Tapestry: Perfect Platform for Brand Storytelling?
It's been a while since we talked about the content and commerce model on CP, but a new app, Tapestry, has my attention. Created by betaworks, this "tappable story" app provides short stories that readers advance through by tapping their screens. Though apparently not conceptualized as a medium for brand messages, it's almost perfect for that use, as Dove and GE are demonstrating. Every marketing blog worth its salt will tell you how important brand...read more >>
Digital Catalogs Keep Shoppers Shopping
The content and commerce model is breaking free of high fashion. Digital catalogs, unlike digital magazines, are thriving. Catalog Spree, the largest distributor of online catalogs, has added well over 200 catalogs to its list in the past year and a half. Why are retailers so excited about catalogs? Because consumers spend an average of at least 30 minutes browsing an online catalog, as opposed to 3 to 6 minutes on a website. And as Joaquin Ruiz,...read more >>
When Branded Content Isn’t Enough
What does reality TV have to do with selling shoes? Nine West has decided it needs to go beyond "branded content" and reach its audience through a YouTube channel. Channel 9 includes tips on style, makeovers, reports from fashion events, how-to videos, and two reality TV shows, one of which includes giving fashion advice to students ahead of their high school proms. Channel 9 also comes with its own Facebook page and Twitter account. "We believe that...read more >>
Weekly Content Critique: Calling (Kate) Spade a Spade
A few clothing brands, including kate spade new york and Mr Porter, are repeatedly cited as paragons of the content and commerce model. I took a look at kate spade's site and was sorely disappointed by the so-called integration of editorial content into the retail site. The site's home page offers two destinations, shop or blog. Is this immediate fork in the road indicative of the brand's overall success at integrating content and commerce? Wanting...read more >>
Weekly Content Critique: Popdust Style’s Pop-Up Fail
Continuing the content and commerce theme of last week's critique, I checked out a new e-commerce site just launched by Popdust.com. As only pop culture can do, Popdust Style got a couple of things right and some things so, so wrong. (For the benefit of all my readers: Popdust is a music news site trying to make the world take pop music and its "biggest, most interesting personalities" more seriously. Or something.) The store is suffering from...read more >>
Curata’s Pawan Deshpande: Content Curation
To succeed in e-commerce, brands need to craft exceptional content and present it in an engaging way. But they also need to use that content to get customers talking about their industry, brand, and products. Content curation, which refers to the process of finding and presenting content organized around a specific industry or topic, has become an important tool in helping companies ignite these conversations. Content curation is already being used...read more >>