Mfarhanonline Social Media News: Macala Wright is the publisher of FashionablyMarketing.Me , one of the leading fashion and retail industry business websites. She is a retail consultant and business strategist who specializes in marketing consulting for fashion, luxury and lifestyle brands. You can follower her on Twitter at @InsideFMM or @Macala . Just two years after its inception, Fashion’s Night Out — a night of shopping and celebration that takes place across the globe on Thursday — has made a controversial impact on the fashion industry and the consumer retail world. Although it continues to attract greater retail participation, many wonder if the event has real value for the industry, or if it’s just an excuse for one big party. The History of Fashion’s Night Out: 2009 – 2011 Image courtesy of Flickr, Patricia Oliveira Fashion's Night Out was created in 2009 by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Diane von Furstenburg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), in the deepest part of the recession. The industry icons met in Paris and developed the idea of bringing consumers' favorite designers to them in person, taking the B2B, trade-only model and giving it a consumer focus. The goal was to motivate consumers to spend again by creating excitement around a community-style shopping event that gave everyone who participated access to the designers and celebrities they loved. Wintour and von Furstenburg then approached New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and all editors of Vogue internationally to execute the event. The event was pitched as a strategic way to end the cycle of deep, almost fanatical retail discounting that was commonplace in 2009. Event participants promised they wouldn't launch sales that evening, though that didn’t stop them from trotting out sale racks with items that! were al ready marked down. In terms of participation, it was a measurable success. Eleven countries and 700 stores in the U.S. took part in the evening’s festivities in 2009. Participating retailers saw a 3.4% increase in store traffic nationwide, and a 48% increase in New York City alone, according to estimates from ShopperTrak . A NYC & Co. survey of 1,300 shoppers found 71% of them visited a store they had never been to before and 61% ventured out of their comfort zones, going to neighborhoods outside of their work and living areas. 2011 promises to be even bigger. 18 countries (including Greece, UK, Japan, China, Brazil, France and South Korea), more than 250 U.S. cities and 1,178 retailers in New York City will participate in Fashion’s Night Out. Two hundred online retailers have also signed on for the event this year. A Strategic Marketing Initiative? Image courtesy of Flickr, find eric Although the event attracts a great deal of notice, fashion industry professionals still have mixed feelings about the true benefits of Fashion's Night Out. In a recent New York Times blog post, veteran style critic Cathy Horyn writes , "Fashion's Night Out was a good idea when it began, back in the depths of the recession when stores were virtually empty. But now it's become a party, an institutionalized kickoff to Fashion Week, and though it apparently raises money for some causes, I have to believe that the costs of security, crowd control and entertainment, not to mention the traffic headaches, outweigh the actual benefits.” The problem comes down to sales. Although the same NYC & Co. survey found that 75% of shoppers said they made a purchase during Fashion’s Night Out in 2009, retailers told Forbes that recession-conscious consumers were really there to see celebrities rather than shop — something I witnessed in both 2009 and 2010 first-hand. Although most retailers have refused to disclose numbers, Barney's New York creative director Simon Doonan said that the 2009 im! pact was minimal in terms of sales. So why aren’t consumers shopping? According to Wendy Bendoni , professor of fashion marketing at Woodbury University, "Most consumers still are wondering why there aren't any promotion sales and don't see the need to go out in the crowd. They have not been properly educated of what this night means to the fashion industry as a whole." Bendoni says that retailers need to look at Fashion’s Night Out as an opportunity to connect with their customers, “not selling out their collections.” She believes that a stellar FNO event can create customer loyalty. "The consumer will remember where they first met the designer or influential personality they idolize that helped them pull their fall 'must-have' items during the event. That connection is the start of the relationships that can last decades,” she says. Can Digital Save Fashion's Night Out? While guest DJs and celebrity appearances might not move merchandise in stores on Fashion’s Night Out, there’s still an opportunity to utilize the event as a marketing and customer engagement opportunity — largely, I believe, through digital. This year, participating retailers large and small are coming up with creative ways to incorporate social media and digital technology into their in-store and online events. The most successful of these are building off followings they’ve already built through social networks and mobile apps, using these platforms to develop a new form of social customer relationship management (sCRM) that converts social audiences into shoppers over time. DKNY, for instance, will be deepening the relationship its built with customers through its DKNY PR Girl brand on Twitter and Tumblr . At DKNY’s New York flagship location, shoppers are invited to explore an in-store set that realizes DKNY PR Girl’s fantasy apartment — including, of course, her closet. UK shoppers can follow along in London, where DKNY Girl’s Twitter feed will b! e projec ted onto a giant BlackBerry. Coach and Mattel are similarly building off of online relationships for Fashion’s Night Out. Coach will be bringing bloggers who participated in designer collaborations to its flagship store to meet shoppers, while Mattel will be leveraging Barbie’s existing Foursquare following for a fun, engaging scavenger hunt throughout the city. These aren’t just one-off events: These are promotions that will develop relationships with consumers old and new alike. Sure, these brands may not see off-the-charts sales on Fashion’s Night Out, but they can hope to develop relationships that convert these social audiences into shoppers over time. More About: coach , dkny , fashion , fashion’s night out , MARKETING , mattel For more Business & Marketing coverage: Follow Mfarhanonline Business & Marketing on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business & Marketing channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad Social Media reviews series maintain by Mayya
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