The term “Unboxing” has entered our lives after social media has become a platform for PR strategies. We can hear this word in most YouTube videos since it is the new “trend” of promoting and making a business succeed by using digital tools.

But How Did It All Start?

In the beginning, businesses were focused on introducing and promoting their new products or brands by sending PR packages to magazine editors and celebrities. However, after the explosion of YouTube, Instagram and content creators in social media, PR packages have become essential for influencers as well.

Firstly, let’s start by defining what is a PR gift.

PR gifts are items or services that are given to a person of influence in order to let them share their experience with an audience.  This can be described as a PR strategy where businesses use celebrities as a part of their advertisement method. Even before social media, PR packages were popular and useful as a strategy. However, we can say that social media plays an important role in how this method has been developed over the years.

First, it was just about introducing the products, simple as that. Then, social media happened. And unboxing has entered our lives.

So What Does the Term “Unboxing” Means?

According to the dictionary definition; “unboxing is the act of documenting oneself, mostly on video, of opening a packaged product from a box and displaying, reviewing and showing off its contents.”

It may not sound like a productive approach at first, but the impacts that it has on both businesses and influencers are highly significant. Even though it is mainly a PR and Marketing strategy for businesses, it is also a way of earning followers/ subscribers for influencers.

How Unboxing Benefits The Brand?

When a brand sends a PR gift to an Influencer or YouTuber, they hope them to shoot an unboxing video where they open and try the product and make comments about it to the audience. Brands see this as free publicity which benefits both the business and the influencer.

It is said that this way of promotion is cheaper than press coverages and it is actually a more useful strategy considering that social media has now the power of engaging across businesses and consumers. However, it is important for brands to target the correct influencers according to their targeted consumer demographics.

How Unboxing Benefits The Influencers?

When it comes to influencers, it can be said that opening PR packages allow them to enhance and better their contents as well as helping them earn more followers and subscribers from brands’ audiences. Furthermore, it also lets influencers to keep up with new trends and expand their knowledge.

How Unboxing Benefits The Consumer?

With the unboxing trend, customers have the chance to learn from influencers’ experiences when they consider buying a product. This can be seen as the power of digital engagement and digital marketing where audiences, influencers and brands are all connected to each through digital platforms.

So What Are These Unboxing Videos?

Examples of unboxing videos can be seen on both Instagram and YouTube. As mentioned above, brands choose influencers who have followers from their targeted customer group when they send PR packages.

The example demonstrated below, belongs to an American YouTuber called Tati Westbrook who has 9.67 M subscribers.

In her video, Tati opens PR gifts that have been sent to her with her husband. Due to the fact that Tati is a makeup YouTuber her PR packages are generally about makeup and beauty products. At the beginning of the video, she mentions that the video is not sponsored by any brand which might give audiences a sense of trust proving them that there are no advertisements.

Secondly, in order to reach to a larger audience, influencers use a giveaway strategy as Tati used in her unboxing video. This technic lets YouTubers to have more subscribers as well as helping brands to promote their products.

PR Packages In Fashion Industry

For the fashion industry, unboxing works nearly the same as in the makeup world. Fashion brands send PR gifts to influencers who have worn their clothes before, or who they think might like their products and have an impact on brand awareness.

The example shown below belongs to an Instagram influencer called Victoria (@inthefrow). It can be seen that she used hashtags such as #Dior #giftedbydior and #unboxing in order to show her followers the new product. Furthermore, she mentioned that she shared the video by her own willing, proving that it is not an advertisement.

Finally, it can be said that in the 21st century, the unboxing strategy has the power of digital advertisements which helps raise brand awareness as well as developing digital engagement with consumers and social media. Sending PR packages to the correct targeted influencers can benefit the brand as well as the audience.

Hello everyone!

In this podcast, you can find 7 tips about how to become successful in the Fashion PR industry:

Digital Creativity: Traditional methods of promoting and advertising are now giving their places to the digital world of PR.

Following the media trends: Using social media advertising is a good PR and marketing strategy as well as using video contents and having paid partnerships with influencers.

Good Communication Skills: Building positive relationships with the media and stakeholders are highly important.

Working with celebrities: Fashion PR professionals work with celebrities, influencers and models.

Experience: Companies generally look for graduates who already had internship experience in fashion PR.

Social Media: There are 2.7 billion active social media users worldwide.

Fashion GPS System: Fashion GPS system is one of the latest developments that impact the fashion PR world.

This podcast has been recorded via Anchor and uploaded on SoundCloud.

Sources used in this podcast:

https://www.prcouture.com/2010/04/fashion-101-so-what-do-fashion-publicists-do/

https://www.vogue.com.au/careerhub/how-to-get-a-job-as-a-fashion-pr/image-gallery/745d8cc2e2d73803e1246c2ff1613d98

Top 10 Social Media Marketing Trends and How Your Business Can Leverage Them

 

 

With the new generation’s interest in using social media platforms as a primary source of communication, businesses started realizing that the new era of marketing and PR has become social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat rather than traditional approaches.

Through years, with the rise of using social media as a business marketing & pr platform, companies started marketing their brands through different stages of social media as a PR channel. This has helped businesses to create a sense of community around their social media profiles and increased their brand awareness. 

Why Social Media though?

But why social media? Why not other sources? One of the most popular reasons why these kinds of social media platforms have become a successful way of marketing and PR can be seen as the visuality that they provide.

What this means is that in the digital age, visuality is seen as a more popular way of communication compared to written and verbal interpretation. With the chance of using visual images and videos, social media, Instagram in particular, has become a prefered tool for companies, especially for visually appealing brands such as fashion and beauty industries.

Instagram in the Fashion PR World

Even though there are some great number of social media platforms that businesses can use, Instagram can be seen as one of the most successful ones that developed successfully through the needs and desires of the digital business marketing and PR. Which is why many businesses started using Instagram as a part of their PR strategy in order to share visual contents and information with their target customers.  

And when it comes to the fashion PR industry, Instagram, by its nature, is well adapted to fashion brands which see visuality and “community” as essentials. Moreover, every year, with new updates to its software, Instagram has brought a more practical and modern way of advertising and promoting that influenced the fashion PR industry and how it is shaped in the digital age.

So What Are These Developments That Instagram Provides? How Do They Impact The Fashion PR World?

Instagram is a platform that provides a business account option for companies to use it as a tool for their businesses. And through the years, the company has brought new updates to develop this feature.

»In 2016, after hitting 600 million users, Instagram has introduced a new tool called  Instagram Stories with options such as adding Boomerang, Mentions and Links to it. This feature led businesses, influencing the fashion PR world significantly, to add stories about their new campaigns or products and links to their online shopping websites, letting individuals engage with the brand.

»In 2017, Instagram has reached 8 million business profiles with more than 1 million monthly advertisers. With this, Instagram proved that simplicity and visible action are significant for PR in order to increase brand awareness.

»Where Instagram has influenced the Fashion PR industry the most was when they brought direct shopping options from Instagram. Firstly, it started with the option called Shopping from Instagram Stories in 2018. With this update, individuals are able to shop and see details about products by clicking the shopping bag sticker on stories. This development allowed businesses to create new PR strategies that can raise brand awareness and can simplify brands to promote through social media rather than traditional ways. Fashion brands such as Adidas, Louis Vuitton and Aritzia have used this option as a part of their PR strategy.

» As well as “shopping from stories” option, Instagram has created a business page called @shop in 2019 which includes small businesses and their creators. This account includes a wide range of categories including fashion brands, and their product images with the shopping bag icon on them, letting people shop from these brands. With this option, Instagram proves that its platform can be used not only by big brands but also by small businesses in order to introduce their businesses.

New Job Alert: Instagram Influencer

After Instagram’s digital developments for businesses, companies have started paying Instagrammers- who have more than a number of followers- for their brand promotions. With this new way of advertising, brands pay individuals who they think can be a good influence on their target audience to promote their new products by trying them on and posting images or stories linked to the website of the brand on their Instagram accounts. This digital engagement lets businesses to increase their brand awareness, salary and PR & marketing strategies.

As can be seen from the above features developed by Instagram, digital engagement through social media, especially through Instagram, has become a contemporary way of promoting business in the Fashion industry. As marketers are aware of it, the new generation focuses more on what they see on Instagram and Instagram influencers rather than traditional advertisements. By this, it can be said that Instagram is now taking over the Fashion PR world and how it’s shaped.

 

 

“It’s taken a lot of work and persistence to get people to come on board…but I think there’s a shift in the industry and people are seeing the efficiency of technology.”

                                    – Eddie Mullon

 

While talking about the social media tools that changed the fashion PR industry such as Instagram, YouTube and blogs it would be unfair not to mention the Fashion GPS System which is a system designed for fashion pr businesses.

Story of Fashion GPS

Fashion GPS® is a software system developed by Eddie Mullon in 2004 in order to develop the fashion industry’s public relations functions. It started with the need for a sample tracking system that one of Eddie Mullon’s clients, PR powerhouse KCD, asked for.

With this request, Mullon started his business focused on pr sample trackings. However, in the beginning, the system was not web-based and it was not available for multiple users to access. When Marc Jacobs showed interest in Mullon’s system he renovated and changed it to a web-based system that allows multiple users to access.

Through years, with the rise of technology and the expanding workload around pr, the industry needed more tools on the system. So step by step, Fashion GPS® software developed around key products such as connecting brands to media and buyers, sample tracking (GPS SAMPLES®), managing contacts, lookbooks, fashion shows and events management (GPS EVENTS®). Finally, in 2016 Fashion GPS merged with the marketing company, Augure, and it rebranded as Launchmetrics.

Copyright © ,LaunchMetrics

So Why Fashion GPS Is “That” Important For the PR Industry and How It Works

After its quick success in the fashion PR industry, the company had around 200 employees in 2018 across 1o worldwide offices with clients such as Gucci, Dior, L’Oréal, Adidas and Topshop. Having these kinds of significant and successful companies as clients, it can be seen that Fashion GPS has become the bread and butter of the fashion PR industry with making the work as simple as possible for companies.

Fashion GPS made sample trafficking as easy as sending an email…It changed the industry, 100 per cent.”

 -Aliza Licht (DKNY Marketing and Communication Executive)

-Sample Tracking

Fashion GPS allows companies to monitor their products via sample management software. By this system, companies can easily track the status or the location of each product and to which company they’ve sent the samples. This digital tool also connects brands to media and buyers, and a company’s international offices to each other allowing them to see each team’s sample availabilities.

PR coverages can be organized easily by reserving samples for shootings or events via this software allowing teams to collaborate with each other.

This software reduced sample loss of 85%, allowing companies to follow unreturned and gifted items.

-Digital Showroom (Look book)

Launchmetrics introduced the digital showroom system as a platform to archive product images, press clips and runway looks by season or other categories in order to help companies not to lose valuable assets.

By this system, companies can send the look books to their contacts which allows them to download sample images for their coverages or stories. Another benefit of this software is that companies can evaluate which products or looks are more favoured through key influencers of the brand by looking at the viewings of each image.

125 k images downloaded every month by Digital Showroom system.

200 k average images viewed each day.

What About Fashion Weeks?

As PR is an industry where digital engagement is a must-have, Fashion GPS can be seen as the link between PR and technology. With special fashion events each year, PR workload gets busier than usual where brands and businesses prepare to present their new collections to the fashion and media world. As one of the most known examples to these events, Fashion Weeks are the busiest time of the year for the industry, especially for the PR departments.

Before the Fashion GPS system, the fashion week experience was very traditional with long cues, last-minute mixed seating plans and numerous paperwork. However, after Fashion GPS started managing 80% of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week shows in 2014, it has got easier to attend fashion weeks thanks to tech systems that provided online invitations, seatings and managed contact lists.

We can easily say that the Fashion GPS system saved the Fashion Weeks with its latest digital developments and it helped reduce the mess of mixed work both for businesses and individuals who attend the shows.

As we can see from the examples given above, Fashion GPS is a significant digital tool that shapes the PR work as well as influencing how businesses can develop their companies through the tools that Fashion GPS provides.  The features of the Fashion GPS system shows that digital tools designed through the needs of an industry can actually impact an industry in a positive way.

 

 

Let’s start by defining what actually PR (Public Relations) means.

PR is a formal practice defined as “influencing, engaging and building a relationship with key stakeholders across numerous platforms in order to shape and frame the public perception of an organization.”

In recent years, with the development of technology, PR has faced some changes like every other industry. As it is a practice where consumer engagement and experience are the key elements of successful communication and public relation, it is significantly valuable for companies and brands to follow the latest developments.

What About Fashion PR?

The fashion PR world is like a magical land where all the fun and creative part of the work happens. It might be hard, with long working hours and a lot to follow, but it’s all worth it for what you accomplish in the end.

PR has always been an essential part of the fashion business, especially after content has become extremely valuable for companies and media outlets.

“The fashion PR industry focuses on managing brand positioning and developing brand awareness.” By this, we can understand that fashion PR is responsible for promoting the brand or the company in the best way possible in order to reach the target and raise awareness. Which is why it’s essential for PR to follow the trends and use the most popular and effective ways of promoting.

Traditions  Are OUT

Startup Fashion has divided fashion PR into two as Traditional Approach to Fashion PR and New Approach to Fashion PR. The traditional one, which is the approach that’s been used before the latest digital changes, used to rely on product placements and creating press coverage. However, as Startup Fashion suggests, with a plethora of media outlets, an overload of content and instantly developing communication channels the traditional approach became deficient and expensive.

In the New Approach, on the other hand, media and brands work together in order to have more efficient results of originality and creativity by promoting productivity. Also, as well as the fashion PR industry itself, the media industry has a major part in these developments.

So, What Are These Latest Changes That Rock The Fashion PR World?

When it comes to the fashion world, technology becomes even more important for brands, as I mentioned above. As we can all see, the digital world nowadays has become the basis of every foundation where companies focus on promoting their new products or brands by digital platforms rather than the traditional methods that we were familiar before.

Obviously, there are some numerous digital innovations that effected the fashion PR world, starting with the invention of TV, laptop and mobile phones. We might be all aware that these are the core innovations for technology and surely for PR. But what has developed and changed in the early 2000s can be defined as the contemporary impacts for PR business in the fashion world.

•Blogs

Surely, blogs are one of the most recognizable changes that affected the fashion PR industry in the early 2000s. As The New York Times states, with the launch of the first fashion blog in 2007, people started reading blogs to learn about the latest fashion trends which led the fashion business to become an online community. This gave rise to some of the most successful fashion voices of today such as Business of Fashion.

•Instagram

The queen of PR and social media, Instagram, has launched in 2010 as an online sharing platform for individuals. Through years, it developed into a popular social media platform where likes, comments and followers have become the new way of “popularity” which led businesses to create Instagram accounts for promoting their brands and products.

With new innovations each year, Instagram broke down the “traditional” way of advertising and promoting for businesses and it became an essential aspect of fashion PR with options such as advertisements, adding links, and shopping on brands’ profiles.

•YouTube

YouTube is the biggest video sharing platform on the Internet launched in 2005 with more than 4 billion hours of viewers each month.

After uploading videos on YouTube started to become a serious job, companies started promoting their businesses through content creators of YouTube (YouTubers). And how this impacts the fashion PR world is a bit different than Instagram or other social media platforms;

YouTubers create contents where they upload videos in which they open the PR boxes and try new products that come from brands, which are also known as “Unboxing videos”.

It is beneficial for businesses to promote their products on YouTube because of the credibility and visibility that advertisements or paid partnerships cannot provide. And considering that visibility is essential for the fashion industry, YouTube has become a significant platform for the business of fashion PR.

These three platforms, which, in my opinion, are the top 3 innovations of the 2000s, rocked the fashion PR world with their unexpected digital developments. Even though the traditional approach to PR is still relevant and important for companies, following the latest digital trends is the key element of a successful business in today’s world considering that social media has become the core fundamental of the everyday life.