Three Things Luxury Managers Need to Know about Digital Strategy

As a graduate major in the Medill IMC program, we learn about luxury brands and the trends which impact the marketing of them. Just a few years back, most luxury brands were skeptical about digital media. The question, “Is digital killing luxury brands,” was frequently asked, and for many prestige executives, their brands’ exclusivity ran tangent to those wholly democratic platforms. Their fear was reasonable – if they failed to nail it, the democratizing effect of digital media could have diluted the brands.

Now that premium brands have found themselves befriending the fear. And they have good reasons to talk themselves into going online. According to Adweek, eighty percent of people with an income of over $250,000 are active on social media sites. In addition, a 2011 Digitas study shows that millennials, also known as digital natives, will become major high-end shoppers over the next few years and should therefore be targeted now.

So brands from Aston Martin to Cartier are embracing digital wholeheartedly. They are setting up Facebook pages, posting videos on YouTube, redesigning their ecommerce sites, and developing mobile apps. Choosing the right platforms is essential to good luxury brand digital strategy – on that we can agree. However, great luxury brand digital strategy puts emphasis on a more holistic approach. They ask how – how to leverage the world’s most democratic media. With that in mind, here are three things today’s luxury executives must know when creating their own digital strategy:

Picture Source: ogilvydo.com

1. Maintain that sense of exclusivity. Luxury managers have been worried about losing their cachet in this digital landscape. However, their concern misses the point because if premium brands want to remain prestigious, they need to engage not only the affluent set but also the aspirational set. This is where the power of digital media comes into play. Digital media offers luxury brands an opportunity to build tremendous clout among customers who want but cannot afford the products. This, in turn, helps the brands preserve that sense of exclusivity and makes the products more desirable for high-end shoppers.  

2. Create an engaging experience. Oftentimes, engagement relies on stories that sell, whether it be a Facebook post or a branded video. Cartier, for instance, has done a great job selling its story recently. The French jeweler is running a digital campaign for the new Tank Anglaise timepiece. The campaign focuses on communicating the history of Cartier’s iconic Tank timepieces. Cartier creates a video that showcases the Tank model alongside the evolution of the arts, and the Tank story is also incorporated into Cartier’s social media content. 

3. Be consistent in the brand image. Maintaining brand consistency across digital platforms has become somewhat of a challenge to today’s luxury marketers. This is because digital media has changed the way these brands reach their target audience – it seems difficult to control the brand image while encouraging “interactivity.” For luxury marketers, however, killing the conversation between the brand and the consumers is not the answer. Instead, understanding that they need to ultimately gain control of their branding through generating content, responding, and monitoring on a regular basis is the key. 

By adhering to these principles, luxury brands are taking that first step to better ingratiate themselves with consumers in the digital landscape.

Phoebe Chen is a graduate student in Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University. She specializes in brand management and marketing analytics and has experience working with multinational companies operating in various industries. Follow her @yhschen or connect with her on LinkedIn: Phoebe Chen. 

Three Ways Fashion Magazines can Recapture the Spotlight

With these digital strategies fashion magazine can stop the (fashion) bloggers from strutting all over them

by Kathryn Rubin Goodman

“Video killed the radio star” but has the Internet, particularly bloggers, slain the fashion magazine? Vogue, Elle, Glamour and Cosmopolitan are iconic brands– but how many of us actually purchase these magazines anymore? Falling sales figures and tumbling advertising revenue, beckons the question: are fashion magazines outmoded?

Magazine publishers blame Internet, arguing that the disintermediation of content online allows consumers to choose from an overabundance of free sources. While it’s true that people always prefer ‘free stuff’, there may be another reason that consumer’s are abandoning their allegiance to the fashion magazines in lieu of fashion blogs.

A whole new set of ‘fashion’ dictators in town
Once upon a time, what Vogue said was ‘IT’. Considered the ‘bible of fashion’ its decision of what colors and what silhouettes to feature trickled all the way down from Yves Saint Lauren to Target’s clearance bin; but now fashion bloggers have seized the reigns. So what do fashion bloggers have?

Trustworthy-ness: To younger consumers, fashion blogs seem more honest than established mainstream titles such as Glamour and Elle, after all they display the day-to-day looks of real women without the elaborate photo shoots equipped with an army of stylists, hairdressers and makeup artists. Designers and retailers have taken note of this trend, and have begun to usher these fashion bloggers out from behind their computer screens and into the spotlight. Just look at TJMaxx’s latest set of commercials, featuring fashion blogger Lindsey Calla (aka Saucy Glossie) walking viewers through her favorite looks. The birth of this latest partnership has allowed bloggers to lure even more readers away from the mainstream fashion magazines.

Real-time delivery: In a world where ‘on-demand’ rules, fashion brands see bloggers as a way to deliver instant news about the latest trends. Just scan the front row at a fashion show and you'll see that coveted spots typically reserved for magazine editors and celebrities are now also being filled by fashion bloggers, whose avid followers await their minute-by-minute updates. The rapid pace of social media allows consumers to engage with fashion brands in real-time, so fashion houses are no longer constrained by Vogue’s schedule. They can now swiftly distribute their own content directly to the consumer, bypassing the magazines entirely.

Three ways to rule once more
So what’s a fashion magazine to do? Option 1:fold up its pages or option 2: FIGHT. Fashion bloggers have created a unique experience for consumers, one that is timely and personal; fashion magazines should combined digital capabilities of tablets and smartphones with their formidable resources to create a truly engaging experience that will out shine the bloggers.

Below are three ways to create a strategy that will boost engagement, translate into increased profitability and help fashion magazines win this 'cat fight':

1. ATTACK on multiple fronts: Today, you can access fashion magazines' content online, on your tablet and on your smartphone; but it’s basically all the same! However, these different mediums need to compliment rather than substitute each other. Fashion magazines should channel their energy into developing killer tablet apps for the monthly issues, turning the websites into real-time updates for a quick fix and creating smartphone apps that deliver much-needed ‘service-oriented content’. By using these different mediums to satisfy distinctive needs, fashion magazines can create a full range of experiences that fashion bloggers cannot even come close to realizing.

2. ENGAGE the consumer: Fashion magazines have neglected the technological capabilities of the tablets, smartphones and even our PCs, placing the quality of the content above all else; and while content is definitely key, everybody likes a bit of ‘glitz and glam’. From the editorial content to the advertisements, fashion magazine publishers need to start combining video, slideshows and audio to create a more interactive experience for their readers – one that free bloggers cannot afford to produce.

3. TRANSFORM the reader into a customer: While fashion magazines' main role is to promote the latest designs, they need to step in up a notch and sell what they preach. Online shopping is all the rage, with Amazon 1-click ordering leading the way. Magazines must seize this opportunity, and integrate the reading and buying experience to create the option for consumers to easily purchase products directly through the magazine’s tablet and smartphone apps – a move that would transform the leading fashion magazines from style makers to virtual retailers, recapturing the attention of the leading fashion houses.

To prevent fashion magazines from going 'out of fashion', they need to embrace the latest technological trends to out-style the bloggers.

Kathryn is currently a graduate student at Northwestern's Medill Integrated Marketing Communications, concentrating in Direct & Interactive Marketing and Media Management at the Kellogg School of Management. Upon completion of the program she is extremely interested in pursuing a career in the media industry, particularly in the digital strategy department of a major fashion magazine. Follow her @KatRubinGoodman and connect with her on LinkedIn: Kathryn Rubin Goodman.

The New 'Fast Fashion': Say No to Social, Say Goodbye to Your Business

Social media is forever changing the fashion landscape as we know it. The traditional operational cycles of luxury fashion are being disrupted by a real-time web environment- where bloggers and devout fashionista brand advocates are playing an increasingly influential role in dictating fashion trends, and are bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘fast fashion’. Blogger Bryan Grey-Yambao, known to fans as Bryanboy, gets 1.5 million hits on his blog in one month alone. One post on colored denim from Bryanboy, and a new trend emerges, almost overnight.

Other media platforms are also picking up on the ‘fast fashion’ approach. Shows such as NBC’s “Fashion Star” allow viewers to buy items almost immediately after they are created, hence its tagline, “Watch it today, wear it tomorrow.” Popular band Devo just released the first interactive music video, in which viewers can access links to directly buy apparel featured in the video. Luxury e-commerce site Gilt recently launched ‘Pin It to Unlock’ on its Pinterest board, which allows shoppers the opportunity to purchase exclusive, just-released items the moment they have been pinned to 50 times.

The evolution of social allows consumers to engage in fashion in real-time, all the time. The brands that will win are those who realize that this new mode of interaction and engagement necessitates a different, fast-paced marketing approach. Static Facebook and Twitter pages no longer cut it. 

The brands that are coming out on top are those who leverage social to create meaningful and sustainable relationships with consumers. They are also the ones who are finding ways to monetize it. 

Below are four ways to adapt social into your business, and use it to increase consumer engagement as well profitability:

1. Blog like there’s no tomorrow. Fashion bloggers are the new thought leaders in the industry. Smart designers and execs realize this and are creating their own personal blog communities. Designer Rebecca Minkoff and DKNY’s SVP of Global Communications Aliza Licht lead wildly successful online communities Minkette and dknyprgirl, with droves of loyal brand advocates that do a lot of the marketing work for them. Be honest, be earnest, be open to dialogue, and watch your fan base (and sales) grow.

2. Play with Pinterest. It’s the hottest thing in social right now, and innovative companies and brands are finding ways to monetize it. Says Gilt Kids General Manager Rachel Jarrett: “We are giant fans of Pinterest. We think it’s the future. We know [our customers] are highly engaged there and it’s a great way to interact with them. Create an online board for your brand, and use it to engage customers with your product 

3. Test Engagement Ads on Facebook. Focus on reaching your target customer, create compelling call-to-action messages, and make a dynamic first impression by sending them to a custom welcome tab instead of your public page wall.  

4. Increase Your Online Presence. Gone are the days when high fashion hid behind its velvet curtain. Get your brand onto pages such as Polyvore and StyleCaster, global communities of independent trendsetters and stylists. Translation: where trends are born.

Is your brand ready to take on the fast-paced social media trend? It better be, because unlike most trends, this one is here to stay.

 
Martha Sojka is a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC marketing program specializing in branding, analytics, and digital marketing. Her focus is on the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle industries. She is set to graduate in December 2012. Martha can be reached on twitter using the handle @MarthaDomiSojka