It’s Fashion Week all year round for some apparel brands, with social networking sites turning out to be the new age marketing tools that designers are now delving into to advertise and retail their collections.
Apparel majors have realised that no other medium provides room for such an up close and personal relationship with consumers on a mass scale. Though consumers need to like what they are going to buy and wear, and design and style is ever important in this category, brand is all important when it comes to establishing a real emotional connect with the customer.
Brand importance has increased tenfold for fashion consumers. And apparel manufacturers, who were once relegated to only receiving feedback from retailers, now have the power to engage directly with customers.
With social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and even Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest, apparel brands are hosting a Fashion Week round the clock, 365 days a year.
“Adapting to the medium has helped prospective clients become aware about the latest happenings and launches regarding the designer’s brand,” said Mahesh Solanki, social media artist, who consults at leading apparel houses in Mumbai.
He went on to add that creating a successful apparel line is very difficult as it is. Keeping it consistent and evolving with the audience over the long haul is more challenging.
“Brands are not individual products. It is all about the products and marketing and multi channel experience and service and corporate identity, all sewn up together that bring on a greater deliverable to the consumer. Getting the right elements in place is not an easy task for many,” said Solanki.
Fashion, he added, is discretionary. The promise of a brand must tug at a consumer's emotions to make a sale, for consumers express who they are or want to be by the brands they choose.
Tracking real-time social activity, which caters to audience growth, engagement, advocacy, and message propagation, is a tough task. However, with massive competition among fashion apparel brands, brands are in dire need of understanding what is in the minds of their consumers and which factors have influenced their shopping behaviour.
cULTIVATING CHAMPIONS
Increasingly, consumers are also using social media sites to rant and rave about their in-store and online experiences. Apparel majors are realising that these sites are turning out to be major opportunities to cultivate champions instead of merely dealing with critics.
Like womenswear label Kazo, which has unveiled its festive Autumn/Winter line even on social media platforms. Deepak Aggarwal, Managing Director, Kazo Fashion maintains a huge potential exists in social networking websites and that the company has taken to it very seriously. Kazo hosts a lot of campaigns online to attract customers, and has a big presence on Twitter and Facebook by conducting on ground activities with the help of social media.
The brand is sold through its 23 exclusive brand outlets across Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Punjab, Bangalore and Kolkata. Given the huge interest on social media, the company is looking to launch Kazo stores in Italy, France and England soon.
Cantabil Retail India, too, is aiming for good growth in the coming years based on the pull factor of social media. As Vijay Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director, Cantabil Retail notes, with a turnover of Rs 118 crore, the brand is targeting a growth rate of 25 per cent every year.
The company, which is concentrating on social media and digital marketing to achieve growth, regularly updates its promotions and marketing featureson its Facebook page. The company recently conducted fashion shows in Tier II cities to promote the brand, and even organised a Mr Cantabil competition to raise awareness about the brand.
Luxe brand Burberry was another one to release its Spring Summer Collection on Instagram and Twitter and did a live streaming of its show on YouTube.
Men’s clothing brand Oxemberg from Siyaram Silk Mills is also looking to gain tremendous brand mileage by associating with social media. With a total group income of Rs 1,059.82 crore in the financial year 2012-13, Siyaram wants to tap new retail destinations for expansion and growth, while increasing its production capacity.
Siyaram has 125 exclusive stores across the country. The brand is very active on social media and enjoys close to over 70,000 likes on its fan page. The company prefers to update its fans on promotional offers, news and other exciting engagements at Oxemberg using this medium.
“Though the Indian fashion industry might have taken a little longer to cotton on to the power of social media marketing, many of the brands are embracing the medium. Be it luxury or high street, most are doing it with elan and style,” said Siganporia Yarzad, brand consultant to a private designing house.
He added that fashion brands are now relying on certain influencers to share their latest styles, clothing lines and fragrances. “Brands are now engaging constantly with their one million-plus Facebook fans and 109,000-plus followers on Twitter. Most have a successful social media strategy,” he said.
Yarzad was part of the action hosted by the Fashion Design Council of India, before the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in March this year. The Council organised Fash-Talk, a first of its kind Twitter party.
The event turned out to be an opportunity for social media-savvy fashionistas to interact live with supermodels Nethra Raghuraman and Fleur Xavier on Twitter and discuss the latest edition of the Fashion Week. It was not just relegated to the newest fashion trends, but was also about designers, backstage action, modelling and lots more.
As Sunil Sethi, president of the Council pointed out, “The idea was to make the event accessible to all who are passionate about fashion. A fashion event of this magnitude owes it to its followers.”'
VIRAL TWIRL
Twitter parties are turning out to be fast and fun virtual gatherings and are a wonderful way for people to connect and discuss a topic of their choice. Participants at the Twitter Party log on at the designated time and tweet during the party.
Though most apparel brands would almost exclusively post pictures of their clothing, others ask their loyal fans for ideas and improvements, directly on Facebook as well as reply to a vast majority of comments on their page. The approach helps build the brand and helps to get fans to share posts, setting off a viral twirl.
Fashion powerhouses are keenly engaging with fans, distributors, celebrities and bloggers to give them access to the activities behind the scenes.
Several high street retailers have also embraced blogging with gusto. In addition to the brand's own accomplished blog, expert insiders are hired to run an in store blogging workshop to highlight the different levels of creativity at the store.
As Yarzad points out, “Great brands are focussed and have consistent story telling. Compelling stories are not crafted by companies, but woven by creative and opinionated people who are actually hired by apparel companies to speak about their brands.''
Stating that traditional print marketing and television has failed to have the reach they once did, and with consumers getting bombarded with umpteen messages and filtering out the most interesting and engaging experiences, the brand consultant said brands are interested to know who their audience is and engage customers on their terms.
``Social media can make or break your brand. For instance, the shoe fashion brand Converse, uses social media to engage with customers. They have over 34 million likes on Facebook,'' he said, adding that many Indian companies yearn to be in the same category.
Brands are increasingly using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and many others to provide a glimpse inside the glamorous red carpet world.
Though some Indian brands are better at navigating this still new space, social media marketing is turning out to be an apparel brand's new best friend.