How ‘Phygital’ Chinese Fashion Brands Can Spark More Engagement

Yanie Durocher, founder of POMPOM Creative; propelling fashion brands through PR/Social, Production, Digital Clothing/Web3. IG @YanieYanson

Despite the continued popularity of the metaverse, most people don’t know much about it, especially in terms of how to apply it to brands from a marketing/PR standpoint.

Let’s start with the basics first. The metaverse is more of a decentralized organization that represents the new internet wave, mixing reality with virtual and integrating VR, AR, blockchain, NFT and other technologies. This allows the metaverse to live in parallel to the real world but independently of the real world.

My agency SANPOM, which helps fashion brands with their PR and digital strategies, has experience working in the metaverse. In collaboration with a couple of other organizations, we’ve been exploring virtual clothing technology to convert physical clothes into digital versions. This not only assists with e-commerce, promotions and virtual fittings, but it also helps to decrease waste and carbon emissions that physical samples produce. With the fashion industry being the second largest source of environmental pollution in the world, this digital shift is something we’re starting to see more of today.

So, how can fashion brands that are tapping into this new world bring awareness to their “phygital” collections that consistently connect to both the physical and digital worlds?

Understand The Importance Of What You’re Doing

The first area to start with in order to embark on this technology is to understand the importance of it. I really believe this is key, as many potential clients and customers come to me not understanding the value of it, and then end up letting the idea/project go.

Because we’re based in China, I think most of the time this hesitation may be due to political reasons. But many times, it’s really due to the lack of understanding of the technology and being averse to change.

Know Your Story (And Boldly Tell It)

From a PR campaign perspective, make sure your digital fashion tells a story worth talking about and that represents what your brand stands for.

For example, when we were exploring the technology to create a phygital capsule collection with Kornit x Amorphous Studios, we blended different eras together with Renaissance accessories and soft vintage floral patterns. We also created in the meta-environment an archaic run-down ballroom paired with an androgynous alien-like avatar, building up the narrative for embracing inclusivity, the unknown and going against conformity.

Expand Your Reach Through Partnerships

In order to extend your engagement and social/PR impressions, it’s important to use strategies that connect your products to new audiences.

For example, for the collaborative project I mentioned above, we targeted Chinese influencers on the social commerce platform Red Book and dressed them up virtually with the items we wanted to display.

Make Your Products More Interactive

You can also extend your digital or phygital items into games and PR/social campaigns and create different “skins.”

In order to do this properly, it’s important to find talent or agencies who have strong knowledge of the technology in order to communicate effectively while understanding the political boundaries involved. This can help you to avoid a potential PR crisis.

Invest In A Good PR Campaign

A PR campaign could help more tech-driven fashion brands support a company’s ROI through e-commerce. Beyond emphasizing the physical-to-digital (and vice-versa) aspect, your campaign should also focus on how this approach helps solve sustainable issues while lowering the cost of sampling, production, etc.

The ROI for a PR campaign can walk the talk if done properly. This goes from creating a high-quality digital item to strong motion design and a good PR campaign that will interest both media and influencers. What are your thoughts on the possibilities of phygital?

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