Monday, November 10, 2014

Luxury Brands and Retailers Still Cautious about Social Media


In the history of marketing, luxury retailers have usually been the last to adapt to technology including radio ads, television commercials, digital marketing, and social media.  While tons of retailers have embraced Facebook and Twitter as the holy grail of social marketing to reach the masses, luxury brands have preferred to not share the spotlight, deciding to remain niche and elite.  However, as social is become a key platform for marketing, some luxury brands are now accepting the inevitable.  Luxury brands Chanel, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton have started to see the value and ROI of social media.  Chanel recently began posting photos on its official Instagram account – and gained more than 2 million followers.  Burberry is now dedicating 60% of its budget to digital, while Louis Vuitton used Instagram to plant clues for followers in order to create buzz for Paris Fashion Week.

However, other high-end brands continue to be reluctant in using social, including Apple, Rolex, and even online publisher Monocle.  It sounds counter-intuitive that a culture/design publication would not try and push its articles via social media.  Andrew Tuck, editor at Monocle, explains “[Social media] feels like a little too much exposure.  For our brand, it seems just a little bit uncomfortable.” Rolex has a Facebook page that is over a year old, but only posts a few times a month.  The brand’s Twitter and Instagram pages are protected.  As the most valuable technology company in the world, Apple is also one of the least engaged in terms of social marketing.  Samsung, one of Apple’s biggest competitors, had the most number of retweets on Twitter with Ellen DeGeneres’s Oscar selfie with multiple celebrities, beating President Obama’s record.


While it may take months or years before luxury brands fully accept digital and social media, the brands will inevitably embrace this change in culture. 

Source: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/luxury-brands-are-still-casting-leery-eye-toward-social-media-161155 

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