Why Vogue is giving fashion customers Vette
Even if you don’t follow women’s fashion, you might have heard about the sea change at Vogue.
There were headlines around the world as Anna Wintour – the longtime editor who inspired the title character in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ – announced she would be handing over the reigns to her successor Cloe Malle.
In time, though, that HR shuffle may be a minor event amid the larger shift in how audiences experience Vogue as a brand.
This week Conde Nast, the publishing company behind Vogue, promoted the forthcoming launch of a platform dubbed Vette, which will allow influencers to curate and sell fashion through their own, Vogue-powered e-commerce sites.
In a statement, Vogue’s leadership team suggested Vette will simplify the process of finding solid recommendations for apparel and accessories versus the scattershot approach that takes place via affiliate links and social media platforms today:
It comes at a time when social media algorithms have dominated discovery, prompting creators to turn to channels like Substack, where they can own their audiences. It also comes as retailers, from Ssense to Saks, go through a period of significant upheaval.
Vette is also emerging as traditional media publications like Vogue need to rethink their business model and find new revenue streams to stem the losses from print. Offering direct e-commerce capabilities, though, marks a significant change in the CX Vogue will need to deliver to what were once called “readers.”
Beyond the glossy ads
Yes, fashion magazines have always been largely about using beautiful glossy ads to inspire current and future customers. However that kind of advertising was supporting the “discovery” phase of the journey, exposing Vogue’s subscribers and newsstand buyers to brands they love and might come to love.
Vogue’s editorial coverage, meanwhile, helped further its advertisers’ efforts by producing thoughtfully put-together photos of models and actresses that made the fashion feel extra aspirational. Social media was supposed to displace media in this way, giving influencers their own direct following to showcase content like fashion.
Vette gives Vogue an opportunity to take that control back based on the promise of easing the transactional nature of working as an influencer (sorry, “creator”).
For customers, it positions Vogue in the “consideration” and “purchase” phase of the journey, allowing them to take the next step in adding items to their wardrobe.
This turns Vogue into something akin to an online shopping mall or department store retailer, both of which have always had to blend storytelling with selling in order to stay afloat.
Next in fashion
Vogue now has to prove it can lean more heavily on storytelling by selecting and managing the right influencers, while also making everything from purchasing to fulfillment and returns (the post-purchase phase) equally seamless.
In many respects this feels like a natural evolution of a magazine brand’s CX, as long as it can generate a critical mass of traffic and engagement to turn buying through Vette into a habit. Even if it’s only slightly successful, I expect this is a concept that could be in vogue with many other media properties before long.
