2013 was a great year for fashion. After a few awkward years adjusting to the new climate of social media advertising, marketers in the fashion industry have finally begun taking their campaigns to stunning heights of creativity and glam. Yet many staunch traditionalists are still failing to emerge into the drastically altered marketing landscape that has already transformed countless industries. So, because fashion has been somewhat hesitant to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into its ensemble, those brands that have, have done it in breathtaking style. These are the four best fashion marketing campaigns of 2013.
2013 saw Burberry re-invent the love letter in digital form. Their clever campaign allows users to email letters to their friends and loved ones, sealed with a kiss that exactly reproduces their unique lip-print. The technology uses a simple webcam or smartphone camera to capture the lip-print of the letter sender and imprint it on the digital letter. Of course, users can also pick the shade of the kiss from amongst Burberry’s catalogue of lipstick colors.
The creative campaign teamed up with Google to get social media users sharing love, while simultaneously disseminating Burberry’s brand name. It was picked up by fashion bloggers, enjoyed weeks of publicity on sites like Facebook and Twitter, and was widely shared on Google+.
This past year, TopShop also teamed up with Google for an interactive marketing campaign. Their project, however, sought to re-invent the catwalk rather than the love note. They put HD cameras on runway models to give an unprecedented real-time view of fashion shows from the inside out. But even more impressively, the online platform also allowed visitors to customize the colors of each outfit they say on the runway. Not only did it keep visitors on the site longer, but it also allowed TopShop to gather important data about the most popular styles and colors from the show.
By advancing their mobile shopping and imbedding QR codes in their new line of sneakers, Adidas gave buyers more than a new pair of kicks. It also gave them access to a stunning digital world which was marketing well on the high street for consumers to interact with. By visiting the high street and the Adidas website and scanning the QR code (via webcam) on the sneaker’s tongue, customers were presented with a digital landscape, which they can interact with by using their shoe as a controller. For the tech junkies out there, this is just one more awesome reason to buy Adidas. It also sparked a host of shares on social sites like YouTube and Facebook, as excited customers sought to show off views of their exclusive game.
There seems to be a theme emerging where most of the exciting marketing campaigns of 2013 were created in partnership with Google. Whether this is the reality of Google’s impressive progress toward world domination or a trend sparked from within the fashion industry, we can only speculate. In any case, Google facilitated yet another well-executed marketing promotion when it teamed up with Gucci to expand the Google Maps ‘Street View’ into the world of retail.
While browsing the street view maps of Milan, users were able to enter Gucci’s flagship men’s retail store to see the luxury décor and store layout. It’s a relatively simple and no-flairs campaign, but the results brought a lot of publicity to the Gucci brand, while allowing virtual visitors to flood its store from around the globe without ever leaving their homes.
Thanks to social media and the proliferation of mobile devices, the marketing world is being turned on its head. So in 2014, we can no doubt expect to see more interactive fashion marketing than ever. From virtual fitting rooms to QR codes imbedded in clothing that allow consumers to interact with their favorite fashions like never before, the coming year promises to be an exciting one for marketers in the industry. This means fashion enthusiasts can look forward to a host of exciting evolutions in the technological dimensions of how they dress. As impressive as 2013 was, this year promises to be even better.
About Hannah
Hannah Connor works on the Vouchercloud Topman discount team and is responsible for the product development and strategies on marketing campaigns. She is experienced in content marketing, strategy development and social media implementation.
Photo Credit: JenGallardo
