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The [Near] Future of Fashion & Mobile

This past June I wrote a post called How Mobile is Fashion?.  As of the end of September, 2011, I still receive comments from you on how great the topic is, and I’ve also received various requests to expand on that post as technology evolves.  This post is a reaction to the requests I received, and I look forward to receiving your feedback below as well.

One of the new leading technologies in both the mobile and social realms is NFC technology (I’m using the term “new” loosely, as NFC technology has been around for years, but its integration into smartphones is a relatively new use for NFC).  If you think you’re unfamiliar with what NFC technology is, you’ve probably already seen it in the form of an NFC chip in your credit card(s), even though you’ve also probably never used it.  The latest data on NFC technology adoption indicates there are over 100 million people globally that used NFC technology for mobile payments; however only ~3.5 million of those people are in the US.

In the above referenced How Mobile is Fashion? post, QR codes and their creative incorporation into fashion was discussed.  QR code technology has many advantages over NFC technology; however, I believe that once Apple integrates NFC technology into iPhones, NFC will take the front seat.  When that happens, QR codes will (for the most part) be forgotten (much like MySpace was forgotten once Facebook came around) even though the two channels of communication can be complimentary, simply because of how easy NFC technology is to use (just touch your phone to a call-to-action).

That said, I’m not suggesting that QR codes shouldn’t be implemented – rather, I’m suggesting that NFC technology should have a good amount of your attention if you’re looking to incorporate the next big thing into your marketing strategy.

Although I don’t expect mainstream adoption of mobile payments (or any other use of NFC technology) until Apple incorporates an NFC chip into their iPhones (for more on this see another one of my popular posts, Mobile Payments Probably Won’t Take Off in 2011), I can assure you with great certainty that  NFC technology will be incorporated into an iOS device in the next two years (this is clearly evident by Apple’s latest patent filings), and that NFC tech will take center-stage very quickly once Apple does incorporate it into iOS devices.

Over the past few years, mobile helped bridge the gap between the real and virtual worlds through LBS (location based services) and social media.  In the coming years, that gap will be closed even more through the use of NFC technology because it is extremely simple to use (just wave your phone) and is both platform agnostic and functionally flexible (can be used at the POS (point of sale) as a payment source (that considers mobile coupons as well!) and integrates seamlessly with social media and LBS).

Earlier this year, Diesel ran a trial campaign in Europe that let people scan a QR code at select Diesel stores that would automatically “like” a product on Facebook and post that like your wall. Please check out the video below to see the campaign in action:

Taking this concept one step further, imagine if you could simply touch your smartphone to the tag/call to action near a product and have that action (touching your phone to a call-to-action) automatically post the same “like” (as in the above example) on your Facebook wall, add the jeans to your wish list on your smartphone’s Diesel app without having to download a QR code scanning app or taking any pictures, and help you find a makeup, shoe or jewelry collection that compliments the jeans well . This same action (touching your phone to a call-to-action) could also allow you to instantly purchase the jeans, tweet about them (or the brand – in the form of a preprogrammed, location-specific and branded tweet), and check-in to the store on Foursquare.  The point I’m trying to make here is, NFC technology is unbelievably secure and can initiate almost any action your smartphone can take…that’s essentially the power of NFC and all of its potential can be harnessed by simply waving your phone!

What do you think about NFC technology – have you had positive or negative experiences with it and does the prospect of paying with your phone excite or scare you?  Does the incorporation of technology like NFC and QR codes into fashion excite you, or do you like that the fashion industry as a whole lags far behind virtually every other industry in the realm of technology? 

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

QR Codes and Fashion: A great post by Stephanie Buck for Mashable

This post is a direct re-blog from a Mashable post written by Staphanie Buck.

The artist who brought you Twitter’s fail whale has joined the fashion realm — but still with a tech twist. Yiying Lu debuted Wednesday two of her 10 illustrations that will appear inMeets Obsession magazine’s “10 Most Intriguing in Fashion” feature next month.

Lu shared her interpretations of fashion icons Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Anna Wintour, on whose likeness she incorporated QR codes. When scanned, the codes will direct readers to Lu’s site where they can download the free artwork to iPhones and iPads.

“I am personally obsessed with the interplay between art and technology, and between digital content and real world content, and this project brings this all together in an innovative and interactive way,” says Lu.

Technology and fashion have been intertwined for decades, but today’s direct interplay between the two is unprecedented. Lu’s artwork comments on that dynamic. “Yiying Lu has discovered the future of fashion,” says artist and cultural critic Jonathon Keats. “Clothing and accessories printed with personal QR codes are the ultimate in mass customization.”

The entire Meets Obsession feature will debut when the magazine’s inaugural print issue hits newsstands August 5. Apart from Wintour and the Olsens, Lu won’t divulge what fashion icons to expect, but she has agreed to share some photos, the first of which is an exclusive sneak peak of the remaining illustrations.

How Mobile is Fashion?

Fashion leads trends in so many different ways, but when it comes to mobile, fashion lags far behind other industries.

Mobile is social, instant, broad-reaching, accessible and actionable — all attributes of fashion as well! So why has the fashion industry lagged behind when it comes to mobile? There are a variety of reasons, but the most important is probably timing.

Mobile marketing’s (essentially, marketing’s integrations with consumes through mobile devices) growth has been fueled by smartphone adoption, which really only started taking-off mid-2007 (with the introduction of the iPhone). During the subsequent years our economy (and as a result, the luxury and fashion industries) has suffered much negative growth. This encouraged the most innovation in the couponing and savings industries (which are a great fit for mobile), but neglected virtually all luxury-oriented industries.

However, now that our economy is recovering and smartphones (and tablets!) are in the hands of about half the US population, why doesn’t fashion catch-up to the times?

Think about your last retail shopping experience (that may as well have been 15 years ago, considering the technology used); wouldn’t it be helpful to have a virtual fashionista (instead of a sales-person, if you actually wanted and got their attention) at your side explaining which colors and clothing lines suit you and your body’s shape best? What about when you dressed yourself this morning — what if the tags on your clothes included custom QR codes that you could scan to view matching items that you already own from the same designer, or see (and buy) matching clothes from the current season’s line with the swipe of your finger? Would that completely revolutionize your daily dressing experience (and help designers with brand loyalty)? What if the tag on the dress you’re about to buy had a QR code that leads to a Twitter search (using a hashtag) that would include the words, “How are you wearing your <insert your favorite brand name here>” and display Twitter posts of others who have the same dress and [links to] images of them wearing the dress (which could encourage posting of the pics by featuring a brand advocate once-a-week on their website)?

Let’s take these concepts one step further to the brand identity level. What if more brands incorporated QR codes (and eventually some form of a micro-NFC chip) into the logos that are already being displayed on clothing which would lead to either a website/app where the clothing can be purchased, a hilarious (or scary) viral video from the brand, or (in the case of “cause marketing” brands like Tom’s) a map of the places that are being affected positively by the purchase of the garment you’re wearing? How much more powerful could the logo/brand be?

In short, both the fashion industry and our population are ready for the mobile revolution. Brands, digital/social/mobile marketing managers, what are you waiting for? The time is now and people are asking for it!

Have you seen any creative uses of mobile or social elements in the fashion industry? Please let me know in the comments below!

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Written by Isaac Naor and posted to ThinkMobi.ly on June 29, 2011 at 8:25amPDT. You can follow the author or the blog on Twitter at @IsaacNaor, or @ThinkMobily respectively. Please click here for the source of the image at the top of this post.

Are Social Networks Really at the Mercy of Mobile Operating Systems?

Social network usage is still increasing (although according to InsideFacebook, Facebook recently lost 6MM, or 4% of its users in the US), and many believe the current exponential growth is attributed to the sharp increase in smartphone penetration.

To put this all into perspective, consider the following: more people own smartphones than personal computers in India, India’s population communicates more via social networks than email, and social network usage data for the region reflects these points.  So how do mobile OS (operating system) developers control social networks and their prevalence?

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