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Fashionable Metrics: Styleite.com Offers Data for the Fashion Industry
Submitted by Macala Wright on 04/04/2010 – 7:34 PM3 Comments
Last week, legal correspondent Dan Abrams launched Styleite, a website that gives fashion business professional what they really want for evaluating the effectiveness of marketing – statistics. Styleite’s “Power Grid” uses statistics to rank the top editors, personal-style bloggers, models, executives and other industry professionals. There’s been tremendous buzz and conversations among fashion communities.
What is the Power Grid?
It is an objective ranking of roughly 2,000 known and important players in fashion today, divided into categories that include Fashion Titans, Magazine Editors, Fashion Writers, and Brands. A comprehensive list of categories (and their specific metrics by which they are ranked are listed below.)
How does it rank fashion industry professionals?
The grid creates a unique algorithm specifically design to weight fashion industry content (something commonly overlooked by many other ranking valuation systems), combining the traditional metrics used for judging influence, such as Marc Jacob’s estimated net worth or the estimated number of magazines Anna Wintour sells, or how many models Ford Models contracts, with less traditional metrics such as Google hits and Twitter influence.
How do the rankings change?
Unlike other media rankings, this system changes in real-time. Imagine a particular brand coming out with a must-have and hot-selling piece, or perhaps a particular article in a certain magazine gaining tremendous buzz. These individuals will move up the influence charts shortly after their faces, voices or bylines appear in the media. More importantly, each category has a different algorithm depending on what are the most important factors for that group.
Creating unique algorithm sets to gauge value bloggers, fashion writers and online influencers
For example, rankings for personal style bloggers are determined by the number of Twitter followers (if applicable), online buzz of his/her proper name, blog buzz of his/her proper name, online buzz of the bloggers’ site, blog buzz of the bloggers’ site, and the number of online unique visitors.
In contrast, rankings for fashion writers, those who report for prominent publications such as the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, are determined by the number of Twitter followers (if applicable), industry insider buzz, online buzz of proper name, blog buzz of proper name, online buzz of affiliated publication, blog buzz of affiliated publication, print circulation of affiliated publication, and the number of online unique visitors on the affiliated publication’s website.
Styleite hopes to create an online valuation system that caters to fashion-oriented content online. For a more in-depth overview of how the algorithm and the website works, visit Styelite.com.
The Million Dollar Marketing Question
How did you think Styleite created an online metric specifically related to fashion industry content?
The biggest problem with current metric systems is they aren’t taylored to the valuation systems that the fashion industry uses, for example Technorati. The Power Grid uses Technorati or Google Blog search and Twitter in its algorithm, but the emphasis put on these isn’t the same that a traditional technology site would, so how does a website such as this balance the data formula?
Editor’s Note: We tried to reach marketing and PR executives at Styelite to discuss the grid on how they collect their data, what they base their algorithms on and how that would translates to future trending; the site declined to comment.
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As a student interested in a career in fashion, this post really caught my attention. I was not previously aware of Styleite.com, and am now intrigued by the Power Grid. It has the potential to become a legitimate, respected industry tool that is thorough, comprehensive, accurate, and unique. That being said, I would need to find out more about the rankings' algorithms before I fully supported the feature. I especially feel this way after I investigated some of the Power Grid's current rankings, like the “Designers” category. Alexander McQueen ranks second after Marc Jacobs. He is followed by Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfeld, and Giorgio Armani. Next, I evaluated the top five “Fashion Titans.” Again Marc Jacobs was number one followed by Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, and Kate Moss. Clearly, the same designers take the cake in this category, minus McQueen. In fact, McQueen is not even a candidate for Fashion Titans. Why then is he currently the number two designer in the world, beating out legends like Lauren, Lagerfeld, and Armani? Clearly McQueen's very recent, untimely death has made its way onto the internet. I am well aware that there are a plethora of news articles and blog posts online regarding his tragic end. And if Google hits and Twitter influence are factored into the ranking system, then McQueen undoubtedly scores very high in these criteria due to all the media hype surrounding his suicide, not necessarily his influence as a designer. Obviously, what makes the Power Grid unrivaled is its reflection of real time. As his death fades from the news, he may drop in rankings. Still, as of now he stands as the second greatest designer in the world, which is potentially misleading. This leads me to wonder how an individual's rankings are affected when the person is involved in a controversial scandal or gets negative press. These issues could be personal and have nothing to do with their work in the fashion industry. However, if the situation is heavily covered by the press, does that help the individual move up in rankings? I would like to know how Styleite.com is taking this into account, if it all. Maybe the site feels that there is no such thing as “bad” press?
There are other issues to consider, too. In terms of the layout and design of Styleite.com, the Power Grid was not easily accessible from the home page. The celebrity pictures on the bottom half of the page do not do the application justice. All of the tabs at the top link users to articles and stories rather then the rankings. If Abrams wants the Power Grid to be successful, he should make it a more prominent part of the site's opening page. Also, I think it would be helpful if the individuals in the rankings had bios to go along with their pictures and stats. Besides these details, though, most importantly I pose the same question as you, “How does a website such as this balance the data formula?” If you ever find the answer to this, be sure to let readers like myself know. Thanks again for the informative post.
As a student interested in a career in fashion, this post really caught my attention. I was not previously aware of Styleite.com, and am now intrigued by the Power Grid. It has the potential to become a legitimate, respected industry tool that is thorough, comprehensive, accurate, and unique. That being said, I would need to find out more about the rankings' algorithms before I fully supported the feature. I especially feel this way after I investigated some of the Power Grid's current rankings, like the “Designers” category. Alexander McQueen ranks second after Marc Jacobs. He is followed by Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfeld, and Giorgio Armani. Next, I evaluated the top five “Fashion Titans.” Again Marc Jacobs was number one followed by Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, and Kate Moss. Clearly, the same designers take the cake in this category, minus McQueen. In fact, McQueen is not even a candidate for Fashion Titans. Why then is he currently the number two designer in the world, beating out legends like Lauren, Lagerfeld, and Armani? Clearly McQueen's very recent, untimely death has made its way onto the internet. I am well aware that there are a plethora of news articles and blog posts online regarding his tragic end. And if Google hits and Twitter influence are factored into the ranking system, then McQueen undoubtedly scores very high in these criteria due to all the media hype surrounding his suicide, not necessarily his influence as a designer. Obviously, what makes the Power Grid unrivaled is its reflection of real time. As his death fades from the news, he may drop in rankings. Still, as of now he stands as the second greatest designer in the world, which is potentially misleading. This leads me to wonder how an individual's rankings are affected when the person is involved in a controversial scandal or gets negative press. These issues could be personal and have nothing to do with their work in the fashion industry. However, if the situation is heavily covered by the press, does that help the individual move up in rankings? I would like to know how Styleite.com is taking this into account, if it all. Maybe the site feels that there is no such thing as “bad” press?
There are other issues to consider, too. In terms of the layout and design of Styleite.com, the Power Grid was not easily accessible from the home page. The celebrity pictures on the bottom half of the page do not do the application justice. All of the tabs at the top link users to articles and stories rather then the rankings. If Abrams wants the Power Grid to be successful, he should make it a more prominent part of the site's opening page. Also, I think it would be helpful if the individuals in the rankings had bios to go along with their pictures and stats. Besides these details, though, most importantly I pose the same question as you, “How does a website such as this balance the data formula?” If you ever find the answer to this, be sure to let readers like myself know. Thanks again for the informative post.
Amanda – Thank you for providing such valuable insights. You're on the money with your assessment. I think we should give you an editorial position. You've picked up on my million dollar question, “How does the website balance the data formula?” Several analysts and researchers I work with saw this post and asked the same thing. The felt that all the things you mentioned would have direct and indirect impacts on the algorithm; but moreover, the methods/sources of data weren't in the correct balance given current rankings of certain individuals/brands. If I find out, I'll let you know