Fashions Night Out was this past Thursday and the streets of SoHo here in New York City were flooded with people. Amidst New York Fashion Week, Fashions Night Out is the night where brands show-all and get their chance to wow the pants off their fans.
Fashions Night Out just wasn't centered in New York, but it does act as its home base. There were also events in London, Montreal, and Los Angeles (probably plenty more). Fashion brands are no strangers to social media and considering I was knee deep in this event I'd like to share some examples of how brands connect globally with an event that is 24-7, segmented everywhere, and consistently competing with itself.
Exclusive Content
Did you watch it? The whole thing? That was 'Room 77′ from Camilla Skovgaard. The luxury shoe brand hosted an event at the Bowery called Room 77; a private engagement featuring the world premiere of the video, a showcase of the footwear featured within the video itself, and even characters from the video. This was the most elaborate Fashions Night Out move I've seen yet.
This is a great example of exclusive content syndication. Using Fashions Night Out as the backboard for the slam dunk, the ability to harness the power of an eager audience with something unique for them will inspire them to share your brand. The key with this is connecting to those who will connect with you. You're providing the content and you need to make sure they're aware to hold up their end of the deal. The best way to do this is to talk to them.
Here's something much more subtle - a blogger appearing at an event to raise eyebrows, shake hands, and kiss babies.
This happened at two locations, Los Angeles and New York, allowing fans to meet iconic fashion bloggers and get a first hand account of where their favorite brand was headed for Fashions Night Out and the rest of Fashion Week.
Connect The Brand To The Audience
Connecting to the brand is essential for social media so this event ranks up there as one of my favorites. The bloggers allow the audience to recognize the similarities they have while the brand hosts the entire shindig. Fans go away brand ambassadors and become inspired due to a celebrity being present.
It's not the most artistic approach, but it is solid in its reasoning. With an active fan base that willingly will attend events there is little risk to hosting something like this. Even within the heart of SoHo which acts as Fashions Night Outs' home the brand still had the ability to draw their home crowd and inspire the occasional passer-by who wanted to be part of the action.
There were plenty of other brands who also understood the importance of engaging users via social media. Here is a nifty, convenient pie-chart demonstrating the top fashion week brands in social media. It seems Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs lead the pack with a few close behind.