Authenticity in Fashion Social Media

September 25th 2012, Hosted by

Agenda

1. Welcome

2. Introduction of Presenters and Panelists

3. Background and Context

4. Case Studies

5. Panel & Audience Discussion

6. Summary

7. Drinks and networking

Background

• Definition: of undisputed origin, not a copy, genuine, real, accurate, reliable, appropriate

• Social media: honest, meaningful, substance

• Environmental uncertainty driving the trend

• Scarcities of Time, Attention and Trust

• Driver of desire for retrobranding and heritage

• Quest for provenance

Context

Benefits: • Emotional connection with stakeholders • Longer relationships • Higher brand loyalty • Increase brand equity Challenges: • Time, attention and trust • Cost • Over- Censorship • Legal environment

Fashion So Me Context

• Made In/Designed In ( Burberry) • CSR (Marks & Spencer) • Design Copyright Issues (Urban Outfitters) • Brand Image changes (GAP, YSL) • Crisis Management (TopShop) • Customer Service (Office) • Fan buying • Crowdsourced competitons/UGC (Gucci,

Burberry) • Blogger outreach & representation (IFB)

Case Study: Honest by

• Launched in 2012

• Premium/Luxury

• Bruno Pieters

• 100% Transparency policy

• Where, how, who and how much is disclosed

• Revolutionary/Disruptive

• “tells the truth”

• Message is communicated through fb, tw, vimeo

Case Study: TopShop

Form

• Behind the Scenes – Facebook 2.7m

• Street Style – Tumblr

• 'Inside-Out' – Blog: Street wear, music, youth culture – Nasir Mazhar

• Twitter: People Behind the Brand

• “Unique”

• Collaborations – JW Anderson, Louise Gray

Strengths

• Consistent across all Channels

• Speed of responsiveness

• Huge content generation

Weaknesses

• Huge company, difficult to show humanity

• Wide target market

Case Study: Vogue

• @CondeElevator Twitter Account: • “Girl 1: She's making me run a

million errands this afternoon. • Girl 2: Oooh, will you bring me an

iced coffee on your way back?” • “[silence] [silence] [silence]

[silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence]

• summer intern: “was that...?” • intern #2: “yeh” #AnnaWintour” • “Authentic, Vintage, Original”

Panel & Audience Discussion

– Karinna Nobbs, Lecturer at London College of Fashion (@karinnanobbs)

– Matteo Montecchi, Lecturer at London College of Fashion (@matteomontecchi)

– Matthew Zorpas, Creative Consultant & Independent Blogger (@matthewzorpas)

– Jonathan Pryce, Digital Consultant & Independent Blogger (@Garconjon)

– Andrea Apella, Deputy General Counsellor and Lecturer at Kings College (@andreaApella)

Summary

BE...

• Yourself

• Human

• Open

• Consistent

• Transparent