showcase day 3
A Multidisciplinary World Of Media
-Vogue & Condé Nast Panel Coverage
by Franklin Dong
On Wednesday April 24th, LARA welcomed guests from Vogue and Condé Nast to speak on a fashion media panel for its third day of Showcase Week events. Katie Knoll, the global associate director of brand marketing at Vogue, represented an interdisciplinary role that serves as an important liaison between the sales and editorial teams; Ingu Chen, an art director at Vogue, spoke on her creative processes and responsibilities of identifying and establishing a concrete and unified visual language for the company; and Jody Jones, senior manager of content strategy and growth at Condé Nast, elaborated on her role as a crucial internal consultant for companies and brands to help them connect the dots and find an aligned direction. Together, the three guests offered a set of insights that captured the essence of a multifaceted conglomerate like Vogue; the advice and experience they shared also allowed the students in the audience to glimpse into the working realities of fashion media.
A common theme throughout the panel was the guests’ emphasis on the nowadays importance of multidisciplinary problem-solving skills. For Katie, having the open-mindedness and creative thinking capabilities to spot a possible connection between Vogue and an unlikely advertising partner is often what establishes a successful advertising campaign. “We worked with Porsche, for example. Although cars and Vogue don’t seem that related at first glance, everyone drives, and our guests need to be driven to our events, so there is a connection and a partnership to be found there.” When I asked her about a memorable unlikely partnership that she helped establish over the years at Vogue, she recounted an experience working with an appliance company under the greater brand of GE. “We had this video series at the time called Good Morning Vogue.” Katie said. “It was produced video but it was meant to feel on-the-ground, news-esque. They wanted to do a branded episode and we worked with the head designers, who were a lovely mother-daughter duo, to do a video where they were in the kitchen making coffee and talking about fashion. Through the video you can see their products and them being used, so it did a good job of advertising for them.”
For Ingu, a multidisciplinary role as an art director exists as a translator and facilitator between the editorial and art team. Balancing one’s own creative interests with the ones of the company is always a challenge, and for Ingu, the key is to first see the shareholders’ goals and identify a proper way to translate them artistically. “When you first get a project, you can take some time to creatively brainstorm, even go rogue a bit if you want, but eventually you have to consider restraints. Prioritize legibility and efficacy, that is the way to visually communicate clearly.” With the implementation and proliferation of technology that is sure to fundamentally change the operations of every industry, the world of fashion journalism is no exception. Digital publishing has effectively eliminated the competitiveness of physical publications, and it is interesting and important to see how an industry giant such as Vogue acclimates to this new reality. “I think this calls for the editorial and art departments to really communicate, but what’s more important is to learn new skills that can make you a multidisciplinary creative that can live up to new challenges.”
Jody’s response to the seismic shift that is brought into fashion media by technology is to remain constantly prepared to pivot strategically. “People now want more authentic and human focused content. Content sharing has become a lot easier with technology, especially since we have gone through the process of going global and unification, it is easy for the world to see our content. With new technology, it’s important to maintain constant iteration of marketing strategies to always be ready.” With her responsibility as working for Condé Nast brands globally, Jody often acts as an internal consultant to her client brands that come to her and her team with issues surrounding brand image and marketing strategies. “It’s important for us to look at the problem, but ultimately try to understand what the actual problem is. We do a lot of similar things for different brands but the key is to listen to them tell us their story. We love going on listening tours and unpacking that afterwards. And because there is often a shortage of resources, being quick thinking and coming up with an alternative solution is always appreciated.”
When asked about valuable skills and general advice on entering fashion media and related fields, the guests were unanimous in their emphasis in networking and outreach. “Most of the time, job postings are not that real.” Katie smiled and her accompanying guests nodded in agreement. “And don’t give up on applying for a job because you think you are not qualified. Go for it.” “I got the job that I have now because of a friend that I worked with.” Ingu said. “Maybe networking isn’t even the right word; just finding good friends you can nerd out with is really important, and a good sense of humor goes a long way.” She chuckled. “Don’t forget to connect what you are doing to the bigger picture.” Jody added. “Remember your end goal, why you’re doing this.”