The June issue of UK Wired magazine landed on my desk this morning and in it the second annual Wired 100 list, featuring the most influential people in digital Britain.
It’s worth a read. First off, a woman took the top spot – Joanna Shields, vice president of EMEA Facebook – but most pleasing was the representation of fashion throughout.
Number 20 went to Natalie Massanet, founder of luxury etailer Net-a-Porter. Up from spot 72 last year, Massanet was highlighted due in the main, and rightly so, to the launch of the site’s menswear equivalent, Mr Porter, in February.”We felt men’s shopping offline and online is a subset of the female shopping experience, and that wasn’t doing justice to men. We thought they deserved their own space,” she says.
The way in which she provides content alongside commerce was also highlighted. “We… entertain you, hopefully, and educate you, and inspire you like a weekly magazine, but everything is shoppable,” she says.
Net-a-Porter Live, through which users can see what others are buying in real-time around the world, is due to launch next.
At number 32, is Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer of Burberry. What digital list would be complete without him? As Wired puts it, this is a “rare luxury brand that ‘gets’ digital.” More importantly, this is a man who does.
He says: “I often describe Burberry as an old, young company. It’s 155 years old, but technology, digital communication and social media is embedded and integrated in the company.” Asia is also a focus for the brand, with recent representation on Chinese social media sites including Sina Weibo, Kaixin001, Youku and Douban.
Also on the list is Chris Muhr, UK managing director of Groupon at number 35; Nick Robertson, co-founder and CEO of ASOS at 42; and Laura Wade-Grey, executive director of multichannel e-commerce at Marks & Spencer at 79.
YouTube make-up sensation Lauren Luke even makes an appearance at number 89, for the instructional videos that have transformed her into a multimedia brand.
Check out the full list in the magazine, or keep checking back to the website for its online reveal throughout the month. Numbers 100-80 can already be found, here.
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Tags: Asos, Burberry, Chris Muhr, Christopher Bailey, digital, fashion, Groupon, Laura Wade-Grey, Lauren Luke, Marks & Spencer, Natalie Massanet, Net-a-Porter, Nick Robertson, Wired, Wired 100, Wired UK, YouTube
