Marina Maher Communications

Image courtesy of Band-Aid

In the last week, three MMC clients have created events during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.  The week-long fashion extravaganza is a natural fit for our beauty brands like Clairol and COVERGIRL, which sponsored the Catherine Malandrino show.  Models had their hair colored with Clairol’s Perfect 10 and their makeup done by celebrity makeup artist Ashunta Sheriff, using, of course COVERGIRL products.

We also developed a creative and successful program that aligned a feminine care product with Fashion Week. U by Kotex*, a breakthrough line of feminine care products targeted to millennials, stands out from the category with its colorful products and packaging.  So this year, the brand challenged consumers to “Ban the Bland” in the world of feminine care.  The winners of the Ban the Bland contest had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Patricia Field, best known as the stylist for Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada, to develop designs they created into inspirations for future U by Kotex* products.

There are many other brands that officially or unofficially align with Fashion Week every year. Here are four reasons why they consider it such a great opportunity.

1. Fashion Week has changed.  It is no longer exclusively an industry insider showcase for luxury brands.  The growth and popularity of bloggers and other social media have made Fashion Week – at least in New York – increasingly “mass market.” The original purpose of Fashion Week, to preview the next season’s collection for buyers, is now just one of many reasons why it exists.  Anyone can watch a runway show online and the “real time” nature of the event today is much more fashion-democratic and inclusive for everyday women.  Just look at what happened at Target yesterday after the Missoni sale went live.  A high fashion brand made accessible to the masses crashed the Target website (although several MMCers still managed to score some fabulous items) and media everywhere, including the Today Show, made it big news.
2. Even in an uber-cluttered environment, brands still find spaces to get noticed – and those spaces are a lot more cost-effective than an official sponsorship. Brands create ownable events by partnering with individual designers, or even through promotions during Fashion’s Night Out, the after-hours shopping event held in cities around that world that marks the kickoff of New York Fashion Week.
3. Let’s be honest:  women are perennially passionate about fashion.  Whether it’s haute couture or brands that cater to Middle America, women want to read about, shop for and wear great clothes. What is more aspirational than Fashion Week, an event that brings out a woman’s inner diva? (Okay, I know not every woman likes clothes – but those women are probably not the target for these brands).  So if you have a brand that can authentically link to a fashion story, you can touch women at a key passion point.  And in doing so, you may overcome potential objections or barriers that she may have about your brand.
4. Fashion’s Night Out, which is no longer just the territory of enfant terrible designers and downtown cool kids, offers brands another unique forum to connect to consumers.  BAND-AID, a brand that doesn’t immediately come to mind when thinking about fashion, collaborated with designer Cynthia Rowley to create a glamorous collection of designer bandages.  They launched during Fashion’s Night Out, since that’s the night where women scrambling to get to as many events as possible suffer from sore feet and blisters.  Their solution?  A travelling “Glambulance” that featured a hairstylist, acclaimed make-up artist Mickey Williams, and first-aid kits, including Rowley’s designs.

It is often challenging to measure the ROI of such short-term events. But Bon Appétit seems to have done it with a program called Feast or Fashion.  The magazine is publishing a style guide at Fashion Week events to promote the chefs who have introduced Bon Appétit-branded menus at their restaurants.  The magazine said the program generated $1 million in new business.  And non-foodie advertisers like Hermes and CK Euphoria are accounting for almost half of the magazine’s advertising growth since the beginning of the year.

So what brand(s) would you like to see align with Fashion Week next year?

MMC partnered with U by Kotex* to announce the winners on Saturday of the U by Kotex “Ban the Bland” Design Contest, which challenged consumers to bring design to the bland feminine care category during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City.  The winners were three of 15,000 consumers who submitted designs for feminine care products. The winners were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with fashion visionary Patricia Field to develop their designs into colorful U by Kotex* accessories that will inspire the future of feminine care and U by Kotex* designs.  In addition, they attended the Charlotte Ronson fashion show.

U by Kotex also took advantage of Fashion’s Night Out to distributed product samples in trendy areas throughout the city.

Photo credit:  Racked NY

Good afternoon, all!  With Robert out of the office, Valeria Vidri and I have hijacked this week’s edition of “Five for Friday” and have decided to dedicate it to the wonder that is New York Fashion Week (#NYFW), or as I like to call it, “The Big Show.”

Fresh off of Fashion’s Night Out (#FNO) last night – the brainchild of Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour, in an effort to bolster the economy – we have stories to share from around the Web that had us buzzing in delight and curiosity all week long.

Lucky Magazine hosted its second annual Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference (FABB) this Wednesday.  FABB gave fashion and beauty influencers from around the blogosphere the opportunity to gather and learn from the biggest innovators in their field, including Rachel Roy, Essie Weingarten and the Kardashian Sisters.  Those who were in attendance live-tweeted the day’s presentations and memorial moments.  We were lucky enough to follow-along via live-stream.  (Source: Lucky.com)

Fashion Designer and CFDA President Diane Von Furstenberg used the power of Twitter to help promote her new perfume, Diane, which isn’t available to consumers until September 22^nd.  DVF purchased a Promoted Trend and several Promoted Tweets around Fashion’s Night Out search terms in an effort to pique interest from consumers looking for information around the event.  She also bought search terms related to the location of her flagship store in the Meatpacking District.  Each hour, DVF sent a Direct Message to a consumer follower, inviting them to pick-up a free bottle of the fragrance at her store.  Who could resist that?  (Source:  Mashable)

Longtime style icon, Barbie (yes, the doll), made appearances all over Manhattan on Fashion’s Night Out.  Mattel enabled flocks of Barbie fans to “shop” her closet and take a double-decker bus around the city for a Social Scavenger Hunt.  Barbie was on display in miniature Alice + Olivia, Alexis Bittar, Tracy Reese and Rogan outfits at each of its stores.  Consumers were encouraged to scan a QR code on her box that directed them to barbielovesfno.com for a chance to win her favorite Fall looks.  (Source: Betty Confidential)

Speaking of dolls…the highly anticipated Missoni for Target line made its debut via a pop-up store during Fashion’s Night Out.  Prior to its grand unveiling (with the longest line we’ve ever seen in our lives), the brand started a Tumblr page, with news about the collaboration and insights from the brand.  This week we learned that the author of this page, Marina, was be a 25-foot tall mannequin, decked out in a Missoni for Target dress.  Marina is making appearances all over New York this week and Tweeting her hijinks from @MarinaWithStyle.  Strategically released images of the collection, plus the chance to converse with Marina via Tumblr and Twitter, helped create buzz for the brand that we anticipate will help it fly off shelves in no time.  (Multiple Sources)

Not in New York?  No sweat!  Milk Studios partnered with Refinery 29 to live-stream its shows from New York Fashion Week, so there’s no need to skip a second.   And for those who can’t wait to get their hands on the hottest looks, check out Lyst, a new tool that will notify you when runway looks arrive in-store.  (Source: Mashable)

What are some of your favorite stories from Fashion’s Night Out and Fashion Week so far?

For many people, from industry insiders to buyers to consumers, Fashion Week has always been about, well, fashion. Designers get their time in the spotlight, revealing their collections for the upcoming season to the media, celebrities and most importantly, buyers, who can make or break a collection based on what they believe can sell. The coverage is everywhere, setting the tone for trends in fashion, and subsequently, what consumers will be yearning to get their hands on.

As Fashion Week closes on New York and begins in London, I’m reflecting on a different business that has a major stake in Fashion Week – the beauty industry. The focus on backstage has become just as significant as what goes down the runway. Each season MMC is there with Pat McGrath for COVERGIRL to introduce influencers to the beauty trends for the upcoming season and the new products used to create them. And COVERGIRL is not alone – Fashion Week has become a big business driver for countless beauty brands, makeup artists and hair stylists, even nail technicians.

An article published this week on CNBC online confirms that “makeup artists have become just as sought-after as the designers themselves,” because they too, establish and influence the trends for their industry. Makeup artists are surely becoming household names (just like the designers) and their backstage beauty creations resonate further with the average consumer, ultimately influencing buying decisions, right? So as a marketer, Fashion Week is a major catalyst that drives the next “must-have” beauty product – after all, cosmetics are an attainable way for consumers to be part of Fashion Week and recreate the looks seen on the runway.

So what do you think? —  Is “makeup is an accessory to fashion”? Does the beauty industry depend on Fashion Week to drive business as much as the fashion industry? Think about it & discuss!

Industry Insiders, including Mashable, are already talking about New York Fashion Week, and Tumblr (a Social sharing site) is giving us a great way to stay up-to-date given the enormous amount of coverage we typically see from the tents.

This year Tumblr  is sponsoring approximately 20 fashion-specific online influencers at New York Fashion Week, many of whom have never attended Fashion Weeks in the past.   The goal of this initiative is to help build awareness of the fashion community on Tumblr, and to give the Fashion Industry a peek at these up-and-coming talents.

A steady stream of content will be posted to Tumblr.com/nyfw.  Seems like a great way to build alliances with up-and-coming talent that are extremely eager to get to Fashion Week.  We’re sure that these influencers will promote Tumblr in their posts and disclosure statements and help the platform get additional exposure with a new (huge!) target.

One of my favorite things about living in New York City is that twice a year the city is host to Fashion Week. The inspiration and creativity hits a high point during these weeks each September and February, and I was thrilled to be a part of Secret’s participation this past weekend. MMC worked to secure the title sponsorship for my favorite deodorant Secret at a New York Fashion Week Media Mixer for Online Influencers. Yes, deodorant can be fashionable!

We launched three new products to key online influencers and industry insiders, as well as communicate the brand’s equity of being “Fearless” by enabling one lucky attendee’s fearless life goal. Some examples of entries included overcoming a fear of flying by taking pilot classes or finally running a marathon with help from a trainer that Secret would provide.

For Secret to be able to add to the inspiration that Fashion Week brings to the New York air was an amazing experience and one that I will not forget soon. Secret is tackling fears one woman at a time.