Couture Gets Connected
November 8, 2007 – 5:54 pm
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Loading ...Think interactive marketing is only for young companies looking to grow a business? Think again. As bandwidths have increased, e-commerce has exploded, and the average internet consumer has become older and more sophisticated, some of America’s long-established top name designers have adopted the interactive approach to appeal to a broader geographic audience.
$7,900 Valentino Gowns, Just a Click Away
With features like, high quality photographs, flash animation, and photo-enlargement, internet shopping has been transformed into a total experience, on par with what a consumer might receive in a showroom or a brick-and-mortar store.
The verdict? It’s working. Despite sky-high prices, upper-crust fashion companies, like Saks and Armani Exchange, which have supplemented maybe 10 free standing stores with an internet site, have seen those sites become more profitable than all but the top-performing locations.
So why is this trend making news now? After all, sites like Net-A-Porter.com and Yoox.com have sold top-quality clothing and accessories since before 2000. The answer? It’s the designers themselves, not second party retailers, that, thanks to two important trends in the online marketplace, finally feel they can build a direct marketing portal to customers online, without losing class.
First, as mentioned before, bandwidth is larger than ever before. Gone are the days of low level photography and snail-paced dial-up connections. The prevalence of cable internet, DSL, and other high-speed connections allows for intense graphic design, professional photography, and flash features, which generate the feel of a virtual showroom or fashion show.
Those visuals are then combined with imbedded videos of interviews with designers, recent fashion shows, or events short noir film clips featuring the latest looks. Not only does this feature make a web site seem more personal, it adds a touch that not even the brick-and-mortar stores can match.
Older, Wiser, More Sophisticated
The other trend that has allowed couture to get connected is the evolving demographic of the internet shopper. It was once standard thought that the internet shopper was young and tech oriented.
That assumption is now being challenged, as internet shoppers have grown up, become more sophisticated, and invited a new generation (parents/bosses/relatives) online as well.
The lesson here is that interactive marketing, when well done, works. It adds to in-store offerings, enhances the shopping experience, and involves the user. It also increases profits, reaches new customers, and expands business. Isn’t it time we all got on board?
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One Response to “Couture Gets Connected”
Using interactive marketing for promoting a product or a brand is just a brilliant idea! But when saying “bandwidth is larger than ever before” we still must not forget the other countries in the world that are still counting the bits of their allowed monthly bandwidths. Example like this can be found in my country, Croatia.
Of course that these brands might not even care about the users from the Balkans or other countries with “limited” bandwidths and might think they are not their customers, but when we are talking globalization and e-commerce and the power of the internet - every living person in the world is a potential client.
By Vanja Amidzic on Jul 25, 2008