TopShop and Google+ Partnership for Autumn Winter 2013: Innovative Fashion or Fashionable Technology?

TopShop’s partnering with Google+ to deliver digital content for its Autumn Winter 2013 show has caused a high-pitched stir of excitement in the fashion circles. For the first time ever, we can experience the catwalks through the models’ eyes, pretend to be a fashion buyer and even communicate with the backstage design teams!

Whilst this is all excellent, a fashion brand using digital platforms to create innovative customer experiences is nothing revolutionary – the likes of Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Net-a-Porter have already laid that path. And the focus on Topshop is obstructing the significance of the other brand here – Google. 

This is not the first time it ventures into fashion, for example having paired with Diane von Furstenburg in 2012 to create models’ view images with Google Glass (apparently Sergey Brin himself took to the stage wearing the eye-camera!). A decade ago it would have been unthinkable for a serious tech brand to have an all but superficial sponsorship-led role in fashion, but the worlds of both tech and brands are changing. 

On the one hand tech firms have realized that although functionality is king in their category, building deeper emotional engagement with customers helps cement the brand’s dominant market position. The combination of superior functionality and truly outstanding emotive branding is what keeps Apple at the top of its game. Similarly, Google’s moving ‘The Web Is What You Make It’ campaign appeals to our soft and fluffy side rather than highlighting technological benefits.

Brands, on the other hand, are becoming more ‘functional.’ They are as emotional as ever at the core, but instead of the traditional one-way projection of their values through advertising, they now seek to engage with customers through creating tangible, shared experiences through content marketing. In the digital age, this requires digital know-how so tech firms are obvious partners.   

The web is [indeed] what you make it, and both TopShop and Google are using the tools available to them to each create something entirely new. Traditionally fashion has been branding’s more obvious playground, but tech is not far behind. 

Branding Cities For Their Inhabitants: Buenos Aires vs. London

Whilst most cities have a symbol as well as a set of imagery and feelings associated with them, Buenos Aires takes the idea of a ‘city brand’ to a different level. Anything and everything that is sponsored or linked to the council is BA branded in contemporary and vibrant green-yellow design. From rubbish bins, to jazz festivals, to [their version of ‘Boris/’‘Barclays’] bikes and roadwork signs, living here means interacting with the BA brand every day.

This is a far cry from glitzy ‘destination’ branding normally targeted at tourists. The informal, straightforward tone of voice and versatile design are instead used to communicate with and engage the city’s inhabitants in an accessible, fun and helpful way. According to locals, this coherent and wide-reaching public sector brand owes to the private sector background of the city’s mayor Mauricio Macri  (himself with a swanky interactive website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) 

After the spectacular, albeit wet, 2012 no one would argue that Londoners lack urban pride. Moreover, being much older than Buenos Aires, London already has some iconic brands such as TFL, Harrods and Tate to say nothing of the Olympics. This eclectic list is much like London itself – a highly diverse mosaic of communities, styles, interests and attitudes. 

The city’s institutional attempts to brand governmental offices, schemes and departments is a whole different story. Mind-numbingly dull and unmemorable, these ‘brands’ would make the most politically dedicated marketer think twice about entering the public sector. No wonder the brand for London question has already been raised, discussed and abandoned a few years back. It seems impossible to please such a huge range of different stakeholders. 

Yet there is an advantage to doing it the Buenos Aires way. It helps the inhabitants see their city not just as a nuisance that collects council tax and creates jams through road works, but also as the provider of fun and support to which they have responsibilities. I suspect that if the tangible benefits Londoners get from the council were stamped as being such, we might be less complacent about all the ongoing improvements and appreciate how lucky we are to be living in such a great city.