A while ago, the Singapore government spent a lot of money to sign an exclusive agreement with international superstar Taylor Swift, winning the exclusive right of the American pop diva to hold concerts in Southeast Asia. Taylor finally held six concerts in this city-state.
In order to become the only destination for Taylor’s concerts in Southeast Asia, Singapore subsidizes $2 million to $3 million per concert. Although this has caused dissatisfaction in neighboring countries, everything can not resist the temptation of Taylor’s economics (Swiftonomics).
The Singapore government has been vigorously hosting superstar concerts such as Taylor Swfit’s “Time Tour” in recent years. In addition to Taylor, this year there are concerts by Bruno Mars, Ed Shereen and other singers. Hong Kong, another international city nearly three and a half hours away from Singapore, is directly titled as the “City of Events”, and wants to attract different international cultural and artistic events to boost the economy in 2024, such as the just-concluded ComplexCon., And Art Basel, K-Con, etc.
It can be seen that the determination of various places to strive for cultural events undoubtedly reveals the strong economic driving effect behind these cultural activities, but on the other hand, these cultural activities give the audience a very strong participation, and consumers can celebrate or cosplay their favorite singers in a fashionable way, which benefits the retail industry and clothing industry.
But for fashion brands, how do they effectively participate in these global cultural events?
When superstar concerts and movie premieres become a cultural feast
When Taylor Swift ended her tour in Singapore in March this year, the most emotional was not only fans from Asian countries, but also the Singapore government. Six consecutive tours have attracted more than 300000 people, which is expected to bring Singapore 0.5 billion Singapore dollars (about 2.68 billion yuan) in tourism revenue.
Economists had reservations about Singapore’s economic growth forecast this year, but the Taylor Swift tour took a sharp turn. Some economists have raised their expectations for Singapore’s GDP growth in the first quarter, believing that it is expected to grow by 2.9 in the first quarter ending March 31, which will be Singapore’s fastest growth in nearly six quarters. In addition, the annual GDP growth forecast has also been raised to 2.5 (previously 2.3), all thanks to six concerts held by Taylor Swift.
Not only that, but the retail industry, which is closely related to the fashion industry, has also benefited. Chua Han Teng, an economist at DBS of Singapore’s DBS Bank, said in an interview with CNA that Taylor’s concert will bring Singapore an estimated 2% GDP growth valuation, and the main industries benefiting are not only hotels and restaurants, but also retail consumption.
Another report pointed out that Taylor Swift’s concert can stimulate the growth of Singapore’s retail industry by nearly US $0.15 billion (about 1.085 billion yuan).
The Washington Post reported that Taylor Swift’s fans contributed almost $93 million per concert, covering clothing, surroundings, travel, hotels and restaurants. On Taobao, the monthly sales volume of single items related to “friendship bracelet” is above 2000.
In addition, Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour has the same influence. According to the New York Times, this tour has created a volume of 4.5 billion US dollars (about 32.55 billion yuan) for the US economy. This economic scale is comparable to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In fact, superstars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift can become a global cultural event by their own actions. Whether it is a time tour or a renaissance tour, the cultural phenomena derived from them (such as Taylor’s friendship bracelet, DIY clothing, Beyoncé’s silver fashion) have become a fashion cultural consumption movement.
In addition to the aura of the superstar itself, the time span of the tour is long enough to make its influence have a longer exposure and recovery. This is also reflected in the premieres of global hit movies, such as Barbie and Dune II. Last year’s release of the film “Barbie” not only made the premiere a fashion feast, but also continued to help the popularity of fashion trends such as Barbiecore.
During the “Barbie” movie premiere tour, 20% of the Versace’s fashion collection used pink, and the brand tends to focus on luxury and sexy styles. Versace is also one of the most frequently worn brands by Barbie star Margot Robbie during her attendance at the premiere. In addition, the Schiaparelli she wore during the Los Angeles premiere directly generated more than $2.1 million in media value, more than half the media value generated by the brand’s 2023 autumn/winter fashion show.
The release of “Dune II” is also following the marketing model of “Barbie” using the premiere as a fashion event. The film’s premieres held around the world have even brought antique and luxury collections back into fashion.
Cultural event is a new fashion show developed by fashion brands?
For fashion brands, whether it is a superstar concert or a movie premiere, these cultural events are becoming a brand show outside of their fashion week. When a star appears on the stage of a movie premiere or concert, her or his body has become a billboard for the brand to walk. However, the starlight brought by the stars combined with the shapes with bright spots and topics also makes the whole marketing event easier to get out of the circle.
On the Instagram, the number of posts related to the term “Dune” has exceeded 1.85 million, and the global film has now grossed more than $0.6 billion at the box office. In addition to the parts related to the plot, the wasteland style dress of the “Dune” movie and the Barbie powder dress of the previous “Barbie” movie are the most discussed contents.
The ancient Mugler Zendaya wore at the London premiere of “Dune” brought more than $0.13 billion in media value to the brand. It can be seen that cultural events can bring more shocking discussion and out-of-circle degree under the cooperation with fashion. Taylor Swift’s costumes and Beyoncé’s costumes, as well as the costumes of popular movies in recent years (such as poor things, etc.) are sometimes discussed more than the theme itself.
According to Launchmetrics data, Beyoncé’s tour has created a media impact value of $7.7 million for Alexander McQueen. In addition, her Tiffany jewelry, Balmain and Valentino costumes were also exposed during the concert.
Beyoncé’s world tour has generated a total of $0.187 billion (about 1.35 billion yuan) in revenue for fashion brands, compared with $97.5 million (about 0.7 billion yuan) in media revenue for fashion brands, second only to Beyoncé.
However, different from previous cultural activities, the fashion trends created by these cultural events have very obvious personality characteristics-Taylor Swift’s fans will choose the album themes released by this superstar in different periods to match their costumes, Zendaya the dressing styles at the dune premiere also fit the characters and movie themes, and now Hollywood stars walking the red carpet are increasingly favoring storytelling antique items rather than seasonal new products from designer brands.
How can fashion brands make good use of these cultural opportunities?
Although fashion brands have always had very frequent and close cooperation with the music, film and television industry, the commercial mutual assistance relationship between brands and the entertainment industry seems to have entered a new stage.
Starting with Barbie, fashion brands have provided more customized services for movie characters and star styles. According to “The Hollywood Reporter”, Margot Robbie and stylist Andrew Mukamal have very close cooperative relations with famous designers and luxury brands such as Chanel, Donatella Versace, Olivier Rousteing and Jeremy Scott, and they have also helped Margot Robbie reproduce many Barbie’s ancient styles.
At the premiere tour of “Dune II”, Zendaya, Anya-Taylor Joy and others also demonstrated the possibility of this deep cooperation, whether it is the Zendaya Mugler robot modeling, or the Alexander McQueen “circuit board” antique modeling, or the Anya-Taylor Joy nun modeling, have left a very large influence and spread on social media, but also let consumers have a more vivid and typical brand impression of these brands.
At Beyoncé’s concert tour, many of her styles also came from Alexander McQueen, Balmain and Valentino custom-made dresses, which are more in line with the silver and shining theme of her concert. At the same time, fashion brands can also follow these themes to explore new by-product business opportunities. For example, Taylor Swift’s tour has made beaded bracelets popular, while Beyoncé’s tour has made cowboy hats a new hot item. These minor trends are worthy of attention.
Klarna, a consultancy, calls this cultural phenomenon “fan fashion”. In addition to Taylor Swift and Beyonce, Blackpink, Harry Styles and others also have similar influence in making their “fan fashion”. At this cultural event, stars and luxury brands are eager to establish partnerships with each other. Especially the superstar concert or movie premiere, because the duration is longer, the radiation to consumers is more lasting.
For fashion brands, being able to cooperate with these stars with top influence is naturally the most priority, which directly affects the sales volume-according to Edited data from retail intelligence company, the sales rate of brands such as Mugler, Valentino and Loewe that were worn by Beyoncé during the concert has increased by at least 50%. According to Launchmetrics statistics, Beyoncé’s tour brought Loewe, Alexander McQueen and Balmain media impact values of US $10.5 million, US $9.8 million and US $6.7 million respectively.
For celebrities, using such cultural activities can win the relationship with big names and consolidate their fashion status. For brands, using these unique shapes can help them get out of the circle again and let them reach a wider audience.
But this is essentially a personal contest and communication of commercial discourse. For small brands, they can follow small trends, or they can get more opportunities to manage the relationship with star stylists. The reason why Australian brand Bye Bambi has the opportunity to cooperate with Blackpink is that its stylist Min Hee Park has offered an olive branch. Many star stylists also have many years of cooperation with stars. For example, Zendaya of the styles are created by Law Roach.
In general, whether it is a superstar concert tour or a box office champion movie premiere, grasping these cultural activities is a stepping stone for the brand to enter the mainstream and public vision. For niche designers, if they can negotiate such an opportunity, it will be a moment to change the fate of the brand.
David Koma, a designer from new york, once told Vogue Business that they had worked with Beyoncé for many years, but thanks to the tour, David Koma gained unprecedented attention and commercial influence this year, and his Instagram attention increased 53% after the opening night of Beyoncé tour.
(المصدر: VOGUE Business)
