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!
The Rachel Antonoff presentation is so stunning. I'm so excited to be able to give you guys a peek at their collection for spring/summer. It was very Wednesday Adams-inspired. I love the prints, the hats, the polka dots. Am I seriously already looking forward to next spring? Enjoy the inside look!
Tennessee Thomas was there as a DJ! Can we say major band and hair envy? If you guys haven't checked out the band, The Like, you need to do so immediately!
For Fashions Night Out, I attended the Elie Tahari presentation with blogger, Keiko Lynn! FNO in New York City was insane. The streets were packed with people, flashes of photos going off everywhere, I felt like I was in an overpacked amusement park at points! It was amazing to be able to go inside a quiet place, socialize with a few fellow bloggers, check out some of the gorgeous items and relax for a bit in one place. Here's a sneak peek of what happened behind the doors of Elie Tahari! Enjoy!
2. BLOGGERS LIKE TO EAT! Who would have thought, right?! The lunch was absolutely delicious and we all quickly gathered our lunch boxes (sandwiches, apples and cookies) and hunkered down anywhere we could find to stuff our faces. So much knowledge, we needed the extra energy.
4. Everyone received a schedule of the panelists and ways to connect during the conference using platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram. #LuckyFABB was a trending topic on Twitter - globally!
5. The break bar was amazing to grab a quick lemonade, a cookie or coffee. Especially when you're so busy in the midst of fashion week - it's important to eat right and hydrate yourself.
6. The gift bag. Oh my gosh. Amazing. I heard a lot of people grumble about FABB's cost of $100. They were so wrong. We received gift bags that were worth a retail price of $1200. I cannot wait to try out so many of the products.
7. Matching our nail polish colors to our favorite foods - especially cupcakes! It's so true, right? You can get inspiration anywhere. Think of your favorite food and try to create an outfit based on it!
8. Cameras were attached to our faces at all times. It's obvious bloggers love taking photos! A moment would happen anytime and you needed your camera out to quickly document it!
9. Meeting your friends in the blogging community. It was the BEST part of the conference. I got to see so many of my very good friends again - to giggle, to take photos, to talk about outfit shots. So amazing.
Tumblr. What is next for this platform? How can users get the most? Tumblr isn't for every blogger. The best way to use Tumblr is to have really strong imagery. That's what people respond to the most. Along with quick quotes and text. If you're doing a personal style blog, and you really want to get really really into explaining it... Tumblr might not be for you. Tumblr is quick, fast, on-the-go always. If you like to explain your outfit, use Tumblr to tease up your post and link to your other blog! It's also a great place to share things like... magazine spreads you love, anything. Interaction on Tumblr is so simple and easy. You can like something just by clicking the heart and also reblog it on your blog. Tumblr is a great way to spread your information very quickly.
Facebook. Although Facebook is getting older, Ben of Pinterest says its really important to not give up Facebook just yet. Most people (especially kids and younger adults) think Facebook is the Internet alone. If you stop posting on Facebook or stop using it, you're really missing out on a huge huge audience.
Twitter. Twitter is a wonderful place to view real-time content. You can get responses immediately, learn about what's happening right now, tease content and build hype. Twitter is the biggest resource for fashion bloggers right now - to have conversations, to show a real-time aspect to your life, get immediate feedback. If you're a fashion blogger who is still avoiding Twitter, we say... you need to join now!
The room was absolutely packed as soon as the Kardashian sisters were about to hit stage! It was also announced during the panel that they are going to be the November cover girls on Lucky Magazine too! They were shocked at how many people were there - fashion and beauty blogging is booming! A few tips from the panel:
You have to make certain things in your life a priority. Think about what is most important to you... and make it #1. If it's family, you need to make it a priority. They also rely on each other to get work done. If a friend, or your boyfriend/husband or parents offer to help - take the help! It's a good time to spend together and it can relieve some of your stress. The Kardashians say that the reason their men fell in love with them is because they are workaholics. It's true, though. Guys are attracted to women who are independent, hard-working and passionate.
How to not get over-exposed? They like to think of their brand as a brand for their fans. So they really do read their comments, their Twitter mentions, their posts on their Facebook and take all of those comments and try to do good with them. You need to remember though... that you can't please everyone. You still need to do what makes you happy and feel good but it's great to take into consideration what your readers are saying. It could really help your blog content... and really even help you grow into something bigger and better. They try to please as many of their fans as possible, but you have to stay true to yourself.
Fun fact: They go on home design blogs way more than fashion blogs!
On an ending note, they said it wasn't easy for them to get started. It took them years to actually get a revenue going! They had to take risks. But they believed in their business and their brand, so they went for it as best as they could. Relating to us as bloggers, risks can be things as little as trying something new that is out of your element like doing a review of a item instead of a typical outfit shot, trying a risky top you wouldn't normally go for. Step it up at any notch you can to stand out and push and challenge yourself!
This panel is on Building a business with your blog. The panel included speakers Adam Rich, Cofounder of Thrillist.com, Stephanie/Erin of The Coveteur, Lisa, Head of Marketing for Express, Rodger, President of Rachel Zoe.
Stephanie and Erin originally started as a site, a place to come, a museum, a website only for viewing. They started realizing they wanted to make money by selling clothes... so they launched e-commerce so you could shop looks and get the exact item of clothing or something similar that you see. They were very hesitant to post ads on their site at first. They wanted to keep their website clean and aesthetically pleasing. They were looking for other ways to integrate advertising rather than banner ads... which is definitely appealing to some. They were trying to figure out alternate ways of creating a revenue. You can be a little sneaky with advertising without selling out. Although you don't want to trick anyone, you do want to make a good business.
