This week's Internet superstars post features a collaboration between GQ and Nordstrom. These two brands have put together an integrated program that I have been wanting for years.
One may look at this post and wonder the significance of what it means. First, these are two brands that I personally love and follow for their innovative activity in the digital space. Two, I understand the dynamic of collaborating with two very iconic brands and the amount of work that goes into a partnership of this caliber.
The two brands have created an experience that is completely seamless to the consumer which should be the goal for any brands focusing on an online presence. For years retailers have partnered with traditional print publications but the disconnect was the integration of where a consumer could actually purchase the product featured on the glossy pages of the trendy media outlet.
Here's why it works:
- A subscriber of GQ magazine (or online GQ advocate) sees something of interest in an advance month's publication.
- The subscriber visits GQ.com for more info.
- The consumer find the GQ Selects area and clicks on the product library.
- Consumers can scroll through the featured images and when something of interest is appealing can click to a direct link through to Nordstrom to purchase the product.
- That product is co-branded ensuring that a consumer recognized the partnership between the two brands.
Most partnerships I've seen are either unsuccessful in terms of publication release date and product arrival in retail or do not make it easy on the consumer to click directly through to path of purchase. I applaud both parties for making this easy on consumers and creating an online experience I hope many other retailers and publications follow as best practices.
