NEW YORK: Gilt Groupe, the flash-sales platform for luxury apparel, is using photo-sharing service Instagram as both a brand-building tool and a channel for encouraging consumers to buy its latest products.

Alexandra Press Maguire, Gilt's Digital Marketing Director, discussed this subject at Advertising Week 2015 in New York City.

More specifically, she suggested that Instagram was a vital channel for the firm to connect with its target clientele of "busy", "sophisticated" and "savvy" women who are "always on the go".

On the one hand, Gilt is using the social-media tool as a branding medium by delivering "beautiful work" that can compete with the ravishing photography employed by countless apparel manufacturers and retailers.

"It's such a premium space and we're showing up against some of the most gorgeous fashion photography out there. So, for us, it's really important that we're extremely elevated in everything that we post," Press Maguire said. (For more, including further insights into Gilt's strategy, read Warc's exclusive report: Gilt Groupe builds it brand – and sales – with Instagram.)

"If you think about that for us, it's a really big deal to make sure that we're seen in that space just in terms of putting our differentiated images out there."

Alongside these high-level aims, Gilt also wants to draw attention to a selection of the thousands of products that are added to its site and mobile app every day.

One guiding principle informing its approach involves providing utility to consumers by helping them solve everyday fashion problems.

"We're definitely thinking about the consumer's inspiration needs on Instagram, because that's where people are going to figure out not only what I'm going to wear tomorrow, but maybe, 'What should I be buying for an event that I have coming up?'" said Press Maguire.

"So we really think about the inspiration aspect of things for this canvas specifically, and definitely in a different way than we do our other, more traditional, advertising – whether it's banners or off of social.

"And we also have some pretty vigorous testing in place, because we know that there's still a lot to learn and it's early days for us on Instagram."

Data sourced from Warc