By Antony Hawman

Week 2 at My-Wardrobe.com and the general feeling is – LOVE IT!

It’s so great to be part of the new marketing initiative and for my role in particular, it’s open to so many avenues that there is never a dull moment.

It’s been so exciting searching out brands that fit the My-Wardrobe.com ethos and creating exciting projects for them to partner with us on.

Currently I’m busy getting around to meeting press and brands to work out their objectives to see what synergy we have together, using many of our vehicles – the shopping site itself, MY-TV, Style Feed, Blog and the amazing Style Guide.

It was great timing with London Fashion Week, as I got to see so many faces and tell them about the new job at My Wardrobe. Killed so many birds with one stone.

So watch out everyone – a partner proposal will be winging its way to you very soon.

By Antony Hawman, Brand Partnerships Manager, My Wardrobe

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Emap’s Commercial Brand Manager Antony Hawman will soon be taking up the role of Brand Partnerships Manager at online fashion retailer My-Wardrobe.com.

Antony was the creative head behind the very first Drapers Etail Awards earlier this year, and Retail Week’s 21st birthday party at Liberty.

He’s struck up a series of partnerships for Emap’s B2B publishing brands, including affiliating Drapers with the Fashion Business Club.

At My-Wardrobe.com, Antony, who featured alongside Lauretta Roberts in Online Fashion 100, will be responsible for creating tie-ups to develop increased brand awareness and drive traffic to the online designer retailer.

Antony is a great coup for My-Wardrobe.com and focusing its marketing strategy on partnerships is a canny decision as many brands which are complimentary will be seeking cost-effective ways to market themselves.

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I can’t believe no-one’s thought to do this before – the Hed Kandi ladies, those glamorous graphic body poppers should already be synonymous with Miss Selfridge: the concept is perfect.

The collection will be launched online on Monday, and available at Miss Selfridge stores. Those who register their interest online can buy a day before it goes into shops.

Graphics for the website surely won’t be an issue; Hed Kandi is one of the most fun, recognisable pop-culture peacocks, perfect for site design.

The website will be aiming for an interactive experience, and with a fairly small collection (10 dresses in total) this ought to give more scope for playful extras – catwalk shows, good soundtracks and a taste of Ibiza online.

Hed Kandi illustrator Jason Brooks will finally see his girls brought to life.

www.missselfridge.com/hedkandi

‘Hed Kandi teams up with Miss Selfridge for body con dresses’ by Amy Tipper-Hale

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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

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I recently met up with Courtney Blackman, co-founder of the Fashion Business Club.

Fortnum & Mason was the meeting place, chosen by Courtney, being a place she frequents often.

We chatted about fashion (of course), including the difficulties of finding clothes for the more petite man and woman.

As well as founding Fashion Business Club, where industry players network and help each other, Courtney also runs Forward PR, where she represents Britain’s Next Top Model judge Louis Mariette and designer names Fred&Ginger and Rebecca Cella to name a few.

See Courtney’s recent guest post on this blog here.

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The Saturdays are creating a capsule collection for online fashion store Rare Fashion.

A myriad of party dresses and wet look leggings, Rare Fashion has everything you need to perfect that celebrity look on a Saturday night out – watch out Lipsy.

Where Lipsy grew its market having its products seen on reality TV stars, Rare is upping its profile with official endorsement from The Saturdays.

Mollie, Una, Frankie, Rochelle and Vanessa have already been seen out and about in Rare dresses, and no doubt the store will have seen an increase in sales from the association with Britain’s newest girl group.

Working with The Saturdays will give Rare an opportunity to create online PR that will have lasting effects.

My first thought would be to use the group for interview opportunities on music blogs – with links back to the Rare Fashion website that will help its SEO forever.

The discussion of the deal and the range itself will naturally attract incoming links to the website which again, helps with SEO, but will also drive relevant traffic.

Universal search is becoming more important; a video of the girls discussing their range on YouTube may appear in Google’s search listings when people search for ‘The Saturdays’ - great for pulling in an audience that is actively interested in the girls.

The tie up will also no doubt also be added to the group’s Wikipedia page, which will be perfect for brand association for the lifetime of the group.

Most importantly Rare is getting in there early. They will be the first online store to have a huge amount of links pointing to them from pages mentioning The Saturdays and fashion – so Google will naturally associate Rare with fashion and The Saturdays.

So in years to come when they’re the next big fashion thing guess which store will be more likely to rank highly when people search “Frankie Sandford’s Style”?

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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!

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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.

See my blog about how Oli’s sponsorship of On|Off at London Fashion Week impacts its online marketing

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Beauty brands are often asked to provide items for goody bags to give out at fashion parties.

Alice Stone holds W7 Press Powder from Pink Drinks goody bag

At London Fashion Week the Metropolitan Hotel hosted its Pink Drinks party, which is a fashion industry favourite.

There are lots of fashion press and buyers at the hotel to see new collections from top designers, so placing something in the goody bags of this event is a good move for brands that want to get noticed by fashion journalists.

This kind of marketing opportunity is a good way of promoting a website too.

By placing a URL on the product journalists can tell their readers where to buy the product, whether it’s the brand’s own store or an official stockist, making it a good marketing opportunity for that store too.

It’s probably one of the least exploited forms of offline marketing by online stores.

In this climate PR agencies could consider doing deals with online stores to charge them a per feature fee when they get them credited for a brand they are working to promote – of course with the full agreement of the brand.

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Last week I went to the On | Off catwalk show which is sponsored by online fashion store Oli.co.uk.

Me with Kate Lapthron

Celebrities on the front row included former model Jodie Kidd, actress Jamie Winstone, All Saint Melanie Blatt, DJ Jodie Harsh and Sugababe Heidi Range.

Enjoying the show: Melanie Blatt, Jamie Winstone and the Lennox sisters

I recently wrote about the importance of online retailers sponsoring events like this as the brand association with cutting edge fashion will, albeit indirectly, have an impact on conversion rates.

Jodie Kidd has a range at Oli.co.uk

The fashion store’s association with On | Off has seen it become talk of fashion blogs which is excellent for brand building and positioning.

What’s important is that Oli encourages blogs and online fashion magazines to link to their website, as this will help with their search engine visibility.

Last season’s show, attended by Peaches Geldof, attracted a write up and link on Glamcanyon.

Online features: Glamcanyon and Wonderland

More recently the On|Off show was featured on Wonderland Magazine but without a link to the store.

Oli could ask Wonderland to add a link to the post – it’s a process known in the online marketing community as ‘link reworking’.

Link reworking is asking for a link on a blog or article to a brand that is already mentioned in the piece but not linked to.

I hope next season the brand engages with more bloggers who have the ability to directly affect their search engine visibility.

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She’s busy preparing for London Fashion Week, styling shows for Romeo Pires and William Tempest, but fashion stylist and blogger Rebekah Roy recently found time to catch up with me at Vapiano in Soho, London.

I was surprised to read on Rebekah’s blog that she too is a fan of Paris Hilton and her ITV2 show Paris Hilton’s British Best Friend. It probably won’t go down in the history books as classic TV, but it certainly fills my current quota for celebrity/reality/is-this-what-our-culture-has-really-come-to television.

Rebekah wrote about how Paris wore a dress by online fashion store Lipsy because she liked it, as she does with much of her clothes, not because (as many people think) she gets paid to.

I am more intrigued as to what impact she had on sales at Lipsy.

Having a celebrity like Paris wear one of your creations is like having your book being featured on Richard & Judy.

Apparently Lipsy sent Paris their entire collection after she wore the dress meaning the online store is probably now her Best British Online Shop.

Speaking of online shops, Rebekah and I chatted about online retailers placing more importance on their visual layouts.

A/B testing and usability studies are already prevalent in online fashion but there is still more retailers, affiliate sites and aggregators can do to lay out product better – it really is in the detail and the intricacies of colour use, styling and hierarchy of products on pages.

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Online fashion store Oli.co.uk is the sponsor of the On|Off Presents catwalk show at London Fashion Week.

It’s a canny relationship for the relatively new name in online fashion and ensures they are seen as young, stylish and fashion forward.

Because online marketing is so measurable retailers tend to put their effort into driving traffic through areas such as search and email marketing, where they can easily calculate the acquisition cost.

All at the expense of building up trust which sees that traffic through to conversion.

Sponsorship is seen as a nice to have because it is PR, and PR is often difficult to quantify.

It’s important for retailers to remember that as well as getting people to the website and getting the product right, they need to have the trust of the consumer in order to convert them.

Sponsorship of high profile events is just one way to do it, and Oli does it well.

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This week on my Drapers blog you can read my views on how Primark should communicate its ethical standards online.

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Last week I was forwarded an email with various “mashups” of Cadbury and Nestle brands.

Both Cadburys and Nestle are keen to reignite interest in their products and are relaunching some of their old brands (see my interview with branding expert Jonathan Gabay on this).

I am not at all suggesting that this viral was a contrived marketing effort, but it leads to the question of whether brands properly explore the option of marketing online with their competitors.

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You may know James Layfield as one of the youngest ever Managing Directors in Richard Branson’s Virgin group.

James, named in the Top 30 under 35 UK Entrepreneurs by Growing Business Magazine, caught the entrepreneurial bug from Richard Branson and went on to found youth marketing agency The Lounge Group.

The best marketing agencies understand their client’s clients. With a network of 8,000 under 35’s, The Lounge Group has the upper hand on devising campaigns that work to the youth market.

In this interview I ask James what he learned from working with Richard Branson and how The Lounge Group fills a gap in the market.

You once worked alongside Richard Branson. Did any aspect of working for Richard’s Virgin group inspire you to set up The Lounge Group?
As Branson’s youngest ever MD I definitely learnt a few things. I was inspired by his ability to trust and give responsibility to good people, he taught me to have the confidence to bring in people to the businesses that are better than me.

He also showed me the importance of culture to driving the success of a business and that passion and drive far outweigh any sort of experience when it comes to getting the best job done and yes, it made me want to start the Lounge for a market that I was passionate about.

Your agency has a clear focus - working on campaigns aimed at under 35s - was this a case of wanting to work on young brands, spotting a gap in the market or both?

Unlike nearly everyone who starts an agency I did not come at it as an ex Account/PR/Creative type wanting to go it alone. Instead the decision to start The Lounge Group was inspired by a need that I had seen whilst I was a Marketing Director for Virgin.

Having seen what was out there I knew that there was the market for an agency that was genuinely in touch with younger consumers. So The Lounge Group is first and foremost an excellent business that has been crafted to fill a gaping hole in the market. 

Tell me about the most fun online campaign The Lounge Group has worked on.
To be honest all of our campaigns are fun to work on and nearly all of them have an online component but I don’t think any of them just live online.

Our consumers don’t just live online so nor do our campaigns. I really love the work the team have been doing recently for the launch of Sure Girl, check out our Bebo page.

You have a peer network of 8000 people, can you explain who these people are, what they do and how you keep in touch with them?
Our network are the heart of our business, they are the ‘clever bit’ they are the bit that means we are not like any other agency. Our network ensures that The Lounge Group is more in touch than any client or agency.

They give us our edge and they make sure that our campaigns resonate and get the results our clients expect.

Finally, what happens when you’re above the age of your target group?!
That is the magic of The Lounge, we believe that “only the market gets the market”. So we don’t pretend to be “down with the kids”, in fact one of our team is over 70 – this is not a joke, she really is.

We deliver genuine insight based on our network, so no matter how old we get The Lounge will always be more in touch than anyone else.

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Visit The Lounge Group’s website

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