While PR pro’s are often caught with multiple laptops, tablets and phones open, sitting in the middle of an avalanche of tech, last month we reached a tipping point for the rest of the world when Nielsen reported 50% of all mobile subscribers now own a smartphone. The number of internet connected devices will reach twice the world’s population by 2015, to 15 billion. For fashion lovers, the usual artillery includes, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, while advanced mobile influencers will employ many more like Snappette, Pose, Luster, and Chicfeed – all with the added benefit of sharing fashion finds, locating items and communicating trends. If you aren’t considering how mobile fits into your communication strategy, you’re fast falling behind the curve.
Typical opportunities include:
Here are two mobile apps making a splash among users and brands alike.
Lockerz platform operates under an assumption that those interacting with social media have known from the start: that what the buyer is talking about is more important than what the seller is saying. On Lockerz, users create aspirational collections that catalog everything from who they look up to, to what they want to wear, and where they want to travel. These are the associations that PR professionals are constantly trying to make successfully. On Lockerz, users earn ptz, which can then be redeemed for discounts towards items in the Lockerz shop. Brands like Splendid, BCBG, and Seven for all Mankind have already signed up to connect with Lockerz continually growing 20 million-member community aged 13-30.
The Fashiolista app reaches 2 million unique visitors per month and has over 650,000 users (ages 18 – 24) in over 165 countries, and reports sending more than 50,000 clicks, many from fashion bloggers. Based in Amsterdam but poised for major growth in the US, the app has already developed relationships with some of the largest online stores and brands, such as Replay, Gstar, Scotch and Soda, Supertrash, Vila, and also with shops like Topshop, Nelly, AsosAny, and H&M. Fashiolista reports that doing a contest through their application can increase clicks and sales by 400-800%, as well as provide great branding and exposure. Fashiolista recently integrated with Facebook to create a personal fashion timeline on Facebook. “You can now scroll back in time and check your past designer obsessions and color crushes, see when you decided to swap your skinny jeans for a boyfriend fit and find out when you purchased the Chanel 2.55 – an epic moment on your timeline, of course,” explains Fashiolista Fashion Director Emilie Sobels.
In terms of non-paid options, Fashiolista provides the option to install their heart button into brand websites. This allows Fashiolista users to add items directly from a website into the application.
Mobile platforms offer an additional way to stay top of mind as we begin to spend more and more of our time shopping, sharing and sleuthing new finds with our phones. A successful mobile app campaign that connects to an existing a community of trendsetters who love to shop, play, and connect already can be a great new audience and method of connection for brands.
