IN THE MARKETING world, fashion is a brand’s buddy. The logic is, if a brand has a good product, it should be tempting.

Not only does fashion give the product a stylish interpretation to sway public opinion, it also gets people to subconsciously want to identify themselves with a certain social set that uses that product.

In the past decade, the fashion industry had become a popular marketing vehicle. Nokia was a pioneer in exploiting the fashion show for branding.

In the late 1990s, it introduced the 8210, the smallest digital phone then, not at a consumer electronics convention but at Kenzo’s fashion show in Paris. The product launch also coincided with Kenzo’s announcement of his retirement although the brand had been sustained by the luxury conglomerate LVMH.

“Since 1998, Nokia has been tying up with fashion designers and the lifestyle set to build the brand,” says Nokia Philippines GM William Hamilton-Whyte.

“We saw the need. That’s why it is very important to listen to this segment of the population and try to determine their expectations. Sometimes it’s very basic – the look and feel of the phone.”

Nokia has recently forged a partnership with the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Lifestyle to mount the fashion collection of Filipino-Australian designer Leonardo Salinas on July 9 at the Makati Shangri-La ballroom. A fashionable phone such as the 6700 Classic is in sync with the design event.

“The 6700 is in full metal,” says Whyte. “It looks like a jewel rather than a phone. Users don’t want everything or a computer. They do want key specific features. It’s got a good camera, memory, and a simple and quick user-interface.”

He observes the fashion industry appeals to the AB group and young consumers – the target market of many big brands. This is one of the reasons a fashion show is attractive to sponsors.

However, Whyte is discreet, selective and calculating about the product launch.

“I am not going to do media – billboards or mass publicity – around this product. Why? Because I believe that this [Nokia 6700 Classic] is a jewel and needs to be treated like one. You need to be precise on whom you are going to address this product. This is why we decided to do it this way.

“My objective is to build the awareness and availability of this product among people who demand this type of product. I can do print but this is spreading it out all over the place and hoping the right people see it. By doing the activities with Inquirer, we are associating the Nokia brand and portfolio of products with the Lifestyle readers.”

Although the return of investments can’t be quantified, a fashion show generates wide coverage and quality of profile.

“The people I expect to see in those events are the ones who usually use this type of phone. That is where the connection is. I build emotional ties with the brand. They get to look, touch, and experience the product in a cozy environment.

“That is where brand connection happens. ‘I was part of this elite private event and I got to experience the new Nokia 6700 because I was in a very smooth lifestyle environment. They know what they are talking about. They know how to take care of us. On top of that, it is exactly the type of product I’m looking for – they say.’

I am not looking for a big Nokia sign. I want people to feel it. When you experience the phone, it becomes irresistible. Frankly, I have not seen any other phone on the market that looks like a jewel.”