Promoting Sustainability in Fashion (Online)

This course is an introduction for fashion marketing professionals and strategists to the increasingly important trend towards fashion sustainability. The course covers marketing opportunities, the changing consumer, and risks and issues through the value chain.

During the course you will explore critical approaches to fashion marketing and communications from a sustainability perspective and address the question of whether marketing is hindering or helping tackle the sustainability challenges faced by the industry. This understanding will help you develop more sophisticated sustainability strategies.

Course Level
Beginner to Intermediate level. You should ideally be working in the fashion industry and have an interest in the subject area and a desire to learn, but no previous experience is required.

Course Schedule - 6 weeks: 1.5 hours of live class per week

Week 1

• Course and assignments overview
• Introduction to global sustainability challenges and fashion sustainability.
• Exploration of the sustainable fashion market supply and demand.

Week 2

• Brand strategic planning: Evaluating the business environment (PESTLE).
• Business structures and business models.
• Can sustainability create competitive advantage for a brand?
• What is happening in the competitive environment in terms of fashion sustainability marketing?
• How is sustainability being framed?
• What is the potential for market growth?

Week 3

• Marketing communications tools and challenges.
• How are brands communicating about sustainability
• What sustainability issues are being covered, using what channels?
• An exploration of greenwashing and how can it be avoided?
• Is green hushing a strategic goal?
• The stakeholder approach.
• Endorsements, match-up, labelling.
• Rational vs emotional messaging.

Week 4

• Reputation and crisis risks.
• What are the risks of brand positioning on the basis of sustainability?
• Does CSR marketing create an insurance like effect for brands in crisis situations?

Week 5

• The sustainability marketing paradox.
• Is the purpose to sell more product?
• How does this align with sustainability goals?
• Should marketing focus on 'what's in it for me' or target universal values?
• What drives change?

Week 6

• Student presentations: Students to deliver short presentations and receive feedback.

Why choose a CSM Online Learning Short Course?
Our online learning short courses allow you to experience Central Saint Martins wherever you are in the world. The real-time chat sessions are fully interactive allowing you to communicate easily with the tutor at the same time as fellow students. You will participate in the live classes each week and you will undertake weekly assignments to be completed in your own time.

Online Learning:
Please make sure you are available to participate in the live online chat sessions which are run to UK time.
All online learning courses include weekly chat sessions with your tutor and other students on the course, which are conducted through an interactive seminar (called Blackboard Collaborate). The chat sessions will include text and voice/video chat, as well as an opportunity to 'share' your tutor's desktop so that s/he can navigate you through websites, PowerPoint presentations and other work. These sessions are essential to attend each week, so please check the times of the course when you book and take into account any local time differences.
You may also be required to undertake weekly assignments between sessions. These will be housed on our Workflow website, along with additional resources and discussion forums which can be used to interact with fellow students in between classes. You may be expected to dedicate between one - two hours a week to these self-study projects. A full technical specification is listed in 'Materials'.

Booking:
Please book as early as possible. This will allow us enough time to provide you with login for the online short course learning software. When making your booking do not tick the 'If you DO NOT hold a UK/EU/EEA passport click here' box as this is only relevant for classroom courses. If we send you an email telling you to present your passport to us, please ignore this email, as it does not apply to you. If no dates are available for this course please 'Make an enquiry' using the link below and we will contact you when new dates are published.

Please note this course is being delivered on UK time.To view more information and a live UK clock, please follow this link: http:///time/zone/uk/london please refer to your joining instructions about getting set up for your first session. Further details about preparing for your online course, and the equipment you need, can be found here: http:///csm/courses/short-courses/short-courses-online/frequently-asked-questions/

Please note: This course is for students aged 18 and older