Luxury Brands need Celebrities or Millennials?
Fashion knows best the power of virality. A good pair of sneakers was everyone’s cutie before any 1 million views of a cat’s YouTube video. Fashion leans on the contagious effect. When fashion mavens wear a good piece of cloth, you can be sure that some followers will follow. Fashion is where you can easily see […]
Fashion knows best the power of virality. A good pair of sneakers was everyone’s cutie before any 1 million views of a cat’s YouTube video.
Fashion leans on the contagious effect. When fashion mavens wear a good piece of cloth, you can be sure that some followers will follow. Fashion is where you can easily see virality in its best.
Once celebrities and models were the heart of fashion advocates but the times have changed. Instagrammers and bloggers now lead the trends while sharing it with their audience. Brands are well aware of that and feel they need social hasslers on their side. Sometimes they push forward and invite them to try the new lines, and sometimes they enjoy native and genuine mentions.
There are many fashion brands out there and they fight for social attention. We decided to match two of our loves, fashion and social data, and to check how brands enjoy the power of influencers the most.
We took two of the most luxurious fashion brands in the world – Versace and Burberry – to see how these two manage to get the attention of the Top influencers in fashion.
We analyzed the brands’ social strategy and checked how the audiences respond to it, especially the top influencers. Here’s what we found:
Burberry: Young Audience Seek Luxury
Burberry was established 160 years ago but when looking at their social strategy they seem like a young and hype brand who knows best their audience. They set themselves apart of other fashion brands, especially fast and low cost brands, with being highly active on social and also launching creative campaigns. One of their famous one was around their known trench coat – Art of the Trench – a site dedicated to images of people wearing the Burberry trench coat.
Though Burberry is a luxurious brand, analyzing its audience on social reveals a young and very engaged audience. 50% of the audience is 18-24 years old, 25% are around the age of 25-34. Most of the audience is 70%. The company posts 9 times a day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Their high-quality creative work receives tremendous love: 72k RTs and Likes a day!
Top Fashion Influencers Affinity for Burberry: 18% of the top fashion influencers mentioned Burberry in the last 3 months. With total of 44 mentions they raised the brand awareness on social with positive coverage.
Versace: Endorsed by Celebrities
Versace is looking for the young audience at their own playground. For instance, the company held a live streaming event on Periscope, letting their audience watch Donatella Versace during breakfast in bed. It was the brand’s take on transparency and looking at their numbers it seems they’re doing it right: 53% of their followers are 18-24 years old, while 24% are at the age of 25-34, like Burberry’s.
The company posts 6 times a day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. They share many in-studio photos of stand-alone products. Their RTs and Likes stand on 1,454 on average a day. Unlike other brands that let the clothes talk by itself on the photos, It is common to find in Versace’s most beloved content the brand name in a very explicit way. When you share an image by Versace, it’s not just a good image. It’s a branded one.
The brand luxurious identity on social still leans on celebrities presence and endorsements. You will easily find images of Lady Gaga, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie wearing cloths and accessories by the brand.
In-depth look at the audience demographics (74% are women) shows that many of them do like luxury and look for it in other brands as well. 3% of their audience mentioned also Jean Paul Gaultier, and 2% – Balmain fashion house.
Top Fashion Influencers Affinity for Versace: 28% of the top fashion influencers talked about Versace in the last 3 months. They mentioned the brand 72 Mentions while sharing images of themselves with the brand’s clothes.
Luxury Brands Bond with Young Audience
Though it may not be their most direct paying target audience, the luxury brands need young audience on social. They are the ones who move the needle and draw attention to trends. They also revitalizing the brand’s image. When hugged by millennials, being a 100 years old brand is not an issue. It is young again and the audience aspire to own its coat, beg or pair of shoes.
Both Versace and Burberry managed to own young audience that amplify their content. Though Versace enjoyed more attention by the top fashion influencers, Burberry managed to get more engagement for their posts.
Going young for these kind of brands is not just a matter of current survival, but also for continuing their prestigious heritage for years to go. It seems they figured out how to offer long-live branded products with the most up-to-date marketing tactics.
