MC eBook HighStreetFashionWeek

7/30/2019 MC eBook HighStreetFashionWeek

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2013 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Proprietary and Condential 0313

An analysis of social media conversationabout high street brands at LondonFashion Week Autumn/Winter 2013

Measuring Success onthe Social Catwalk:

Presented with:


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Presented in conjunction with Media Measurement

2013 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Proprietary and Condential http://www.salesforce.com/marketing-cloud/ 2

Measuring Success on the Social Catwalk

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Headline Findings 4

Topshop received the most love 4

River Island generated the most buzz 4

Whistles few under the radar 4

Volumes 4

Sentiment 5

Most loved 6

Most hated 7

Conversation drivers 7

The shows and collections 8

The models 8

Celebrity attendence and collaborations 8

Competitions 9

Getting Social 10

Summary 11

Notes on methodology 12


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Introduction

Traditionally, London Fashion Week (LFW) has focused on showcasing designer labels, whether they

are long-established brands or up-and-coming new talent At the LFW Autumn Winter 2013 (AW 2013)

however, the high street is featured more prominently Fashion week stalwarts Topshop returned

with their Unique line, but this season they were joined by fellow high street brand River Island, who

launched a line in collaboration with pop princess Rihanna Whistles also debuted, hosting their own

show for the first time

This is the first of two white papers investigating the high streets impact at LFW AW 2013, analysing

social media conversations

This paper compares the volume and quality of social media conversations about Topshop, River Island

and Whistles to determine which of the three high street brands had the most impact It will also reveal

the secrets of their success

Part two, out next week, will look at how the high street performed at LFW AW 2013 in comparison to

the designer brands, and offer insight to what they could learn from each-others social strategies


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Headline Findings

Topshop received the most love

Topshop could do no wrong at LFW AW 2013 People loved the collection, the show and Topshop

efforts to make London Fashion Week more social and interactive With the hottest celebs on the front

row, must-have models on the catwalk, and its strong social presence, the TopShop performance was

hard to beat

River Island generated the most buzz

River Island was the most talked about brand at London Fashion Week, thanks to its collaboration with

one of the worlds hottest pop stars, Rihanna However, not all buzz is good buzz; conversations about

River Island were not always high quality, and not everyone was a fan of the collection, or the lines

inclusion in LFW

Whistles few under the radar

Those who talked about it loved it But with a small social presence and no major talking point, the

brand received little attention

Volumes

A comparison of the volume of social media

conversations about the brands in relationto LFW during the seven days from 14th

February, found that River Island and the

Rihanna for River Island line was mentioned

in by far the most posts By collaborating

with Rihanna for the launch, they were able

to exploit her global brand power to drive

conversations

The celebrity pull for River Island ensured

that it accounted for three times the buzz that

Topshop created (FIG1) This was despite far

stronger social media presence for Topshop

(FIG 2)Fig. 1: Total volume of posts mentioning the brands & LFW


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River Island also experienced the greatest increase in posts during LFW, when the level of conversation

was compared to a week in January (w/c 17th Jan) The volume of posts mentioning River Island

increased by 274%, compared to a 179% increase for Whistles and a 145% increase for Topshop

Fig. 2: Social media presence of the high street brands

SentimentAn analysis of a sample of all posts for each brand revealed that overall sentiment was fairly even across

the brands, with Whistles attracting a slightly higher proportion of positive posts

However, an analysis of a sample of

posts specifically relating to the brands

fashion shows illustrates that while

sentiment for Whistles and Topshop

were fairly even and almost exclusively

positive or neutral, River Island attracted

a significant proportion of negativeconversations (27%)

While some of the negative attention was

aimed at the collection, there was also

criticism of the models that walked in the

show, and of the inclusion of Rihannas

collection for River Island in LFW Fig. 3: Sentiment of posts by brand, about LFW overall andabout the fashion shows


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Most loved

Fig. 4: Top positive messages

There was general appreciation expressed

for the River Island, Topshop and Whistles

collections as a whole, with River Island receiving

the most positive attention overall, indicating that

Rihanna for River Island split opinions

Topshop was praised for putting on a great show

at LFW, and the models on the catwalk received

a lot of love, especially Cara Delevingne, who

opened the show

Fig. 6: Top positive messages general messages removed

For River Island, most of the positive support for the collection was generic; while people praised

Rihanna and the collection as a whole, there were less looks and pieces singled out for praise At

Topshop, the most loved look on the catwalk was sequins, while for Whistles, knits, camo and leather

were all received positive attention

Fig. 5: Positive Tweet about Topshop show


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Most hated

Fig. 7: Top negative messages about Rihanna for River Island

As negative posts about Topshop and Whistles were

negligible, the analysis of the most hated focuses on River

Island, which attracted significant negative attention (3%

of posts overall, 27% of posts about the show) The most

prominent negative discussion point was the Rihanna

for River Island collection as a whole While some said

that the collection was trashy or porny, and too flimsy

or revealing others found it to be underwhelming or

predictable

Another key point of cri ticism was Rihannas design credentials Some felt that she should stick to

singing; others felt she shouldnt be at LFW in the first place, and expressed a preference for real

design talent

INSIGHT:Celebrity endorsements and fashion collections need to be a good fit with the brand, the event, and

the target demographic for wholesale success.

Conversation drivers

Its well-known that fashion week is as much about the celebrities, the parties, whos wearing what and

who was with whom, as it is about the designers and their collections This was no different for the high

street brands at LFW Social media conversations about the brands in relation to LFW were frequently

not focused on the shows and the collections Some of the off-topic conversations were part and parcel

of fashion week and useful in driving attention and engagement with brands

Fig. 8: Tweet criticising the inclusion of

Rihanna for River Island in LFW


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The shows and collections

Whistles had the highest proportion of on-topic

conversations during the day of its show and thefollowing day, when 43% of posts (FIG 9) featured

comment about the catwalk show itself

Many of the posts about River Island at

LFW focused on the fact that Rihanna was

collaborating with the brand for a collection,

without elaborating There was a lot of anticipation

expressed in social media for the River Island

show, as people were intrigued and excited by

what the collection might look like During and

following the show, many of the references to thecollection were very general, and mentioned the

various looks and pieces far less frequently than

posts discussing Whistles and Topshop

For Topshop, many different elements of the show prompted conversations, from the models, to the

music, the staging, the collection and the celebrities in attendance

The models

Models walking for the brands at LFW were a source of

positive and negative buzz

One of the Topshop models, Cara Delevingne, the model

of the moment who appeared in seven shows at LFW, was

frequently mentioned The use of a model cam attached

to Cara and fellow model Jourdan Dunn which captured

their view of the show, plus backstage antics, increased

attention for the show

In the River Island show, there was mixed opinion about the models While some loved the new models,

others perceived them to be too skinny

Celebrity attendence and collaborations

Rihanna Tweeted multiple times to her 285 million twitter followers about the collection with River

Island, attracting Retweets of between 2,000 and 5,000 each time This helped to build huge

anticipation for the show and the collection, and there is no doubt that without Rihannas presence

River Island would not have received the amount of attention that it did

Fig. 9: % of posts in sample (from day of, and day after

each brands show) which mentioned shows content &

the collections

Fig. 10: tweet from fashion blogger/writer

about Cara Delevigne walking for Topshop


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However, there was also some criticism of Rihanna and

River Islands inclusion in LFW, as people complained that

she was not a real designer, and that London Fashion

Week should be about up-and-coming British designers

The Topshop show was attended by a number of

celebrities, including singer Demi Lovato, actor Kate

Bosworth and One Directions Louis Tomlinson, helping to

generate buzz However, Topshop was only mentioned in passing in these posts, which meant that

the quality of conversation was diluted

Whistles did not attract attention in social media for celebrity attendance/endorsement at its show

This meant that the volume of posts about Whistles was signif icantly lower than both Topshop and

River Island, although posts about the show were, as a result, much more focused on the quality of the

collection

INSIGHT:Having the hottest celebrities at the show increases attention and buzz if they are popular with

the target demographic. However, attention for celebrities attending/endorsing can also dilute the

conversation and draw attention away from the looks and trends.

Competitions

On 20th February River Island ran a very popular

competition to win a Rihanna LFW goodie bag, with one

lucky winner getting to meet Rihanna The competition was

almost solely responsible for over 4,500 posts on this day,

which significantly boosted River Islands share of voice

Whistles also ran a similar competition with Revlon, which

increased posts mentioning the brand at LFW on 19th

February, and accounted for 74% of UK posts about

Whistles at London Fashion Week

This type of conversation may increase the number of

followers and visibility for the brand, but it is usually fleeting,

low quality engagement

INSIGHT:Brands opting for this type of activity should have a plan to translate the increased attention from

consumers into deeper engagement.

Fig. 11: Tweet from Grazia magazines

shopping editor about the Rhianna for River

Island show

Fig. 12: Tracked number of posts per day


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Getting social

Topshop was by far the most social of the three high street

brands at LFW The retailer aimed to make its show andthe rest of LFW as interactive as possible, via a link-up with

Google+ The brand gave people at fashion week an insight

into what was going on backstage and used model cams

to allow viewers to see the show from a different angle The

live stream show included a feature where viewers could

take their own photos of the show, which made it very easy

for people to share their favourite looks

This increased accessibility ensured that more people commented about and shared images of the

show It also scored the brand brownie points, as people commented on how much they were loving

the live stream, the model cams, the Google+ hangout and the shoot the show screenshot option

The Topshop already signif icant social media audience (see FIG 2) meant that the brand was more able

to justify its investment in making LFW social than the other high street brands However, the results

indicate that the decision paid off, and ensured that Topshop was seen as leading the way for other

brands

INSIGHT:Investment in making LFW more social paid off for Topshop. However, brands need to work on

building a strong social brand as a base for more experimental tactics.

Fig. 13: Tweet about the social/interactive

elements of the Topshop show


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Summary

The high street brands left their mark on London Fashion Week Autumn Winter 2013 River Island

brought a lot of attention to LFW due to its collaboration with Rihanna While not all of this attentionwas positive, its likely that LFW and the brand were exposed to new audiences thanks to Rihannas

participation

Topshop, which is a little more established at LFW, also succeeded in opening up LFW to a wider

audience through its use of social networks and technology to give those not attending in the flesh

greater access to the shows and the backstage action Its clever selection of the models and celebrities

of the moment to walk in its show and sit in the front row ensured increased buzz about the shows and

collection

Whistles made a good debut, receiving respect and love for its collection; however, its low profile in

social media and lack of celebrity power meant that the show did not drive the conversations the

collection may have warranted

High street brands taking part in fashion week events should carefully consider the inclusion of

celebrities and top models as part of their PR and marketing strategy to increase attention for the

collections However, it is important to retain focus on getting the right fit with the event, the brand and

the target demographic For maximum exposure, retailers should focus on building their social currency

year-round, and try new social tactics to increase the brands social reputation

Read next weeks report for a comparison of the LFW high street brands social media performance

to the designer brands. We will reveal what they could learn from each others social strategies.

Presented in conjuntion with:


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Have questions? Contact us:W wwwsalesforcemarketingcloudcom E marketingcloud@salesforcecom

@marketingcloud T 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE

Notes on methodology:

Salesforce Marketing Cloud social listening was used to monitor social media conversations about

Topshop, River Island and Whistles Boolean searches were used to find posts mentioning one ofthe three brands associated with London Fashion Week LFW took place from 15th to 19th February

2013 This report includes posts from the seven-day period from 14th to 20th February The report is

restricted to posts from the UK, in English language The scope does not include all social media sites;

notable exclusions include Google+, Pinterest and Instagram The sentiment analysis was carried out by

human analysts on a random sample of posts, focusing for each brand on the day of their show and the

day following their show

Please note, the charts in FIGS. 1, 9 & 12 were made usinginfogr.am.
http://www.salesforcemarketingcloud.com/https://twitter.com/marketingcloudhttp://infogr.am/http://infogr.am/https://twitter.com/marketingcloudhttp://www.salesforcemarketingcloud.com/

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