Bergdorf Goodman Storefront
Photo Credit: Flickr of Luxorioum Luxury
I stumbled upon luxurydaily.com‘s rankings of their top 10 choices when it comes to luxury marketers using social media. The article highlights key luxury brands from all industries that have been doing something right, when it comes to social media. I loved the insight the article gave into other brands and their programs. What I found most interesting was the inclusion of a different type of luxury fashion brand — high-end department stores. Luxurydaily.com ranks Bergdorf Goodman and Harrod’s within their top 10 choices of top luxury brands using social media in Q3 of 2011. I don’t think I ever even thought of exploring premium department stores when writing this blog. Funnily enough though I have read of a few interesting projects Bergdorf’s has done especially in and around NYC.
Bergdorf Goodman’s use of social media seemed to have gotten notice with a few contests done on the store’s Facebook page. First, there was a contest to win Fendi’s color-block 2bag, then in partnership with Lucky magazine, Bergdorf launched a contest to choose the next model for their ad campaign of 5F, their younger set of designer collections, and win $1000 gift card (thehighlow.com). To enter, you had to like the page and according to the highlow.com within 2 days the contest received 216 entries.
From that contest, Bergdorf then created built a second program where the winners of the said contest were included in an interactive video wearing designer duds. The video was created with a storyline in mind of a group of friends shopping and trying on clothes. As online customers view the video, viewers can scroll over to find out the labels of clothes the winners were looking at or trying out and you could even click to buy the piece or share with friends (luxurydaily.com).
The video embedded here is the not the interactive one, to view it and experience the interactive shopping experience go to http://bit.ly/oIeQNV. According to Clickthrough CEO/founder Abe McCallum, the partner of Bergdorf to create this video, “We always highly recommend this because it gives the consumer much more information to explore while watching” (luxurdaily.com). I loved the video and the concept! It seems to be a very unique that not many other brands have done. The video was very editorial, definitely kept to a storyline but makes shopping a little more appealing especially to the younger set.
This program also seems to be Bergdorf’s attempt to really connect to the new generation of consumers who use social media and are finding new and innovative ways to shop. I always thought of Bergdorf Goodman as the place for Upper East side ladies. It had an old world, old money type feel to it. But I believe it s trying to break those perceptions to appeal to all women.
Screenshot of Bergdorf Goodman's Shoes About Town campaign
I especially loved the department store’s “Shoes About Town” campaign using Instagram. The store, created an online map of NYC where the brand and consumers could post Instagram photos of shoes in various locations across the city. According to luxurydaily.com, the map was created to build awareness around the Bergdorf Goodman’s Shoe iPhone App, its Fall shoe book that was coming out at that time and its expanding shoe salon in NYC.
According to Bergdorf Goodman’s Social Media Manager, Cannon Hodge, “We noticed how Instagram users really liked photographing landscapes, accessories and other interests, so we came up with a way to appeal to the community while encouraging them to collect, explore and share in a medium that felt distinctly New York and Bergdorf Goodman,” (luxurydaily.com). What girl would not want to partake and interact with a campaign like this? Shoes, shopping and New York City? Sounds very Sex And The City!
The British luxury department store, Harrod’s, was on luxurydaily.com’s list for its content-creating efforts. During the Spring/Summer 2012 London Fashion Week, Harrod’s launched The Review an online magazine focused on fashion-related content with styling tips and trends and of course the opportunity to shop online as you browse. In addition the retailer also awarded consumers on Twitter and Facebook on the brand’s various social media milestones.
Harrod's Department Store
Photo Credit: Flickr of Austrian Lancer
While Harrod’s efforts certainly don’t seem to be as innovative or out-of-the-box as Bergdorf Goodman’s, I do see why luxurydaily.com may have considered it a top luxury brand using social media at the time. First, in late 2011, surprisingly, there were still a lot of luxury brands hesitating to join social media and to join it in the right way. Second, by joining the world of social media, it also means that brands have to be content creators and be open to accepting all types user-generated content. Creating content on a competitive level in different social media platforms is a new way of thinking for many brands and many businesses. It is essentially a sort of “editorial” arm of these brands that also turn into customer service and promotional opportunities. To constantly churn out content, means to also look at your business in a different way and provide a true voice and identity of your brand. In addition, opening up any brand, luxury or not, to user-generated content is opening up the doors to potential opportunities but also to unknown territory, as you do not know what to expect. So I salute Harrod’s in their small steps into creating a more social online environment for their current and potential consumers.
High Fashion Social 