Download Social-Media Marketing in Fashion Industry

A MEMBER OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG GROUP
香 港 大 學 機 構 成 員
STEVE YANG
PUI-SZE CHOW
ROHINI SHARMA
SOCIAL-MEDIA MARKETING IN FASHION
INDUSTRY
A brand is no longer what we tell the consumers it is – it is what consumers tell each other it
is.1
– By Scott Cook, Co-founder of Intuit, Director of E-bay and Procter & Gamble
During 2011, the 155-year-old British luxury brand Burberry partnered with Twitter to create
the “Tweetwalk” for 2012 London Fashion Week (see Exhibits 1A and 1B for Burberry’s
tweets during the Tweetwalk Show 2012). Backstage photos of the latest Burberry collections
and runway looks were tweeted before being unveiled on the ramp, breaking with tradition.2
The instantaneous effect of the live tweets was tremendous: 1,620,750 avid followers3 of the
brand were able to be the privileged frontline spectators of fresh spring collections, a benefit
once enjoyed only by the elite. Within just half an hour of the fashion show, the backstage
photos received more than 50,000 views.4
In addition to the “Tweetwalk,” Burberry live-streamed their 2012 spring fashion show, from
backstage clips and red carpet interviews to the main event, all in high-definition. Audiences
could catch the complete event live on the brand’s official website, burberry.com. The fashion
show’s live streaming was also made available on Facebook and YouTube, to the delight of
1
Salyer, P. (4 August 2012) “Listening To Social Media Cues Doesn't Mean Ceding Control”, Forbes/ Tech,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/08/04/listening-to-social-media-cues-doesnt-mean-ceding-control/ (accessed 14
August 2015).
2
Dishman, L. (19 September 2011) “Burberry's "Tweetwalk" Delivers to the Masses and Challenges Fashion's Old Guard”,
Forbes/Retail, http://www.forbes.com/sites/lydiadishman/2011/09/19/burberrys-tweetwalk-delivers-to-the-masses-andchallenges-fashions-old-guard/ (accessed 14 August 2015).
3
Kennedy, L., Powe, A. and Wilbur,n K. (2013) “Burberry social media case study”, Academia,
http://www.academia.edu/6273497/Burberry_social_media_case_study (accessed 10 August 2015).
4
Warburton, S. (28 September 2011) “Burberry's Twitter takeover”, The Telegraph,
http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8793974/Burberrys-Twitter-takeover.html (accessed 6 November 2015).
To order this case, please contact Centennial College, c/o Case Research Centre, Centennial College, Wah Lam Path, Pokfulam,
Hong Kong; website: http://cases.centennialcollege.hku.hk .
This case was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
China (UGC/IDS12/14).
© 2015 by Centennial College, a member of The University of Hong Kong group. No part of this copyrighted publication may be
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This case was prepared for class discussion purposes and is not intended to demonstrate how business decisions or other
processes are to be handled.
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Burberry’s then 8.4 million Facebook followers, and 20,000 YouTube subscribers. 5 The
program was also configured for Chinese social networks like Sina Weibo and Youku.6
Burberry was among the first fashion brands that cleverly deployed its marketing initiatives
through social media. Christopher Bailey, the brand’s young Chief Creative Officer, stated in
one of his interviews, “Twitter is instantaneous and I love the idea that a show can be
streamed in many different forms. This collection is all about the most-detailed hand-crafted
pieces and fabric innovation…and I love balancing those two worlds.”7
The case of Burberry demonstrated how fashion brands could make use of social media to
increase brand equity and better connect with current customers. The subsequent benefits
were tangible and significant: Burberry’s revenue increased 29%, to £829.6 million, from
£641.1 million, in 2011.8
The Fashion Industry
The fashion industry was one of the largest sectors in the global economy and represented an
enormous amount of consumer spending worldwide. The total global apparel market rose to
US$1.11 trillion in 2012. The United States, China and Japan were among the top three
largest global markets, contributing about US$225, 150 and 110 billion respectively to the
global market in 2012 (see Exhibit 2).9 In 2014, the global retail apparel industry earned
US$1,317.3 billion in revenue. The women’s wear sector generated 49.4% of industry profit,
equivalent to US$650.7 billion in revenue.10
Competition within the fashion industry was vigorous. There were a huge number of brands
with different positioning and retail strategies, all aiming to capture different segments of the
overall market. They ranged from high-end luxury brands, such as Louis Vuitton and Hermes,
to mass-market casual-wear brands like Giordano and Bossini. Whether climbing up or
sliding down the brand pyramid, it was important to establish strong relationships with
customers. There were strong incentives for many fashion brands to devote resources to
intensive branding and marketing schemes to maintain or enlarge market share.
Marketing Strategy in the Fashion Industry
With the presence of thousands of brands and their respective promotional campaigns and
marketing initiatives, end consumers faced constant confusion due to the abundance of
options. Therefore, making a mark and developing an attractive marketing scheme to arouse
customer interest had become more and more challenging.
Traditionally, brands had limited choices of media to reach customers. Magazines,
newspapers, billboards, radio and TV were the major channels for increasing a fashion
brand’s exposure to customers. However, this relatively passive communication with
5
Indvik, L. (22 September 2011) “Burberry's Evolving Role as a Media Company”, Mashable Asia,
http://mashable.com/2011/09/21/burberry-media-fashion-company/#jo9QHedmpSqu (accessed 6 November 2015).
Indvik, L. (19 September 2011) “Burberry to Premiere Runway Collection on Twitter Before Show ”, Mashable Asia,
http://mashable.com/2011/09/19/burberry-twitter-tweetwalk/#Qk_jEuMnfPqR
(accessed 7 November 2015).
7
Hall, E. (21 September 2011) “Burberry Tweets Fall Collection before Models Hit Runway”, Advertising Age,
http://adage.com/article/global-news/burberry-tweets-fall-collection-models-hit-runway/229925/ (accessed 7 November 2015).
8
Rigby, C. (15 November 2011) “ ‘Innovative’ social media helps Burberry to sales and profits growth ”, Internet Retailing,
http://internetretailing.net/2011/11/innovative-social-media-helps-burberry-to-29-sales-growth/# (accessed 5 August 2015).
9
Statista (2015) “Size of the global apparel market in 2012, by region (in billion U.S. dollars)”,
http://www.statista.com/statistics/279735/global-apparel-market-size-by-region/ (accessed 15 Sep 2015).
10
Research and Markets.com (May 2015) “ Global Apparel Retail Industry Guides”,
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/2093804/global_apparel_retail (accessed 19 Sep 2015).
6
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consumers and the geographical constraints of these traditional media limited their
effectiveness as marketing channels. With globalization, the fashion industry, like other retail
industries, had to pursue a more effective approach to reaching consumers around the globe.
The increased popularity of social media provided a promising channel for brands of all kinds
to reach global customers instantly. In 2014, the market research company Emarketer forecast
that there would be a 12.6% worldwide upsurge in the number of smartphone users, from 1.91
billion in 2015 to 2.16 billion in 2016.11 The user base of various social media platforms, such
as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Weibo, grew tremendously between 2012 and 2013 (see
Exhibit 3).12 In terms of the native mobile-user base, WeChat and Line were expanding more
rapidly than their Asian competitors.13
With increasing pressure to communicate with and engage consumers proactively, many
fashion brands integrated social media into their marketing initiatives. Brands like Clarins and
Coach performed best online.11 According to Socialbakers, during 2015, the Twitter following
for brands like Chanel, Victoria’s Secret, and H&M reached 9,808,112; 8,392,993 and
7,076,017, respectively.14
Social Media Marketing
Social media is an ever-growing and evolving collection of online tools and toys, platforms
and applications that enable all of us to interact with and share information. Increasingly, it’s
both the connective tissue and neural net of the Web.15
– Ann Handley from MarketingProfs, co-author of Content Rules.
The current technological era has been digitizing human interactions and business
transactions. The public has been increasingly making themselves available online. Hence
brands were being strongly pushed to connect with their customers using social media.
Evolution of Social Media
Social media has been an integral part of our lives, from its primitive days in the ‘80s and
‘90s, when newsgroups, chat rooms, and listservs were connecting people, to the present.
Facebook, Twitter, Line, WhatsApp and the like have been constantly advancing to help users
generate content and enhance communication, thus leading to a highly interconnected global
society.16
11
eMarketer.com (11 December 2014) “2 Billion Consumers Worldwide to Get Smart (phones) by 2016”,
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/2-Billion-Consumers-Worldwide-Smartphones-by-2016/1011694 (accessed 25 July 2015).
12
L2 (1 August 2013) “Intelligent Report: Social Platforms 2013”, cited in Zaryouni, H. (31 July 2014) ‘Yoox’s WeChat
Expansion: Q&A with Clement Kwan”, L2 - The Daily, http://www.l2inc.com/yoox-wechat-qa-with-president-clement-kwan
(accessed 25 July 2015).
13
Millward, S. (2 August 2013) “WeChat and Line Are Now Asia’s Fastest-Growing Platforms For Social Marketing”,
TECHINASIA, https://www.techinasia.com/wechat-line-social-marketing-by-brands/ (accessed 26 July 2015).
14
Socialbakers (2015) “Twitter Brands Statistics –Fashion http://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/twitter/profiles/brands/fashion/
(accessed 17 Nov 2015).
15
Heidicohen.com (9 May 2011) “Social Media Definitions”,
http://heidicohen.com/social-media-definition/ (accessed 27 July 2015).
16
Morrison, K. (29 May 2015) “The Evolution of Social Media [Infographic] ”, Adweek/ Social Times,
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/the-evolution-of-social-media-infographic/620911(accessed 28 July 2015).
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Beginning in 2001, there has been continuous innovation in social media (see Exhibit 4).17
On May 1, 2001, Wikipedia, a user-edited encyclopedia, was launched. A year later, in 2002,
came Friendster, the pioneering social networking platform, overtaken by Facebook in 2006.18
Another social networking website, MySpace, was launched in 2004. 2005 was a significant
year in social-media history because of the launching of YouTube, an interactive videosharing website.13 In 2006, Facebook went forth into the public arena and has since been
unstoppable. Ever since, social media innovations have kept growing exponentially, although
some outmoded platforms like Friendster have disappeared.
Following this trend, various social media platforms were developed in China with formats
similar to their western counterparts, connecting Chinese citizens in culturally familiar
contexts (see Exhibit 5).19 Launched in 2005, Qzone allowed blog-, photo- and music-sharing.
With more than 600 million users, it was the most popular social media site in China.20 Sina
Weibo, also known as “a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter,” was another popular Chinese
social-media platform, securing 500 million users since its introduction in 2009. Other
popular Chinese social media sites included WeChat, Pengyou, RenRen, and 51.com. 21
After ten years’ development, the basic social-network ecosystem had matured. New socialmedia services tended to focus more specifically in order to enhance user interaction. For
instance, founded in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012, Instagram was an online mobile
social-networking service that enabled people to share photos and video on multiple socialnetwork platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. Other new members of the social media
family since 2009 included: instant messaging – Whatsapp and Line; photo and video sharing
- Pinterest, Snapchat and Vine; and additional social-media platforms - Google Plus and
Pheed.12
Social Networks as Catalysts for Social-Media Marketing
Social media, as it has evolved, has constantly improved the online environment in which
companies can execute their marketing strategies. As these platforms became more usergenerated, timely, inclusive and interactive, the potential impact of social-media marketing
strategies on customers could be more direct and effective.
The astronomical rise in the social-media user base has attracted companies from around the
world to market their products on social networks (see Exhibit 6).12 It was reported that 46%
of web users explored their options on social media before emptying their wallets. To catch
these opportunities, 99% of top brands have reached out to their customers through Facebook,
97% through Twitter, and 59% through Instagram.22 Why have they done so?
Unlike other websites, social networks were user-based, which meant the nature and the
direction of the content could be determined by anyone participating in the network. They
were also community-driven, with online communities consisting of people sharing common
17
Mahajan, A.C. (12 December 2014) “The Evolution of Social Media 2004 – 2014: The Good, The Bad and The
Ugly Of It!”, Daze Info, http://dazeinfo.com/2014/12/12/evolution-social-media-2004-2014-good-bad-ugly/
(accessed 27 July 2015).
18
McMillan, R. (27 Febuary 2013) “The Friendster Autopsy: How a Social Network Dies”, Wired,
http://www.wired.com/2013/02/friendster-autopsy/ (accessed 28 July 2015).
19
Crampton, T. (2010) “Infographic: China’s Social Media Evolution”,
http://thomascrampton.com/china/china-social-media-evolution/ (accessed 15 September 2015).
20
China Internet Watch (2015) “Tencent QZone: The Largest Social Media Website in China”,
http://www.chinainternetwatch.com/tag/qzone/ (accessed 29 July 2015).
21
Millward, S. (13 March 2013) “Check Out the Numbers on China’s Top 10 Social Media Sites (Infographic)”,
TECHINASIA, https://www.techinasia.com/2013-china-top-10-social-sites-infographic/ (accessed 30 July 2015).
22
Go-Gulf.ae (30 September 2014) “Businesses on Social Media: Statistics and Trends (Infographic)”,
http://www.go-gulf.ae/blog/businesses-social-media/ (accessed 1 August 2015).
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beliefs and interests.23 A survey conducted in 2011 found that 92% of respondents trusted the
brands recommended by their social media groups, while 70% of them also trusted opinions
posted online by members outside their circles. 24 The survey findings confirmed the
substantial influence of electronic word-of-mouth.
Moreover, social-media platforms were highly interactive and inclusive. Customers could
engage with content on a deeper level. For instance, the high-end fashion brand Burberry had
its own page on Facebook, where posts about real-life customer experiences, updates, and
feedback solicitation appeared on regular basis in text, images and videos. Users could then
freely like, comment and share posts about the brand. These comments and likes voluntarily
endorsed customer feeling about the brand.25
Upsurge of Social-Media Marketing in the Fashion Industry
Fashion is all about being seen, and the digital world is all about images, so the interface
between the two is all about heightening visibility… 26
– Bradley Quinn, Creative Director of Trend Consultancy, Stylus Fashion
The American Marketing Association has defined brand equity as follows: “The value of a
brand. From a consumer perspective, brand equity is based on consumer attitudes about
positive brand attributes and favorable consequences of brand use.” 27 On the other hand,
brand loyalty has been defined as follows: “The situation in which a consumer generally buys
the same manufacturer-originated product or service repeatedly over time rather than buying
from multiple suppliers within the category.”22 To enhance brand equity and brand loyalty,
companies from across the world have been increasing their investment in social-media
marketing. According to a 2013 survey conducted with marketing executives from luxury
brands, around 85% and 72% of the respondents planned to increase their spending in digital
marketing and social-media marketing, respectively. 28 Facebook so far was the unbeatable
champion in a field including Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, among others, earning
revenues of US$2.91 billion, the majority of which were derived from advertising.29
The fashion industry, in particular, has certain characteristics, such as visibility and organic
propaganda, which blend seamlessly with those of social-media platforms. Moreover, the
advance of social media and its expanding user base have propelled the fashion industry to
become very active online to give brands consistent recognition and followings.
To illustrate visibility further: looking at the top 10% of posts from 30,000 Facebook brand
pages, Socialbackers.com deduced that users interacted most with the posts that had photos.
23
Dube, R. (2015) “Characteristics of Social Networks”,
http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Characteristics_of_Social_Networks (accessed 1 August 2015).
24
Anderson, T. (20 June 2013) “Social media marketing: We need to talk”, The Guardian,
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jun/20/we-need-to-talk-social-media-mcdonalds (accessed 1 August 2015).
25
McCrea, L.. (2015) “Successful Social Media Examples By Fashion Brands: Apply Their Success To Your Business”, Ignite
Social Media, http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media-strategy/successful-social-media-examples-by-fashion-brandsapply-their-success-to-your-business/ (accessed 3 August 2015).
26
Hall, E. (20 February 2015) “Fashion Brands Go Digital at London Fashion Week”, Advertising Age,
http://adage.com/article/global-news/fashion-brands-digital-london-fashion-week/297241/ (accessed 7 August 2015).
27
American Marketing Association (1995) https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B
(accessed 20 July 2015).
28
eMarketer.com (22 January 2013) “Luxury Marketers Investing More in Digital”,
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Luxury-Marketers-Investing-More-Digital/1009619 (accessed 8 August 2015).
29
Strugatz, R. (13 October 2014) “Fashion Brands Push Social Media Ads”, WWD,
http://wwd.com/business-news/advertising/fashion-brands-push-social-media-ads-7977246/ (accessed 8 August 2015).
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Engagement with photos accounted for 87% of total interactions.30 Pinterest, a visual tag
board where users can collage their ideas, has surpassed Facebook by having 69% of users
find what they had been looking for, compared to only 40% of Facebook users.31
Other than enhanced visibility, social media fits the fashion industry’s marketing campaigns
very well due to its user- and community-based nature, interactivity, and timeliness, all of
which allow for content creation and effortless communication. These traits in turn
collectively facilitate the ultimate aim of marketing campaigns: establishing brand equity and
brand loyalty.
Benchmark Cases
The fashion industry has established a firm anchorage across social media worldwide. This
phenomenon can be further illustrated through some highly popular and successful online
marketing campaigns that have carved a place in the history of social-media marketing. Apart
from Burberry, brands like Marc by Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Coach and Adidas have utilized the
full potential of social media to captivate the consumer market.
Marc by Marc Jacobs
In early 2014, one of the top American designers, Marc Jacobs, used Instagram to call out for
model casting for the 2014 Fall collection of his contemporary label, Marc by Marc Jacobs.
Fans who were aspiring models were asked by Marc to post their best photos, followed by the
hashtag “#CastMeMarc.” 32 The campaign generated more than 70,000 applications from
around the world, from countries such as Russia, South Korea, and Australia, via nothing
more than a hashtag (see Exhibit 7A for some sample tweets). 33 Out of the 70,000
submissions, brand team members shortlisted and invited 50 potential models to fly to New
York for a photo shoot for final selections. Eventually more than 30 candidates made the
trip. 34 In August 2014, nine finalists were chosen and captured by prominent fashion
photographer David Sims, eventually lending their fresh faces to the campaign (see Exhibit
7B for the official video about the winners).35 The lucky nine were also featured in Teen
Vogue magazine’s August issue.36
In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Jacobs said, “It seemed a great idea to me, as
casting through Instagram seemed cool, current, and strong.” The designer continued by
saying, “…we wanted the ads to shout youth and energy…to be fresh and reclaim the spirit
that the collection had when we first conceived of it - to be another collection, not a second
line.”37
30
Mawhinney, J. (22 January 2015) “17 Stats You Should Know About Visual Content Marketing in 2015”, Hubspot Blogs,
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-content-marketing-strategy (accessed 9 August 2015).
Honigman, B. ( 29 November 2012) “100 Fascinating Social Media Statistics and Figures From 2012”, Huff Post Tech,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-honigman/100-fascinating-social-me_b_2185281.html (accessed 14 August 2015).
32
Gibson, R. (9 December 2014) “The 14 Best Instagram Campaigns of 2014”,
http://www.postano.com/blog/the-14-best-instagram-campaigns-of-2014 (accessed 2 October 2015).
33
Twitter, https://twitter.com/hashtag/castmemarc (accessed 5 November 2015).
34
Tsjeng, Z. (2014) “Check out Marc by Marc Jacobs' Instagram-cast campaign”, Dazed Digital,
http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/20587/1/check-out-marc-by-marc-jacobs-instagram-cast-campaign
(accessed 24 October 2015).
35
Jacobs, M. (3 July 2014), “Meet the #CastMe Marc Winners”, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywg-_kHbJyo
(accessed 23 October 2015).
36
Mau, D. (30 June 2014) “Marc by Marc Jacobs's Instagram-Cast Fall Campaign Is Here”, Fashionista ,
http://fashionista.com/2014/06/marc-by-marc-fall-2014-campaign (accessed 24 October 2015).
37
Karimzadeh, M. (30 June 2014) “Marc by Marc Jacobs Gets Social with Fall Campaign”, WWD,
http://wwd.com/globe-news/fashion-memopad/real-time-7775379/ (accessed 25 October 2015).
31
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The campaign was frequently recognized on social media. “#CastMeMarc” had 102,340 posts
under it and was cited 3,777 times in online conversations. 38 In fact, “castmemarc” and
“marcjacobs” were among the top 3 trending topics when it came to mentioning Marc Jacobs
on Twitter and Instagram, which had total audiences of 31,161,257 and 8,145,766
respectively.39
After being rewarded with much success in 2014, “CastMeMarc” returned with a little twist
for its 2015 Spring/Summer collection. Interested models were required to post their best
photos on Instagram or Twitter by including the hashtag “#CastMeMarc,” but this time with a
group of friends.40 The campaign brought a flood of 100,000 applications in few days.41
Fendi
During August 2013, the Italian luxury brand Fendi had taken to Weibo to launch their
campaign “Fendi Play with Colors” (see Exhibit 8), 42 which featured the brand’s latest
handbag collection, called “Crayons”. The campaign required users to vote for their favorite
color in this new collection via the brand’s Weibo page. Participants were further urged to
share news about the campaign with their Weibo friends. At the end of the campaign, four
participants were chosen randomly to win exquisite handbags from the new collection, worth
Rmb 1,500 (US$245) each.43
The response to the “Fendi Play with Colors” campaign was notable. Posts regarding the
followers’ votes for their favorite colors produced 3,840 re-posts and 1,495 comments within
just a week.44 Another post highlighting the color blue, which was popularly known as “The
Blue Trip,” reached 884,073 Weibo users, resulting in 205 re-posts and 66 comments
generated.32
Since the campaign was launched, Fendi had observed a 44% and 536% rise in the activities
and re-posts, respectively, on its Weibo page in only three weeks. Its follower base expanded
by 255 % or 7,301 followers, with 43 active followers per day on average.32
Coach
Coach, the American luxury brand known for its leather goods, also released a campaign
called “Coach Footprints” (see Exhibit 9A) 39 in China in 2013. The program asked the
brand’s Weibo followers to reveal their contact information in order to get the opportunity of
winning a luggage tag worth Rmb 500 (US$82). Ever since the campaign was launched, reposts and user comments increased by 13% and 50% respectively. In just five days, Coach’s
followers increased by 7,358 individuals or 157%.32
38
Petrucci , T.(19 January 2015) “Last Week’s Clever Campaign – Marc By Marc Jacobs”, My Clever Agency,
http://www.mycleveragency.com/blog/2015/01/last-weeks-clever-campaign-marc-marc-jacobs/ (accessed 25 October 2015).
39
Fashionbi (30 April 2014) “Fashionbi's Trends Report: Discover the Trendiest Trends around Your Trendy Brand”,
http://fashionbi.com/insights/how-to/fashionbi-s-trends-report-discover-the-trendiest-trends-around-your-trendy-brand
(accessed 26 October 2015).
40
Dazed Digital (April 2015) “Cast Me Marc is back - it wants you and your friends”,
http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/24144/1/cast-me-marc-is-back-it-wants-you-and-your-friends
(accessed 26 October 2015).
41
Petrucc, T. (19 January 2015) “Last Week’s Clever Campaign – Marc By Marc Jacobs”, My Clever Agency,
http://www.mycleveragency.com/blog/2015/01/last-weeks-clever-campaign-marc-marc-jacobs/ (accessed 25 October 2015).
42
Fendi (2015) Fendi Weibo page, http://www.weibo.com/fendi (accessed 15 September 2015).
43
Jing Daily (27 August 2013) “China: This Week in Digital Luxury Marketing”,
http://jingdaily.com/china-this-week-in-digital-luxury-marketing-22 (accessed 12 August 2015).
44
Gerring, G. (9 September 2013) “Three Engaging Campaigns on Weibo Now”, China Business Review,
http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/3-engaging-campaigns-on-weibo-now/ (accessed 18 August 2015).
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During the same year, Coach launched another campaign called “Modern New Yorker”
jointly on Weibo and WeChat. WeChat users were required to text the message “Modern New
Yorker” on the brand’s WeChat account to receive nine puzzle pieces which, when combined,
formed a picture of the brand’s Ambassador, popular singer-songwriter Leehom Wang (see
Exhibit 9B).45 Participants could upload the completed puzzle onto the brand’s Weibo page,
where they had the chance of winning a brand poster autographed by Leehom Wang.40
Adidas
The German sports brand Adidas created marketing history through its “all in or nothing”
campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The campaign highlighted a television
commercial featuring international soccer players like David Bekham, Zinedine Zedane,
Lionel Messi, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ö zil, David Villa, Danny Alves, and so on,
endorsing the attitude of either giving your all to a goal, or nothing at all (see Exhibits 10A46
and 10B47), while Kanye West’s rap song “God Level” played in the background.48
Adidas made a lot of noise across all the social-media platforms by using the same “all in or
nothing” attitude when it came to signing up for updates on the tournaments. The users were
asked to opt between “all in” and “nothing” (see Exhibit 10C).49 Those choosing “all in” got
access to the smallest of details of events, while the users choosing “nothing” were
immediately blocked.50
The campaign stirred 1.59 million online conversations, making Adidas one of the most
mentioned brands during 2014 FIFA World Cup. Simultaneously, the brand successfully
expanded its followers across major social media platforms by 5.8 million.51 This became
social media’s fastest growing soccer community, showing a 14.5% spike in growth. On
Twitter “#allin” became one of the most popular hashtags, used 917,000 times.36 Among the
various brands that had videos published during the tournament, Adidas became the most
viewed sports brand on YouTube, with over 38 million views.36
Conclusion
Social-media platforms are becoming ever more advanced as we move toward the future,
thereby allowing the booming fashion industry to enter diverse consumer markets with just a
few clicks. Customers are bonding with fashion houses on a personal and interactive level.
Omni-channel marketing campaigns are not only increasing brand equity, but also
strengthening community ties among online user networks, with users identifying themselves
with the brand and becoming loyal customers. In future, opportunities and possibilities
offered by social-media platforms to fashion brands can be further explored and expected.
45
Jing Daily (18 December 2013) “Selfies, Puzzles, and Quizzes: The Top 5 WeChat Luxury Campaigns of 2013,”
https://jingdaily.com/selfies-puzzles-and-quizzes-the-top-5-wechat-luxury-campaigns-of-2013/ (accessed 20 August 2015).
46
Ruvolo, J. (7 July 2014) “Embedded with Adidas’ Social Media Team at the World Cup in Rio”,
http://adage.com/article/global-news/embedded-adidas-social-media-team-world-cup/294016/ (accessed 20 August 2015).
47
Appnova (June 6, 2014) “2014 World Cup Marketing Battles Part 1 – Nike, Adidas, William Hill and Paddy Power”,
http://www.appnova.com/2014-world-cup-marketing-battles-part-1-nike-adidas-william-hills-paddy-power/ (accessed 20
August 2015).
48
McGahan, M. (5 June 2014) “2014 Adidas ‘The Dream: All in or Nothing’ Commercial – What’s the Song? ”, Popcrush,
http://popcrush.com/2014-adidas-the-dream-all-in-or-nothing-commercial-whats-the-song/ (accessed 19 August 2015).
49
Bayliss, T. (29 May 2014) “Is Adidas’ “All in or Nothing’ campaign a display of brand arrogance?”,
http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1296466/adidas-all-nothing-campaign-display-brand-arrogance (accessed 20
August 2015).
50
Mavsocial.com “Social Media Campaigns Going for Goal”,
http://mavsocial.com/social-media-campaigns-going-for goal(accessed 19 August 2015).
51
Campaignbrief.com (15 July 2014) “Adidas Wins Battle of Real Time Marketing With 'all in or nothing' Campaign at The
FIFA World Cup”, http://www.campaignbrief.com/2014/07/adidas-wins-battle-of-real-tim.html (accessed 21 August 2015).
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Social-Media Marketing in Fashion Industry
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Learning Objectives
1)
2)
3)
To understand the development of and current trends in social-media marketing in the
fashion industry.
To discuss the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing social media as a marketing tool.
To explore future possibilities of social-media marketing.
Study Questions
1)
2)
3)
Why has social media become a popular marketing tool for the fashion industry?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using social media for marketing?
How could a fashion brand make use of social media for marketing purposes?
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EXHIBIT 1A: BURBERRY’S TWEETS ON TWEETWALK SHOW 2012 – (A)
Source: Barnett, E. (19 September 2011) “London Fashion Week: Twitter teams up with
Burberry to launch ‘Tweetwalk’”, The Telegraph,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8773521/London-Fashion-Week-Twitter-teamsup-with-Burberry-to-launch-Tweetwalk.html
EXHIBIT 1B: BURBERRY’S TWEETS ON TWEETWALK SHOW 2012 – (B)
Source: Bennett, S. (21 September 2011) “Burberry Gives Twitter Followers Exclusive
‘Tweetwalk’ Preview Of New Collection”, Adweek Blog Network - Social Times,
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/burberry-tweetwalk/455450
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EXHIBIT 2: SIZE OF THE GLOBAL APPAREL MARKET IN 2012, BY REGION (IN BILLION
U.S. DOLLARS)
Source: Statista (2015) “Size of the global apparel market in 2012, by region (in billion U.S.
dollars)”, http://www.statista.com/statistics/279735/global-apparel-market-size-by-region/
(accessed 15 Sep 2015).
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EXHIBIT 3: USER BASE GROWTH OF VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Source: L2 (1 August 2013) “Intelligent Report: Social Platforms 2013”, cited in Zaryouni, H. (31 July
2014) ‘Yoox’s WeChat Expansion: Q&A with Clement Kwan”, L2 - The Daily,
http://www.l2inc.com/yoox-wechat-qa-with-president-clement-kwan
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EXHIBIT 4: EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA (2004 – 2014)
Source: Mahajan, A.C. (12 December 2014) “The Evolution of Social Media 2004 – 2014: The
Good, The Bad and The Ugly Of It!”, http://dazeinfo.com/2014/12/12/evolution-social-media2004-2014-good-bad-ugly/
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EXHIBIT 5: EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CHINA
Source: CRAMPTON, T. (2010) “Infographic: China’s Social Media Evolution”,
http://thomascrampton.com/china/china-social-media-evolution/ (accessed 15 September 2015)
EXHIBIT 6: USAGE STATISTICS OF VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS (2014)
Source: Mahajan, A.C. (12 December 2014) “The Evoluation of Social media 2004 – 2014: The
Good, The Bad and The Ugly Of It!”, http://dazeinfo.com/2014/12/12/evolution-social-media2004-2014-good-bad-ugly/
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EXHIBIT 7A: #CASTMEMARC HASTAGS ON TWITTER – SOME EXAMPLES
Source: Twitter, https://twitter.com/hashtag/castmemarc (accessed 5 November 2015).
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EXHIBIT 7B: YOUTUBE VIDEO ON “MEET THE #CASTMEMARC WINNERS”
Source: Marc Jacobs (3 Jul, 2014), “Meet the #CastMe Marc Winners”,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywg-_kHbJyo
EXHIBIT 8: FENDI’S “FLY WITH COLORS” CAMPAIGN ON WEIBO
Source: Fendi’s Weibo official page, http://www.weibo.com/fendi (accessed 15 September 2015)
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EXHIBIT 9A: COACH’S “COACH FOOTPRINTS” CAMPAIGN ON WEIBO
Source: Gerring, C. (9 September 2013) “Three Engaging Campaigns on Weibo Now”, China
Business Review, http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/3-engaging-campaigns-on-weibo-now/
(accessed August 18, 2015).
EXHIBIT 9B: COACH’S “MODERN NEW YORKER” CAMPAIGN ON WEIBO AND
WECHAT
Source: Jing Daily (18 December 2013) “Selfies, Puzzles, and Quizzes: The Top 5 WeChat
Luxury Campaigns of 2013”, https://jingdaily.com/selfies-puzzles-and-quizzes-the-top-5-wechatluxury-campaigns-of-2013/ (accessed August 20, 2015).
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EXHIBIT 10A: ADIDAS “ALL IN OR NOTHING” CAMPAIGN ON TWEETER (A)
Source: Ruvolo, J. (7 July 2014) “Embedded with Adidas’ Social Media Team at the World Cup
in Rio”, http://adage.com/article/global-news/embedded-adidas-social-media-team-worldcup/294016/ (accessed August 20, 2015).
EXHIBIT 10B: ADIDAS “ALL IN OR NOTHING” CAMPAIGN ON TWEETER (B)
Source: Appnova (6 June 2014) “2014 World Cup Marketing Battles Part 1 – Nike, Adidas,
William Hill and Paddy Power”, http://www.appnova.com/2014-world-cup-marketing-battlespart-1-nike-adidas-william-hills-paddy-power/ (accessed August 20, 2015).
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EXHIBIT 10C: ADIDAS – SIGNING-UP OPTION FOR UPDATES IN SOCIAL MEDIA, “ALL
IN OR NOTHING” CAMPAIGN
Source: Bayliss, T. (29 May 2014) “Is Adidas’ “All in or Nothing’ campaign a display of brand
arrogance?”, http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1296466/adidas-all-nothingcampaign-display-brand-arrogance (accessed August 20, 2015).
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