Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
clients to do the talking while they use the contents of such conversations to
fuel the experience that is crafted within the universe of the brand.
Whether or not a luxury brand has a social web strategy (which is most
unlikely at this stage), most luxury brands are already present in the blogosphere.
Statistics from Technorati estimate that four in every five bloggers post brand or
product reviews, with 37 percent posting them frequently and about 90 percent
of bloggers make entries on only the brands that they love (or hate). Blog read-
ers also love to discuss luxury brands, particularly as a result of the often emo-
tional accord they have with luxury brands. When Michelle Obama wore a dress
from Azzedine Alaïa to the G20 dinner in April 2009, it generated 282 com-
ments within the first two days from more than 200 different people and most
of the discussions were as much about the US First Lady as about the designer.
So imagine the level of traffic that would have been drawn to Alaïa's website
following the post had the brand given much thought to having a website - you
may be surprised but yes, Azzedine Alaïa didn't have a website at the time of
writing (but this is another issue that has been further addressed in Chapter 7).
If you look at blogs like Dream Yacht Blog (dreamyachtblog.com), Purse
Blog (purseblog.com), Style Bubble (stylebubble.typepad.com) and Style
Rookie (www.tavithenewgirlintown.blogspot.com) you may be surprised at the
extent of conversations taking place among customers on products and serv-
ices of luxury brands. The consumer has taken the lead in the conversation and
wants to be in absolute control. Luxury brands have therefore become non-
participants and been relegated to the role of watchers and observers because if
luxury brands simply show up, announce themselves and expect the audience
to be gleefully receptive, they are likely to fail. The bottom line is that luxury
clients learn a lot about luxury brands through the social web so brands should
learn about where their clients are getting this information and how they are
sharing their stories. The role of the luxury brand in the social web is to influ-
ence the participants towards adopting their brands without seeming intrusive,
manipulative and controlling. How can this be handled by luxury companies?
Here are a few crucial Q and As and a seven-point guideline on how in my
opinion luxury brands could approach the social web:
Q. Should luxury brands inform bloggers of the brand's initiatives?
A. Yes, of course.
Q. Should luxury brands monitor the blogosphere?
A. Definitely.
Q. Should luxury brands participate in blog discussions?
A. Yes, through reps that are real people with a name and a face.
1. Luxury brands ought to understand the scope of the social web and identify
the blogs that are most relevant to their brand identity and product categories.
