Inside Missguided: Made in Manchester - Channel 4

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Currently watching episode two. The wrapped car just seems like a gimmick. Like I get they are doing it for attention and to get posts online, but how does that relate back to the campaign about empowerment? It’s so scattergun, just like different people coming up with ideas that don’t interrelate and build on each other. Seems like they employ a lot of people on the creative side but they don’t seem to work under one mandate.

now I know treasure is behind those annoying adverts they do too. Same tit with skinny models strutting about 🥱
 
Lechat said:
Currently watching episode two. The wrapped car just seems like a gimmick. Like I get they are doing it for attention and to get posts online, but how does that relate back to the campaign about empowerment? It’s so scattergun, just like different people coming up with ideas that don’t interrelate and build on each other. Seems like they employ a lot of people on the creative side but they don’t seem to work under one mandate.

now I know treasure is behind those annoying adverts they do too. Same tit with skinny models strutting about 🥱
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Why recycle and repeat the same gimmick? I thought they were 'disruptors' and 'innovatice'! 🙄
 
Miss Demeanour said:
Why recycle and repeat the same gimmick? I thought they were 'disruptors' and 'innovatice'! 🙄
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so true. Their marketing so far seems to consist of foil wrapping cars for attention, highly sexualise ads full of skinny women (which they got banned which they thought was great) and trying to use influencers to make out their brand is inclusive. Just a mess. Oh and Nitin and his cousin used to go to apple shops and type missguided on the computers .. that’s disruptive marketing apparently 😬 starting to see why they lost 26 mil.
 
I HATE how the owner spoke about plus size clothing. Like oh yeah we’ve done it for a couple of years but with no conviction... wow so you’re basically admitting you don’t actually give a tit about catering for a wider customer you just see that it’s more acceptable to be plus size and now you want in on it properly. Honestly I hate these blokes that run these companies. The guys that run In The Style are the exact same. They just care about money
 
I watched the full series yesterday and really enjoyed every cringe worthy moment. Although the narrator kept saying the company lost 26 million it was never addressed as to why? I may be wrong but I feel they where other companies like Boohoo and PLT have upped their game, Missguided is kind of sat back on their laurels just churning out the same pieces , also the culture of the team was plain to see with the gratuitous swearing, hangovers etc like some ladettes from yesteryear - don’t they realise that’s not how women want to be perceived yet they constantly bang on about empowerment ? I also felt that the team were like a Poundland version of the film ‘devil wears Prada’ where they kept banging on about how much they loved their job and how lucky they were in an almost mantra like way. It also made me smile how they referred to themselves as boss babes and how important they were yet they paled into insignificance and crumbled in front of head buyer when trying to recommend the core piece festive collection.
 
I thought it was interesting that the CEO proudly admitted in the first 5 to 6 years he didn’t care about operating ethnically in terms of sweatshops and paying below the minimum wage because he wanted to grow the business. Does he have no shame? I’m glad C4 kept that in, shows what a disgrace that company really is. Also, didn’t Kim Kardashian sue Missguided? I imagine that had something to do with the 26 mill they lost.
 
Been waiting for this for ages after the car crash that was the ITS BBC3 documentary. I work with quite a few ex MG and BH, ITS etc etc employees who have made the move out of the fast fashion industry. Manchester is huge for e-commerce / tech and many people hop from one to the other and do the rounds.

Someone asked when and how long they filmed: it was around about 9 months and started about March last year I think.

For me the culture is very much standard of a start up who scaled incredibly quickly and saw great success rapidly. Trading when you’re making profit and growing at this huge rate is one thing, but it’s a different matter when you have to dig your heels in and fight back. As said above MG have failed to move on and within the fast paced e-comm world you currently have to be pushing forward, reinventing yourselves etc etc the fact that they wrapped another car just about says it all: compare that to Gymshark with their 1 BN valuation and are ready to move forward again.

I do think there is some talent within the team though. Eleanore stood out for me and had some bits to say but is massively drowned out by Treasure and her verbal diarrhoea.

I also wonder about the edit. Sam who pitched to Molly-Mae (and failed to do some apparent decent basic research about her but then it seems this was straight after they came out of LI so maybe the info was as obvious as we assume) is now CEO at Miss Pap (back at BooHoo where she started) so maybe she just got a really bad edit 👀

In terms of the losses: big appointments before perhaps they were ready which diluted Nitin’s strategy (or lack of one) came and then left from what I’ve read. I also think the retail stores opened and failed to perform...someone mentioned Glassdoor; these make horrendous reading during the time they were making redundancies (big bonuses for SLT)

I think the meeting re the Xmas dresses was actually fair enough although slightly blunt: woefully unprepared when you know you’re presenting to the Founder and Senior team. Come with a deck, images, projections, commercials - with those salaries they probably wasted about 5k in time 🤦🏻‍♀️
 
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Bleurghgram said:
I’m watching the In The Style doc now, it’s a bit tame in comparison, I’m kinda bored 🤣 really can’t get my head around why this companies are being glorified on tv though 🤯 such an odd production choice.
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I know exactly what you mean! I was told that Jamie is lovely but Adam treats his female staff really badly and expects so much from them it’s caused a couple of people to suffer from severe anxiety. ITS are streaks behind MG in terms of revenue and profit: their margins are much smaller as they give away so much % on the collab sales revenue they struggle to turn much of profit even before they discount and slash prices. On the show Adam talked about ‘turnover, turnover, turnover’ - something like 40 million from what I can remember? But they never mentioned anything about profit?! Doesn’t matter what your turnover is if your over heads and running costs are more than that 🤔 I think ITS have spent the last couple of years investing so they can scale. I’m unsure whether the market is just too crowded now and with BooHoo eating up brands on and off the high street at such a rate they may get swallowed up: perhaps that is the idea: achieve a decent EBITA, retain a percentage and take out some decent money?

PinkPepper said:
@Runningtap I enjoyed reading your post, insightful thank you.
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Thank you: slightly long winded so apologies. I’ll see what some the guys say / think as the episodes air on c4 and share anything of note.

I was a bit disappointed with the MG programme overall. I’m probably on my own but I would of liked to see a much more rounded overview of the business: how the trading team sell through stock whilst maintaining GP, how the tech and merchandisers use the analytics to maximise opportunities not to mention a better insight into the manufacturing process: it’s common knowledge that all the companies use the same factories in Leicester.

I’ve followed MG on LinkedIn for ages as some of their cultural initiatives are worth a look outside of ‘boss babes and free bars’ (again I think Glenn was someone who came out looking slightly better than most. He made me think seriously about the edit though as in his meeting about the themed party Nitin would surely be mainly concerned about the bottom line and the perceived ROI as opposed to glitter and sparkles).

The in-house barber is a bit of white lie: they do get them in on an adhoc basis (along with things like brow bars and make up) but you have to pay.
 
I finished the in the style series last night. I think Adam would be a right pain to work for. He seemed very serious and focused on the numbers (which is fine) but you could tell he works the team hard and still wants a lot of control over everything. I was shocked how unlikeable Lorna Luxe came over as they were so worried about the party not being ready for her.
what was interesting is that you can tell it’s a smaller outfit in terms of the office size, staff numbers, it was more basic unlike Missguided which has been kitted out to be cool and has perks like an in house barber! All costs money though which is probably why Missguided has made a loss.
I imagine they have to give the influencers they work with a fair chunk of the sales made, so I bet the profit margins are very tight. Adam looks like he’s doing alright out of it based of his instagram though. He might be waiting to be bought out or for some venture capitalist to invest which is when he will make his fortune I guess.

i finished episode two of the Missguided series. Thought the street style trip to ibiza was a waste of money, they just walked around and went to the same club in the day and night which looked empty to get photos of women. Surely some of that research could have been done from the U.K? Again Missguideds margins must also be tight but they seem to spend a lot on things that don’t seem to add much value. I don’t know anyone that works at MG but I live in Manchester and have come across some of their insta accounts like Sam Helligso. Interesting she moved to misspap. They do all seem very white, skinny and all their friends and associates on their instas are carbon copies. No diversity at all.

i looked up the Kim kardashian lawsuit against Missguided. it says the claim was 2.7m dollars. They didn’t even contest the claim. Seems pretty arrogant or maybe they knew it was indefensible? either way it’s just foolish... what a waste of money all because you are blatantly ripping off designs and then publicly acknowledging it.

markets.businessinsider.com

Kim Kardashian won $2.7 million in a lawsuit accusing fast-fashion brand Missguided of 'knocking off' her clothes

Missguided "has become notorious for 'knocking off' the clothing worn by celebrities like Kardashian," the lawsuit against the company said.
markets.businessinsider.com markets.businessinsider.com
 
Runningtap said:
I know exactly what you mean! I was told that Jamie is lovely but Adam treats his female staff really badly and expects so much from them it’s caused a couple of people to suffer from severe anxiety. ITS are streaks behind MG in terms of revenue and profit: their margins are much smaller as they give away so much % on the collab sales revenue they struggle to turn much of profit even before they discount and slash prices. On the show Adam talked about ‘turnover, turnover, turnover’ - something like 40 million from what I can remember? But they never mentioned anything about profit?! Doesn’t matter what your turnover is if your over heads and running costs are more than that 🤔 I think ITS have spent the last couple of years investing so they can scale. I’m unsure whether the market is just too crowded now and with BooHoo eating up brands on and off the high street at such a rate they may get swallowed up: perhaps that is the idea: achieve a decent EBITA, retain a percentage and take out some decent money?



Thank you: slightly long winded so apologies. I’ll see what some the guys say / think as the episodes air on c4 and share anything of note.

I was a bit disappointed with the MG programme overall. I’m probably on my own but I would of liked to see a much more rounded overview of the business: how the trading team sell through stock whilst maintaining GP, how the tech and merchandisers use the analytics to maximise opportunities not to mention a better insight into the manufacturing process: it’s common knowledge that all the companies use the same factories in Leicester.

I’ve followed MG on LinkedIn for ages as some of their cultural initiatives are worth a look outside of ‘boss babes and free bars’ (again I think Glenn was someone who came out looking slightly better than most. He made me think seriously about the edit though as in his meeting about the themed party Nitin would surely be mainly concerned about the bottom line and the perceived ROI as opposed to glitter and sparkles).

The in-house barber is a bit of white lie: they do get them in on an adhoc basis (along with things like brow bars and make up) but you have to pay.
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I’m sure this was a conscious decision as it would have drawn more attention to their ethics and work practices - although everyone is talking about this anyway. They actively exploit garment workers and happily say they love fast fashion despite knowing the harm it does. One girl asked for a rush on products from Pakistan with no consideration to the knock on effect for the people who need to make them! The rate of the turn over of stock from MG, PLT etc is frightening and the human and environmental cost is immeasurable. All while the vacuous “bad ass witches” live their best lives obsessing over whatever trends Instagram is promoting, and Nitin lounges in his luxury apartment or swans about in his Lamborghini. Disgusting company.
 
Lechat said:
I finished the in the style series last night. I think Adam would be a right pain to work for. He seemed very serious and focused on the numbers (which is fine) but you could tell he works the team hard and still wants a lot of control over everything. I was shocked how unlikeable Lorna Luxe came over as they were so worried about the party not being ready for her.
what was interesting is that you can tell it’s a smaller outfit in terms of the office size, staff numbers, it was more basic unlike Missguided which has been kitted out to be cool and has perks like an in house barber! All costs money though which is probably why Missguided has made a loss.
I imagine they have to give the influencers they work with a fair chunk of the sales made, so I bet the profit margins are very tight. Adam looks like he’s doing alright out of it based of his instagram though. He might be waiting to be bought out or for some venture capitalist to invest which is when he will make his fortune I guess.
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From memory Livingbridge invested around about 2017 hence spending the last couple of years expanding the team and getting ready to scale. I’m guessing Adam took out some cash at that point. Fair play: he might be a nightmare to work for but has obviously worked really hard to build the business.

I’ve heard they giveaway up to 50-60% for some collabs which just blows my mind!
 
This was such a shocking documentary. I found it really interesting that they were pretending they had these glam lifestyles and they job was great but the girl with the baby was coming in unpaid on her day off to do more work. nitin getting some free labour there.
the girl treasure living in a poor area while bragging that she gets to travel for work. She is clearly on a low wage judging by her house decor. But pretending she’s doing great in life, nitin is a very clever man and he dangles the carrot a lot. its not really free trips when your working on your days off and onky getting 3 hours sleep.
im not finished watching it but nitin speaks very well so he may had had money to start wit to be able to set up something like mg.
i feel queasy thinking of the damage they are doing to the planet. It turns my stomach.
eleanor came across quite well.
treasure clearly has a lot of issues and is living in denial about her boss babe lifestyle stevie wonder can see that she just morphs herself into what she thinks will make her look cool which inevitably makes her look childish.
the design team don’t design anything. At least they admit this.
i felt sorry for jordan liscomnb. She was so nervous on the shoot and not being given much guidance.
i know people are shocked that molly mae was being given so much money but I’m actually so happy for her. Fair play to her making great money the whole influence thing desnt last forever and to be able to make that kind of money sets you up for your future.
 
Just watching the last episode now. Whilst I worked in the customer care department for ASOS, it was turning into this kind of mindset and made me so happy I got out!

Whilst they say they lost £26 million, they never actually say how much they made profit wise. This was the same with ASOS a few years ago because they overestimated their numbers. Was £20 mil down, but had made £180 mil profit.

Also the adverts that Treasure campaigns are very behind the times. ‘We want to empower women. Wear what you want, blah blah’ yet the models in the adverts are all size 6-8 with their bits out being over sexualised (clearly Treasure is under the impression that sex sells). I want to wear t-shirts and leggings, not mini dresses and sequin dresses whilst walking dogs!
 
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