Evolution of digital storytelling in fashion and beauty culture

Dolce & Gabbana's #DGFamily meme campaign. Courtesy of Interfashion Planning

By Victoria Kim

"Storytelling" is a combination of "story" and "telling," and we persuasively convey what we want to tell others with fun and vivid tales.

Modern society is in an era of convergence and the need for storytelling where there is a convergence of two data types ― emotional stories and information ― is required.

People have used different formats to communicate what they want to talk about, such as writing, painting, fairy tales, cartoons and movies. But with the rapid development of digital media technology, information-oriented storytelling has emerged and has been utilized in various areas of society, including the fashion and beauty industry, beyond the cultural content sector.

Therefore, it has been common to see the detailed information of the product focusing on the textile, design and utility rather than the individual's personalized story within the brand. However, 2.6 billion people globally are connected with friends and social peers to catch up on current issues and ― perhaps most importantly ― to entertain themselves. It is a social norm for the young generation to be globally connected with the brands and businesses at all times.

Now it is essential to develop customer networks through digital storytelling to give a clear awareness of the brand's identity. I would like to recommend effective ways to develop digital storytelling for fashion and beauty brands.

1. Spreading the message

Google defined "micro-moments" as occurrences when people reflexively turn to a device ― increasingly a smartphone ― to act on a need to learn something, do something, or discover and watch something, or buy something.

This instantly rich moment provides brands a great opportunity to reach out to the new affluent customer through storytelling.

Social media storytelling needs to imply authentic, small, instant content that quickly draws attention but leaves a strong impression so that it needs to be distributed. Encourage others to share stories, to take action such as liking, commenting, and re-posting.

For example, Dolce & Gabbana's digital meme project #DGFamily started in 2013, sending family pictures through social networks. It displays photographs that fit the brand's philosophy of "sharing values with older and new generations." Its logo is added to the photos sent by people from all over the world and displayed on the internet. Last year, the brand used the theme "family" for its whole season project, putting related graphic motifs on the collection.

Alexander Wang's "Citywide Runway in 2018" collection showed how to attract socially connected people without using the traditional way of promoting the collection show during the fashion week.

Social influencers, editors and buyers received a cryptic invitation ― #Wangfest ― with simple instructions to show up at a certain time and location in New York City. Instead of setting an exclusive stage, Wang chose downtown street corners, with models and backstage members transported on #Wangfest buses. Therefore, passersby could share the event through social networks with others who also could simultaneously watch the show live-streamed on the brand's homepage. The brand turned ordinary streets into catwalks through social media technology.

Alexander Wang's #Wangfest transported his fashion show to street corners in New York City. Courtesy of Interfashion Planning

The Urban Decay x Game of Thrones limited edition. Courtesy of Urban Decay

2. The visual itself represents a new press release

FOMO (fear of missing out) is a powerful and highly effective personalization strategy for beauty brands. Many from Generation Z use e-commerce to buy most things, except beauty products.

When bloggers fueled the growth of the online community in the past, writing skills and knowledge of the beauty items were required to fill out the pages. Elaborate images only enhanced the long text descriptions.

However, Instagram concentrates more on short paragraphs with hashtags and provides diverse image filters. On YouTube or WeChat, live streaming commerce is aroused because internet users are now spending an average of two hours and 22 minutes a day on social networking and messaging platforms. That is why beauty brands invest more on social media consumption, gathering consumer data from retail omni-channels.

Contemporary beauty brands are still storytelling but within visuals, creating an immersive visual experience that brings beauty products to life for the influencers and media, attracting consumers who go on the journey by following and participating with them.

Combining Instagram-ready product packaging and famous novels (or TV drama series) is another way to connect with consumers. In this regard, Urban Decay released a "Game of Thrones"-inspired collection. The brand introduced eye-shadow palette sets and eyeliners to fit the historical fantasy show's settings and characters.

I recommend keeping up-to-date with trends and tips for building up digital storytelling. It is unique in that it gives us the ability to be more connected than ever.

If you want your brand audience to be related strongly, universal themes ― such as trustworthiness, love, honor and friendship ― can convey the message. This will give you a chance to be ahead of most of the competition in the digital world. Also, do not fall for the allure of short-term strategies and promotion. Build a memorable reputation for engaging and immersive brand content, which eventually will be more valuable.

Victoria Kim is the adjunct professor in the Department of Fashion Business Management at the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T), SUNY Korea. She has over 10 years' experience in fashion consultancy and how fashion brands intersect with global retail trends and innovation. Her research interests are fashion retail trends and global business management based on contemporary consumer lifestyle change.

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