We are wondering if you may tell us some
industries that have not been affected by digitalization? Well, there might be
some, but for sure you have to spend some seconds to think about them, cause
nowadays almost everything is digitalized.
This article is aimed to argue how the
fashion industry has been affected by this phenomenon focusing on how valuable
the social platform Instagram is perceived by fashion-luxury brands.
Today the
active online presence on social networks turns to be a critical factors of
success for fashion retailers. In order to perform well, firms have to be active,
engaging to the greatest extent their “followers” by trying to convert them
into customers (for further info please read previous article).
According to the marketing agency
Greenlight, this year Instagram seems to be the fashion world’s platform of
choice. For instance with regard to the London fashion week, there have been
almost five times more posts on Instagram (with the hastag #LFW2016) than
twitter mentions. Seen as “gimmick” at the beginning, Instagram is currently perceived
as a hugely beneficial tool for brands. It has been privileged because of its
potentials to reach a wider mass than the standard fashion magazines or also other
social networks, mainly because of its hashtag system. The latter enables users
to see what the whole world has posted in that specific “category” in the last
days/months.
As Leonie Roderick points out in her article
“How fashion brands are taking Instagram from gimmick to strategic”, in the UK
the big player Topshop has employed a fashion photographer to capture its show
throw pictures that have been released live on the retailer’s Instagram
account. This was a strategy to get people even more involved, seeing the
intimate part of the show (backstage feel) and also being allowed to shop the outfits
worn by VIPs seated on the first row.
Moreover,
the author emphasizes the importance of “embracing Instagram the right way” in
order to persuade and gain followers. In fact, many of the young start-ups
fashion companies, have been working and understanding effectively the proper techniques
of using Instagram as a social strategy by communicating their
brand values and
building customer loyalty. A representative example
is the highly competitive fashion brand Burberry. With nearly 6 millions
followers, the company took a further step with the use of Instagram, in fact,
as Alice Parfrement mentions in the article, the brand managed to change its
social strategy by changing the calendar: “instead of having to wait six months for the
latest collection, Instagram means Burberry’s garments will be immediately
available after a show.”
Clementson believes that “ Instagram will
become a more crucial part of fashion brands strategies”, which will lead the
campaigns of brands to run even more on social platform. In conclusion,
Parfrement insists that the most important thing is to use these social
platforms as a long-term strategy in order to stay connected with consumers
without forgetting to be interactive by posting videos or new news feeds.
Giuliano Condorelli & Yves Zabal
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