Fashion, Beauty and Multimedia

Perhaps when most people think of multimedia marketing, they may first consider brands and companies that produce electronics. However, these days, the fashion and beauty industry is undeniably also at the forefront of such technology.

In the recent years, many fashion and beauty houses and online retailers have included multimedia in their websites. Not only are consumers able to view the collections in terms of photographs in look books, fashion and beauty houses have also incorporated animation, video, audio, text and graphic design into their presentations to present customers an experience that is deeply engaging.

This offers consumers a retail experience that is multi-sensory, such that it is closer to reality. The usage of multimedia makes fashion and beauty much more accessible. With online retailers creating shoppable e-magazines and look books, as well as fashion documentaries to complement their websites, consumers can learn while they shop. 

Websites like Chanel make it easy for fans of the brand to learn more about its history through the production of a series of videos, which encompass a wide range of its legendary products. From the development and production of the Chanel No. 5 perfume to the craftsmanship of the Timeless Classic and 2.55 handbags, all these processes are documented in films and posted on the Chanel website for easy access.

Chanel also features fashion news and behind the scenes videos of its initially elusive fashion shows. Even designer-in-chief, Karl Lagerfeld’s photo exhibition can be accessed via the website.

 

American nail product brand OPI also uses multimedia on its website to much success. Not only are videos used to promote its products, videos and still images are also used to teach its customers how to get the perfect do-it-yourself manicure at home. The site is also interactive and offers users an individualized experience with some of its features. For example, its Try It On function allows customers to virtually “try-on” nail colours by changing the skin colour and nail length of the modeled hand to match their own, so as to get the most accurate representation of how each nail colour would look on them.

However, not all companies handle multimedia well and use it to their advantage. Certain websites have proved to be too ambitious and have instead brought out the disadvantages of multimedia. Luxury shoe brand, Christian Louboutin went over the top in its attempt to exploit multimedia. 

Fully Animated page on Christian Louboutin

 Christian Louboutin’s website contains a number of problems:

1. The site features a mess of audio accompanied animated icons, such as the pair of dancing red shoes clicking across the screen whenever a page loads. These animated icons seem more like a distraction than an enhancement.
2. The site in general contains many hypertext formatting errors and videos that are too large to run smoothly.
3. The site lacks structure, and consists of too many messy links, which may result in the user getting lost in cyberspace.
4.  Content on the site also takes too much time to load, thus causing the user to lose patience and wander to other sites.

Multimedia is widespread, and its benefits have become quite apparent in our daily lives. Just like social media, multimedia is one of those developments that businesses cannot ignore. Hence businesses of every sort jump onto the bandwagon of multimedia technology, some without giving it sufficient deliberation. When deciding to incorporate multimedia into their marketing efforts, businesses should not be blinded by the possible benefits of multimedia. Instead they should take note of its threats and disadvantages. Only then can companies strategise how to utilise it in a way that unravels its greatest potential.