Stylecaster’s State of Style Summit Recap, Sort Of.

StyleCaster’s State of Style Summit was this past week.  It’s meant to be a “counterpoint narrative to the style industry’s current conversation“. Well, we’re not 100% convinced that that’s what it was, but still there were some solid insights and a few really good pieces of advice.

So, rather than addressing each panel individually, here is a list of some of the more interesting observations and better advice that was dished during the day long event.

• Nothing works without emotional connect. You need to move people to shop your brand. – Mary Alice Stephenson (Style and Beauty Expert)
• You must have personality plus in everything you post on social media. - Mary Alice Stephenson
• Nike, Adidas, and Burberry are the top 3 brands on social media. -Mary Alice Stephenson
  
• You must tell a story that is greater than what your brand stands for. -Kimberly Henderson (Dove Hair)
• Social media can and should be used to perform market research as much as connecting with your customer. Learn their wants, needs, fears, and problems.
• Because of the “Times Square Affect“, people are bombarded with information.  It’s imperative to find your story and tell it well.- Brandon Holley (Lucky Magazine)
• Always lead with user experience.  Nothing matters if the users are frustrated with their experience with your brand.- Brandon Holley
• Never forget the human element when it comes to your digital content.
• Remember to consider the 360° approach; website, social platforms, TV, radio, print.
• Fashion is changing but there are still rules about how the business is conducted. You have understand them and then jockey the rules with the social media. - Uri Minkoff (CEO Rebecca Minkoff)
• Don’t ever stop studying or learning because then you stop evolving. Evolution is key. - Uri Minkoff
• Collaboration can work but it’s important to consider the timing.  - Uri Minkoff
• Diffusion collections can also work but first think about your brand’s life cycle. - Uri Minkoff
• Branded content is crucial.  You cannot just have the product, you must have content to accompany it. - Uri Minkoff
• Only 12% of purchases actually happen online. – Jon Steinberg (BuzzFeed)

So what do you think of some of these points? We found the last statistic interesting.

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