At this moment, it is one hour before the start of Apple’s latest keynote address, the much anticipated announcement rumored to be for the mythical Apple Tablet, the iPad, or whatever else it’s been called. Like the little Fangirl that I am, I’ve had Gizmodo’s live blog coverage of the event up on one of my screens in order to follow along virtually. So far, all I’ve learned is that the early audience has a beard to baldness ratio of 1:3.

I know what you’re thinking! Does an apparent lack of ‘recession beards‘ indicate that the recession is, in fact, receding?

I’m not sure about that, but this whole fiasco has got me thinking about Apple’s phenomenal marketing, which is largely done through the ‘expert community‘… in this case, a bunch of nerds.

I wonder how many publications and blogs are currently reporting on the keynote speech that is yet to occur? So far, there has been no confirmation as to the topic of today’s presentation, and yet the brand has already gotten tons of free publicity. Naturally, Apple is trending hotter than Obama’s State of the Union right now in both Google and Twitter without so much as a validated hint from behind the doors of Apple.

Most companies will never get this level of buzz- either positive or negative. In fact, most companies don’t need this level of frantic attention, but as we all know, in fashion and luxury, buzzworthy events make the brand. That’s why companies spend millions every year on everything from fashion shows to parties and celebrity appearances. In most experience industries, marketers and press agents are hired specifically to generate press attention through these events.

But if you think about it, Apple’s version of a fashion show is the notorious Steve Jobs keynote presentation… However, there is a big difference in the relative buzz generated by Steve Jobs and the buzz generated by say, John Galliano. That’s because the audience is different. Steve Jobs caters to the experts who generate content: the fans, the journalists, the bloggers. He presents content in a way that excites people, and that excitement drives them to spread the message. Hell, people even talk about how he presents, not just what he presents.

I think the fashion and luxury sectors could learn something here. The fashion show is evolving. Online content is evolving. Customer expectations are evolving.

I would argue that it is no longer necessary to fill the seats of fashion shows with merchandisers and retailers. Just like Apple, fashion brands should also be catering to the content-generating experts, thrilling them, pumping them full of information, and not just allowing but encouraging them to spread the word.

One potential argument I foresee here is that the buyers need access to fashion week in order to understand the product. That is not necessarily untrue, but gone are the days when brands should invest as many resources into the entertainment of retailers versus the final customer. In fact, I don’t think the retailers need to be entertained at all. The thrill can be passed directly to the final customer without catering to the middle-man. Besides, retailers get a better feel for the clothes in a presentation where they can get up close and touch the garments at their own pace. It’s also more efficient today to analyze real-time quantitative data and qualitative customer reactions to a collection online than it is to use the typical Excel file of sales from seasons-past together with a little help from the crystal ball. Which would you choose?

The entire fashion industry is changing, with an increasing strategic importance in controlling the message. This makes sense to maintain a strong brand identity, but the implication should go beyond media. Not only do today’s consumers expect a 2-way conversation with preferred brands, but they also expect excellent customer service and anticipatory actions, which can best be predicted by analyzing behavior online and off. Fashion and luxury, while maintaining an ahead-of-demand image, should take this opportunity to communicate directly with their final customers while learning from them. Start with the customer, and work your way backwards, as Jeff Bezos from Amazon would say.

Well, it’s time for Steve Jobs now, so I’m going to get back to the liveblog, written by nerds for nerds, and without a penny from Apple.

Not many weeks ago, I was introduced to Paul Ward’s blog on his website covering a subject I love: Customer Experience Management. As a frequent reader of many a business blog, I was struck by this guy’s humor and was impressed with the quality of his writing. He presents a much more engaging picture of customer experience than what you’re likely to find in your typical business school, which – now that I think about it – is pretty ironic (ie, if you’re going to TEACH customer experience, and your students are more or less your customers, you probably should not bore them to tears). Plus, this guy clearly knows his stuff!

Never being satisfied with my own blog – the design is never quite right, I can’t tweak the theme enough, I write too much, etc – it wasn’t long into my look around Mr. Ward’s blog before I thought, “Damn, this is a nice site.” I checked the source code, which led me to a website publishing company in New York called Squarespace.

Wow.

I checked out the blog examples they have posted on the Squarespace site from other customers who have used their software and hosting service. Not only did I find some really sweet new blogs for my morning read, but each one was designed completely unique from the rest …and all were beautiful! Then I watched their little tour on how you can use their service to design your website, and this (to me) was the most impressive part. You can virtually do anything to design your site just as you like it, and with absolutely no knowledge of coding. Now, I know there are other companies out there who are developing this kind of “do it yourself” software with cloud computing, but I have never seen something so well-designed and user-friendly. Of course, at this point I was kicking myself from going with another hosting company and buying a theme mere weeks before this discovery.

However, I really felt like I should do something to let them know how seriously impressed I was. I submitted a message through their contact form, thanking them for putting an awesome product out there, and no kidding- within 10 minutes I had a response from an actual human. Maybe this is not as impressive until you consider that they are a small team in New York, and it was 5 a.m. there when I sent my note. Here’s what they wrote:

Hi Ashley,

Thanks for taking the time to write in to us about this.  It’s rare that even our clients take the time to write in to compliment our service, but even more so that folks that aren’t yet clients do so.  We really appreciate the compliments on our system and I’ll be sure to pass them along to our staff.  We look forward to having you switch to Squarespace just as soon as you’re ready.  If you have any questions when you do, we’ll be here.

Cheers!

To break that down into simple steps, here’s what happened in a very small amount of time:

1. They pre-sold their services just by having a good product- the results speak for themselves, and people (like me) seek them out after seeing their product put to use
2. They sealed the deal with their ease-of-use and INCREDIBLE customer service (although I am not even a customer yet)
3. The experience has made me a fan, and I’ve already told a bunch of people about the company, several of whom have already signed up. (Because honestly, a fan makes a better salesman than… a salesman.)

Leave it to a Customer Experience expert to go with the web publishers who offer the best!

I am now counting down the days until my current hosting subscription expires (only 305 to go!), at which point I will jump ship for the beautiful world of Squarespace. (And I wish that was an actual picture of my desk with the matching peonies and day-planner, but it is someone else’s that I saw on Apartment Therapy.)

Here are several of the awesome blogs I found on the Squarespace site:

• The Candid Commentary: a girl after my own heart, Dee writes about technology, fashion and beauty
• Cake Spy: an adorable blog about deserts (or as they say in the Italian version of English, “sweeties”)… good recipes too!
• Gwen Bell – Big Love in a Small World: there are many things to love about this blog, including the yoga/geek combo and the incredible writer/designer (check out her blog on Coco Chanel… I’m smitten)
• 30 Second Life: it is what it says… man buys Flip, man records daily life, man presents it for us in 30 second mashups. It’s beautiful.
• Octopus vs. Squirrel: a blog of unique and beautiful illustrations
• Squaregirl: full of optimism and written by one of the designers at Squarespace

I love finding good stuff!

It’s that time of year when the brands and retailers bring out the big guns in holiday store windows, flash collections, special promotions and enticing marketing campaigns.

It’s also the time of year when gift suggestions are poring through the inbox and the Twitter feed, which is where YSL released news of their “online gift book“. As I was virtually flipping through the pages, I started thinking about what a “luxury” experience is, and how that is or is not conveyed online.

In luxury retailing, there are several points that are critical, including:

• Prominent location
• Evocative presentation
• Exceptional customer service
• Advanced product experience (relates to external communications, display, customer service & knowledge conveyed from the clerk to the customer)
• Comfort & ease of acquisition

Therefore, it naturally follows that these points of distinction should be prevalent in the online environment to maintain brand image consistency and appeal. How might that work?

Prominent Location

Think of the the luxury fashion districts of the world. While brands have, in recent years, been focusing on store proliferation in secondary and tertiary cities (which really helped to convey the sense of mass-marketization in luxury, which is the reason most luxury leaders claimed to have avoided the internet for so long), we can all identify the traditional luxury districts in our respective regions (Fifth Avenue in NY, Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills, etc).

Luxury brands have traditionally stuck together in the prominent areas, working as “complimentors” instead of outright competitors. Just as no two brand styles directly overlap, no two store images are the same. However, just as all of the brands cooperate to produce regional fashion weeks, they have also traditionally cooperated in grouping their retail properties together to further boost the allure of the neighborhood, therefore collectively building hype.

What’s my point?

First of all, just as on Earth, there are many unsavory places on the internet.  A luxury company avoiding the internet to avoid appearing “mass market” is the equivalent of that same company refusing to open a store anywhere on Earth because there are also some shady, ugly, dirty places out there.

Via Montenapoleone luxury district, Salone del Mobile Week, 2009

Secondly, because it is the nature of the luxury industry to work cooperatively, it seems that the best approach to the internet would be to maintain this communal action. For example, having a highly evocative central website with branded sites linking out can have the same affect as our physical shopping malls had in the 80s and 90s, and as our traditional fashion districts have had for the past 50 years. It might also go further to help instill some much-needed courage into the management of the lagging luxury brands, while also giving them easily accessible examples of some best practices that their “virtual neighbors” might provide, just as walking down the street of Via Montenapoleone here in Milan could give a store manager some cool ideas based on what his neighbors are doing in their shop windows, for example.

Evocative Presentation

If you remove the logo and all signage from the facade, how do you know a luxury store when you see one? Walking into the Gap, you might take a look at the folded piles of basics, the tightly-packed side aisles of seasonal touches, the back walls of sale items and jeans, the overhead photos of “real” people looking happy, relaxed and casual… Walking into Gucci, you feel as though you have walked into a sort of high-tech personal closet, where the clothes are spaciously organized by color and occasion-of-use, often featuring no more than a couple of SKUs in each style. Walking into Ralph Lauren, it certainly seems as though you have walked into a Rockefeller estate, with perhaps a full living room display and artifacts such as walking sticks and massive portraits hanging from the walls.

Luxury brands provide an added layer of emotional involvement in their retail environment, because the customer is buying more than an object upon purchase. They are buying a symbolic gesture that communicates a part of their personality (whether aspirational or real) to their community, which says I am (or want to be) a part of this group. If the brand image and personality is not coming through loud and clear, what is there to buy? A pair of sunglasses is a pair of sunglasses (perhaps with the recent exception of Oakley), and an equally-amazing suit could perhaps be made for less money (and better fitting) by hand at talented tailor’s studio.

The point? If the website isn’t conveying the brand image and the community attitude in an evocative way, the brand can wave a tearful goodbye to the next generation who has already built their own personal “brand identities” online, and has very little patience for a brand that is supposed to be “more than…” but has not done the same.

Furthermore, a luxury brand should put some considerable thought and effort into creating an evocative presentation online, just as in the store. Setting the luxury brand image apart from the online image of the Gap should not equate to eliminating the e-commerce function. What it should equate to is creating a brilliant user experience that is emotional and inspiring for the consumer, and which creates communities of aspiring teenagers eager to blow their first corporate paychecks on something/anything from your brand to show that they’ve “made it” and they “belong”.

Exceptional Customer Service

I recently spoke with a manager (aka: “Mr. Smith”) from Hennessy Cognac, a division of LVMH, who told me a great story about customer service in the luxury sector. To paraphrase:

Mr. Smith said that he had been to the local Cartier store 4 times in his life: once to buy his first “status” watch as a young executive, then to buy an engagement ring, later to buy his wife a gift after the birth of their first child, and most recently to have the watch repaired. He said that not only did the sales staff recognize him upon entering the store, but they asked about his wife and daughter by name. (Yes, there is software to help assist with this kind of CRM- it’s the same software that Quintessentially and the Bulgari Hotel uses.)

After being delighted with the service at Cartier and dropping off his watch, Mr. Smith went around the corner (being in the fashion/luxury district) to a store that is part of the LVMH family. Not only was he not greeted upon entry, but he was also not assisted by the staff, who preferred to gossip behind the counter although he was clearly interested in making a purchase. When he approached the desk to make his purchase, he presented the clerk with his LVMH executive credit card. A bit flushed, the clerk stepped into the side-office where Mr. Smith heard her ask the store manager if she should provide him with the employee discount. The store manager replied, “Not if he didn’t ask for it.” Needless to say, the store manager in charge of that operation was quickly replaced.

It remains the case that in some luxury stores, customers sometimes report feeling intimidated, ignored or even insulted by snobby staff. However, this is never the intention of the brand managers (or it shouldn’t be), who have recognized that, since the grunge era and the dotcom boom, the wealthiest clients might walk through the door in sweats or, in the case of Alice Walton (above), the richest woman alive, a cowboy hat and a studded blouse. This trend less common in Europe, but with the popular introduction of Juicy Couture and now Abercrombie, even the Italians are beginning to dress-down down these days. If anything, it is the strategy of luxury retailers to make the customer experience the best one possible, whether that means having articles delivered for private in-home/office fittings, or even just spending an hour talking with one client about the leathers and creative techniques used in making two different handbags. (I have seen the latter in Bottega Veneta, where a clerk actually helped a customer to empty her existing handbag and pack all of her possessions into the Bottega bag, just to understand if it would fit, how much it would weigh, and how the shape would change.)

So, what makes a great customer service experience online? First of all, the ability to buy what you see, to be able to ask questions and get immediate, intelligent and friendly responses. But also, I believe it means having advanced access to the product, beyond what you might see at TopShop which, by the way, is some pretty cool stuff!

Advanced Product Experience

An emerging segment within the luxury market is that of the connoisseur: the more discrete luxury consumer who has a thorough knowledge of the product category (watches, sailing yachts, wines, whatever) and is more interested in obtaining the most exquisite items from that category and communicating with others “in the know” than she is in flashing logos.

In addition, it is unlikely that the post-recession consumer will return to having much interest in buying expensive stuff without some serious validation behind it… and I’m not referring to celebrity validation. Like it or not, our world is becoming evermore transparent, and fleeting are the days when companies can slap a “Made in Italy” label on an item (most of which was actually made in Indonesia), apply a premium markup, and sell the item with full consumer trust. A post-Lehman Brothers transparent market demands ethical behavior. For the brands already practicing sustainable production, ethical trade agreements and so on, this is like a big gift (see AscensionOnline and the Ethical Fashion Forum for more). For all the others, it’s a big loud wake-up call.

What does this mean online? It means that consumers buying a $2200 “shiny calf shopper” want more information than:

BRUNITO FINISH HARDWARE
DOUBLE TOP ZIP CLOSURE
INTERIOR ZIP POCKET
CELL PHONE COMPARTMENT
SUEDE LINING

They want to know what a Brunito finish means, and why it’s special… What part was made by hand, by whose hands, and where? Where did the calf leather come from and what are the ranching practices there? What was the process by which the leather was treated, thus rendering it “shiny”? They also want to know the story behind the product and the brand, and so in the case of Bottega Veneta, it would be beneficial to talk about the unique leather-weaving technique (intrecciato) that they teach to young artisans at the Scuola della Pelletteria Bottega Veneta in Vicenza, Italy for example. That’s something very special, and yet it’s not communicated. These are the little points that convince educated consumers to become “fans” and love a brand.

Furthermore, the consumer should be able to manipulate the views on-screen to really understand the art and craftsmanship employed in the product. Two flat-angle views are fine if I’m buying something standard online, like t-shirts or Post-It Notes, but if I’m making an investment purchase, I want to be able to spin the thing around, open the hood and take a look inside.

Detailed product and brand information adds intrigue and validity to the purchase, and gives consumers something to share with their friends. After all, these days what’s important is not what you have, but what you share. The virtual customer should have as much if not more information available to them than the in-store customer.

Comfort & Ease of Acquisition

When you think about the stereotypical butler, Jeeves (or the more modern version: Dorota), he’s generally pretty helpful and courteous, right? He knows how you take your tea, and when and where to bring it. He orders the other staff around behind-the-scenes to make your life as easy as possible because you are Important, and shouldn’t have to bother with those things, much less witness them.

The same thing goes for the luxury brand. The store manager is Jeeves, whether that’s virtual or not. If you want something, he should make it as easy as possible for you to get it, and he should also build up an idea of what other things you might want. You shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to make an online purchase, and you shouldn’t have to stalk the customer service people if there is a problem.

In many online luxury organizations, the operations department faces great challenges in what products they can ship to specific countries (for example, any ivory that is less than 100 years old and does not come from a warthog is banned from the USA). It is therefore reasonable to deny requests from consumers in certain countries where the fulfillment of that request would be a crime. However, these kinds of issues should be stated upfront, before the purchase is made, and an alternative arranged. This goes hand-in-hand with customer service and product information, but it is often overlooked.

The Online Gift Book

So why did I bother ranting about all of this?

As I mentioned way up there at the top of this post, I received this Tweet from YSL and I took a look at their gift book. It’s literally a virtual scroll-through… I mean, they literally put the catalog on the internet as if it were in paper form, sent out a Tweet and walked away. That alone was pretty baffling, seeing as how the technology exists as a way to improve the experience… it was like putting a radio ad on the TV.

Anyway, I “flip” through a few pages and come across a necklace that I love. At least, I think I love it.

The necklace in question (right)

I click on it to get a closer look, hoping that a second window will open where I can get multiple views and hopefully spin the object 3-dimensionally, and possibly see it on a model. What I get is a message that said: “Double click to zoom in.”  Okay, so I double click. The thing zooms in 2 settings: too small, and too big to see anything. I zoom back out and take a look at the product description for more details on material, size, price. The description says only: “Interlocking YSL Necklace in Gold Tone Metal.”

There is no option to get details, to buy it on the spot, or to transfer to the e-store. I can only download the “book” or print it, neither of which I find particularly helpful.

So I’m still slightly curious, and I google “YSL” to get the online store. Here’s problem #2: From the main page, the following is my click-stream…

Fashion & Accessories –> YSL e-shop (US only) –> Online Boutique (yes, AGAIN) –> Women –> Jewelry –> View All … no necklace

Next I google “Interlocking YSL Necklace in Gold Tone Metal” and while LuisaViaRoma.com came up with some mouth-watering necklaces, mine was not to be found.

So, YSL paid someone to make this online catalog for products that don’t exist online.

What this probably amounts to is a bottleneck in the transfer of information between the in-house marketing at YSL and their online store’s marketing team, and that’s to be expected whenever 2 companies merge across overlapping functions (in this case, design house and e-commerce service provider). However, what a glitch like this ends up accomplishing is transforming a customer who was possibly interested in making a purchase into a frustrated non-customer who was eager to blog about it.

I’m thinking that’s probably not the experience either of us were seeking.

So I’m both green with envy and thrilled to read the tidbits of info that are coming out of this conference, and am desperately waiting for more details (and video feed, anyone?!).

On Monday, Ms Drier posted an article on the conference in WWD, but for those of you without access, I’ll include some highlights here:

Seen as both an opportunity and a threat, technology is now an unavoidable factor to be reckoned with in the luxury market. And whether it’s virtual retailing, social networking or any manner of digital or cyberspace advance, luxury brands no longer have the option of sidestepping technology.

Amen to that! Of course, the day after this piece was written, many of the traditional industry titans were gathered in Milan to ask themselves the fleeting question of whether the internet has a place in luxury. Let’s hope they were all in Berlin last week, and that’s why the topic barely made a blip on the Milanese radar.

Mirroring my experience with industry leaders here in Italy, both through work and my experience back in business school when I interviewed dozens of CEOs and Marketing Managers of brands ranging from fashion to fine wine and motorcycles to understand their insight into the future of the luxury market, in the WWD article, Suzy Menkes had the following to say:

“The luxury market hasn’t embraced early enough or completely enough the opportunities of new technology,” IHT fashion editor Suzy Menkes told WWD shortly before the conference kicked off. This year’s technology focus was spurred, in part, by her experience of chief executive officers’ discomfort when queried about a company’s online activities. “All I’d get is a grimace, compared to the tremendous enthusiasm to how they embrace a new store,” she said.

I am very familiar with that grimace, but I personally think that a lot of the problem has to do with the fact that a great deal of the luxury-industry managers aren’t familiar with how the web can help them. With all due respect to Mme. Menkes, I believe it’s actually the luxury industry and not the luxury market – the customers are already there - which has failed to fully embrace the opportunities of new technology. Industry leaders don’t seem to view the internet as an ideal place to build a branded environment, tell your story, build a community and engage in cutting-edge customer service, but rather a murky danger-zone.

In an industry where simply knowing your way around Excel is considered a form of wizardry, it’s hardly surprising that the industry leaders might be intimidated by a technology they don’t understand, both online and off. There is definitely one industry leader out there who gets it- Burberry’s Christopher Bailey is revolutionizing the brand through technology in both marketing and internal processes, building a great digital brand presence with the added benefit of a sustainable impact.

“Technology shouldn’t be scary,” stated Burberry chief creative officer Christopher Bailey. Together with CEO Angela Ahrendts, Bailey has powered Burberry into the virtual and digital forefront both online and in-house via the use of blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Burberry TV, its own social networking site, consumer e-brochures, digital look books, digital and e-commerce links to fashion shows, digital design tools, global videoconferencing, motion sensor lights, a monitor and iPod on every desk, Wi-Fi, Skype, a digital photo studio that can get images online in two hours and so on…

And the payback? Connectivity with ateliers and offices has reduced company air travel by 17 percent, digital look books have saved 32 tons of paper, online sales are growing rapidly and Burberry’s broad online presence provides the brand “with a much broader insight into the consumer and you can build more of a story,” Bailey said.

Sustainability, high ROI and social media brilliance… (I’m in love.)

And, speaking of consumer-insight and the building of the brand story, Ms Dryer goes on to introduce FASHIONAIR, a new multimedia fashion social network/e-commerce aggregator (still in the Beta phase) which seems to have the capability of dominating the online fashion forum through brand representation and creating a killer environment where consumers want to hang out. I’m so excited about this project, but it’s going to require a separate entry (most of which I just wrote and erased for the sake of “brevity”).

Back to the Techno Luxury conference… among the attendees were some of the most prominent fashion bloggers, in addition to the editor of The Business of Fashion and founder of the Luxury Society, Imran Amed. I was just reading this article from The Business of Fashion blog about the recent frenzy of staged social media activity surrounding Fashion Week, which was apparently discussed last week at the conference. I say staged because many brands today are eager to appear “on-trend” with our virtual lifestyles, without realizing that 1) it’s not a trend, and 2) you can’t always “fake it til ya make it” and consider yourself a leader.

While the article is definitely worth a full read and a spot in your Evernote files, I thought these two points were especially on-point:

It’s not enough to be seen to embrace social media. Brands and retailers must also build real long-term symbiotic relationships with bloggers, not short-term exploitative ones. Excellent examples of this are Lane Crawford, who from the start have supported and worked with Tommy Ton on their ad campaigns, and Burberry and DKNY who hired Mr. Schuman for his photography skills to appear on their website and in their advertisements, respectively.

Finally, consider the point made by Yuli Ziv, a New York-based fashion blogger who said to brands last week: “If you are looking for sales, make sure to provide [bloggers] the detailed product info, pricing and availability, if  SEO optimization is your top goal – make sure you use the right keywords in your pitch, if publicity buzz is what makes you satisfied – give them juicy stories, and if you simply want love – give them the reasons to love you.” It’s as simple as that.

Without beating a dead horse, it’s critical for brands to incorporate digital outreach into their full strategy, and not just dabble in social media in some back office. Yet for many brand leaders, there just isn’t an understanding of technical capabilities, much less of implementation and execution, and without an acceptance that the future is now (how cliché is that?!), they are going to keep throwing money into one-time-only buzz campaigns with no depth or continuity.

As anyone who’s skilled in PR will tell you, the goal of a communications investment today is not to create an event that only provides a short burst of attention, but to create something that can grow and spread on its own. Even if it’s a PR event, there should be a build-up and then an follow-through which can maintain buzz over a period of time far longer than the initial event. Web marketing is the same… and I’m struggling to think of a better medium in history that could ever provide such long-term attention after an event, especially when considering digital video and other multimedia and social content.

This is important… and as one of those “digital natives,” I couldn’t have said it better myself:

I regularly hear reports of major online fashion properties who “can’t find the budgets” to hire young digital natives to help them amp up their online content. This is pennywise, pound foolish, especially as these young talents can be hired for a fraction of the cost of major photo shoot or big-time editor.  -Imran Amed

Finally, what strikes me as perhaps the most insightful part of this analysis is a comment left by Allistair Allen of AnOther Magazine. Put simply:

Hire more Geeks.

Thanks, Allistair.

Reading Material:

Defining Moments: Blog Around the Clock | WWD

From Couture to Conversation | NYT

Once Wary of the Web, Luxury Brands Embrace It | NYT

Luxury Brands and the Case for $4,000 Sunglasses | NYT

My Techno: A Designer Viewpoint | NYT

Nick Knight: Techno King | NYT

Gritty Glamor in Berlin | NYT

You can follow the International Herald Tribune Twitter archive of the Techno Luxury conference here.

References & Reading Material from Jefferson Hack’s Presentation:

Fashion Film on Dazed Digital:
——————————
Lady Gaga Exclusive: http://dazeddigital.com/features/LadyGaga.htm
Swarovski State of Grace: http://www.dazeddigital.com/projects/astateofgrace/Default.aspx
Westwood: http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/846/1/Backstage_With_Vivienne_Westwood
Alexander Mcqueen A/W 09: http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/2656/1/Alexander_McQueen_AW09
Tim Richardson – Transition : http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/1742/1/Rotation
Armani: http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/651/1/AX_and_Dazed_present_a_film_by_Matt_Irwin
Carolotta Managio – Mutate: http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/2349/1/Mutate
DKNY Turns 20: http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/1687/1/DKNY_Turns_20
Martin Margiela: http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/2367/1/Instant_Instinct

Authors:
——–
William Gibson : http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/
Marshall Mcluhan: http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/

Social Media
————
Charles Leadbeater: http://www.charlesleadbeater.net/home.aspx
Mashable: http://mashable.com/author/barb-dybwad/

Augmented Reality:
——————
Total Immersion:  http://www.t-immersion.com/
Layar: http://layar.com/layers/
Bruce Sterling: http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/

Interactive Design:
——————-
Uxbooth Blog: http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/the-future-of-interface-design/
This Happened:  http://www.thishappened.org/talks/

Future Publishing
—————–
Apple Tablet: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/apple-tablet-everything
Sony Flexible Full Color Paper Screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6bkmPjVF-k&NR=1&feature=fvwp
E-Paper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq_2LiTxhls

Presentation Formats:
———————
Neil Perkins Presentation from IPA Social October 09: http://www.slideshare.net/The_IPA/neil-perkins-presentation-from-ipa-social-oct-09

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get away in time to hear Matteo Marzotto speak about his plans for reviving the Vionnet brand, but I was able to make it there towards the end of the day, when one of my favorite topics was being highlighted: Web & Mobile Luxury. However, upon arriving at the venue, I was disappointed to find that the presentation was entitled: “Is Luxury Compatible with the Internet?”

Seriously?! …After writing about this for more than a year, and studying and working in the field for longer, I sometimes can’t believe that we are still hearing this question asked among those considered to be the industry elite.

But I digress.

The presentation was delivered by Jacques-Antoine Granjon, French CEO of vente-privee.com, a members-only online retailer of some 850 brands, typically selling end-of season products through 3-day flash sales. It’s kind of like the European version of Gilt Groupe, with what appears to be a much smaller selection of merchandise and fewer high-profile brands.

The presentation was brief, but in his defense, with only 8 minutes to deliver a message to convince business leaders that luxury and the internet do belong together, he made an entertaining synopsis.

Without further ado….

My Brief Notes on the… Brief Presentation

Following are the notes I took from the presentation. I tried to keep it as verbatim as possible, so read this with a French accent. To begin to illustrate his point, Granjon started with an analogy to online luxury…

Question: What is the most exclusive toy in the world of luxury today?

Answer: The Luxury Jet

• It saves time & offers control (controlling the when & where in life = freedom
• It provides the best service (with highly skilled staff, pilots, maintenance & 1-to-1 travel care
• It offers the utmost in innovation & know-how (provided through superior R&D, highest quality materials, technology & design
• It is exclusive (traveling alone, in privacy = power
• It provides the dream (exploration, imagination)

These five points represent the luxury codes, which the internet can provide for brands. BUT, these codes are not enough for luxury online. There are several more points:

1. The internet is not just a new format of boutique. It requires a new distribution strategy
2. It accelerates growth and visibility of brands everywhere around the world, but only if controlled
3. There can be no mistakes, because the internet is permanent, and it takes time to build a presence
4. The internet is a world that requires new skills and entrepreneurial determination. In addition to the luxury codes mentioned above, in order to be successful on the internet, luxury brands need the following:

• Tech skills: must evolve as quickly as they emerge
• Digital factory: create graphics, coding, etc
• B2C distribution centers
• Award-winning customer relationship services
• Knowledge of online marketing

I see your point, but…

For those of you out there who are, like me, thinking, “That’s IT?” after reading this… yes, that’s it.

They still don’t get it. While it may seem obvious if not insufficient to those of us who eat, sleep and breathe this stuff, I have personally met CEOs and marketing managers of major luxury brands within the last year who are reluctant to start developing a branded web-presence because they fear losing control of the brand image. On the other hand, I have also met online wizards who are eager to take advantage of this lack of luxury presence online, but fail to realize that they need savvy logistics and distribution systems as well as a killer CRM program before even contemplating the notion of luxury e-commerce.

But, back to that presentation. There are two primary associations to luxury that are critical, and are blatantly missing here. When a branded online environment is created, they should definitely be addressed.

The first, and perhaps the most important of all luxury codes is connectivity (this can mean a lot of things, among them the connection a customer feels to what a brand represents, like American Aristocracy with Ralph Lauren, or to a brand’s history of jaw-dropping elegance and sex, which is what a customer is buying in a modern Vionnet dress). Some people will call this “history,” but I think it’s also important to indicate that the luxury customer is  buying into a community, connecting that history with their own.

Most luxury brands have a profound history, and if they don’t start with one, it’s often fabricated, as was the case with the Tod’s brand under Diego Della Valle’s brilliant marketing strategy (he had shoes from the new Tod’s brand superimposed on famous images of Audrey Hepburn and other classic icons). Just as the luxury jet connects us either to a location from our past, or to an exciting future, so does the luxury brand. There is a story behind it- something both intimately familiar and excitingly new. The internet is the perfect vehicle to convey that history, to tell the story about how a particular brand developed and why that brand is loved, and to build a connected community of “lovers” around it, like a family that shares the same values.

Finally, an unfortunate association to luxury that is certainly present with the private jet, and a term which occurred in my graduate research on the topic more than any of the other luxury codes, is waste or excess. Happily, the internet can help to eliminate waste in so many ways, from streamlining the supply chain on the back-end to providing the transparency that allows consumers to understand and choose what tradeoffs they are willing to make between such hot points as carbon footprints, “Made in…” issues, labor conditions, and production materials, versus price and quality.

Moving on to the other points of the presentation, I disagree with a couple of things:

• His point: The internet accelerates growth and visibility of brands everywhere around the world, but only if controlled.
  • My point: The internet accelerates growth and visibility of brands everywhere around the world, regardless of whether or not the brand controls the message. It’s always better to establish your own online presence than to entrust it solely to outsiders and amateurs, who could accelerate brand growth and visibility in an entirely undesirable way.
• His point: There can be no mistakes, because the internet is permanent, and it takes time to build a presence.
  • My point: No one is infallible. Tell a brand manager that she has to be perfect in every way on the internet, and she will never build a presence there. The beauty of the internet is that you can address mistakes right away: you apologize, publicly correct the situation, and in the process it’s likely that you actually increase your fan-base because people trust you.

So, for those of you out there who are fashion/web geeks like me, take heart: we’ve got a lot of fun work to do!

And, by the way, I noticed that the Vionnet site is not developed. If anyone knows Matteo Marzotto, let him know that I’d love to help!

It took me few minutes to count up all of the social networks that I am a part of (18, I think) -I personally got started on friendster, back in the day! There are so many options in social media and networking, and while many brands have gotten on-board, as I’ve mentioned time and again, fashion and luxury brands have taken a backseat on the action.

The irony of this is obvious- these brands are supposed to be the leaders in what is cool, not the followers. However, pressure from 2 sides of the spectrum has led many fashion brands to get moving in social media:

1. Baby Boomers are moving out of the market and into retirement, and brands must now target the emerging market (that’s us here in Gen X & Y). Not only do we live online, but we expect that our favorite brands include us and talk to us. We don’t care so much about the branded temples of retail flagships, though they’re nice for a minute or two.
   • According to Forrester Research, 2/3 of Facebook’s 200 million users are post-college age, with the +35 group growing the fastest.
   • Twitter, which had 20 million unique visitors just last month, estimates that 42% of its users are 35-49 and 20% are 25-34.
2. If you build it, they will come. If you don’t build it, someone else will. Many brands avoided the online forum for fear of losing control of their message. Then they lost control of their message… other players went online and spoke for them with no official brand representation or rebuttal.

Enter the Worldwide Web of Fashion

Finally, fashion brands are entering the playing field, using social media to build their brand image and community online.

Today’s WWD had a great article called Social Media Rewrites the Rules for Brands, exploring this topic:

Fashion houses, designers and retailers are rushing into the free social media phenomenon that is reshaping not only interpersonal communication, but how apparel, accessories and beauty products are marketed and sold.

They are tweeting, blogging and updating their profiles in an effort to mold their brand personalities on real-time global platforms and form relationships with a community of customers, particularly consumers for whom the Web is as important as a limb.

Social media enables brands to provide personalized customer support and drive conversion to retail sites, but it goes further in reinforcing the tribal element of fashion- the inclusive sense of identity that many brand-fans seek when they purchase fashion products.

Customers can feel like they are part of the brand’s extended family, and therefore the brand itself, while the interactive element further deepens that relationship,” said Alex Bolen, chief executive officer of Oscar de la Renta. “These characteristics address and satisfy that ‘tribal’ part of the fashion consumer — the way in which people identify themselves by the brands they buy.”

In addition to providing a sense of inclusion, social media enables companies to be a part of the conversation about their brands. They can address controversy, reward loyal fans, and inform customers on everything from sales to upcoming collections, to the details and behind-the-scenes action that goes into producing a fashion line.

Furthermore, social media can provide the very sense of intimacy between a brand and its consumers that the recent consumption-boom and mass-marketization in fashion annihilated.

Keeping Up the Chatter

Virtue, the social media consultancy firm, created a Social Media Index to measure what people were talking about online. They found that the five most talked-about fashion and retail brands online were Gucci, Target, Gap, American Apparel and Urban Outfitters (May 26 – June 1, 2009). Not surprisingly, all of these brands are active in social media and networking, and they update frequently.

The currency of the internet is such that if you’re not updating on a timely basis, individuals are disappointed,” said Robert Triefus, worldwide marketing and communications director for Gucci. “In fact, it can end up backfiring.”

Main point: the brand should be present and interacting online, vigilant to conversations, and constantly adapting to communicate their consistent message in new ways. Furthermore, the company should be prepared to make an investment to create social media worthy of the brand. Generic doesn’t fly in the fashion/luxury community.

Another important point is that it is critical for brands to state when a social media page is OFFICIAL. Otherwise, it’s often hard to tell if it’s coming from the company or a third party, particularly with so many fan sites out there!

Social Media Brand Directory for Fashion

I took the WWD Twitter directory, added some brands, and expanded into Facebook and a little MySpace. If you know of any additional brands/sites that should be included, please let me know!  Check it out…

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Please let me know what is missing!

Twitter:

Adidas:  www.twitter.com/adidasrunning
American Apparel:  www.twitter.com/americanapparel
Anna Wintour (fake):  www.twitter.com/AnnaWintour
Baby Phat:  www.twitter.com/BabyPhat
Banana Republic: www.twitter.com/BROfficial
BCBG Max Azria:  www.twitter.com/BCBGMAXAZRIA
Betsey Johnson:  www.twitter.com/xoBetseyJohnson
Brian Reyes: www.twitter.com/BrianReyes
Burberry: www.twitter.com/Burberry
Calvin Klein:   www.twitter.com/calvinklein
Charlotte Ronson:  www.twitter.com/cjronson and www.twitter.com/shopronson
Colette:  www.twitter.com/coletteparis
Dior:  www.twitter.com/Lady_Dior
Diane Von Furstenberg:  www.twitter.com/InsideDVF
Dolce & Gabbana:  www.twitter.com/swide
Donna Karan:  www.twitter.com/dkny
Edun LIVE:  www.twitter.com/edunlive
French Connection:  www.twitter.com/frenchconn39
The GAP:  www.twitter.com/GapOfficial
Patrick Robinson designing for GAP:  www.twitter.com/Patrick_at_Gap
Givenchy:  www.twitter.com/givenchy
Gucci:  www.twitter.com/GuccibyGucci
www.twitter.com/gucciofficial
H&M USA:  www.twitter.com/hmusa
Halston:  www.twitter.com/halstonette
Hayden Harnet:  www.twitter.com/hayden_harnett
Henry Holland:  www.twitter.com/henryholland
Isaac Mizrahi:  www.twitter.com/isaacmizrahi
J. Mendel:  www.twitter.com/jmendelfashions
Karl Lagerfeld:  www.twitter.com/Karl_Lagerfeld
Fake Karl:  www.twitter.com/fakekarl
Kate Spade:  www.twitter.com/katespadeny
Lacoste:  www.twitter.com/LACOSTE
Liz Claiborne:  www.twitter.com/LizClaiborneNY
Loehmanns:  www.twitter.com/Loehmanns
Louis Vuitton:  www.twitter.com/LouisVuitton_US
LuisaViaRoma:  www.twitter.com/LuisaViaRoma
Marc Ecko:  www.twitter.com/beingmarcecko
Nike:  www.twitter.com/nikebasketball
Nordstrom:  www.twitter.com/nordstrom
Oscar de la Renta:  www.twitter.com/OscarPRgirl
Rachel Roy:  www.twitter.com/rachel_roy
Rebecca Minkoff:  www.twitter.com/RebeccaMinkoff
Saks:  www.twitter.com/SaksSF
Stella McCartney:  www.twitter.com/stellamccartney
Thread Social: www.twitter.com/threadsaid
T.J. Maxx:  www.twitter.com/tjmaxx
TOPSHOP:  www.twitter.com/Topshop_tweets
Tory Burch:  www.twitter.com/toryburch
Urban Outfitters:  www.twitter.com/urbanoutfitters
Vivienne Tam:  www.twitter.com/VivienneTam
William Rast:  www.twitter.com/williamrast
Where Fashion:  www.twitter.com/WHEREitisAT

Facebook:

Adidas:  www.facebook.com/adidasoriginals
American Apparel:  www.facebook.com/pages/American-Apparel/5677674978
Baby Phat:  www.facebook.com/pages/Baby-Phat/35373382369
Balenciaga: www.facebook.com/pages/BALENCIAGA/21947035401
Banana Republic:  www.facebook.com/BananaRepublic
BCBG Max Azria:  (facebook accounts set up by individual stores)
Betsey Johnson:  www.facebook.com/xobetseyjohnson
Burberry:  www.facebook.com/pages/Burberry
Burberry Prorsum:  www.facebook.com/pages/Burberry-Prorsum/43075077013
Calvin Klein:  www.facebook.com/CalvinKlein
Comme des Garçons:  www.facebook.com/pages/Comme-des-Garcons/41358966980
Diane Von Furstenberg:  www.facebook.com/dvf
Dior:  www.facebook.com/pages/Dior-Products/11089634356
Dolce & Gabbana:  www.facebook.com/DolceGabbana and www.facebook.com/SWIDE
Donna Karan:  www.facebook.com/DKNY
Edun LIVE:  www.facebook.com/edunlive
Fendi:  www.facebook.com/pages/Fendi/19285423476
French Connection:  www.facebook.com/pages/French-Connection/36004768305
The GAP:  www.facebook.com/gap
Gucci:  www.facebook.com/pages/GUCCI-the-official-page/44596321012
H&M:  www.facebook.com/hm
Halston:  www.facebook.com/pages/Halston/34900667531
Hayden Harnet:  www.facebook.com/pages/Hayden-Harnett/16959276125
Isaac Mizrahi:  www.facebook.com/IsaacMizrahi
J. Mendel:  www.facebook.com/pages/J-Mendel/56407368815
Juicy Couture:  www.facebook.com/pages/Juicy-Couture/48253834063
Karen Walker:  www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Walker/92673569182
Kate Spade:  www.facebook.com/kate-spade/10737653985
Loehmanns:  www.facebook.com/DiscountDesignerClothing
Louis Vuitton:  www.facebook.com/pages/Louis-Vuitton-Paris/8572077774
LuisaViaRoma:  www.facebook.com/pages/Florence-Italy/Luisa-Via-Roma/110378796336
Maison Martin Margiela:  www.facebook.com/maisonmargiela
Nike:  www.facebook.com/Nikestore
Nordstrom:  www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2218233177 (employee-focused)
Not Just A Label:  www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14224765798
Oscar de la Renta:  www.facebook.com/pages/Oscar-de-la-Renta/7722689875
Rachel Roy:  www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Roy/66287349227
Ralph Lauren:  www.facebook.com/RalphLauren
Rebecca Minkoff:  www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-Minkoff/77383965939
Saks:  www.facebook.com/saks
Stella McCartney:  www.facebook.com/stellamccartney
TOPSHOP:  www.facebook.com/pages/Topshop/59672929326
Tory Burch:  www.facebook.com/toryburch
Thread Social:  www.facebook.com/pages/Thread-Social/53595221355
Urban Outfitters:  www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Outfitters/9278511141
Vivienne Tam:  www.facebook.com/pages/Vivienne-Tam/48184458173
Vivienne Westwood:  www.facebook.com/pages/Vivienne-Westwood/18379711361

MySpace: (in progress)

Edun LIVE:  www.myspace.com/edunlive
LuisaViaRoma:  www.myspace.com/luisavroma
William Rast:  www.profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=126348999

To that, I would reply, “Me!”

Sadly, today’s WWD article is not referring to yours truly, but to the latest Topshop marketing campaign, which is so exciting and thoroughly integrated that I couldn’t NOT write something about it.

For one week starting tomorrow, New Yorkers can borrow one of 30 Topshop bicycles (for free) and cruise around the city to prescribed destinations. There will even be a bike valet outside the store to take care of customers’ own bikes as they shop.Topshop has been building up to this event for a couple of weeks, event featuring a style section on their website for “how to cycle in style.”

Everyone who borrows a bike will receive a fashion map which will take them round a choice of three separate routes via Topshop’s favorite New York haunts. The route will include snacks at Tea & Sympathy, a visit to DIY- clothing emporium Home Ec from the owners of boutique clothing shop ‘Flirt‘, and a trip to Pixie Market to browse the up-and-coming designer offerings. According to the press release, the map will also include a few hidden gems.

Now, lending out bicycles for a sort of indie fashion city-tour is a cool idea, but here’s what turns the PR event into a lasting marketing scheme: the shoppers and cyclists will be shooting pictures of each other, or will have their pics taken by a nightlife photographer (Nicky Digital) in the store. The goal is to have everyone create their own content to be posted on social networking sites Chictopia.com (an online community for fashion peeps), Flickr, and Topshop’s Facebook page. They’ll be encouraged to do this through an online competition, the winners of which will receive a bike of their own.

Followers of Topshop’s Twitter feed will get clues to a scavenger hunt inside the store, where hidden tickets will admit finders to a screening of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Blow-Up” on June 26 at The Yard in Brooklyn, an outdoor party space that is also on the Topshop map.

This is also a pretty good way to encourage people to build a community around the brand, first by introducing people through a fun social activity, then by recording their interactions and activities, and creating continuity of the new community online through content and tagging… and with a follow-up event!

While the green movement is certainly at play somewhere in the growth of bike popularity, I think another implied message here has something to do with the Sartorialist craze. Scott Schuman resides in New York, and is a big fan of shooting chick-on-a-bike shots, which his followers go wild for. Of course, most of the shots ares somewhere between fashion-forward and downright classy, and this is a good way for the Topshop brand to say, “Here you go ladies… go out and find the Sartorialist.”

It also serves to introduce the Topshop brand to New York (as if that were necessary) by featuring brand “complimentors” on the fashion map. By featuring cute little indie boutiques, cafes, and young designers, Topshop is implying that this is a community to which they belong. Whether we could actually consider the multi-national Topshop chain to be a part of this community in reality is debatable at best, but their core customers certainly affiliate with it.

Today I was making my way home through Milanese streets crowded with demonstrators protesting on behalf of Iran. Understanding how Twitter was quite instrumental in the organization and publicity of these demonstrations worldwide, I was not surprised to find a large number of Tweets in my feed referring to the Iranian election. However, what was surprising was the comparable balance of tweets focused between the Iran Election and the newly announced co-project between Jimmy Choo  and H&M. After reading Mashable’s blog post on the intense use of Twitter surrounding the Iran elections, I decided to do a quick comparison of my own, using Twist.

It turns out that the Iran election received a whopping 222,000 tweets in it’s top hour on Tuesday, comprising 2% of all Twitter traffic that day!  Perhaps even more surprising is the fact the H&M received nearly half that on Wednesday (still “today” for some of you!), comprising 1% of the daily Twitter traffic.

Take from that what you will, but I’m impressed on both accounts.

(Sorry about the low quality, but you can check H&M out here and the Iran election here.)

There are many differing opinions out there, most of them obviously well-meaning, and so I’m going to throw my hat into the ring now with my own…

Why a Complete Ban on Child Labor Won’t Work

Having had the opportunity to attend several workshops, events and discussions on ethical fashion and child labor, I am aware of the sad fact that some children around the world must work in order to provide for their families, and an all-out ban on child labor is neither possible (first, labor inspectors have little power, and it is nearly impossible to verify the existence of child labor in many manufacturing/agricultural set-ups), nor is it completely beneficial to some of the most poverty-stricken communities.

For example, UNAIDS has estimated about 12 million children under 18 years of age have lost one or both parents as a result of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. When a child becomes the head of the household, they have little option but to seek employment. A ban on industries that employ children would do little more than make than make a dire situation worse for these young people.

However, improved inspection policies, enhanced education and services supporting the eradication of poverty can have the desired impact of eliminating exploitative child labor. If a child must seek employment, we can at least do everything possible to ensure safe working conditions, an education and basic health services.

Curing the Disease by Fighting the Causes

The good thing is that the Labor Department (working with the International Labor Organization -ILO) clearly understands that, and is creating programs that will provide education and vocational training opportunities to children and help parents find viable alternatives to child labor.

The ILO launched World Day Against Child Labor in 2002, and it has been held annually on June 12, marked throughout the week by special events worldwide. This year, the theme is “”Give Girls a Chance — End Child Labor.”

“Many challenges remain in the fight against child labor, but the department is committed to raising awareness, improving the quality of and access to education, and building the capacity of governments and civil society organizations to address the issues of children in need. This year’s World Day calls for us to focus our attention on the special circumstances and needs of girls who are being used as child laborers,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

From the Labor Department press statement:

According to ILO estimates, of the 218 million child laborers worldwide, 100 million are girls. More than half of those girls are exposed to hazardous work in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, mining, domestic services and commercial sexual exploitation. In many cases, work performed by girls is hidden from the public eye, leaving the girls vulnerable to physical danger and abuse.

Girls are often forced to carry a double burden by contributing significantly to their own households’ chores, including child care, as well as undertaking other employment outside of their homes.

More Info

Since 1995, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) has funded approximately $720 million in anti-child labor programs and rescued more than 1.3 million children from exploitation. This year’s contribution of $60 million from the Labor Department is a great sign of commitment to changing working conditions for many of the world’s fashion and luxury employees at the bottom of the ladder- those working the mines, fiber farms, and textile mills of the developing world.

For a concise PDF summary of this year’s program on the Elimination of Child Labor, click on the image below: