Fashion brand Archives - MARKETECH APAC

Hong Kong — Bluebell Group has announced its partnership with K-Way French outwear brand. Following the brand’s in-market digital launch in June, the new mono-brand physical store opening is planned for October 2022 at Pacific Place under the Swire Group, one of Hong Kong’s premium shopping malls.

The iconic French brand known for its windbreaker, lifestyle fashion and sportswear is part of BasicNet, an Italian company that also owns Kappa, Superga, Briko, and Sebago, and is on track to rapidly expand beyond its homebase. Bluebell Group, an Asian brand curator and operator, will manage the brand’s overall presence including an online e-commerce shop, local marketing activation, and overall retail operations.

K-Way will be introduced to Hong Kong consumers first through its online k-way.com.hk and a planned physical store in October. Targeting the active young local audience, and offering a mix of technical meets fashion apparel, the brand’s footprint is expected to grow further in Hong Kong and into Mainland China later this year.

Lorenzo Boglione, executive vice chairman of BasicNet, said, “We are very proud to open the first K-Way mono-brand store in Hong Kong and happy to embark on a path to a long presence in the city for the brand and for a long partnership between BasicNet and Bluebell.”

Meanwhile, Samy Redjeb, managing director for Bluebell group Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, shared, “We have no doubt K-Way will become an anchor brand for us in Hong Kong, where retail today is geared solely on local consumption. The brand offers a desirable and accessible lifestyle of unisex fashion and kids’ wear, which is one of our core focus for the development of this market. BasicNet has some very exciting global growth plans and hype collaborations for K-Way and we are pleased to play a role in bringing something fresh and playful to our Asian consumers.”

Sydney, Australia – Local independent agency L&A Social has been recently appointed by fashion distributor True Alliance, which handles brands such as Ben Sherman, Lacoste, Lee, Nautica, Riders, Rockport, Speedo, Teva, The North Face, UGG and Wrangler; to handle its company portfolio’s social strategy, following a competitive pitch.

Said appointment marks the first time True Alliance has aligned all of its fashion brand portfolios to have its social strategy handled by one agency.

In addition to managing social media strategy for existing brands, L&A will also launch new brands into the Australian market and focus on driving shoppable customer engagement as part of True Alliance’s growth plans.

According to Ken Kennedy, head of digital at True Alliance, the agency demonstrated a clear understanding of the strategic direction they want to take across their portfolio of world-famous brands, adding that it pushed the boundaries of innovation and used social media channels to reach new customer bases while elevating their brands in a crowded and highly competitive space.

“Working in a truly collaborative manner we are set to embark on our next phase of growth, their creative thinking and reputation for delivering results using social media made them the ideal choice and we look forward to working with them to drive our business in line with our ambitious plans,” Kennedy said.

Meanwhile, Elena Fullerton, managing director and business director of L&A Social, commented, “This is a really exciting partnership for us. We are bringing together our two teams in True Alliance and their suite of globally recognized brands and L&A in our knowledge of deep, end-to-end social. We are embarking on a strategic growth journey and we can’t wait to get started.”

L&A has been currently working with major local and global brands including Woolworths, Unilever, Volkswagen, Palmolive, Ampol, Hublot and Ocean Spray.

“The business continues to grow from strength to strength, with leading local and global brands entrusting us to deliver strategic and creative social campaigns which are effective and people want to consume. Being recognized as one of the top places to work in Australia is a testament to our outstanding team who, even during challenging periods such as lockdowns, continue to maintain our positive, collaborative culture, and ensure we deliver for our partners,” said Gina Lednyak, CEO at L&A Social.

Hong Kong – Southeast Asian women fashion brand Love, Bonito has announced the launch of its new local-centric website, which is accompanied by a month-long social media campaign and most interestingly, a five-week presence along Hong Kong’s well-known trams.

Said campaign, called ‘Travel in Style with Love, Bonito’, is the latest social media campaign of the brand where 500 lucky winners will receive a limited-edition preloaded Love, Bonito branded Octopus card and a Love, Bonito website shopping voucher. Love, Bonito will also be hosting month-long giveaways on its Facebook page.

As for the tram presence, three Love, Bonito branded trams will be travelling around Hong Kong island from today until 29 August. The trams will feature a QR code that Hong Kongers can scan to sign up for the Love, Bonito newsletter and participants can stand a chance to win a limited-edition Love, Bonito branded Octopus card pre-loaded with HK$50 and a HK$50 shopping voucher for the Love, Bonito Hong Kong website.

Every week starting from the week of 26 July to the week of 29 August, 100 lucky winners will be announced every Wednesday beginning on 4 August to 1 September via email regarding the prizes.

“The new site will mark the introduction of the brand’s new and improved online experience, providing shoppers with a faster and more responsive website. In addition, the new site can also be saved as a mobile home screen application to provide shoppers with more convenient access to the website. We are thrilled to introduce these exciting new features first in Hong Kong and subsequently in other in-market websites in the future,” said Dione Song, CEO at Love, Bonito.

The Hong Kong website will feature all of Love, Bonito’s product lines including work, casual, occasion, The Staples (wardrobe foundations), LYLAS (bridesmaid & party), loungewear, Embrace (maternity), kids, intimates and special collaborations.

Singapore – E-commerce fashion brand Zalora has launched ‘Zalora Talks’, the first of its kind podcast series in Asia that centers around the latest trends in the fashion and lifestyle industry.

Comprising two seasons annually, the platform said ‘Zalora Talks’ is part of the company’s plan to boost its content marketing strategy this year.

The series will be hosted by Amy Yasmine, the former editor of Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia and will have six episodes making up each season with a 45-minute run time. The series aims to bring together industry experts, brand partners, and fashion and lifestyle key opinion leaders to discuss trending issues around lifestyle, health and wellness, and fashion and beauty, as well as current events like the new realities of celebrating Eid al-Fitr during the pandemic.

The series will feature celebrity guest appearances from personalities like Filipino celebrity stylist Laureen Uy, Singapore-based TV host and entrepreneur Yumika Hoskin, and Malaysia’s model and influencer Natalie Prabha, as well as Singapore’s national swimmer Kimberley Chan, and founder of Wanderlust & Co. Jenn Low from Malaysia.

Over the past year, the brand has been embracing new digital marketing formats, from introducing workout sessions via Instagram Live with gym partners as part of the #SaturdaySweat campaign to in-house editorial productions like digital magazine covers.

The launch of the podcast series is the latest milestone in the company’s increased investment into native content development and comes off the back of the recent launch of Zalora’s industry webinar series, which is broadcasted quarterly on platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook. Further, Zalora said that its newly launched podcast series is a way to introduce the podcasting format to the industry, which has itself seen a surge in search interest and activity since the onset of the pandemic last year.

CEO of Zalora Group Gunjan Soni said that as consumers continue to accelerate their migration to the online space, they have noticed the increasing demand for new forms of engagement.

She further shared that with consumers fatigued with Zoom and video conferencing over the last year of pandemic, audio has become the refreshing new choice of medium, and that they are excited to tap on the guests’ diverse areas of expertise and foster community-driven conversations.

“Being a vertical specialist in fashion and lifestyle, Zalora has always invested in being a leader in content marketing in the e-commerce industry, and we will continue to add more innovative formats through the year while maintaining our high bar on quality,” said Gunjan.

A new episode of Zalora Talks is available on Spotify every week.

Singapore – Pomelo, an omnichannel fashion platform in Southeast Asia, has launched its latest collection, an exclusive 13-piece wardrobe line created in collaboration with video-sharing app Tiktok.

Through the collection, which officially dropped Wednesday, Pomelo and TikTok aim to empower Gen Zs and Millennials to boldly express themselves and embrace their own styles.

The collection features a striking and fun assortment of streetwear-inspired separates emblazoned with TikTok’s distinctive logo, including printed mesh tops, and pieces splashed with the brand’s signature colors of red, light aqua, and white. It also includes accessories, such as tinted shades and mini crossbody bags.

Alongside the collection release, Pomelo will also be introducing a TikTok challenge for all fashion enthusiasts called #BeBoldBeYou. Starting from 24 February to 5 March, Pomelo fans and TikTok creators can take part in the challenge by styling their favorite looks, showcasing their own unique fashion style, “whether bold, expressive, or confident.” The most creative entries will get a chance to win the full collection and win prizes worth up to US$300.

Pomelo x TikTok Collection will be exclusively available on Pomelofashion.com, the Pomelo App, and in stores in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Mimpikita, a local-based modest fashion label, has appointed martech company elfo in elevating its digital advertising and performance marketing initiatives.

Through the one-year partnership, elfo will be executing year-long bite-sized campaigns for Mimpikita to streamline and amplify its brand identity, as well as to align with the modest fashion label’s goals to be inclusive and provide meaningful experiences to its community known as #KitaGirls.

Furthermore, elfo will be running campaigns hand-in-hand with Mimpikita’s planned collections for the year. The campaigns, which will be deployed across all digital touchpoints – website, social media, email, conversational bot – are expected to build and uplift a Mimpikita community built on inclusivity, empowerment, and universal acceptance.

Mimpikita, originally founded by three sisters – Nurul, Amirah, and Syahira Zulkifli – has been in the fashion industry for more than 12 years, and has since then garnered a ‘local cult based on bespoke ready-to-wear pieces’, according to Rose Maria Bague, senior account manager at elfo.

“What we can bring to the table is our expertise in helping brands and businesses establish a solid brand identity and increase overall share of voice (SOV), by providing Mimpikita with brand consulting, performance optimization across all of its digital channels, and lead-generation campaigns,” Bague stated.

Meanwhile, Sri Yosephin, head at elfo, stated that their contribution to Mimpikita is part of the fashion brand’s aspiration to expand globally, as their fashion pieces have been prominently featured at the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week and had intimate collaborations with other local designers.

From left to right – Syahira, Nurul, Amirah Zulkifli, Co-Founders of Mimpikita

“Our service offerings for Mimpikita are part of a bigger plan for this modest fashion label to go global. Besides harnessing our digital marketing expertise, we are also utilizing elfo’s proprietary digital platforms such as elfoMAP (an email marketing automation platform), elfoA2P (an application-to-person messaging platform), and soon, elfoBOT (an intuitive chatbot), to complement and enable our strategic campaigns for Mimpikita,” Yosephin explained.

For one of the founders, Nurul Zulkifli, their recent partnership with elfo will center on keeping their values with the #KitaGirls community, regardless of progress and expansion.

“As we continue to evolve and expand with the help of elfo, designing carefully crafted pieces for the everyday woman will still be at the heart of Mimpikita. Our wish is to build an inclusive community, to inspire women all over the world with our casualwear,” she added.