“The Loungefly Special” Interview with the Director of Social Media and the Vice-Presidents of Creative at Loungefly. On the Chip and Company Podcast Network, you can listen to our full interview with Ilana McBride, The Social Media and Marketing Director. Furthermore, we are joined by Liz DeSilva and Derrick Baca, Vice Presidents of Creative at Loungefly.
When talking about Loungefly as a brand and the connection it has with the fans and Influencers “This is a Loungefly lifestyle we’re not just here to sell you a single product but we’re here to show you that being part of fan culture is an ongoing thing” Ilana continues “And so we find people who are really going to support us in that endeavor and aren’t just in it for the paycheck and it for the moment and it for the brand deal but really who are living and breathing lounge fly every day.”
Related: Mickey Mouse Holiday Treats Loungefly Backpack For A Sweet Holiday Style!
When discussing what it takes to become an Influencer and work directly with Loungefly Ilana went on to say “We are really looking for again people who are living and breathing this lifestyle and not just going to the park for a single moment but really are wearing their Loungefly aren’t afraid to wear their Loungefly or Disney Loungefly, or whatever it might be to the supermarket or in their everyday life. We look for fashion influencers who are really incorporating it into their look and their everyday life we look for family influencers, But we’re constantly looking for what the product means to you in your life, not just an I go to Disneyland, and therefore I need a Mickey Mouse backpack that sells itself. We don’t need to promote that further than selling in Disney parks. So that’s sort of what we’re looking for is really the right influencer for each of the different properties”
Reading the About us on the Loungefly website just reaffirms exactly what Ilana discusses.
Loungefly is a consistent source of collectible fashion for fans of all kinds. Well known for our innovative licensed accessories–including Disney, Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, Pokemon, Marvel, Star Wars, Peanuts, and more–we know that everyone is a fan of something, and we have something for everyone.
From casual fans to major collectors, our mission is to provide our ever-growing loyal community with innovative and whimsical designs that allow you to express whatever fandom you’re a part of in your everyday wardrobe.
Loungefly is about the people who have a connection with the brand. Pop culture brings us all together in one way or another. From feeling like you belong to a House in Harry Potter, or have a fan favorite Character from a cartoon, you know you can find like-minded people and form a community. Loungefly collections are now a part of those communities.
When Ilana, Derrick, and Liz talk, the major thing you take away is how big of fans they are of all these communities! All three are deep into the trenches of pop culture and history. When asked about what they would like to see, each one replied with a character that true fans would all appreciate. From Disney’s Krunk to Rainbow Bright, to Soundwave from the Transformers, you would have a hernia from picking up all the names they dropped. It was such a cool moment in the interview when each one answered the question of what they would like to see next.
When discussing what is coming next Ilana answered “First, I’ll give you some that we have already teased into the world, which is, yes, men do wear minis. But we also have a whole line of unisex Loungefly Coming next year. They are there are larger styles. There are messenger styles. There are sling styles, it is very much intended to be a little bit more street-involved and more street fashion. So that because we do get I’m a bigger guy, I don’t want to wear a mini.” she continues “also have we just announced our cross buddies bag, which is a patent design, a patented design, that is a passport style bag that has like three different ways to wear it, it has a risk slip that you can take off and put inside, you can flip it so your character is holding one thing on one side and then flip it to the other side. And it’s holding something else. No other bag has been designed like that. So we do have this patented design called cross buddies. That was just announced. And we have our first one which is piglet releasing”
Before I get into Liz and Derrick’s conversation, I want to say this. I have been doing social media for years, and by the time I was done having a discussion with Ilana McBride, I walked away with a new understanding of marketing and social media. Ilana may be a great person to talk to, but in her own way, she became a teacher. I learned things I had never even thought about prior to talking with her. Loungefly is in fantastic hands with Ilana leading the way in social media and marketing. It was a pleasure meeting her at D23 Expo, and even better hearing her discuss Loungefly.
Liz DeSilva and Derrick Baca share the title of Vice President of Creative at Loungefly, and just like Ilana, Loungefly could not be in better hands. When you are dealing with a fan base that is rabid about what they love, you need people who understand the needs of that fandom and are also a part of the same community.
“We are huge pop culture fans. We watch all the new things. We are collectors of comics of action figures, figures, sports cards, and pop culture art. I have a vintage 80s toy collection. So between the two of us, we collect a lot of things and it’s not just us but also our teams, our big pop culture fans, so We really have built up a team of pop culture experts. So, everyone that is touching the Loungefly product, I would say bring something to the table in their favorite fandoms.” Liz said
Derrick also continued “And I’d say between Liz and me, we have over 40 years of experience in licensed products in the market. So we’ve just seen so many trends happen in the past, you know, years that things that we’re now saying, Hey, look at this retro collection with Cartoon Network going, Wow, We’re old now. And we’re now retro. So that is kind of how the world of fashion to we’ve been in the apparel industry, either as a toy buyer in the past, whether it’s retail, wholesale, we just have a lot of years of various experiences. So pop culture has been our lives even before we knew each other.”
The Loungefly Special
We asked. “Loungefly has hundreds of unique and incredible products, bags, ears, pins, and apparel, how do you keep coming up with new designs? Like how do you keep it fresh? And I say that, for example, a bag like the rose gold sequined bag here for Disney, do you use that as an example and see styles and trends change and then adapt?”
“I think that’s a great example, the rose gold sequence is, I think, our most all-time best-selling bag at the parks. And it continues to sell. So I think it’s a great example of like what we call an evergreen style. As Loungefly gets new fans that have not purchased outside, that’s typically a go-to bag. And from a creative perspective, we look at that, right? And we’re like, there’s something about the sequin bags that our fans are loving. It’s a wow piece in their collection. So we’ve taken that and expanded it into multiple sequence collections. Most recently, our web loungefly.com Princess sequined collection, which has been doing phenomenal is a great way that takes learnings from what people are like pink sequins, and freshen up something like a princess cosplay mini backpack and give it all new life. So we’re always taking learnings from different collections.” this was such a great answer and should give you Disney fans an idea of what is in store for the future of Disney Parks X Loungefly.”
Discussing Loungefly the company “Well, I think there’s a bit of a misconception, people think we’re this huge monstrous company, we’re really not, when we do something like it’s fringe, maybe we make 2000. We’re not making 20 30 40,000 bags of things sometimes. So we are, we will, we’re willing to take the risks of doing the smaller things and just do small runs just to get it out there to see you know how it resonates.”
We went on to have a great conversation about the future and what we could see coming and were given this tidbit of valuable information from Derrick “For the average Loungefly fan, they sometimes don’t understand the process of how licensing works, and we get a lot of requests on social. Why don’t you do this? Or why don’t you do that? So I think it’s great that you asked that question. And people understand that it is often a long process of creating these partnerships and getting contracts with licenses, it’s not always a quick thing. So when people ask, you know, why don’t you have this? Why don’t you have that? Or why? Why are we getting this? We’re always working on new partnerships. But a lot of those things do take time. And different partners have different restrictions on what you can and can’t do. So there are a lot of reasons as to in the background of why we design what we do. So it’s a very interesting part of the whole business. And I think a lot of people don’t even know how extensive the whole world of licensing is“
The enjoyment both Liz and Derrick get out of seeing designs hit the streets is palpable. “All the time, we get so excited. And I think especially like we’ll have an idea. And I’m like, This is gonna be great. I’ll give you an example. We did a wedding collection, a sequined wedding collection. And I was like, there’s a need. There’s a need. There are so many people constantly having bachelorette parties, bridal showers, and weddings, there’s a need for that Disney fan to have a great lounge light option. And I was really excited about it. And then we came up with the idea to make it interchangeable. So after your wedding, you can change out the bow so that it can just be a great everyday bag. And I thought it was gonna be good. And then the designs came through and I got even more excited. And then when I got out into the world, and we saw how excited even people that had been brides like a month prior were still buying it because they were like, I don’t care. I still want this bag because it wasn’t available for my wedding.”
I think Liz and Derrick both wrap up our hour-long podcast in the best ways possible. Liz goes on to say “So I know that we always say this, but Derek, myself and the entire Loungefly team are always so thankful for the Loungefly and Disney community that continues to support the brand and our new crazy ideas and innovation. As we expand into apparel and beyond. We really appreciate all the support and I just want everyone to know that we have the best job ever but it’s a lot of work. And we have an amazing team working long hours and working really hard to bring these products so I always hope that the community when they’re on social commenting, or they’re talking about our products, remember that there’s an amazing team behind each mini backpack each Cody that works really, really tirelessly to make sure that the brand standards are always met and that we’re giving our customers the best possible product. So we appreciate the community and we hope that they appreciate the amazing team that we have working really hard.”
Derrick finished that sentiment with “But I just feel like the inclusivity of this brand and its community is unlike any other brand in the entire world. To be honest with you.”
Liz and Derrick are both good at what they do. With an understanding of what fans want. The future of Loungefly is in great hands. For fans of Loungefly, I would be very excited about what is coming. We had such an amazing time speaking with Liz and Derrick and want to express our gratitude for their time and energy. The time spent talking went way to fast.
You can listen to the whole episode wherever you listen to podcasts. Or you can find a direct link to our Speaker player here.
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