"Like any evolution in the industry, [fashion bloggers] force you to become better at what you do... They force us to dig deeper for stories, but we're not competitors; we serve different markets." — Anna WintourOr do they?
Anna Wintour clearly didn’t read The Cluetrain Manifesto. Someone do her a favor and send it on over. Just make sure it’s wrapped in a silk Hermès scarf; preferably one from the 2016 collection. If it’s not, don’t even bother.
Soon enough, the devil who wears Prada, I mean Anna Wintour, would succumb to the power of her non-existent “competitors” and contradict herself by featuring the world’s top fashion bloggers in the glossy pages of Vogue; and trust me when I tell you, no one saw it coming! These bloggers—who type away at their computers day and night—were asked to refrain from spilling the beans of the upcoming story, which I'm sure took them everything not to. But I thought they served different markets?
Vogue.com calls them "the men and women who keep up on all things fashion 24/7": Bryanboy (bryanboy.com),Tommy Ton (jakandjil.com), Michelle Phan (michellephan.com), Garancé Doré (garancedore.fr), Mary Tomer (mrs-o.org), Yvan Rodic (yvanrodic.blogspot.com), Todd Selby (www.theselby.com), Hannelli Mustaparta (hanneli.com), and Catherine Kallon (redcarpet-fashionawards.com).
Ladies and gents, these men and women are sitting with the likes of Anna Wintour and company in the front rows of fashion shows from New York to Paris to Milan. They, too, are receiving the royal treatment. But many of them are also accused of falsifying their posts and losing their voice of honesty and reason by becoming slaves to designers, retailers, and fashion houses in the interest of freebies, money and self-promotion.
So why was (and she quite possibly still is) Anna Wintour convinced they serve different markets? Is it because Blogger and Condé Nast operate out of different offices? Well, so does CNN. Don't be fooled, Anna.
This brings me to the very first question I would ask the CEO eager to launch a blog: Do you know who/what your market is? This is singlehandedly the most important question to ask, and one that he/she should have an answer to. If they don't, then there is no point in launching a blog. Doctors don't go to work in empty hospitals.
After defining the market, I would suggest the CEO approach this new venture as a way to build and earn trust with the intended audience through open lines of communication. This means preparing to listen to people who are willing to say everything and anything. My message: Nothing is perfect, not in this world and not in your company. You know that, and so do we, so don't pretend your audience is naive à la Anna Wintour. Be ready to listen to the good, the bad, and the ugly, and be ready to write all of that and then-some about yourself, too. Be ready to go to the front lines. Oh, and FYI, bulletproof jackets aren't allowed. Are you sure you want to start a blog?
Fashion cyberspace, among others (politics, technology, automotive), has been inundated with blogs. Some thrive (money-makers and astronomical readership), some merely survive (decent readership), and some just exist (I think you're talking to yourself, because no one is reading). So what keeps readers coming back? In my experience, other than material, it truly is the human voice that speaks to the reader. Although I have been lackadaisical with posting lately (I blame starting a new job and grad school, simultaneously), people often tell me my posts on my blog, poor & fly, make them LOL, you know-laugh out loud. They genuinely feel like they're conversing with me. Example: Can you beeelieve Lanvin is collaborating with H&M!?! B-A-N-A-N-A-S (In my Rachel Zoe voice)!!! I would say that in real life and I said that in my blog, verbatim. Apparently this is comical.
Which leads me to the importance of maintaining a genuine and sincere voice. It's the difference between readership—a conversation with your market, and talking to yourself. Which, my friend, is blogging in vain. Or is it?
The fashion industry seek out and prosecute those who manufacture, and even buy fake goods. There are laws in place to prevent such things from taking place and yet they still do. As a result, fashion houses often raise their prices throughout the year to make up for lost profits from these counterfeit items that saturate the market. Although this can help expand a company's brand identity, at the end of the day counterfeit items dramatically hurt those who want the real thing. This practice has consistently taken place for the last decade or so, and luxury goods companies shockingly continue to report record profit earnings; even throughout turbulent economic times.
Using counterfeit and authentic items as something to avoid and strive for, I would ask the CEO to ask himself which product he would want to be and which product he would want to buy. The counterfeit item that is cheap and easy to find, but cheats everyone? Or the authentic item that is expensive to buy, but quality? Sooner or later the counterfeit item is going to fall a part and send the now angry customer back to the market to buy again; so it's best to choose the authentic item that has long history and a prestigious reputation for its quality and durability. Approaching the blogosphere with this frame-of-mind will help tremendously in the long haul. Counterfeit or authentic? How would you want your market to view your company's blog?
"Keeping it real" or being authentic from the moment you think of creating a blog, the moment your blog goes live—with no gray areas and no masks—will not only help build trust, but it will help in maintaining that trust. Trust, as the Edelman Trust Barometer suggests, is to be treated like a product; A product that should be pursued consistently and actively. There is a fine line between sincerity and authenticity, but without both trust is unattainable. A blog for any type of business should be created to ignite a conversation in hopes of building/gaining/earning/maintaining trust.
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