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Fashion Through A Digital Lens

Fashion marketers, designers and students gathered on 13 October 2005 to hear a range of fashion brand, web marketing and interactive television speakers explore the lessons, trends and opportunties for fashion on digital channels, reports Deirdre Molloy....

Fashion marketers, designers and students gathered on 13 October 2005 to hear from a range of fashion brand, web marketing and interactive television speakers explore the lessons, trends and opportunties for fashion on digital channels....

Report by Deirdre Molloy

This was a jointly-produced NMK / Interactiveknowhow event

Amanda Zuydervelt – StyleBible.com

Amanda opened saying that to build a successful site you need to be sure that you build a loyal online community, but that because the Internet is still such a new economy that what should be a simple process can easily become a headache.

What makes a successful site she wondered, using an example from Seth Godin, she pointed out that being part of a big brand name doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the edge, small players can compete on a level playing field online, what is important is not how many hits you get but how long users stay and how often they return.

She listed the three key components for making a successful website – attract, attain and earn the loyalty of your users.

In terms of attracting visitors – from the outset you must optimise your website for search engines (SEO) and undertake natural listings search engine marketing, web masters should also ensure that content is updated giving users a reason to return.

The value-attention exchange

The problem is that the web has lost the trust of the public a bit. Investment suffered in the dotcom crash and it’s become a vicious circle as the web is now seen as a free resource as a result. So what content can we give people that they are going to be prepared to pay for?

Taking the case of her own site Stylebible.com, she realised that designer sample sales offering up to 70% off would be a good attraction for people signing up, so Amanda explained how she contacted all the big design houses and offered to publicise their sample sales for free. Although they did it for free this gave Stylebible content that was extremely valuable, they created a Sample Sale Diary from it and this gave their members reason to return time and time again. They didn’t want to go up against Vogue’s content so they created content that was hard to come by and that was valuable to its members.

As of October 2005, Stylebible had 3,000 registered members purely through word-of-mouth.

Citing the infamous example of Boo.com, Amanda explained when Boo found itself in trouble, they decided to close their magazine first – which was most Boo.com shoppers’ first point of reference in reading about the latest items posted in the shop, it was this interactive content that would have aid sales.

A latterday success story in online fashion is Asos.com, and their biggest way of growing their market has been through email marketing. Brand marketing is the holy grail, Amanda stressed.

The internet is not as mass medium, but an interactive medium, she noted, in that it’s all about personalisation. When it comes to retail the social experience of shopping is not going to go away. Physical and virtual stores should work in tandem, she concluded.

Ally Capellino – Founder & Director, Ally Capellino

Ally took us on a tour of their website that compliments their store offerings.

In explaining the reasoning behind their website, Ally said they made a conscious decision that you have to make an enquiry rather than inputting credit card details and this has been quite successful to date.

If people see something on the website that they like, they must contact the shop and this provides them with the personal touch that they need.

This counter-intuitive approach (in web terms at least) chimes with the notion that for the premium value accrued to being “in the know” things shouldn’t be too easy, and that half the fun of being fashionable and in touch is in the effort required to get there, and the exploration that involves.

Ally stressed that they wanted the website to be as simple as possible. They made the move to having a shop, and they thought it was naturally time to have a website.

Paul Toeman – Panlogic

Paul outlined a schema whereby as fashion moves into interactive media, the brand and its advocates are put more closely in touch. Is fashionable always just out of reach, he wondered, or can mass market and popular be fashionable?

A brand he defined as “a set of promises that deliver a relationship” and if the brand doesn’t deliver on that you walk away. Taking the case of Anne Summers – he told of their Jessica Rabbit ads that came in the form of Flash movies and were really good – but when you then, as a customer, go to their actual website it’s not up to much and very disappointing.

Expectations affect behaviour, he continued, and you can make wonderful promises but then if you don’t deliver you’ll get bad PR elsewhere on the web. The H&M site at the time got rid of accessibility issues by looking like a scrapbook. Debenhams’ approach was to focus on selling their designer diffusion lines through the website. George At Asda fell down in offering a substandard email newsletter. So the picture overall for big brands is very mixed.

Tips for online that he offered included good product photography. Up-to-date stock holding information is another key facility – if we go to buy something and then it turns out not to be available, that’s a big turn-off and affects future behaviour.

Providing a “latest news” service is also recommended, as it keeps us up with the “just out of reach” factor that drives fashion.. Integrating offline and online also works wonders: the Boodles jewellery brand created a “who’s wearing Boodles” area online and that became the second most popular area of the site after the homepage in terms of web traffic.

Nicholas Roope – Poke

As the creative director of an online marketing agency, Nicholas first took us through two past contrasting fashion sites Poke produced. Top Shop is a very different brand from McQueen. It’s not so much about the clothes but more like a circus. Top Shop have realised that and want to make it all as much fun as possible. This recognises that the relationship between the band and the customer is about more than cash – you have to give them something back in return.

Nicholas then turned to the Hulger site he developed initially as a hobby on the side. Originally named Pokia, they changed the name after complaints from a mobile handset manufacturer. Hulger sells reconditioned old landline phone receivers that can be plugged into mobile phones instead of hands-free kits, and into laptops equipped with Skype, etc.

It started as a bit of a laugh but rapidly accrued mainstream publicity through the runaway viral uptake of the products quirkyness and counter-intuitive retro-fitting of an old item for the modern age.

The various iterations of the Hulger website started with an ultra-simple page. As Nicholas explained it, the web community isn’t impressed with ultra-slick but rather buy stuff that is good. The ultra-networked community it was embraced by was accentuated by blogs. For instance, they got 60,000 visits just through being featured on Boing Boing once, and this led to a half-page feature in the New York Times. They were able then to launch a business without having spent a penny on marketing or anything else, apart from production.

Roope extrapolated from this that for some fashion and lifestyle products that appeal, brand-building and much of their marketing can be done by viral means and by connecting with the networked audience and consumer evangelists that will promote their offering through blogs and other grassroots means.

Carie Bolsover – Channel 4

Considering the Interactive TV sphere, Carrie described how it takes us into a bespoke environment about the product – the sphere of “t-commerce” as she called it.

For fashion designers and SMEs, t-commerce should be considered because brands need to utitlise all media. It raises curiosity and sets trends. It can offer bespoke consumer advice, providing PR for news designers and stores. And it caters for the impulse response – viewers could be watching a programme while the top right hand corner box has ads still going out.

Carrie explained the micro-site concept – this is three-quarter screen but carries a lot more detail. It takes the viewer into bespoke additional content. She also highlighted their mobile phone opportunity "iAds mobile " whereby the consumer texts a number and receives content to their mobile including video clips, screen savers, product offers, cinema/ store look up etc.

Taking the case of the new Chanel perfume ad, unseen footage, a longer three-minute version and a segment about the heritage of Chanel were all extras offered via interactive TV.

DISCUSSION / AUDIENCE Q&A:

Nicholas Roope noted that Primark were currently missing a huge PR opportunity as the resurgent popularity of their bargain-priced fashion keyed into a vogue for cheap deals on the high-street. Paul Toeman concurred, noting that Primark have posted a 12% increase in sales but there’s not even any stock available through their website.

A delegate asked what is the best form of customer promotion and building online? Amanda stressed the importance of search engine marketing, and also putting your URL on your labels and marketing material. Nicholas took a different tack and said you could grow your brand cheaply and effectively by launching a blog such as that offered free by Blogger or Wordpress, and by using Yahoo Groups and eBay.

Roope also mentioned copyright - with Hulger, he didn’t copyright it and his concept has now been copied many times. But smaller brands should take advantage of the opportunities afforded by new technologies.

Paul Toeman reinforced this point, saying that the growing use of the web is for communication, not information, citing the Levi’s Europe ‘Antidote’ site that through its support of local grassroots subcultural activity, enabled customers to become advocates of the brand.

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See the original EVENT PAGE

About the Speakers:

Ally Capellino - Founder & Designer, Ally Capellino
2005 marks 25 years in the fashion business for Ally Capellino, aka Alison Lloyd, with fans including Orlando Bloom, Jamie Oliver, Kate Moss, Suzanna York, Greta Scacchi and Gabriel Byrne. Ally Capellino was a trailblazer in the clothing industry, opening a fashion/lifestyle shop in Wardour Street Soho in 1988 long before others realised the area's potential. A pioneering partnership with Coats Viyella established design consultancy agreements with M&S and in conjunction with a Japanese licensee she opened own-brand stores throughout Japan when British designers were only just achieving recognition. In 1999 she signed a design agreement with the Guides Association to redesign the Girl guides uniforms and in 2002 she moved to news studio office space in Shoreditch.

Carie Bolsover - Interactive Commercial Manager, Channel 4
Carie is responsible for the development and expansion of Channel 4’s interactive advertising department, which launched its first campaign at the beginning of 2002. Since then, the channel has carried over 170 interactive campaigns, including ads for Adidas. Carie, who’s background is in TV advertising, will be talking about the opportunities iTV offers fashion brands – allowing viewers to engage on a variety of levels from entering competitions to viewing catwalk footage to requesting samples. The iTV environment is constantly evolving, and Carie sees fashion as ideal to become a key sector within this medium.

Amanda Zuydervelt - Founder, StyleBible
Since 1999 Amanda has been an innovation leader in the world of web design. Her latest venture Stylebible.com, tipped for success by the fashion glossies, offers a subscription-only information service on the hottest spas, hotels, shops and night spots in London and New York initially, then adding information on a new city every quarter. Alongside www.stylebible.com Amanda still runs her web agency Strategic Design, which works with a raft of prestigious clients, including the iconic Gina shoe brand, for which she has won such awards as UK Site of the Day and the Gold Site of Excellence. Amanda’s growing reputation as an arbiter of style has led to consultancy on make-over shows including Beverley Hills Doctor 90210.

Paul Toeman - Commercial Director, Panlogic
Paul started his career in direct marketing on the agency side, concentrating on customer loyalty and CRM. After a rapid rise through a number of London agencies, Paul sat a part-time MBA before moving to Honda, eventually heading up its CRM function after 4 years. A short time running his own magazine publishing consultancy, led Paul to jointly running Panlogic as its Commercial Director since 2003.

Nicholas Roope - Creative Director, Poke
From leading creative practitioner and cofounder of Antirom in 1996, though to creative director roles at Oven Digital and Poke, Nicolas has always looked beyond industry rhetoric to the inspiring truths of interactive networked media; this passion driving a career in the business spanning the last ten years. This period has been punctuated with success stories and awards that have recognized his contribution to the industry. Nicolas jointly set up Poke with some Deep End vets in 2001. A frequent contributor to ICON and Design Week, his work and ideas have been widely distributed through the blogosphere and international media. Nicolas also founded the Pokia / Hulger project (www.hulger.com), another creative slant on technology, but in this instance physical.

See the original EVENT PAGE