Michael Shane | PR Couture: Fashion PR, Marketing & Social Media

Thanks to FashionGPSand their Digital Check In, the move to Lincoln Center wasn’t the only noticeable change this year, as the formerly long, painful lines to obtain seat assignment were practically non-existent, at least for a few shows!

Those who RSVP’d in advance were assigned a seat and sent an email alert with a QR code to be printed and brought to the show. At Lincoln Center, kiosks with QR code scanners and printers were scattered around the main lobby to easily print your your seat assignment and bar-code. An attendant then scanned your receipt on your way into the presentation room, which meant you were checked in and “seated.” On the back-end, this scan sent a live update to a computer system where another attendant could see who’s checked in and instantly reassign seats if necessary, amazing stuff for anyone who has ever worked a runway show!

IMG reports that 80% of NY Fashion Week designers showing at Lincoln Center will be using this system to manage their Spring/Summer 2011 events. Could this be the the end of pushing and shoving (or sneaking) your way into the shows? Were you at Lincoln Center – what was your experience with the QR Codes and Kiosks? Here’s what ourTwitter friends had to say:

Companies are constantly reaching out to celebs for product endorsements. We all know the drill: if a celebrity is photographed wearing a product, and that photograph shows up in one of the many tabloid weekly magazines, it’s possible for that product to reach upwards of 100 million views. All those eyeballs plus the celebrity ok can have a significant impact on sales. PR professionals know that introducing celebrities to client products can be a crucial part of the overall strategy and, when it works, makes life a whole lot easier.

Backstage at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, the Moroccanoil “Celebrity Retreat” produced by Backstage Creations, was filled with brands hoping to succeed in the aforementioned scenario. From the host’s perspective, outreach at the event was intended to maximize marketing efforts. Angelique Tourbier, Brand Manager for Moroccanoil said that “celebrity outreach is integral to our marketing mix and events such as this make it easier to reach a wide array of influencers in our target market.” It used to be enough to tweet about your celebrity successes, now the goal may be for the the celebrity to tweet about it themselves! At the Teen Choice Awards, the following three brands made use of the opportunity to engage with celebrities in different ways.

Comedian George Lopez with Moroccanoil (photocredit Getty Images/Matt Sullivan)

ZOPTOPZ is a privately held company based in Baltimore, MD that designs and produces urban wear & street wear apparel products, most notably its patent-pending eponymous Zoptopz “crimped and curled” baseball caps. The company was founded in 2009 by Ronald Schmelzer after a few years of prototyping the complex brim shapes. Zoptopz’s products are targeted at teens and tweens in the urban/street demographic – hip-hop fashion, skate boarders, snowboarders, DJs and musicians, and the general consumer market.

Zoptopz has a three-pronged marketing strategy which hangs heavy on influencer marketing and social media. Since the product is a new concept that targets the teen and tween market, Zoptopz feels it’s it is important for this audience to see others accepting the cap as a cool and trendy item. This requires Zoptopz to spend its marketing time and effort wooing celebrities, artists, and influencers of all sorts (both offline and online) to help spread the positive image of Zoptopz. Zoptopz is heavily engaged in social marketing on Facebook, MySpace, Zoptopz TV on YouTube, and Twitter, as well as through constant interaction with influential bloggers and teen influencers.

Actor Matt Lanter with Zoptopz (photocredit Getty Images/Matt Sullivan)

The Teen Choice Awards aren’t the first celebrity gifting suite they’ve been involved with and it certainly won’t be their last. “Until Zoptopz has ubiquitous presence in retail,” says Schmelzer, “the primary mode for the company to promote its products to teens is through events that target this market. This explains why we are so heavily involved in events such as Teen Choice.”

FLIRT! Cosmetics is a colorful line of cosmetics and fragrances that invite customers to to “flirt” with the possibilities. On the Flirt! Facebook page, fans of their brand interact directly with the company to get the latest brand news, everything from new product launches, in-store events, and building brand loyalty. In April 2010, the company launched its Twitter account FLIRT! It Girl, an insider at FLIRT! Cosmetics who tweets about all the same things that the FLIRT! consumer loves – style, fashion, beauty and pop culture. Holly Bernesser, brand rep for the company shared that “the FLIRT! It Girl is our Twitter personality of the FLIRT! brand – she is social media obsessed and loves to chat about beauty.” To engage their Twitter followers, Flirt! hosts weekly and monthly “It Girl” contests.

In perhaps the most creative and strategic of approaches, Texas Instruments came to the Teen Choice Awards with a primary goal – to secure quotes from today’s teen stars about the importance of math and science education to inspire their school-aged fan base to do well in both subjects. “To better their future and the future of our world,” said a spokesperson for the company. Texas Instruments then assembled celebrity photos and quotes and created a photo gallery on the company’s Facebook page and then asked members of the page to vote on the most inspirational quote. The celebrity with the winning quote will then donate $40,000 worth of product to the school of that their choosing. Celebrities also autographed skins for the new TI-Nspire with Touchpad, which they will be giving away on Twitter.

Actress Taylor Spreitler with Texas Instruments (photocredit Getty Images/Matt Sullivan)

The aforementioned companies are each integrating social media and celebrity outreach into their marketing mix and are willing to experiment. What has your experience been with gifting suites?