Kate Spade Establishes a Voice and Audience Online

Photo Credit: From Flickr of Suzy LaCroix, Kate Spade Imagery

Kate Spade is everywhere! If you do a quick search on Mashable.com for Kate Spade, eight articles immediately pop-up where Kate Spade is a clear leader when it comes to digital evolution and use of new social media tools. In their third annual Luxury Digital IQ Index, L2, ranks Kate Spade in the number two spot right below Burberry,  “coming out of nowhere” according to the think tank. The brand was given a digital IQ of 143 or ranked as “Genius.” Brands in this rank (including other brands Burberry, Coach and Gucci) are brands where “digital innovation is a point of differentiation. Site experience is searchable, shareable, and mobile-optimized. Social media is embedded into marketing DNA, and campaigns are integrated across multiple digital platforms” (L2, Digital IQ Index: Fashion). Kate Spade has made various digital platforms a priority and it is adapting to new emerging ones seamlessly standing out from the rest of prestige brands out there.

Screenshot of @katespadeny

Twitter seems to be a platform where Kate Spade has succeeded and stood out, but not without trial and error, at first.  In Mashable.com’s article “How 5 Top Brands Crafted Their Social Media Voices,” John Januzzie, who used to manage the brand’s social media platforms, mentioned “at first, tweets from the @katespadeny account was written by visitors who came to the brand’s Fifth Avenue store and wrote short messages on a typewriter, or, as they affectionately called it, “the tweetwriter” ” (mashable.com). However this strategy was not consistent enough for a platform like Twitter that needs ongoing content to be effective and stand out. As such, Januzzi had thought of who the Kate Spade woman was and what she would do. This woman apparently was a New Yorker who  in cheerful, witty and conversational tweets “[checks] in to the MoMA in the afternoon and at Mercury Lounge in the evening; on the weekends, “she” snapped Instagram photos of Central Park and the facade of the Plaza Hotel” (mashable.com).

@katespadeny maintains a”personal voice without coming across as an actual individual” (contently.com). @katespadeny embodies the Kate Spade woman without having to reveal the individual handling the account, unlike OscarPRGirl and DKNYPRGirl. This is done through different ways including “[tweeting] frequently specific events, like dining at a particular restaurant or seeing a Broadway show, but a constant and professional identity is upheld. In keeping with its highly visual brand, Instagram photos often appear frequently, but the tweeters are never the subjects of those photos” (contently.com). What’s interesting about this strategy, is through tweets, her followers get to know the Kate Spade woman aned creates a desire to possibly aspire to be like “Kate Spade,” to be in her shoes and wear her clothes. As thesocial-lights.com puts it, “You know there is a real woman behind that twitter/facebook/blog account. She literally lets you into her wardrobe and life…Kate Spade knows how to create a brand and become more than a storefront.”

This approach seems to be one that brands would be extremely comfortable with implementing especially those not willing to let go of control. The key is having a clear picture of who that woman or man is  and what he or she embodies. In an interview with mashable.com, CEO of Kate Spade, Craig Leavitt mentions that the brand already had a persona behind Kate Spade. “We are really fortunate that we had already developed an authentic voice and persona for our brand. The Kate Spade girl aspires to lead an interesting life — to engage in the arts and literature and travel and adventure. We talk about those things on social media because that’s who she is, and she wants to hear about what her peers are doing. It feels very very natural for us.”

Screenshot of Kate Spade Tumblr page

Kate Spade has also been very successful at Tumblr, not to it is one of the first prestige fashion brands that took advantage of the platform and saw what a successful medium it could be. Kate Spade’s Digital Marketing Manager, Cecilia Liu was quoted in thesocial-lights.com as saying “People are using and sharing beautiful visuals on Tumblr, posting things they think are inspirational. In that vein, it seems like a really great platform for us to get our voice out there, not just as tweets and text, but through images and color, which is the DNA of the brand.”

According to mashable.com Kate Spade is using Tumblr to engage with their fans on a more visual level. But aside from just posting great visual imagery to match-up with the brands woman and identity, the brand takes the opportunity on Tumblr to interact with their followers by “frequently responding to and reblogging other users’ questions and content” (mashable.com).To continue interacting with consumers, it has also created the hashtags: #LiveColorfully and #thingswelove where anyone can submit things they love and things that embody living colorfully. The brand in turn, will share the posts with these hashtags on their Twitter and Tumblr pages. “[H]ashtag[s] like this is wicked PR as followers can use it for everyday situations, while the association with [Kate Spade New York] will always be there” (Fashion Retailers). Creating accounts on Twitter and Tumblr that are both from the brand and user-generated….genius! What’s more, through these hashtags, Kate Spade will have constant and ongoing content to fuel two platforms at once! Content creation seems to be a sticking point of some brands, and Kate Spade has found a way to use the brands’ fans content.

Ultimately Kate Spade looks to these platforms to not only grow their fan base but continue to engage with them: “I guess it’s really about the number of people we’re reaching in the end. We want to reach as many people as possible. We’re closing in on 400,000 Facebook fans and 150,000 Twitter followers — those are meaningful numbers for us as a brand, [and they determine] how we invest our time and our human resources across those different media. It’s also about enabling a real-time conversation, talking about where [the Kate Spade girl] is now and where she goes next.” (Mashable.com).

Kate Spade Considered a Top Brand on Social Media

If you asked me a few years ago how I would describe the Kate Spade brand, I don’t think I would be able to give a clear picture of the brand’s identity or who the Kate Spade woman is. However with the rise of social media, I can tell you now that Kate Spade is fun, colorful, witty, cheerful and ladylike. I can also probably tell you if a clothing item or accessory could belong to the Kate Spade brand. And while I don’t own any Kate Spade pieces, I do know all this from the brand’s rising presence on social media. Mashable.com deems Kate Spade as one of the top 5 brands succeeding on Twitter, while the think tank L2 has ranked the brand second in its third annual Digital IQ Index, right behind Burberry (L2thinktank.com).

Kate Spade Facebook page

Kate Spade has been solidifying its presence on social media tools like, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and online videos and her presence has left an imprint in my mind and many others of what the brand stands for and what Kate Spade is all about. I love the visual appeal of the brand with its bright colors and fun designs/ This is seen all over its social media accounts especially with the very visual tools of Tumblr and Pinterest. The personality of the Kate Spade woman comes through Twitter account when she “[checks] in to the MoMA in the afternoon and at Mercury Lounge in the evening; on the weekends, “she” snapped Instagram photos of Central Park and the facade of the Plaza Hotel” (Mashable.com).

There’s a lot I would like to explore with the brand and what it has done to succeed online. This is one  brand to learn from and take away some best practices for any brand! I will definitely delve into the Kate Spade social media world a little more to find out about the rise of the brand and what Kate Spade’s take is on succeeding in social media.

Lancôme and YouTube Phenom, Michelle Phan

I always have wondered how people wade through millions and millions of videos to find a few they like and share with friends.  How does one video stand out from a clutter of millions to go viral? How does any one “YouTuber” get millions of views when there may be others out there with similar videos? With over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month, 4 billion videos viewed each day, over 3 billion hours of videos viewed each month and more videos uploaded to YouTube in one month than three US networks created in 60 years (Youtube.com), it amazes me how any one video can truly stand out and make its mark and yet there are those videos that truly do make an impact and even those regular YouTubers that gain a following.

Enter Michelle Phan, one YouTuber who has stood out in the clutter, gained a huge following, and as some media claim, risen to YouTube stardom. Since May 2007, Michelle Phan has been creating how-to makeup videos on YouTube. Armed with just her JVC camcorder and Macbook Pro iMovie Phan has gained an immense following with 1.8 million subscribers, 547 million video views and countless of makeup how-tos, like the popular “Lady Gaga Poker Face Tutorial” below with 31 millions views.

According to a VanityFair.com article on the YouTuber, she started out by popular demand: “Many of my fans on my personal blog wanted me to make a tutorial on achieving a natural look. I decided to create a video tutorial instead, and it’s been a hit ever since.” She adds, “I’m lucky that video editing is actually a hobby of mine. I love to work with motion graphics, and developed an eye for it.”

Her popularity on YouTube has catapulted the Vietnamese-American makeup guru into mainstream media, having been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Forbes , Seventeen and has even been the makeup lead at the Michael Kors and Chris Benz  Spring 2010 runway shows during New York Fashion Week. And in march of 2010, prestige makeup brand Lancôme signed-on Phan as one of their spokesperson who has been added to the roster of celebrity spokespersons including Emma Watson, Kate Winslet, and Anne Hathaway (Cosmeticsmag.com).

Apparently Lancôme was the first-ever luxury cosmetics brand to sign-on a social media star (cosmeticsmag.com) and ironically enough, Phan once applied for a part-time job at a Lancôme counter, but was not hired. The partnership entails creating one vide per month highlighting her favorite products from the brand. Under the partnership, Phan would still continue to create videos using other brands. Below was Phan’s video announcement of the partnership.

This seemed to be a great solution for a prestigious cosmetics brand like Lancôme to integrate themselves into YouTube and capture an audience in the millions! Luxury brands are known for creating glossy print ads and very stylized and edited videos to maintain and communicate the identity and standards of their brands. Many videos on YouTube such as Phan’s are well-loved because they are created by the users themselves. The videos are relatable and attainable and with Phan’s how-to videos, she proves that the make-up looks we see in mainstream media are as relatable as the quality of her videos. Through the partnership, Lancôme is not only able to adapt to best practices within YouTube, but they were also able to work with a star who already had a huge following.  As Serge Jureidini, president for Lancôme USA has said “[Michelle] represents the next generation of both makeup users and makeup artists” (Cosmeticsmag.com). Through their partnership, the cosmetics brand was immediately catapulted in front of millions of possibly new and potential consumers as well as a new generation of makeup artists — two sets of audiences essential for any luxury brand to continue its longevity well into the future.

As she stated in her video, Phan wanted to assure hew viewers she partnered with Lancôme, a makeup brand she feels strongly about and believes in. She continues to use other beauty brands in different videos. It appears that the partnership  was made to be an organic combination between cosmetic brand and Phan, one that stays true to the medium of YouTube and where Phan can also stay true to her viewers.

Phan’s online presence has evolved since she began in 2007. Her most recent videos have taken on a different feel and Phan has been involved in other projects: with a partner, she has created IQQU, a niche skin-care line sold online. Has Phan become more commercial as a result of the partnership? Some may think so. But like any other brand, Phan seems to be looking for ways to evolve, move forward and push herself and her brand into new frontiers. Being too “commercial” may certainly not be considered as a best practice on a tool like You Tube,  but to Phan’s credit she was able to gain majority of her fans without all the promotional power of a brand like Lancôme or the media power of a Vanity Fair. It seems she understands what her audience wants and needs. And to be honest, with 547 millions views on her YouTube channel, you can’t blame the girl for trying.

I’m interested to see where Phan goes from here, how her partnership with Lancôme  will evolve and ultimately if her fans will evolve with her on her journey.