FAME, FASHION, AND BRANDING: THE RISE OF A SOCIAL MEDIA-CREATED FASHION

Adidas Jettisons Ye ...

By now, everyone is familiar with the saga of the divorce between Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and Adidas. The Germany-based company terminated its relationship with Ye after he made a series of antisemitic remarks and posts on Twitter and Instagram.

Of course, this is a cautionary tale for CMOs seeking to supercharge a brand’s value (and sales) by leveraging celebrites' fame, especially those with a significant social media presence. Through social media, followers develop an almost intimate relationship with a celebrity and consume virtually every aspect of that person's life.

But that's the rub of this social media celebrity branding strategy. As Adidas executives have learned, the brand value of a celebrity could shift overnight and create unforeseen risks for those celebrity-branded products and the sponsoring firm.

... but Perhaps not Social Celebrity-Based Branding

Considering the massive reach social media provides celebrities like Ye, it would be hard to argue against a celebrity-based branding strategy. Before his accounts were suspended, Ye had over 30 million people followers on Twitter and almost 10 million on Instagram consuming his opinions, lifestyle choices, and his fashion preferences. Rather than building a fashion brand solely on the product's style and design, tying that brand to a celebrity/influencer like Ye, the CMO could quickly access over 30 million consumers.

With the tremendous success of the Yeezy line of shoes and apparel, fame begat fashion. Success in branding these products came as much from Ye's fame as from the design of the products.

Given social media celebrities’ reach and brand value, it is doubtful that Adidas or any fashion apparel companies will jettison branding strategies that leverage relationships with celebrities. Even with the inherent risks mentioned above, the financial rewards are potentially enormous. Many analysts estimate that the Yeezy brand brought in approximately 10% of Adidas' revenue, or roughly $1.7 billion per year.

Celebrity-Endorsed Fashion Pre-Social Media

Of course, well before the rise of social media, there is a long tradition of firms using the fame of celebrities to brand a product. The pioneer was Nike. Through its close association with well-known professional athletes, Nike built its corporate brand. Nike's branding and marketing strategies were so successful that it has become one of the most valuable brands in the world.

But in the pre-social media era, the manufacturer of a product, such as Nike, could better control the celebrity athletes’ access to media and, thereby, manage that celebrity's brand and the brand value of its products. Nike did this with great success. Nike's Jordan Brand, generated $4.7 billion in revenues in the firm's most recent fiscal year. It is estimated that Jordan has pocketed $1 billion from his relationship with Nike. Though the source of the brand's value, Jordan does not claim to be a designer. Rather, his value comes through his endorsement of the design.

The value of Michael Jordan's brand is based on his performance on the basketball court. Consumers of Jordan-branded shoes had no idea of nor interest in his political views, personal values, or consumption habits. It's hard to imagine Jordan taking a selfie while golfing or a photo of his dinner plate and sending either out on a social media platform. To this day, he has no personal social media presence.

Designer-Focused Fashion

The rise of social media will continue to cause a gradual shift from traditional designer-based branding, where the designer plays a pivotal role in the back of the design creation and the front as the spokesman. In its place, we will increasingly see the rise of what I refer to as fame-based fashion branding, where social media celebrities play a role in both the back end of the design process and the front of the branding and marketing as spokespeople of the brand. But this does not mean that fashion designers did not have celebrity status before social media.

The pioneers of modern fashion, such as Gabrielle Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent were indeed celebrities but in the fashion world. They won their celebrity status through their iconic designs, not through their personal habits, political opinions, or who they dated. Their brand value was in their designs.

Chanel first gained fame for her black cocktail dress. Christian Dior first became known for a design referred to as the "New Look." Yves Saint Laurent first made his mark in fashion by creating "masculine" designs -- tuxedo-style suits, trousers, etc. -- for women.

Emergence of Celebrity Fashion Designers Pre-Social Media

Even before the emergence of social media, designers began to take on the role as spokespersons for their brands. The designer and the designer's lifestyle began to become intertwined with the branding and marketing of the designer's fashion line. Perhaps no one exemplified this trend more than Ralph Lauren.

A Brooklyn native, he designed and marketed a fashion line that exemplified the "preppy" fashion of the 80s and, later in the 90s, the American Western look. And at each stage, his persona was branded and marketed as matching the lifestyle of that brand.

Rise of Social Media and the Celebrity as Designer

The combination of celebrity, fashion design, and entertainment is amplified by the increasing power of social media. This has given rise to the social media celebrity as a designer and what I refer to as fame-driven fashion. Here, again, Ye has been the pioneer. By utilizing social media to brand and market himself, Ye leveraged his music career to launch a score of successful fashion design enterprises, proving his skills as a designer whose uniqueness won him a loyal following in global fashion.

Ye's showing of Yeezy Season 2, one of his latest line of fashion designs with Adidas, underscores a shift from design-driven branding to fame-driven branding in fashion. The venue Ye chose was the most recent New York Fashion Week, one of several important global venues where designers debut their latest creations. Ye not only took to the runway and joined those modeling his designs, he debuted the track of Fade, his newest song, during the catwalk. Both major entertainment and fashion trade publications gave prominent coverage to Ye, his music, and the designs he debuted at the show.

Robyn Rihanna Fenty is another globally recognized entertainer with a massive social media presence who has crossed over into fashion. With sales of over 250 million records, she is the second best-selling female singer of all time. And with close 110,000,000 Twitter followers and over 87 million followers on Instagram, Rihanna has an unparalleled ability to reach consumers.

Recognizing this branding and marketing potential, LVMH and Rihanna combined to establish three fashion lines that capitalize on her last name -- Fenty. She has three lines: Fenty Beauty and Skin; which are cosmetics; Fenty Fashion, which is an apparel line; and Fenty X Savage, which is a lingerie brand.

These lines are unique. Her designs target all races, body shapes, and sizes and, as she says, respects the diversity of races/ethnicities, and the immigrant community. Her prominence in entertainment, social media, and now fashion has provided her the ability to take a leading role in the opening up of the traditional circles of fashion to include voices and influences that hitherto have been unable to play an influential role in this industry.

Implications for Branding and Marketing in the Fashion Industry

The Adidas-Ye drama will inevitably fade away, but the impact on branding in the fashion industry will not. But given the risk-reward balance, we will likely continue to see an increasing dependence on celebrity-based branding strategies. This could open up the fashion industry to those who previously could not have an influential role in fashion. This, in turn, could further encourage the trend toward inclusion and the consideration of a broader spectrum of body types and racial and ethnic sensibilities. Rihanna is but one, though prominent example, of this positive trend driven by social media.

We may likely see social media as a critical component in fashion branding strategies. The fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris will not fade away, especially in the highest luxury segments of the fashion industry. These events will continue to play a critical role in setting global fashion trends and consumer preferences. But increasingly, the shopping journey in fashion will likely be digitally based and social media-focused.

Professional fashion designers will continue to play a crucial role in the design process. And, of course, the influence and pivotal presence of the haute couture houses will remain. But brand managers in the fashion industry will increasingly be tempted to utilize celebrities' massive social media presence to build brand value.

As we have seen with Ye and Rihanna, these celebrities are not satisfied with being spokespeople serving as the front or face of the brand. They will increasingly demand more significant roles in the brand's design elements. And with the branding and marketing power their massive social presence provides, their demands will be hard to ignore. Over time, fashion apparel, shoes, and accessories design may become less important than the name, i.e., brand, of the social media celebrity who acts as the designer.

The combination of celebrity, fashion design, and entertainment, all amplified by the increasing power of social media for marketing and determining the shopping journey, means that we are likely on the cusp of an exciting transformation of branding of fashion and an opening up of the industry to new voices and influences.