Like all good brands, Christian Dior has had to make fun video content.

Since all labels aren’t created equal, neither should their video content be homogenous.  It just needs to exist and engage.  At least, that’s the salient point made by Yuli Ziv, the founder of Style Coalition, in an interview with eMarketer.  The CEO of the online network of beauty and fashion influencers speaks to the increased importance of original video content for brands:

• First and definitely foremost, Ziv points out that there’s a necessary spectrum when it comes to creating this kind of content.  Huge luxury labels can — and might as well — spend big to bring in well-known directors, but smaller labels working with user-generated and more grassroots content can be just as successful.  Of course, we’d like to point out that bigger labels can also well afford to create more extensive content — take, for example, brands high (Longchamp) and low (Mango), who created original online series.
• Ziv also points out that video isn’t automatically engaging.  Every brand has to find a way to make it compelling.  Kate spade new york* is a good example — recent video content included “choose-your-own” features to get viewers involved. J. Crew also released a super charming video ad that required viewers to “turn on” music for the model.
• In general, this is still new territory for brands, according to Ziv.  After all, up until recently, brands’ sole advertising focus was print.  Moreover, this kind of content can now be tracked to see how it generates sales.  That said, there is solid evidence that video works….so brands better keep it up.

Last but not least, Ziv makes the point that fashion video content in general is heading away from being purely commercial.  For brands across the spectrum, the videos they create should be compelling, tell the company’s story or communicate its message, and engage with the viewer (somehow), all with the ultimate hope that the piece eventually goes viral.

*Disclosure: kate spade new york is owned by Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc., the sponsor of this site.