And here I thought every mass market retailer’s app would prove as useless as Zara’s iPhone fail a few months back.

Gap has just released an app that actually does something! It’s on Facebook, and you should consider clicking on over, just to play around with it. For reference, though, here’s a series of screengrabs to feast your eyes on, and to illustrate the actual functionality of the app:

Step 1: Open up the App in Facebook

Step 2: Choose whether you want to play dress up with the lady or the fella. I went with the guy (being one myself)

Step 3: Change your shirt

Step 4: Change your jeans

Step 5: Click on through and go shopping

So why am I loving this? Because it’s SMART. And we like smart. It’s smart to have an app that doesn’t just show the clothing, but allows you to piece together outfits. And it’s really smart to actually allow this app to link through to an online retail experience that’s tailored to the offerings in the app.  The “shop” links don’t go right to the Gap.com homepage. Instead, they take the user to a specific landing page that mimics the look and feel of the app, with tops and bottoms from the 1969 denim collection paired on screen, and available for purchase (separately, of course).

And finally, it’s smart to turn a social media outlet like Facebook into the home of an application. Social networks are all about interaction, and this app enforces that point. Gap allows the user to drive the experience, rather than dictating from the top down.  It’s interesting that the Gap chose to call this app “Lookbook,” because usually a fashion lookbook is professionally styled and immutable. This application is curated and styled, yes, but ultimately, the final outfit pairings are left to the control of each user.

Using an overwhelmingly interactive platform like Facebook to reach out to current and potential customers with an interactive application? Good call, Gap.

Oh, and speaking of interactivity: There’s a “share” feature on the app that allows the user to pass the app along to his or her Facebook friends as a Newsfeed item. This is nothing new on Facebook, but still…clever.

I am a self-professed lover of wine. Wine-o. What have you.

One of my favorite Little Luxuries all-encompasses this beverage of the gods.

The level to which I love wine is that I like to go to wine bars, wine tastings, wine stickers, wine tasting wheels, wine-scented candles, a wine cellar and, most importantly, wine clubs.

However, to us wine lovers, advertising messages pertaining to wine are extremely hum-drum and boring.  Read any food or wine magazine and you will find that the print ads for wine range from plain boring to a damn shame.

I recently came across some ads that try to jump on the “sustainable” trend and merge green initiatives/sustainability to their winery. However, I can’t seem to find the emotional connection here.  For example, check out this ad – what in the world is it? Wine bottles in the shape of a fish? A cheesy tagline like “We owe the future” hardly drives me to think, ok, let’s drink this wine to save the salmons. It’s a little off. I want to drink wine because its fantastic, has great notes and can be something savory.

For an opposing view, we’ll give a tip o’ the hat to www.goodgrape.com, a great wine blog manifesto that goes into deeper detail about King Estate’s interesting advertising angle. Check out their other great articles us oenophiles can appreciate.

A few of us spent March 22 – 24 at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) re:think 2010 conference here in NYC.  It was great to see all the amazing innovations and creativity that is going on in our industry.  From mobile research to neuroscience, re:think had it all.  Here’s my Top Ten facts, insights and quotes from the three days:

10.  25% of people delayed doing laundry because of the 2010 Olympics – Alan Wurtzel, NBC

9.    Web 2.0 and social media are the IN things.  Many researchers are still struggling on how to listen in these mediums.

8.    Researchers are being asked to do more and have more responsibility while having less money and time. – Stan Sthanunathan, Coca-Cola

7.    I have to be a mix of a business person and a marketing person in a power alley of insights. – Susan Wagner, J&J

6.    There is still a big need in the research world for practitioners with strong synthesis, communication and ownership skills.   Passion doesn’t hurt either.

5.    Are researchers figuring out the “So What?” in research? – John Forsyth, MicKinsey & Company, Inc

4.    Data < Information < Knowledge < Wisdom – Gary Flake, Microsoft

3.    Research should be thought of in terms of feedback and discovery. – Diane Hessan, Communispace

2.    It is the role of researchers to provide inspiration and provocation to drive transformational change. – Stan Sthanunathan, Coca-Cola

And finally…

1.    Never underestimate the power of n=1. – Diane Hessan, Communispace

Capitalizing On Changing Fashion Tastes, Both Labels Demonstrate How To Stay Relevant While Maintaining Brand Heritage

With preppy, All-American fashions enjoying a nice comeback, we’ve seen many brands that have been able to successfully leverage the trend. We’ve commented here on the resurgence of Sperry Topsiders, but brands like J-Crew, Barbour, Lacoste, Brooks Brothers, Clark’s and a host of new labels have also been successful at taking advantage of this shift in consumer preference. Before recently however, two of the most iconic preppy brands, Lands’ End and L.L. Bean, had remained curiously silent.

For sure, the two stalwarts had not gone away. Both have been mainstays among well-heeled suburbanites for decades, highly prized for their affordable, low-key staples. Lands’ End’s flawless $29 down vest has been a favorite among GQ editors in recent years and soccer mom’s have continued to gobble up their totes, rain jackets and adorably rugged children’s clothes. Meanwhile, L.L. Bean, the legendary, 100 year old brand from Freeport, Maine, has continued to sell it’s duck boots by the boat load. The brand was immortalized in The Official Preppy Handbook in 1980 and the clothes still evoke a timeless charm that says “I’m so rich that flaunting it would be beside the point”.

In some ways, it’s admirable that the two labels didn’t immediately attempt to shameless cash in on the preppy resurgence. We’ve seen what can happen to brands when they sell-out their hard won equity in pursuit of a quick payoff (I’m looking at you Tommy Hilfiger). But as a marketer, I couldn’t help but wonder why they, or any brand, would want to leave money and market share on the table. So, when they both announced that they were creating new bridge lines, I was at once relieved and a little scared for them.

After spending some time on both websites, then placing massive orders for their spring collections (I spent only a couple hundred dollars for a generous helping of khakis, polos, rugbys, oxfords and jackets), I am happy to report that Both Lands’ End and L.L. Bean, seem to be going about things in the right way. By creating bridge lines (complete with separate websites and url’s), both are attempting hold-on to their old-school loyalists while signaling to a new generation that these are not your father’s pants. The design approach was simple. Instead of revolutionizing things, both played it safe, staying well-inside the box. The goal was to tweak the current aesthetic, updating key items with a more tailored fit, more modern fabrics and fresh colors and rinses. The results convey a lot more attitude, while still maintaining that “Kennedy’s on holiday” appeal. And yes, both are still remarkably well-priced by any standard.

First up was Lands’ End Canvas, launched in November 2009 with the slogan “authentic inspiration, modern interpretation”. Their blog and Facebook pages claim inspirations including Jackie-O and Miles Davis.  The line, overseen by former Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch designer Ernesto Ramirez, is straight-forward and ultra-casual. Gone are the boxy cuts and high-waisted khakis, in place of slim fitting chinos and soft, relaxed, effortlessly cool oxfords and jackets. The $40 chambray workshirt (recently featured in GQ as “The Shirt of the Summer“) is a keeper, as is the $79 cotton pea coat.

L.L. Bean followed Canvas with the launch of L.L. Bean Signature in March 2010. Led by designer-of-the-moment, Alex Carelton (of Rogues Gallery fame), Signature says that all the inspiration it needed came from founder Leon L Bean himself. The brand claims to have updated the classics with “handsome tailoring and contemporary silhouettes” and the website says it features “a few items from our archives”. Like Canvas, the pieces are functional and weekend-centric, but with much more of an urban sensibility and hipster vibe. I really dig their ripstop cargo pant ($59) and madras plaid shirts ($55) but their waxed canvas update of the original duck boot is the true star of the show.

It’s great when brands have the product development and marketing smarts to update their image while maintaining their essence. It’s a delicate balance that’s not easy to pull-off. The tendency is either to jump too far onto the latest bandwagon or to dogmatically stick to the tried and true past (while slowly becoming a dinosaur). Kudos to both Lands End and L.L. Bean for showing us all the way forward.

As part of The Little Luxury Project, Luminosity Marketing has commenced on a series of roundtable groups with targeted groups of consumers.  Our December 2009 group focused on working women in the New York City metro area.  We’d like to introduce you to one of the participants.

Meet Wanda
Wanda is a 43 year-old mother with 4 children. She works as a childcare provider out of her home. As a self admitted “shopaholic” she can never walk out of a store without purchasing something.  She loves the rush she gets from purchasing little luxuries and reliving that rush each time she uses the item at home.  Sometimes she feels guilty for purchasing little luxuries that end up getting trashed quickly.

To learn more visit The Little Luxury Project page.

NEW YORK – Luminosity Marketing, a boutique media and marketing research firm based in New York City, announces that the company has expanded its research capabilities with a subscription to the Mendelsonhn Affluent Survey^TM Data Base. Luminosity focuses on clients who market upscale products, including Little Luxury brands. The Mendelsohn Affluent Survey will allow the firm to offer additional insights and metrics to its clients who market brands in those categories. Mendelsohn has been reporting on the demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal characteristics of the American affluent population for the past 33 years.

“Adding Mendlesohn to our arsenal of research tools enables us to create a more complete picture of our client’s consumers,” said Candice Seiger, Associate Research Director at Luminosity Marketing. “Affluent consumers are an important segment of our economy and should be included in any consumer connection activity.”

“Because Mendelsohn is the definitive research source for media habits and lifestyles of the affluent marketplace in the US, utilizing it is provides us with yet another way to better serve our clients,” said Christina Yu, Associate Media Director at Luminosity Marketing.

Marketers serving affluent consumers are encouraged to contact Luminosity to learn more about their customers.