Media&Marketing: It's fashion 21st century-style - the exploitation of celebrity by marketers. Celebrity marketing is the biggest trend in fashion as companies capitalise on the huge influence celebrities exert on consumer purchasing habits. The hope is that the celebrity they choose to endorse their brand will bring their beauty, talent, style and celebrity status to the brand.
The more the celebrity can influence what consumers purchase, the greater the appeal. A celebrity endorsement for a fashion line can give a retailer the advantage in a crowded marketplace.
This week we have seen evidence of this phenomenon when young Irish girls and even their mothers queued for hours at the Top Shop stores in St Stephen's Green and the Jervis Centre to be first in line to hand over their hard-earned cash for the debut clothing range of supermodel Kate Moss.
Massive hype on the back of the Kate Moss brand was generated by Top Shop's PR and marketing people and it persuaded ordinarily sensible people to take leave of their senses and queue for hours to get their hands on a Kate Moss garment. It's a build-up of hysteria on a grand scale that has little to do with fashion and much to do with the marketer's exploitation of our obsession with celebrity.
Shoppers were limited to five items each in an attempt to prevent the clothes appearing on eBay, but within two days more than 5,200 items were on sale on eBay, many attracting bids which were multiples of their original retail price.
Celebrity endorsement of a fashion brand is nothing new. Charles Worth, the man who invented haute couture in Paris in the 19th century, understood the importance of linking celebrities to brands and used Princess Von Metternich, wife of Austria's ambassador to France and close friend of Napoleon's wife, Empress Eugenie, to promote his fashion house, La Maison Worth.
But what has changed is the scale of celebrity endorsement in the fashion business. Apart from Top Shop, fashion retailers H&M and New Look are working with celebrities on fashion ranges. In March, Swedish retailer H&M rolled out in 32 countries a range of clothing designed by Madonna, while singer Lily Allen is launching her new label, Lily Loves Clothes, in New Look stores in Dublin and across the UK, northern Europe and the Middle East on May 9th.
H&M, Europe's second-largest clothing retailer, said that sales in March rose at the fastest pace in at least 15 months as designs by Madonna lured shoppers across the globe.
Top Shop boss Philip Green has reputedly paid Kate Moss €4.4 million, and while she refuses to give interviews, she did model one of her dresses in the Top Shop window on Oxford Street. In the past few weeks, Green has got his money's worth in column inches, including a Vogue cover.
As well as adding sales in the UK, Green is betting that the Moss brand will smooth the path for Top Shop's expansion into the US. Early next week, Green and Moss will host a cocktail party at Barney's department store in New York to launch her clothing range Stateside.
After the launching of the Kate Moss range this week, Green told thelondonpaper: "This is a business we want to build with Kate. We're looking at luggage and other products such as vanity cases and a special edition for Christmas. We're looking at 'shopping trunks' for dads and mums or husbands who don't know what they want to buy."
However, associating a brand with celebrity can also mean problems when the celebrity gets into trouble. In 2005, when Kate Moss was photographed with drugs on the front page of the Daily Mirror, Burberry, Chanel and H&M panicked and pulled their association with the model.
No surprise then that Kate's on-off boyfriend Pete Doherty has reportedly checked into rehab again this week and is unlikely to travel to New York next week with Green and Moss.
Junk mail keeps piling up
Noticed more direct mail recently? You're not alone. Over one-third of all addressed mail now contains some marketing content, according to a new survey published by An Post.
Results published yesterday reveal that 40 per cent of recipients looked at the direct mail piece, while 36 per cent kept it for future reference. But little action was taken, with only 4 per cent ringing the direct mail advertiser and only 1 per cent looking at the advertiser's website. Liam Sheehan, An Post's director of sales and marketing, said: "A challenge for the industry is the finding that just over half of direct mail was described as relevant, but its potential as a powerful marketing tool is evident from the amount that is kept for future reference."
e-mail: siobhan@businessplus.ie
