Here’s the latest ‘Ask Alison’ post from DRG retail editor, ALISON FARRINGTON, as she unpacks five key takeaways from this year’s Wired Retail conference, and how they will change your future digital shopping habits.
I’ll take the world of visual-culture and discovery-commerce over voice-activated replenishment shopping – thank you. The former feels like a fun InstagramStories fuelled shopping spree, while the latter sounds like a boring, but necessary automated shopping list. Both have a place in the current online marketplace (more…)
Further to yesterday’s Chanel post on the subject of the ‘Disneyfication’ of luxury retail; I hear that Harrods will be Disney-themed this Christmas. Swarovski was the brand partner last year and this year promises another fantasy-filled extravaganza beyond our wildest dreams. Think windows displaying one-off gowns for Disney princesses by the likes of Valentino and Versace, a fourth-floor Disney pop-up boutique, plus a special focus on Disney’s Cinderella to tie in with the global high-def launch of the animated Cinderella on Blueray.
In our modern cross-pollinating world, this is the perfect way for film, fashion and retail to collide to benefit all parties. (And somewhere in the mix there must be a magazine media partner ready and waiting with an Aurasma app to tie it all together. Harper’s Bazaar perhaps?) Disney has upped its fashion collabs considerably recently. I loved the Mawi jewellery, and the Cinderella Louboutins sound promising. Of course, I’m still holding out for a Louis Vuitton Disney collab. It’s got to happen soon, hasn’t it?
It’s a long time since I got this excited about a magazine cover but Harper’s Bazaar UK has done it for me. A few months ago, there was a flurry of excitement on Twitter as editor Lucy Yeomans dropped hints about a groundbreaking Harper’s cover shoot she had been on. Duran Duran was mentioned, supermodels were mentioned and, well, that was enough to pique my interest*. (more…)
Two Saturdays ago, 600 eager fashion geeks swarmed through the streets of London in an attempt to win the star prize of Swarovski’s Discover Your Light treasure hunt. The smartphone-operated SCVNGR game had its participants running in pairs from pillar to post, picking up clues from London’s fashion/music/art establishments. As the clock struck four, the game switched off and players headed back to base at The Royal Horticultural Hall in Pimlico.
As a blog partner (I supplied Vogue House as one of the clues), I was invited to the event to see the winners collect their prizes. Others London creatives who had submitted clues included Mary Katrantzou, artist Mark Titchner and writer Joe Dunthorne, a high profile roll call as befits a Swarovski event.
My interest in the project was to see how it was received by the public and what kind of punters such a game attracted. The general consensus was that although it got off to a slow start (there were grumbles at the beginning as players wanted to get on with the game), the game itself was exciting, engaging and a great way to learn about London. The participants were mostly twenty-somethings whose main objective was to win the big prize – a 5-star trip to Florence – or maybe a much-coveted Nirvana ring. As the weary players were fed and watered post-treasure hunt, the winners and runners up were invited on to the stage to collect their prizes (over £20,000 worth of glittering prizes were given out). The winning couple had practically sprinted the entire hunt to save time – I’d say their prize was well deserved.
SCVNGR is a new discovery for me, I’m not really into games, but it made me pay attention and I can certainly see now why people would want to take part – especially when luxury brands like Swarovski get involved. Now that they have set a precedent for fashion and luxury brands in the gamification space, I’ll be keeping an eye on who does what next.
