Tag: Gilt

Corona Taps Gilt For A Fashion-Themed Social Campaign

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Corona launched a summer-fashion-themed social campaign with some help from fashion e-retailer Gilt Groupe. The companies worked with fashion bloggers and influencers to create “Light Look” outfits inspired by Corona products and push out the content through its website and the influencers’ Instagram accounts. Consumers can also submit their own Corona-inspired summer looks for a chance to win a $200 shopping credit provided by Gilt.

What Brands Need To Do
This campaign provides a new example of how a brand can leverage fashion, a buzzy topic on Instagram with a vibrant community of users, to explore a fun, seasonal angle to engage with fans and elevate its brand. Previously, Budweiser had partnered with fashion brands Been Trill and Supreme for two limited editions of branded apparel, and auto brands Ford and Cadillac recently inked partnerships with fashion brands and institutions to add a stylish sheen to their cars. For brands seeking to reach a wider audience on social channels, a fashion partnership may be something worth looking into.

 

Source: Glossy

 

Event Recap: NJ Tech Meetup #64

Posted on by Ben Hone

On September 16, the Media Lab crossed the Hudson River to attend the 64th NJ Tech Meetup in Hoboken, New Jersey. This month’s meet up featured Kevin Ryan, founder of Gilt, Business Insider, MongoDB, and other tech startups. Mr. Ryan shared his experiences as founder and CEO of multiple companies. He spoke about the tech bubble burst at the turn of the century, during which he was faced with difficult layoffs but somehow maintained his optimism.

Mr. Ryan also shared some interesting statistics about his own ventures. According to him, 34 former employees of Doubleclick have gone on to become CEOs. On another note, Business Insider has never spent a single dollar in advertising, rather counting on audiences to embrace good products when they see them. Mr. Ryan also stated that he considers Jeff Bezos to be the most impressive CEO in the world, (although many former Amazon employees may disagree with his sentiment.)

Other entrepreneurs (vying to be the next Kevin Ryan) pitched their startups during the event. The first was Ceros, a cloud-based software for creating interactive, dynamic content. The studio includes drag-and-drop assets within templates for users to build experiences in HTML5 without needing to code. Once completed, the content is immediately published and can be embedded across the web. Ceros also provides real-time performance data and feedback on which elements of the content consumers are interacting with. This platform has obvious marketing implications as brands can build their own content quickly and without having to hire a specialist.

Next up to the podium was Vognition, a natural language voice control for connected devices. Vognition’s representative informed the audience that it is not a standalone solution rather, a component to be implemented into a complete voice recognition system. Conversational UI is a crowded space, and Vognition seems to be leaning on its ability to recognize normal speech as its differentiator.

The last company to present was Livnlist, a messaging app to help coordinate plans with friends. Although the layout and solution were both interesting and appealing, this platform currently offers limited marketing opportunities.

There continues to be interesting and exciting tech coming out of New Jersey and the NJ Tech meetup represents only a microcosm of the ingenuity that is emerging from the state.

 

Header image courtesy of NJ Tech Meetup 

Why HP’s New Smartwatch Is Good-looking But Problematic

Posted on by Lab Team

HP has offered a sneak peek of its new smartwatch, and it actually looks pretty good. Following the current trend of marrying tech with fashion, this new gear, set for release later this fall, is born out of a collaborative effort of HP, fashion designer Michael Bastian, and digital retailer Gilt.

Looking past its well-designed good looks and charm, however, the fact that HP is self-developing a third-party companion app compatible with both iOS and Android to control the smartwatch seems potentially problematic. Primarily positioned as a wearable extension for easier access to notifications, a smartwatch may function best when it is seamlessly incorporated as a native part of the operating system. After all, trying to please everyone usually just ends up alienating everyone.