through social media platforms.
In the online market place, Carioti also emphasizes the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), keywords and conversions, a method of driving traffic to a website by aligning with topics that are trending on search engines. “The industry is driven by trends and consumer demand,” said Carioti. “Brands must continuously create content that is popular and engaging to its audience to attract and retain their customers.”
High-Achieving Student with a Bright Future
As an Honors student, Carioti is part of a selective cohort of high-achieving students at Berkeley College. The Berkeley College Honors Program is an interdisciplinary and seminar based educational opportunity for the institution’s most academically motivated full-time students seeking associate’s and bachelor’s degrees.
While Carioti first became interested in fashion as a child, it was not until she joined the Fashion Club at Berkeley College during her first semester that she discovered her interest in marketing and merchandising. Now that she has completed her final semester toward her bachelor’s degree, Carioti plans to pursue a career in fashion and continue her education with a Master of Business Administration. “I want to make a name for myself in this competitive industry,” she said.
Berkeley College celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2021. The theme commemorating this milestone is “Empowering Lives for 90 Years!” Visit the 90th Anniversary webpage for more information.
About Berkeley College
Berkeley College, founded in 1931, is a career-focused institution accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that offers students Master’s, Bachelor’s, and Associate’s degree and Certificate programs in more than 20 career fields. The College also offers continuing education programs to enhance career credentials.
Berkeley College has campuses in Newark, Paramus, Woodbridge, and Woodland Park, NJ, as well as in Midtown Manhattan and White Plains, NY, with more than 4,900 students enrolled. In addition, Berkeley College Online® serves a global population. U.S. News & World Report has named Berkeley College among the Best Colleges for Online Bachelor’s Programs and among the Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans, for eight consecutive years. The website address is www.BerkeleyCollege.edu.
The mission of Berkeley College is to empower students to achieve lifelong success in dynamic careers.
Carioti assembled her research and thesis statement from a variety of academic and news sources.
-end-
To view high-resolution versions of the above photos, visit:
https://berkeleycollege.edu/newsroom/images/NJ_AudreyCarioti_042821.jpg
https://berkeleycollege.edu/newsroom/images/NJ_AudreyCarioti2_042821.jpg
https://berkeleycollege.edu/newsroom/images/NJ_AudreyCarioti3_042821.jpg
