Pomellato is an Italian luxury jewelry brand that wants to increase its market share in the US. However, its Facebook page has attracted few fans and lacks engagement. A social media specialist was hired to develop a strategy to heighten brand awareness on Facebook. Through research, the specialist found luxury brands struggle with encouraging engagement while maintaining an exclusive brand image. The specialist must determine how Pomellato can create an engaging Facebook presence without compromising its prestige, and develop a strategy that brings additional value to fans.
1. Pomellato and its Facebook Strategy
Agate Elie & Donna McCullough
December 20, 2011
Pomellato is a luxury Italian jewelry brand with boutiques in Europe, Asia and the
United States. The brand operates three boutiques in the United States and has plans
to increase its market share. The marketing director performed a competitive
benchmarking analysis and has uncovered that the brand’s Facebok page has attracted
only 800 fans, and has little to no engagement.
He questions how this can be? We have celebrities such as Cameron Diaz and
Tilda Swinton endorsing our products? (See exhibit 1) We should have thousands of
fans on our Facebook site and provide and engaging and interactive experience that will
empower our fans to purchase our products. However, it is important to know that the
brand is not generating any online revenue, but only through retailers and Pomellato’s
boutiques. The marketing director met with the head of business development and
decided it was time to hire a social media specialist who could develop and implement a
robust strategy to heighten the awareness of the brand on Facebook.
The social media specialist realizes that the company established a Facebook
page but never maintained the page, nor developed a strategy to engage consumers. It
is like starting from scratch. However, he notices that each time they post on the wall,
fans like it and comment on it. He also knows that if the community is small it is because
Americans are not aware of the brand. So far there are two personalized tabs, one
featuring an advertising movie, and posts which are not written regularly (about once a
month). He peruses the page and sees no links to the brand website; there was no
integration with the brand’s website or any other digital platform. (See exhibit 2)
2. After talking to his manager he realized that the brand was missing out on the
opportunities that Facebook provides. No one at the company maintained the page
because they did not know how to create a Facebook page that would both control the
image of the brand in order to keep its prestige and that would still engage the fan
community. He was aware that the luxury industry had some reluctance to invest in
social media because of that same reason.
The specialist conducted research about how luxury brands optimize social
media. The research concluded that luxury brands manage their Facebook pages
differently than consumer brands. In general, luxury brands tend to attract fans but don’t
encourage much interaction. Luxury brands are often challenged by the need to identify
solutions to encourage engagement while maintaining the control of the brand.
Additional findings from his research indicated the following 1) brands on
Facebook need to participate in sharing, interaction, and compelling content 2) brands
should post product highlights, 3) brands should offer a fully integrated experience that
brings additional value.
The social media specialist identified two primary objectives: 1) Create a large
engaged community and, 2) maintain control of the prestigious brand image. How was
he going to meet his objectives with the following questions that needed answered.
How does a luxury company like Pomellato create an engaging relationship with fans on
Facebook without losing its prestige? Which type of content should we use? What
additional value would the Facebook page bring to fans? Now that social media is
entering the marketing sphere, should we think about the Luxury Industry in a different
way? What strategy should Pomellato adopt on Facebook? Until he could answer these
questions he did not feel comfortable revising the brand’s Facebook page.
