Web 2.0 to change fashion forever?

“What happens when following the fashion herd becomes wisdom of the masses? When everyone can become his or her own fashion editor? When “citizen” journalists replace glossy magazines as oracles of fashion?”

We have been studying Web 2.0 for a year now, so I thought this article would be a great example to show what I have learned, in the past year in Rod Shannon’s class.

The biggest beef I have with articles like the one published by the Financial Times is that they overestimate the importance of Web 2.0 to the world despite the fact that, most of the time, there is nothing revolutionary going on. Web 2.0 didn’t invent word-of-mouth and it’s not likely to have a major impact on the way the fashion industry operates and drives sales.

So how do YOU think the world of fashion will look after Web 2.0? Probably pretty similar to how it looked before Web 2.0.

This article is a great example of misusing social media marketing and word of mouth marketing. Do you listen to what your friends and family think of the clothes you wear?! Then read this article!

Cheers

Caroline Krikorian

Article Summary

• Recommendations from trusted sources such as friends and ‘experts‘ are (or can become) important promoters of sales in the fashion business.
• In the realm of luxury brands and high fashion, celebrity and exclusivity still remain key drivers for success. If powerful Influentials exist for fashion brands, they’re more likely to be celebrities, athletes, supermodels, hip fashion designers etc. than they are to be trend followers and average consumers.
• “celebrities, models, and the wealth that buoys them“.
• There’s a very good reason that many shows at Fashion Week use significant chunks of their budgets to ensure that celebrity attendees are in the audience.

The Financial Times states:

“People are starting to trust friends or those they consider to be their peers. If someone recommends something to you, you’re more likely to trust that recommendation and then go on to buy it.”

• Somehow social media proponents seem to be doing quite a good job of convincing the world that this is a new phenomenon that they control.

Osoyou.com’s Dawn Bebe, for instance, states:

“Five or 10 years ago, people used to look to magazines for that kind of referral but now, peer-to-peer referral is the first option.”

• Keller Fay Group, a ‘word of mouth research and consulting’ firm, found in a 2006 study that 92% of word-of-mouth marketing takes place offline.
• Interestingly, 41% of the conversations about brands “involve a reference to something seen or heard in the media or in marketing material“, which seems to go against the notion that traditional advertising is on its deathbed.
• A 2007 study by Keller Fay Group found that, while teens are more likely to be involved in online word-of-mouth marketing, 61% of this still occurs offline.

WEBSITE: http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/365094/web-2-0-to-change-fashion-forever.html

For more information about web 2.0 and fashion visit http://www.businessoffashion.net/web_20/