My Space and You Tube Are Changing the Way Young Apparel Brands Get Hot

Implications: Considered to be still in its infancy, You Tube and My Space are growing geometrically, with 267 million viewers combined in March 07’, verses 71 million last year. Freedom of expression, with humor as a trigger, is creating viral marketing phenomena in the world of fashion. Major brands such as Nike and Gap are creating content, specifically, to engage an audience to promote new products. Fashion marketers are experimenting with 10 second TV spots to drive targeted segments to these sites to view their content.

Analysis:  

In what seems to be a blink of an eye, free content websites such as My Space and You Tube have created what can only be viewed as an apparel marketers dream. These two websites (with many more to follow) are providing an easy way for brands, large and small, to reach targeted customers and prospects with online commercials and promotional videos for free. The sheer size of unique visitors to these sites has convinced iconic brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Adidas, Calvin Klein and Gap that they need to get on board with this concept quickly even if the have to figure it all out as they go along. New apparel companies that traditionally have had a difficult time getting their merchandise onto store shelves can now create a buzz around their brands with inexpensive videos and jump-start retail distribution and sell products on their own websites.

The most successful (and coolest) videos on these free websites combine two major elements: humor and consumer story telling. When a video is successful, the buzz explodes virally through multiple online touch points and of course, word of mouth.

Veteran apparel Marketers are still coming to grips with these new marketing phenomena, especially the hyper-speed at which a new brand or product message can reach a huge, targeted audience. With interactive technology evolving so quickly, no one knows exactly where all this is heading and how it will evolve over time, but one thing is clear: the future of fashion marketing has arrived like a bolt of lightening and in the famous words of Jimmy Durante, “Everybody wants to get into the act.”