Fashion Brands Get Experience-Forward

fashion-experienceDid you know the average attention span of a consumer is only five minutes? With the rapidly diminishing attention span, how do we draw consumers into our brand, and help them engage with us?  

Brands are turning to experiential marketing to offer the “wow” factor that consumers desire – the factor that gains their attention and allows them to connect with us.

Let’s explore three companies that have successfully utilized experiential marketing, and see why it worked for them!

Kendra Scott

The Concept

Kendra Scott completed a cross-country American tour in a branded Airstream. The colorful pop up shop allowed Kendra-loving millennials to shop the latest collection, design exclusive jewelry at the Color Bar, and meet with the brand while enjoying sips, snacks, and surprises!

KS invited local bloggers to help generate buzz, and partnered with Fashion Targets Breast Cancer for the tour to incorporate a charitable component, raising almost $18,000.

ksThe Locations

The tour ran throughout the year, and stopped in a number of large cities and college towns. A few of the most recent and notable tour stops were:

  •      A one day stop in Memphis, Tennessee at the Chi Omega headquarters
  •      A game day stop at Ole Miss for their rival game against Alabama
  •      A one week stop in Georgia at a number of retail locations to promote their new nail lacquer line

The Results

The tour included a number of notable stops, and created a lot of buzz among the local twenty-somethings. They played their cards right, and utilized social media with their #KSJewelryTour and Facebook event pages. They asked fans to RSVP to the events, which in turn offered them a virtually free marketing tool – word of mouth (or in this case, social media)!

We love the fun graphics and video advertisements that they posted, which went along with their bright, cheery, southern-hospitality approach. They asked fans where they wanted to see them next, and the fans responded. Having a conversation offers consumers the feeling of being appreciated – they are more than just a number.

Vera Bradley

The Concept

The Vera Bradley Tickled Pink: A Gathering of Girlfriends tour celebrated friendship, health, and a commitment to finding a cure to breast cancer. Celebrated on the first Friday of October, the event kicked of National Breast Cancer Awareness month with an interactive experience at the Vera Bradley Design Center. Guests 21 and older were invited guests to enjoy tasty cuisine and fine cocktails from local vendors.

Guests attended a silent auction (complete with a Vera Bradley bike), and went home with a special VB gift.

Vera Bradley’s guests also experienced a behind-the-scenes look into the brand, complete with a tour of the office, a photo-shoot with a staff photographer, and a sneak peak into the upcoming spring collection.

vbThe Locations

The annual event was celebrated at the Vera Bradley Design Center in Roanoke, Indiana.

The event space offers an inside look for Vera Bradley enthusiasts, a chance that many would love to have!

The Results

No detail was left from the annual event. Vera Bradley created a hotel package for out of town guests, and made registration a breeze! The $75.00 registration fee was a contribution benefiting the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.

The event was open to up to 500 guests, and boasted an attendance of 425 guests this year.  

Our one critique for the event is the lack of accessibility. Because this event is benefitting a great cause, we would love to see them do a small, intimate tour, or host several other pop up events benefitting their foundation. All in all, the event was well executed!

Vineyard Vines

The Concept

Vineyard Vine’s Whale Force Tour was all about going anywhere the wind took them. The brand took the road to search for the “every day should feel this good” feeling, which is the brand’s signature motto.

Vineyard Vines hit the road in two Vineyard Vines wrapped SUVs – Whale Force One and Whale Force Two. They stopped throughout the United States, handing out branded merchandise, while encouraging fans to utilize the #WhaleForceTour on social media.

Shep and Ian, the brand’s founders, started the tour back in 1998, and the tradition has continued ever since.

vvThe Locations

Vineyard Vines traveled near and far for this year’s tour. They travelled the south in the beginning of the year, and completed their summer tour recently, stopping in 20 cities throughout the United States this summer alone.

Whale Force One took the East Coast, traveling from Virginia down to Florida. Whale Force Two drove down the coast of California, stopping in 10 cities along the way.

The Results

The tour has received a lot of positive response in the past years. The brand asked consumers to let them know where they should stop next via an email address posted on their website.

The wrapped SUVs are a fun asset to the brand, exciting consumers that have the opportunity to interact.

Our suggestion: social media! The brand creates a successful tour each year, but seems to struggle with promoting via social media. Their #WhaleForceOne only had 212 posts on Instagram from a 20 city tour. Social media can be a great tool when advertising upcoming tour stops, and creating what we like to call “brand fanatics.”

Do these tours spark your interest? Is experiential marketing something your brand would like to explore? Well, you’re in luck!  

Here at Pro Motion, we specialize in event marketing, mobile tours, and marketing street teams. Being experts on the subject, we can take your brand on the road, and make you the star of the show, just like Kendra Scott, Vera Bradley, and Vineyard Vines have done.

We will help you create and execute the perfect experiential marketing event or tour. Contact us today and let us show you what we can do for and your brand today!