Topshop, you're on to something.

I think I've found my dream job.


At the new Topshop on Broadway in New York City that opened on April 2nd, the masses have lined up and signed up to be a part of the latest retail phenomenon. The NYC Topshop location is offering a handful of what they call "style advisers" to their customers. The advisers are young, trendy, confident and of course charismatic enough to make sales of at least several hundred dollars per transaction. Most of the advisers are students or recent graduates trying to get their foot in the door in the fashion industry. To seek the counsel of these personal stylists, customers have to make an appointment in advance, and they usually last two hours.

This is an amazing thing that Topshop is doing. I realize they are not the first; Neiman Marcus has been doing following a similiar system for years, but Topshop is offering personal assistance with the most trendy merchandise out there. Their clothing is more affordable, more fun, and caters to the most experimental target market there is. They're smart to add something to their retail recipe that makes them stand out against the rest. I hope they can keep this going and continue using style advisers in the rest of the stores they (hopefully!) open across the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/fashion/09TOPSHOP.html

Thinking about advertising on social networking sites? Think again.

According to this article on time.com (http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1888796,00.html) the use of social networking sites as an advertising avenue may not be as effective as we consumer, apparel and retail students may have thought. The article highlights the issue that although social networking sites such as Facebook, Google and Youtube have millions upon millions of users and viewers, their ability to make money is lacking a great deal. It sites the reasoning for this lack of profits to the nontraditional model of social networking sites. They don't follow the same rules that engaged so many mareketers to the internet. Advertising on the internet consists of targeting specific groups, but that is not easy to achieve on websites like Facebook. Facebook is filled with millions of users who may or may not be exactly who they say they are, and although different advertisements may appear on your homepage depending on what you have listed as interests and activities on your profile, overall the website is far too unorderly. Why waste your time advertising to a group you can't identify when you could go directly to them from another website? It makes sense, and is something we should all think about when discussing marketing trends. The internet can be so ambigious, you never really know exactly what or who you're targeting or talking to, and for big time ad agencies and companies, this is a risk not worth taking.

Tweet, Tweet: Who's Really Tweeting That Twitter.

After months of repeated criticism and a lack of understanding of the world of Twitter, on Monday I finally gave in and signed up for one (kacierag, if you're interested). My impression was that Twitter was like a watered-down Facebook, saturated with nothing but status updates. In a sense, that is pretty much what it is in a nutshell, but with one major perk: "following" celebrities. One of Twitter's major gimmicks that it boasts is it's rising popularity amongst the hottest of celebrities. But according to an article from the New York Times website that I read, When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking, more often than not, that celebrity you're following is merely hired personnel to keep said celebrity's image going.

For a generation that reads Perezhilton.com religiously and can tell you more about Britney Spears than Barack Obama (who also Tweets, by the way), the opportunity to be so intimately connected with stars' personal lives is quickly making Twitter the newest social-networking phenonmenon. Not only can you follow your friends and celebrities, but businesses and politicians have also taken up the addictive status updating practice. Twitter is the latest and greatest marketing tool out there, and that's exactly why mega-stars need specific people operating what goes on the website under their name.

This article discusses the growing importance of Twitter as a marketing experience. It notes rapper 50 Cent as having a Twitter that is completely maintained by a guy known as Broadway, director of the rapper's web empire. He stated that 50 doesn't actually use Twitter, but "the energy is all him." Kanye West has hired two different people to maintain his blogs, and politicians like Ron Paul has staff members creating and operating Facebook and Twitter personas. Oftentimes, these hired personnel know the star's public image better than they do and can do an impeccable job of imitating them. Since more often than we realize celebrities may not really be the people we see in the media all the time, having a branding expert of sorts can really be an excellent tool for them.

In light of criticisms of this "ghostwriting" that goes on on celebrity Twitters, former Britney Spears consultant Joseph Nejman spoke out saying: “It’s O.K. to tweet for a brand, but the truth is, they are a brand. What they are to the public is not always what they are behind the curtain. If the manager knows that better than the star, then they should do it.”

And he's right. The Jonas Brothers are a brand just as much as Apple is. They have an image, a logo, products, and a very specific consumer perception of them. Why not use Twitter to their advantage? I can understand how it can be dissapointing and misleading for diehard fans who think they're getting a taste of stardom, but if it's all about image, who's to say they aren't still getting that? Who are we to judge what constitutes anything related to fame as being real? Sure, it upsets me a little bit that I may not actually be following Taylor, Zac and Isaac Hanson, although because of their C or D list status, I doubt they actually hire someone to tweet for them, but I would understand if they did. In a world completely oversaturated with brands of all types, everyone has to do whatever they can to stay a step ahead of the game, to make your prescence known. Online marketing is one of the fastest growing mediums for advertising, and smart brands should and will capitalize on it while they can.

Sony steps up to the plate by announcing partnership with Google

We all know that Amazon.com is the world's largest online library, but now Sony is taking a stab at conquering the competition. The company announced Thursday that it will be entering a partnership with Google to make .5 million non-copyrighted books available for their digital Reader device. Sony's Reader is a rival machine to Amazon's Kindle and Kindle 2, an increasingly popular product I recently blogged about. Google has a collection of about 7 million digital books, but currently can only make full copies of texts written before 1923 whose copyrights have expired. Sony hopes that by teaming up with Google it can expand their virtual library and become a more promising competitor to the Kindle, which offers about 250,000 titles, featuring mostly best sellers and popular reads.



Honestly, while I do give Sony an A for effort on combating the competition, I feel like in the long run it may just be a lost cause. Here's why: when people think books, they don't think Sony. Or even Google, really, for that matter. They think Amazon. Amazon has everything consumers want; they offer a quick, easy, and reliable shopping experience, reasonable prices on most items, and an insanely large and vast variety of merchandise. People trust Amazon, especially when it comes to literature. Sony doesn't have that relationship with these types of customer. Sure, they have have the hearts of bright-eyed sports fanatics in dire need of the latest flat screen or the small sector of consumers who still purchase and value cd players, but that's not exactly the type of target market for the Reader. The brand equity just isn't there.

However, I could be wrong. Everything Google touches turns to gold and they will probably end up taking over the world (nation-wide wireless hot spots, step one). Depending on how quickly they can begin supplying the masses with more than just the classics, the better their chances of success in this deal with Sony. But with Amazon already popping out the Kindle 2 earlier this year, they have a lot of catching up too. Without the Twilight series or whatever is on Oprah's Book Club list this month, Sony (with or without Google's aid) could very well get left in the dust on this one.




http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/technology/19sony.html?bl&ex=1237694400&en=c98cbbdc54d8b635&ei=5087%0A

Business is not a sinking ship for everywhere

While the recent recession has left a huge portions of businesses all across the nation scrambling and struggling to make it out alive, according to the time.com article "Business Bucking the Recession," there are six businesses that are still booming, or at least seeing positive growth and not tanking.
The first one, to my surprise, is cosmetic procedures. The article says that the less expensive operations such as Botox injections, chemical peels and fillers were 73% more popular in the last quarter of 2008 than in 2007. Apparently, no matter how depressing times are, women still want to look good. The more expensive procedures like nose jobs and breast augmentations have declined, however. Another business that seems to be smooth sailing is herbal medicine. With so many people losing jobs, they have also lost health insurance and are finding new ways to stay healthy. Multivitamins, cleansing products, and fiber supplements have also been very popular.

Not surprisingly at all, microbreweries also made the list. In typical American fashion, when times are hard, alcohol consumption is up. Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, was quoted as saying "Beer is recession resistant." In the same vein, the candy business is also doing extremely well. Hershey and Cadbury both report positive sales and have optimistic outlooks for 2009. Consumers, in addition to looking good, also like to spoil themselves with sweet and cheap delights.

Another thriving business mentioned was lottery tickets. The Massachusetts lottery boosted sales of $4.7 billion last year, up from $4.4 billion from the previous year. And lastly, strangly, exotic travel made the list. The Middle East and Africa are experiencing much popularity, with travel up 11 and 5 percent in 2008.


This article was enlightening to me because it wasn't about retail at all really and made me think about businesses outside of what we normally discuss in class. Some of them made perfect sense to me and others left me completely perplexed, but now I have an idea of the types of places that may be hiring when it's time for me to graduate, and that's of course highly beneficial.





Source: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1879548_1879547,00.html

Coffee + Topless Employees = $$

For this week's blog, as an alternative to my usual posts on large, nation or worldwide issues, I opted to think small-scale. While perusing through the latest articles featured on cnn.com, this headline caught my attention: "Topless coffee shop a hit in small Maine town."

This past Monday in Vassalboro, Maine, Donald Crabtree opened Grand View Topless Coffee Shop. The town has less than 4,500 residents, and despite skepticism and criticism against this novel java joint, Grand View seems to be a hit amongst locals, seeing substantial amounts of business in just its first week. Most costumers have been couples and women.

The concept of Grand View Topless Coffee Shop is simple: 15 men and women employees (who, according to Crabtree, come in a variety of body types), brewing and serving coffee sans t-shirts. This idea, while novel, also seems like something entrepreneurs would have though up sooner. Others in the past have set the groundwork to combine sexuality and the coffee world, such as so-called "sexpresso stands" in cities like Seattle, but Crabtree has taken it to another level. His shop doesn't allude to sex, but blatantly puts it out for all (that are 18 and up, of course) to see. Sometimes, desperate times are what it takes to yield innovative ideas and successful endeavours.

Donald Crabtree exemplifies the quintessential characteristics of a successful entrepreneur. Most importantly, he had the confidence to go against the grain and take a huge risk at a time when taking risks, especially in retail, can be a deadly choice. He opened a new, controversial business at the height of a huge economic crisis, and not in the most promising of locations, by any means. He figured out that nudity is entertainment, and entertainment sells. Providing entertainment in this manner makes his coffee shop more than just a place to get your daily caffeine fix; it becomes an experience. Granted his business has only been open less than seven days and only time will tell how well it will survive, his efforts and ideas are admirable in my eyes.



Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/27/topless.coffee.shop/index.html

Two of America's biggest automakers face possible merger

An article posted on money.cnn.com on February 20th, 2009 stated that government officials may force two American automobile makers, Chrysler and General Motors, into a merger to help them survive the recession. Both companies received federal loans in December to keep them out of bankruptcy and claim they can make it on their own, but for many officials a corporate merger seems like the best solution.

The merger would help both corporations in keeping as many employees on the job as possible, especially Chrysler, who is in a more desperate position than GM. Chrysler and GM both have plans to lay off more workers in the next year, 3,000 and 20,000, respectively, with GM also closing 5 plants by 2012. A chairman for the Center of Automotive Research noted that the smaller the two corporations get, the easier it may be to combine them. Although the merger would in the long run create a stronger company, at the moment it would be quite an expensive endeavor.
On Friday, federal officials met for the first time to lay out plans for the merger. Chrysler's plan was more intent on outlining future profits and benefits of a combined companies; GM said it had no intention of pursuing a combination with Chrysler, and seemed less enthusiastic about the ideas.

This article is important because although not retail related, anything pertaining to the current economy can be informative and beneficial to us as students and our future endeavors. GM and Chrysler are not the first companies to consider collaborations and they will not be the last. You never know, we may see this kind of thing start to happen in retail settings, and that's something we should be prepared for.



Source: http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/20/news/companies/auto_panel/index.htm?postversion=2009022015

Amazon expands: meet the digi-book, take 2

Amazon.com, founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos was once just a bookstore. It was an online bookstore for those who wanted to avoid the trip out to Barnes and Noble during the holiday season or those who were looking for that rare literary gem they just could not find anywhere else. But in just 15 years, Amazon.com has grown to be America's largest online retailer and the world's biggest bookstore. They sell everything from books, movies and music to gourmet food, toys, office supplies and everything else (literally, there's even a product category by this name.) And now, they're even creating and marketing their own products.

On February 9th, cnnmoney.com featured an article on Amazon's unveiling of their newest product, the Kindle 2. In 2007, they introduced the first edition of the Kindle, an electronic book reader just slightly larger than a pocket-sized paperback book. The gadget, to the suprise of many, has been widely popular amongst consumers, with even Oprah calling it her "new favorite thing in the world." Demand was high in 2008 for this $359 product, which remains the going price for the newest Kindle.

The new Kindle is said to be quicker, lighter, and thinner than the first, with a bigger vocabulary (250,000 word dictionary), and the ability to download books wirelessly from the web, for a standard price of just $9.99 per book, a real steal for many. The Kindle 2 also allows the user to pause their book on the Kindle 1 and easily pick up where they left off on the Kindle 2. It's also rumored that the 230,000 electronic book library would eventually be available on Google phones and iPhones.


The launch of this new product only strengthens my opinion of Amazon as an incredibly genius company. They know where their strong points are (selling books) and they know what the trends are (digital, digital, digital). They found a way to bridge the gap between where they were and where other markets were going and bring the two together. They created a high-dollar product to bring in revenue, but then offered books that were often priced way below market value, to keep customers happy. Jeff Bezos seems to be channeling Steve Jobs a bit with his innovation and brand positioning, and if he keeps it up we may very well see a huge line of Amazon electronics emerge over our lifetime.

These types of articles directly relate to us as CARS students because they show what it takes to succeed in the retail industry, especially in the most desolate of times. Even though Amazon was already doing well and has already dominated both the book industry and the online retail department in general, they haven't settled and let themselves get comfortable with being on top. They are continuing to progress, innovate, and improve themselves as a company, and that's something that we all can admire.

Source: http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/02/09/amazon-unveils-the-new-kindle/

Barbie vs. Hello Kitty: Who's the bigger fashionista?

As I skimmed through the Fashion & Style section of the New York Times, expecting to find articles on which designer is pushing the envelope this week or what retailer may be next to take the plunge, I unexpectantly found one that was humourous and refreshing: Hello Kitty and Barbie, Round 1.

According to this article, there have always been unofficial battles between high-caliber designers or fashion icons, and now there's a new twosome being talked about: Sanrio's Hello Kitty and Mattel's Barbie doll. Barbie, in honor of her upcoming 50th birthday is having a show dedicated to her on Valentine's Day in Bryant Park. Hello Kitty will be the inspiration for another group of looks at an event hosted by MAC Cosmetics, who recently created a Hello Kitty line.

Honestly, I chose this article to blog on because I am a 21-year-old near college graduate, and I absolutely adore Hello Kitty. She adornes items all over my apartment, including an alarm clock, sitting stool, waffle-maker, table lamp, refridgerator magnet, stickers, you name it. And I'm not the only person my age who has fallen into this marketing trap. I don't know what it is about this little white kitten face with a big pink bow on her ear, but you can put her on just about anything and it will sell. So while it may seem surprising and ridiculous that this cartoon has made its way to the runway, if you stop and think about it, we should have seen it coming.

Barbie, however, while classic, has not had the same appeal with the teen and young adult audience. Barbies are still considered playthings for the elementary-school aged segment, which has more options than ever right now. Even children this age may not appreciate Barbie as much as we once did, with the emphasize on electronics and gadgets rising more and more over time. But I do think her lines at Fashion Week will resonate better with those higher in the fashion circle who will appreciate the longeivity of her career and all the trends she has encountered over time.

Alexander McQueen: Target's new royalty

With the dwindling economy causing declining retail sales everywhere from Toys "R" Us to Talbots, stores are doing whatever it takes to get consumers shopping again. While some may try reverting to their roots, Target makes waves by continuing to push forward. Target, young America's favorite discount retailer, has found its way to young fashionistas hearts once again. Or have they?

Beginning in March 2009, controversial British fashion designer Alexander McQueen will have a line of featured clothing for sale exclusively in 250 Target stores and online. The line will be called McQ, and will feature garments priced anywhere from $19.99 to $129.99, a bit of a financial stretch for some of Target's key consumers. In typical McQueen fashion, the line will carry items such as studded jeans, black zippered tights, shirtdresses and concert t-shirts. Pictured at the right, Leila Moss, lead singer of the British band the Duke Spirit is McQueen's said muse for this line.


Stemming from their Go International women's apparel line, which has become a huge hit with it's 2osomethings female market, Target is now embarking on a similiar journey with the Target Designers Colloraborations initiative. McQueen's line is the first try at this project, and with a recession with no end in sight to deal with, skepticism is a plenty.

As a student of consumer, apparel, and retail studies, I was both tickled, perplexed, and intrigued by this news, which I discovered through online versions of the New York Times and W Magazine. Any other time, I would have thought both McQueen and Target were geniuses for doing this. Wanting to expand his visibility in the United States, this is McQueen's effort at reaching untouched markets.

“I always liked the idea of people in the Midwest wearing my clothes; the idea of this upstart from London going where people haven’t heard of me," McQueen told W magazine.

For what the so-called "bad boy" designer wants to accomplish, this makes perfect sense. If there is anywhere that a high-end designer can succeed in a low-end environment, it's Target. I know that, from my own personal experience, I have discovered tons of designers through the Go International line, and anticipate what new and exciting lines will be be introduced to me each time I visit Target. I respect and appreciate Target's efforts to reach new levels of credibility in the fashion world and their constant innovation. If I have the extra cash, I will most likely splurge on one of these designer items. However, while I know that many others share this adoration for these specialty lines, I also know that not everyone will make a purchase from them. McQueen may make his footprint on Middle America, but it very well may get washed away in no time by the storms of recession.


references:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/fashion/29ROW.html?ref=fashion
http://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/2009/02/mcqueen