The Annual Met Gala happened last night in New York City!
What is it?
This glamorous, fashionable and enchanting event seems to be getting bigger and bigger year on year. It is the fashion industries hottest ticket throughout the world. Anyone who is anyone is at the event!
How do you get an invite?
Celebrities pay $25000 per ticket for the event with proceeds going to charity. It makes you wonder why do they have to go to an event to give money to charity? Why can't they just sit at home and watch Sport Relief or Children in Need and donate like the rest of us???
The main reasons for this is for publicity for the celebrity and brand endorsements for the fashion designers and fashion houses.
Social media networks are awash with what designer each celebrity is wearing and this has been found to be beneficial for both parties.
Research by Friedman and Friedman (1979) found that celebrities are more effective than other types of endorsers.
Seno & Lucas (2005) look into how celebrity product endorsement creates equity for both the endorsed product-brand and the endorsing celebrity.
Take Beyonce for example - she used Facebook as a way of showing her 60,458,873 likes which designer she is wearing. She posted this whilst she was at the Gala on the red carpet!
Just last week, she posted a reminder of who she wore to the Event in 2011. See the Facebook post below.
This is continued publicity on the digital networks and gives the designer instant recognition again and again... You just have to look at the amount of likes and shares that the picture has to see its importance.
Stella McCartney showcased her designs in person at the Met Gala plus by being photographed with 3 of the most current famous women in showbusiness all in her designs. This photo has been retweeted over 3000 times and the photo been covered by almost every digital news outlet!
How is the MetGala Measured on Social Media/Digital Media Channels?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/06/best-met-gala-instagrams-2014-_n_5272121.html
http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/met-gala-costume-institute-ball-2014/stars-flood-social-media-met-gala-moments-1134321
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2621131/2014-Met-Gala-Beyonc-s-husband-Jay-Z-comes-rescue-loses-jewel-red-carpet.html
Digital Marketing Relevance
24 hours on and the most popular hashtag on twitter worldwide is #MetGala - This shows the true significance and the amount of tweets that #MetGala has gained.
The most popular Instagram hashtag is #MetGala. Photos of celebrities say who they are and who the designer is that they are wearing. Even from only looking at two of the top social media channels, the above statements showcase the importance in publicity that events that these can have for marketing and how they reach out to a wide range of potential consumers.
The impact that an event like the Met Gala has on a companies digital marketing is vast and beyond words. Images are out there for the world to see and are documented forever.
Digital channels such as E Entertainment have programmes live streaming on the red carpet and channels dedicated to showcasing celebrities and the designers of their dresses for every large award ceremony in the USA.
Kuang-Ying Loo & Hackley (2013) discuss how fashion brands visit key themes when it comes to building their brand through digital media. They also address how brands who are showcased within the right media circles can present fantastic increases in growth!
To brands this is an important article to read, that they should be showcased within media circles - typically events such as these, Baftas, Oscars etc as these events are the areas that will increase growth due to the amount of social media coverage the celebrities get on these evenings!
References:
Friedman, H. & Friedman, L. (1979), 'Endorser Effectiveness by Product
Type'. Journal of Advertising Research [Online], Vol 19 (Issue 5) Available at <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1976.10672647 [Accessed 1st May 2014]
Kuang-Ying Loo, B. & Hackley, C. (2013), 'Internationalisation strategy of iconic Malaysian high fashion brands' Qualitative Market Research [Online], Vol 16 (Issue 4) Available at <http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/journals.htm?articleid=17095531> [Accessed 1st May 2014]
Seno, D. & Lucas, B. (2005), 'The equity effect of product endorsement by celebrities' European Journal of Marketing' [Online], Vol 41 (Issue 1/2) Available at <http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/docview/237048270/fulltextPDF?accountid=9727> [Accessed 1st May 2014]
