universe:
Europe 40,91%; Americas 31,76%; Asia 21,22%; Oceania 4,31%; Africa 1,66%; (not set) 0,13%
demographics: audience profile of fashionoffice.org

field work period: 27 Dec 2003 - 1 Aug 2008
sample: 22.933 interviewed individuals

survey method:
1. qualitative pilot study with open questions to identify the main trends and desires
2. quantitative research with interactive online questionnaires

method of sampling: random sample
last data interpretation: 22 Aug 2008

realization:
trend research channels
styleradar.com, beautyradar.com

71,48%

Browser Reports
The browser reports show up a very interesting change in today's possibilities to track HTM-sites: you can reach fewer visitors who are using Internet Explorer if you measure the traffic by embedding pages with scripts - such as advertising - from an external server. Up-to-date tracking tools measure that approximately 64% of the visitors of fashionoffice.org are using Firefox.

These results have high impact on running advertising from external domains (such as adservers) on a standardized webserver.

The randomized sample on all fashion & beauty domains shows following results (tracked by embedding pages from an external domain with installed Google Analytics Code):

Firefox 63.90%; Internet Explorer 26,63%; Opera 3.54%; Safari 3.02%; Mozilla 2.63%; Konqueror 0.15%; Netscape 0.06%; Camino 0.04%; NetFront 0.01%; internal zero-knowledge agent 0.01%

Internet Explorer
Firefox
Safari
Mozilla
Opera
Konqueror
(not set)
Blazer
Netscape
Mozilla Compatible Agent

49.20%
43.22%
2.68%
2.46%
2.19%
0.16%
0.03%
0.03%
0.03%
0.01%

The Random Sample: The browser statistics present data which are definitely and nearly independent from the method of randomizing the sample as long as it is installed on regular HTM-sites of a standard webserver. That's the reason why they can be taken for further explanations.

Random Sample compared to Stats&Logs: We have checked the Stats&Logs delivered by fashionoffice.org provider Globat.com. The results of the logs from the fashion & beauty domains in May/June 2008 are listed below. By comparing the data it becomes obvious that statistical results from different technical systems differ enormously.

Effects on the Market of Publishers/Advertisers and adjoined branches (text, photo, video, music, programmers, artists, ...): If the download of intellectual property can not be charged with fees or with advertising by counting, publishers must go new ways to re-finance their work.

Perhaps the differing data are one of the reasons why many fashion publishers don't sell ad impressions but monthly ad campaigns in the tradition of printed magazines. (Check out the article at The New York Times "Where the Fashionistas Go for a Quick Fix", from 6th Aug 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/fashion/07ONLINE.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2)

Even the low CPM for Online advertising after pageviews and visits finds an explanation in the limited possibilities of ad-tracking. If statistical results of different measuring instruments show such discrepancies, the value of each adimpression - regardless in which media of the Internet - is diminished. Read following article about a current CPM 0,6 Dollar for fashion advertising online http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/08/06/American-Apparels-Internet-Ads?TID=email/news/top5.

Internet Explorer
Firefox
Safari
Mozilla
Opera
(not known*)
Netscape
...

*includes different versions of Firefox, Safari, Fedora, Opera,...

61,85%
not listed
0,88%
4,02%
0,28%
31,01%
2,02%

Internet Explorer
Firefox
Safari
Mozilla
Opera
(not known*)
Netscape
...

*includes different versions of Firefox, Safari, Fedora, Opera,...

59,2%
not listed
0,75%
3,45%
0,16%
33,6%
1,92%

United States
Austria
United Kingdom
Germany
Canada
Poland
...

TRAFFIC SOURCES

Tracking traffic is a challenge! Standardized webserver management and up-to-date tracking tools are in a permanent race; ones are trying to minimize traffic, others are working to measure actual data about pageviews, visits, traffic sources,...

This race is made upon the work of Online publishers by delivering and tracking their data and its usage.

Good examples for the troubles which are caused by this race give the results of the traffic sources for the domain fashionoffice.org.

Although fashionoffice.org was listed during the monitored period (4 June - 4 Aug) on the first page on Google.com, Google.de - excellent ranked even in other countries - search "fashion", Google Analytics tracks 0,067% of the visits sent from Google to www.fashionoffice.org.

The good ranking of fashionoffice.org on MSN.com search "fashion" is reported with 0,215% of the visits.

The list of search engines with similar, not nearly congruent results could be continued with except of one: 74,27% of the visits sent by search engines come from one: Yahoo! Yahoo has sent 2,40% of the visits from all traffic sources.

fig.: Screenshot Google.com, search "fashion" worldwide, 7 Aug 08

Media Usage in 2008:


Internet Activity Index (IAI): www.online-publishers.org

Since August 2004 the Online Publishers Association (OPA) publishes the monthly Internet Activity Index (IAI), developed in connection with Nielsen//NetRatings.

The IAI offers a new way of looking at consumer engagement online; therefore the Internet usage is divided into five distinct activities: Content, Communications, Commerce, Community (added in March 2008) and Search. Nielsen Online captures the total amount of time spent by consumers in each category.

"Even with Community added, our initial data reflect the same pattern found over the last 15 months,” announced OPA president Pam Horan the new category in March 2008. “The bulk of consumers’ online time is spent with Content, well outpacing Communications and Commerce. While Content dominates, Search and Community capture relatively small shares of consumers’ overall online time.” Source: http://www.online-publishers.org/newsletter.php?newsType=pr&newsId=307

"Content" is described by OPA as "Web sites and Internet applications that are designed primarily to provide news, information and entertainment. Examples of those included in this segment are CNN.com, ESPN.com, Windows Media Player and MapQuest."

The IAI results for June 2008 show that Content accounts for most of consumers’ time online at 42,3%, while Community ranked fourth at 8,8%.

The report is published monthly on OPA www.online-publishers.org.


Germany Online: ard-zdf-onlinestudie.de

On 1st August 2008 the German national TV-Channels ARD/ZDF published the new study about the media usage of Germans. The time spent online grew from 54 minutes (2007) to 58 minutes; the Internet is now on 3rd rank of the used media/time (nationwide representative study during March/April; interviews with 1.802 persons, older than 14 years).

For the 14-19 years' old the Internet is the most important media: with 120 minutes they use the Internet more intensively than watching TV (100 minutes). This age group prefers multimedia applications and video: 92% are downloading video. Source: www.ard-zdf-onlinestudie.de

In US 20% TV viewers are watching online: www.immi.com

On 29 July 2008 Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI) released a new report that shows the rise of Online watching TV.

The computer is used increasingly as a substitute for the television. More females (55%) watch primetime episodes online than males (45%). The largest group of online TV viewers in US are women aged 25 to 44.

“Everyone’s been talking about the Internet becoming a substitute for television; however this is the first single-source passive data to show that the migration from one platform to another is actually occurring – and it’s happening fast.” Amanda Welsh, head of research for IMMI.
Source: www.immi.com/pdfs/IMMI-OVAL.pdf


The Rise of the Internet: Video and better Content

>Online video changed the behaviour of the total population: the increased popularity of video explains the higher time spending with online content in general.

>The Internet offers more and better content than it did the years ago.


Check out other studies about the Internet:

Internet: Fashion’s burning moment presented by PambiancoWeek, May 2008

WOMEN'S MEDIA CONSUMPTION Study by EIAA >

SEX Special: Instant Survey mid October - mid December 2007 (details)

The fashionoffice.org users became younger!

The median age of Internet Fashionistas is now 23,882 (standard deviation 8,573). In the field period before the results have shown a median age of 24,98 (standard deviation 9,974).

29,967%
29,149%
27,680%
27,5%
41,490%
38,84%

6,188%
7,017%
7,716%
8,5%
4,078%
4,18%

This year we can not offer you the median age for all of the themes. As you can see not enough Fashionistas have entered their age into very good visited instant profiling tests (>next table). Technicians have checked our systems; they are running in the standardized framework. We are working on an explanation for the new behaviour of the Online Fashionistas.

not enough data
23,59
25,28

21,92
25,00
25,64

fashionistas city

not enough data
25,73
25,45

men's style

24,93
27,41
24,35

fragrances, perfumes

subject to speak about

fashionistas city

men's style

subject to speak about

fragrances, perfumes

small

The ranking “trendiest inspirations for style” shows that the Internet has a great authenticity for Fashionistas as a source for their personal style inspirations: Internet is ranked on the 1st place, followed by "street". Fashionistas are characterized by a strong self-awareness: their style is primarily inspired by themselves, on the 4th position are printed magazines, followed by friends.

These results point out that Online Fashionistas have a strong active - interactive - approach to the creation of their own style: three of the five first ranked items "Internet", "myself", and "friends" are sources which are determined by the user himself and change in the moment he interacts.

What's the explanation for this new media behaviour?

The average age of the fashionoffice readers is lower than the years before. The fashion experts of this voting about the trendiest inspirations for style are approximately 4 years younger than in 2007.

This explains why the ranking shows compared to the votings from former years brand new positions of the items. The new positions of the Internet and TV are corresponding with other research results like the above mentioned study by the German national TV-Channels ARD/ZDF (published on 1st Aug 2008) about media usage: for the 14-19 years' old the Internet is the most important media: with 120 minutes they use the Internet more intensively than watching TV (100 minutes). This age group prefers multimedia applications and video: 92% are downloading video. Source: www.ard-zdf-onlinestudie.de

On 29 July 2008 US researcher Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI) released a brand new report that shows the rise of Online watching TV. The largest group of online TV viewers in US are women aged 25 to 44. Source: www.immi.com/pdfs/IMMI-OVAL.pdf

18%
21,7%
14,9%

10%
13%
10,2%

Have you ever got a boring call from a phone company about the usage of your mobile? Perhaps there have been too many interviews about mobile communication in the last years, because the Online Fashionistas are not willing to speak about their phones any more.

Results from 1 July 07 - 9 March 08:
Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) are the trendiest extra usage of mobile phones. Photo is still the trendiest extra usage of the mobile phone, followed by good old SMS, and on 3rd place music. Writing SMS and video became trendier in the last months; watch TV lost many percentages. This is a vote for running pictures, but perhaps against timed entertainment.

The preferred subject to speak about isn't any longer sex! Instead of speaking about sex the interest to speak about "love" increased; you will find this item on the second place.

The focus on speaking about "fashion, clothes" is stronger than in the votings before; this could be explained with better working search engines and the growing understanding of the users to find specific information; such as information about fashion at fashionoffice. This result is very interesting for media planning as the spreading losses are minimised by reaching active readers who are high addicted to fashion.

After fashion and love the preferred subjects to speak about are "art", "design", and "music".

During this field period many users of fashionoffice have named additional themes which are important for them to speak about and which haven't been listed in the voting: 4,46% named themes about "self realization" like study, success, ..., 2,68% style, 1,19% each "culture" and "sport", ...

34,82%
23,6%
18,8%

10,12%
5,6%
9,7%

6,85%
5,6%
8,1%

5,65%
9,7%
9,1%

5,36%
5,6%
7%

4,46%
2,8%
6,5%

4,46%
2,8%
2,7%

4,17%
25%
23,1%

3,27%
2,2%

2,68%
1,4%
1,6%

2,08%
8,3%
2,2%

0,89%
6,9%

0,30%
1,6%

12,8%
2,8%
7,4%

In the voting of the internet fashionistas about the fashion qualities of zodiac signs, VIRGO gets the highest consensus: it stands for the pedantic one, everything has to fit together. AQUARIUS and LEO are the trendsetter, the early adopter of the must haves; LEO loves exclusivity, wears only top labels and best quality. SAGGITARIUS has the fewest votes for the fashion qualities "pedantic" and "exclusive". PISCES, AQUARIUS, and GEMINI are the signs which are attributed to creativity; TAURUS and CANCER are seen as the comfortable ones.

The zodiac signs of the fashionoffice.org users:

Capricorn

7,796%
7,570%
7,930%
8,09%

8,245%
8,517%
9,284%
8,09%

Pisces

10,494%
10,567%
9,477%
8,21%

7,196%
7,255%
6,769%
6,94%

7,046%
7,097%
6,382%
8,03%

Gemini

9,445%
9,463%
10,251%
8,57%

Cancer

7,496%
7,728%
8,123%
8,87%

9,745%
9,463%
9,671%
7,66%

Virgo

6,446%
5,993%
5,415%
9,29%

8,695%
9,148%
8,897%
9,11%

Scorpio

8,845%
8,675%
8,704%
9,17%

Saggitarius

8,545%
8,517%
9,090%
7,91%

The Internet Fashionistas have tested their trendiness in design and have chosen the trendiest designer/label for the following 3 styles: Casual, Glamour, Unique.

6,85%
6,1%

2,74%
11,1%

41,1%
29,8% (Chloe, Paul Smith, Miu Miu, Kenzo,...)

4,17%
4,5%

6,94%
7,6%

2,78%
2,0%

4,17%
6,1%

8,33%
3,5%

1,39%
1,5%

4,17%
2,0%

0%
1,5%

2,78%
5,6%

6,94%
4,0%

11,11%
8,6%

4,17%
4,0%

4,17%
6,1%

1,39%
1,5%

5,56%
2,0%

40,28%
44,4% (Yves Saint Laurent, Vivienne Westwood, Philip Treacy,
Matthew Williamson, Comme des Garçons, Noki, Michael Ball (Rock & Republic), ...)

Though a higher diversity of designers/design labels in this year's voting, Alexander McQueen is still the favorite trend leading designer, D & G (in 2006 on 3rd place) is in 2007 on the 2nd place, followed by Prada on 3rd place. Alexander McQueen represents the rebel in fashion with strong influences of Punk and Gothic. Dolce & Gabbana's fashion can be described as "theatralic Noble-Hippie" look, Prada's fashion as "intellectual retro-style".
Gucci and Hugo Boss become more fashionable than the year before. The most important new labels in this voting for the creation of trends are Chanel, Anna Sui, Stella McCartney (all three have been named by the users in last year's voting).

Results of open questions:
The internet fashionistas named (in open questions) following designers/design labels as additional trend leaders: Rick Owens, DKNY, Dries Van Noten, Valentino, adidas, Burberry, Converse All Stars, Day, Birger et Mikkelsen, Mango, Tsumori Chisato, Karim Rashid, Comme des Garçons, Issey Miyake, Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, ...
Bags (Chloe, Chanel), shoes (Prada), sunglasses are the most important Must Haves of the ones who voted for the trend leading designers.
The trend leading musicians of the design experts are Madonna, Beyoncé and Gwen Stefani.

Alexander McQueen

9,8%
15,9%
14,9%
17,81%

Anna Sui