On Saturday I read an article in the Weekend Financial Times titled, "Style bloggers take centre stage", on the fashion industry's (reluctant?) embrace of bloggers, and by extension social media, as a means of reaching out to greater audiences. Specifically, the article mentions ByanBoy, a 23 year old fashion blogger and his newly-elevated status to the front row of a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show, up there with the ranks of fashion icons such as Vogue magazine's Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune. Does a high end fashion house appealing to the Web Masses water down a brand, as many luxury retailers wonder? I think not, and in fact it can help build a brand and drive sales. Besides the overall uber-chic modernity of inviting a blogger to tap-tap-tap away at their laptop or iPhone from the front row, this is actually an extremely smart move, from a branding perspective, for Dolce & Gabbana.
The article mentions how some of the most popular fashion bloggers (for example Scott Schuman of the Sartorialist) can clock in over 200,000 followers - and that's excluding readers who may stumble across it from a typical Google search. These are all essential eyeballs that are vital to building and maintaining the D&G brand. Let's run a scenario from a marketing perspective – a blogger is given a front row seat at a fashion show, which costs nothing besides the ego of whoever got kicked out of that seat to accommodate him; he/she's given a handful of free designer samples; add a huggy/BFF photo op for a Flikr or Facebook page; and even toss airfare/hotel to attend the show into the mix (just guessing since I have no idea whether bloggers are paid to travel in such a way) and what you've got is a relatively low-budget method of reaching hundreds of thousands of users at a fraction of the cost of reaching the same numbers via a full-page advertisement in Vogue magazine. Finally, take into account the production costs saved (photo shoots, ad agency fees, etc.) and it sounds like a bargain at twice the price if you ask me! Why pay Mario Testino for an on-location shoot in Moscow with a team of supermodels when Tavi, a 13-year-old blogger from the suburbs of Chicago, will bring an iPhone to Fashion Week for you!
Even though the large majority of a blogger's followers will never be able to afford these high fashion luxury items, you can say the same of readers of Vogue, GQ or Elle magazine. And, just like magazine readers, luxury brands need a blogger's aspiring readers to keep their cache. In the same Weekend FT, I read about shoe designer Jimmy Choo's new limited-edition line at H&M. Target's always got designers creating gear for their stores. Giorgio Armani has A|X Armani Exchange, Chanel sells fragrances, Versace sunglasses, etc, etc. All extensions that help a brand and it's products reach the men and woman who may never step foot in a Madison Avenue flagship to purchase a $3,000 suit or a $15,000 ballgown. If you ask a typical blog follower (or Vogue reader for that matter) if she's got a Chanel suit sitting in her closet, the answer will most likely be "no". But, ask those same women if they own a bottle of Chanel No.5 perfume or a pair of A|X Jeans and the numbers can start to add up. Especially for the label.
Ahmed Yearwood
Y INTERACT
www.yinteract.com
Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/yinteract
