Brave New World
Ragtrader editor Assia Benmedjdoub recently set up an online conference to discuss recent developments in the field of social media. An edited transcript was recently published in Ragtrader magazine. Due to an overwhelming response from readers, Ragtrader Online has now made an extended transcript available below.
Marie Claire tweets. Rosemount Australian Fashion Week tweets. Ragtrader tweets. Cotton On tweets.
In a nutshell, "tweets" are messages of up to 140 characters which are posted on a free social networking and micro-blogging service known as Twitter. Ragtrader has dissected the new media phenomenon in previous editions - Twitter, Facebook, Youtube to name a few - so we set up an online conference to ask the experts about recent developments in this area.
For instance, with more consumer fashion magazines now embracing these tools as part of their coverage, are retailers and fashion brands losing control of how they are presented to the public?
The Panel
PH: Patty Huntington is the Australian correspondent for international trade bible Women's Wear Daily and has her own fashion blog frockwriter.blogspot.com. Huntington has also worked as a fashion journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald, its online arm smh.com.au and News Limited portal news.com.au. Her freelance work has appeared across Channel 7's Today Tonight program, The Australian and The Sun Herald.
KV: Kate Vandermeer has spent the last 15 years working across trend forecasting, design development and visual merchandising for fashion companies such as Mimco, Decjuba and French Connection. Vandermeer also writes for Marketing Magazine, Sunday Life, The Coolhunter and Fashionation. She launched iSpyStyle, an information portal and consultancy business for the fashion industry earlier this year.
AB: Patty, I'll start with you. What online media platforms (Twitter, Youtube, Facebook) do you use as a fashion journalist and what are the benefits of each?
PH: Blogger is the blog platform that I use for my blog. Additionally I also use Twitter and Twitpic - a photostream application that is connected to Twitter - although I am about to swap this for an alternative. I don't like the loss of control over TwitPic, which runs advertisements etc. For video, I use Qik live streaming video and for standard video Vimeo, which is in my opinion superior to YouTube. The video quality is better. I've used Cover It Live - a live dialogue box that you can embed into a blog or website - on numerous occasions this year for live coverage, providing an instant messaging- type chat with readers.
I'm also looking at several other applications. For instant messaging I use Skype and BlackBerry Messenger. I also have Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. That's in terms of what I personally use. For research, anything and everything on the net is used for data mining.
AB: I'll hand it over to you now Kate - what are your preferred tools?
KV: Sure thing. I use a variety. Twitter is my absolute hero at the moment as there are so many fabulous networking opportunities to be discovered, interesting people to connect with and things to learn. I have had a custom built CMS and website created for iSpyStyle, however I use blogger for my own online CV blog. I also use Facebook, Myspace, Flickr for research.
Oh yes.. and Linked In. I am finding new platforms all the time to use, but I probably use Google the most. There are also great new sites I'm discovering that are more niche like Source Bottle - where you can put PR and journo queries out there to be answered by certain audiences.
AB: Patty, you were an early adopter of these platforms but now mainstream fashion titles such as Marie Claire and Vogue Australia have joined the bandwagon. How has this changed the way brands are communicated to the consumer? Does it give them less control?
KV: Like all true trend cycles - from Leaders, Early Adopters, Popularity, Mass Coverage and then Decline - mainstream print media who have moved into the online space like your examples are suddenly needing to re-educate their team and their audience about their role as "fashion leaders". The blogging and online community that began as more niche are light years ahead, however the mainstream audiences of these magazines still have to educate their own audience. I think there is a relevant role for both. Whilst Twitter is obviously very popular at the moment, there are still many people who dismiss it as a "fad" and its relevance to them personally and their own interests. Magazines and mass media will play a crucial role in educating these audiences about the impact and relevance to that audience.
PH: I don't think Vogue has used social media well at all to be honest. They were very late to jump on Twitter and hilariously, several other fake Twitter accounts were already ahead of them. They don't have a very big presence on Twitter either. Unlike Marie Claire, which has a dedicated mobile editor and is really trying to gun it in social media. The problem with Vogue - in my personal opinion, for what it's worth - is that there is not a strong news culture at Vogue. There's an advertiser culture. Same goes for Marie Claire but they put more of an emphasis on news. Online media is really just an extension of what brands were already doing prior to the world going online. It's new real estate and you are either in it or you leave it to others. So far Marie Claire has been making very good use of it. Vogue not so much. Their website is of course very high profile but not due to the stories they are breaking. They enjoy tremendous promotion from news.com.au - one of Australia's biggest news websites.
KV: I think that there are still many mainstream/commercial Australian brands that have not yet realised the importance of how social media and indeed online media can impact their business. When I was doing R&D for a previous position, I found that many Australian retailers believed that an "online presence" was literally their own website.
PH: There was a story [recently] in The Times of London warning retailers to embrace bloggers now - or be left behind. It is fascinating to see how many companies are still floundering when it comes to new media. I think many of them still think it is all going to go away.
KV: So much education and convincing of the upper CEO/ GM areas is still required in order to understand the ROI with social media and digital strategies. Many upper management groups believe social media is a flash in the pan and will only understand it when they can attribute ROI to that specific platform.
PH: Yes believing that a company is involved in new media because it has a website seems to be a common misconception. Unless it has an interactive component, a straight website is old school Web 1.0, not Web 2.0.
KV: Given the reduction in PR and promotion with the GFC, the already tiny online budgets many brands had shrunk even further unfortunately. However it's not all doom and gloom...a few brands are actively involved and are "getting it" and are doing great things. Sportsgirl has employed a full time online editor to moderate the forums, upload new content, make their blog newsworthy etc.
AB: Kate and Patty, why are retailers so wary/reluctant about that online space?
PH: Because they have no control over it. They are nervous of criticism and accustomed to dealing with "top-down" legacy media and traditional advertising, where they dictate to consumers. It doesn't work like that anymore.
KV: I think that retailers are wary because a lot of them don't actually "understand" the technology and are not leaders or early adopters. A lot dismiss it as a "Gen Y" phase. There is also a real transparency with online that many brands are nervous about.
PH: There is also a sense that with for example bloggers, that they are not fashion professionals.
KV: I do understand that, however I think that education about these platforms and how this transparency can work to their advantage as a brand could be of real benefit. I'm seeing a lot of evidence to suggest that consumers are seeking "authenticity" from brands. They are over the 1.0 version of advertising which is all about "aspiration".
PH: The more I look at this the more I think that technophobia has a lot to do with things as well. Looking at a newspaper, magazine or TV show doesn't require much technical expertise. I think many people - certainly older marketers - don't use computers as part of their everyday lives as younger consumers do. They are not glued to their Macs, their iPhones, their mobile phones, as younger consumers are day-in-day-out.
AB: What about using social media for coverage of catwalk shows?
KV: I think we have to try and find a happy medium between enjoying a real time offline experience - e.g. a catwalk show - and actually taking this in for what it's creating and communicating that to the audience via social media. I personally like to do real time tweets as well as some delayed tweets. All this multi-tasking can cause important moments to be missed with so much information, but I also feel that it creates a great experience for those who weren't there and can follow that experience online through the eyes of someone like Patty.
PH: Twitter has provided much faster delivery of information from the shows. We saw it first in a big way at the fall/winter 2009/10 shows in New York in February and March, then again at each successive event. Rosemount Australian Fashion Week spring/summer 2009 was regarded by some as a bit of a watershed. We saw a flood of people on Twitter and a vast amount of info being provided. Some of it wasn't particularly interesting. And some hated it. Plenty of people loved it however.
I've used a service called Cover It Live (CIL) on numerous occasions this year. It's a live dialogue box that you can embed into a blog or website and which provides an instant messenging-type chat with readers. Used by several large media outlets, including The Huffington Post and news.com.au here in Australia, I believe when I covered the Golden Globes in January, it may have been the first time it was used on a fashion blog. I had certainly never seen it used anywhere else and at least two other fashion blogs subsequently picked up the idea. I then used it again for the Academy Awards and after that, both the D&G and Dolce & Gabbana live stream fall/winter 2009/10 runway shows and Gareth Pugh's "live" fall/winter 2009/10 show - which turned out to be a video presentation, but which was nevertheless streamed live.
For the three fashion shows, I teamed up with two other bloggers - Bryanboy and Matt ‘Imelda' Jordan. Instead of just adding them as producers on my CIL dashboard (which allows other parties to moderate comments and add photos etc), I gave them the embed code for the dialogue box and they added it to their blogs. So on each occasion the dialogue box ran simultaneously on all three blogs, which dramatically expanded the audience. It was certainly a lot of fun. You can feed up to 12 Twitter feeds into CIL so all three of us were reporting on Twitter and that commentary was going straight into the dialogue box. It's a bit hectic flicking between everything while you're observing the proceedings that you are reporting on, moderating comments, adding pics etc but a lot of fun.
KV: In terms of local social media brand strategies, Levi's run an "i Spy Levi's" competition on Twitter, where they create a treasure hunt for winning pairs of jeans. Smaller niche brands are doing some interesting things on Twitter where they are building communities online that filter through to their offline retail stores or their stockists. I particularly liked the fact the Fat stores in Melbourne used Hayley, a fashion blogger and photographer in Melbourne, to blog about their Fat Loves campaign. For me great social media strategies for brands work best when including and collaborating with other media savvy leaders or early adopters as they tap into a ready-made cult following. Which is smart.
PH: Dolce & Gabbana is probably the most progressive in social media terms of any international luxury marketer. Who else has live streamed their fashion shows to the net? They also have a great website called Swide which has compelling content. A few other brands are dabbling. Most have Facebook pages. But that's not enough. Burberry used multiple social media platforms for one men's fragrance launch and is looking seriously at this area.
KV: Also Chanel have created an iphone application that shows their catwalk parades - high quality parades like you are in front row. Very progressive for luxury markets I think. Halston and Viktor and Rolf are progressive, as is Stella McCartney who has completed amazing exclusive video/films for net-a-porter.com.
AB: Is new media as relevant for brands pitched at older markets?
PH: The over 40 demographic has been the fastest growth segment on Twitter
KV: As Patty has mentioned, the Twitter audience is actually older and the irony is that many people think Twitter is actually for Gen Y.
KV: I have found that there are some brands eg. Metalicus who are about to launch a new website in November with more interactivity. Although not using a blog, they have done R&D with their audience and are trying to establish more of a suitable online relationship with their demographic without being too "over the top".
PH: I don't agree that it's only Gen Y. There are plenty of older people who are very tech-savvy. Much of the technology that is currently being used has been pioneered by Gen X and the Boomers.
Apple Inc - Steve jobs (54), Steve Wozniak (59)
Microsoft - Bill Gates (53)
BlackBerry - Mike Lazaridis (48)
The MP3 player - Kane Kramer (53 - acknowledged by Apple as the true inventor of the iPod)
Nintendo's Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pikmin, F-Zero, Nintendogs and Wii Music - Shigeru Miyamoto (56)
Sony PlayStation - Ken Kutaragi (59)
The World Wide Web - Tim Berners-Lee (54), Robert Calliau (62)
The oldest Boomer is only 63 remember. There are plenty of older tech-savvy consumers as well.
KV: I just look to the amazing success and continued market share growth of luxury e-tailer net-a-porter and suggest more and more of the luxury consumer would be engaging with this. The big thing to note here is the fact that whatever brands do in terms of media strategies, they must communicate these initiatives to their audiences in multiple ways. Just like if you have a new blog post, you would advertise the new blog post through Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, an e-newsletter etc. If Chanel uploaded a new show via the iphone application, they should be letting their database know through an e-newsletter, at the POS when purchasing, through their sales people, through their website etc.
PH: Some of the biggest hassles I have had talking about this subject in Australia have been with twenty-something publicists. One company has zero web presence. It has nothing to do with age.
KV: Great stats there Patty. So true - the innovators with online are not just 16 pimply faced silicone valley tech guys! So many of the young publicists are actually some of the least educated about this area. Some think its just an extension of Facebook. You must adopt a more professional but still real time conversation online with Twitter and other social media. Its about building real relationships and connecting with your audience.
AB: It's interesting you bring that up Patty. There does seem to be a bit of resistance among fashion PR's to target (or even accommodate) online journalists and yet, a blog such as yours gets influential hits from around the world. Are they underestimating the power of online media or are the brands they work for reluctant to express themselves in this space?
PH: I think it comes down to the fact that younger consumers are - as Murdoch referred to them - digital natives. Technology comes generally much more easily to younger consumers because it is all they have known. Older consumers are digital migrants. But there are plenty of them. The explosion of Twitter in the 40+ demographic is a testament to this. Kids in fact don't like Twitter. But Twitter is revolutionising the way everyone does everything.
And yes, I do think that marketers and publicists have dramatically underestimated both the reach and the influence of new media-specialist journalists. They have either thought it's a flash in the pan or that the new media independents don't "count" because they are independent and all the publicists have cared about so far is legacy media and getting a plug in a big mainstream publication.
KV: I find this a real shame. PR's are supposed to be across ANY medium that will engage with their client's target audience. Some are fantastic and really get it and are finding great results with their clients, but sadly many do not get it. I've found that unless I have a personal relationship with a PR agency, (explaining why I need to be kept up to date on new store openings, in-store installations and new marketing initiatives), I tend not to get the information I require. I've noticed a heap of new PR agencies popping up on Twitter in the last 2-3 months. I have actually asked some friends in PR about this Patty, and they have said their clients just don't get the impact and reach of online media. Some PR agents would love to encourage more of an online presence for their clients but they have found that the powers that pay their bills are just not interested.
PH: What publicists are increasingly finding however is the fact that many, if not most, of those who are being paid to write about fashion by mainstream outlets, do not have the drive and passion of the independents, who are building audiences through the strength of their content. While many of the paid mainstream journalists are getting their information and material from the blogopshere and sitting back waiting for the press releases from the marketers, which is how things used to work. A luxury publicist complained to me the other day about the fact that they couldn't remember the last time a paid fashion journo had called them to find out what was going on - instead of waiting for them to send them information.
AB: How much should retailers allocate for new media initiatives?
KV: It depends. Have they done any offline media? Has it worked? If not, reduce that portion and try allocating more to online. The best bit about online media is its measurable. There are actually ways and software to prove its working, as opposed to billboards, print media etc. I think brands need to have a healthy balance of both online and offline. There is a danger of not creating a "real experience" if 100 per cent of the budget is online. It depends on the type of demographic you are pitching to as well.
PH: Some companies think new media is just smoke and mirrors - what they don't realise is that there are plenty of measurements and new media monitoring tools they could be using now to see what is being said about their brand in social media and who is leading the discussion. The same luxury publicist I was talking to last week also complained about how inadequate Media Monitors has become because it provides no filters. I told her about Nielsen's BuzzMetrics.
KV: "I think that we have a long way to go, but I do think that the same rules apply". A great quote from Gloss Creative at a recent Melbourne Spring Fashion Festival breakfast series that I feel is really important. Keep it simple. Don't get caught up in the stress of being "up to date". Apply the same rules and creative/ business strategies to each new situation. Engage with social media the way you know best...chances are there are plenty of others at the same level. Just keep on approaching new scenarios the same way. Don't get caught up in the "how am I going to stay on top of everything?". If you tap into your customer base, you'll see it through their eyes and relate to them accurately.
AB: Let's hark back to Fashion Week for a moment. Let's say, I'm a designer showcasing an exceptionally crafted garment. A blurry photo of that garment is tweeted within seconds. Three hours later, a beautiful, high resolution image is uploaded to vogue.com.au. Is speed more valuable than clarity? Isn't that brand entitled to feel wary? Should we tailor the type of content uploaded to Twitter?
PH: My feedback from many of my readers was that speed is very important to them. They want to know about something the minute it happens. Sure they can see better detail later on but it's the immediacy that they like. But I don't understand - are you talking about banning Twitter from fashion shows?
AB: Absolutely not! I just think it's important to put some of the criticisms out there.
PH: Yes, but they can't stop it happening. It's like trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.
KV: So true Patty. I can't think of following a fashion show without Twitter now. It's actually made me fall in love with people's creative comments rather than pictures all the time. I do use Twitpic and link through but the very nature of Twitter is to use the written word in a succinct manner to convey the message - it's great.
PH: And the camera phones are only going to get better. Already the Blackberry and iphone 2/3 megapixel cameras have been creamed by the 5 megapixel camera on Nokia's new phone, with, I hear, 12 megapixel camera phones en route. I quite like many of the blurry shots that are taken with the lower quality camera phones, however. We dubbed it 'bluralism' and people get their knickers in a knot every time I bring it up on the blog.
KV: I do believe both can work in harmony though. Offline and Online. Grazia do a great job online with their website, Twitter and obviously their magazine. Obviously they have shorter lead times as they are weekly, but they report and engage with more stories that began and are about the web. In terms of bluralism, it's like a new artists movement Patty...perhaps in the future, art students will study it like cubism!
PH: The fact is however, that camera phone photography HAS emerged as a new artistic medium. There are professional photographers using camera phones because they like the polaroid-like quality. One guy in the US dubbed the camera phone "the box brownie of the digital age".
AB: Looking ahead Kate and Patty, what is the new media landscape going to look like for Australian retailers/designers in five years time?
KV: Hmmm.... I think our phones will hold all our favourite data on it in an even more sophisticated way than we do know. We will be able to shop collections online, choose what we want and find out more about that brand, where it was made and get online styling tips all from one platform for mass brands... some progressive brands are dabbling in this now. I think we will have more brands offering a POD as they will be forced to engage and customise their user experience more. Research suggests we'll be looking for more authentic shopping experiences which merge online and offline.... greater retailer experiences will be paramount for creating a more personalised experience. We'll be looking for the wow factor. We'll be wanting to relate to our brands more... we've had a long period of "disloyalty" with consumers and I think we'll find that is reversing in years to come. We've shopped around, mixed vintage with high street and luxury.. but I think we'll hark back to a smaller selection of brands that speak directly to us and represent and reflect our own thoughts, inspirations and morals. So if brands want to jump on the curve ahead of time, I'd be thinking of coming back to your core values and then creating some really exciting ways of continuing the conversation with their clients moving forward.
PH: Natalie Massenet from net-a-porter, who has revolutionised online luxury retailing and is no Gen Y, predicted last year that the runway show as we know it will be replaced in in-season consumer showcases within five years. I personally predict that some bloggers are going to emerge as significant media outlets in their own right. It's already happening. But as the shift towards online advertising grows, more bloggers will be among the beneficiaries. At the moment most blogger advertising is what's called affiliate advertising, where bloggers esssentially give a free plug to an advertiser in exchange for a small cut of any sales that are made when readers click-through to the main site. There is already a reaction against that. Vogue doesn't get paid via commission from Prada when Prada advertises with Vogue. Prada pays for branded display advertising. The same thing is starting to happen online, but it will continue to grow. Anyone who is serious about business will have to participate in new media in some form. To quote an unnamed mate who works in big media in New York, who was at the time referring to those journalists who can't get their heads about new media - and I would apply this to business in general - those who refuse to engage in new media risk being left as road kill on the information superhighway sooner rather than later.
KV: I also agree that the more personalised consumer shows will be the new version of "runway shows". It won't be all big venue, big props, big everything. There will be more intimacy, more meaning and it will be more specific.
PH: I also think that the new media-savvy PR contingent is going to take the lion's share of business. Already those PR companies that do not engage with new media are being left behind. If they don't "get it" how on earth can they advise their clients as to the best means of moving forward? I am finding more and more from my own personal dealings with fashion and luxury marketers, and even some PR agents themselves, that companies are desperate for information and advice.
KV: I think those brands that do "get it" will have already employed inhouse PR, media community managers who are in control of the public face of the business and relating to the consumers, passing feedback onto the designers etc.
PH: The marketing/journalism schools are only just starting to realise that they need to address this in the curriculum. Brands are actually starting to advertise for social media directors. Maybe not in Australia, but certainly overseas. Adidas was one of the first earlier this year.
KV: I've got a great example with how Twitter can be a powerful marketing tool. I went into Forever New store in Chadstone when checking out the new developments. I saw a gorgeous leather jacket. I took a photo with my iphone and then tweeted about it linking to the pic with the price saying how fab it was. Apparently, Forever New had a great response with sales increasing as a result. In thanks to me, they sent me that leather jacket and the PR who discovered this on behalf of Forever New found out through Twitter by monitoring Forever New on Twitter.
PH: It's an incredibly exciting new world and marketers have every reason to be optimistic. At the end of the day you still have to have good product. All that has changed is that a brand new media arena has opened up. I've found it fascinating to watch even big companies such as Versace who obviously have a very keen sense of branding, totally lose the plot when it comes to new media. Versace recently had some low-profile photographer tweet backstage from their menswear show. No Versace branding. No promotion. And the guy didn't understand the medium at all.
KV: Re: education. This will definitely need to be added to new cirriculums. I've been asked to be a part of the steering committee for RMIT's diploma fashion course in regards to running an online course for e-commerce and media. So there are educators out there realising this gap in the market for educated digital operators across all platforms. The risk they run is technology adapts at such a pace, that educators and schools may need to more flexible to keep up.
PH: As I say, the colleges are only starting to realise this now. I was recently asked to talk to the fashion marketing students at Raffles in sydney. These kids are not yet on the market. It is going to take some time before students make their way into the marketplace. Meanwhile, the PR industry is being run by people who have done things a certain way for the past 20 years. This dearth of social media expertise and knowledge has left a huge gap in the market and I think you are going to find new people entering the fray offering compelling alternatives.
