What fashion brands and fashion bloggers can get from each other
Thursday September 24, 2009 /
Brands from bloggers...
- Favourable write ups about products and services
- Blogs posts to contain links to their online retail stores to drive traffic
- Blog posts with links to improve search engine visibility
- Trickle effect of other bloggers mentioning the brand
- Appearance of blog posts in search results for brand related terms
- CPA/affiliate advertising opportunities
Bloggers from brands...
- Free products
- Links from the brand’s website
- Invitations to press days, events and launch parties
- Opportunity to write for the brand’s website
- Payment for advertorial posts
- Payment for adverts
- Payment on a CPA basis through affiliate tracking
- Competition prizes for visitors
Do you have any to add?
Press: The Times - Web fashionistas are just a click away from high street acceptance
Wednesday September 09, 2009 /
Featured in ‘Web fashionistas are just a click away from high street acceptance’ as seen in The Times September 7th.
Read the article online here
Sweet designer tweets - What luxury fashion stores say on Twitter
Thursday August 27, 2009 /
If you want to live and breathe fashion 24/7 then following some of the best fashion websites on Twitter is the way forward. Whether you’re looking for shopping inspiration or fashion do’s and don’ts, Twitter is leading the way in fashion interaction.
MY WARDROBE
http://www.my-wardrobe.com http://twitter.com/MyWardrobe
These tweets could be far more engaging. For a website that has so much to offer in the way of fashion clothing and accessories, My Wardrobe is really not selling itself as well as it could.
Tweets should be chatty and fun – these seem quite bland and often convoluted. It seems many tweeters write for the My Wardrobe Twitter and it lacks a coherent voice.
Followers: 950
NET-A-PORTER
http://www.net-a-porter.com/ http://twitter.com/Luxury_fashion
I can’t decide if Twitter is a good tool to use for Q&A sessions.
NET-A-PORTER frequently have expert fashion advisors answering questions live, but if you’re not taking part the tweets can be fairly confusing.
When they’re not having a Q&A the tweets are great – engaging, frequent and informative.
Of all the fashion twitters I found myself cliking back to the NET-A-PORTER website the most frequently.
Followers: 9,600
MATCHES
http://www.matchesfashion.com/ http://twitter.com/Matchesfashion
Matches stands out from the others, and it’s my personal favourite of the three.
Quirky and interesting links that not only go to the Matches website but also to other blogs, twitters and fashion sites.
The tweets are really chatty and informal, so I feel like I’m listening to an uber-friendly PR rather than a bored intern glued to the desk.
What works really well is using a different coloured font for the links, the only one out of the three to do so.
Very confused as to why they have the least followers.
Followers: 790
‘Sweet designer tweets - What luxury fashion stores say on Twitter’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
ASOS Wikipedia. Does the ASOS.com Wiki read like an advert to you?
Monday August 24, 2009 /
You won’t find many online only retailers on Wikipedia – those that are include ASOS.
Problem is it’s close to being deleted. At the time of writing this the ASOS.com Wiki entry had that horrid ‘This article is written like an advertisement’ warning.
Once a brand or person achieves notoriety, which leads to being worthy of a Wiki entry, it can sometimes be a good idea to encourage users to build on a Wikipedia profile to ensure neutrality.
There’s no suggestion that the entry was written by ASOS staff or its associates; whenever a brand does write their own entry it is obvious to moderators and to readers.
Jamie Murray-Wells (founder of Glasses Direct who I interviewed here) actively encourages his customers to make changes to his personal Wikipedia entry - looks like that’s the way to do it.
London Fashion Network: The Power of the Blog – Making Money
Thursday August 06, 2009 /
I chaired the final online event for the London Fashion Network; this one was about the power of the blog.
One of the hot topics was making money from blogs.
Charlotte from Glam Media was keen for fashion bloggers to monetise their websites with Glam’s network adverts but the panel of bloggers weren’t so sure.
Some thought it would put readers off, whilst others just didn’t want the hassle.
It is possible to make a living by having affiliate links and adverts on blogs, but it can compromise the content; a lot of bloggers in the fashion space don’t want to risk that.
Blogger Mademoiselle Robot charges for personal styling (see here)
My own view is that blogs can be used to enhance how someone already makes money offline.
Mademoiselle Robot is using the following she has built up on her blog to launch a new online personal styling consultancy.
I think the team at Glam, and many other ad networks, will just have to accept that some fashion bloggers just don’t want adverts.
It doesn’t mean they’re commercially dim or afraid of advertisers, it just means they don’t want to make money from their passion – because then it becomes a job.
Kara Tointon and Michelle for George. Available to buy online?
Tuesday August 04, 2009 /
You can’t have escaped photos of Kara Tointon over the past few days in the new Michelle for George lingerie collection.
If you’ve read about it online (here, here and here) you’d expect to be able to buy it online.
At the time of writing this, the Michelle for George section on the George.com website shows Suzanne Shaw and the range she promoted.
No sign of the new collection modelled by Kara.
The majority of visits these articles will get is within the first few days – in this case, during that period the range hasn’t been available to buy online.
I think Asda George have been pioneering as a value online retailer (see my first Drapers blog about Asda George here), but they could have missed out on a lot of potential sales by not having the collection modelled by Kara available to buy.
London Fashion Network: The Power of the Blog – Vox Pops
Sunday August 02, 2009 /
Meet Joanna Perry, technology editor at Retail Week
Thursday July 09, 2009 /
I recently met up with Joanna Perry, the technology expert at Retail Week.
If you’re readinig this you must know Retail Week as a must-read for those in, erm, retail.
Drapers is the staple for the fashion industry, and Retail Week has a particular focus on what’s happening generally in the sector of consumer selling.
Joanna covers retail technology for the publication, everything from IT systems to e-commerce issues.
She quickly picked up on HabitatTwitterGate, and was - albeit unwittingly - quoted in The Telegraph’s coverage of the fiasco.
Joanna and I spoke about some of the hot topics within online fashion retail, including creating blogs.
Setting up and strategising content on blogs is something I help fashion brands with, so I was more than happy to answer the reader dilemma recently sent in to Retail Week (featured here).
Joanna and I at the Online Fashion 100 event / Photo courtesy of Fashshot
Joanna hosted the Retail Week Technology Awards last month and was in work the next day despite the 4am finish.
She made a Twitter plea in the morning for a McFlurry. I don’t know if she got it, but she did have drinks and canapes at the Online Fashion 100 event that evening!
Grand Gossip - Beth Ditto for Evans
Thursday July 02, 2009 /
The Beth Ditto collection was as I expected. There is nothing shy or retiring about this plus size extravaganza.
Some expect the larger women to hide under black smocks and grey scale, and whilst there’s certainly black in the Ditto range – it comes in cropped biker jackets, sequins, and bold prints.
Though Evans has previously been a footnote on the high street fashion favourites, this collection is going to fly off the shelves, and the size eights and ten’s will just wear it baggy.
A new website www.bethdittoatevans.co.uk has been specifically created to drive traffic to the collection.
Going live from the 9th July the site contains streamed music (all the latest Gossip, of course), animated flash based light transitions between pages, as well as a “Backstage Pass” which will hold video content of the designer/star herself.
It will feature full-screen lookbook campaign shots by Rankin, including a share section that enables fans to download iphone desktops and screen savers. The domino countdown clock, in honour of her fabulous domino print scarves, has started.
The site is all very interactive, aimed at the Beth Ditto fan-base age with links that can be shared via facebook and youtube. The site is kept fairly separate from the official Evans website, in hopes that they’ll attract a far larger amount of independent traffic.
I’m certain they will - there’s nothing about this collection that screams, “plus size” – only “fashion first”.
‘Grand Gossip - Beth Ditto for Evans’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley according to the internet
Wednesday July 01, 2009 /
Her face is place-able and unmistakable – she smoulders from the latest Burberry ad campaign and appears with the modelling elite in party pages.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Agent Provocateur video
Online she certainly holds her corner. There are hundreds of images littering the web, mostly from shoots but also with boyfriend Tyrone Wood (son of Ronnie Wood, who she’s been dating since 2003), looking very girl-about-town.
The images are divided into two leagues: English rose or smouldering temptress, images which are largely supplied by her Agent Provocateur work.
Along with the de rigueur models homepage with archives of images, news updates and envious measurements, she also has her very own fan site set up by a respectable obsessive with over 2,500 hits to date.
Rosie also has a MySpace page set up by another fan, who refuses anything negative to be said about the beloved model.
The online video ad for Agent Provocateur seems to be a big hit; Tastefully almost-nude Huntington-Whiteley gives a sufficient warning to all males not to forget Valentine’s Day or they’ll be left in a drooling, frustrated puddle.
As distant relative of Queen Victoria, it seems the British fashion-conscience public have taken her into their bosom.
There is nothing derogatory to be found on Google – which for any public figure is no small feat.
Even the bitchiest of blog critics haven’t a bad word to say; “30x hotter than the heavily overrated coke-whore” says ‘Barstadly, comparing Rosie to Kate Moss. Nice.
‘Rosie Huntington-Whiteley according to the internet’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
London Fashion Network Event: Trading Online, Getting Noticed
Monday June 15, 2009 /
Last week I chaired the London Fashion Network’s Trading Online event, which focused on Getting Noticed.
L to R: Richard, Barnaby, myself, Joel, Stephen
The panel included Stephen Pratley from Shine Marketing, Richard Thorpe from Screen Pages, Joel Vertes from Olswang and Barnaby Brown from motelrocks.com.
Topics covered included search engine optimisation, paid search, fashion blogs, domain names and email marketing.
There were a mixture of experiences on the panel, and I was most pleased that all agreed on the principle of online PR being the focus for SEO and building traffic.
I’ve said many times before about the importance of finding that interesting unique thing, about a website or brand, to shout about, in order to attract links and attention.
There was also a consensus on using paid search as a research resource, for instance to find out which keywords are the best converters. The panel were keen to stress that campaigns should be managed, or at least set up, by a professional, otherwise costs can spiral.
The next Trading Online event will be on July 9th and focuses on ensuring your website is ‘Looking Good’.
Nu Look at Lookbook.nu
Wednesday June 10, 2009 /
I stumbled across Lookbook.nu after searching for hours on the Internet – trying to find out if I could order 24/7 Suits online.
If you haven’t heard of 24/7 Suits it’s an Italian label created by Livio Graziottin: a menswear collection, which unfortunately seems to be sold everywhere but the UK.
See the collection on the 24/7 Suits website
I found 24/7 Suits on lookbook.nu and quickly became distracted.
The premise of the site is a “street style” type of arrangement but it mainly deals with luxury brands, mixed in with the Topshop and American Apparel basics.
Designers have caught on to the lookbook.nu trend and have started posting their own collections, with website links and stockists.
Members are also able to post their own series of “looks” using different brands - so Vivienne Westwood is displayed not as a catwalk ensemble, but as a unique interpretation from a fashion-lover in Hamburg.
Genius.
‘Nu Look at Lookbook.nu’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
Gemma Cartwright on the high street store that “didn’t do” blogs
Monday March 30, 2009 /
Gemma Cartwright, founder of Catwalk Queen, is one of Britain’s most popular fasion bloggers. I asked Gemma about Catwalk Queen’s editorial process, the influence of fashion blogs and what items, available online, she’s coveting.
Who is the Catwalk Queen reader?
She’s a young woman interested in fashion, shopping and celebrities who wants mainstream fashion news in an easily accessible way.
She shops on the high street but aspires to buy designer, and she probably loves a bit of quirky vintage too.
How do you decide day to day which stories to cover?
We have a calendar of big events; award shows, fashion weeks, big movie premieres, album releases and so on, and tailor content to fit that.
We also look at seasonal trends, so we’ll cover swimwear in the run-up to Summer, coats in Autumn etc. But a lot of it comes from what happens on a daily basis. What we see on the news wires, picture agencies and our RSS feeds each day.
I’d say about 60% of the content is unplanned, and is a reaction to what’s happening at the time.
What’s your take on email press releases sent to multiple editors using the BCC field?
Not a problem at all, so long as it’s well-targeted. I understand that no PR has the time to personalise every single email.
But you’d be amazed at the amount of useless press releases I get because people haven’t read the site before adding me to their mailing list.
Also, if they forget to blind copy, that’s another matter!
Do you think retailers understand the growing influence of fashion blogs?
Most of them. The shift is still happening, but it’s so much better now than it was a few years ago.
I remember one particular high street store once told one of my writers flat out “We don’t do online” when she called for information. A year later, they were schmoozing me with lunches, freebies and competition prizes, and to credit them, they were very open about the fact they didn’t ‘get it’ in the past.
The important thing to remember is that it’s not just the PR you need to persuade, it’s their client!
What is your top tip for brands that want to feature on Catwalk Queen?
Read the site and understand what it is we write about (for example, we don’t cover accessories or shoes outside of our outfit picks because we have other blogs devoted to them on our network). And then give us something interesting to write about!
And finally, which fashion items, available online, are you coveting this season?
Firstly I’d love an Esther Williams bikini. She used to star in films in the golden era of Hollywood, and her swimwear range is made to vintage patterns like the ones she wore. The photos on the site are awful but the bikinis themselves are perfect for that pin-up girl look!
Secondly, Kurt Geiger Fashionistas ‘Mayfair’ shoes, which have hat netting on the vamp. They’re gorgeous!
Meet Vicki Snow, founder of Snow PR
Tuesday March 24, 2009 /
If you haven’t met Vicki Snow, founder of Snow PR, then say hello to one of the most ambitious women in fashion PR!
Me with Vicki Snow at Vapiano in Soho
Vicki and I recently met up at Vapiano in Soho near Snow PR’s office.
Barely a few months old, Snow PR already boasts online store Oli, TV stylist Nicky Hambleton-Jones and sheepskin boot brand Emu as clients.
I recognised in Vicki a person that has an immense amount of passion for what she does and a thorough understanding of online retail, having been the Head of PR at home shopping group Otto.
Vicki understands how to formulate PR campaigns that positively impact merchandising and online marketing as well as brand awareness.
Shudoo talks to fashion bloggers
Tuesday January 13, 2009 /
I worked with Nikki Beukes, fashion content editor at Shudoo, on an editorial feature with some of the UK’s most popular fashion bloggers.
We asked them for their favourite shoe of the past year, which celeb has the best shoe collection and their must read fashion blog.
We had Shiny Media’s Gemma Cartwright (Catwalk Queen), Laura Street from PopSugar UK, Amber McNaught of The Fashion Police, Andy from Denimolgy, Chantelle Znideric from TopStylista and my friends Rebekah Roy (Stylist Stuff) and Michele Obi (My Fashion Life).
Take a look at the feature on SHUNEWS.
