Before we get into this, I should probably explain what exactly is 'omni-channel marketing'. It sounds like a really complicated marketing term but in reality it's far from it. Simply, it describes a modern form of marketing where companies use a number of methods to promote their content and products as well as stay connected with customers.
Think about it. Every brand, no matter how big or small, has an account on the three big social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Some are taking this further and providing unique experiences in store to lure customers back to the traditional way of shopping so their exorbitant rent doesn't seem like such a waste.
In my opinion, the best thing about this is how easy it is to make a complaint. Go back twenty years and you'd have to write a letter, pay for postage and wait anything up to a month or longer for a response (that's if you even got one). Now if your Topshop bag fell apart the second you put anything of notable weight in it, you can hop on to twitter and talk to their PR interns directly, letting them know just how unhappy you are and how valuable your business is to the company! Alternatively, maybe you feel they need to hear how upset you are and you can give them a call. Or perhaps you could go into another branch and dramatically slam the damaged product on the counter demanding a refund before you tell all your friends to never step foot in here again!
Each piece of the consumer's experience should be consistent and friendly. But who gets it right? Which fashion brands offer a unique experience both offline and online?
ASOS.
Yes. That online fashion store. "But how can a brand that doesn't have a physical retail space be good with omni-channel marketing?" It's quite easy, actually. Omni-channel marketing isn't defined as successfully fulfilling certain criteria such as providing an experience through this, this and that channel. Instead, it's simply using multiple channels to provide a seamless, positive experience for the customer. Despite not being on the high street, ASOS are one of the biggest high street brands today and I believe it is down to their successful capture of the 18 - 30 demographic.
We'll start with their social media and how they do most of their advertising.
Fig 1. ASOS (2016)
With over five million followers, ASOS has a solid advertising platform that guarantees high engagement and response. What I find most interesting about ASOS' promotional instagram posts isn't the colourful imagery but how easy they make it for customers to find their products on the website once they've seen it on social media.
As a follower of ASOS, you're interested in their brand and are always on the lookout for new products. There's nothing worse than finding something you like on social media and having to go on what feels like a bounty hunt just to purchase it. ASOS solves that problem by including a unique item number in the description for all products featured, allowing customers to copy that number and paste it into the search box on ASOS' website where they will be instantly taken to the product in question. I have yet to find another brand that connects interest in a product with purchasing so seamlessly online.
So, you've seen something you like and now you want to buy it. However, like most people you're browsing Instagram on your phone so it's no use having to open up a website when there must be simpler ways to shop.
Have no worry!
ASOS have an app and it's an app engineered with ease of use in mind, allowing it to secure 'Editor's Pick' on the App store and receive a coveted 5 star rating. This is especially exceptional when you consider the majority of apps for other high street brands such as H&M, Topshop and River Island have pitiful reviews slating the clunkiness of those apps. It's likely those brands released apps for the sake of releasing apps. It felt like a necessity to them just to they can seem like they are up to date with the fast-changing pace of the digital world rather than working on creating a new way of captivating a customer.
Fig 2. Screenshots of the ASOS app (2016)
The videos that play on the title screen of the app act as the shop front. You choose your department then you are greeted with a colourful, minimalist design that uses big imagery and big fonts to allow ease of navigation. You've got that code saved to your clipboard for that purse you saw on their Instagram, so you can tap the search icon at the footer, paste that in and make that purchase.
A lot of brands would do well to take notes from ASOS. It's 2016. Shopping should be this easy and seamless. I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to enjoy your products!
Bibliography:
Figure 1. ASOS (2016) ASOS, Instagram [Advertisement] At: https://www.instagram.com/p/BMglspTAnzA/?taken-by=asos&hl=en
Figure 2. ASOS (2016) ASOS App, iPhone [App]
I'm a sucker for controversy.
Who isn't? Don't you get a thrill out of upsetting people simply by being a forward thinking individual?
It's happened quite a lot in the fashion industry over the years. Almost every single time it involves a naked (or almost naked) woman advertising clothes. Sometimes this has been a tiny advert in the back of Vogue. Other times it's been a massive billboard that had 'yummy mummies' furiously updating their Facebook statuses and opening threads on mumsnet to express their outrage and demand compensation for the psychological damage done to their little cupcakes.
So here I present to you five controversial fashion ads that upset conservatives. Brutally honest title, right? We'll start with one that actually offended me a bit.
1. "Now Open" American Apparel (2012)
Fig 1. American Apparel (2012)
In 2012 American Apparel continued it's slippery descent down the slope of offensive adverts, inciting the rage of the public once again. While usually I roll my eyes and continue on with my day when a new American Apparel advert upsets Twitter, even I had to grab my pitchfork and join in with this one.
At this point, the blatant use of sex to sell women's clothing (to women?) was getting boring. They weren't doing anything new or experimenting with their creative direction, instead trying harder and harder to shock the public and get the much needed publicity for their overpriced clothing. What disturbs me about this image is the expression of the model - she looks worried, concerned, almost like she's being pressured into posing like this? Although it may be intentional and all for the context of the photograph, it doesn't make my skin crawl any less.
Despite the firing of court regular and practicer of sexual assault Dov Charney in 2014 (McSherry, online article, 2014), the brand doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon with it's provocative advertisements. Thankfully, they are preparing for bankruptcy (again!) as of last week (Porter, Coleman-Lochner, Townsend, online article, 2016). I guess sex doesn't sell as well as they thought.
2. "Tom Ford For Men" Tom Ford (2007)
Fig 2. Tom Ford (2007)
If you take a closer look at some of the most controversial fashion adverts this century, you'll find they were all shot by one man - Terry Richardson. We are on our second so far and have already featured two examples of his work. How many more adverts from the portfolio of Richardson do you think we'll have by the end?
Another similarity is that ever since his run as creative director for Gucci, Tom Ford has used sex to sell just like American Apparel. Yet one brand is poised to be worth over a billion dollars by 2020 (Caldwell, online article, 2016) while another just filed for bankruptcy (Porter, Coleman-Lochner, Townsend, online article, 2016) as mentioned. Clearly Tom Ford is doing something right and I think I may know what it is.
You'll notice that in the majority of American Apparel's adverts featuring women posed provocatively, the product being sold is clothing for women. However, you'll also notice that most of the people who complain about the adverts are indeed women. Why would a woman buy from a brand that uses porn stars as models and features girls with their legs spread open for the camera? The method American Apparel is using to sell to it's target audience is simply incorrect for that demographic.
Instead, Tom Ford is selling sex to men. For his products aimed at women, they are naughty but not too naughty - she may be topless but she's radiant with beauty. She's showing you that if you buy this lipstick, you'll look as good as her. But with his products aimed at men, he's promoting a look that many heterosexual men aspire to be. They want to wear a sharp Tom Ford suit, they want to weather a musky leather Tom Ford cologne and they want to be with the women in a Tom Ford advert. It's such a simple concept executed so well that I'm genuinely shocked and confused that American Apparel have missed this fundamental marketing rule - don't sell sex to women, sell beauty.
3. "United Colors of Domestic Violence" United Colors of Benetton (2007)
Fig 3. United Colors of Benetton (2007)
2007 was quite the year for controversy, wasn't it?
Despite being a global fashion brand, United Colors of Benetton's advertising and marketing teams seem to believe they are working for a completely different company. They aren't known for featuring promiscuous women in compromising positions, instead acting as some sort of fashionable branch of Amnesty international raising awareness of important social issues in the world.
Instead of trying to sell you that new handbag or this season's must have sweater, Benetton are promoting their ethics and concern for the world, particularly women. People will choose to shop at Benetton simply because of how much they support and care for vulnerable women. While they may not be the biggest or most successful of high street fashion brands, they aren't going bankrupt and people only have positive things to say about them so clearly something is going right.
4. "Fashioin Junkie" Sisley (2007)
Fig 4. Sisley (2007)
Wouldn't you agree that the advert isn't very effective and is almost laughable at how desperate it is? I don't think this approach is working for Sisley as the first I heard of the brand was from the controversy surrounding this advertisement. I'm not even sure of what they sell.
5. "Be Caught Dead In It" Superette (2009)
Fig 5. Superette (2009)
The only advert to make me crack a smirk from this list. No, it's not because it depicts a dead woman but rather the nerve Superette has to insist their clothing is worth dying in. There are a few brands I'd happily get murdered in (Chanel, anyone?) but Superette isn't one of them.
Upon second glance, you may notice the bottle of champagne rolling in the grass. Is this a subliminal message highlighting the dangers of excessive drinking? The messages here are conflicted. On the one hand, Superette is trivialising death and implying what you're wearing is the most important part of dying. On the other hand, they seem to be passively implying that we should curb our drinking before we end up like this lady skewered on a fence.
I feel sorry for her but it's not because she's dead.
Bibliography:
Figure 1. American Apparel Inc. (2012) Americal Apparel, Now Open. [Advertisement] At: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/controversial-american-apparel-ads-gallery-1.2386169?pmSlide=1.2386158
Figure 2. Tom Ford (2007) Tom Ford, Tom Ford For Men. [Advertisement] At: http://gimlet.pl/tag/marketing/
Figure 3. United Colors of Benetton (2007) United Colors of Benetton, United Colors of Domestic Violence. [Advertisement] At: https://thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com/tag/united-colors-of-benetton/
Figure 4. Sisley (2007) Sisley, Fashioin Junkie. [Advertisement] At: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/gallery/19779/10/controversial-fashion-ads
Figure 5. Superette (2009) Superette, Be Caught Dead In It [Advertisement] At: http://www.thetoc.gr/trends/article/otan-oi-diafimiseis-skotwnoun-tis-gunaikes
Porter, Kiel / Coleman-Lochner, Lauren / Townsend, Matthew (2016) 'American Apparel prepares to file for bankruptcy, again', Bloomberg, 26th of October [Online] Available: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-26/american-apparel-said-to-be-preparing-second-bankruptcy-filing
McSherry, Mark (2014) 'American Apparel CEO Dov Charney fired: the fall of a merchant sleze', The Guardian, 17th of December [Online] Available: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/17/american-apparel-ceo-dov-charney-fired-fall-icon-sleaze
Caldwell, Georgina (2016) 'Tom Ford poised to become billion dollar brand by 2020', Global Cosmetics News, 20th of June [Online] Available: https://globalcosmeticsnews.com/north-america/2921/tom-ford-beauty-poised-to-become-billion-dollar-brand-by-2020
Introductions are always so boring, aren't they?
For me personally, I never know what to say. I doubt you want to here my life story no matter how brief it may be, but then perhaps it's strange following someone you don't really know.
To get the basics out of the way, I'm Ryan. I spent a year at Central Saint Martins doing my foundation (hence the blog name) before upgrading to Ravensbourne where I'm currently doing a three year BA in Fashion Promotion. Usually when I tell people this they blink and say something along the lines of: "They do a degree in that?"
Yes, they do. And my response usually falls along the lines of "What did you watch today for your media degree?"
Anyway, how about we try something slightly different for introductions: I'll post my favourites from a wide variety of media. Films, songs and television shows. I find you can judge someone quite accurately from their tastes and interests in these three categories, don't you?
Oh wait! That's not very politically correct of me to use the word 'judge'. How about discover someone?
With that out the way, let's get started!
FAVOURITE SONG?
I have loads of favourite songs. I mean, who doesn't!? You have your favourite song for different moods. You have that song you listen to when you're feeling a bit romantic, that song you stream after a breakup, that song you blast out loud at a party when you wanna get down and dirty! I'm not going to bombard you with a playlist worth of songs though, so I'll just go with a couple.The first one is such an inspirational song to me. Whenever I'm feeling down, it instantly uplifts my mood. For example, listening to this song was the very first thing I did before and after my dearly departed grandmother's funeral (god rest her soul).
(Spears, CD, 2007)
Iconic! Absolutely iconic. Everything from the British 80s grunge styling to the purposefully low budget cinematography. If we do a little throwback to 2007 when this bible gospel was released on to the unprepared public, we'll sadly remember the pop star's meltdown involving a tragic haircut and khaki umbrella. Thankfully the past is behind us and Britney is doing better than ever under her lifetime conservatorship.
Moving on, the next song is also a club banger but lacks that nightclub edge to it. You'll hear it on repeat in Heaven but may find people shudder at the mention of her name in more heterosexual establishments in and around London.
(Minogue, CD, 2001)
Last but not least, we have a song that takes us back to the 90s. It was a massive hit back then and has been covered countless times for one reason - talent. "What does he mean by that?" you ask with a slight curiosity.
It means a woman managed to make an amazing song without making it about love. Think about it, how many songs, pop or not, are about love? It's almost cringe inducing when you realise you could make an entire playlist of different genres of songs about all the different aspects of love. Finding a man, keeping a man, losing a man to a transgender hooker on a night out in Piccadilly. This talented woman wrote about how life has a funny way of sneaking up on you.
(Morisette, CD, 2015)
She lists all the things that are ironic in life. Traffic when you're already late, a no smoking sign on your cigarette break. A Primark t-shirt with Levi jeans. Okay that wasn't in the song but you get my point.
FAVOURITE FILM?
Now unlike songs, I have one clear favourite in mind. It doesn't need an introduction because if you're even slightly fashion conscious you would've watched this twice if not more.Me? Seven times. And counting.
(Mean Girls, Film, 2004)
A pop culture phenomenon, Mean Girls inspired my generation of kids to be bitchier, sassier and pinker with a feminist edge. While the film gets a lot of credit for its comedic timing, direction and styling the script deserves more recognition than it gets. How many times have you heard a quote from this film? How many times have you used a quote from this film? How many times have you worn pink on a Wednesday!?
FAVOURITE TELEVISION SHOW?
(Gossip Girl, TV Programme, 2007 - 2012)
Gossip Girl.
I mean, what else? I didn't even need to introduce it, the show speaks for itself. Sure, it got beyond unwatchable after Little J went goth but that doesn't mean it's impact wasn't substantial even if temporary.
Remember the uproar over the racy adverts? The girls who wanted to be Blair? You can imagine my joy when I found out most of my class in BA Fashion Promotion has watched this amazing show.
