Digital Marketing
in the Fashion Industry
Part 1
Laura Gelis - 2016

Objectives of the module
• Get some insights on what is a
digital marketing strategy
• Review all the main existing
digital tools and how they are
used in the fashion industry
• Understand how to build a
consistent digital marketing
strategy
Laura Gelis - 2016

Fashion & Digital : it’s complicated !
• Until recently, luxury fashion
brands have been notoriously
reticent to dabble in digital
commerce and online advertising
• Things are evolving : fashion
brands spend more, in global, by
ramping up digital expenses
• 53% more brands ran online ads
in September 2015 than in the
same time period last year.
(Source Mediaradar)
Laura Gelis - 2016

Digital : a marketing revolution
Laura Gelis - 2016

Digital : a marketing revolution
So Many Data
Laura Gelis - 2016

Digital : a marketing revolution
So Many Channels
Laura Gelis - 2016

Digital : a marketing revolution
A new consumer
Laura Gelis - 2016
CONNECTED INFORMED&
Blog Mania
Fashion Blogs : 958 000 000 results
Twitter fashion : 2 660 000 000 results
In China there are more than 618
million Internet users and half of
them are purchasing online.

Digital : a marketing revolution
New challenges for Marketing Directors
• Understanding the « new » consumer(s)
• Following the consumer journey accross all digital
channels
• Making use of all digital channels in a consistent
manner
• Determining which technologies/channels are
relevant – Adopting Test and Learn mindset
• Managing the budget and take the right decisions
• Adapting the marketing team and marketing skills
Laura Gelis - 2016

Laura Gelis - 2016
?

Marketing Budgets are evolving to integrate Marketing Digital
specific budgets :
Top areas of investment for Digital Marketing :
Email Marketing
Website performance
Mobile App development
Lead management
Search Marketing
Digital Marketing : Some Figures
Laura Gelis - 2016
The BIG headache for
Marketing Directors !
Japan : 24%
Germany : 24
UK : 549 %
France : approx 30%
% of Marketing Budget dedicated to Digital Marketing :
US : 31 %
China : 42%

THE DIGITAL MARKETING
STRATEGY
Laura Gelis - 2016

DIGITAL MARKETING STATEGY
To provide a consistent direction for all digital
activities in order to sustain business objectives
while being smoothly integrated with other
general marketing activities.
Laura Gelis - 2016

Building a Digital Marketing Strategy
• Consistent with business strategy and
marketing strategy (segmentation,
targeting, positioning…)
• Set clear objectives : linked to business
and specific to digital activities
• Define a value proposition specific to
digital activities for consumers,
prospects and partners
• Set and follow the consumer journey
• Define a communication mix to attain
the objectives
• Define a budget and a roadmap
Laura Gelis - 2016

Buildind a Digital Strategy
LOUIS VUITTON
Luxury Brand
- Brand DNA
- Creativity
- Know How
NET A PORTER
Luxury
E-commerce
- Maximize sales /
visitor
- Newness / trends
- Merchandising and
promotions
Laura Gelis - 2016
UNIQLO
Mass Market
Retailer
- Maximize profit of
each store
- Innovation
- Capsule Collections
Three different business models - three different business strategy - three different digital
marketing strategy

Some digital marketing specific concepts
• Engagement vs Awareness : make the consumer
react to the brand (like, comment, share)
• Permission : implicit or explicit agreement of the
consumer to receive messages (emailing,
personal account via login…)
• Content : Digital Marketing is relying heavily on
content particularly in the fashion industry
Laura Gelis - 2016

Specific challenges
• Complexity : to build a consistent stategy accross
all chanels, analyzing all datas…
• Competitive analysis : difficult to follow everything
• Technological agility / savvy
• Cost – digital is not free
• Saturation
• Being open to every new technology and have the
ability to decide if it is consistent with brand and
business
Laura Gelis - 2016

Generic digital strategies
• Create a digital value proposition to acquire and
retain customers while providing engagement
through products or services
• Target coverage : attract the target audience to
owned media in order to increase awareness,
preference and buy intentions
• Online / offline sales efficiency and impact
Laura Gelis - 2016

Buildind a Digital Strategy
LOUIS VUITTON
- Live Fashion Show
- All Collections
- About the LV house
- LV fondation
E-commerce is limited to
small « pieces », adress
of shops
Social Networks links
NET A PORTER
- Shoppable magazine
- Editorial
- Products
- Full e-commerce with
full suggestions to
increase sales
- No social media link
except The Net Set
Laura Gelis - 2016
UNIQLO
- Products, products,
products
- Full e-commerce, no
suggestion, adress of
shops
- Facebook, instagram
Support & build Brand DNA
& brand engagement
Create additional retail value
through online presence
Maximize check-out amount

Digital Marketing Strategy canvass
• Situation analysis : where are we ?
• Objectives : where do we want to go ?
• Strategy : how to go there ?
• Tactics : how to go precisely (incl budget)?
• Actions : who does what and when ?
• Control : how do we verify performance ?
Laura Gelis - 2016

Situation : analysis of digital situation
Many different KPI can be analyzed depending on the company and its strategy
• Sales efficiency :
– Number of leads created (new accounts), Online sales per month, Retention and loyalty
• Marketing efficiency
– Awareness, Preference,Recommendation
• Digital marketing efficiency
– Number of visits, number of sessions, page views, unique visitors, time spent, % of
registration, % conversation rate, churn, click through rate….
• Resources and digital skills
– Financial resources : budget
– Technological Resources
– Human resources (IT, Mkg)
– Skills (community management, web development, content creation…)
– Organisation / process
• Analysis of digital maturity of the organizationLaura Gelis - 2016

Define strategic objectives
• Aligned with the company business objectives
• SMART objectives : Specific, measurable,
attainable, realistic, Time
• 5S : Sell, Speak, Serve, Save, Sizzle
Laura Gelis - 2016

Laura Gelis - 2016
Define strategic objectives
SELL
• Products
• Promotions
• Services (free delivery)
• Payment

SPEAK
• Increase engagement by
starting and encouraging
conversation
Laura Gelis - 2016
Define strategic objectives

SERVE
• Develop all services provided to
customers
• Customer satisfaction goals to
assess how you good you are at
customer service and then
improve it further
• ASOS have invested in a choice
of customer service channel
Laura Gelis - 2016
Define strategic objectives

SAVE
• Budget objectives
• Show the value that is gained vs
use of traditional marketing
Laura Gelis - 2016
Define strategic objectives

SIZZLE
• The amplifying effect of
digital
• Use of all relevant digital to
make the story sizzzle
• Building the brand online
Laura Gelis - 2016
Define strategic objectives

The digital Marketing Strategy
• Adapted to the value creation model
• Will translate in every step of the value
creation chain :
- attract
- engage
- convert
- retain
Laura Gelis - 2016

Interested in this content ?
Want to know more ?
Please contact me !
Laura Gelis - 2016
Laura.gelis@brandandlab.com

ATTRACT
How are you going to attract qualified buyers to your business?
• Specific to digital marketing : Marketing PULL
• The most important step : key to develop the whole strategy
• Several acquisition strategies should be put in place :
– Analyze
– Compare
– Develop
• KPI to take into account to compare the different strategies
– Volume of traffic generated
– The cost for each new visitor
– Qality of the traffic / transformation rate
– ROI : value created vs cost
Laura Gelis - 2016

Laura Gelis - 2016
H
O
W
?

• Buying Qualified Data Base
• Competition on social networks
• Content published on social networks
• Search marketing
• Online advertising (display)
• Social network advertising
• Partnerships with media or partners /
influencers (bloggers)
Laura Gelis - 2016
ATTRACT

ATTRACT
Laura Gelis - 2016
Display
Social network content
Social network advertising
Partner emailing
Content to share

ATTRACT : analyse & compare
Volume Cost Conversion Value ROI
Running a
Competition
100.OOO
adresses
100k€ x 0,30
= 30.000 €
1,5% buy
70€ on
average
100k x 1,5%
x 70€ =
105.000 €
(105-30)/30
= 250%
Buying a
qualified
database
5.000
adresses
5.000 x 2 € =
10.000 €
10% buy
70€ on
average
5000 x 10%
x 70 € =
35.000 €
(35-10)/10 =
250%
Laura Gelis - 2016
Same ROI
BUT different costs and different value
If we buy a qualified database every month we get
the same result as a competition every quarter

ENGAGE
• Listen. Care. Make them Dream.
• Build trust, desire, excitment
• Gain a better understanding of your customer’s
needs and wants
Laura Gelis - 2016

Engage : Case study Sezane
Laura Gelis - 2016
Instagram : 123 K + 168 K
Facebook : 280 K

Laura Gelis - 2016
Engage : Case study Balmain
Instagram : 3,9 M
Twitter : 252 K
Facebook : 553 K

Laura Gelis - 2016
DESIGN A COACH TOTE | DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
Objective : engage with a young audience
3,200 CUSTOM TOTE DESIGNS • 6.5 MILLION ENGAGEMENTS
Engage : Case study Coach
Coach invited fans to design
their own unique Coach tote
and vote for their favorite
design. The winning design was
created into a special edition
Coach Tote sold online and in
select stores.
There are three reasons why people participate :
I can do it – I can drag and click and create something quickly and easily
I’m a creator – it’s my goal in life to create a bag for Coach.
I want to be a celebrity. 25% of young people believe they can be a celebrity.

CONVERT
• The most important step but not always well mastered
• Different KPIs to monitor depending on the business :
find the right KPI !
• For a media website : number of visits with more than
one page viewed
• For an information site : visit length > 2 mn
• For e-commerce : number of sales / number of visit
• Service : number of subscriptions
Laura Gelis - 2016
« You’ve invested a great deal of time, effort and energy to attract and engage qualified
buyers – remember to make it easy for them to buy your products when the time is right »
!

CONVERT
• Analyse the tunnel of conversion : the different
steps for the visitor to perform the final action
– Number of steps
– Complexity
• The Optimization of the tunnel is key
– Consistent speach along the way / consistent
experience
– Good UX and Design
– In e-commerce average conversion rate is 2%
Laura Gelis - 2016

Laura Gelis - 2016

Retain : build loyalty
• Keep existing customers and create value on the
long term
• Today building loyalty is key as the cost to keep a
client is 5 to 6 x less expensive than recruiting a
new one.
• Loyal customers are also often good ambassadors
and source for new value creation (share content,
advocates of the brand)
Laura Gelis - 2016

Retain
Laura Gelis - 2016