nyden
- H&M's new millennial-focused brand Nyden leveraged Instagram polls and digital creators to curate the design for its latest collection.
- Nyden enlisted nine Instagram influencers - including Refinery29 senior editor Alyssa Coscarelli - to help tap into consumer preferences using Instagram Stories' polling feature.
How do you build engagement and stand out as an e-commerce upstart in the crowded world of social media? Maybe ask social media influencers to get their fans to design your new clothing line.
That's essentially what H&M's startup millennial-focused brand Nyden opted to do for its latest campaign, combining Instagram polls and influencers to crowdsource its latest collection.
Nyden enlisted nine Instagram influencers - including Refinery29 senior editor Alyssa Coscarelli and the Blonde Collective founder Ashley Guyatt - to help tap into consumer preferences using Instagram Stories.
Earlier this month, these influencers used the polling tool on Instagram Stories to collect data on consumer preferences, such as whether they preferred one pattern versus another or zippers as opposed to buttons.
Nyden
"We wanted to show that inspiration can come from anywhere," Skogfeldt told Business Insider. "Social media is where people spend a lot of their time and form their tastes, so it was the perfect platform to do the campaign."
Nyden, which launched in April, is focused on co-creation through partnerships and collaborations with both established and up-and-coming artists, designers or influencers. Some of these "co-creators" have included singer Dua Lipa and tattoo artist Dr Woo, for example.
"We believe that the power in fashion now lies in hands of inspiring, creative people, and not just the runway; co-creation is in our DNA," he said. "This is the beginning of the democratization of fashion itself, where people will lean into all sorts of platforms for inspiration."
On a more strategic level, Nyden is part of H&M's efforts to remain cutting-edge by investing in new ventures and brands outside of its core brand, whether it's men's lifestyle through Arket or sustainable fashion through the brand Cos.
To be sure, crowdsourcing isn't an entirely new concept in marketing, with everyone from Lay's to Dorito's tapping into a broader consumer base to influence their products and marketing. But Nyden's emphasis on crowdsourcing is unique, encompassing both influencers and consumers, said Blake Ricciardi, founder and CEO of streetwear brand Popular Demand.
"This definitely helps consumers feel more engaged with your brand and part of the process, there are more options to buy different brands than there has ever been and companies need to figure out ways to enhance that connection," he said. "Whether that impacts sales positively or negatively that's yet to be seen."
For Nyden, the initial numbers have been promising. Over 425,000 viewers saw the various polls in the influencer posts over the course of two weeks, and the campaign garnered well over 35,000 votes collectively.
"We are really happy with the participation," said Skogfeldt. "We have made sure that we listen to the voice of the people and are giving them what they want."