Raise your hand if you’ve heard of the Valentino Rockstud shoe/bag. Is everyone’s hand raised? If not, it’s probably because you don’t follow many fashion bloggers, which is ok. However in reverse, if your hand is raised, it is probably because you DO follow fashion bloggers; either on the internet or on Instagram. For a little under this past year, Rockstuds have flooded the blogosphere in more ways than one, and it definitely is not coincidence. Be it sandal, flat, pumps, caged pumps, caged sandal, caged flat, tote bag, clutch, cross body….you get the idea. Every blogger and their mother was wearing, or carrying, Rockstuds.
This, I credit to great coverage by Valentino’s marketing team.They may not always do things right (I still don’t understand why they don’t link their social media sites to their e-commerce site) but I WILL say they took advantage of an interesting social market, and it seems to have worked. Many women and young girls are anxious to get their hands on a pair of Rockstuds, because of the popularity they seem to have received from many online entities we credit to being incredibly stylish. In addition to the attention received from bloggers everywhere, many lower-level brands made knock-off versions of the shoe as well. The blogger strategy poses some conflicting thoughts, at least for me and maybe you too. When I look at fashion blogs, it’s usually for some sort of outfit inspiration. I look at their stylish and albeit creative concoctions and compare my own closet for similar style options. But as any human being with common sense might realize, is that obviously these bloggers didn’t all go out and buy the same shoe or bag at the same time, and simultaneously decide to wear them everyday. The notion that they are only wearing the shoe or carrying the bag because someone gave them to them for free, or possibly paid them to incorporate them in their blog, affects the credibility. My thought process is something like, “do you actually love that shoe and want to wear it everyday because it makes your outfit better?” Or, “Are you looking at them and thinking ‘crap, I need to find an outfit to wear with these shoes because its an obligation I have to Valentino’.” The debate is constant for me. Sure, some of the bloggers may actually really like the shoe or bag, and be PUMPED that they got them for free. However, that doesn’t eliminate the notion that its forced.
Though there is a lack of credibility that can be associated with bloggers, it doesn’t stop the fact that millions of consumers saw pictures of those shoes multiple times, daily. To me, this means their blogger ploy can be seen as a pro and a con. Sure, we know the blogger is sponsored but we also have a large market of people staring at these products constantly on their social media feeds. If exposure was the goal, the goal was achieved.
This post was created as part of the Global Luxury Management Program at the NC State Poole School of Management. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
