Fashion shows are meant to be “private” events. Hard to believe that just a few years ago we had to wait for WWD or the Wall Street Journal to give us a recap on what happened at the shows, but with digital media such as Twitter, Facebook, UStream, and LiveStream, the fashion runway show is no longer just for the elite as we saw with Louis Vuitton and Oscar De La Renta recently. Its now for the fans, the consumers, the admirers, the bloggers, and of course still for the buyers.
But, Burberry did something monumental over the weekend. Its Prorsum Menswear Spring Summer 2011 Fashion Show actually sold clothes. No, it didnt sell clothes during market week that will be in stores next March 2011, but it actually let people who watched the live streaming show create a look book of their favorite runway looks and allow them to purchase the looks directly from the Burberry site. And… it gets better. Facebook and Twitter widgets allowed viewers to chat during the show with other fans or share with their networks. After the show, the items in the look book would be available for immediate purchase and will be delivered in 6-8 weeks, rather than wait 6-8 months for them to be in retail stores.
Burberry has done a first for the fashion industry. It actually bridged the gap from runway to consumer and it if this proves viable it could pave the way for many more brands to follow in its foot steps. Here are 4 trends to look forward to from Burberry breaking the barrier.
- Integrated social shopping – social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare will be incorporated in all shows, and fashion ecommerce sites allowing consumers to do their own brand promotion and get feedback from peers
- Fashion Buyers might not have the final say as to what belongs in stores – Currently buyers go to market and choose what pieces from a designer’s line belongs in the stores. Buyers “predict” what consumers will want to purchase in the upcoming season. However, with Burberry’s look book capabilities fans & consumers can drive what they want to
buy and don’t necessarily have to rely on a buyer. Consumer’s voices will be more valued if 1,000 people like or put the harem pants in their look book, even though a buyer claims the pants won’t “sell”.
- Could eliminate fashion seasons as we know them – With the ability to purchase clothes straight from the runway, this could pave the way for fashion seasons and runway shows to be in real-time and instead of having the Fall/Winter collection in February but not in stores until the following September, it could be in that same year’s fall and winter months.
- Provide almost instant gratification – For consumers this means no more gawking over runway shows and waiting months and months to see if your favorite item makes the cut. You could enjoy your favorite creations in less than two months.
Through various digital media, Burberry has made its runway a reality. After all, isn’t a runway show’s purpose to sell clothes? Now it “really” can. For more details on Burberry’s digital fashion marketing efforts check out Mashable.com.
Twitter Fashion
Through my recent experience interning at a fashion brand in NYC, I’ve come to realize that many brands know they need to be on Twitter to but don’t necessarily have a strategy laid out to how they can best use it.
I came across a great group on LinkedIn called nonetheless, “Twitter Strategies“and the below article “7 Insanely Useful Ways To Search Twitter for Marketing” which can be applied to any brand.
There are current a few fashion brands that use Twitter well, such as DKNY and DVF, but there are a few (not going to mention names) that hardly engage with their following at all. One key insight I found in the article was competitive eavesdropping. Eavesdropping on what the Twitter-sphere is saying about competitor brands or about your brand, is key to shaping how you interact with the community.
I especially enjoy when I talk about a brand in my tweet, such as DKNY and without even “@” replying them, they searched for the brand name and engaged in a quick DM (Direct Message) with me. That kind of personal touch goes a long way for brand advocacy, and I definitely value it as a consumer. Skim through the article below and find some ways how Twitter can help your brand whether it be a fashion blog, small boutique, or large brand!
This is a must read for all fashion brands, or even just brands in general. Its the epitome of why and how a fashion brand can test and connect with its consumers.Well done Chanel!
from The Business of Fashion by Vikram Alexei Kansara
…Having created runway videos, a silent film and short video teasers to accompany their Paris-Moscou Pre-Fall 2009 and Paris-Venice Resort 2009-2010 “Métiers d’Art” collections, Chanel recently launched a longer-format film and a full runway video for their Paris-Shanghai Pre-Fall 2010 collection. To accompany Paris-Shanghai, Mr. Lagerfeld has also been posting a series of behind the scenes video diaries documenting his design process, as well as fittings with models and the making of advertising campaigns, all released via YouTube and the Chanel News section of the brand’s website.
In fact, Chanel News looks a lot like a blog and publishes “exclusive online features” with enough originality, regularity and volume to qualify as an online magazine. As well as the videos for the “Metiers d’Art” collections, there are fittings with Lily Allen for Spring Summer 2010, a ballet filmed in the haute couture salon at 31 rue Cambon, images of Coco Chanel’s private apartments shot by Olivier Zahm, personal entries from “Karl’s Diary,” and short films such as “Fitting Room Follies” and “Vol de Jour” featuring Lara Stone. With new features added every few days, it’s a remarkable volume of material. (THIS IS KEY!! Keep readers interested)
So why is Chanel investing in creating and publishing all this digital content? The answer is rooted in the changing nature of media, marketing and technology and underscores lessons that all major fashion brands would do well to observe.
In the past, marketing fashion collections mostly meant buying pages in magazines or space on strategically positioned billboards. In both cases, brands paid to interrupt consumers, repeating a visual theme or message in order to create recognition, desire and conversion. By exerting their influence as advertisers, brands also forced magazines to feature their products in their editorial. But today, affluent consumers are migrating online, where the balance of power is dramatically different. ( I have to add in here, before fashion marketing execs were marketing to consumers, and now they must market between consumers and amoung them.)
It’s hard for consumers to avoid advertising when they’re flipping through a magazine or walking down the street. And it’s hard for publishers to ignore advertisers’ demands when the costs of printing and distribution are high. But on the web, where the tools of communication are largely free — it costs nothing to publish a blog, share on Facebook, or broadcast on Twitter — brands no longer have the leverage to monopolise media or pressure editors. In fact, the sheer volume of media and commentary generated by consumers themselves increasingly drowns out the monologue of traditional marketing.
These days, it’s not about being louder. It’s about being more interesting. To communicate effectively, brands must inspire and harness conversations amongst consumers by giving people something remarkable to talk about — something of value that they will actively seek out, amplify and share with others. In this new reality, forward-thinking fashion brands like Chanel are learning to think like media companies, creating and publishing original editorial content to earn attention and attract fans who will carry their message across the internet.
This approach makes particular sense for luxury fashion brands who are known for their creativity and ability to convey social status. That’s because, online, content is social currency: influencers increasingly earn friends and followers by circulating interesting digital content via their blogs, Facebook and Twitter.
For Chanel, there are signs that this is just the beginning of a broad strategy to give consumers a continuous stream of inspiring content to talk about and spread across the internet, driving recognition, desire and conversion. In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel fashion, recently announced plans to relaunch the current Chanel News blog, this March, as a full blown destination, chanel-news.com.“The idea is to give all these social networks a location where they can have genuine information about Chanel,” Pavlovsky said.
Watch this space.
Vikram Alexei Kansara is Managing Editor of The Business of Fashion