Branding the man: why men are the next frontier in fashion retail

Taykey, Inc. is a research firm with a trends-based technology that unlocks real-time consumer insight on what people are feeling and thinking about brands. Founded in 2008 by Amit Avner and Itay Birnboim, Taykey has recently secured $9 million in Series B funding from Sequoia Capital.

Taykey’s key players boast high-level backgrounds with the Israeli Defense Ministry. Co-founder Amit Avner began programming at age 10. In short, this isn’t your ordinary demographics research firm.

Case in point, Taykey worked with Pepsi to drive awareness and participation for the “Pepsi Refresh Project. ”In the first two days of a targeted Facebook campaign, Taykey engaged over 17,000 relevant consumers. In another Facebook campaign, this time for Pepsi’s Lipton Brisk brand, Taykey generated a 200% increase in engagement in just two days.

So are traditional advertising agencies using the wrong research to power their campaigns, and is the internet and social media still not being tapped for data in the right way? We spoke with Taykey’s CEO Amit Avner about the future of branding and the next step in consumer insight.

BP: With Taykey’s view on the (diminished) power of demographics, does that include the methods used by traditional advertising agencies?

AA: We simply believe that targeting based solely on rigidly defined demographics is an outdated way of advertising. We target based on interests and trends, so instead of targeting 20-30 year old females in New York (hoping they’re interested in Lady Gaga), we’ll target people who are talking about trends that we have found also relate to Lady Gaga, and continue to find other interests that relate so that we don’t exhaust audiences and are always discovering new, relevant audiences.

BP: The social web has become so incredibly fractionalized, what is the future of navigating consumer affinities towards brands?

AA: Navigating the social web requires brands to constantly keep their ear to the ground for consumer preferences. We utilize a complex algorithm to continually measure online conversations from all over the social web, making it a simple process to find everyone who is discussing a topic that relates to a brand and serving them a relevant advertisement from that brand.

BP: Luxury brands are still highly resistant to innovating social media. How would Taykey be able to service such a client?

AA: It’s all about the clients, even luxury brands are starting to accept that today’s world is social and online, and they want to be a part of it. They are working with companies like Taykey (and others) to continue reaching new audiences.

BP: In my opinion, most traditional web advertising loses impact over time and doesn’t authentically connect with customers. How is Taykey changing that?

AA: That’s exactly what Taykey believes as well. We seek to continually discover new audiences by following trends in real-time –- we call this “unlocking the flock.” People move in flocks online, jumping from one topic to another, so by predicting trends of the flock, we are able to place relevant ads in front of a steady stream of new audiences.

BP: There are several new, what I call “social shopping” apps out there — one, called Pose, just launched this month. How do you see them coming into play in terms of social media advertising?

AA: It would depend on how the information is gathered for social media advertising. Taykey is 100% privacy-safe, which means we don’t tag or cookie people.

BP: What is the biggest mistake most brands make in managing their online presence?

AA: Thinking that by just “buying ads” with no content, or value to the customer, they will get user attention and win business. Having followers is fine, but you must build a community for them to attain true value.

Learn more about Taykey at www.taykey.com.

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Aerie, a new brand of primarily women’s intimates under the American Eagle umbrella, is banking on Pose, a social shopping app that encourages consumers to post images of themselves on facebook, twitter, and other social media sites as they shop for clothes and try new looks.

The app only launched this month and recently announced it had successfully raised $1.6 Million thanks to True Ventures, GRP, Founder Collective, and a select group of angel investors. The app is currently operating in beta.

 

“Pose is unique thanks to its emphasis on discovery,” says Alisa Gould-Simon, Pose’s director of marketing and communications. “And the ‘poser’ feed as well as the popular feeds allow users to very easily discover scores of inspiring styles from around the world.”

 

Aerie’s partnership with Pose includes a contest on Facebook where winners will receive $150 in product and the chance to be on a Times Square billboard, presumably not in their bra and panties.

Other apps like Foodspotting, allows users to discover new foods and dishes, or Go Try It On, which gathers opinions on what you’re wearing before you step out the door. Both are looking to expand boost their presence.

Women, of course, are generally much more attuned to shopping in groups and sharing their purchases with their friends. Can an application like Pose pull in the male consumer? Probably not right away, but I do believe there is potential with the Generation Y audience. Already we are seeing teenage men shopping in groups — something we previously only saw with women.

Pose’s most serious competition, however, will mostly come from Shopkick, which launched last year and has the backing of investors from Linkedin, facebook, and Zynga. Shopkick also uses its own proprietary location technology to identify a users location and then offers them “exclusive” deals and discounts simply for being in a retailer’s store.

 

Gould-Simon says Pose’s high-design and reach is one of the reasons it can potentially become a go-to marketing tool for retailers. “Most brands and retailers are aware of the fact that they need mobile, “ she explained, speaking to us from Pose’s offices in Santa Monica, California. “However, very few can dedicate the necessary resources and time into developing a dynamic mobile platform. Instead creating a brand or retailer-specific profile within Pose and leveraging Pose’s API is a way for brands and retailers to utilize mobile technology… that is customizable and personal.”

Keep in mind that men still make up the lion’s share of mobile app users: certainly a pause for consideration in whether an app like Pose could gain a male audience. A Harris Poll estimates that 69% of smartphones owners have downloaded an app (as of October 2010).  74% were men, while women accounted for 62% of the app buyers.

So for you retailers out there, take note, and keep in mind that as technology support systems and programs evolve, retailers will more easily and cost-effectively be able to  make such an app a key part of their marketing tool kit. For now, smart retailers are fast-tracking social mobility applications like Pose and Shopkick — and probably not a moment too soon.

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If you’re like me, you might have done a double take when you noticed that your local Walgreens had suddenly become a grocery store. Well almost.

Rows of fresh fruit, sandwiches, salads, and even sushi are now on display only a stone’s throw away from the cough syrup and toothpaste. What began as an experiment roughly a year ago is now set to include nearly all of Walgreens’ 7,545 stores.

In a nod to the idea of a pharmacy and “wellness,” the graphics and signage in their new grocery sections are in shads of green, with imagery of fruits and vegetables and the words, “Eat Well.”

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Bryan Pugh, vice president of merchandising is quoted as saying, “We won’t get our customer every day on the way home, but if we could get 50 percent of our customers one day a week on the way home, that would do wonders for our sales.”

So does it confuse the brand or simply expand on the idea of the brand? I’d say it’s a fairly natural metamorphosis. Walgreens has nurtured customer expectations that “we have everything.” In recent years the range of good available at their stores has included televisions, radios, and even a sewing machine. Is Walgreens benign? Well nobody in retail is doing it for a hobby, and when you put Walgreens beside a fast food restaurant, which would you rather have in your neighborhood? Case in point, consider the fact that fast food outlets have long been criticized for taking over  many low-income neighborhoods, supplanting the corner groceries and creating an “addiction” to high-fat, high calorie foods in minority communities.

My guess is that customers might be surprised or even confused at first but will move seamlessly into making Walgreen’s their one-stop neighborhood store. While they probably won’t do their serious grocery shopping here (well, some might), the market share Walgreens gains is considerable when you factor in that many stores have extended hours (until midnight) and fill a void once held by 7-11 back in the day.

Case in point, in Asia 7-11 is a powerhouse, offering everything from dim sum to Dimetapp, and many even double as a post office. In one 7-11 I saw in a village in Taiwan, Johnny Walker Blue Label and French wine were also available.

Walgreens isn’t far behind. Last December Walgreens rolled out a private label collection of wines in 1,500 locations.  A Chardonnay with that sushi?

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