California Apparel News

Social media has given consumers a front-row seat and an inside look into their favorite brands, but it has also changed the traditional dynamic between brand and audience.

“We are in a time where we have a very powerful consumer, with online creating transparency,” said Deborah Benton, former president and chief operating officer of Nasty Gal.

Benton spoke on a July 16 panel discussion hosted by the Association for Corporate Growth—a networking organization for executives, bankers, investors and professionals—and held at the California Club in downtown Los Angeles.

Titled “How to Differentiate Your Fashion Brand in the World of Omnichannel,” the panel also included John Frierson, lifestyle agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA); Ben Malka, chairman and chief executive officer of Halston; and Cynthia Vincent, designer of Twelfth Street By Cynthia Vincent. Philippe Faraut of Intrepid Investment Bankers moderated the discussion.

“In the grand scope of retail, online is still in its very early stages and is constantly evolving,” Benton said. “There is no precedent because it is all still very new,” she said. “We are still figuring out online retail and still learning.”

For Malka and Halston, the “online presence is transactional, rather than emotional.” “Online, we are trying to create a story through our social channels,” he said. “The emotional connection to our sales and service in bricks-and-mortar stores cannot be found online. It is important to note the traditional way of thinking about business has definitely changed. Consumers are better educated and do their research before shopping, and it has become more important for consumers to be able to engage.”

When engaging with her customer, Vincent said, she has learned she cannot be everything to everyone, all the time. “Omnichannel is about presenting yourself everywhere,” she said. “But at the end of the day, you need to be authentic and know who you are. You need to present a clear point of view. Otherwise, ‘omni’ doesn’t mean much. It is more about the product than the channel.”

“Consumers do not think in channels but, rather, seek a fluid relationship with the brand,” Benton said, adding, “A brand is a relationship with the consumer—how the company makes them feel when they walk into a store.”

Online brands are most successful when they provide highly curated merchandise and express a specific point of view, Benton said.

Vincent echoed the sentiment, saying to stay current she must “stay authentic to the brand. As a creative, I have to remain disciplined to understand who my customer is and speak to them,” she said.

Halston also has to stay true to the essence and DNA of the company, Malka said, but has to provide a wide range of opportunities to engage with the customer. Halston has spent time building its wholesale, retail, national and international channels over the past few years, which in turn allows “continuous visibility to the customer,” he said.

Social media has given the brands a new level of visibility with consumers.

“It is an extremely fascinating time, and it is important to embrace it and not be afraid,” said Vincent, who said she personally uses Instagram and Pinterest. She also credited the work of bloggers and her network tastemakers.

“They have really tapped into something,” she said. “Bloggers are resonating with very large groups of people, and that is direct consumer advertising at the end of the day. That is why [companies] are willing to pay for them and send them on vacations around the world.”

Frierson said social media has become a standard business practice at CAA. “There is no deal we do anymore that doesn’t have a social-media dimension,” he said.

But despite the importance and influence of social media, the panelists agreed that it’s not a vehicle for direct sales.

“[Social media] is highly visual, which is great for fashion and enables a place to engage and communicate,” Benton said, adding that different channels serve different purposes, and each channel needs to be utilized in a different way.

Malka agreed, advising that brands don’t try to use social media as a selling tool.

Instead, social media is about using a platform to tell a story. It is about creating authenticity and engagement.

“When we put something up that is even remotely trying to sell something, we get very few likes compared to an authentic picture of the Halston vault,” Malka said.