Tumblring Around…Again

February 1st, 2012 § 2 comments § permalink

Agyness Deyn by Hedi Slimane for Vogue China March 2011

Photo: Agyness Deyn by Hedi Slimane for Vogue China March 2011

This is kinda part numero dos of my other Tumblr post on branding. As I was going through my Tumblr and the reg feed I thought of a few tips that make some fashion brands on Tumblr stand out in my mind. They…

  •  Stay away from carbon copies. Don’t post the same thing that you do on all other channels. Keep some content unique just for your Tumblr followers. What’s the point of a person following you on all channels if it’s the exact same, right?

Alessandra Ambrosio Russh Magazine Issue 35

Photo: Alessandra Ambrosio Russh Magazine Issue 35

  • Showcase your style.  Post the awesome visuals or photos that don’t really make sense for a full blown blog post on your blog, but really represents you in some way. I find that there are super rad photos I want to use, but they don’t fit, so I put them on Tumblr for inspiration.

Gisele Bundchen photographed by Paolo Roversi Vogue Italia Feb 2002Photo: Gisele Bundchen photographed by Paolo Roversi for Vogue Italia Feb 2002

  • Measure. If relevant, include a link back to your site, or products and TRACK it. You’d be surprise what you can learn from your analytics. And….Google Analytics is free!

Dazed and Confused June 2009 - Abby Lee

Photo: Dazed & Confused June 2009

  •  Look back. Take a look at your Tumblr – maybe you see a theme going and it can be created into a great blog post on your main blog. Use Tumblr as a supplement to your main blog. It enhances your story, or makes your story better, or gives another insight into your brand or personality. Something that can’t always be seen in a few characters of texts or posts.

Daria Werbowy by Inez & Vinoodh (2004)

Photo: French Vogue February 2004 Daria Werbowy by Inez & Vinoodh

  •  Mix it. Use Tumblr in conjunction with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (yes, I said it!) to express your point of  view and stream of consciousness.  Interact with all communities on each network to build out your following and relationships. You probably will not have the same followers on Twitter that you do on Facebook, or heck even Pinterest. Everyone consumes content differently.

Que, no?

xo

Tumblring Through It All

January 26th, 2012 § 3 comments § permalink

Vogue Australia October 1970 - Vogue Australia Tumblr

Photo via Vogue Australia Tumblr

A picture says 1,000 words. One photo, so many thoughts, interpretations, emotions.  Imagery is so important in story telling that is no surprise how quickly Tumblr has crept into the fashion industry and made itself a space in the past two years. From brands like DKNY to Madewell, to glossies Vogue to Russh, and our fave influencers from Nina Garcia to Coco Rocha – Tumblr gives us an extra window into brands (retailer, publication, personal) stories and inspirations more than ever before.

Anja Rubik and Iselin Steiro by Camilla Akrans (2006) Mask Fashion Editorial

Photo: Anja Rubik and Iselin Steiro by Camilla Akrans (2006)

Whether you’re doing it just for yourself or for a Fortune 500 company, there are a few things think about as a brand on Tumblr:

  •  Identity – Think about how you want to represent yourself. Who are you and how will you express that through your Tumblr design, content, and words.
  • Personality – Keep it real, weird, quirky, casual – a.k.a. =  yourself. Show your humor, your dark side, your romantic side. Show you.

DNA Model Management - French Vogue - October 2009

Photo: Vogue Paris October 2009

  • Values – Use Tumblr as a way to show what’s important to you. What makes you tick? What do you stand behind?  Posting a photo is like an endorsement or a thumbs up to that image, so keep in mind the attitude it influences.
  • Audience – It always comes back to your audience – customer/visitor/reader – who ever. What do they want to see from you? Keep them in mind as you post, even if your only audience is you.

Dree Hemingway by Lachlan Bailey (2009)

Photo: Dree Hemingway by Lachlan Bailey (2009)

Tumblr has opened up a a whole other way for brands and consumers to engage with one another and understand each other’s point of view. Tumblr is an extension of  that marketing conversation,  image, and most importantly - relationship.

Check out Tumblr’s fashion index to start Tumblring through it all.

xo

It’s Story Time

December 27th, 2011 § 1 comment § permalink

We Were Once A Fairytale - Cosmopolitan Armenia - Dec 2011

Photo via Cosmopolitan Armenia – December 2011

Once  upon a time, there was no such thing as Facebook. Gasp! What you say? Brands didn’t have to update their status about that meaningless sale they are having, or ask a “True or False”, or “fill in the blank” sentence each week? Um, no. It seems like over the past few years, marketers, businesses, and brands have gotten so caught up in tactics such as FB and not really focused on what really matters. It’s not about the channel (Facebook, Twitter, etc. ). Marketing really should be focused on the brand story itself.

Fantasyland - Flare Magazine - April 2010

Lately it seems like story-telling with brands has gone down the crapper as every one races to get the “most likes”, the “most followers” and have forgotten about our roots of why we do what we do.  Marketing is telling a story,  so let’s queue content marketing…

Content marketing is like advertising, but only better.

Why? Because it’s not a gimmicky slogan, crazy-ass contest where you have to do a million things to enter or be the most talented at something. It’s simply going back to the beginning of time and telling a story from one’s point of view, and the point of view happens to be a brand – an entire group of people who believe in something and want to share it with the world.

Your Majesty - Flare Magazine - December 2011

Photo Via Flare Magazine “Your Majesty” – December 2011

A couple of quotes caught my eye last week that really brought this concept home.  Al Krueger from Handsondodge.com  said, “Everything we do must dramaticize what the brands stand for, or we’re losing…Marketing needs to understand how content and social media can initiate a customer relationship, enhance the ecommerce experience and then seamlessly continue that relationship into ongoing engagement on various platforms that connect to each other to lead to repeat purchase or brand advocacy.” Phew, that is a mouthful, but  totally have to be on board with Al here. It’s all about what the brand stands for and telling that point of view. Not an ad with free shipping, or a huge percent off. That’s why Kate Spade is doing so stellar. :)

“Content Marketing tells stories that are memorable and sharable. It persuades and engages consumers without being promotional and as a result, it’s more trustworthy and transparent than straight up ads. (- Heidi Cohen)” Ah, yes indeed. We get to know the brand, create memories, emotions, and we want to share them.

A Thumb Princess by Kim Jung Han for Korea Vogue - 2006

Photo Via Vogue Korea 2006 – A Thumb Princess By Kim Jung Han

So, fashion brands let’s get back to basics and we can start creating our own story that just might end up living happliy every after. Heh – had to throw a pun in there. But in all seriousness, hoping to see more brands go back to story time in the new year.

xo

Tam

Hello, Hello, Baby, You Called?

December 15th, 2011 § 2 comments § permalink

christina aguilera old phone talkie
Photo via Unknown Source, but its Xtina!

Communication. It’s such a simple word, yet such a complex thing for people to do. Why do brands have such a hard time talking to customers?

Well, “back in they day” brands could just ignore customer service letters, mess up a customer order and not say sorry, make a mistake and hope no one notices. Not this “day and age”. With social media, email, and technology the way it is, there is no reason NOT to communicate with your peeps. (Notice the “with” part. Brands should be talking with customers, not “to” them.) If you ignore them – they will let you know via any channel they can and it’s out there for the world to see and to taint your image.

So wouldn’t it be easier just to be their friend and tell them everything? I mean realistically you can’t tell them EVERYTHING, but let them know about things that affect their experience with you. Prime example of good social media “phone” skills? Take a look at men’s fashion retailer Bonobos. They had a major snafu on Cyber Monday (the site crashed completely, and for like 3 days!) and this is how their CEO handled it.

An Apology From Bonobos

They didn try to ignore it, or even explain it in a simple sentence. Andy (the head honcho) was real, to the point, and from an outisders view – honest.

He took the time to tell his peeps what was up and even honored the sale they missed out on. This is good communication. (High fiveeeee!)

Telephone Editorial - Specimen Models

Photo via Specimen Models

So basically, my point is that good communication can mean the world to your customers. If you are an honest-to-good brand, and you make a mistake – own it, explain what happend, what will happen, and your customers will forgive and forget. (well except for some haters are gonna hate, so let ‘em be) They will still love you, because that’s what we do as humans. We make mistakes, we learn from them, we forgive others, and we continue loving. (and all that gushy mushy stuff)

And.. now time for the post-like wrap up:

• Let customers know what’s going on. You may think they don’t care, but they do. This goes for mistakes, successes, or even small changes.

• Brand engagement and experience matters. Customers are spending their hard earned money, and sometimes they will spend that extra buck because they are loyal to you and no one else. Do your best to make it worth those extra pennies. Form that personal relationship with them so they know they can count on you to do the right thing.

• Know that no brand is ever perfect. Welcome customer comments – the good, bad, and the ugly.

lady-gaga-telephone-video
Photo via Mother Monster

Soooooooooo, I see many brands make slip-ups and try to hide themselves with marketing schticks. Brands that are succeeding these days (well, morally) are the ones that openly communicate with customers about mistakes, growing pains, issues, successes, testing, milestones, triumphs, basically whatever. Kinda honoring the “open door” policy. Because isnt’ that what the social world now is? A mega-door that has been opened for everyone to walk through. Social media opened the door to brands actually being a “good” friend to a customer.

When the social media phone rings, don’t just ignore it. What do you do? Pick it up and say hello. It’s a good start and will most likely lead to an ear-opening conversation.

Ta-ta for now,

xo

Tam

Start Your Engines…Fashion Forward’s Top Tweets

October 28th, 2011 § 8 comments § permalink

Fashion-Forward-Digital

Ok, going to get a bit nerdy on ya… but the race to digital dominance is on!!!!  Fashion Forward Digital amazingly brought together fashion brand leaders, digital influencers, and wickedly intelligent people discussing fashion brands’ digital work yesterday in NYC. Can I just say – it’s about freakin’ time!!! Digital is crucial to the fashion retail world  and I love that its importance is being highlighted. Albeit, I was not there physically, Twitter was so kind to update me all day with thoughtful tweety insights.  So,  partially as a reminder to myself and partially hoping this helps others, I’ve pulled out key “nuggets” (see below)  from the #FFD hashtag and collected my fav tweets!

2011 Fashion Forward Digital Insights

  • Engagement just isn’t key, conversations are too.
  • Don’t be afraid of content platforms – find new ways to connect and story-tell through. Right now, the hot tamales are Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, etc.
  • Partner with the right people who make sense for your brand vision and understand that it’s an investment on both parts – treat them well, you’re a team  – ya know?
  • Story-tell in every way – images, words, motion – let people know who your brand is, don’t  just showcase or push your product.
  • Make use of content, social media platforms, and feedback to evaluate your sales funnel and tweak what gets discovered, discussed, and ultimately decided on (aka purchased).

See… don’t you want to be here too? If only  just to hang out with the Man Repeller and Lala, but so many good convos going on and sooo much to learn. I’m really hoping that I can make it there for the next get together!

xo

Tam

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