By Gautam Gupta, Up until a few years ago, name and fame for a fashion designer meant playing the publicity game. You either needed pushy PR agents to get you and your garments featured in newspapers and tabloids or had to participate in fashion shows and exhibitions on a regular basis. Times have changed now — I’m not saying the aforementioned are not needed any more — my point is that there has been huge transformation of the fashion scene these days thanks to social media. As we all know, communication through online modes has a wider, more effective reach. Seeing these trends, international brands and designers have started using sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to promote their labels. Now, a designer can easily create his own website or twitter account or upload a work-related video on Youtube and ask family, friends, acquaintances and prospective clients to “like” the page, follow him on twitter or see his video respectively. This helped prospective clients or a target group become aware about the latest happenings and launches regarding the designer’s brand. Yes, everyone knows about this revolution but there are certain facts that I would like to share which will explain the reach and the scope of social media. International labels realised the potential of social media much earlier so they have a legion of followers on Facebbok — Converse has more than 36 lakh, Zara has over 18 lakh and Louis Vuitton has about 13 lakh. Since our domestic brands had a late start, Shoppers’ Stop has 4 lakh, Westside has about 1.5 lakh and Sabysachi has more than a lakh followers. Yes, these pages are advertised and there is a possibility of lot of fake or dubious accounts in their name but talking from my personal experience on my page, there are some good leads too. Indian brands and designers may have lesser numbers as of now, but there is an overall acceptance that social media marketing will be an important part of the marketing and branding strategy in the future. The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) had a Twitter party right before the fashion week that was a huge hit. Also, take for example the case of luxe brand, Burberry, that released its spring summer collection’12 on Instagram and Twitter and did a live streaming of its show on YouTube. A lot of fashion weeks are also being uploaded on YouTube, if not live streamed. After every show there are pictures uploaded and then what follows are comments and feedback which are extremely critical. Clearly, social media gives a brand a podium to narrate its history, design philosophy, new product line, offers, trends, share behind-the-scene pictures at a very negligible cost. It is like your website on a mass platform which you can edit at will. The major advantages of social media is that lot of feedback and opinions can be procured, myths about pricing and quality can be broken and so on. With the integration of all social media platforms and mobile applications, its scope will further become a force to reckon with. (The writer is a Delhi-based fashion designer). Source: mydigitalfc.com, Image: flickr.com
How social media can assist designers in brand building
By Gautam Gupta, Up until a few years ago, name and fame for a fashion designer meant playing the publicity game. You either needed pushy PR agents to get you and your garments featured in newspapers and tabloids or had to participate in fashion shows and exhibitions on a regular basis. Times have changed now — I’m not saying the aforementioned are not needed any more — my point is that there has been huge transformation of the fashion scene these days thanks to social media. As we all know, communication through online modes has a wider, more effective reach. Seeing these trends, international brands and designers have started using sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to promote their labels. Now, a designer can easily create his own website or twitter account or upload a work-related video on Youtube and ask family, friends, acquaintances and prospective clients to “like” the page, follow him on twitter or see his video respectively. This helped prospective clients or a target group become aware about the latest happenings and launches regarding the designer’s brand. Yes, everyone knows about this revolution but there are certain facts that I would like to share which will explain the reach and the scope of social media. International labels realised the potential of social media much earlier so they have a legion of followers on Facebbok — Converse has more than 36 lakh, Zara has over 18 lakh and Louis Vuitton has about 13 lakh. Since our domestic brands had a late start, Shoppers’ Stop has 4 lakh, Westside has about 1.5 lakh and Sabysachi has more than a lakh followers. Yes, these pages are advertised and there is a possibility of lot of fake or dubious accounts in their name but talking from my personal experience on my page, there are some good leads too. Indian brands and designers may have lesser numbers as of now, but there is an overall acceptance that social media marketing will be an important part of the marketing and branding strategy in the future. The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) had a Twitter party right before the fashion week that was a huge hit. Also, take for example the case of luxe brand, Burberry, that released its spring summer collection’12 on Instagram and Twitter and did a live streaming of its show on YouTube. A lot of fashion weeks are also being uploaded on YouTube, if not live streamed. After every show there are pictures uploaded and then what follows are comments and feedback which are extremely critical. Clearly, social media gives a brand a podium to narrate its history, design philosophy, new product line, offers, trends, share behind-the-scene pictures at a very negligible cost. It is like your website on a mass platform which you can edit at will. The major advantages of social media is that lot of feedback and opinions can be procured, myths about pricing and quality can be broken and so on. With the integration of all social media platforms and mobile applications, its scope will further become a force to reckon with. (The writer is a Delhi-based fashion designer). Source: mydigitalfc.com, Image: flickr.com