Selling Philly chic
As our staid old city struts its cool new stuff, two fashion advertising campaigns try to capitalize.
A South Philadelphian craving high fashion decides she must drive to King of Prussia mall to buy a Versace caftan dress featured in an ad shot at her neighborhood restaurant, Dante & Luigi's.
Despite a closet filled with Ben Sherman button-downs, a Northern Liberties hipster chooses a uwishunu.com T-shirt designed by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. to sport underneath a leather blazer for a night out.
Welcome to the untested waters of Philadelphia-centric fashion advertising. Both King of Prussia mall and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. have launched style-driven campaigns this month that play upon the growing chic of the city and its surrounding areas.
What they want, however, is at opposite ends of the Schuylkill Expressway. To capitalize on Philly's emerging rep as a staid urban center gone hip, King of Prussia execs staged their most recent advertising campaign - an extensive effort that includes a glossy "magalog," TV ads and Internet marketing - in city neighborhoods to lure shoppers to the 'burbs.
GPTMC, on the other hand, has developed a line of comfy clothing based on city-touting slogans such as uwishunu.com (text-message-speak for You Wish You Knew, a new tourism corporation blog that clues people in on fun things to do in Philly). GPTMC says it hopes the pieces - which include pajamas, embroidered oversized purses, and T-shirts - serve as walking shout-outs to lure shoppers to the city.
"When people came to Philadelphia, they had no purchase in mind beyond a cheesesteak," said Meryl Levitz, president and chief executive officer of GPTMC. "Here we have Albert Nippon, Urban Outfitters, Paula Hian. . . . Philadelphia has an emerging fashion personality."
In a city that's long been considered second best to New York, especially when it comes to fashion, these marketing campaigns signify an updated, urbane way of looking at Philly.
Center City has become aspirational. So much so that King of Prussia, the bastion of cookie-cutter suburban mall culture, is using the city as a backdrop in nationwide ads to promote its new "boutique culture," represented by stores such as Betsey Johnson and Anne Fontaine.
"We are trying to make a connection to let people know that even if you live in Chestnut Hill, this is your mall," said Carl Rudnick, president of Lorel Marketing Group, the company that has overseen King of Prussia's marketing campaigns for 20 years.
But this new image isn't Philadelphia's for the taking yet, warns Noah Kerner coauthor of Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today's Cluttered Marketplace (Atria Books, $24). Kerner wrote the book with the former creative director for Barneys New York, Gene Pressman.
When a mainstream institution attempts to capitalize on a cool or hip item, Kerner said, the effort can backfire - big time. So a mall that tries to be urbane or a city that bills corporate attire as fashionable may come off as inauthentic.
"Coolness is an understandable desire," Kerner said. "But when you start to try to be something you aren't . . . people can automatically sense when it's not coming from a genuine place."
Pushing Phildelphia's greatness is GPTMC's authentic mission - and the organization has worked to find new ways to reach its audience.
Six months ago, the corporation partnered with the local corporate-apparel company Impact Dimensions to create Gophila Gifts, a line of clothing and accessories around GPTMC's most used slogans: "Boundless Philadelphia," "Philadelphia: The Place to B.Y.O.Be," "Philly's More Fun When You Sleep Over" and "Uwishunu.com: Philadelphia From the Inside Out."
Each slogan is accompanied by about 15 pieces of Old Navy-style gear, including long-sleeved waffle Ts, ski vests and polka-dot shortie pajamas. In addition to clothing, there are slogan-appropriate items like B.Y.O.Be winesleeves and Boundless Philadelphia lip balm.
Levitz said GPTMC signed a $10,000 contract with Impact Dimensions to launch Gophila Gifts; however, since the tourism corporation works regularly with Impact Dimensions, a lot of the startup costs were defrayed.
Right now, the GoPhila Gifts line is available online at gophilagifts.com at wholesale prices so local corporations such as Comcast will be able to order large shipments and add their own logo.
Eventually, Levitz said, she hopes the clothing will be available at retail outlets like Anthropologie and REI as well as museum and hotel gift shops.
"Many people already have the Liberty Bells and the Ben Franklin puppet," Levitz said. "We wanted to develop an alternative line of merchandise that is really representative of what the city has become."
And that's real competition for King of Prussia, which once had the lock on retail luxury. Now that Center City offers many of the same shopping options, such as Coach, Bebe and Cole Haan, the mall finds itself trying to entice customers by pointing out its fusion with city living instead of its separateness.
The Welcome to the Neighborhood campaign is a $1.2 million effort - roughly 60 percent of the mall's $2 million marketing budget, said Mark Bachus, director of marketing. It will last for three years and will be distributed through direct mail, billboards, e-mail, Web sites and television. Crucial to the campaign is a twice-yearly magalog that will feature four neighborhoods in each issue.
"We are part of the city," Rudnick said, explaining the campaign's intended lure. "Everyone is going to shop everywhere. Shop in Philadelphia, live in Philadelphia, but we have another experience for you out there."
The current spring/summer 2007 magalog has 39 pages of fashion, shot in Cape May, Chestnut Hill and the Italian Market.
The models wear a yellow Betsey Johnson dress at Termini Bros. Bakery, Brooks Brothers at Chestnut Hill College and Louis Vuitton in Cape May. A children's spread pays homage to Chinatown (although the photos weren't actually shot there). A center pull-out introduces prospective shoppers to new stores and "neighborhood eateries" at the King of Prussia mall - all of which are chains.
The next issue will promote fall/holiday shopping, Rudnick said. The advertising team hasn't chosen the next four neighborhoods, but those under consideration include Society Hill, University City, Wilmington and Drexel Hill.
Other areas such as North Philly, Germantown, Southwest or neighborhoods deeper in West Philly haven't been discussed yet, Rudnick said.
But if gentrification has its way, North Philly's 21st and Diamond could eventually be magalog material . . . maybe.