Drapers Blog: ‘theOut of my size – theOutnet.com’s appeal’
Monday July 06, 2009 /
Very good. Littlewoods Direct is now Very.co.uk
Sunday July 05, 2009 /
Littlewoods has rebranded and I’m very impressed.
So what am I impressed by… the Homepage is minimal in feel, giving users the option to browse product or interact with content.
Content is strong at Very. Loving Louise Roe’s street video and the VIP Loungue where customers can chat to Caprice, Simon Webbe and Miranda Levy to name a few.
Very is yet to appear in the natural listings for its own brand name, but they seem to be investing in paid search until this changes.
Well, here’s one SEO friendly link to help - Visit Very, the new online fashion store the e-commerce industry will be keeping a ‘very’ close eye on.
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
Email newsletters, shopping and the release of dopamine
Monday June 29, 2009 /
Dopamine is the chemical which fires a pleasurable feeling in the brain.
We’ve all heard the phrase ‘retail therapy’, and know that shoppers feel elated after purchasing. That’s the dopamine neurons being released in the brain.
Wolfram Schultz, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University, conducted a series of studies with monkeys.
He measured the release of dopamine neurons in their brain after giving them juice (the reward). Naturally it went high.
He then presented them with a loud noise, just before giving them the juice.
Over time, because of the association of the loud noise and being given juice, the monkeys began releasing dopamine whenever they heard the noise. Simply because they associated it with getting juice.
Online fashion retailers always receive an upsurge in traffic and sales when they send out an email newsletter, particularly to those who have purchased before.
Perhaps the email newsletter is the loud noise, which shoppers associate with finding that perfect item (the reward).
The brain releases the neurons way before the shopper has even clicked through.
Lunch and Lipsy – An Afternoon with Kristine Kirby
Wednesday June 24, 2009 /
I was recently joined by the lovely Kristine Kirby, Ecommerce Director at Lipsy, for lunch at Mortimer’s in Soho.
It’s just round the corner from the Lipsy office, where I popped into later, and is the place to catch the ecommerce team lunching or winding down (should you want to stalk them).
I have loved watching the growth of Lipsy over the years.
The marketing and PR behind the brand has been fantastic. You won’t find a weekly celebrity magazine without seeing someone pictured in Lipsy.
Whether it’s Duffy, Jessica Taylor, Paris Hilton or Bianca Gascgoine, who seems to live in the clothes, someone will be wearing it.
Now with physical stores and owned by Next Plc, Lipsy is an example, to other own brand online fashion stores, on how to manage growth, change and expansion.
Over lunch Kristine and I chatted about future plans for the Lipsy website, and the current online fashion market.
We went back to the Lipsy office where I popped in to say hi to the (hard working) team and see some of the samples for Autumn Winter 09.
Lipsy has a real signature look. If it isn’t shiny or glistening, it’s bound to have embellishment.
Even the office calculators are blinged up.
Love Lipsy. And wish they did a men’s range!
Burberry provides a satisfying web browsing experience
Thursday June 18, 2009 /
Burberry certainly provides a satisfying web browsing experience.
Simple and easy to navigate, the clean web design ensures the focus is on product rather than the latest advertising initiative.
Products are viewed with ‘back’ and ‘front’ perspectives, as well as a substantial zoom that’s smooth and quick - rather than the downloading mission you’ll find on Google maps.
Personally I’d like a 360 degree view, but the zoom allows those all important tailoring details that set luxury brands apart.
I like their product information – which is satisfyingly detailed and enticing, along with easy to understand delivery information.
But what really works on the site is the detailing on their catwalk collection – which has the same zoom function and product detail as the ready to wear.
Another feature that works is the ‘also recommended’ – displaying other items that work with the product. Cheaper than a stylist.
‘Burberry provides a satisfying browsing experience’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
London Fashion Bloggers at the Design Museum for Let Them Eat Cake
Wednesday June 17, 2009 /
On Friday I was on the panel for an informal discussion hosted by Let Them Eat Cake magazine at the Design Museum.
There were eight fashion bloggers including Steve from Style Salvage, Rebekah Roy, Vicki Loomes, Elaine Robertson, Susie Bubble, Alex Fury and Jeanie Annan-Lewin.
The old debate of print vs online came up. There was a consensus from the panel that we’re simply going through change, and it shouldn’t be a case or one vs the other. Both will survive.
My view was that blogs can hit niches, because of the easy route to publishing (anyone can blog for free), whereas printed media needs to appeal more to masses, as the route to publishing in print is a little more challenging to say the least.
PRESS: Retail Week - What should we blog about?
Tuesday June 16, 2009 /
Retail Surgery: “Lots of our competitors have set up blogs on their websites. If we create one, what should we write about and how successful could we expect it to be?”
See my answer in Retail Week June 12 issue, or on the Retail Week website.
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
Live the Hiho Lifestyle
Tuesday June 02, 2009 /
I like the way online jewellery retail Hiho Silver uses events to epitomise the lifestyle of its brand.
Not only does the Events page work to draw people to the website, by ranking for event related terms on search engines, it also solidifies the brand value, by screaming that it knows the lifestyle of its customer.
I came across Hiho Silver as Nick Ede has just launched his own range of jewellery for the store called Lost & Found.
The collection of statement jewellery is available to buy online now, with a percentage of sales going to The Stroke Association.
Mark Heyes at Shudoo
Thursday May 28, 2009 /
Over at Shudoo.co.uk we’re working with Mark Heyes, who you might just recognise as GMTV’s expert stylist.
Mark will regularly be picking his favourite products, answering style advice questions and blogging at Shudoo News.
Would you pay for Stylebible?
Tuesday May 26, 2009 /
If you want up to the minute information on the best sample sales, restaurants, salons and places to go, you’re spoilt for choice.
Stylebible.com charges for premium content
Chiconomise and Daily Candy are just two lifestyle email newsletters which offer tips for free, whilst Stylebible charges for access to similar content.
According to Stylebible’s Racheal Cooper “Membership is designed to pay for itself. If premium members take up offers or go to the higher end sample sales, the savings more than cover the cost of membership”.
Stylebible membership does come with perks (see here).
But are they enough to make you cough up £120 per year?
Negative comments
Wednesday April 22, 2009 /
