When visitors land on fashion and design blog The Lil
Bee, they'll notice something unusual reports Brian Morrissey on Adweek.com. In the upper left
corner of the page sits a graphical rendering of poppy flowers
sprouting across the page with the message "You've found a poppy"
and invitation to "follow the poppy trail."
The Lil Bee is one of hundreds of blogs that are part of a network
stitched together this month in a social media campaign from
fashion brand Coach.
The bloggers have added a small piece of code to their sites that acts as a mini discovery tool, along with a game for users to grow the poppy image on the site by their visits or using Twitter to broadcast a message.
According to Adweek.com:
The Poppy Project, which promotes Coach's Poppy line of affordable but still luxury fashions, is an unusual approach for the fashion world, which has built brands in traditional media with lush images and an aspirational message. These approaches run counter to the ethos of social media, where sharing and connectivity rule the roost.
Coach leaned on Facebook to launch Poppy a year ago. It tapped into its fan base -- now nearly 1 million -- with a discount offer. In post-launch research, store managers reported many customers said they initially heard of the line from Facebook, according to David Duplantis, svp of global Web and digital media at Coach.
"We felt the organic nature of poppies growing in social media was a home run," he said.Yet many fashion brands, particularly those in the luxury category, remain wary of social media. Instead, visit the sites of major fashion names like Louis Vuitton and Gucci and you'll find pretty much the digital equivalent of Vogue: lots of glossy photos and little in the way of interaction. Diana Hong, creative director at Create the Group, a New York digital shop that specializes in fashion, said the rather simple step of adding a Facebook Like button can worry fashion clients who zealously guard their brand image around exclusivity.....
... Duplantis doesn't believe the fashion industry is particularly far behind in social media. He points to other social media efforts by Coach, including a contest for brand advocates to design a Coach tote bag. That effort generated 3,200 submissions and 114,000 votes. "Social in general is relatively new," he said. "Fashion brands are engaging in an interesting way. People need to find what platforms are right for their brand."
Read full Adweek article: Social Media Fashion Statements.
