- Jan 3, 2019
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
The 2018 e-Pitti Summit in Milan this year saw the launch of a partnership with Fashion Technology Accelerator - a world-leading infrastructure allowing retail and fashion corporations connection with the companies that make digital brand enhancement not only a viable but an essential, part of growth. Therefore, an invitation for Smartzer to attend as one of seventeen startups active in this field was a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate network with industry professionals and to share more about the new shoppable video platform.
Whilst the bridging of fashion and innovation was evident on both days, the Brands + Start-Ups Catch-Up on the 21st provided us with ample opportunity to forge connections with brands interested in innovating their marketing strategies by expanding into the virtual sphere.
CONVERSE - LIBERATO
Maximization of brand-consumer relationships was stressed by Manuela Strippoli (Converse’s marketing director) within the talk Smartzer representatives attended at the e-Pitti summit. Building intimate relationships with consumers through content marketing has the ability to ‘unpack the power of the youthquake’ by demonstrating brand authenticity. Converse’s recent collaboration with the faceless Napoli rapper ‘Liberato’ has aimed to strengthen these relationships by allowing accessibility for the youth of today to connect with such an iconic brand. The appeal of Liberato and his air of mystery created a ‘social tsunami’ for the collaboration, with promotion sticking exclusively to digital methods, and this optimisation of online presence proved a roaring success for the campaign; over 35,000 people attended the concert Liberato announced on social media in tandem with the collaboration launch.
In addition to this example, the importance of content was a theme running throughout all the discussions, making it ever more important for brands to think about how to tie this back to commerce in a measurable way.
Check out the e-Pitti website to discover more about their ethos and opportunities:
https://www.e-pitti.com/en/fieradigitale.html
- Dec 4, 2018
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
Downtown LA was the place to be for the two days of November 13th and 14th last month, as established and upcoming fashion brands, raw material suppliers, emerging technology companies, investors, media, and the fashion forward gathered to witness the first ever Remode fashion event. Their intention was to bring together the industry’s ‘brightest and boldest minds’, so for the Smartzer brand to be invited to showcase our innovative interactive video marketing platform alongside 48 other developing exhibitors was an invitation we couldn’t possibly decline! It was of further excitement to see that Remode had partnered up with New York Fashion Tech Lab- a business growth and collaboration platform who chose Smartzer in 2016 to partake in their development program.
Rebecca Minkoff
Earlier in the year Remode shared the staggering statistic that 72% of millennials report buying fashion and beauty products based on Instagram posts. This shift in consumer patterns for the growing generation demands that brands evolve to optimise their online presence and accessibility, hence our excitement at being able to share our shoppable video overlay and demonstrate to brands both big and small the possibilities we can bring to their content marketing.
Remode promotes the belief that the fashion industry must not only evolve with consumer demands, but also with ‘clear purpose and transparency’ to create a more sustainable chain of business in order to combat being the second largest polluter of industrial enterprises.
FROM ONLINE TO IN-STORE
In contrary to the trend of brands moving from brick and mortar to online, it was very interesting to hear the opposite story from The Real Real who have just recently opened their first retail store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles following huge online success.
The Real Real panel event post Remode
Updated: Feb 4, 2021
Zimmermann and Smartzer have partnered to release an interactive video for the launch of their San Francisco store. The Zimmermann Resort 2019 campaign features supermodel Gemma Ward exploring San Francisco during the summer, and highlights Zimmermann’s beautiful intricate yet light designs. The Zimmermann video sits on the brand's website for their international markets.
An interactive video for Zimmermann x San Francisco
Smartzer’s video overlay has revamped the way in which consumers interact with video content. The Zimmermann San Francisco store video is now an easy shopping and product discovery experience. The flow is intuitive, and encourages consumer engagement, which leverages the high-quality video content to generate sales directly from it. The embedded shoppable video experience drives up engagement with the content, whilst ensuring the consumer does not disengage when they click on the first product of interest that they see. Smartzer tech allows brands to maximise on their video content in a tangible way.
Shoppable videos that collect consumer behavioural data
As with all other Smartzer interactive video campaigns, the Zimmermann shoppable video has been collecting behavioural data on consumers since it launched. KPI based metrics and analytics such as click-through rates, engagement rate, view-through rates and more are collected and provided to the client. This valuable data has until now been a lost asset, which Smartzer captures and provides to the client as part of the service. Clients can now use this data to inform their future campaigns, and optimise their future content to generate greater revenue and promote engagement across the board.
Interactive video optimised for mobile, tablet and desktop
Smartzer’s video platform has automatically optimised Zimmermann’s video campaign for all viewing devices - mobiles, tablets and desktops of all shapes and sizes across the world. Capitalising on traffic coming from any source is paramount to understanding more about your consumers, and generating more sales and product discover leads. Smartzer tech makes adapting and providing an easy and seamless experience to all customers easily manageable, as it is all encompassed in a single embed link.
A customised interactive video overlay
The bespoke HTML5 video overlay makes the interactive aspects of the video content marketing campaign blend seamlessly with the overall UX and design of the Zimmermann site. Central to the Smartzer team’s design process is the experience and design aesthetic of the place of distribution for the video. If it is mid or pre-roll for a paid video ad, the design will be tailored to be most engaging and to suit the channel best. If the video is bound of social media distribution, the fonts and entire design of the interactive video html5 overlay will be made bespoke for the feel of the feed, and for optimising engagement there. In this case, the Zimmermann aesthetic was the driving force behind the Smartzer in-house design team. Working with this in mind, the interactive video produced blends seamlessly with the rest of the Zimmermann Resort 2019 feel.
(A photo reel of the Zimmermann Resort 2019 interactive video, and its features being used on the Zimmermann brand site. Click here to view it live and explore its features yourself)
Increasing product exploration and increasing sales through interactive videos
All pieces from each look can be discovered, and more information accessed whilst still in the video - which pauses when the viewer engages with a particular item, to ensure that they don’t miss a single second of the beautifully crafted video content. Clear call to action prompts (‘SHOP’) direct customers to the product page, making an easy and clear purchasing path available to the consumers.
The Zimmermann Resort 2019 interactive lookbook video featuring Gemma Ward in San Francisco, and utilising Smartzer tech has been primed to capture valuable data from their consumers, to generate more sales and to encourage further product discovery. Product clicks direct consumers easily to the product page, where they can view more details and purchase the pieces exactly as they are featured in the video content.