Connecting to Consumers Through Entertainment and Culture

Activate Consulting’s Technology and Media Outlook for 2025 finds that multitasking leads to a 32-hour long day for the average American, with over 13 hours spent using technology and media in spheres such as video, audio, gaming, messaging, social media and web browsing.

Further research forecasts that consumers will spend an additional nine minutes each day in these forums by 2028 — an incremental increase that will add a further $10 billion to the US consumer technology and media industry. As a result of the increasing significance of these content mediums, the fashion and apparel industries are investing significantly in new capabilities, new partners and new methods of connecting with consumers at large.

This consumption shift will require timely investment around the scope and size of its cultural tie-ups with adjacent sectors. Indeed, Amazon has been working to implement shoppable entertainment across its offerings. While its shows such as “The Summer I Turned Pretty” have complementing in-app storefronts, Amazon’s recent livestream of the revived Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was supported with cues for viewers to open their Amazon app to shop product, as part of a strategic bid to make the show more “accessible,” Sarah Sylvester, EVP of marketing at Victoria’s Secret, told BoF.

And while fashion brands have a long history of engaging with popular culture, 2024 has marked a pivotal year for the industry in terms of the scope and size of its cultural tie-ups with adjacent sectors. Brands like Apple and Nike have strategically partnered on sports films, and leading conglomerate LVMH has forged a major, multi-year partnership with Formula One following its investment in The Olympics.

To discuss the opportunities in these cultural tie-ups, and the winning strategies that are connecting fashion brands to new consumers, Amazon Fashion and BoF brought together executives for an intimate roundtable at Sant Ambroeus in Milan. Leaders from CP Company, Love Moschino, Stone Island, Reebok, Luxottica, Twinset, United Colours of Benetton, Corneliani, Harmont and Blaine and BasicNet were in attendance.

Hosted by Amazon Fashion’s head of business development in Europe, Jennifer Populorum, and its director of music and culture, Phylicia Fant, and moderated by BoF’s Robin Mellery-Pratt and Alice Gividen, the discussion was conducted under the Chatham House Rule, allowing attendees to share freely and openly with their peers.

“At Amazon, we’re tracking how this world of multitasking is dividing up consumer attention — they’re looking online for inspiration while streaming music, gaming and engaging with social media,” said Amazon Fashion’s Populorum, in her opening comments. “While we have a huge e-commerce offering, we also have video, music and gaming platforms that all act as strong routes to consumers. So we’re asking, how do we break through all the noise with a blend of entertainment and commerce that connects most authentically with customers.”

“We also talk a lot about a shared cultural conversation — particularly across music. For us, it’s all about taking on the role of building a shared narrative and experience for consumers,” added Fant. “It’s why we power quick delivery of merch, creating a shared uniform for everyone walking into stadium concerts. This feels different to the days of visiting a merch stand at the event. We talk a lot about emotion and fandom — and showing up for the consumer in this space is one of the ways we work to be a key part of the narrative.”

Below, BoF shares anonymised insights from the discussion.

Blend commerce and entertainment for cut-through in a saturated market

“My motto is entertainment, not advertising,” said one guest, in their first remarks. “We focus much more on communications — connection with our community — than we do traditional performance marketing. However, it’s a challenging thing to measure. Often, this way of working results in brand aficionados or cut-through online, but to parlay that into scale and into real long-term sales is something that takes work and is hard to quantify.”

“Our experience was that we were just posting and prioritising editorials. We were less good on the narrative content — on connecting our customers to a point-of-sale,” said another guest. “We know that customers are losing interest in advertisements in seconds and so we have to work hard to delight the consumer. How do we ensure the entertainment piece is there, so that we can walk through those critical additional seconds of engagements together.”

“I think the beauty of where I see this going is to be able to do that authentically in real time,” agreed Amazon’s Jennifer Populorum “That you can be entertained on one channel and be shopping in another for something that complements that hobby. Take football, for instance, we could offer limited edition products, connected to championship finals, so that the moment the final whistle blows, fans are able to shop pre-made merch for their winning team. The commerce component is still there, but much more deeply connected to that entertainment factor.”

Tap into music’s fandom culture to further brand reach

“We have to talk about the sheer emotion that comes with music’s fandom culture. Concerts don’t just happen in the abstract — we talk a lot about the aesthetic look and feel of the concert, and the brands that connect to that.” said one guest. “If fashion is thinking about capitalising on a tour, then they have to think about how they can get the largest amount of people to be part of this one moment. Maybe merch is the winning strategy, but maybe it’s about owning a colour, an item, a complementing component to what the artist is wearing on stage. What’s the iconic symbol of this concert? How can brands be brought into the cultural conversation?”

Amazon’s Phylicia Fant agreed. “We’ve been working to capitalise on major tours, like those of Beyoncé and Doja Cat, by connecting with the cultural moments they create. The goal is to not just be part of the conversation, but to lead it. We saw it with Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour, where we helped her to really ‘own’ the colour silver, offering exclusive merch ahead of the concert through fast delivery. Our vision is to create a cohesive community experience, integrating Amazon as a cultural partner. That’s how we show up for the consumer and truly make an impact.”

Any collaboration we explore across different cultural spaces has to occur organically — it cannot be overtly marketed.

“When you look at Taylor Swift fans and their friendship bracelets, or at Harry Styles fans and their cowboy hats and feather boas, I think it’s important to note that those decisions were not made by their teams,” countered one guest. “Those aesthetic choices are all relatively natural, organic, authentic things that are being born out of the shared experience. Brands need support to understand how to tap into the zeitgeist quickly if they want to create an authentic moment that resonates with a fandom’s uniform.”

“Beyond the live components of artists touring and music concerts, the power of music — working with seasoned innovators in spatial audio and sound — can add a very interesting complementing force to a fashion brand,” added another attendee. “If we’re hyper focused on building those cultural moments, and we’re working to build an immersive brand experience, then music is a really powerful way to connect product, content and entertainment.”

Harness the ‘live’ element of sports events for attention and engagement

“The cultural relevance and presence of sport cannot be denied. Look at American Football — the NFL effectively owns television three nights a week. If fashion can begin to leverage that attention and connect with the storylines and narratives that build out of those live moments, then we can leverage those attention spans,” said one guest. “If you are launching something on a Friday — having an activation or moment during a Thursday night sports event or livestream is going to have an impact.”

“I think fashion is always seeking that emotional and creative attachment to the consumer. As creators of product, first and foremost, over experience, it’s hard to achieve that organically, without borrowing from live events across culture,” agreed another attendee. “Look at the Premier League, with its global viewership and emotional impact. It may only feature teams from the UK, but it has impressive reach in both the US and Asia. How can fashion brands work with entities like the Premier League to foster that kind of emotion and generate real excitement?”

Look for cultural partners who act as natural brand extensions

“When we look for cultural collaborators, we are looking for people who really embrace the brand DNA — not just because they’re culturally relevant or because of who they are, but because they truly match the brand values we have built,” said one guest. “The challenge is to actually understand and realise any new opportunities we have. These aren’t all easy to spot.”

“I agree that authenticity and relevance are particularly important here. The starting point for us is, are we able to authentically enter into the culture?” agreed another guest. “Any collaboration we explore across different cultural spaces has to occur organically — it cannot be overtly marketed. It’s not about pushing on the sell side — we really are just measuring our ability to strengthening the connection we have with a community.”

Acknowledge the need to market responsibly across entertainment channels

“When we think about gaming, we know that Gen Alpha relies on peer-to-peer recommendations when it comes to choosing which game to play and spend time in,” said one guest. “And when their friends are invested, they too are all in and will be asking their parents to spend money on game extensions, virtual outfits, bonus avatars. For brands, this can be a very early, organic touchpoint with a young audience. It’s crucial we do that responsibly.”

When you look at Taylor Swift fans and their friendship bracelets, or at Harry Styles fans and their cowboy hats and feather boas, I think it’s important to note that those decisions were not made by their teams.

“There is some early research that suggests that even three-year-olds today are able to distinguish between brands, and will even begin to have positive or negative associations with those brands. That level of exposure comes with real responsibility.” agreed another guest. “That’s why, for me, this kind of marketing is a different game. Working in fashion, producing real products, means I would rather lean into the live components of music and events rather than marketing in gaming for the moment.”

Find potential early adopter advantage in the new technologies

“Technology such as AR and VR can actually be used to delve into and enhance stories of traditional craft,” said one attendee. “For instance, at fashion presentations, you can overlay physical models and products with avatars, environments or even detail about the product and the materials.”

“It allows you to be very attentive when it comes to your brand or collection concept,” agreed another guest. “It’s an interesting thing to start to investigate, if you’re thinking about designing an entire environment for your brand from the ground up. However, I want to explore augmented reality for conversion purposes — particularly in relation to 3D modelling and fit. Proper at-home virtual try on. This is more commercially-oriented, but I believe the experience still isn’t quite there for consumers. We need to see innovation.”

“If you look back to the first Apple conference for the very first iPhone, the camera functionality was an afterthought. In the latest rollout, the camera was a hero feature and took up almost an hour of the presentation,” said one final guest, in their closing remarks. “Combining this with its rollout of AI capabilities, and plans to continue to innovate VisionPro, our customers are going to get much, much more comfortable with this kind of technology. This rollout will open up a lot of opportunities for us, as brands. We’re excited to see where this innovation could take us.”

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Amazon Fashion as part of a BoF partnership.