Last week, Mashable’s Macala Wright Lee shared her advice on fashion brands using location-based marketing to engage customers. As a professional with an interest in learning more about these types of social media tools, I wanted to share Lee’s thoughts on this emerging trend. She explained, “it’s important to remember that location-based marketing efforts can and should be used to accomplish more than one marketing goal. Brands should strive to not only engage customers, but to enhance their shopping experiences.”

Lee also suggested an alternative to implementing Foursquare from in-house: “If integrating Foursquare into the marketing mix seems too complicated, or if it doesn’t match a brand’s core audience, consider partnering with a publication that is already exploring these strategies. Lucky Magazine has already started developing a solid presence on Foursquare, and has interactive and socially-enabled smartphone applications that show great marketing potential, for example. Tristan Walker, Vice President of Business Development for Foursquare informed us that a customer loyalty program integration usually costs less than $10,000 to implement (as seen in the case of Tasti D-Lite).”

In this post, Lee particularly focused on Diesel as an insightful example of lessons learned from soft-launching a Foursquare campaign. In conjunction with their Be Stupid campaign, the fashion brand held a one-day event giving a discount to customers checking in to their flagship store. Diesel decided to organically promote the Foursquare event without any proactive pre-promotion outreach to bloggers and online writers.

PR Couture‘s Crosby Noricks shared her thoughts on this strategy, “In this iteration, without pre-promotion, it also failed to drive the level of activity I feel would be required to qualify its replication, although I applaud them heartily for trying. What is potentially more valuable for the brand is the post-event coverage that promotes Diesel as an innovating, digitally-savvy company who puts together pretty incredible experiential opportunities for its customers.”

Currently fashion brands are still green as they use this type of marketing. Glamour Magazine Technology Editor Amalia Agathou said, “Luxury brands have used location-based services like Foursquare to create buzz and promote new lines and stores. The challenge for the retailers is to find ways to use these services in order to build a cohesive shopping experience in the web/mobile and the physical world. The retailers are now presented with a plethora of geo-location apps to choose from, but it remains to be seen the amount of control they will want to have on them.”

Here’s a list of brands already experimenting with this type of marketing tool. Check out the following for great case studies:

• Diesel: Faces of Stupid campaign
• Marc Jacobs: NY Fashion Week
• Jimmy Choo

(From left to right: Madra, Nirvana, Moksha)

A few weeks ago, I was approached by Meukz with some of the hottest handbags that will take you from summer to fall and day to night. The line caught my eye for their innovative design and use of materials. In this economy, it is important to set your product apart from the competition and invest in quality materials, which Meukz has perfectly captured.

The Meukz collection is based on a concept of thin wooden sculptures stitched on leather and other textures. The wooden sculptures are hand sculpted by artisans in Chennai, South India. Meukz designer, Mukund, spotted their ability to carve on wooden sheets and thought it would be an interesting concept to apply to accessories. He explains “the process is quite cumbersome and hence makes only 300 pieces in each design.”

Prior to founding Meukz, Mukund, spent six years working for Lesage Paris, a unit of Chanel, involved in product development and manufacture of high end textiles and embroideries for luxury brands including Bill Blass, Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana. Earlier, he spent five years in India in the design, product development and manufacture of textiles and garments for various mass market brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, Ralph Lauren. Mukund also attended L’école de la chambre syndicale, Paris and NIFT, Chennai where he studied Fashion design. He also studied graphic design and Mathematics in Chennai and had a short stint of graduate work in Marketing at ESCP-EAP School of management, Paris.

For up-to-date information on Meukz, follow the line on Twitter @Meukz.

Baby Phat is holding its first ever Baby Phat “Fab Photo” Contest until April 22. Since April 8, Baby Phat Facebook fans have been styling and posting photos of their most fabulous looks.

Fans of the Baby Phat Facebook fan page are invited to submit a photo of themselves wearing their favorite Baby Phat outfit to contest@phatfashions.com.

One Grand Prize winner receives a $500 Baby Phat wardrobe and the opportunity to have their name and photo posted on the Baby Phat Facebook fan page! Please keep in mind that this contest is exclusive to fans of the Baby Phat Facebook page.

All entries must include their name, e-mail address, telephone number and include a close-up photograph of themself taken within the last 30 days. All photos should be in one of the following formats: .jpg, .pdf, .tiff, or .bmp. All photo entries submitted will also go into Kimora’s personal fan photo album.

So, get going and channel your “fabulosity!”

Twitter is the fastest and most concise way to exchange information. Bloggers use it to promote themselves, track up-to-date trends and immerse themselves in their industry. Twitter can also be used to promote companies, labels, celebrities and those who want to be connected and consume information at light speed.

Fashion bloggers, designers and apparel companies utilize twitter in a way that may change the face of fashion. Nordstrom (@Nordstrom), Saurette (@Saurette), Solessence (@Solessence), and Hayden-Harnett (@hayden_harnett) are all companies tweeting frequently about trends and their own products. With the exception of WWD, fashion trends are mostly reported by print magazine on a monthly basis. Now, with the use of Twitter, fashionistas everywhere can consume fashion 24/7. This enables consumers to become inspired by trends, designers and celebrities at any moment.

Twitter paves the way for fashion trends to come and go in a matter of seconds. The astronomical number of exchanges between people on twitter ignites this type of behavior.

As fashionistas exchange trends on twitter, consumers will be overloaded with trends and fashion news. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that there is an overload of fashion news accessible at my fingertips, but this might mean that trends will have shorter life spans.

Consumer brands and fashion labels thrive on trends. Department stores pick up on these trends in order to drive business. With the use of buyers, department stores seek out labels that are consistent with current trends. As trends start to have shorter life spans department stores may not have the capacity to keep up. Boutiques, on the other hand, have the capacity to thrive with the changing trends because they have a smaller inventory.

Can businesses keep afloat if trends have shorter life spans? And will boutiques thrive while department stores go by the wayside?

Photo: Jack & Bill PR post on twitter during Fashion Week

30 editions, internationally, of ELLE Magazine will turn (RED) for their February issue.  The magazine has teamed up with Gisele Bundchen and Scarlett Johansson in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Gisele Bundchen is found on  each February cover wearing a variety of (RED) clothing. This strategic effort of cross-promotion is important to recognize because brands can use it as a way to gain recognition momentum and reach out to more audiences.

Scarlett Johansson shares her thoughts in the February issue, “When you purchase (PRODUCT) RED items – from partners including Apple, Armani, Converse and the Gap – up to 50 percent of profits go directly to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. Forty cents a day translates to the two antiretroviral pills needed to survive. If that can be achieved by buying a couple of pairs of Converse, it’s worth a shot.”

(PRODUCT) RED consumers have already helped purchase lifesaving antiretroviral treatment for nearly 80,000 people, and the effort continues. Now, you can keep up with the efforts in any of the February issues of ELLE Magazine.

Check out an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Gisele’s (RED) ELLE photo shoot.

True, public relations practitioners need to be aware of these trying times but might we find diamonds in the rough? Brand perception means everything to companies right now because consumers are reluctant to buy. People are purchasing trustworthy brands and seeking out product information to make the best economic decisions. Public relations is the key to garnering this consumer trust.

Brand perception is the most important element to a company’s success rather than slashing prices. “I see a lot of people in my industry who are over-reacting. Stores that are over-discounting, designers who are creating collections for the price and what sells rather than to reflect who they are,” says Anna Wintour in New York Magazine’s The Cut.

Along with Abercrombie & Fitch, as mentioned in my previous post, Neiman Marcus is hanging on to their luxury-brand image and perceived value.

The Fashion Rag reports that luxury department store, Neiman Marcus, plans to open a new store in Bellevue, Washington, at The Bravern in March 2009 and a three-story store in the Macerich-owned Broadway Plaze in Walnut Creek, California.

I recently had a discussion on Twitter about Neiman Marcus’ behavior. Jordana Bruner, fashion blogger for Clutch22, explained that “their primary customers still spend $$ in spite of the recession. It’s similar with some other luxury brands.” Pierce Mattie Public Relations replied with, “It’s just interesting that when other brands are being cautious, they are going full throttle. Do they know something we don’t?” This is an interesting question to ask and I hope it will be answered in the near future.

I urge companies to keep pushing forward because their business is what drives our economy. Also, know that investing in public relations will build trust in a company’s brand perception to drive business.  Stay strong and remember that public relations will save the day!!!

How do you think brand perception affects business in a recession?

Many luxury brands have recently slashed prices. “This is an unusual time. You have to be creative at this moment,”says Ralph Toledano, chief executive of Chloé. Although lowering prices can help business, some believe it can affect brand image.

“While $2,000 handbags and $700 stiletto heels are still expensive for most people, if prices drop precipitously, the perception of a label’s value may also drop,” explains Rachel Dodes and Christina Passariello in the Wall Street Journal article, In Rare Move, Luxury-Goods Makers Trim Their Prices in U.S.

Abercrombie & Fitch agrees with this concept of prices affecting brand identity. “Even though their sales for the third quarter decreased 46% (and even though holiday sales account for nearly half their total sales), Abercrombie says it won’t jump on the sales bandwagon,” writes Natalie Hormilla of Fashionista.

Abercrombie & Fitch should pay attention to those luxury brands slashing prices and follow suit. In a time of financial crisis, people expect brands to lower their prices. It is fundamentally understood that as sales decrease so do prices. Their brand image will not change if they lower prices like the rest of the market. Do you think high prices are crucial to Abercrombie & Fitch’s brand identity during a global financial crisis?

Seattle’s Thread show, put on by Joan Kelly of Joan & Jared Events, was a great success! Thread is an independent shopping event with shows in San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. These events feature one-of-a-kind pieces and rare sneak peaks of complete designer lines before they appear on the racks.

At Fisher Pavilion, in the midst of models, designers and shoppers, my friend Nicole and I perused through racks of trendy clothing. I picked up a black-leather peace sign charm bracelet by Ofina and a mustard-yellow cotton skirt by Alula. I can’t wait to show off my new designer duds this week!

We were also able to preview Suzabelle‘s spring collection. My favorite piece was her Saint Gabriel dress, which brought a subtle sexuality and femininity to the entire collection. Be sure to mark your calendar for February 2009, when Suzabelle releases this gorgeous collection!

UPDATE (December 4, 2008): It has finally arrived! HP Vivienne Tam “digital clutch” is now available for order at www.hpdirect.com/minivt. If you order by Dec. 12, you can get one just in time for holiday giving.

A few days ago I was approached by HP to check out their new special edition notebook. This stylish product took my interest and drove me to share the news!

Vivienne Tam has paired with Hewlett-Packard to design a special edition notebook available early next year. The lightweight notebook has an uncanny resemblance to a silk-print clutch with its rich colors and peony print. During Fashion Week in New York, Tam incorporated the print into her Spring 2009 line and the invitations to her show.

Finally, technology and fashion come together. It’s smart on HP’s part to join with a fashion designer because it opens access to another type of audience. The notebook is targeted to the fashionable woman with a busy lifestyle who puts importance and thought into the style of her possessions.

HP has highlighted reactions to this product on their Facebook profile. The women explain how impressed they are with the notebook’s size and stylish design. I feel the same way and can’t wait to get my hands on one of these beautiful HP notebooks.

What are your thoughts on this HP notebook?

My #1 favorite pick from every fashion week is…the jumpsuit!

Bring solace to your wardrobe conundrums by investing in a few chic jumpsuits for Spring ’09. I promise, you won’t ever have to worry about piecing together outfits during the unpredictable weather season.

Stylists are catching on to this trend and pulling jumpsuits from designer racks. In the newest issue of OK! Magazine, issue #41, stars like Blake Lively and Amy Adams are red-carpet ready in stylish jumpers.

Shown “on the catwalks of New York, London and Milan so far, there’ve been dozens of all-in-one styles from a wide-reaching sphere of designers,” explains Ruby.

Designers like Jill Stuart, Derek Lam and Stella McCartney are all about the chic one-piece outfits. The Wall Street Journal says, “this seasons jumpsuits, however, are hewing closer to the body, and are taking on more intricate construction than previous billowy styles.”

New York Magazine’s The Cut assures that a “one piece is all you’ll need.” These easy to wear garments are secret weapons when you don’t have the time to pull together an outfit. Jumpsuits can be worn for any occasion; dress them up or dress them down, anytime is a great time for a sophisticated and fun onesie.

I remember when jumpsuits were my go-to outfit at age 6 and, boy, was I comfortable! Now, at age 22, we can reminisce about the good-old-days in a more sophisticated fashion.