Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
single brands but are more prone to experimenting, mixing and even individual-
izing brands according to their tastes. And, of course, brands have the additional
issue of justifying and evaluating the return on investment of initiatives taken
in marketing through online communities. How can it be demonstrated to the
executive committee of a luxury brand that monitoring conversations on hun-
dreds of social networks like Twitter, A Small World, Facebook and MySpace
will be useful in product development and brand image communications? What
metrics would be used to measure the return on such activities in order to jus-
tify the budget allocated to it? And from which section can the budget itself
be extracted? From the marketing intelligence budget or from the marketing
research budget or the digital media allocation? The lack of a preceding refer-
ence model for social web marketing definitely doesn't make it an easy task for
luxury brands.
But when dealing with the social web, particularly online communities,
luxury brands must think less in terms of costs and more in terms of return
on investment linked directly to the value that each client brings to the brand
through their level of influence on others. This may be through their refer-
rals, opinions, suggestions, network size, elevated position and clout. For
example, on social networks like A Small World, people will be more likely
to adhere to the suggestions of a luxury personal shopper with a network of
2,000 people than they would to those of a real-estate agent, no matter how
wealthy and stylish the latter is.
So how should luxury brands approach online communities and social
networks?
First, a luxury brand must have a real social media vision translated
through a long-term strategy with clearly defined objectives for the company's
entire online presence. This should naturally feature communicating through
social networks and online communities. However, the luxury brand must first
understand the dynamics of the social web and the evolution of the consumer
mind-set in order to craft an integrated social web strategy. This means devel-
oping a best practice approach to Internet marketing and teaching, coaching
and inculcating an online culture among employees internally. The Internet
must be viewed as a multi-channel support system for reaching new clients,
enhancing the relationship with current clients, reinforcing the brand image,
selling online and providing services and enhancing the overall brand experi-
ence. For example, it must be well understood that although Facebook and
Twitter are both online social media platforms, their dynamics and potential
value for luxury brands are different and therefore luxury's approach to them
must also be different.
Secondly, luxury brands have to align their Internet strategies to touch on
the various communities that concern the wealthy and in which they want
to participate. Identifying the online social network that suits the demograph-
ics of the brand is no longer sufficient, neither is it enough to blast all the
