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Festival of Creativity. Find inspiration for new campaigns in the visual trends for both SIS 14 and A/W 14, or explore how to maximise the impact of catwalk show’s with a round-up Of the winning digital initiatives from the past season. Surprising topics include wearable technology, beacons and privacy becoming a focus for marketers. Burberry Vans Uniteu Tommy Hilfiger Michael Kors With social media teams becoming increasingly sophisticated in their approach to content deployment across channels, analysis of who is doing it well continued throughout 2014.
Anchored by a monthly series of social edia case studies, we highlighted the success of brands including Lululemon, Vans, Michael Kors and Bonobos. These reports break down exactly what is being achieved across each platform and how, providing a clear and concise rundown of tips. We also introduced a series specifically for China, with insights from brands including Burberry and Coach. Look out for more of these in 201 5 as we focus on the importance of WeChat, Weibo and more.
Bonobos OOTD Magazine Kendall Jenner Twitter With the word ‘selfie’ having gained entry into The Oxford English Dictionary n November 2013, it came as no surprise to see them centre-stage in social marketing strategies this year. Hot on the heels of the epic selfie’ taken of A- list stars at the Oscars, Calvin Klein, French Connection and Vero Moda encouraged shoppers to shoot selfies branded to their collections as part of a bid to encourage e-commerce conversions.
Done with both a point of difference and authenticity in mind, it’s a smart move: there are more than 125 million images on Instagram tagged With the word ‘selfie’, and they make up almost a third of all shots taken by consumers aged 18-24. The Man Repeller SRSLY The Show Fox and Fawn Rebecca Minkoff nstagram At the beginning of the year we explored the role of social media ROI – should these channels be about brand building, or should they have a more direct impact on sales?
This discussion has evolved significantly over the past 12 months, with focus placed on how to get the huge engagement seen on Instagram off the feed and into checkout baskets. This follow-up report explores some of the third-party tech nology providers emerging in the market which facilitate consumer transactions, as well as providing insight on ho Instagram shoppers are likely to be and how retailers are responding to this shift. Sorel Footwear Instagram Fendi Topshop Fashion Weeks remain in prime position for experimentation – launchpads for initiatives that often follow through into brand strategy.
On the elaborate side, this is the year we saw drones at Fendi, virual reality at Topshop, and a feminist protest at Chanel, but also been the year in which designers honed in on specific consumer groups, whether through targeting via platforms such as WeChat or Spotify, or by introducing a focus on social ommerce. The concept of limited-edition products made available on platforms users are already engaging with is a sensible move for an industry up against increasing pressure to deliver goods in real-time.
Kurt Geiger JC Penney Catherine Dean Seasonal analysis of ad campaigns continued for both S/S and A/W 14, with visual trend reports highlighting themes as varied as Nouveau Bohemian and Modern Romance . We also introduced top 10 highlights for categories including denim, youth, kids, accessories & footwear, active and intimates, as ell as a new image library, which hosts in the region of 7,000 campaigns per season. Better yet, coverage expands beyond the typical seasonal ads and into back-to-school and Holiday.
In the new year, look out for S/S 15 campaigns as well as analysis on Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl. John Lewis Marketing > Strategy & Insight Communications Strategy Ralph Lauren Under Armour Nike Sports coverage was important, with insight into incredible campaigns launched during the Winter Olympics as well as around the FIFA World Cup from Nike and adidas. The World Cup spurred us to dive into how social media has disrupted traditional sponsorship – exploring the battle between different brands officially and unofficially associated with the games.
We highlighted the best of the Super Bowl ads too ” a time when big creative efforts come to fruition. Sports brands continued to impress throughout 2014, with powerful campaigns from the likes of Under Armour of note. adidas Always #Likeagirl Ad Award-winning campaigns are the mainstay at the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity, which Saw Harvey Nichols as the standout winner this ear. The week-long series of seminars provided big ideas to consider including finding human truths and aligning with culture.
Brands have aligned themselves with feminist concepts and ideals, a phenomenon explored indepth with a look at whether female empowerment can work for brands and how. Harvey Nichols NRF Retail’S Big Show 2014 NRF Retail’s Big Show 2014 Technology in the store space continues to be considered a marketing responsibility, and evolved throughout 2014 with numerous activations. During the NRF Retail’s Big Show, the focus was on using technology as an pportunity to drive consumer experience and engagement.
Those came in the form of magic mirrors, virtual assistants, and new loyalty systems. It was beacons that really took off this year however, with Macy’s through to The North Face implementing them. These are being used for targeted in-store promotions and exclusive offers through to tracking store associate sales conversions in real-time. Beard Rock CES One of the concerns with beacons relates to consumer privacy. This was highlighted as a big issue in 2013 and continued to be a concern throughout 2014. At CES in January – where other themes including 3D printing 2. and the body as password were explored – this was a pivotal point. The question was, how as marketers do you respect privacy concerns but increasingly move towards more personalised experiences enabled by deeper insights pulled from the multitudes of data now available. Offering the ability to opt out as well as the incentive to opt in were key factors. Apple Opening Ceremony & Intel CES saw a focus around wearable technology, something that has continued to evolve throughout 2014 at other events such as SXSW as well as the global ashion weeks.