Aurora Cove
Brand
Aurora Cove is a modern skiwear brand. It’s made for young women between 18 and 24 years old who prefer looking good, expressing their individuality, and enjoying active, adventurous pursuits. Snow clothes produced by the brand are both fashionable and comfortable for sports and apres-ski activities. Aurora Cove exists because young women who ski and snowboard increasingly use mountain trips as emotional, social and aesthetic experiences, not only sports activities. The problem many female skiers and snowboardists face is that the gear available in the market lacks either functionality or aesthetics, and our brand is there to fulfill both of these needs. The brand operates in the context of modern social media culture, where visual storytelling, self-branding, and lifestyle presentation are central to how young women engage with winter sports.
Target buyer portrait: Sofia, 21, is a university student studying media and communications. She loves winter trips because this is a way to spend time with her friends and create content she will then post on social media while also being physically active. In her free time, she likes to scroll through her feed and save winter outfits that feel inspiring and make her want to wear something similar on her next trip. She’s an amateur and does not ski professionally, but she enjoys showing off her looks and mainly uses winter trips to network and mingle. For her, ski wear must not only be comfortable, but it must also be visually appealing and make her stand out from the rest. Some of her life values are femininity, soft luxury, and creativity. To her, Aurora Cove is a means to express and form her identity, create content she’ll be proud of, and feel empowered and beautiful while doing what she loves.
Visuals. Logo:
(generated by chatgpt)
Visuals. Moodboard:
Women in ski wear.
Women in ski wear.
Communication strategy
Goal of communication: The goal is to move beyond transactional messaging and foster a meaningful, identity-driven relationship with our target audience. Therefore, Aurora Cove’s role in our customer’s life should be ambivalent: it should be functional and provide comfortable clothes for riding, but it should also help females build and express what they value.
Main Message: «Your performance, perfected. Your style, defined.» This core message strategically integrates two key theoretical pathways:
1. Central Route Processing (Elaboration Likelihood Model): We appeal to logic and functionality by communicating technical features, material innovation, and biomechanical design. This builds rational credibility and trust in the product’s quality. 2. Peripheral Route Processing (ELM) & Narrative Paradigm: We appeal to emotion, aesthetics, and identity through visual storytelling.
Brand Role for the Target Audience:
1. Validator (Social Identity Theory & Politeness Theory): · We acknowledge and validate her positive face needs (desire for appreciation and belonging) by showcasing customers who look and perform like her ideal self. We build an «in-group» where membership signals taste, capability, and belonging to other lovers of winter sports. · This transforms the brand from a seller into a social proof provider and community hub.
2. Storyteller (Narrative Paradigm): · All audiences need more than a product: they need a story to tell others, a narrative they can scan and pass on to their followers. The narrative that can be scanned from our brand’s positioning is the importance of self-discovery, travelling, adventures, and femininity, because this is what our target customers value most. · We will provide the symbolic tools (our apparel) and the narrative framework (our content) for her to author and share her own story of competence and style.
3. Co-Creator (Uses and Gratifications Theory): · We understand our audience actively selects media and brands to satisfy specific needs. We will cater to: · Cognitive needs: Publishing advice on how to choose riding gear, how to stay warm, and how to belong at a ski resort. · Affective needs: Delivering aesthetic inspiration and emotional resonance. · Social integrative needs: Facilitating connections with a like-minded community. · Personal identity needs: Helping her express and refine her unique style identity.
Segments:
Segment 1 — BROAD LIFESTYLE AUDIENCE Age: 18-24 Profile: Under- and post-graduates / females starting their careers in creative fields / extroverts / active travellers Motivations: Diversion & Affective Gratification: using winter sports as a means to relax, distract from the routine Personal Identity: ski wear they choose must reflect their sense of style and personal values Social Interaction: choosing matching outfits with friends helps them create a sense of belonging in a group Self-actualisation: posting UGC (user-generated content) Behaviour: Active users of Instagram/TikTok Searching for winter outfits that match their style in terms of color and fits, saving posts (e.g. on Pinterest and Instagram) that they like Prioritizing visuals over functionality but still want to be warm in the mountains Values: Femininity, lifestyle aesthetics, effortless luxury, fun
Segment 2 — PROFESSIONAL / HIGH-SKILL AUDIENCE («The Performance-Fashion Riders») Age: 20-30 Profile: Women who ski or snowboard often Some may be doing it on a professional or semi-professional level Know a lot about gear and how to choose it properly Motivations (Using Uses & Gratification Theory): Utilitarian Gratification: clothes should be durable and functional, cost-efficient Efficiency & Resource Enhancement: they value performance so their gear should help them enhance it Personal Identity: showing both their femininity and skills while riding Following the trends: reading the news about new regulations, technologies etc. Behaviour: Technical characteristics of gear and clothes Follow athletic influencers Post POV runs, tutorials, in-action videos, GoPro footage Spend more money but expect quality Values: Skills, innovative technologies, feeling empowered
Primary Channels:
1. Instagram Perfect for aesthetic, identity-building content Carousel posts, Reels, outfit breakdowns user-generated content reposts (self-actualization: they get recognition) Influencer collabs Gratifications: personal identity, social interaction, affective pleasure 2. TikTok Transitions to ski resorts POV skiing/snowboarding videos «Get ready with me» ’s Lifestyle & comedy videos Gratifications: emotional entertainment 3. Pinterest Skiing moodboards, winter outfit guides Gratification: style inspiration, identity association 4. YouTube (Long Form) Gear reviews Ski trips vlogs Tutorials (aligns with professional segment) Gratification: surveillance, information seeking 5. Brand Website (E-commerce) High aesthetic product images «Build your ski outfit» configurator High-skill product specs Gratification: utilitarian, efficiency (Instagram is blocked in RF)
Secondary Channels:
1. Ski resorts partnerships (pop-up stores) 2. Influencer capsules 3. Ambassador athlete program 4. AR try-on filters (aligning with technological determinism)
Broad and professional blocks
Block for broad audience:
What it is: Aurora Cove is a new generation ski and snowboard wear brand for young women who see the mountain as an extension of their personal style.
Who it’s for: It’s for the style-conscious, active young woman (18-26) who demand performance without sacrificing her aesthetic. She is either a student university or has recently started her career, probably in the creative fields, and likes to go on trips to the mountains with her friends whenever she has the chance.
Why it exists: Because the mountain shouldn’t force a choice between looking good and riding hard. Existing technical wear often overlooks modern feminine design, while fashion-forward brands lack real performance. We combine both, fulfilling all the needs of our target customers.
Core Values, Tone & Promise: · Values: Empowered Femininity (strength with elegance), Authentic Performance (real gear for real riders), Curated Community (belonging over following). · Tone: Confident, aspirational, and inclusive. Our tone of voice is friendly, the message resembles one coming from a close but more experienced friend who can always give solid advice and support you. Visuals are clean, they’re focusing on movement (sports) and soft, feminine aesthetics (pastel tones, flattering silhouettes) · Promise: To perfect the performance while riding and the style while bonding and mingling with others at a ski resort.
Block for professionals:
The main strategy is to build a digital community, to foster a sense of belonging to a group which will then develop the need to buy our clothes. Wearing clothes offered by our brand equals showing off your belonging to a certain desirable group of people who are both fashionable and knowledgeable. Using Social Identity Theory, we create an «in-group», and wearing our clothes is a symbol of identifying yourself with this group (self-categorization).
Our Digital Product:
Our strategy of online communication is divided into three layers:
1. Aspirational Core: This is high-production, narrative-driven content (short films, athlete profiles, editorial photography) that sells the lifestyle — autonomy, confidence, and styled adventure. It employs the Narrative Paradigm, framing our audience as the hero in their own story of mountain mastery and self-expression. 2. Utility & Validation: We publish guides made by professional riders and repost content created by our customers. It provides practical knowledge to our followers, covering their cognitive needs, and also validates the choices made by our current customers, covering the social integrative need. 3. Participatory & Co-Creation: This includes online interactions, e.g. challenges, design voting for our next collection, meet-ups of followers at a resort during holidays. Here, we implement the Symbolic Convergence Theory, allowing shared stories and experiences («fantasy chains») to foster group identity and brand loyalty.
Operational Framework & Strategic Constraints:
· Top (Broad): We attract audience through universal alpine aesthetics and empowerment messaging. · Middle (Niche): We engage them through technical validation and style-specific education. · Bottom (Core): We retain and monetize through community access, exclusivity (limited drops), and co-creation opportunities. The apparel is the key to this bottom tier. · Strategic Constraints: · Tone of Voice Consistency. · Recognisable Visuals. · The Exclusivity-Controlled Scarcity Model: Product is intentionally released in limited batches. This isn’t just a supply chain tactic; it’s a communication strategy that fuels desire, protects brand premium, and turns each drop into a community event. · Other Measurements of Success: · Primary KPIs: Community growth rate, engagement depth (comments/shares vs. likes), UGC volume, and sentiment analysis. · Secondary KPIs: Conversion rate from community member to first purchase, and crucially, repeat purchase intent driven by identity affiliation.
Theory to Practice
Uses & Gratifications Theory
Aurora Cove satisfies multiple audience needs: 1. Diversion: relaxing, visually pleasing escapism through winter aesthetics 2. Personal Identity: clothing helps express identity 3. Personal Relationships: bonding with existing friends (buying matching outfits for a trip) + finding new acquaintances at brand-hosted meet-ups 4. Surveillance: product features for performance segment 5. Self-actualisation: UGC opportunities; brand reposts users' content
Social Media (Web 2.0, UGC, Interactivity)
1. Brand encourages participation in social media 2. Storage & replicability → aesthetic consistency / boards 3. Interactivity → try-on filters, comments, polls 4. Mobility → mobile-first design for all campaigns
Media Effects (Active Audience)
1. Users actively choose Aurora Cove’s content because it gratifies emotional + identity needs 2. Wearing our clothes helps customers create their personal style & identity + foster it further by showing it online and offline 3. Influencers help audience shape their identity by exemplifying what our brand stand for
Literature
Richard E. Petty and John T. Cacioppo, The Elaboration likelihood model of Persuasion. 1986. p136.
Fisher, Walter R (1984). «Narration as Human Communication Paradigm: The Case of Public Moral Argument». Communication Monographs. 51: 1–22. doi: 10.1080/03637758409390180.
Brown, Penelope and Stephen C. Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [First published 1978 as part of Esther N. Goody (ed.): Questions and Politeness. Cambridge University Press]
McQuail, D. (2010). McQuails Mass Communication Theory (6 ed.). London: SAGE Publications.
Cragan, John F.; Shields, Donald C. Symbolic Theories in Applied Communication Research: Bormann, Burke, and Fisher. Hampton Press. ISBN 978-1-881303-78-7.
Gerbner G, Gross L, Morgan M, Signorielli N (1994). «Growing up with television: The cultivation perspective». In M. Morgan (ed.). Against the mainstream: The selected works of George Gerbner. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 193–213.
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