Perry Ellis, Nautica invite all fans to NYFW: Men's through Periscope
Bloggers and fashion brands such as Perry Ellis and Nautica are taking to live-streaming applications such as Periscope to drive hype surrounding the premiere New York Fashion Week: Men?s, and increase promotion for their respective upcoming 2016 spring and summer lines.
July 13 marked the opening of the first-ever New York Fashion Week dedicated solely to men?s apparel, and the conversation surrounding the event is booming through social media. Invites to view live streams of the various events are popping up all Twitter and social channels, with brands such as Perry Ellis even encouraging other users to stream their runway shows as well to generate a substantial conversation and effectively tease the upcoming collection.
"Live streaming has become a natural extension for big fashion events," said Amy Gale, communications strategy director at Isobar US. "Whether it is live from the runway or peeking behind the scenes; live streaming has a growing role in the marketing of luxury brand events.
"However the arrival of mobile and socially enhanced live streaming adds new dimensions to the mix," she said. "This year has seen an explosion of new live streaming tools.
"Live streaming has historically been used as a broadcast tool by a fashion house or publisher, but it is now in the hands of others, Periscope and Meerkat empower individuals who attend events to live stream from their mobile devices. Furthermore they connect these live streams with active and participative communities, thus the role for live streaming may become more central to shaping the events themselves with new forms of attendee and community participation."
Main streaming live-streams
Since the launch of live-streaming social media apps, marketers have been keen on leveraging the platforms to create a more personal connection with consumers. This format of sharing content makes users feel as if they a video chatting with a friend, getting an inside scoop and gaining entrance to event that they were unable to attend.
The format not only generates positive brand sentiment, and creates high engagement, but it also can effectively promote a product or collection and hype up discussion surrounding these goals.
New York Fashion Week has been regarded as a highly exclusive event, with various fashion fans envying those with tickets. As NYFW: Men?s has only just launched, brands involved are taking a more modern approach to promotion.
Brands such as Perry Ellis and Nautica are highly aware of the effectiveness Periscope and live-streaming apps are in marketing and appealing to consumers. The purpose of fashion week is to promote next year?s summer collections, so what better way to do so then to increase your audience through a seamless mobile app?
Opening up these fashion shows to social media viewers at home significantly expands the reach of the runway show.
Perry Ellis?s runway show took place in the morning of July 16, and the official account of the brand aired the show live on Periscope. However, the brand also shared a post on Twitter reading ?We?re starting soon, hold your Periscope?s,? encouraging attendees to stream their own versions.
Perry Ellis's live stream shows their runway to viewers at home
Perry Ellis's live stream shows their runway to viewers at home
The official account of the Council of Fashion Designers of America also held its own live stream of the Perry Ellis runway show as well as various other runway shows.
Nautica gave viewers a quick exclusive stream for their show on July 15, while popular men?s fashion blog, Levitate Style aired the event in its entirety.
New fashion frontier
The new Fashion Week subset opens up the marketing door with a wide range of possibilities for many men?s fashion brands.
With the first New York Fashion Week: Men?s in full swing, a number of retailers and brands are taking the opportunity to reach out to their style-focused male audiences (see more).
While the growing popularity of these live-streaming apps rises, live event brands originally scrambled with fear as these apps leave opportunity for users to evade rights agreements, although it is clear the benefits may outweigh the downfalls (see more).
"As live streaming technology evolves, how the fashion industry and bloggers adopt these new benefits is undefined," Ms. Gale said. "Should behind-the-scenes access be transformed with live audience participation? Will front-row live streaming be encouraged to reach celebrity fan bases?
"Fashion brands will have to define a role for live streaming that reflects the best of their events and their brands," she said. "The main benefit of live streaming events for fashion brands is widening audience reach.
"Live streaming empowers brands with new scale, they have unprecedented speed to market to promote their events in real time and can preview collections and brand experiences to audiences in timely and contextually revenant way. Furthermore brands can connect directly to fashion blogging communities who have growing influence over how their brand is perceived. An unlimited amount of fans; bloggers and industry peers can experience, participate and review an event in real time."
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer