As fashion shows go, the one that took place on Facebook Live in April 2021 was unique. The first model to strut down the catwalk was Cindy, a seven-month-old puppy wearing a green and blue canine flotation device. Next up was Mandalay, a tan dog wearing a fleece hoodie with built-in backpack. The omnichannel team at Petco, headed by chief marketing officer Katie Nauman, organized the livestream event, which highlighted canine outfits from two of its house brands. Each item modeled was featured prominently at the bottom of the screen. “If you see something you like, you can just click it and immediately make your purchase,” the host explained. “Get your wallets ready!”

Consumers responded. The event, which lasted just 22 minutes, drew 200,000 live viewers; six months later, nearly 1 million people had watched clips from the show. Sales from the event were twice the cost of producing it; engagement was 2.6 times higher than organizers had expected; and all seven models (provided by a rescue shelter) were adopted afterward. The doggy fashion show was Petco’s first foray into livestream commerce but not its last: Three months later, a livestreamed sports competition for dogs, Petco Field Day, drew 2.4 million viewers and generated twice the return on investment as the fashion show did.

Source: Harvard Business Review (HBR)

Date: October 28th, 2022

Link: https://hbr.org/2022/09/selling-on-tiktok-and-taobao

Discussion

1. This article is a good combination of MIS with marketing. It could easily be discussed in a section on MarTech. In my own Intro to MIS class I first had to explain what MarTech was.
2. “Livestream commerce also creates a sense of community. While traditional online shopping is solitary, livestream commerce has a communal feel—similar to watching the Super Bowl. Consumers are able to see and be seen in what might be thought of as a meaningful social moment. Moreover, they can gain social currency with friends for attending a novel event. Or they may develop friendships by participating in livestream events. “
   There is a traditional notion that the internet isolates. This context and information suggests that the internet is a way to connect. How is this useful for Marketing?
3. “TikTok, for instance, uses an algorithm to connect people with similar interests.”
   What roles are there for MIS majors in this world?