Thursday, June 14, 2012

Advertising Waste

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Expert Author Michael John Weber
An area of wasted publicity I would like to highlight is printed material. Many are the times I have come across boxes of fliers and business cards that have sat in storerooms for years - why? The reasons vary - changes to menus, phone numbers, address, policy, management. One might ask; why haven't these obsolete leaflets been thrown out? (Re-cycled)
There are two reasons; first, all this beautiful colour printing with pretty pictures did not come cheap, and second, there is a thought harbouring in the back of the mind that one day in the near future this material will somehow once more become useful.
This brings me to a more important question: why were so many fliers, menus, business cards or whatever, ordered in the first place? The problem lies in not being able to resist a bargain; the more we buy, the better the deal. What is the solution? Order what we intend to use, and not what we hope to use. It should be as simple as that, but no.
All of us love to get a bargain; it has a way of making us feel good about ourselves. So next time you find yourself calculating how much you will save by doubling your order, try this. Apply the principle of shopping during the sales; regardless of how fantastic the discount is; it is only a bargain if we need the item and will use it.
I come now to the matter of the distribution of our printing- who does it, and more to the point, how well do they do it? This is a particular problem for large retail companies and yet they seem unaware of the wastage that runs into millions of dollars, pounds, euros each year. Large stacks of expensive magazines and brochures are casually dumped in the trash without a moment's thought. Was it necessary to leave fifty magazines at a building with ten apartments? Others are placed in such a way that they are blown away by the wind because not even a moment of consideration was given to their placement. Now, what was to be attractive advertising to catch the eye becomes an ugly eyesore.
This monumental waste of printed publicity happens when no effort has been made to make sure distribution is targeted and effective. We could look at it this way: one properly paid, trusted man could distribute 500 leaflets yet bring in more business than ten men badly distributing 500,000 leaflets. As ludicrous as this may seem, it could easily be true - just look around.
Michael Weber a.k.a. Robert Swianworter is the author of "Restaurant Psychology for Everyone". More information can be found on his website http://www.restaurantpsychology.com/synopsis.htm

The Basics of Wedding Videography - For the First Time Shooters

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Expert Author Johnson Jacob
A wedding, being the once-in-a-lifetime event, demands that that the videographer be utmost attentive and alert at all times. Basic shooting skills are not the only tools required by a videographer. The videographer has to be at many different places at the same time in a wedding! The wedding and reception ceremony require good time and resource management skills on the part of the videographer.
If the videographer is covering the event solo, then they have to be careful because they will be managing the cameras on their own. It will require proper planning so that nothing is left uncovered.
If the videographer is a friend of the bride and groom, they might think that they will be able to cover the event, as well as attend the ceremonies as a guest. However, experienced videographers say that it is very likely that you will be working nearly all the time and will not really get to enjoy the event as a guest.
If you have been asked to cover the wedding of some friend or relative and have no idea where to begin, you could probably take some tips from veteran videographers.
Preparation
Preparation of wedding videography will mean attending rehearsals, planning on how to capture key moments and deciding the placement of cameras.
Develop a schedule or checklist of how you will cover the event. This should include the things you need to do before the wedding such as arranging cameras and relevant equipment beforehand.
The schedule should also include how you will cover happenings such as the groom and bride getting prepared, the groom and bride arriving at the venue, and the wedding ceremony.
If you are using a two-shoot camera, you could shoot the bride's procession from the bride's side of the aisle at the altar steps. After the bride's arrival, the best place for you to move with the camera would be behind the officiant. For this, you will need to coordinate with the officiant at the time of rehearsal.
Shots to take at the wedding
It will also be in the benefit of the first- time videographer to remember some key shots that they must cover, some of which are the arrival of the wedding party, entrance of bride, dance, cake-cutting, guest book signings and cutaways. A reenactment of the ring ceremony can also be staged.
Seasoned videographers also advise first-time videographers to keep ample time at hand for preparing equipment in the church before the arrival of the wedding party. There is never enough time as the wedding party may arrive before time and your equipment may not be ready to cover the proceedings.
Laird Productions is a full provides weddings videography service company. It covers weddings, corporate events, sports functions, birthdays and parties. For more details, visit us at: wedding videographers.

How to Capture the Best Videos

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Expert Author Johnson Jacob
At some point or another, we need photographs or videos to capture the precious moments in our lives. For best memories videography, some people hire expert videographers.
For instance, if it is a birthday party or a housewarming party, some may wonder how they will get the chance to enjoy the event if they spend all their time covering it? Videographers are experienced at recording each moment so you have the perfect memories videography to cherish later on. You do not have to worry about the equipment for videography and you can concentrate on the event preparations.
However, if you feel you cannot spend much on hiring someone to cover the event for you, then you could go for videography on your own. The best way to enjoy an event would be to cover it from the beginning to the end.
To cover the event by yourself, you need to remember some tips and techniques used by experienced professionals!
Things to avoid
One mistake that amateur videographers tend to make is excessive use of on-screen zoom. Motor zooming or zooming in on nearly everything makes viewers dizzy.
Another mistake to avoid is headhunting or placing every subject at the center of the screen. According to the rule of thirds, you should divide your screen with two horizontal lines and two vertical lines. Place your subject off-center, as this will make the shot more interesting.
Also, avoid taking too small a shot. You must make sure that when you are taking your shot, it is without any panning or zooming and you have extra footage in case you later need it for cross-dissolves.
Things to do
Use a tripod. Professional videographers use a tripod stand. It stabilizes the image. A shaky video is not so pleasant to watch. In addition, a tripod leaves you free to focus on other important aspects of the shoot rather than worrying on how to steady the camera.
Take many shots for your video. You need to take long shots as well as shots in ample quantity. In the end, you will only use the best shots in your movie and you will have a wide variety of options to choose from.
Also, use a clip-on mike for better audio. Just relying on the built-in mike of the camera will result in poor audio and you will mostly be able to shoot only medium or close-up shots.
Laird Productions is a full wedding videographer service video production company. It covers corporate events, sports functions, parties and complete wedding videography. For more details, visit at: LairdProductions.com

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

5 Skills You Need to Develop

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Expert Author Bruce Hoag
No business person in the past has ever known exactly how to do everything on the first day; and you shouldn't suppose even for a moment that you need to either. The skills that we often see in other entrepreneurs have been honed from working in their own businesses. And chances are that they picked up many of those from other people.
Here are five skills that you need to develop in order to make your business a success.
1. You need to develop the ability to deliver value.
This may seem obvious, but relatively few people actually understand what it means. That's because they interpret value in terms of what they, as suppliers, vendors or businesses consider to be of worth. What they fail to realize is that their customers are the sole arbiters of what constitutes that value. It's not that customers are always right; rather, it's that they have the money.
There's no law that says you have to sell your wares to a particular customer; but those with the freedom to choose will always go for the business that gives them the most value.
2. You must learn to be resourceful.
Few entrepreneurs have everything they need to start or run their businesses, but they do know where to look. And that's the key. You don't have to remember everything or have a lot of money to buy it. You only need to know where to find it.
3. You must be able to get along with other people.
I didn't say that you had to like being around them or that you had to work with them. What I did say is that when you are with them, you have to get on. No one wants to be around a social misfit for any length of time.
4. You need to develop the ability to communicate. The inability of many to do this has prevented entrepreneurs from getting business that they could have done very well. But, for one reason or another, they just couldn't express themselves clearly.
5. You must also develop determination.
You have to decide every day that you will do whatever is necessary to make it work and to stay the course for as long as it will take. Determination, however, is an attitude, and so you can develop this skill simply by continuing to work on it everyday. Then, little by little, you'll become as determined as you want to be.
By the way, if you'd like more information, then you might like to get my free eBook on How to BE an Entrepreneur.
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VoIP Vs Skype

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Expert Author Dawie Bester
Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is a technological advancement that allows a user to transmit and receive audio signals using the internet as a gateway, instead of the traditional analog communication lines. Skype is one of the recognized service providers of VoIP and makes use of its own features. When the internet was invented, information storage and sharing were the reasons for its creation. Today, VoIP has revolutionized the use of the internet, allowing internet users to communicate more accessibly with their family and friends locally or internationally.
Requirements for Function
Requirements may vary. Some service providers may still require the use of traditional analog phone lines, but most providers require high-speed internet access. These may either be a Broadband or a DSL connection. Additional requirements are also needed to complete a functional set-up, like a computer and a VoIp enabled telephone. Skype will only require three things, a broadband internet connection, a computer and a Skype account. Skype to Skype calls are free of charge, payment will only be needed (through subscription) if outgoing calls to non-Skype users and mobiles will be made.
Key Features
Calls using Skype may be made locally and internationally with the use of wired or wireless internet connections. Skype's main feature is its free Skype - to - Skype calling, but it also has other features that appeal to the majority of internet users. It can allow users to make video calls and send instant messages to other Skype users. Call forwarding, voice mail and even file sharing are now also enabled in Skype. These key features allow internet users to communicate faster and cheaper (if not for free) with their family and friends. Other VoIP service providers may also have these features; it is only a matter of choosing the right service provider for your needs.
Important Things to Consider
Using Skype and VoIp has its benefits, but it also has its downsides. It is true that this advance way of communicating can lower the traditional costs of phone bills, but calls made through VoIP can also face connection problems. VoIP service providers state specifically that their service cannot be automatically used to substitute the conventional service provided by traditional telephone companies. Data transmitted over the internet are not entirely secure, which is why emergency calls cannot be made using Skype. Digital data packets transmitted with VoIP may be lost, unlike in public telephone networks where it can be delivered securely and in sequential order. In the event of a power outage, communication through this type of system is not possible. A computer and an internet connection will always be needed to make VoIP calls through Skype, and without any power supply, connection will be unavailable.
Future Development
VoIP service providers may still be encountering connection problems; however, further improvement for this type of technological advancement is still possible. The VoIP industry, just like any other marketplace, is highly competitive. Glitches like jitter, echo and static may still be occurring. But as we move on, these types of technical problems will only become part of its history.
The author gives tips when it comes to VoIP South Africa. To read more visit bestvoip.co.za

Small Business Marketing - Three Tips For An Effective Strategy

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Expert Author Steve S Prescott
Small business marketing is just like any other type of marketing, despite what many people (including so-called marketing consultants) will tell you. There's no big secret to marketing a small business, except you need to remember marketing is a process and not an event. To market a small business effectively, you need to stop thinking of marketing as something you do once every now and again, and begin to think of it as something you need to do constantly. Many business will market themselves only when they realise the phone has stopped ringing, or the shop is empty. But this is the worst strategy to follow, and once you realise marketing is a process, your business will be much better for it, so so will your bank balance.
Three strategies for an effective small business marketing process
1. Create a marketing plan. If you really want to have a marketing process, you need a plan to follow. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it should detail what you need to do every month, week, and sometimes every day. In effect, you are creating a marketing calendar, and then a plan to follow for the stuff that needs to be done regularly. This can be anything from a plan to send out a piece of direct mail or to run an ad in a magazine. Make the plan and stick to it.
2. Stick to your marketing plan. As mentioned above, you need a plan, and sometimes this can mean doing some marketing every single day. In fact, having a daily routine for your marketing is extremely effective, because it means you're doing something constantly. One daily habit to get into is to send out an email to your customer list, since this can have a massive return on investment (ROI). Even better it's quick to do, and cheap (almost free).
3. Keep going. You have to remember the effects of marketing don't show themselves immediately, and the longer you do it, the more chance you have of success. You also need to remember the effects will increase over time, until each bit of marketing you do stands on the stuff you've already done, and that almost always makes for some very healthy profits.
This may seem a simple strategy to follow, but you may well be astounded at the results you get if you put it into practice and keep going. Just doing a few hours a week can make a big difference to your business, and within a year or so the effects can be incredible. The overall lesson is: don't leave it until things get bad. Do it at all times (even in the good times) and watch your business thrive.
Small Business Marketing - Three Tips For An Effective Strategy
Steve Prescott is a direct response marketing consultant and business adviser. For powerful information about how to market your business effectively, beat your competition, and build your business value, grab a copy of his report Smart Business Power Marketing, a blueprint for creating a powerful lead-generation system using a mixture of traditional advertising and internet technology. Visit
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Don't Forget Your Retail Packaging in Your Marketing Strategies

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In the game of business, your products are only as good as their packaging. In order to appeal to your customers, you need to do more than advertise on billboards, TV and on the radio. With that form of advertising, you have already caught their interest, now you need to wheel them in like a fish on a hook.
Now that you know that you can get customers into your store, you need a way to get them to buy your products. You can't simply just walk up to them and say you should buy that. You also can't go up to them and reach in their wallets and purchase for them that way either. You need more than a gimmick. You need retail packaging that is designed to win your customer over. The hardest part of making profits is getting your customers to take that final step and commit. When consumers finally make it into a store because they have run across something that they fell they want to have, your job doesn't end there. It gets a little more challenging because now the consumer is looking up close and personal at the merchandise and having a silent conversation in their head about whether or not they can do without that item. If the packaging is obscure and messy, that customer is going to decide that they can do without that product and wait a bit longer before they make a commit to purchase it. When you lose a customer at this point, you shouldn't assume that they are going to come back later. Because if they run into that same product in another store and the retail packaging is more appealing, you have not only lost a sale to your competitor, you have also lost a valuable customer.
Understandably, things like that do happen from time to time and it is not possible to win them all over, but if you notice that quite a few customers are starting to come into your establishment and leave empty handed, you may want to take a look at a few things, because something is turning your customers off and making them uncomfortable about doing business in your establishment. It could be something as simple as the price may be higher than what is being advertised in another store, maybe the display is off or even the retail packaging doesn't seem legit and give a generic appeal.
Whatever it is that is causing your consumers to look elsewhere, you need to determine what it is and do something to fix it right away. In business, you can't afford to wait around and drag your feet. You have to be Johnny on the spot so your establishment does not end up with a bad reputation. Remember, customers talk even if they don't know each other. And they are more likely to pay attention to another's personal experience than they are to an advertisement.
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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Defining Your Business Identity

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Expert Author Brigitte J August
One of the hardest things most small businesses struggle with is defining their identity. It is one of the most crucial things for their success. Who are you really? What is your company's primary focus? What makes you different? Why should anyone care or buy from you? These are all questions small business should be answering. What makes you stand out from all the rest?
What Do You Do
What is the primary function of your company, sounds simple enough. Often though, many companies find themselves scattered about in different areas that are not their primary focus. This is where your main focus needs to be. Sure a lot of businesses do many things, but concentration needs to be in developing an identity from one main area of focus. One main focus so that all others following along much like a sub heading. Get clear idea of your main line of business and promote it heavily. This is will become what it is known for.
What Sets You Apart
In your focused area, product or service what about it is unique and sets you apart from other companies? Once you have answered this, it becomes your marketing stronghold to blow the competitors away. Forming a solid identity for your company. Let the public know what makes you different. Give them a reason for wanting to do business with you.
Why We Should Buy From You
Let the public know what is in it for them why they should buy from you. Thinking like a customer is where your thinking needs to be most of the time when marketing and promoting business. This is very helpful in establishing its identity. You want to be appealing to your customers. Do not be afraid to play around with different ideas and do test runs till you have it just right.
What Do You Do Best
Everybody has strengths and weaknesses including companies. Bring the focus out on your strength and amplifying that. This will help customers to associate your strength with the business identity. Your strength will become like your brand recognition and that is important when defining yourself.
Others Perceptions
When developing a company identity you want a strong solid one that adds to your credibility with customers giving them a sense of trust and reliability. They know what you do and do well giving them a feeling of ease. They will come to trust in your strength and business.
Long Life
Having a strong solid identity that people come to know and trust keeps them coming back.. People talk, that means more profits and long life for your business. That is why you went into business in the first place. The long haul to build a future.
Marketing
Your logo and color scheme needs to be consistent with strength you are trying to accentuating. Make sure every thing flows with constituency in all your marketing endeavors. This is an on going promotion of your business identity and must be saying the same thing.
I hope these where helpful and know you have a better picture of what is entailed in creating the best business identity. Remember establishing and maintaining a strong clear, memorable identity is one of the most key aspects of a successful business.
Brigitte August is the Director at The Art of Data they are dedicated to offering affordable services to small businesses while promoting ethical business practices. Are you a small business that can't afford to keep full time staff for your marketing and clerical needs we can help. We offer market research, business writing and internet marketing to mention a few services. Visit us at http://theartofdata.netii.net

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Bubble-Up Effects of Subculture Fashion

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Expert Author Lisa Gan
The notion that trends in fashion take part in a phenomenon known as the trickle down effect has long been recognised by fashion pundits. A process of social emulation of society's upper echelons by the subordinates provides myriad incentives for perpetual and incessant changes in fashion through a sequence of novelty and imitation. Dior's 'New Look' of 1947 consisted of creations that were only affordable to a minority of affluent women of the time. Fashion was governed by haute-couture designers and presented to the masses to aspire toward. However, this traditional prospective has been vigorously challenged by many throughout the fashion world. Revisionist observations have introduced a paradoxical argument that fashion trends have, on numerous occasions, inadvertently emerged from the more obscure spheres of society onto the glamorous catwalks of high-fashion designers.
These styles can originate from a range of unorthodox sources, from leather-jacketed punks and dramatic Goths, the teddy boys of the 1950s, to ethnic minority cultures from all edges of the globe. Styles that emerge from the bottom of the social hierarchy are increasingly bubbling up to become the status of high fashion. There has been significant concern over the implications of this so-called bubble-up effect, such as the ambiguity between the notions of flattering imitation and outright exploitation of subcultures and minority groups. Democratization and globalisation of fashion has contributed to the abrasion of the authenticity and original identity of street-style culture. The inadvertent massification of maverick ideas undermines the 'street value' of the fashions for the very people who originally created them.
The underlying definition of subculture, with regards to anthropology and sociology, is a group of people who differentiates from the larger prevailing culture surrounding them. Members of a subculture have their own shared values and conventions, tending to oppose mainstream culture, for example in fashion and music tastes. Gelder proposed several principal characteristics that subcultures portrayed in general: negative relations to work and class, association with their own territory, living in non-domestic habitats, profligate sense of stylistic exaggeration, and stubborn refusal of massification. Hebdige emphasised that the opposition by subcultures to conform to standard societal values has been slated as a negative trait, where in fact the misunderstood groups are only attempting to find their own identity and meaning. The divergence away from social normalcy has unsurprisingly proliferated new ideas and styles, and this can be distinctly observed through the existence of fashion diversity. Ethnicity, race, class and gender can be physical distinctions of subcultures. Furthermore, qualities which determine a subculture may be aesthetic, linguistic, sexual, political, religious, or a mixture of these factors.
Sigmund Freud and his nephew Edward Bernays investigated the drivers of social control and the engineering of consent. Their psychological theories provide insight into the causes of deviation, by members of a subculture, from social norms. They highlighted the irrationality of human beings and discovered that by tapping into their deepest desires, it is possible to manipulate unconscious minds in order to manage society. Freud believed that stimulating the unconscious was crucial to creating desire, and therefore is conducive to economic progress and mass democracy. Bernays argued that individual freedom was unattainable because it would be "too dangerous to allow human beings to truly express themselves". Through various methods of advertising, a distinctive 'majority' can be created in society, where a person belonging to this group is perceived to be normal, conventional and conformist. By using techniques to satisfy people's inner desires, the rise of widespread consumerism plays a part in the organized manipulation of the masses. However, through the unleashing of certain uncontrolled aggressive instincts, occasional irrationality emerged in groups, and this repudiation of the banalities of ordinary life is believed to be a key factor in the generation of subcultures.
The expansion of youth styles from subcultures into the fashion market is a real network or infrastructure of new kinds of commercial and economic institutions. The creation of new and startling styles will be inextricably linked to a process of production and publicity inevitably leading to the diffusion and spread of the subversive subculture trends. For example, both mod and punk innovations have become incorporated into high and mainstream fashion after the initial low-key emergence of such styles. The complexities of society perpetuate continuous change in style and taste, with different classes or groups prevailing during certain periods of time. To deal with the question of which is the most influential source of fashion, it is necessary to consider distribution of power. It is not the same for all classes to have access to the means by which ideas are disseminated in our society, principally the mass media. In history, the elites have had greater power to prescribe meaning and dictate what is to be defined as normality.
Trickling down to shape the views of the substantial passive parts of the population, designers from high places were able to set trends that diffused from the upper to lower spectrum of society. Subcultures, it was suggested, go against nature and are subject to abhorrence and disapproval by followers of mainstream trends. Regrettably, criminal gangs, homeless subcultures and reckless skateboarders, among other 'negative' portrayals of subcultures have been accused of dragging down the image of other 'positive' subcultures which demonstrate creativity and inspiration. There is an unstable relationship between socialising and de-socialising forces. Nevertheless, German philosopher Kant observed that actual social life should and always will consist of in some way its own opposite asocial life, which he described as "unsociable sociality".
Without doubt, fashion exhibits a dichotomy of conformity and differentiation, with contradictory groups aspiring to fit in and stand out from a crowd. Previously, the pace of change that fashion went through has spawned social emulation, a phenomenon whereby subordinate groups follow a process of imitation of the fashion tastes adopted by the upper echelons of society. Veblen, a Norwegian-American sociologist and economist, criticized in detail the rise of consumerism, especially the notion of conspicuous consumption, initiated by people of high status. Another influential sociologist Georg Simmel, classified two basic human instincts - the impetus to imitate one's neighbours, and conversely, the individualistic behaviour of distinguishing oneself.
Simmel indicated the tendency towards social equalization with the desire for individual differentiation and change. Indeed, to elucidate Simmel's theory of distinction versus imitation, the distinctiveness of subcultures in the early stages of a set fashion assures for its destruction as the fashion spreads. An idea or a custom has its optimal innovative intensity when it is constrained to a small clandestine group. After the original symbolic value of the idea has been exploited by commercialisation and accepted as a part of mass culture, the balance will have a tendency to tip towards imitation over distinction. An example of the imitation of a distinctive subculture is the evolution of blue jeans, which originating from humble American cowboys and gold-miners, demonstrate a bubble-up effect of a subculture. On a larger scale, it can be said that Western style dressing 'bubbled-up' from 19th Century Quaker's attire, rather than 'trickling down' from the styles of Court aristocracy.
Simmel describes fashion as a process by which the society consolidates itself by reintegrating what disrupts it. The existence of fashion requires that some members of society must be perceived as superior or inferior. From economist Harvey Leibenstein's perspective, fashion is a market constituted of 'snobs'. The phenomenon of 'snob-demand' depicts consumers as snobs who will stop buying a product when the price drops too much. The trickle down effect has been related to a 'band-wagon effect' where the turnovers of a product are particularly high as a result of imitation. Every economic choice is bound not only to the pure computational rationality of individuals, but is influenced by irrational factors, such social imitation, contrary to what Simmel calls the 'need for distinction'. However, a 'reverse bandwagon effect' acts as an opposing force when a snobbish consumer stops buying a product because too many others are buying it as well. The resultant force depends on the relative intensity of the two forces.
Subcultures have often endured a less than agreeable relationship with the mainstream as a result of exploitation and cultural appropriation. This often leads to the demise or evolution of a particular subculture once the originally novel ideas have been commercially popularised to an extent where the ideologies of the subculture have lost their fundamental connotations. The insatiable commercial hunger for new trends instigated the counterfeiting of subculture fashion, unjustifiably used on the sophisticated catwalks in fashion dictatorships of Paris, Milan and New York. It is not purely sartorial fashion but also music subcultures that are particularly vulnerable to the massification process. Certain types of music like jazz, punk, hip hop and rave were only listened to by minority groups at the initial stages of its history.
Events in history have had substantial impacts on the rise, development and evolution of subcultures. The First World War had an impact on men's hairstyles as lice and fleas were ubiquitous in wartime trenches. Those with shaved heads were presumed to have served at the Front while those with long hair were branded cowards, deserters, and pacifists. During the 1920s, standard social etiquettes were discarded by certain youth subcultures, as drink, drugs and jazz infiltrated America, intensified by the alcohol prohibition of the time. A crime subculture emerged as smugglers discovered profit opportunities with Mexican and Cuban drug plantations. The Great Depression of the late 20s in North America caused pervasive poverty and unemployment. Consequently, a significant number of adolescents discovered identity and expression through urban youth gangs, such as the 'dead end kids'.
Existentialists like Camus and Sartre also played a significant part in influencing the subcultures of the 1950s and 60s. Emphasis on freedom of the individual created a version of existential bohemianism resembling the beat generation. This subculture represented a version of bohemian hedonism; McClure declares that "non-conformity and spontaneous creativity were crucial". In literature, Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" depicted the economic hardship of these times. Initially burned and banned to American citizens, condemned as communist propaganda, this book was given the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962. It only took a few decades for the previously socially unacceptable book to diffuse into mainstream culture.
The popularisation of folk and cowboy songs led to their unique underlying patterns being mixed with elements of jazz, blues and soul, creating a new subculture of western swing. Technological progress facilitated "instantaneous mass media creating large subcultures from the ideas of a range of smaller subcultures". Accordingly, a bubble-up effect can be seen where, through a process of innovation and diffusion, original ideas can spread into mass culture.
The process of integration has a potential to lead to the polarisation of warring subcultures, contributing to social disorganization. Shaw and Mckay assessed that although their data is not sufficient to determine "the extent to which membership in delinquent gangs produces delinquency", membership is probably a contributing factor. They use the term 'differential social organisation' to depict how subculture formation is a result of broader economic and demographic forces that undermine conventional local institutions of control.
The institution of the family is weakened by these forces, and as a result, alternatives to the traditional family have arisen as various subcultures. Ethan Watters elucidated this social trend in his book defining urban tribes as "groups of never-married's between the ages of 25 and 45 who gather in common-interest groups and enjoy an urban lifestyle". Analysis of the long term perspective of street trends reveal that youth trends bubble-up every five to ten years, and that individualism, anarchy and self-realization, are universal in these trends.
In the process of bubbling up, there are two important concepts to consider, that of 'diffusion' and 'defusion'. Fashion diffusion focuses on the individual and the crowd, particularly in this case the spreading of fashion in a systematic way from small scale to large scale institutions. It highlights the idea that fashion innovation and creativity drawn from subcultures are integrated into mass culture. In the process, non-conformist fashion may be subject to defusion, a diluting of the fundamental intrinsic meaning of the original subculture. The commercialisation of fashion is especially central to the danger of decontextualisation of trend origins. For example, the wearing of ripped jeans, an accepted form of attire nowadays, does not necessarily relate to the image of 'hippies' in modern times. The concept of identity and its modifications and transformations after a period of time should be carefully considered.
Analysis of street style is another fundamental aspect in determining the extent of a bubble-up effect in fashion. It is an idea that opposes the view that high fashion has given way to popular culture. Polhemus proposed that "styles which start life on the street corner have a way of ending up on the backs of top models on the world's most prestigious fashion catwalks". Prior to this new train of thought, the predominant view was that new looks began with couture and 'trickle down' to the mass market mainline fashion industry. Polhemus suggested that the evidence he found gave insight to a chain of events; initially genuine street innovation appears, followed by the featuring in mass media, such as magazines or television programmes, of street kids. In time, the ritzy version of the original idea makes an appearance, as a part of a top designer's collection.
Polhemus identified two basic street-styles involving dressing up or dressing down. Those from a relatively affluent sector of society, such as the Beatniks and Hippies developed a penchant for the latter, preferring to descend down the socio-economic ladder in the interest of authenticity. Nowadays, the variety of attire seen on streets and nightclubs show that culture is no longer only a prerogative of the upper class. Although, the creatively democratic society that we progress towards optimizes fashion innovation, cynics of the bubble-up effect, such as Johnny Stuart, condemned in his book on rockers, "the fancy fashionable versions of the Perfecto which you see all over the place, dilute the significance, taking away its original magic, castrating it".
Social crises of the 1950s and 1970s brought about new ideological constructions in response to the worsening economy, scarcity of jobs, loss of community, and the failure of consumerism to satisfy real needs. Racism became a solution to the problems of working-class life. Such periods of social turmoil resulted in fashion defusion, with many subcultures becoming increasingly detached from their foundation symbolisms. The connotations of the attire of the teddy boys during the 1970s bore little resemblance to the style of 1956. The original narcissistic upper-class style was somewhat irrevocably lost in a wave of 'second generation teds' that preferred fidelity to the classic 'bad-boy' stereotypes. The concept of specificity, subcultures responding to circumstances at distinctive moments in history, is depicted as vital to the study of subcultures.
Therefore the resultant mass-consumed item may draw distance from the emblem of the original subculture, attainable to all who can afford it. The loss of identity may prove to be a serious problem as subcultures may feel exploited, estranged and meaningless without a sense of belonging. Subcultures established a sense of community to certain individuals during a new post-war age that witnessed the deterioration of traditional social groupings. Polhemus claims that subcultures like Teddy Boys, Mods, Rockers, Skinheads, Rockabillies, Hipsters, Surfers, Hippies, Rastafarians, Headbangers, Goths, etc, as "social phenomenon style tribes cannot be dismissed as something transitory". Known as the Kogal phenomenon, a subculture emerged where groups of young girls between the ages of 15 and 18 appeared on the streets of Tokyo with long dyed-brown or bleached-blond hair, tanned skin, heavy makeup, brightly coloured miniskirts or short pants that flare out at the bottom, and high platform boots.
'Field' has become more appropriate in the analysis of fashion changes. People engaged in similar lifestyles with intrinsically similar cultural capital, i.e. nationality, profession, family and friends form group identities interacting with others in the same 'field'. This has been an important contributing factor to the birth of subcultures.The anachronistic belief that class was a determinant of fashion has reduced significantly, as confirmed by Bauman, who proposed the idea of 'liquid society', where fashion exists in a more flexible and malleable state.
A particular phenomenon of recent times, subject to both a trickle-down and a bubble-up effect of varying degrees, is the democratization and globalization of fashion. There has been an emergence of 'prĂȘt-a-porter' invented by John Claude Weill in 1949. This development has increased the speed and diffusion of fashion trends across the world, which amplified the culture of fast fashion, massification and global standardisation. Standardised factory-made prĂȘt-a-porter clothes, of which 'wearability' is crucial, sometimes descend from places of high fashion, for example inspired from couture. Designers such as Poiret, Dior and Lacroix produce a ready-to-wear line alongside their haute couture collection to take advantage of a wider market. Nevertheless, its mass-produced industrial nature detracts away from the exclusivity of traditional couture.
By 1930, couturiers like Schiaparelli, Delauney, and Patou began to design their own ready-to-wear boutiques, understanding the new emerging system of fashion whereby the moment that people stop copying you, it means that you are no longer any good. The democratization of couture disallowed it to sustain its elitist nature and therefore haute couture was beginning to accept that fashion was about emulation. Nevertheless, attire was not entirely uniform and equalised. Subtle nuances continued to mark social distinctions but mitigated the upper class penchant for conspicuous consumption.
Democratising fashion came hand in hand with a 'disunification' of feminine attire, which varied more in form and became less homogeneous. The fundamental attraction of making profit inspired innovation in styles and a perpetual search for lower costs through efficient industrial manufacturing. Institutions were evolving to an extent that the pretentious elitist sectors diminished in favour of universal mass production. The end of the Second World War brought about increased demand for fashion, encouraged by films and magazines of the time and the take off of global advertising campaigns, i.e. Levi's, Rodier, Benetton, Naf-Naf, etc, highlighting the need for high standards of living, well-being and hedonistic mass culture. It is the globalisation and rapidity of fashion movements, as Kawamura amply discussed, that underline the fact that "fast-changing tastes of consumers are matched only by the cleverness of the department store that identifies trendsetters among young consumers and feeds their knowledge into the production cycle".
It is impossible to conduct discourse in fashion without associating it with change, unpredictability and a high degree of uncertainty. It is very difficult to distinguish which goods will be adorned by the mass population and which trends will be instantaneously rejected. In general, industries need economic capital and political solidarity to function but these institutions are particularly difficult to uphold in the aesthetic industry. A paradox exists in that while on a superficial level everyone associates fashion with change, the underlying forces value stability. They argue that it is not possible to speak of one single fashion, but rather of different fashions existing at the same time. This is especially the case for an intrinsically fast-paced, competitive and fragmented industry. A bubble-up effect is inherent to a globalised fashion world, and the upward flow of fashion stemming from various subcultures contributes abundantly to this process.