Fall, a Season for Every Brand

Fall brings with it opportunities to align your brand with a subject that's of immediate interest to consumers, as Starbucks, Zappos, and Marie Claire show.

It’s that time of year again, the season that many consumers consider to be the real start of the “new year.” Whether you’ve been existing in a flurry of school supplies and lunch box selections or you’ve been reinforcing your closet with cool weather gear, you’ll no doubt agree that fall brings with it a lot of activity – and a lot of advertising.

Not only do countless consumers rely on this season’s ads to alert them to special offers and savings on the goods they need to buy for their school-aged kids, but they also look to them as a source of information about what’s new and what’s on trend (not to mention what’s likely to become an object of desire, whether for their offspring or themselves).

Fall Fashion for All

This year, it was school supplies that fueled young consumers’ hankerings – at least offline. According to Ace Metrix, which ranks the effectiveness of national TV ads, retailers offering apparel deals took a backseat to those offering laptops and other tantalizing technology gadgets. Microsoft, Best Buy, and Dell were among the brands to make the Ace Metrix top 10 list of most effective back-to-school TV spots.

Online things have been playing out a little differently. While we’re certainly seeing technology well represented, apparel too is coming on strong. Leading the charge is Zappos: the brand partnered with iVillage to sponsor a high-profile “Back to School Community Challenge” in addition to covering all of the consumer bases with online PR promoting its back-to-school fashions for junior boys and girls. Zappos is also currently running a fall fashion campaign geared more toward college students and post-education adults that employs the aid of a Zappos.com stylist to deliver the online retailer’s fashion trends for fall. It’s running on such sites as RealSimple.com, with expandable banners and a video counting down the stylist’s top 10 trends.

realsimple-zappos

Tech Meets Apparel Trends

Eschewing the standard approach to touting technology on the web, Sprint too is sharing its take on the top fall fashion trends – or rather, its quasi spokesperson is. Sprint has partnered with Marie Claire magazine and Jessica Quirk, a fashion blogger and author of “What I Wore,” to deliver a message about the convenience of Sprint mobile services and the importance of staying connected (the brand’s tagline “All.Together.Now” features prominently).

marieclaire-sprint-facebook

Every week throughout the month of September, Quirk will present Marie Claire devotees with a fashion challenge (such as submitting a photo of themselves in their favorite vintage look) through the TrendSetter section of the publication’s Facebook page. Sprint is also promoting the campaign with posts on its own Facebook page, along with display banners in the fashion section of MarieClaire.com. Participants in the challenge upload their photos to the Sprint-sponsored Marie Claire Facebook page to be reviewed by fans and Quirk herself, and all page visitors have the chance to win her “Trendsetter Looks.”

Coffee and Pop Culture Collide

If technology and fashion seemed a somewhat unorthodox mix, what must consumers think of Starbucks being bundled with the promise of fall styles? The brand has joined forces with celebrity gossip site PopSugar – the flagship digital publication of women’s media company Sugar Inc. – to sponsor its Food section YumSugar and drum up interest in its seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte.

starbucks-facebookapp

Included in the campaign are a Starbucks-skinned YumSugar microsite, display ads that link to a Starbucks pumpkin-carving Facebook app, and sponsored tweets sent on behalf of PopSugar proper. The YumSugar page also features Starbucks news items in the form of branded content (consumers will find such educational and PR-oriented stories as “How to Taste Coffee” and “Starbucks and Lady Gaga Team Up”). Recipes incorporating seasonal ingredients tie in with the fall theme, as does seasonal content including a video of Diva Zappa creating knitwear and another highlighting the work of artist Yarrow Earth Hock, both of which emphasize the slogan, “Fall back into fall” with Starbucks.

Fall brings with it so many opportunities to align your brand with a subject that’s of immediate interest to consumers. Find a unique way to do it and you’ll surely fall forward…instead of back.

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior
Whitepaper | Mobile

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups
Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
Whitepaper | Digital Marketing

Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its peopl...

2y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

1m

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource