via FashionBlaBla, scritto da Stefania Zizzi

E-(motional): la fabbrica dei sogni interattivi

Preparatevi ad entrare nel futuro. Quello del cinema, della moda e di chi li sogna, ma in versione 2.0. Andrey Golub, partner e CTO di Moda e Tecnologia, seduto in un caffè di Porta Ticinese a Milano, in una fredda domenica di Novembre, apre le frontiere di nuove forme di comunicazione. Andrey è simpatico, spigliato e con un evidente desiderio di trasmettere le sue idee. Oggetto del nostro incontro è e-(motional), il video interattivo virale che consente, nell’era del web 2.0, di comunicare, fare advertising, vendere prodotti e condividere i propri contenuti, o meglio, la propria “lista dei desideri” sul web.

La tecnologia, opportunamente brevettata, può essere applicata a qualsiasi genere di settore, dal food, al consumer, al life style, ecc. Inizialmente il sistema è stato progettato per il fashion e-commerce, sulla base anche del concept di Style Star, ideato da Marina Garzoni, CEO di Moda e Tecnologia. Secondo tale concept, la comunicazione del prodotto moda avviene tramite cortometraggi dove il cliente, attivo o potenziale, è coinvolto in una storia che lo introduce emotivamente nell’universo del brand.

Ma partiamo dal primo esperimento applicato al cinema per il film “Maschi contro Femmine“, attualmente nelle sale. Andrey anticipa che e-(motional) non è un progetto di marketing, così come apparentemente potrebbe sembrare, ma di comunicazione. “La tecnologia”, continua Andrey, “non ha nessun fascino se non è sincronizzata con una strategia di comunicazione”. Il trailer interattivo di “Maschi contro Femmine”, visualizzabile alla pagina web ufficiale del film, per questioni burocratiche non è stato preceduto da una campagna tale, dice Andrey, da preparare l’utente finale a recepirne al massimo le potenzialità e il grado di innovazione. Inoltre e-(motional), il cui scopo è quello di aggregare contenuti relativi ad ogni singolo prodotto, luogo o persona, per una questione di velocità delle immagini diventa meno utile al product placement se applicato ad un trailer. I corti di moda di Style Star sono un esempio perfetto di product placement perchè, oltre ad essere brevi, hanno un ritmo lento, riescono a raccontare una storia e contemporaneamente a focalizzare l’attenzione sul prodotto.

Finalmente Andrey prende il suo MacBook Pro e mi apre l’universo e-(motional). Mi mostra prima il trailer completo di “Maschi contro Femmine”, poi delle slideshow di alcuni fashion brand. Cliccando su singoli oggetti, questi diventano interattivi e non solo. Possono essere alterati con degli effetti speciali, giusto pour plaisir. Già mi emoziono. Il servizio core, sia dei video che delle slideshow, è la “Wish List“: è un bookmark speciale che memorizza ogni oggetto che selezioniamo. La Wish List è cross e appare su tutti i video e slideshow che utilizzano e-(motional). La novità è che si possono taggare anche persone e luoghi. In tal caso, e-(motional) è un vero e proprio aggregatore di contenuti verso pagine ufficiali sul web, senza che ci si disperda nelle ricerche. Il cliente che decide di avvalersi di questa tecnologia nel product placement è libero di scegliere cosa taggare o meno.

Altra caratteristica fondamentale del banner interattivo è il pattern recognition: questa tecnica permette di automatizzare il tracciamento degli oggetti. Grazie alle funzioni del Back Office, i responsabili delle campagne possono ottenere in real time la statistica di quanti hanno guardato un video, su quali oggetti hanno cliccato e in quali scene. Se, ad esempio, la stessa borsa appare tre volte in un video ma viene cliccata soprattutto nell’ultima scena, il direttore della campagna può già capire che il prodotto è più facilmente apprezzabile in quella sequenza e, di conseguenza, ha la possibilità di modificare il video in real time lasciando solo quella scena ed eliminando le altre. Oppure nella sequenza che risulta più visualizzata e cliccata, può decidere di taggare altri prodotti.

E-(motional) è anche un valido strumento per le ricerche di mercato. Quando selezioniamo un oggetto, si apre una finestra che, in modo molto rapido, ci chiede se l’oggetto ci è piaciuto o meno, se intendiamo comprarlo o no e, in cambio della risposta, ci offre un contenuto premium. Per un brand le risposte a queste domande sono essenziali per studiare i potenziali clienti, valutare i loro gusti e il grado di soddisfazione. Insomma, una volta registrati nel CRM del brand, quest’ultimo riesce a codificare, grazie alla nostra Wish List, il nostro stile di vita: cosa compriamo, che film ci piacciono, che luoghi ci interessano e così via. E-(motional), integrando advertising, e-commerce e statistica, produce un notevole abbassamento dei costi per la comunicazione di un brand. La Wish List diventa un canale di comunicazione 2.0, essendo anche collegata tramite RSS ai social network. Anche se non compriamo, con un clik esprimiamo un parere e lo possiamo condividere con i nostri amici. In ogni caso creiamo un flusso di informazioni tale da permettere a un brand d studiare il nostro comportamento. E per quanto riguarda la vendita di un prodotto e-(motional), avere un sito e-commerce non è fondamentale.

Per concludere, Andrey mi presenta il progetto di lancio. In collaborazione con Style Star TV, i blogger e gli opinion maker potranno diventare protagonisti dei video interattivi degli eventi legati a un brand. I prodotti che indosseranno saranno taggati e diventeranno oggetti e-(motional), attraversando viralmente il web. Da non sottovalutare il fatto che guadagneranno anche sui click.

Scommetto che molte blogger hanno già avuto un sussulto al cuore….Non c’è da stupirsi, è la tipica pulsione e-(motional).

BRAVA STEFANIA!
SOURCE: http://www.fashionblabla.it/style/e-motional-la-fabbrica-dei-sogni-interattivi.html

Providing seamless multi-channel customer experience has become the mantra of luxury brands, says Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute.

Wealth and Luxury Trends 2011 and Beyond

Milton Pedraza, CEO, Luxury Institute

As the luxury industry enters the last quarter of 2010 and prepares for 2011, executives are grateful for what could have been a worse year considering the state of the world’s economy. The truly global top-tier luxury brands are surging in China, while holding their own in the US, Japan, and Europe. Leading public companies have done much better than privately-owned brands by using their heritage, innovation, and resources to gain market share. Many family-owned European brands, rich with history but lacking innovation, have suffered and are desperately looking for capital. Overall, the industry has seen tepid growth; this trend is likely to continue for the next three years unless some unforeseen, and highly unlikely, positive event occurs and saves the global economy.

Meanwhile, many luxury executives have not been standing still. Stripped of its facade by the combination of a severe recession and the dawning of the age of transparency, the luxury industry has been fighting hard to maintain its relevancy. Behind the scenes, several companies have already conducted some direly needed soul-searching that has begun to pay off. Here are seven trends that all luxury brands should follow in 2011:

1. Luxury CRM Culture Dramatically Supersedes Operational CRM
2. Focus on Brand Values and Service Values
3. Luxury Purges its Out-of-Touch, Arrogant Staffs
4. Man the Websites!
5. Clienteling Goes from a Hobby to a Discipline
6. Luxury Mobile Applications Come of Age
7. Luxury Equips Sales Professionals with In-Store Mobile Devices

More info and DETAILS: http://luxurysociety.com/

New Research Study – Retail IT Spend +3.9% in 2010.

For the 7th year in a row, IHL and RIS News have teamed together to produce the most in-depth and detailed study on Store Systems and other technologies such as mobile, CRM, WFM, and Cross Channel technologies.

The study comes with the raw data, but includes over 108 charts where we break down the data by retailer size and a segment.  For instance, how are increased maintenance fees for POS and other store systems affecting interest in companies like Oracle and SAP for POS Software.  Or which vendors have the greatest mindshare going into 2010?  Is there a difference in fees paid by segment?  Which mobile or security technologies are getting deployed this year?  It’s all here and a must read if you are a vendor selling any of these technologies or if you are a retailer looking to make a purchase this year.

For more information and to see the report summary for purchase, click

Microsoft and Partners Bring High Tech
to Haute Couture with Style Star

Official press release
12/01/2010

MILAN and PARIS – January 11, 2010 – At the National Retail Federation’s NRF 99^th Annual Convention & Expo today, Microsoft Corp. in cooperation with Accenture and Avanade, introduced “Style Star” with Marina Garzoni, president and founder of Moda e Tecnologia.  The new offering showcasing Microsoft’s leadership in global retail information technology solutions was first previewed in Italy at the Venice Film Festival and Milan Fashion Week in September.

Style Star offers a new way of selling fashion and luxury goods to consumers by combining interaction with emotion across digital marketing, ecommerce, customer relationship management (CRM) and Web services. Together with its partners, Microsoft developed the Style Star MSN format melding fashion and cinema that directly reaches out to consumers and amplifies the advertising and promotional reach of the fashion and luxury industry’s short film production and promotional efforts.

After 60 years, the fashion and luxury landscape is undergoing significant change. Runway shows no longer seem the only way to promote fashion in the globalized, technological new world of the 21st century, and the fashion and luxury consumer is no longer seen as a target but as an individual demanding participation, exchange and co-creation. Forward-thinking, visionary luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Prada, Tod’s and Ferragamo are experimenting with new forms of brand communication and promotion for a mix of digital and traditional media, including cinematography and short film vignettes.

Emerging technology has expanded the relationship between the brand experience and the consumer by providing a 360-degree way of communicating through both virtual and real world channels — a truly unique multichannel experience.

“With regards to the collaboration between Moda e Tecnologia and Microsoft, we thought this would be the right time to launch Style Star, a new project that allows us to bring the general public close together with the fashion and cinema world,” said Marina Garzoni, president of Moda e Tecnologia and director of Style Star which was created by her. “We believe that today more than ever, having seen the economic link and the changes that are taking place, there is the need in the fashion and luxury world to explore the potential of the mix of fashion, cinema and technology and the impact it can have on the future of the industry.”

“Catwalks of the future can take advantage of advancements in technology to showcase their brands, drive loyalty and advertise via video and online media,” said Paula Paravecchio, EMEA managing director, Distribution & Services Industry, Microsoft. “This adds a powerful emotional connection with the brands and provides a new level of authenticity that speaks directly to consumers to augment the overall experience.”

Style Star enables retailers in the fashion and other industries to drive brand experience, loyalty, social networking and new channels to reach consumers, seek opinions on new product launches, and gain market insights through real-time and virtual participation.  This one-to-one customer relationship will enable retailers and others to customize their products and meet the needs of those global industries in which the customer is increasingly in control.”

Style Star will bring together and celebrate these short fashion and luxury film vignettes, thereby creating a collaborative and promotional environment involving designers, fashion and luxury companies, production houses and advertising agencies, and well-known and up-and-coming directors. Within the Style Star format, brands and designers will be able to showcase their productions and tell their story in an appropriate and empowering context fueled by the most innovative technologies.

Thanks also to collaboration with Leo Burnett, its official communication agency, and Microsoft MSN, Style Star now will span both the real and the virtual digital worlds.

Together with partners like Accenture and Avanade, Microsoft has created its own integrated Style Star offering for the fashion and luxury world that will enable immediate consumer interaction with the brand and collection — from media release to advertising and viral communication (via the Web or a mobile device).  New collections now are available online or via many channels to promote consumer loyalty and drive cross-sell and up-sell.

Microsoft in Retail

Microsoft is the leading provider of global retail information technology solutions.  Microsoft is #1 in store systems, with 90% market share in retail POS OS (Source: IHL).  Microsoft also is the leader in business intelligence (BI): 100% of retailers use Excel, the #1 decision support tool.  Microsoft also leads in digital marketing as the only end-to-end solutions provider.  Its digital marketing solutions range from the stack (Windows, Windows Server, SQL Server, .NET, Visual Studio) to online (Commerce Server) to mobile (Windows Mobile), and from digital advertising (Bing, AdCenter) to entertainment (Xbox, Xbox LIVE, Zune, Silverlight).  Microsoft delivers connected experiences for stores, commerce and the enterprise via the “three screens” (PC, browser, mobile) for anytime, anywhere on any device access.
Microsoft’s Retail Group provides software that helps retailers thrive in today’s competitive global marketplace by meeting the demand for a highly personalized and connected shopper experience. Microsoft helps retailers deliver a consistent shopping experience through seamless multi-channel integration and via innovative technologies and mobile and new social networking channels. Through a combination of Microsoft- and partner-based solutions, retailers can turn data into insight, ideas into action and change into opportunity. More information about Microsoft’s Retail Group can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/retail.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Style Star at the NRF Conference in New York with Microsoft and Avanade

Moda e Tecnologia, Microsoft and Avanade will be at the National Retail Federation’s NRF 99^th Annual Convention & Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in New York from January 10 – 12

with a Style Star lounge, booth 100

Because fashion and luxury goods are intrinsically tied to identity for many people, retailers are constantly looking for better ways to create a strong emotional connection to the brand and more actively engage consumers.  Moda e Tecnologia, Microsoft, Accenture and Avanade have developed an offering that helps fashion retailers create immersive interactive experiences with consumers across both real world and virtual channels.

After 60 years, the fashion and luxury landscape is undergoing significant change. Runway shows no longer seem the only way to promote fashion in the globalized, technological new world of the 21st century, and the fashion and luxury consumer is no longer seen as a target but as an individual demanding participation, exchange and co-creation. Forward-thinking, visionary luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Prada, Tod’s and Ferragamo are experimenting with new forms of brand communication and promotion for a mix of digital and traditional media, including cinematography and short film vignettes.

“Style Star offers a new way of communicating and selling fashion and luxury goods to consumers by combining interaction with emotion across digital marketing, ecommerce, customer relationship management (CRM) and Web services,” said Marina Garzoni, President of Moda e Tecnologia and founder of Style Star.  “Moda e Tecnologia and Microsoft developed the Style Star MSN format melding fashion and cinema that directly reaches out to consumers and amplifies the advertising and promotional reach of the fashion and luxury industry’s short film production and promotional efforts.”

In addition, at the NRF Conference Moda e Tecnologia, Microsoft and Avanade are showing how fashion and luxury goods retailers can drive strong brand messages through multiple channels, including real world, digital and social media.  This approach brings new technologies to fashion for a more immersive consumer experience.  The offering was first previewed in Italy at the Venice Film Festival and Milan Fashion Week in September.

“Luxury brands are actively exploring immersive new ways to communicate with their public.  I found Style Star to be a very positive experience that allowed me to communicate the message to many through a new combination of technology, fashion and film,” said Edoardo Winspeare, Director of the Louis Vuitton short movie Les Noces de Papier (http://donne.it.msn.com/stylestar/video.aspx).  “A new era is coming.  People are asking for more authenticity and interaction.  They wish to participate and share their emotions.  Louis Vuitton understands the importance of this powerful new phenomenon and I appreciate the freedom I was given to express their message.  I was honored to be part of the first Style Star event during the 66^th Venice Film Festival with Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Ferragamo.”

Since September, major retailers in Europe have shown interest and are exploring Style Star solutions.  These include new ways to drive a unified brand message across multiple channels, including real world, digital and social media combined with an immersive new way to drive commerce.  As a result, Style Star generates greater brand visibility, attracts existing and new customers, increases sales and boosts customer loyalty.

“Emerging technology has expanded the relationship between the brand experience and the consumer by providing a 360-degree way of communicating through both virtual and real world channels, providing a connected consumer experience”, said Garzoni. “Style Star provides a whole new way to engage customers in interactive formats such as mobile, web, Surface, cinema and 3D. This builds a strong emotional connection to the overall brand and products.  Retail brands can take advantage of Style Star to excite their customers, amplify their promotional efforts and showcase their creativity and innovation.”

Thanks also to collaboration with Leo Burnett, the official communication agency of Style Star, and Microsoft MSN, Style Star now will span both the real and the virtual digital worlds.

“Style Star is an immersive experience for the fashion industry with strong appeal that connects consumers more directly to the latest trends.  Fashion and luxury brands embrace innovation and pride themselves on being leaders for the international scene.  We are evaluating this new concept which we believe represents what is next in advertising,” said Enrico Dorizza, Creative Director for Leo Burnett.

“We believe that today more than ever, having seen the economic link and the changes that are taking place, there is a need in the fashion and luxury world to explore potential of the mix of fashion, cinema and the technology and the impact it can have on the future of the industry,” said Garzoni.

About Style Star

Style Star launched in Italy at the 66^th Venice Film Festival and the Milano Fashion Week in September with Marina Garzoni, President and Founder of Moda e Tecnologia, with Microsoft.

The concept is a new way of communication and selling to fashion consumers combining interaction with emotion across digital marketing, ecommerce, CRM and web services.

Style Star is an innovative format, with interactive fashion vignettes, cinema and MSN which amplifies the advertising and promotional reach of the fashion and luxury industry through short film vignettes.

For more information, go to www.stylestarfestival.com or contact us at press@modatecnologia.com