Canvas Lands’ End Digital Holiday Strategy & 2013 Marketing Predictions

Working with a nationally recognized brand like Land’s End was a natural fit for Glitter Guide. We aim to provide our readers exposure to brands they have access to with quality they can afford and Canvas Land’s End is just that. We love the every day sensibility and relaxed style of Canvas Land’s End, and that their pieces can mix into any wardrobe.  We look to partner with brands in the most authentic and realistic way possible. This often means we are closely involved in the creative process and really aim to make the partnership mesh with the rest of our site- which we find really resonates with our readers.  – Caitlin Moran, Glitter Guide

Last year around this time, Canvas Lands’ End made waves for being one of the first brands to attempt the now ubiquitous “Pin it to Win it” contest. This year, their holiday campaign centers around digital “blog-up shops,” individual mini e-commerce sites featuring fall and holiday looks styled by 8 men’s and women’s fashion & lifestyle bloggers. In accordance with the rise of all things visual and shareable, shop content is easily posted to Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. #CanvasArrivals is the hashtag. In addition to the blogger involvement, consumers are also participating for a chance to enter to win a $100 gift card by retweeting a message from the brand.  Curious to learn more about the campaign and where the brand is headed in 2013, I got in touch with Michele Casper, senior director public relations, Lands’ End as well as a few of the bloggers themselves to get the scoop on co-branded partnerships.

How has the Canvas digital strategy evolved over the year and what inspired the Canvas Arrivals campaign?

Canvas Lands’ End is continuously looking for innovative opportunities to introduce new customers to the brand and as a leading online retailer, the digital space is very important to us.   We also know that our Canvas Lands’ End customers are very socially savvy, early adopters and currently engaged on multiple social media platforms.   Over the past year, we have focused on creating interesting partnerships and collaborations within the digital space that allow us to interact with our current fans, as well as introduce new consumers to Canvas Lands’ End.

With #CanvasArrivals, we are taking the pop-up shop concept online, and have partnered with influential bloggers who define different aspects of the Canvas Lands’ End brand to help “stock” our shops and share their personal style.  These partnerships provide endorsement for the brand as well as a built in, engaged audience.  While we do not talk specifically about sales figures, we are seeing an increase in awareness and traffic to the Canvas Lands’ End site due to these partnerships.

I enjoy collaborating with brands, especially brands that offer a full collection for men. Canvas was perfect because I could style denim and non denim articles of clothing and show guys how to dress up, dress down, and take the same outfit from day to night with simple adjustments. – Johnny Pinto, The Denim Guy

How did you choose these particular bloggers to work with?

We partnered with bloggers who inspire us.  From fashion to beauty to DIY, the bloggers we are working with really embody who we envision the Canvas Lands’ End customer to be – smart, stylish and inspired by culture. We wanted a mix of both male and female bloggers in order to showcase a variety of looks and appeal to both genders.   In order to ensure success and interest, we also looked for bloggers who have highly engaged and active audiences.

This campaign is a strong fit for Selectism and our reader, a [modern man] looking to outfit himself with fashions that offer quality fits and construction at reasonable prices. Readers look to us not only for our curated selection of goods and services but also the ability to purchase them. [Through the blog up shops] we developed a series of curated top to bottom looks integrated with the Lands’ End online shop, [making it easy] for consumers to purchase our selections. – Jeff Carvallo, Selectism

City Adventures, Kat Kegan

What value does #CanvasArrivals bring to the brand?

Bloggers are major influencers in the world of fashion, and through these partnerships we are able to tap into their active and engaged audiences in a meaningful way.  In addition, these partners embody our target consumer, so by working with them we are able to obtain immediate and real feedback on our products and also inspiration for the collections.

I was immediately interested in the collaboration because Lands’ End is based out of my home state of Wisconsin, and I love to support businesses from back home. I also liked the clothing’s emphasis on quality basics because it gives me a chance to work my DIY magic on the pieces. – Jenni Radosevich, iSpyDIY

How are you navigating the current media landscape?

At Lands’ End we build overarching PR/marketing campaigns that include all media channels.  All communication channels are important and they play an important role in our marketing mix.  We dedicate energy and time into building partnerships that are mutually beneficial across traditional and non-traditional media.  Having a full understanding of our brand goals paired in full collaboration with their intent, allows all of us to reach our respective audiences and achieve success.

I was given the opportunity to use an entire retail website to put together 3 separate looks creatively, give them names and stories. Whenever I can use my imagination on a project that’s the best because I can make it my own, it’ll have the signature of GALLA. – Adam Gallagher, I AM GALLA

What do you think is going to be the biggest PR trend among ecommerce retailers in 2013?

One of the biggest trends we see emerging is how platforms and applications are being developed to make shopping online simple, efficient, and personal for shoppers.  From sites that aggregate sales to those that help shoppers find specific trends – it is all about going where the shopper is and making it simple for them to shop your collections.   It’s also about making it an interesting and personal shopping experience, one that can be shared across multiple screens including mobile.

Canvas Lands’ End is definitely a brand to watch, particularly given their willingness to adopt new social platforms, evolve the definition of their eComerce storefront, and manage PR strategies that are inclusive of traditional media, bloggers and consumers. Of course, it would be remiss to publish this brand Q&A on Cyber Monday without also mentioning that Canvas Land’s End is offering 30% off all purchases plus free shipping through the end of today and direct you to the shop launch dates and sites of the bloggers who were kind enough to share their thoughts with PR Couture. Adam Gallagher of I AM GALLA, (11/6),  Jeff Carvalho of Selectism (11/27), Jenni Radosevich of I Spy DIY (12/4), Caitlin Moran of Glitter Guide (12/11), Johnny Pinto of The Denim Guy (12/18).

What are your thoughts about the #CanvasArrivals campaign? Please leave a comment or connect with me (and Lands’ End PR) on Twitter.