Several key luxury brands have utilized social media in an innovative way this past year, utilizing the platform to go beyond the simple consumer engagement it is traditionally used for. Several brands utilized the platform to prompt consumers to create valuable content for them, while others combined the platform with direct purchasing.
Photo: Courtesy of www.visit5thavenue.com.
Bergdorf-Goodman unveiled a unique project for Instagram centered around the popular music festival South by Southwest. The company prompted users to find Bergdorf’s social media manager at the festival wearing a new collection and Instagram a picture of her. By then using the hashtag “#SX5F” participants were entered to win a coveted Mansur Gavriel bag. Because the contest was decided based on the quality of the submission, Bergdorf-Goodman was able to prompt its consumers to deliver them valuable, quality content. Participants were then able to click on the photos with the #SX5F hashtag and be directed to 52grams page to purchase the featured items.
Photo: Courtesy of www.bmw.com.
BMW of North America developed their own contest utilizing social media. BMW plans to release a limited number of the 30 anniversary BMW M5s to the United States, and 29 of these were reserved for those able to find a gradually revealed phone number on BMWs Instagram. While the automaker made 300 of the car in total, only 30 were released to the United States, meaning finding the phone number was key to obtaining the car. This scarcity, coupled with the thrill of the contest, ensured a spirited competition to obtain one of the cars.
Photo: Courtesy of www.elle.com.
Burberry was one of the few brands to utilize Twitter’s “In Tweet Purchases,” a strategy they revealed during their Burberry Prorsum Women’s Wear Spring/Summer 2015 runway show on Sept. 15. During the show, participants were able to tweet to purchase, not the clothes worn by the models, but their nailpolish, which was only available through Twitter. This innovative approach allowed Burberry to go beyond mere marketing on social media and into direct sales through social media.
While incorporating social media as a marketing platform is nothing new for luxury brands, those mentioned, as well as many other luxury brands, have utilized the format in a unique way to create valuable and meaningful interactions with their consumers. This allows these brands to create the endlessly sought-after bond with their consumers that gives them the edge-up in the market.
– by Ross Berman
