Hype (marketing)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marketing
hide
Key concepts
hide
Promotional content
hide
Promotional media
hide
Research
  • v
  • t

Hype is defined as "extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion". Marketing strategies in the modern era of the information age increasingly revolve around hype.[citation needed] Hype has emerged as a marketing strategy due to the proliferation of social media.[citation needed]

Research has shown for some products, consumers have an overwhelming preference for products with limited supply. Moreover, the motivation for these products is conspicuous consumption to signify characteristics about the consumer.[1]

Context[]

The luxury market is estimated to be €1.2 trillion globally, with personal luxury goods having a value of €260 billion. Online sales grew by 22% during 2018 representing transactions worth €27 billion. While only 47% of luxury consumers are from generations Y and Z, they represent all of the growth in the luxury market.[2] Hype as a marketing strategy has become popular as millennials are the largest cohort of consumers.[3] Research has indicated that the luxury goods market is dominated by LVMH, Estée Lauder, Richemont, and Kering who have generated annual revenues in excess of $USD90 billion.[4]

Hype marketing has also been successful as consumers able to secure limited-edition goods are often been able to profitably resell them; the resale market is a $USD24 billion industry.[5]

Fashion label Vetements used social media channels to promote a limited-edition hoodie that resulted in 500 units being sold in hours recording sales of €445,000.[6]

Hype allows brands to promote their image above the actual quality of the product. Streetwear brands such as Supreme have collaborated with luxury fashion to command premium prices for their goods.[7]

Method[]

Luxury brands typically build hype around a product that has been designed in collaboration, often between high and low fashion brands.[8] Collaborations have been used by some luxury brands to circumvent fast fashion brands copying their designs.[9]

Adam Alter an NYU Professor observes that for a strong brand to create a scarcity frenzy, all they need to do is release a limited number of different products, frequently.[10]

Hype is often built around the creation of a Pop-up retail. Comme des Garçons is understood to one of the first to use this strategy, leasing a short-term vacant shop solved the storage problems of releasing product for quick sale.[11]

The use of celebrities is also popular in creating Hype. The 2017 Fyre Festival is understood to have generated sales of $USD26 million.

Hype also plays to a consumers Fear of missing out.[12]

Popular culture[]

The term ‘hypebeast’ has been coined to define consumers vulnerable to hype marketing. The origins of the term come from the Hong Kong based company Hypebeast. The behaviours of the hypebeast define hype marketing; the purchase of popular goods they can’t afford to impress others.[13] Hype also manifests itself in queues with brands often retailing hyped products through pop-up stores.[14][15]{ The use of Hype has created a range of associated expressions;[citation needed]

  • 'Drop' - the actual release of the product
  • 'Cop' - to purchase the product
  • 'Taking the L' - unsuccessful in attempt to purchase product

Many luxury brands release hyped products via their Online shop. This has led to the creation of companies that allow consumers to use bots to guarantee or improve their chances of purchasing a limited-edition product.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ Cassidy, Nicholas George (2018). The Effect of Scarcity Types on Consumer Preference in the High-End Sneaker Market. Appalachian State University.
  2. ^ "LUXURY GOODS WORLDWIDE MARKET STUDY, FALL–WINTER 2018" (PDF). Bain & Company.
  3. ^ "Millennials: Coming of Age". Goldman Sachs.
  4. ^ "Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2019" (PDF). Deloitte.
  5. ^ "The hype machine: Streetwear and the business of scarcity". BBC.
  6. ^ Porter, Charlie. "How to build a hype brand". The Financial Times.
  7. ^ Mitterfellner, Olga (2019). Fashion Marketing and Communication. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9780429837166.
  8. ^ "Brand collaborations: What worked in 2019". Vogue Business.
  9. ^ Cohen, Arielle K. (2012). Designer Collaborations as a Solution to the Fast- Fashion Copyright Dilemma. Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property.
  10. ^ Alter, Adam (2017). Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780735222847.
  11. ^ "How Comme Des Garçons Changed Retail With Its Pop-Up Stores". Fashion Industry Broadcast.
  12. ^ "Fyre Festival: FOMO Drives the Next Generation of Mobile Customers". Gartner.
  13. ^ "What Is A Hypebeast? 5 Important Aspects of the Hypebeast Lifestyle". Bustle.
  14. ^ Hawes, Byron (26 June 2018). Drop. ISBN 9781576878781.
  15. ^ Renwick, Finlay. "How Waiting In Line Became The Biggest Fashion Trend Of The 2010s". Esquire magazine.
  16. ^ Izundu, Chi Chi. "Why people use bots to buy limited edition trainers". BBC News.
Retrieved from ""