Social media has an influence on so many ways in which we live our lives that it is perhaps no surprise that fashion itself is now a tradable commodity in our über- connected living.
Californian-based fashion brand Volga Verdi, is pioneering an innovative idea which offers customers discounts depending on their reach and social network size.
Volga Verdi is an independent, contemporary fashion brand from which specialises in “superbright clothing design and manufacturing”. It was founded 2 years ago by a visionary graphic designer, Peter Green, and conceived as a source of bright, progressive fashion forward pieces for “people with an urge for movement, evolvement, or anybody else looking to escape from greyness and plunge into vibrant color joy.”
The label is inviting customers to help them advertise their brand using their social network reach and offers a tiered discount scheme covering Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Lookbook.nu, Foursquare and others. The incentive scheme requires a customer to actively promote the brand by a like, tweet or other, and depending on the number of followers a user has the percentage of discount is varied.
This is a concept with potentially huge connotations for the way we consumer goods; by tapping into the social aspect of purchases as well as the group buying power already so successful with companies such as Groupon, Living Social and Gumtree, the power of the social media reach for both customer and brand benefit is enormous.
As the brand says, “Volga Verdi is not just a clothing company — it is an art-oriented enterprise, a vehicle-brand for exploration and experiments in creative and socially important fields.”
Have you seen other brands offering a similar discount system? How might this affect the way we read social media actions if we are possibly accepting discounts for our actions?
