Viewers of “I Think She Ready” may want to keep their credit cards close at hand when checking out the music video. Those watching the hip-hop clip can do more than merely lip-synch along with the track: they can also buy fashions worn by the artists on screen through a Canadian online retailer of luxury apparel and accessories.
Montreal-based retailer SSENSE styled the looks in “I Think She Ready,” which features Australian-born rapper Iggy Azalea, Atlanta-based hip-hop duo FKi and Grammy-nominated producer Diplo.
At first glance, the L.A.-shot video may seem like a standard music clip, stitched together with shots of the artists confidently strutting, miming and motioning to the camera while delivering their rhymes. But as online users position their mouse over each performer, they’ll see pop-up boxes inviting viewers to “shop the look” thanks to interactive hotspot technology from wireWAX.
A quick click on each artist freezes the video and a pop-up page showcases an itemized breakdown of each designer item they’re wearing. Whether it’s a Helmut Lang dress, Alexander Wang cat eye shades, or a Givenchy leather jacket, viewers have the option of purchasing a piece for their own wardrobe.
“There were brands that did it in the past in terms of creating a video where you can actually click and it would send you to an actual website,” explained SSENSE CEO Rami Atallah in a phone interview from Hong Kong.
“We felt that applying the technology to music videos that you can actually shop makes good sense of use of that technology,” he said.
Since the debut of “I Think She Ready” earlier this month, the clip has netted tens of thousands of views. Atallah said the company’s vision with respect to the video is twofold: first, getting viewers engaged and then hopefully heightening awareness for the e-retailer in the process.
“It’s a balance of both. It’s getting our brand exposed in the right places, but, at the same time, it’s about converting the visitor into a shopper eventually,” he said.
“We still have to innovate and provide consumers with innovative ideas rather than having just an e-commerce website.”
SSENSE is among a number of luxury retailers tapping into an emerging segment of e-commerce that seeks to entertain prospective shoppers perusing their sites -while hopefully boosting their bottom lines in the process.
A short video from Gucci features sun-kissed models lounging and strolling casually poolside as the Italian fashion house’s logo pops up and hovers over items for sale from its cruise spring-summer line, including totes, ties, belts, scarves and heels.
Meanwhile, Barneys New York opted for a quirkier approach in its recent teaming of online video and e-commerce. The luxury department store chain features separate videos of men and women relating offbeat and humorous stories for the camera while wearing fashions from the Barneys Co-Op spring lines viewers can click on and buy.
Darren Meister, an associate professor of business at Western University in London, Ont., said he has “very little difficulty” in seeing that there is a target audience for this form of e-commerce. However, it’s likely not yet at the stage that it would be of mass interest.
“I think what you generally see is these things first emerge in that niche,” Meister said in an interview. “Marketing people experiment with how to use that technology in the niche and they learn the ways that they build customers.”
“The technology gets cheaper and more accessible to more people; and as the technology gets more mature, it goes to a wider audience,” he said.
Meister said there is also a comparison to be drawn between the evolution of e-commerce and more conventional product placements seen on TV programs.
“Everything in an artistic production is sellable.”
