December 18, 2007
Apparel Sale :: Net-A-Porter's Virtual Helper
As expected, Net-A-Porter came up with something fabulous to increase their apparel sales through the holiday season. After launching in 2000 and quickly establishing themselves as the world's premier global online luxury retailer, we always expect great things from them, but this time, they've truly outdone themselves! To ensure that their customers got exactly what they wanted from their husbands this year, they gave woman a little "virtual helper."
The premise is simple…..fill out a form with some personal information that includes your other-half's "pet name," your hair color and your holiday wish list. When the video is sent to whomever you choose, and it's played, these details will be incorporated in. It's really quite cool!
While this has been great for PR, I tend to wonder how many women actually took advantage of this service? Net-A-Porter is smart enough to know that this may have been a bit to risqué for some women to pass along to their husbands, so they played it off as very tongue-in-cheek, passing it off as "British humor." However, the journalists loved it; and at the end of the day, when you're in the business of marketing your business, it's really about what the journalists love, isn't it?
eMediaWire has called her a "sassy, not-so-subtle gift adviser," while hfxnews has cited her as being a "sexy blond with a come-hither look and legs that stretch to the North Pole." Sassy and sexy, she is. If you haven't seen the video, take a second to watch it.
While some people have voiced that this, and other gift suggestion services, are really just one more form of nagging, creators of these services see them as incredibly useful. After all, no one likes to see their gift returned, so why not get it right the first time?
Jodi R.R. Smith, president of etiquette consultancy Mannersmith says, "There's a right way to do it and there's a greedy, wrong, obnoxious way to do it……if the gift-giver requests the information, then it may be shared. Otherwise, the gift recipient is not allowed to send out e-mail blasts or phone calls or seductive videos outlining what it is that they want." So, according to her standards, if your husband asked you what you wanted for the holiday, by all means, send the video.
On a more personal level though, Smith admits that she wouldn't use the service and finds the video "counterintuitive;" personally, she wouldn't send a video of a sexy blond to her husband. But she does admit that in general, men are much less likely to pick up on hints so sometimes, you've got to be pretty bold, which can mean bending the etiquette rules…..at least a little.
From my perspective, I really like the interactive video. Not only is the whole idea short and to the point, it's a lot of fun to prepare, and receive, I suspect! Good work Net-A-Porter, as usual!
Filed under Apparel Sale, Fashion News, Internet Marketing, Online Retail by Fashion-Fox
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