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Fashion 2.0 | The Ford channel
In what may be one of the most innovative manifestations of Fashion 2.0 we’ve seen, Ford Models has brought fashion modeling to the YouTube generation — quite literally. Under the careful watch of Katie Ford, daughter of founder Eileen Ford, and new CEO John Caplan, the once-embattled American modeling agency has creatively melded the rarefied world of Fashion with the openness of Web 2.0. And, in doing so, they have successfully reinvigorated the Ford brand and created brand new revenue streams that will see the company into fashion’s future.
Web 2.0, of course, has already turned the music industry upside down and created a platform for influential web voices including everyone from political commentators like Arianna Huffington, to entrepreneurial gurus like Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin, and even the celebrity-obsessed Perez Hilton. But these online influencers have all been built by being open and open to criticism — something the fashion industry isn’t known for. And, they are individuals, not a monolithic company.
So, how does a modeling agency, built on the secretive glamour and exclusive allure of fashion, operate within the openness of Web 2.0 culture? By taking down the fashion barriers and letting everyone inside to get to know its people.
Working closely with YouTube, Ford created FordModelsTV, a dedicated YouTube channel with inexpensively-produced videos of Ford models and artists providing advice on how to up one’s personal style and health — everything from workout regimens from model Chris Comfort to organic recipe ideas from Leann Lazar. The most viewed video (1.6 million views) is a bikini fashion segment from a model named Desiree which seems to have attracted some of the core YouTube voyeur crowd along for the ride.
All the same, Ford has transformed itself from an agency that was just a go-between, brokering deals between models and brands, into an online authority, offering simple and down-to-earth expertise to millions of viewers while putting forth positive role-models for aspiring models to partially offset all the ridiculousness of better known celebrities on People magazine.
And now, fashion brands and online retailers are offering money to collaborate with Ford on sponsored videos that will enable them to access the notoriously-difficult-to-reach millennial generation, for whom YouTube is an important and credible media source. The challenge going forward will be to cultivate this new revenue stream while still maintaining Ford’s new found influencer status.
For more details on FordModelsTV, check out this interesting story from February’s Inc. magazine.
Ford Model, Chanel Iman on her New York Fashion Week.
Thanks for the great post. And bravo to Ford Models for the bold move. It’s a rather brilliant way to leverage models as influencers; create and retain rights to your own content; and ultimately reinvent the modeling agency. At least that’s the theory. In practice, I think they need to be careful they don’t undermine the core values that legitimize the venture in the first place: their brand heritage and a claim to authenticity. First and foremost, they need to take a close look at the advertisers they accept. Those interstitials for Outback need to go. Secondly, they need to insure the content feels real, remarkable, and free from obvious product pitches. They should arm their models with their own cameras and go for a feel that’s more like the Stam and Coco Eminem video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=ouJlR1kVH9o) and less like an infomercial. Question: are the models paid for the content they produce? Or are they being told it’s good “promotional” material?
After reading your post, and checking out the fordmodels.tv site, I just wonder if Ford’s approach really represents the spirit of web 2.0 applications. The fordmodels.tv community is mired at 9000 or so members, and those models that have pages are not very active. That said, their video production and syndication efforts have definitely attracted attention, but to what end? Are these impressions monetized? Is the point to raise the profile of the modeling agency or the profile of the models? Because Ford makes money when models are booked, raising the profile of their brand does not necessarily correlate to increased revenue, though raising the models’ profile does. This brings me to my final question: Ford uses only up and coming models in its “web 2.0″ (and I use the term loosely) initiatives – This doesn’t necessarily make sense…Net/Net this seems like a cool project without much of a strategy (and their surge in web traffic last year Oct-Nov, and subsequent return to “normal” would seem to bear this out).