Met Gala Midlife Crisis: Is Dior Marketing And Other Brands Still Effective?

In 2019, Met Gala will be held in May 6th. However, unlike usual, according to WWD, Dior, Ralph Lauren, CalvinKlein and other brands will miss Met Gala this year.

It is reported that the detailed reasons for the absence of Ralph Lauren, Dior and CalvinKlein are unknown at present. But in the social media and other online communication revolution, a serious impact on the fashion industry ecology today, the withdrawal of these three fashion brands, we have to guess whether it is the new media that made the once difficult MetGala MetGala lost its past attraction, and the traditional fashion Met Gala will also usher in a crisis?

Met Gala is winter approaching?

Met Gala, the Metropolitan Museum of Art charity dance in New York, was held in 1971. In order to celebrate the opening of the annual special theme exhibition, it also raised donations for the fashion house.

MetGala is held at the beginning of May every year. It is the most solemn party in the fashion industry. Every year, the red carpet of charity evening is called "fashion Oscar".

However, despite its prestige and tremendous influence, the essence of MetGala is more like a public relations propaganda. By highlighting its contribution in the field of charity, shaping the positive image and putting the "show money" that will hardly enter the retail market on celebrities to further promote the brand positioning and value.

The purpose of every brand to participate in Met Gala is to enhance the topic and influence of the brand.

According to the US entertainment media PageSix, YAHOO has pulled out 3 million dollars just to win the two table seats on Met Gala in 2015.

But in recent years, with the growing popularity of social media marketing, more and more fashion brands have put publicity channels into social media.

The latest data from L2, a luxury Digital Research Institute, shows that 92% of luxury brands have opened WeChat accounts in China, and their data has increased by 87% over 2014.

In 2018, Dior used social media marketing to promote the latest Dior saddle bag.

Dior has launched a large-scale KOL marketing on social media worldwide.

According to incomplete statistics, in July 19, 2018, at least 20 KOL released photos of saddle bags in the social media on the day of the saddle bag sale, which immediately increased the popularity and depth of the handbag under the influence of scale effect.

Therefore, when more and more users' attention is pferred to the social media platform, the benefits and costs of participating in Met Gala are gradually being questioned.

In 1948, the invited guests who participated in Met Gala were eligible for admission for only $50.

And now Meta Gala's personal admission ticket is up to 25000 dollars. As for the fashion brand that wants to gain a foothold in MetGala, it needs to contract a banquet at Meta Gala, and the cost of contracting a table banquet is as high as 20 to 300 thousand dollars.

Although Met Gala has its own traffic, it needs a question mark for the Met Gala, which is popular among luxury brands.

Although the Met Gala is still supported by luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry, and has been sponsored by Gucci, the withdrawal of the three important agents of RalphLauren, Dior and Calvin Klein will bring more variables to the future of the company. I am afraid it will still be tested by time.

Is Vogue anxiety behind Met Gala variables or traditional media anxiety?

The storm of Meta Gala reflects not only the turbulent situation of this fashion feast, but also the future of Vogue.

Meta Gala was first undertaken by VOGUE and BAZZAR in the early years. But when Anna Wintour became the co chairman in 1995, it was exclusively planned by VOGUE and became one of the most attractive and successful fund-raising activities in the world. It gradually developed into the annual activity of the American version VOGUE, bringing the celebrity effect and commercial value of VOGUE to the peak.

Brands often get Met Gala seats through Vogue. According to the advertising media Adweek, "in 2015 and 2016, MetGala sponsor Apple Corp published 12 pages of ads in 2015 Vogue 3 magazine, and the price is expected to be $2 million 200 thousand."

The trader behind Met Gala Vogue has gained a lot of advertising resources on the basis of the huge trend caused by MetGala every year.

But there is no doubt that in recent years, the fashion media matrix has undergone an irreversible change.

The famous British photographer and filmmaker NickKnight who worked with Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Yamamoto Teruji once said: "fashion magazines are outdated and they are no longer needed.

An instinct selling hundreds of thousands of magazines does not have any advantage over Kim Kardashian in terms of Instagram with billions of fans.

Now magazines can no longer decide who is the most powerful speaker in the fashion world. Social media has changed everything.

In the backdrop of print magazines, the 2019 Vogue of Kangtai, the parent company of fashion magazine, has inevitably begun its bleak start.

According to the "women's Wear Daily", with the continuous reorganization of the group, Kangtai Nash's magazine, including "Glamour", "Wired", "GQ", "Allure" and "W" and other magazines will lay off staff.

As a result, the office area of Kangtai Nash's headquarters in New York World Trade Center will be reduced from 23 storeys to 15 storeys.

In addition, since 2018, rumors of AnnaWintour's resignation have been widely heard.

This is the legendary woman who joined the American version of VOGUE in 1983. It not only led Vogue to pioneer the idea of "fashion Popularization", but also opened an epoch-making important innovation of celebrity artists' magazine cover.

It is because of her, the American version VOGUE can stand in the world's highest position in the fierce fashion magazine.

If AnnaWintour really leaves Vogue, then the fate of this fashion magazine may become even more confusing.

However, in order to cope with the decline of the paper media industry, Vogue is not without any countermeasures.

According to the "2019 global fashion format report" released by McKinsey consulting company, because the younger generation is "Aboriginal people in the digital age", their vision is more internationalized and personalized, and the young market is a must for the fashion industry.

In order to promote the brand younger, VOGUE launched the Vogue Me in China. According to the social media response, the introduction of VogueMe is quite effective. In a year, micro-blog fans have passed a million mark.

In addition, Vogue launched the WeChat Mini program Voguemini in 2017, its purpose is to enter the platform of nearly 1 billion active users per month.

Not long ago, "Vogue Vogue" publisher Kang Tai Na Shi international group launched a new media brand "Vogue Business".

The target audience of VogueBusiness will be practitioners from all walks of life in fashion and luxury industries, fashion majors, high-end hotels and luxury tourism industries.

It is reported that VogueBusiness is regarded as an important position for Vogue to consolidate its right to speak.

Wolfgang Blau, President of Kangtai Nash International Group, said: "when it comes to business integration in the global media, it is rare to launch a new global publication.

No one in the world employs more fashion media practitioners than we do in a wider area.

Our global network has many reporters, digital editors and researchers. They are focused on mastering the relevant fashion trends in all continents, and have made unprecedented insights into the VogueBusiness team's changes from local design trends to manufacturing, training, technology and distribution.

"

Under the constant impact of social media, it is still unknown whether the new magazines want to stand out in the fierce competition of fashion media in China. However, the path of subdividing the core competition may bring new inspiration to the domestic media industry.

What is the irreplaceable value of traditional fashion media for brands?

Under the impact of digital media, traditional fashion magazines have been declining, but it is puzzling that we can still see advertisements and new posters of various fashion brands in many fashion magazines.

If fashion magazines are hard to get enough attention resources for brands, why do brands still love the print media? What is the value of print media?

First of all, digital media has been questioned in recent years about the lack of credibility.

The traditional media, which is based on credibility and sustained and stable output, has an irreplaceable advantage.

In the Luxury Institute2018 report, Facebook was rated as "the most negative social media" by wealthy consumers, and 1/5 of the rich group pmitted negative emotions to their relatives and friends through Facebook.

The spread of negative emotions naturally aggravate people's sense of alienation on this platform.

In fact, the crisis of social media dishonesty has been spreading for a long time. Previously, the data released by American large public relations consulting firm ed man showed that only 41% of the world's users expressed trust in social media.

"The fashion system in 90s still holds the power of the digital age in the 90s, and some of the major magazines still have a high degree of credibility among a large number of users," Cosmopolitan editor in chief told BOF in an interview.

In the age of social media, the opinion leaders of fashion bloggers can really lead consumption. However, because the threshold is too low, the number of net red has risen sharply, and it has also brought about a mixed trend in the fashion industry.

For brand owners, if there is no scientific selection scheme for co operative fashion bloggers, it may have an adverse impact on brand value and brand image.

The fashion brand carries on the brand propaganda through the plane media, has better molded the brand image and the public trust, has conveyed the brand behind the idea and the core spirit.

Secondly, the fashion industry is not just a buy and sell deal, but the paper fashion media is not just a brochure of brands and stars.

Social media has yet to provide enough choice for fashion brands. The industry's deep content is still a large gap in social media.

Vogue Business editor in chief Indvik said in a statement that the purpose of "VogueBusines" was to create the greatest impact and readability, so that people could easily understand the key concepts at a glance and help the industry make decisions for career development of enterprises and individuals.

From the readers' perspective, most well educated millennials have become the most important consumer groups in the fashion industry.

Their demand for information is no longer confined to aesthetic vision, and they are more willing to pursue deep content.

Although the value of print media will be diluted in the era of smart media, traditional fashion magazines are still irreplaceable for fashion brands and the establishment of a complete fashion industry ecosystem.