Gina Gretta

Social Media Sells!

Gina Gretta — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:11:16 +0000

I’ve discussed brand strategizing tactics in my video on social media and the fashion Industry. Beyond the importance of brand strategy though, designers can also put trends to use for their benefit. The idea being for those trends to sell. For Designers like Dior, a major fashion player, sex is one of those trends. A video I found from a blog post by Nathan Branch best explains this theory.

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It’s been engrained in our minds that sex sells, but not every designer fled to the safety of sex as propaganda for success. Alexander McQueen, owned by The Gucci Group embraces computer technology to craft sharp silhouettes for a stunning show. This was seen as one of the most striking of the Spring 2010 collections.

Emanual Ungaro used Lindsay Lohan to promote his collection as well as gain added publicity.

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These are just a few examples of how major fashion players use trends and smart branding tactics to make money and promote their products. The fashion shows can be glamorous and visually appealing, but the bottom line is luxury brands need to sell. Social Media’s role in this idea is unlimited and can be used in many forms; see below a promotional clip below for the Alexander McQueen PUMA Fall 2009 collaboration:

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Social Media Stepping Stone into the Fashion Industry

Gina Gretta — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:30:45 +0000

Through out the earlier postings, fashion designers, models, and photographers have all been topics for discussion. Now the social media realm has invented the first online fashion community that encourages all the above to take part and market themselves.

JUSTPROUD will be launching the first community driven fashion brand on January 1, 2010. This is a new and innovative way to gain insider access into the fashion industry, especially for those who want to get their foot in the door - JUSTPROUD is a stepping stone.

Check out this video and article from businesswire.com for more in-depth information. If you’re looking to start a career or learn more about the fashion industry, JUSTPROUD may be the right on-line community for you to join, as the social media boom is vastly expanding and it is said to be the biggest movement fashion!

The Fundamentals of Fashion

Gina Gretta — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:09:37 +0000

Fashionistas everywhere are endlessly inspired by the seemingly effortless glamour of Hollywood. Unlike the Hollywood beauties, many of us don’t have the luxury of the small army of experts they have working behind the scenes. Sometimes we know exactly what to put on though at other times, we don’t. It’s easy to get totally caught up in daily life and before you know it, your closet is in need of a major tune up. So how can you dress your best without the consultant?

Trends come and go but being stylish, according to the editors of InStyle, “has a real staying power.” “Fashions fade. Style is eternal.” The famous quote of fashion designer Yves St. Laurent is on point, so what are some things we can do to keep our style in check.

Primarily, a key objective to be steered in a fashionable direction and learning the fundamentals of fashion so we can apply them to our wardrobes is a great way to begin.

Here are a few pointers to consider when cleaning out or switching up your closet.

Choose clothes that flatter your figure. Check out this post by Elizabeth Blackwell for some guidance on how you can flatter your figure!

Choose colors that are season appropriate and look best on you. Check out another post by Elizabeth Blackwell for some more pointers and commandments on color and flattering fashion.

You should also take a look at Shopbop.com where they have links to see clothes fit to your style of choice, edgy, trendy, classic, or girly!

Beautiful Budgeting

Gina Gretta — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:31:17 +0000

Prior posts show how employers and employees in the industry can use social media to their benefit. But what about the customers? Consumers can engage in social media and pay close attention to industry insiders tips on how to save their pennies.

Budgeting and beauty don’t always go hand in hand for many people. Upkeep in fashion is hard to do on a budget, so here are some pointers to take in. Jesse Macham is the founder of You Need A Budget. His article on How to Budget offers tips for all of us on how to budget effectively whether it’s in a shopping mall, or right at your computer.

Sites like, Onetruemedia.com, and Dailymakeover.com are here to help as well and geared specifically toward fashion! I think we all like to look good for less. Check out the videos below to gain some good pointers on how to budget properly while staying in style.

New Fashion Networking

Gina Gretta — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:41:29 +0000

Fashion Networking may very well be easier online with the new resources coming out due to social media. The ongoing issue for not only recent graduates and college students, but also for employers, employees, and even those currently unemployed is the current recession and jobless claims. Networking is the vital component that we need in terms of a career and a future. A fashion article describes a social media networking site, specific to fashion, apart from LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, that enables users to share ideas, questions, and concerns, with other members of the industry.

The Fashion Industry Network as described in the article, is a key networking platform for key players in the industry, professionals, and students striving for a job in fashion. Founded by Apparel Search, an online resource for those working in apparel and textile industries, both sites serve as international communities devoted entirely to fashion with the primary goal of networking and uniting members while giving them the opportunity to showcase their work and ideas.

The concept of how an industry works is not always easy to comprehend in a classroom setting, but social media networks such as the above demonstrate to their audience how an industry works firsthand.

Roderick Rowser is an active member of this site and a fashion designer. He describes The Fashion Industry Network as a stellar concept, one of which he goes straight to when he needs to find someone fit for a task at hand!

Fashion for a Good Cause

Gina Gretta — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:50:57 +0000

The economic downfall may be a humbling experience for many designers. Not everyone can afford the high-end fashion favorites and adjustments have been made. Even those who have the money have come to the realization that in the current economic disaster, it may be best to save and put money toward savings or other just cause.

Now the fashion industry and even the most upscale designers have had to adapt to the current state of the economy. Designers are donating and putting money toward some great causes, and using social media to advertise at the same time! Take a look at Squeaky Blog’s advertisement for the Dior Diva Auction.

The 2nd Annual Dior Diva Auction allows consumers to bid on great prizes for a great cause. Squeaky Blog is excited to be a part of such a campaign in which all the proceeds go toward “Look Good…Feel Better”, an organization dedicated to helping women with cancer deal with the appearance-related affects and changes from treatment.

Another up and coming designer, Aysha Saeed has exemplified using her design talent for a good cause. I was fortunate enough to host and model for Aysha’s trunk show in New York City, see the invitation below for the details!

Aysha Saeed put a portion of her proceeds, as stated in the invitation, toward Operation Smile, another organization for a good cause, specifically dedicated to funding and helping children with cleft lip and cleft palate.

Luxury Brands Embrace Social Media

Gina Gretta — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:33:20 +0000

When the economic downfall occurred, hard-earned paychecks became more valuable to consumers. Fashion designers have been forced to learn how to market themselves in a different way to entice customers to open up their wallets in order for the latest fashion trends to have successful sales. Blogs like Squeaky Noise are praising high-profile brands like BCBGMAXAZRIA for their use of social media to market themselves in a cost efficient way.

The development of strong relationships with the customers is vital to building brand reputation. Creating a trusting atmosphere for your audience to check out your stuff without having to spend money is really useful now. Social marketing is the ticket. Networks like facebook and twitter are what BCBGMAXAZRIA used to maximize their products.

BCBGMAXAZRIA’s Fashion Week sweepstakes invites fans to enter to win tickets to attend their runway show in February 2010 in New York. They also work hard and succeed in engaging their followers on Twitter.

The main idea to grasp here is to avoid hesitance when it comes to embracing social marketing. Luxury brands selling high-end products may become more humble with less customers, and social marketing is a start. It is vital now for companies to listen and take part in conversations. Jeremiah Owyang offers more tips in his blog post “Five Ways Luxury Brands Can Overcome the Conundrum of Social Marketing.”

New Media, New Marketing Strategy!

Gina Gretta — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:00:24 +0000

After a frightful 2009 economically, the time has come for fall fashion marketing to make a comeback. In an ever-changing industry focused on maintaining eccentricity from other brands, there are already some issues with replicas. So while working on what’s next, what should the fashion industry do in terms of marketing? How can brand strategy be employed?

Gill Linton, a writer for Mpdclick, a leading commercial online fashion trend forecasting service, co-founder of a creative brand and communications company in New York, The Joneses, gives some powerful insight in her blog.

What is brand strategy?

Understanding brand strategy begins with understanding the characteristics of the consumers. Fashion marketers should understand the preferences and expectations their consumers have for their brand. This entails providing clarity—a clear consumer message—to products.

(To further understand business terms, I look on http://www.businessdictionary.com, where I found some useful advice on brand strategy.)

Expectations are placed upon brands within the industry to be more distinct from each other in terms of producing fashion shows, generating publicity, and creating ad campaigns. The fundamental characteristic of this industry is change. Contrary to this trait, the fashion-marketing model is very old-fashioned, and it took a recession for people to grasp that the selling cycle is ineffective. Even though advertising isn’t as successful as it used to be, brands are still investing heavily in the same old tactics: formulaic print ads, old sponsorships, trunk shows, pop-up shops, collaborations, and now blogs, videos and social networking.

The point of marketing is to make a difference. Gill Linton’s blog describes that tactics are mostly differentiated by the aesthetic and personality of a designer/retailer and his or her collections, and these are not actually that different for a lot of mainstream brands. Pr, collaborating, and twitter aren’t enough in terms of brand strategy. The lack of a unique strategy, beyond a polished image, that innovatively gives consumers a new way to think about that specific brand only results in brands being focused on out doing their competitors latest tactic.

While the fashion model is not technically done for, it still has its place, creativity and innovative thinking is fundamental to marketing different brands. Daniel Chu, Executive Creative Director of marketing agency Momentum, is one of many great examples in this blog among Margiela , Kim Vernon (with Vernon Company ), DKNY , Oscar de la Renta , who have realized a strategy that goes deeper than online ads and fashion shows is of high value and high demand for marketers. Fashion brands need to make the shift into the social media marketing (SMM) pool. Chu, who has worked with brands like Nike, Thom Browne, Kenneth Cole and Target, believes that creating mystique in an industry that is about itself is the strategy.

So what is good brand strategy?

Primarily, let’s look at what it is not. Gill Linton recommends reading the article ‘Impatient CEO’s are all of a Twitter, but it doesn’t work like that,’ by John Naughton to further comprehend why simply placing an ad in a popular fashion magazine, like Vogue, is not as tactical nowadays as building the future of a business around SMM. Misused and intentionally thrown around words can wrongly portray anything as a brand strategy.

Beyond mystique from Daniel Chu’s perspective, we can see that patience is another key trait in SMM. Going beyond a product description and tactical marketing ideas and creatively reframing what defines the brand in culture is a starting point. Gill Linton further shows that a brilliant brand strategy uses a directional creative idea that far exceeds the surface aesthetics of fashion business while driving everything the brand does and this could never be replaced by another brand.

Social Media Optimization and the Fashion Industry

Gina Gretta — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:56:52 +0000

The information from my last post got me wondering which kinds of general platforms are most useful? A respondent of the Veda Blog from the earlier posting, feels networking sites like Facebook or Digg are good general platforms since a public image is being built for fashion and designer labels.

We’ve all seen that social networking sights are rapidly increasing on a consistent basis. While we may follow popular sites like Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter, there are sites specific to industries that marketers and others can use to follow fashion trends.

According to a blog titled “Niche Social Media Sites: Fashion Industry,” staying on top of the main sites in your industry is fundamental when it comes to marketing strategies. The fashion industry is a sector that is a current hot topic and there are sites to be familiar with. This site includes a link to AdAge who did a recent post with six social fashion sites every marketer should be familiar with, here are some links to check these sites out!

Aside from this information, I recently tapped into another social networking site, where many of my peers are checking out as well. It’s called “Shop It To Me” . This site uses social media to help their members make use of an easier, more efficient method of shopping. The site proactively sends its members clothing items on sale that match the consumers specific size and brand. Shop It To Me has been featured in many popular consumer publications including Glamour, The Washington Post, and Daily Candy Deals.

From this I concluded that aside from marketers, consumers can also use these sites to their benefit, further increasing the value of the relationship between the two.

Social Media Affects Following Fashion

Gina Gretta — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:55:20 +0000

In an industry with ever-changing trends, social media’s best attributes are becoming more clear. Coming from an avid, even obsessive, Vogue and InStyle Magazine reader, I’ve noticed my dire need to pick up a magazine dying. The change in myself, as well as other consumers keen on fashion trends, is due to the role of social media as a reference to websites or online platforms in which allow the fashion industry to connect with their customers using the latest social networking technology.

According to the Veda Blog, because of social media, fashion designers and companies now have the ability to generate publicity across online communities and websites. At minimal cost, fashion designers and fashion boutiques can generate interest about a brand while finding ways to more effectively promote a brand to consumers on a global level.

The use of social media in the fashion world serves as a marketing strategy while it emphasizes focus on the study and anticipation of fashion behaviors. Social media helps to determine what the next social trend will be, check out the “Social Media and Mirror Neuron,” and “Case Study” sections of the Veda Blog linked above for further detail on this notion.

PR Couture – Fashion PR’s Haute Spot on the blogcatalog website maintains posts that show the perks of social media in following fashion. The blog is about Purple Lab NYC, a young fashion brand that caught the eye of PR Couture through social media like Facebook and Twitter, through which the young brand used to blog and video blog to promote and launch their first product, Huge Lips Skinny Hips. This is a moisturizer lip gloss and plumper made from the natural appetite suppressant, Hoodia. The video below is one of many Purple Lab NYC used to market their product.