After much thought and time researching various aspects of the fashion industry, I changed my topic to ‘opportunities and challenges for influencer marketing in the fashion industry’. Prior to changing my topic, I had been researching the fashion buying position.
I was curious as to why so many fashion companies rely on social media influencers and celebrities to sell their products. I knew it was a broad topic, so I wanted to focus on the primary benefits and conflicts that could arise from this marketing strategy.
I needed to decide whether I would approach it from the standpoint of a marketer or an influencer. The influencer research and interviews would have been great to carry out for this, but due to time constraints, I was unable to conduct this.
I was able to investigate a new area of interest and learn more about influencer marketing and the impact it has on the fashion industry, which I had never researched in depth before. It gave me a lot of insight into the industry and what it would be like to work in it.
Because I had to change topics, I had to throw out all I had previously carried out, which caused me stress and anxiety. The fact that I had to set a new deadline for myself made me feel rushed, but generally I was pleased with my choice to switch topics. I changed my working environment to ensure that I got a change of scenery, practised mindfulness, and that I wouldn't burn out (Bassot, p. 137-141, 2015).
Since I didn’t have many connections with fashion marketing professionals, I needed to add them all on LinkedIn which took a long time. The hardest part of changing topics was that most individuals took too long to respond to me or didn’t accept my invite at all.
One thing I could have done differently is to approach this change from a slightly calmer perspective. Since I had already researched the fashion buying role before, I didn’t want to do it again and waste an opportunity to discover a new industry. However, if I had researched other topics beforehand, I could have had more options to pick from instead of having no topic for weeks.
References:
Bassot, B. (2015) The reflective practice guide: an interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection. London: Routledge.
Driscoll, J. (ed.) (2007) Practising Clinical Supervision: A Reflective Approach for Healthcare Professionals. Edinburgh: Ballière Tindall, Elsevier.
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