We’ve spoken at length about the relative reluctance of luxury brands to embrace social/online media. Luxury brands pride themselves on being at the pinnacle of innovation and cutting edge, but have lagged far behind the cutting edge of using social and online media to publicise their brands. Some have said ‘luxury are above that sort of thing.’ This is both ridiculous and untrue. There is no brand so exclusive it can afford not to publicise itself at all. Different courses for different horses, sure. Some prefer more traditional avenues, and that is fine. But we caution brands against shunning ‘new media’ and online marketing, these are increasingly becoming the first port of call, particularly for younger consumers.
It has been interesting to watch many brands jump at the launch of the iPad, with an array of different apps, and a varied rate of success. Brands like Burberry seem to have their social networking down pat. Others are flailing. Here at the MO Down, we are curious as to what impact the success/failure of these apps will have on the success/failure of different luxury brands’ popularity. Will big brands like Chanel and Juicy Couture be able to keep shoppers engaged, and loyally within their branded apps? Luxury shoppers will use the Internet, and they will use social media. The question is, can brands find a way to use this to their advantage. Customers want something that will give them what they want directly, and save them weeding through the mass of information online. Can brands provide this? Will fashion shoppers take to fashion-only aggregators like Asos? Or will they default to searching with Google and ebay? As far as we are concerned, the jury is still out.
