Thesis on "How Entrepreneurship Impacts the Creative Industries"

Thesis 10 pages (3106 words) Sources: 18 Style: Harvard

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Entrepreneurship

The psychological shift associated with intellectual knowledge having value has created, a sincere interest in the manner in which knowledge in addition to goods are transferred and more importantly valued. For this reason the creative industries have become a point of interest for research and even legitimization in law and standard. What was once a paten system that isolated objects and products for individual right to produce is one that stresses the need to focus on the design principles and knowledge used to produce such items. Changes in intellectual property rights and laws has been massive over the last ten to twenty years and therefore creative industries and even cultural arts have begun to be addressed as equal to or greater than those that in past years would have been focused exclusively on the products themselves. There is no industry that is more reflective of this than the fashion industry.

The fashion industry, and especially high fashion has benefited in that the design aspect of fashion has begun to be stressed over the physical objects that are produced by these designs. This shift has created a whole system of branding and marketing that is demonstrative of the newly established importance of the ideas and their exclusive use, as apposed to the products themselves. In other words creativity and the creative arts have recently garnered a great deal more prestige, than the anonymity and assumptions they lived in the past. Nations all over the world, but especially those in Western society are finding it important to define creative industries and more importantly design systems of production, sales, branding, marketing and development that better support creative industries. ("Britain Urged to Power," 2005, p. 35) ("DTI to Harness 'Creative," 2005, p. NA) (Williams, 2008) (Bennett, 2007) (Dolfman, Holden & Wasser, 2007)

One significant example of this change can be found in the development or rebirth of the Prada label. Prada like many other designer brands originally started in Europe, and came to the U.S.A. once he realized how loved his merchandise was becoming. The originator of the Prada company was a man by the name of Mario Prada. Prada originally started selling leather handbags, trunks and shoes in 1913 in Europe, and moved to the U.S.A. And opened two boutiques in Milan once he realized how big of a success he was becoming. In 1950, Mario had a daughter named Miuccia, she helped with innovate ideas for the Prada line, she inspired the Pocone bags, backpacks that were made out of a waterproof fabric. This innovation turned out to be one that was most effective in the transition of the company to international greatness and universal recognition.

In 1979 Miuccia took over the company, and completely ran the entire business. Sales at the time were way down, and many believe Prada wouldn't still be in production if she hadn't taken over the company. Prada is about the only family ran luxury fashion brand, though many others began this way they have changed hands and are now more often international conglomerates, supported and developed as part of larger company structures. In order to take Prada back to the top in the designer fashion industry, Miuccia expanded the company into manufacturing luxurious backpacks and tote bags made out of black nylon. Prada successfully transitioned the company into one that took a single creative idea and turned it into pure profit. It is not a coincidence that Miuccia Prada's take over of the company also coincided with the beginning of the shift from product to development as the focus of value of a company and/or organization and Miuccia, effectively utilized this shift to develop and maintain a brand that is recognized, sought after and highly prized wherever luxury items are coveted.

Some would find it offensive to assume that the regeneration of the Prada company, at the hand of a woman was in any part due to her gender. Yet, the reality is that Miuccia Prada represents a significant movement regarding creative industries, as women's traditional roles as creative industries developers have been downplayed in the past but are emerging as creative industries become more recognized as essential aspects of economy. "There are two technologies in which women express a much higher interest than men: environmental technologies and creative industries." (Harrison & Mason, 2007, p. 445) Women are highly adept at creative industries development and in an increasingly recognized manner have essential skills needed to translate this recognition of creative interest into business prowess. Speaking of Miuccia Prada an expert on the changing face of the fashion industry sites her ingenuity as a designer that was willing to transform a high end leather good product line into something (though expensive by label) was significantly less pretentious.

A her black nylon backpack, which brilliantly undermined contemporary status symbols, like the "gilt 'n quilt" Chanel purse. Prada soon became known for her fashion-forward styles, which unerringly combined classicism and audacity. For younger and/or more playful women, she launched her secondary line Miu. (Steele, 2000, p. 16)

Prada had an eye and a mind for challenging the traditional ideals of the fashion and creative industries, with regard to the nature of high end and luxury goods.

Though Miuccia Prada may not have had the need to develop roles outside her art, as a result of the early success of her father's business women entrepreneurs and other artists frequently have to do this as their creative industries businesses become more successful and central to the economics of their family life. This is not always the case, as many individuals' women and men who pursue varied creative industries pursuits often find themselves with multiple irons in the fire, developing businesses and holding down work for others that stress the need to simultaneously support a family and produce their artistic goals. (Bennett, 2007, p. 133) the issue of the need to develop more than one line of business at a time, holding down a job outside or inside the creative arts in order to support a creative pursuit that may or may not ever result in a solid base of financial support for a family or individual may be one of the most significant problems needed to be addressed in the creative industries trend.

The individual and/or organization must find a balance that allows the creative pursuit to engender enough of his or her time to be developed fully, while simultaneously putting food on the table. (Brown et al., 2007, p. 133) This need to multi-task often to an extreme degree has likely frequently stifled businesses and ideas that might have been very successful in development, if they were recognized and/or marketed effectively as a result of a singular focus. This problem will likely never be fully eliminated, as it is a problem really of all business germination but across the world business germination and entrepreneurial organizations and focuses, especially on what in the past would have been called cottage industries is answering this problem to some degree. The international trend of micro-financing is one of the greatest social movements of our time and it has specific and needed focus on the creative industries. Micro-lending is a new trend in creative development, that offers small scale lending to individuals, often women, to allow them the opportunity to pursue small businesses that can provide significant income for themselves and their families.

We came to an agreement for that loan, and I could see the others in the room scouring their brains for creative new ideas. By the time I left that meeting, they were all asking, 'Yunus, when are you coming back? Bring money next time!" (Yunus, 1999, p. 183)

Micro lending has significant impact for the fashion industry and other creative arts because frequently the kinds of business entrepreneurs that need and utilize alternative financing programs are interested in and germinating domestic arts businesses that focus on fashion. There is some sense that fashion, and especially high fashion has also developed the desire to support systems that help germinate creative businesses as they seek new and innovative ideas and hope to help, at least in some minor way through stewardship to assist NGOs and microfinance organizations to develop and build clientele. (Yunus, 1999, p. 223)

Another trend that is demonstrative of the creative industries trend, is that of the development of expanded marketing. Marketing has created a blue collar desire for luxury goods, such as Prada bags and the like and has begun to develop into alternative design and production programs that sell products with the coveted label, at limited costs for limited times.

A the central movement in worldwide marketing since the 1980s has been to move more and more objects up into luxury brands. Think Prada, Montblanc, Mercedes, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Evian, Starbucks, Rodeo Drive, Lexus, and the like. it's what Martha Stewart is doing at Kmart and why Shaft, the Harlem private eye of the early 1970s, is now wearing Armani. So many products are claiming… READ MORE

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