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EVENT AT A GLANCE
Objective: Improve sales results from apparel-industry trade shows for Audigier brands such as Ed Hardy.
Strategy: Launch a private trade show to focus attention on Audigier products and help like-minded brands increase show revenue while allowing creative and brand freedom traditional shows did not. Capitalize on the celebrity lifestyle appeal and energy of the brands.
Tactics: Create an immersive environment that allows buyers to experience the authenticity of the brand messages through live performances, celebrity appearances, and after-show events.
Results: The flagship Ed Hardy brand reported a 38-percent increase in revenue compared to participation in broader industry events.
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iant goldfish and fiery dragons. Blondes in roses and skulls in leather helmets — with no shortage of blingy goodness. Call it biker chic for the Robertson Boulevard set.
This is the Ed Hardy brand, based on the work of Don Ed Hardy, the “godfather of modern tattoo,” and pioneered by French-born, LA-based fashion mogul Christian Audigier, whose meteoric rise in the fashion world has been built on in-your-face cuts, imagery, and tomorrow’s take on street style. Audigier’s Hollywood- and rock-friendly brands also include teen-focused Crystal Rock, Latin-inspired Paco Chicano, an eponymous line, and the official Johnny Hallyday brand, Smet.
When one-namers like Madonna, Britney, and Diddy are often snapped wearing Hardy and Smet, you can bet the average consumer feels like a renegade rock star in an Audigier T-shirt. But despite the star power, Audigier’s brands still needed to reach the retailers who could move the merchandise. For Audigier, that meant an annual presence at the Magic Marketplace — the apparel industry’s biggest buyer event, held twice a year in Las Vegas.
Initially, Audigier thrived at the semiannual Magic events, even going so far as to be named the featured designer at the February 2008 event, after ringing up $35 million in orders on the show floor at the August 2007 event. Yet as his brands, space, and general force of presence at Magic grew — his 1,500-square-foot space at the February 2008 marketplace, for example, featured an in-booth concert by Snoop Dogg — the prescribed, more formal confines of the traditional trade show environment began to chafe.
Exhibitors who shared the hall with his brands complained about loud music, smoke machines, and provocatively dressed models and dancers in his booths. Audigier, true to form, saw it as just another testimony that he was on the right track. So after the February 2008 Magic Marketplace, he began to reevaluate his relationship with the traditional apparel shows. His current market share and presence, he thought, would allow him to meet the market in his way, on his brands’ terms. Instead of cramping his message to fit somebody else’s rules, he would capitalize on the energy and the momentum of his brands, and roll his own way. The next time, it would be au revoir Magic, bon jour proprietary branded environment: One where bravura and decibels were prized, not shunned. Welcome to When I Move, You Move (WIMYM).
“When I Move You Move means ‘If you like me, come. If you don’t, don’t come,’” Audigier says. “It’s a different way of doing business. Through my lines I have created a story and a lifestyle, and I want to express that with my show. I didn’t want just another trade show; I wanted an experience that people will never forget.”
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| Audigier Media Inc. adopted a boxing theme for the company’s first incarnation of When I Move You Move (WIMYM) in August of 2008. |
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PLANNING FOR A PAYOFF
To make WIMYM pay off experientially and financially, Audigier set a goal of surpassing the historic at-show sales figures for his existing brands. He enlisted Kasandra Carlson, a former national sales manager for Magic, as the director of trade shows and events for his newly founded Audigier Media Inc., and set off to build a rock-and-style experience that would keep Audigier brands in the spotlight, while keeping buyers all to himself.
In a bold move, Audigier Media scheduled the event to coincide with the 2008 Magic Marketplace in August, and secured the exhibit hall at Las
Vegas’ Caesar’s Palace, which is less than three miles from the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Exhibitors would comprise not only Audigier brands, but also licensees — growing the exhibitor count to 200. “We had everything from jewelry to accessories to shoes to sportswear,” Carlson says. While priority was given to the brand licensees, approximately 25 percent of the 200 exhibitors represented outside lines, hand-picked by Audigier Media. “We wanted to have like-minded brands that complemented each other and didn’t directly compete,” Carlson adds
 The promise of strong celebrity support and Audigier’s brand buzz enticed WIMYM’s exhibitors to pay $15,000 for a turnkey rental 10-by-10-foot booth (uniform rentals were the only exhibit option offered). With a choice of four sizes up to 400 square feet, exhibitors could pick the appropriate square footage and throw in personal touches and creativity without the hassle or expense of bringing a custom exhibit to the event. A huge contributor to offsetting the event costs, exhibitor fees also included promotion before and after the show, links from the event Web site, time slots for participation in fashion runway shows, and the pledge of focused, quality traffic.
IN THE CLUB
Several months before WIMYM, the management team rolled out a promotional campaign to retail buyers on apparel-industry Web sites and in targeted publications, and sent out personal invitations to specific buyers and other stakeholders Audigier wanted to ensure would make time to move with him. In the days immediately prior to and during the event, taxis in Las Vegas sported WIMYM rooftop signage, and imagery was installed on multiple stationary and moving billboards around the city.
To further the event’s brand authenticity, Audigier decided not to hire any temporary help, instead bringing in employees from his various divisions to work registration and other event-related administrative functions. “Many of them are very familiar with the retailers, and they understand the customers,” Carlson says. “So it was a nice way for them to have additional face time. A director from one of our stores, for example, registered VIP guests.”
The on-site experience began in a foyer-like space in front of the exhibit area, where Audigier himself, clad in a white jacket and surrounded by rolling cameras and a crowd, gave interviews on a plush, white couch. Passing by this first blast of celebrity atmosphere, attendees walked down a red carpet through hallways lined with banners in Audigier’s corporate gold, black, and white, past dancers on individual podiums, and into two 35,000-square-foot exhibit halls.
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| Audigier upped the exclusivity ante by scaling back in 2009, allowing only his brands to participate in the February WIMYM event. |
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Anchoring each event hall was a boxing-ring-style runway, communicating an overall theme of movement. According to Carlson, boxing is one of Audigier’s passions, and the ideas of quick reactions and staying fit — not only physically, but in terms of reacting to rapid-fire market changes — were part of the show’s philosophy. So it was fitting that former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson lead the models into the ring during the opening fashion show.
Throughout the event, the runways were used for live performances by artists including Macy Gray and Snoop Dogg, as well as for several fashion shows of the participating brands’ attire. “Christian is very hands on with the celebrity involvement,” Carlson says. “Many of them come to him for assistance with their own collections. For example, he helped Macy Gray develop and launch her line, SNAC by Macy Gray. So the friendships stay and they collaborate on various projects.” Gray’s new line was, of course, among the several brands debuting at WIMYM, blasting out of the chute with a choreographed introduction in the boxing-ring runway, complete with SNAC-clad dancers, a club-like lightshow, and a live performance by Gray.
After show hours, the party moved to Treasure Island Hotel and Casino just a few blocks down the Strip, to Christian Audigier The Nightclub. Opened in July 2008, it is a natural habitat for people in rhinestone-tattoo t-shirts and slinky, skull-emblazoned tanks and dresses. Here, the off-show floor show continued, as WIMYM arranged for pool-side fashion events at the indoor/outdoor club. As the night continued, runway shows transformed into all-night parties at the club upstairs, where both Gray and Stewart performed. According to Carlson, the intense evening program at the club amplified the fashion appeal and gave a new dimension to the entire event.
 ROCK-SOLID RESULTS
The exhibitors generally gave positive feedback about their experience and the return on their investment. “Ed Hardy Neckwear felt WIMYM was energetic, entertaining, organized, and consistent with the feeling of the brand,” says Jessica Eisenberg, marketing coordinator for MMG Corp., which represents the licensed line of neckwear. The company usually has a large presence at Magic, and this year decided to participate in both shows. According to Carol Kamburis, MMG’s marketing director, the expectation was to be able to validate the popularity of the brand and to open new accounts at the show, which is exactly what happened.
“Logistically, participating in WIMYM was a lot easier than Magic because we only had to rent space and didn’t have to worry about the custom booth,” Kamburis says. “And we knew that we would be the only neckwear line and so there were no direct competitors.”
Stepping off the beaten path can be a difficult move, but in this case it paid off for all involved parties. Over the three days of the show, some 6,500 attendees, many representing top retailers such as Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Dillard’s, walked the floor and soaked in the rock glamour. “We created $50 million for Ed Hardy in new revenue,” Carlson says. Last year the brand reportedly booked $36 million during Magic and Project, a concurrent fashion trade show, combined. “Outside brands, such as Humanity, reported anywhere from $800,000 to more than $2.5 million in orders made at the show. That is a huge success for us and for our exhibitors.”
WIMYM was reprised in February of 2009, with a scaled-back presence to reflect the economic downturn. Comprising one exhibit hall instead of two, the event upped the exclusivity ante by only allowing Audigier’s brands and licensees, as opposed to also including the complimentary brands that were invited in 2008. Once again, the event presented the various brands’ new collections, and, according to Audigier, invigorated the retail industry while building excitement and positive energy.
According to Audigier, WIMYM
is all set to take up a permanent spot on the show calendar for the dates concurrent with Magic. As the celebrity lineup is being finalized for the event’s next iteration, rumors are swirling of Madonna’s participation. But prospective attendees can be sure of one thing: Regardless of who takes the stage, the event will undoubtedly be larger than life. “Christian never stops,” Carlson says. “With him, it is always something dramatic.” E
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