How to Pitch to Fashion Media in a Pandemic?
Especially during quarantine fashion media needs to churn out content: viewers & readers still want to know the latest must-have shoes, hair care, and skin-care products. But for brand PR reps, talent, and small businesses, pitching editors these days at magazines, websites and blogs require more finesse after allĀ Fashion magazines have pages to fill; online influencers have beauty trends to discover.
We search the web to findĀ PR and EditorsĀ who give advice on which pitches are working ā and which aren't.
Thinking about using theĀ coronavirusĀ as an angle to push shoppers to buy yourĀ beautyĀ products or natural hand sanitizer? What about repositioning apparel as āWFH styleā or insisting thereās no better time to invest in luxury pajamas or blasting out images of Chrissy Teigen in self-quarantine, just to make sure everyone knows what brand her robe is and where they can buy it? Maybe just reminding people that they can get all theĀ fashionĀ they want online and delivered while theyāre stuck at home?Ā
For the sake of consumers now going through unprecedented global events started by a true pandemic, not to mention the future reputation of the brand you operate or represent, donāt do it. And stop doing it if youāre among the scores of brands already essentially crop-dusting shoppers, editors and the public at large with product promotions, dubious claims and all of the things we can and should be buying online āwhile social distancing.ā
The sheer number of brands e-mailing, often repeatedly, is also working against everyone thatās decided to do so. Inboxes are flooded with a mix of messages. Some are even signed by company chief executive officers and leadership, trying to seem empathetic, typically in bland, unaffecting terms. Some try to do that while mentioning how important it is to keep supporting business at a time like this (i.e. shop and spend money). Ultimately, itās very likely for naught. Not least given that millions of people are already facing layoffs and an economic recession, at least in the U.S., is almost a certainty at this point.
Beauty and wellness brands have been all over the map in terms of their marketing strategies in the past week alone. There wasĀ LVMH MoĆ«t Hennessy Louis Vuittonās decision to scrap luxury perfume production andĀ make hand sanitizerĀ ā seen as a good call all around and one subsequently followed by LāOrĆ©al and Coty.Ā Ā
Some fashion brands and designers areĀ already shifting productionĀ to medical face masks and soon hospital gowns, while other companies like Alibaba, Apple, Nike, The EstĆ©e Lauder Cos., Facebook and many Italian fashion brands are donating millions of dollars and millions of masks and other medical supplies needed by hospital workers facing a critical shortage. While these efforts are not being pitched explicitly as marketing, doing something with a humanitarian bent certainly can create a positive halo effect for a brand. Facebook, having dealt with little but bad press for more than two years over its mishandling of user data, has evenĀ created a grant programĀ for small businesses forced to close over coronavirus measures and the company said more efforts are in the works. For better or worse, companies are presented with an opportunity to generate a positive message and feeling around their business, if the moves strike consumers asĀ genuine and not generated by self-interest.Ā Ā
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