Page 6 - Fashion Law

S6 | MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2017 | Fashion Law
| NYLJ.COM
Social Media: The New Storefront for Fashion
BY ROBERT J. ROBY MAND CATHERINE HOLLAND
uch has been written over the last few months regarding the coming demise of retail
and the difficulties of building luxury groups. So far, 2017 has seen Rue21, The Limited, Wet Seal, BCBG Max Azria, VanityShop of Grand Forks, and Gymboree each head into bank- ruptcy proceedings. Other retailers, includ- ing Ascena Retail Group, owner of Ann Taylor, Loft, Dress Barn, Lane Bryant, and Justice, are closing hundreds of stores. Meanwhile, Amazon posted its eighth straight quarter of revenue growth, Etsy has experienced significant revenue growth, and Walmart has been making headlines by acquir- ing vertically integrated online fashion brands.
A recent article by Doug Stephens entitled “How Fashion Can Fight Amazon” proposes that fashion retailers focus on what sets them apart from the methodical “wanting to getting” process of an Amazon purchase. Stephens suggests that retailers do what Amazon is not designed to do: cre- ate a fun and joyful purchase experience. Many of the recommended techniques are designed to create a com-
a set of techniques designed to generate cultural relevance.” If this is true, then how do companies establish and maintain that cultural story and establish that competitive advantage in the age of Amazon and Etsy? And what is the role of intellectual property in that story?
Video
The top brands are rapidly becoming more than just fashion design companies; the top brands are becoming media-content companies. Up-and-coming brands were per- haps the first to realize that they could obtain much broader exposure by telling their story through video. This video content bears little to no resemblance to the “television commer- cial” of yore. As fashion design companies start to experiment with new forms of media to create a community for their brand, they need to establish procedures that allow them to control the generated media and to maxi- mize the impact of their story. That control begins with having the proper contracts in place before the shooting begins.
All contracts to develop video or other media should specify that the fashion design company will own the copyright in the work product. Copyright law is designed to protect the artist, and not the company paying for the work. Fashion design companies should go through the necessary but often tedious
include confidentiality provisions, which will allow the fashion design company to control the release date and maximize its impact. For example, the company may wish to release its video to coincide with a real-world event. If the video is leaked prematurely, the impact would be lost. The label Supreme maximized publicity when it launched its first store in Paris in conjunction with releasing a skate video directed by William Strobeck and shot at a local Paris skate spot.
The contracts should also specify the fash- ion design company’s ability to approve the end product. This ensures that the resulting video conveys the message and image the company wishes to project.
Social Media
Video is only part of the story. Social media also plays a significant role in creat- ing the image of fashion design companies. A Pew Research Center survey recently studied the reach of social media. According to that survey: at least 22 percent of the world’s population and 62 percent of the North American population uses Facebook; 32 percent of all teenagers consider Instagram to be the most important social network; 81 percent of millennials check Twitter at least one per day; Snapchat reaches 41 percent of all 18 to 34-year-olds in the United States; and YouTube reaches more 18 to 34-year-olds and 18 to 49-year-olds than any United States cable network.
These figures demonstrate that, to reach the audiences most desired by many fash-
ion design companies, the companies must broadcast their story on social media. Most fashion design companies are highly aware of this fact, and know that social media can make or break their image. Through a highly curated selection of images gener- ated by the company, fans and influencers, they create a social media presence that will hopefully create a positive experience for the online universe. The fashion design company must be vigilant in cultivating its social media presence, however, or it can quickly spin out of control and in a negative direction.
Fashion design companies making the jump to social media must implement a comprehensive social media policy. The social media policy should establish pro- tocols for managing the company’s brand channels. The social media policy should outline appropriate online behavior for all employees, and make them accountable. There should be a clear designation of those individuals allowed to make official company posts on social media, those individuals who need approval prior to posting, and those individuals who are prohibited from posting.
The company should monitor social media and watch for hashtag hijacking and consumer-experience issues that may need prompt attention. Many companies have implemented a “social media war room” to stay ahead of unexpected and unscripted conversations that may impact the brand. The war room can be as simple as a series of alerts on the various social media » Page S11
munity around a brand and a more personalized experience.
The company should monitor social media and watch for hashtag hijacking and consumer-experience issues that may need prompt attention.
Many companies have implemented
a “social media war room” to stay ahead of unexpected and unscripted conversations that may impact the brand.
Similarly, on April 28,
2017, the Business of
Fashion published “Build-
ing a Luxury Group Isn’t
Easy.” This article com-
pares the experiences of
JAB Holding Company,
which owns Jimmy Choo
(although, during the
writing of this article,
Michael Kors announced
a deal to buy Jimmy
Choo) and Bally, with the experiences of LVMH and Kering. According to the article, “ultimately, luxury brands are selling cul- ture—not mere products, but the cultural meaning that has condensed around these products.”
process of ensuring that it has copyright assignments, and an agreement to assign, from each of the companies and individuals who contribute to the project. Ideally, the contracts will also include a limited power of attorney, granting the fashion design compa- ny the right to execute any additional assign- ments necessary to secure its ownership of the copyrights. If the company is not able to negotiate ownership of the copyright, the contracts should spell out the ability of the company to use the video in a wide variety of media for a wide variety of purposes and to create derivative works.
Controlling the story also includes control- ling the timing of its telling. Contracts should
According to Douglas Holt in “Brand- ing in the Age of Social Media,” published in the March 2016 issue of Harvard Busi- ness Review: “Brands succeed when they break through in culture. And branding is
ROBERT J. ROBY is a partner at Knobbe Martens in New York and CATHERINE HOLLAND is a partner in the firm’s Orange County, Calif. office.
TUZEMKA; WILLIAM PERUGINI