WGSN Group, the knowledge partner for the global style and retail sectors, today launched the new WGSN, bringing together the former WGSN and Stylesight products onto an enhanced, single technology platform. Bringing the two products together in a new, easier to use way was driven by a desire to provide the best possible service to customers, harness the best of both and ensure that one plus one equals three. — Expanded features, richer content and significantly
improved technology now available to more than 75,000
global users
— Easier to use, with fast search, customisation
functionality, increased shareability and a sophisticated
design toolkit
— New WGSN saves customers time, increases collaboration and
gives greater certainty in today’s fast-moving fashion and
style-centred industries
— Available in five languages, the new WGSN benefits from
regional content and product hubs, giving a global
perspective, with local expertise
Robust research and customer feedback revealed their core needs and what they valued. This informed product and content strategy decisions and created a new WGSN that is genuinely better together.
The new WGSN provides:
— intuitive navigation and easy search functionality;
— a customisable homepage;
— enhanced catwalk content — gallery and analysis;
— a sophisticated suite of design tools, including colour
play, high resolution zoom and clip functionality;
— 63,000 original prints and graphics;
— 75,000 usable CAD drawings;
— Significantly increased shareability.
Sansan Chen, SVP Product, WGSN and architect of the new WGSN said: “The new WGSN has been driven by a clear desire to delight, inspire and inform our customers. In bringing together WGSN and Stylesight, we were fanatical about retaining the unique and valuable aspects of each service. Users can now enjoy a clean, modern site design featuring the archives of both sites and NEW brilliant content created by a collaboration of the most trusted voices in trend. WGSN’s super platform — with easy navigation, powerful search, and time-saving tools — sets the highest bar for customer service and will enable future innovation with our customers’ needs in mind.”
The new product provides the same instant access to design and colour forecasts 2+ years ahead of each season. It also offers more than 350 monthly trend reports covering over 17 product categories; coverage of more than 1,300 catwalk shows and 150+ catwalk analysis reports per season, reporting on global retail, streets, city guides and over 200+ tradeshows every year, as well as a digital library of over 10 million hi-res images — all within an improved, highly searchable, robust technology platform.
Duncan Painter, CEO Top Right Group, said: “WGSN’s business is based on making our unique and trusted content essential and easy-to-use for our customers. We aim to quickly surface content from our incredibly rich database, so users benefit from relevant information, clear analysis and insight. We have invested significantly in the business to ensure the new WGSN saves our customers time, helps them collaborate more easily and have complete confidence in the business decisions they make.”
Another product in the WGSN Group, Homebuildlife, will also benefit from this fantastic new platform. Homebuildlife is the only site that offers in-depth global trend forecasting for the interiors, home and consumer products markets. Its customers will enjoy the same intuitive navigation and fast search when they consume Homebuildlife’s outstanding content.
Steve Newbold, Global Managing Director WGSN Trends, said: “This is a milestone day for our business and our 75,000 users around the world. WGSN was one of the pioneers of the forecasting industry and now offers customers one of the most innovative trend, design and bespoke research product ranges. In a world of technology enabled consumers, a wrong decision can cost millions. We are confident that the new WGSN and its extraordinary accuracy will quickly become an essential part of business workflows and help users to deliver their business goals and objectives.”
WGSN Group offers five pillars of content: consumer intelligence, trend forecasting, commercial product development, retail strategy and data analytics. Within trend forecasting, the new WGSN super-platform will provide technological innovations including fast search, tailored content, increased shareability and a professional design toolkit which will enable sophisticated high resolution zoom, clip functions and extensive print and download facilities.
Over the past two years, more than GBP50m has been invested in WGSN people, technology, infrastructure, content, innovation and acquisitions.
Carla Buzasi, WGSN’s Global Chief Content Officer, will join the company shortly to lead the content strategy across WGSN. 
Notes for Editor:
WGSN Group:
WGSN Group provides strategic intelligence, trend forecasts, actionable insights and accurate product performance data to the style and retail sectors. It has a solid reputation as a leading provider of global, powerful information services that offer market, brand and product forecasts up to five years out. Its unique and innovative products and services enable global users to reduce risk and make better-informed business decisions. WGSN has trends and information hubs in New York, Hong Kong and London and has 16 offices around the world. It employs approximately 500 people, and more than 50% are content experts.
Carla Buzasi
Carla was the launch editor of the Huffington Post UK. The Huffington Post UK has more than 8 million UVs per month in the UK and has been growing double digit year on year. It has around 9,000 contributing bloggers including David Beckham, Cherie Blair and HRH the Prince of Wales. Prior to the Huffington Post, Carla was Associate/Online Editor at Marie Claire, where she oversaw two site re-launches, 196% unique user growth and 771% revenue growth within 18 months of arriving. From June 2004- Sept 2006, Carla was Deputy Editor at Glamour.com where she conceived and oversaw Fashion Finder, the site’s most successful addition in its history. Earlier in her Conde Nast career, Carla wrote for Vogue.com and GQ.com. Carla was awarded the Media Innovator of the Year award in 2012 and has won Editor of the Year in the Online Media Awards for the past two years. She was also named as one of the top 50 female Innovators in Digital Journalism in 2013.
Top Right Group
Top Right Group is an international, B2B, multi-platform media group. Its operating companies provide trusted information, proven analysis and access to new customer groups. The Group delivered revenues of GBP271.4 million in 2013 and headline growth of 12% (9% organic). It has three main business areas, serving around 170,000 global clients:
— Events, comprising i2i Events Group and Lions Festivals;
— Information Services, comprising 4C Group and WGSN Group;
and
— Subscription Content, comprising EMAP and MBI.
In 2013, Top Right Group delivered eight new geo-clone or launch events and further increased its international footprint through acquisition of three significant businesses — Educar and Mindset in Brazil and Stylesight, Inc. in the USA. 43% of revenues in 2013 came from international activities.
www.topright-group.com
SOURCE WGSN Group
