by Tieka, Selective Potential
The second panel of the Lucky FABB conference was about Brands and Bloggers Working Together. It was the last panel before the lunch break... and an especially exciting one. The panel included Scott Galloway, Professor at NYC and co-founder of L2, Donna Noch, President of White House Black Market, Anne Watson, VP of Club Monoco and Kelly of The Glamourai.
Kelly from The Glamourai's first major brand she worked with was Coach. They did a great job of embracing bloggers in a professional way early on. She started working with them to design a bag and has been working with them long-term ever since. She's always excited to get involved with new projects with Coach. She loves working with companies who are supportive of her as she is with them. Working with brands should be a mutually beneficial relationship. There are more opportunities now than ever.
Anne from Club Monoco started working with Kelly because she had the right kind of voice to fit with their brand. It was important that they found a blogger that fit their identity. Brands often look for bloggers who fit their brand and identity online and offline. Their brand identified with their voice. Plus, Kelly wore their brand already... and so there was already a mutual relationship there.
It's also important to find a blogger who is comfortable working offline as well as online. Most companies have fleets of stores, so to work with a blogger who can come in... feel comfortable... be able to style items is very important. You need to be able to present yourself well in real life if you are representing or working for a brand. How you showcase yourself online and offline is directly reflected by the brand. It's important the brand knows you and trusts you.
White House Black Market just launched their first major collaboration with bloggers. (There was a huge spread in the September issue of Lucky Magazine!). The bloggers worked with White House Black Market on blogging about their black pants. White House Black Market worked with the bloggers because they felt their voice resonated with their customers. The bloggers were rewarded with gift cards and exposure. There has to be trust with the bloggers in order to have a good working relationship. The most important thing with bloggers is that they are authentic.Blogs are now becoming the number one traffic sources to some major retailers. Companies are looking for bloggers who are adding value to the company. The blogosphere is an incredibly powerful but it's still the most underpaid part of the media channel right now. It's trending that brands are working with bloggers on a commission basis rather than sponsorship basis because it's mutually beneficial to both parties. The more the blogger sells, the more the company benefits... and the most commission the blogger receives.
If you're interested in working with brands, just be sure to take yourself seriously! Be sure you don't short yourself on what you feel your content is worth. You are a huge value-add to a company and if you don't realize that, you'll work for free. Kelly from the Glamourai believes that companies need to understand that when they are asking a blogger to do work for them, the blogger needs to be paid. Brands believe Kelly values herself... and values her product and then brands will look to her and trust her opinion.
Brands are also creating their own content... and bringing in bloggers for that. They are also hiring people to write for them. Think the ModCloth blog... they feature so much more than ModCloth merchandise! They are looking for ways to connect with their consumers and still fit with their brand. They share cooking recipes, style inspiration, bloggers, everything! Customers read their blog, trust what they write, trust the brand more. It's just another way to build a relationship with your customers. Big companies like ModCloth are also hiring personal style bloggers to write on their blog or even guest post! They are looking for people who match their voice and match their brand.
How should a blogger approach a brand? There are so many cool brands to work with. How does a blogger know what works - voice wise and how do they approach a brand? Kelly thinks that rather than reaching out... it's important to blog about what you really love and are passionate about. If you're genuinely a fan of the company, it will be more appealing for them to start a relationship with you. It's important to have a natural and unforced relationship.One of the biggest things right now is that.... most brands don't understand the big deal about blogging! They are looking to us - influential bloggers - to teach them about new things like how to use Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or whatever to reach a bigger audience. It's a whole new world for most retailers. Some companies still believe Facebook is the biggest forerunner in social media right now. So it's up to us - the younger generation - to teach the older folks in the fashion industry how its done!
