KEY TRENDS IN MARKETING AND PR
Observations from the researcher saw that Adidas skateboarding a competitor of Palace conducted a live stream on Instagram. Live streaming is being used so often because it helps to create a community. Platforms like Periscope allow people to comment at the same time as watching a live stream, meaning the target audience is interacting with each other, thus reinforcing a community. (Alexander, 2017) Primary research shows that the streetwear community being reinforced is fond within consumers, thus having a live stream on Instagram for consumers to interact would boost sales as consumers feel like they are buying into an experience.
A pop-up skatepark held by Selfridges in 2014 sold over 1,000 world-exclusive skateboards - including designs by Stella McCartney, Rick Owens and Christian Louboutin. (Alexander, 2017). This exclusive event could inspire Palace to rekindle the relationship with their original consumers as new consumers who do not necessarily skate would not want to purchase a skateboard.
An emerging trend for visual storytelling is set to be popular in 2017 as an average person watches 32 videos per month, and there’s a 74 percent increase in understanding when someone watches a video (Coxblue.com, 2017). Facebook feeds are 95% video (Forbes, 2017) therefore if a video is uploaded it needs to be engaging and carry a message which will be remembered. Ted Baker used 360 videos and Instagram Stories for the new SS17 collection. Instagram Stories was used to launch the sitcom in an episodic format, releasing daily content to capitalise on the platform’s storytelling element.
Engaging the consumers through the narrative, it also offered users the chance to get involved and potentially win prizes, providing a real incentive to follow the story to the very end. (Gilliland, 2017)