Are luxury brand marketers missing the social media boat?

There’s no getting away from social media, but are marketing professionals doing enough to cash in? Today (June 2013) Facebook says it attracts 1.1 billion active users and Twitter is used as a mainstream communications tool by millions. YouTube adverts that go viral could also be viewed as ‘social’ because they embody the latest thinking on sharing and consumer empowerment.

But some marketing experts are critical of the progress that brand owners and marketing professionals are making when it comes to using social channels to connect with customers.

Blogging on the Guardian website Josh Dickins, a consultant at Sparkler, says: “While almost all major brands now have a social media presence, social marketing, in general, seems curiously out of step with how consumers actually function in this space. A perception remains that social is the preserve of official PR feeds, enterprising promotions and the occasional viral success – not as a site for sustained conversation with a community of active and productive consumers.

“If these are lessons that all brands, to a lesser or greater degree, should take on board, then the situation is particularly acute with luxury and premium brands. Once again, the issue seems to be one of perception, and until recently high-end brands have been peculiarly reticent to engage with high net worth individuals on social media. Perhaps rooted in social networks’ earliest incarnations as youth-oriented platforms, the social online space has been underappreciated as a site for engaging with the wealthiest and highest-spending consumers.”

Dickins says that within the top 20% of earners in the UK, France and Germany lie groups of switched-on consumers who are happy to engage with brands on social media. He argues that these consumers are open to sharing and disseminating branded content that is relevant to them, while for some, social networks already play an important role in the path to purchase.

So what should luxury brands do with social?

Dickins gives examples (albeit without any sales figures to demonstrate whether social media success actually delivers a benefit to the bottom line). Premium brands that have raised their profile through social media include Burberry – which launched a pioneering Art of the Trench campaign in 2009, and saw its Facebook page swell to more than a million fans.

Dickins says “After this dedicated effort to engage with consumers on a creative level, other high-end names are beginning to follow suit.”

Porsche commemorated reaching 5m Facebook likes this year by allowing fans of the car manufacturer to help design a special model of the 911 Carrera, perfectly harnessing the collaborative and creative spirit of cognitive surplus that social media encourages. Louis Vuitton offered a live-streamed show from Paris fashion week, which included the option for their Facebook fans to share their favourite clips with the wider community.

Dickins concludes: “As perceptions begin to shift regarding social media as an open platform to engage consumers for exclusive products, the time is ripe for premium brands to establish dedicated social presences.”

Doing social media well requires an investment in time and creative minds thinking up novel ways to catch the mood of their particular consumer group in unique ways. Perhaps many global luxury brands have opted out of social campaigns because they can’t see a solid R.O.I. The danger for these is that if social media does eventually prove its worth, they will have a lot of catching up to do.

There are certainly opportunities for talented social media marketers to talk up what they do, and work hard to deliver tangible benefits to brands.

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