Digital Luxury Digest | Consumers Tweet On Brands Behalf, The Good And Bad For Luxury Travel, Brands Move Online To Beat Discounters, Tokyo Withdraws From The Luxe Life
“Consumers More Willing To Share Brand Info On Social Networks Than Previously Thought” (MediaPost)
Tweeting the name of a product’s brand on Twitter may have become one of those so-called “touchpoints” in the sales funnel that marketers try desperately to capture. It all boils down to where marketers will spend the dollars as they try to allocate budgets for next year.
“Long-Range Forecast for the Luxury Travel Market Is Mixed” (MarketWire)
The long-range forecast for the luxury travel sector now through 2010 is mixed — Bright and sunny for travel providers catering to the pleasure market; Storms and changing winds ahead for marketers that rely primarily on the business travel segment.
“Luxury Brands Move Online to Compete with Discounters” (MarketingVOX)
Saks Fifth Avenue, the upscale brick-and-mortar retailer, is experimenting with short online “private event” sales as means to compete with increasingly popular high-end discount websites. Saks’ new offering, called “Fashion Fix,” comes as the luxury department-store chain struggles to find new sources of revenue in the current economy.
“No Fit for Luxury Lifestyle in Tokyo Costs Versace Customers” (Bloomberg)
Akiko Sayama re-examined her spending habits when the Tokyo staffing agency where she works cut its overtime budget. She lost more than $13,000 in annual pay, so one of the first things she did was curb her tastes for Louis Vuitton and PPR SA’s Gucci. “I need to cut back where I can,” said Sayama, 41, who lives in Saitama prefecture outside of Tokyo. “It’s not like I lost my interest in luxury brands. I can’t afford them.”
EVENT: Top Chef – Agency Edition
Join Halogen for an evening of food, wine and culinary competition. Top Chef: Agency Edition is being held on November 18 from 7 pm – 10 pm at Rustico Studio in New York. With the guidance of expert chefs, teams of 6 will prepare a gourmet dinner. The Iron Chef-style cook-off will be followed by a sit down feast of each team’s creations, paired with wine.
Form your own agency team or have us draft the teams – your choice. Whether you are a Food Network junkie or a cooking neophyte, this is your chance to hone your knife skills, flaunt your flair for presentation, and once and for all prove that your agency is the best. Food editors and the founders of Food52, Amanda Hesser (formerly of the NY Times) and Merrill Stubbs, will be on hand to judge.
Each member of the winning team will receive an individualized case of wine, accompanied by tasting notes, personally selected by Gregory Dal Paz, the editor of Snooth.com. Additional prizes will be awarded for bonus categories, such as fewest knife-related injuries sustained during the competition.
To RSVP, check out our evite.
Digital Luxury Digest | Halogen’s Trump Microsite, Restructure Luxury At Versace, Tag Heuer Offers Free Insurance, Retails New Reality, Marketers Get Warm And Fuzzy For The Holidays
“Ivanka Trump Leverages Her Nearly Half-Million Strong Twitter Following” (MediaPost)
Ivanka Trump reached a quarter of a million followers on Twitter in less than three months during a promotion for her latest venture. Halogen Network created a microsite and Twitter campaign for the Donald Trump-scion to promote her Trump SoHo, a luxury hotel scheduled to open in February.
“Restructuring Luxury at Versace” (NY Times)
“I AM a survivor,” the designer Donatella Versace said matter-of-factly during a recent blitz of New York, a visit that made it appear little had changed in the world of the occupationally fabulous. But her composure, like her company’s Medusa logo, was a mask.
“Tag Heuer Luxury Watch Plays Real Safe” (Financial Chronicle)
Watch retailer Ethos has tied up with Oriental Insurance to provide insurance cover on the entire range of luxury watch, Tag Heuer, to its niche segment of customers. Ethos will share the costs of insurance with Tag Heuer. This facility is available on these watches only at the Ethos stores.
“Top Industry Leaders Address Retail’s New Reality” (WWD)
There’s one way to manage through “the new normal” — restructure. That’s the call from leading industry figures, notably Allen Questrom, who believes retailers must start selling “real people,” think casual and less skinny when it comes to merchandising, and take a lesson on providing value from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where he sits on the board and sees revenues eventually topping $1 trillion.
“Retailers Bet on Warm and Fuzzy Holiday Themes” (WWD)
Nostalgia and other emotions — visions of sugar plums, softly falling snow, reindeer and Santa — will be plentiful in holiday marketing campaigns but may not be enough to shake most American consumers out of their sleepy spending ways.
New Publisher: Cookstr
We added some great publishers last month, one of them being Cookstr, a new site dedicated to providing users with recipes from the best chefs and cookbook authors. What makes this site really unique is its search engine capabilities. A slew of options allows you to narrow down and refine your search to exactly what you want and need. For example, if you want to use up some apples before they go bad, you can type “apples” which will bring up all the recipes. Then, narrow down your search: cost – “inexpensive” / skill level – “moderate” / dietary consideration – “lactose free.” And voilà! Sweet Potato and Apple Latkes with Ginger Orange Dipping Sauce (among other choices). Other search options include time, course, season, mood, method and more. Explore the site and look for additional features coming soon like, “MyCookstr” where you can save recipes, notes and shopping lists.
Digital Luxury Digest | Targeting Win For Lord & Taylor, Online Space Is Retail’s Biggest Hope, Luxury Goes Back To The Basics, NY Fashion Week Names New Leader Of The Pack
“Progressive Targeting Boosts Lord & Taylor’s ROI” (MediaPost)
Rocket Fuel has partnered with Morpheus Media to drive sales, loyalty and brand engagement for Lord & Taylor. The fledgling hybrid ad network that launched earlier this year helped to triple the retailer’s campaign goals from the first to the second for online sales of women’s fashion, apparel and accessories by analyzing behavior, social, contextual and search data.
“Study Predicts Online Holiday Sales Boost” (WWD)
A Forrester Research Inc. report predicted Monday that online retail sales in all categories except travel will reach $44.7 billion during November and December, an increase of 8 percent over 2008. “Despite the lingering effects of the global financial crisis, the online space remains the retail industry’s growth engine,” the report said.
“Luxury Goods Maker Gets Creative in Hard Times” (Khaleej Times)
For the Philippe Charriol Group, a Swiss jewellery and leather goods maker, the economic downturn has prompted a return to basics — and an eagerness to innovate. Pummeled by a worldwide decline in sales of at least 30 percent, the family-owned firm has started to offer its customers products that are both cheaper and more traditional in design, said Philippe Charriol, its founder and president.
“Lincoln Center Names Fashion Week Director” (WWD)
Lincoln Center, which will host Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week starting in September, has named Stephanie Winston Wolkoff as director, fashion week. Winston Wolkoff, who previously was Vogue’s director of special events, will start Jan. 1. Beginning with the spring 2011 collections, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week will relocate from Bryant Park to Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center.
Innovation Forum Comes to NY this Friday
LuxuryLab’s Innovation Forum is this Friday, November 6. The event is at 95% capacity and if you are interested in joining us, we encourage you to register soon as the event will sell out.
Register here:
http://www.luxurylabinnovationforum.eventbrite.com/
Who is coming:
Alfred Dunhill • American Express • Armani Exchange • Acqua di Parma • Artnet • Audemars Piguet • Bloomberg • Bose • Brooks Brothers • Buccellati • Bulgari • Burberry • Cartier • Chanel • Christian Dior • Clinique • Coach • Davidoff • DeBeers • Elle • Estée Lauder • Ferrari • Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts • Gilt Groupe • Giorgio Armani • Givaudan • Givenchy • Godiva • Gucci • Guerlain • H.Stern • Harry Winston • Hermes • IWC • Leading Hotels of the World • Lucky • LVMH • LXTV • Marc Jacobs • Polo Ralph Lauren • Prada • Pucci • Richemont • Starwood Hotels & Resorts • Swatch • The New York Times • The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company • Tiffany & Co. • Tom Ford • Tory Burch • Town & Country • Tumi • Valentino • Vera Wang • Victoria’s Secret • Vogue • W Magazine • WWD
This unprecedented half-day event brings together 16 thought leaders—academics, artists, digital revolutionaries, prestige brand leaders, and philanthropists—who will share their insights on the most pressing issues facing luxury brands today.
Speakers will each take the stage for 6-18 minutes, delivering unique, concise perspectives on luxury and innovation. This rapid-fire pace enables leaders—and future leaders—to leave with a wealth of ideas relevant to their brand. For a complete list of speakers and bios, visit www.luxurylab.org
As a founding sponsor of this event, we at Halogen Network, hope you can join us.
New Publisher: Art We Love
Art We Love recently joined our Culture and Influence Channel. Visit their Web site for a chance to, “explore art on your own terms.” They suggest artists, artworks and exhibitions based on the art you already love and provide a place where art professionals and enthusiasts can connect and exchange knowledge. It is a great site for passionate art lovers looking to foster appreciation of contemporary art, whether it be through their own exploration or their sharing with others.
Digital Luxury Digest | Lacoste Introduces All Digital Campaign, Saks Challenges Web Discounters, Luxe Buyers Want Discounts, Designer Jeans Get Reality Check
“Lacoste goes Digital with ‘Momentum’ Campaign” (MediaPost)
Euro RSCG 4D New York on Friday debuted the first entirely digital U.S. campaign for sportswear retailer Lacoste. The “Momentum” campaign is designed to highlight the brand’s portfolio of luxury products in time for the holiday season, and will run through late December.
“Saks Challenges Web Discounters” (WSJ)
Beleaguered high-end retailer Saks Inc. is testing online “private event” sales of discounted designer goods, in a bid to compete with “flash” Web discounters that are gaining popularity in the U.S. Saks on Tuesday launched a 36-hour sale open only to those who received emails from Saks directing them to the site. The limited time sale will be followed by another test in November, it said Wednesday.
“Even Luxe Buyers Expect Discounts” (Adweek)
With affluent consumers joining in on the national skittishness about spending money during a deep recession, discounts have become a fact of life in the luxury sector. But while this may have kept sales from grinding to a halt, the ploy is not without its long-term costs.
“Preshrunk Prices” (NY Times)
The $300 pair of designer jeans is now, courtesy of the recession, the $200 pair of designer jeans. “It was all just a fad,” said Jeff Rudes, a founder of the hot-denim-label-du-jour J Brand Jeans and an astute observer of the suspiciously inflated prices of fashion’s most eternally reinvented staple. Like any commodity that becomes overpriced, there eventually comes a market correction.
Fashion’s Night Out to Strike Again in 2010
Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg, Vogue magazine, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and NYC & Co. announced that Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) will return next year on September 9, 2010. This past September, FNO debuted as the kick-off event to New York Fashion Week and over 700 New York City shops participated by staying open till 11 p.m. and hosting fashion-filled parties. Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) reports that Mayor Bloomberg called the night a, “tremendous success:”
Thousands of New Yorkers attended the events in all five boroughs, supporting the city’s retail and fashion industries, and helping a worthwhile cause. It’s sure to be an even bigger event in 2010.
WWD cited a study done by ShopperTrak that said foot traffic in stores jumped 50% that night. Results from an NYC & Co. survey of 1,300 shoppers concluded that 75% bought something that night and two-thirds visited stores they’ve never been to before.
During and after FNO, we analyzed the nearly 2,500 related tweets that came in through our Fashion Week Web site, FashionTweek.com. Tweet content focused mostly on the parties and personal appearances with few mentions of FNO purchases. Out of 2,500 tweets, only 20 had a negative connotation, for example, “OLSEN BARTENDING CRISIS: Overcrowded! Security tries to clear, fans revolt: ‘I’ve been waiting for hours!’ True fans stay!”
The majority of tweets excitedly announced celebrity sightings and expressed enthusiasm for fashion, sounds like a success to us, even if there wasn’t a ton of talk about purchases. The WWD article said that despite the large turnout, retailers noticed it was more about partying and autographs than shopping, but they still saw it as a success because it put people in a shopping mindset and elevated the industry’s image.
According to FashionTweek, the most mentioned stores during FNO were Barneys with 83 mentions, Bergdorf Goodman (63), Bloomingdales (48), Prada (31) and Giuseppe Zanotti (29). The most mentioned celebrities during FNO were Anna Wintour (79), the Olsen twins (32), Rihanna (15), Kate Hudson (14) and Barbara Walters (11).
