The new Facebook app head, in conversation with Diane von Furstenberg, outlines how candid communications, AR try-ons and AI styling advice are the future of fashion.SIGN UP TODAY Key takeaways: Fidji Simo, the new head of the Facebook app, is tasked with overseeing a transition that focuses on personal communications and commerce.The social media giant sees commerce as a way to boost its ad business, and fashion brands play a crucial role in that strategy.Simo sees artificial intelligence as key to powering fashion-friendly features like augmented reality try-on and personal style recommendations.Diane von Furstenberg and Facebook’s Fidji Simo are two women facing a similar challenge: to maintain relevance for iconic companies with ageing demographics.
While von Furstenberg is the face of the 45-year-old wrap dress, Simo is the (less recognisable) head of the Facebook app, a role she assumed in March after eight years at the company.Earlier this month, Simo invited von Furstenberg to the Women in Product conference in San Francisco to speak about her career.The 72-year-old designer and former CFDA chairwoman encouraged the 2,000-strong audience to see flaws as strengths and fears as challenges — a message that also applies to Simo.
At 34, she has inherited a product plagued by distrust, misuse and criticism, and is tasked with guiding the Facebook app through a transition from a “town square” to a “privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform”, in the words of CEO Mark Zuckerberg.Meanwhile, the company is pouring resources into developing new shopping functionality as a way to boost ad spend: in April, Zuckerberg said there was a “continuous spectrum” between advertising and commerce, and that Facebook would focus on tools that make it easier to shop directly from ads in hopes that brands would pay more for them.This month saw the introduction of Facebook Pay , which facilitates a consistent checkout experience on Facebook’s four apps, as well as the ability for businesses to add a product “catalogue” to WhatsApp.This follows the announcement of its blockchain-based Libra cryptocurrency in June and Checkout with Instagram in March.
Facebook’s new strategy emphasises friends and family over publishers and businesses.But that doesn’t exclude brands from joining in, Simo says in an interview following the conference discussion.“You don’t want brands to always be the ones doing the talking,” Simo says.
“What’s powerful is when the brand puts the talking in the hands of people, and people do the talking.Communities are really powerful for that.” She points to Adidas, which has more than 60 Facebook Groups, including local runners’ groups that post run schedules and share event photos.“Marketing today has to be authentic,” von Furstenberg adds, sitting next to Simo on the sofa.“Today is not a good moment to be fake.” Von Furstenberg thinks Facebook is necessary for reaching customers.“Fashion used to depend on two industries: publishing and retail.
Those two industries are … a challenge,” she says, searching for a diplomatic word.“So it is very important for a brand to be in charge and to be a publisher and a retailer.Through Facebook, you can.” Fashion marketers agree.In a custom data analysis for Vogue Business by marketing insights company BrandTotal , paid social media activity increased across the board for Gucci, Coach and Diane von Furstenberg by 164 per cent in the last year, with Facebook accounting for 75 per cent of total ad budget allocation.
In 2020, Facebook is expected to maintain the top spot among social platforms in ad revenue, claiming approximately $22 billion, compared to Instagram’s $14 billion, according to eMarketer.But brands are increasingly allocating their budgets to Instagram, whose share grew from 1 per cent to 15 per cent in 2019, BrandTotal found, highlighting the need for Facebook to maintain relevance among fashion advertisers.Maintaining a focus on video “Video is exploding,” says Simo, who worked at Ebay for four years before joining Facebook in 2011, where she oversaw the launch of Facebook Live and Facebook Watch.More than 140 million people spend at least one minute in Watch every day, and daily visitors average more than 26 minutes.
Last year, Facebook (including Instagram) nabbed one-fourth of all video ad spending in the US, at $6.8 billion.It beat Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube.YouTube claimed $3.4 billion in net US video ad revenues and has been aggressively going after fashion .Facebook is also threatened by TikTok ; Instagram just introduced Instagram Reels in Brazil, which takes a cue from TikTok’s playbook.
When building Facebook’s video products, Simo focused on Facebook’s mission to connect people and build relationships.“It’s not, ‘Let’s just have people watch video’,” she says.To that end, video content on Facebook allows for groups and communities to talk about what’s happening in the show, she says.
Facebook is testing ways for people to use videos to buy and sell; this includes the ability for brands to tag products in video posts and for fans to place orders during Facebook Live broadcasts.It’s also testing the ability for some to tag products in Facebook Stories, which already exists on Instagram.As Facebook, Inc.is in the process of linking the apps more closely , this could pave the way for the Facebook app to adopt some of Instagram’s shopping-friendly features.Huda Beauty’s Instagram-famous founders Huda and Mona Kattan have a Facebook Watch reality show called “Huda Boss”, which features makeup tutorials and behind-the-scenes content that could easily incorporate product promotions.(Already, @hudabeautyshop’s 6.1 million Instagram followers can buy recommended products through Checkout on Instagram .) “We’ve launched a variety of products that make it very easy, right from someone’s Feed, to tap into a product and buy it right in line,” Simo says.“In the past, fashion brands had to attract people to a website or store.” Increasing investments in AI When it comes to building new products and features, Simo says it’s best “to look at what people are already trying to do and help them do it”.
It was after observing that people were using Facebook to find their partner that the company launched Facebook Dating.Similarly, Facebook Marketplace was created in response to users buying and selling clothes in neighbourhood Facebook groups.Simo sees artificial intelligence as a key focus for unlocking new features.“The beauty of AI is that it spans everything.AI powers AR, it powers VR,” she says.“So if we get that right, you actually get a lot of applications.” The Facebook app just integrated augmented reality into ads in News Feed, which lets people “try on” products without leaving the app.
Coach, for example, used AR commerce to let people try on sunglasses.“The no.1 problem online is that you cannot try things on.With the advent of augmented reality, you can now try on glasses, makeup,” Simo says.
“That opens up new avenues for innovation for fashion brands.” She also thinks people will turn to Facebook for style advice.In September, Facebook AI researchers published a study called Fashion ++ , which uses machine learning to make recommendations on how to make outfits more stylish.“[This] is an incredibly complex problem because style is all about humans and taste, if we manage to get some of that right — not entirely, because I deeply believe that humans need to remain part of the equation,” she says.
Von Furstenberg points out that good fashion design is similar.“There’s fashion in what [Facebook does] because it’s the air of the times.Fashion is not just what designers impose; it’s what designers capture from the street, what they capture from the people.” To receive the Vogue Business Technology Edit, sign up here ..
