1. Do Social Influencers Digitally Disrupt the
Communication Strategies of Luxury Fashion Brands?
Emma Tushinski
Student ID: TUS15468171
MA Public Relations
Supervisor: Simon Collister
Due: December 5, 2016

2. Acknowledgements
I would like to begin by thanking my parents, Shelley and Paul Tushinski who supported
my move away from home to continue my education in London. I would also like to
thank my supervisor Simon Collister for turning an intimidating experience into a less
daunting one with his guidance throughout this process.
To those that participated in interviews from Toronto, Ohio, Washington and New York
City, who took time out of their busy schedules to Skype and FaceTime with me, thank
you. The conversations that were had did not only add depth and insight to this paper but
taught me so much about an industry that I look forward to working in one day.
To Patrick, thank you for sitting beside me everyday for countless hours in the library. I
knew we would be great friends the first time I heard “Georgia Bush” and I cannot thank
you enough for making this process more enjoyable then I could have ever thought.
Lastly, to Sarah Roberts-Bowman and Gloria Walker, thank you for your insight,
expertise and leadership throughout this last year and a half.

3. Table of Contents
Abstract 1-2
1. Introduction 3-8
2. Literature review
2.1 History of Communication from Web 2.0 onward 9-10
2.2 Digital Disruption 10-13
2.3 Evolving Social Media into a Business 13-21
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Philosophy 22-23
3.1.1 Phenomenology 23-24
3.1.2 Interpretivism and Social Constructionism 25-27
3.2 Research Strategy 27-28
3.3 Research Method
3.3.1 Qualitative Data 28-30
3.4 Data Collection
3.4.1 Primary and Secondary Data 30-31
3.4.2 Sampling and Recruitment of Respondents 31
3.4.4 Interviews 31-32
3.4.5 Data Analysis 32
3.5 Credibility of Research
3.5.1 Validity 32-33
3.5.2 Reliability 33
3.5.3 Use of Generalisations 33-34

4. 3.5.4 Limitations 34-35
4. Findings 36
4.1 The Influencer 36-37
4.1.1 Are Social Influencer’s just a Phase? 37-38
4.2 Detecting Digital Disruption 38
4.2.1 The Influencer 38
4.2.2 The Brand 39
4.2.3 “The Middle Men” 39
4.2.4 Good v. Evil 39-40
4.3 The Brand and Influencer Relationship 40
4.3.1 The Influencer 40-41
4.3.2 The Brand 41
4.3.3 “The Middle Men” 41-42
4.4 Are Brand’s Communication Strategies being influenced? 42
4.4.1 The Brand 42
4.4.2 “The Middle Men” 42-43
4.5 Monitoring the Influencer 43
4.5.1 The Brand 43
4.5.2 “The Middle Men” 43
5. Analysis 44
5.1 The Growing Relationship between Brands and Social Influencers 44-46
5.1.1 The Impact of Influencers 46
5.2 Digital Disruption in the Luxury Space 47-48

5. 5.3 Monitoring the Influencer 48-49
6. Conclusion 50
6.1 Social Influencers and their Affect on Public Relations 50-51
6.2 Social Influencers and Digital Disruption in Luxury Fashion 52
6.3 Advantages 52-53
6.3.1 Disadvantages 54
6.3.2 The Future 54-55
6.4 Recommendations 55-56
7. Appendices
7.1 Appendix 1: Interview Guide 57
7.2 Appendix 2: Interview Transcriptions 58-89
8. References 90-92

6. 1
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study is to explore whether or not Social Influencers are digitally
disrupting the communication strategies of luxury fashion brands.
Literature Review: The literature explored throughout this study spans the early days of
the Internet to the emergence of Web 2.0. The development of Web 2.0 forever changed
the online landscape, allowing users to share opinions with each other on a grand scale.
The literature explores the concept of social media from its inception to the social
platforms and influencers that have emerged today. The concept of digital disruption is
explored throughout and its connection to Brands and their use of Social Influencers. The
literature also touches on the luxury fashion sector and how it is establishing its mark in
the world of social and digital media.
Methodology: Primary data was collected qualitatively through in-depth semi-structured
interviews with Social Influencers and industry professionals. Secondary data was
obtained in the form of scholarly journal articles, academic books, industry reports
regarding the concept of digital disruption and the perspective of luxury fashion brands
within the digital space.
Findings: The findings suggest that there is digital disruption occurring within the luxury
sector of fashion, both positively and negatively. The degree to which the disruption is
occurring within each Brand’s communication strategy must be analysed case by case.
The findings also advocate for Brands to intensely monitor the Influencers they choose to
not only gain the highest percentage of reach per influencer but to ensure that the
influence is relevant to their target consumer.

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Conclusion: The future relationship between Brands and Social Influencers is hard to
predict. For now they rely on each other to authentically support both sides of their social
economic equation,. However, where this relationship will continue to evolve in the
future is unknown as this is such a new phenomenon. As influencer costs continue to rise
Brands may find new ways to reach their consumer without carving a significant chunk
out of their marketing budget. What is important to note is that both sides must monitor
and choose their relationships wisely in order to have authentic partnerships that make
relevant connections with their audiences.

8. 3
1. Introduction
The aim of this dissertation is to explore the concept of digital disruption and how
Social Influencers on platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Blogs and Vlogs,
have impacted and possibly changed luxury fashion brands, with respect to their
communication strategies in terms of their design, branding, sales, advertising, marketing
and communication to the consumer. The way the Internet has developed since its
inception is a reflection of a broader social change, in 2007, Jack Straw the Leader of the
House of Commons stated:
There has been another major shift in society…The structure of
British society, which developed during a century and more of
industrialization, has rapidly been transformed as a result of changes
brought about by economic globalisation. This profound period of
socio-economic change has helped to shift public attitudes. It has
encouraged the rise of a less deferential more consumeristic public. In
this more atomized society, people appear more inclined to think of
themselves and one another as customers rather than citizens (Brown,
2009, p. 2).
It has been 9 years since Leader Jack Straw spoke those words and in that time the scope
of not only the Internet but also social media has changed drastically. New platforms
have emerged that allow Brands to engage instantly with their consumer. These
platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat have also allowed for ordinary people,
consumers of fashion to post comments and reflect on products being sold. This shift in
technology has created an ongoing conversation in the world of fashion, allowing the
consumer and the Brand to communicate more transparently. The development of
Internet-based social media has made it possible for one person to reach and
communicate with hundreds of thousands of people regarding a product as well as the
companies that own that product, and as a result consumer-to-consumer communication

9. 4
has been magnified in the marketplace (Mangold & Fauld, 2009, p.357). One of the
earliest and most popular forms of social media is the Blog. It is not entirely clear on
when blogging began but the first blogs were essentially online diaries (Brown, 2009, p.
26). The idea of blogging began much before the term was created, but gained popularity
when the publishing platform Blogger was launched in August of 1999 and acquired by
Google in 2003, soon became the most popular blogging tool for those who had little to
no background in technology (ibid.) The largest percentage of blogs on the Internet are
fashion related, wherein the process has evolved from passive exposure to active
participation in that the Bloggers engage in customer conversations. Therefore,
companies are realising the benefits of using blogs as a communication tool to influence
consumer beahviour (Halvorsen, et al., 2013, p. 214). As the Internet and social networks
continue to develop there emerges new ways for brands to promote and market products
via social influencers. Technically any person can deem themselves an Influencer,
whether you influence 10 people or 15 000 people, the question becomes how influential
can particular Influencers be for specific Brands. This will be highlighted in a deep
context later in paper. Social Influencers can be celebrities, public figures, or an ordinary
person who started an Instagram account that has gained a loyal following. These social
networks have grown into online communities (Brown, 2009, p. 50). Social Media is
considered to be a “hybrid component” of the promotional mix and can therefore be
integrated as an important part of an organisation’s communications strategy (Mangold &
Fauld, 2009, p.358).
The first step to understand more clearly how Social Influencers have impacted
luxury fashion brands through digital disruption is to establish the definition of a Social

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Influencer. Since the emergence of social media platforms like Instagram, the line
between Social Influencer and celebrity has become blurred. However, for the purpose of
this paper the focus will remain on those influencers whom are not defined under that
regular construct of what a celebrity used to mean (i.e. models, actors, singers, etc.). As
of 2007 there were 110 million blogs on the Internet and it was estimated that 175 000
new blogs were being launched everyday (Chu & Kamal, 2008, p.26). The Influencers
that will be focused on in this paper particularly will be those who did not have any sort
of “name” before they began vlogging, Instagramming, Snapchatting or blogging. This is
because those who were once “no name” users are more likely to be more digitally
disruptive as opposed to “traditional” celebrities. If this paper were to examine how
celebrities as Social Influencers digitally disrupt Brands, the results would be identical to
those when they are used for print or television advertisements. The exploration of a 20
something year old girl who simply loves fashion, starts a blog and subsequent Instagram
account can have a major influence on the fashion industry by gathering 3.7 million
followers on Instagram, sit front row at some of the biggest fashion shows in the world
and collaborate with popular luxury fashion brands shines a much greater light on how
social influencers are digitally disrupting brands.
User Generated Content needs to achieve 3 requirements: firstly, it needs to be
published either on a publicity accessible website or on a social networking site available
to a selected group of people, secondly it needs to have a certain amount of creative work
and thirdly it needs to have been created outside of professional routines and practices
and have the content be created with a commercial market in mind (Kaplan & Haenlein,
2009, p.61). In order to properly understand the impact, if any, that Social Influencers

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have on the digital disruption of communication strategies of luxury fashion brands
primary research needs to be conducted. There is only so much that academic articles can
provide regarding their impact due to the fact that Social Influencers and their
partnerships with fashion brands is relatively new. For the purpose of this paper
interviews were conducted with three different factions of people, whom all have
different perspectives regarding this topic based on their individual roles. First are the
Influencers themselves, who have the first hand experience concerning the ever-changing
social world. The majority of these well-known Social Influencers are women and
therefore the content of this paper will focus mainly on women’s fashion brands. Social
Influencers are capitalizing on their social media successes and are now seeking to
“socially sell” through their chosen channel. Social selling is the identification, targeting
and reaching out to prospective and existing customers through social media channels
and social communities in an effort to engage them in a conversation that result in a
mutually beneficial relationship (Belew, n.d., p.17). The second group of interviewees
will be those that work creatively for the Brand and in a Public Relations department.
And lastly, as some Brands do not have Public Relations in-house the third group of
people will be those that work in agencies within the communication and Public
Relations fields. Those interviewed from the Brands have a unique perspective in terms
of how the Brand responds to the new idea of working with Influencers to promote their
Brand as opposed to the traditional print ad. The agencies on the other hand are a bit
different because although some agencies represent the Brand themselves and facilitate
their Public Relations strategies as if they were to be working in house, other agencies
have emerged over the past couple years that facilitate the partnership between Social

12. 7
Influencer and Brand. Specifically, Brands approach these agencies to help find the
Influencer that will allow them to properly communicate their strategies in a strong,
cohesive and creative way. The three groups of interviewees will be analysed, compared
and contrasted in order to determine if Social Influencers are digitally disrupting the
communication strategies of luxury fashion brands.
Digital disruption is happening with Influencers and social networks in business,
research and innovation. Thus the next step will be to define digital disruption and
research and provide examples of Brands that have changed by incorporating Social
Influencers into their strategies. These strategies could include; partnerships,
collaborations, Influencers as brand ambassadors or Influencers as the face of campaigns.
Hauge argues that some actors, in this case the actors are said Influencers, have key roles
in systems of information diffusion and they serve as gatekeepers (2006, p.1). Tushman
and Katz define gatekeepers as “ those key individuals who are both strongly connected
to internal colleagues and strongly linked to external domains” (Hague, 2006, p.3) They
provide strong influence in what kind of knowledge slips through the pipes and how that
information is distributed (ibid., p.1). Several researchers have highlighted the
significance of actors holding strategic positions in these systems of information
diffusion (ibid., p.2). Belew reinforces this concept as she stated that best-in-class
companies are three times more likely to identify and utilise external Social Influencers
to support the sales and processes compared to idler companies (n.d., p.10). Digital
disruption is a term that garners a negative connotation, although for the purpose of this
paper is it not meant to be negative or positive so that the interviewees can respond
openly and subjectively. The interview participants commented on good and bad

13. 8
disruption and how Brands and Influencers can benefit from working with one another,
however, it was also noted that if the partnership is not facilitated properly the disruption
can turn negative and just translate into noise. Once the above is established, this paper
will further explore the impact within the fashion markets due to the inception of the
Social Influencer.
The research objectives of this dissertation are to:
- Determine what digital disruption looks like
- To determine if and/or how the fashion industry is being disrupted and identify
evidence to support the claims and questions stated. This will include; first hand
interviews with industry professionals, monitoring Influencer’s trends, and
establish the impacts of this monitoring on specific luxury brands
- Further, to examine the implications digital disruption has on the communication
strategies of luxury fashion brands
- And too determine if said strategies are being interrupted, and if evidence from
luxury fashion brands are having an impact on other types of fashion brands, like
the high street sector

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2. Literature Review
2.1 History of Communication from Web 2.0 Onward
In order to properly appreciate what will be discussed throughout this paper it is
important to understand the roots of this new type of communication to fully grasp how it
has affected communication and Public Relations as a whole before more complex topics
are discussed such as digital disruption and social media. Web 2.0 is a result of
technological innovation and societal changes since the inception of the Internet. It is a
product of these societal changes as well the fuel that has allowed for the technological
world to progress. Consumers are now able to respond, reflect and share their thoughts
and opinions with their fellow consumers (Brown, 2009, p. 3). This has ultimately
changed the way Brands communicate because the trust no longer lays with the Brand,
the trust lays in the people that have previously used, bought or worn the product.
Historically Brands, and organisations would decide on a way a product should be
viewed by their consumers, they would then contact their Public Relations practitioners
to execute their idea. However within this new ever-evolving media environment, those
Brands and organisations have lost control of their own agenda due to the infiltration of
the Internet as an integral part of everyday life (ibid.). Although this can be perceived as a
negative change for brands, it is actually the opposite. This new way of consistent
conversation allows brands to hone in on how their customers feel about their product
(ibid.). The shift in the foundation of communication has had implications for the Public
Relations industry; in some way the job is more difficult because of complexities these
new social networks add, however these same complexities also hold benefits. New paths
and channels are available for messages to flow between Brand and consumer, which

15. 10
increase the ability to target the correct audience (ibid., p. 11). The development of these
social channels however presents a new problem, instead of focusing on how to influence
the journalist who in the past controlled the communication between brand and
consumer, it is now the PR practitioners job to decipher which channel carries the most
influence (ibid., p. 21). With every platform comes a new way of communicating a
product, whether it be photo sharing, instant video or a 140 character Tweet. In this new
sharing economy practitioners now have to think of audiences in new ways.
In 2004, Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine, Chris Anderson discussed a concept
widely known by those interested in digital called “The Long Tail”, which he used to
describe the strategy of businesses who are successful digitally (ibid., p. 28). The Long
Tail is when a large number of products are sold in small quantities in comparison to a
large number of products sold in large quantities. Prior to this concept and the Internet,
the media industry made decisions based on normal distribution of consumers, however
with the Internet and even more intensely with social media, the Internet-based media has
adopted “the long tail” strategy with “increasingly tailored output for increasingly narrow
audiences” (ibid.). Considering all of the new channels that exist to promote product,
Brands now have to decide which channels are most effective and receptive to their
Brands and tailor their brand message to different audiences as opposed to initiating one
mass marketing campaign.
2.2 Digital Disruption
One of the objectives of this paper is to determine what digital disruption is. To
fully explore the topic an understanding of digital disruption must be established. Bradley
and O’Toole from McKinsey & Company outline four stages of disruption from an

16. 11
incumbent’s perspective, the hurdles that they overcome and the choices and responses
that are necessary at each stage (2016). The first stage outlines the signs of digital
disruption, which the authors attribute to: consumer preferences, the role of technology,
regulation, cost drivers and competition and differentiation (Bradley & O’Toole, 2016).
The factors listed above are most often considered indestructible, however when they are
broken, the process of reframing those same beliefs involves ascertaining an industry’s
idea about value and creation and finding new forms and mechanisms for creating value
(ibid.). In this digital age, those new forms and mechanisms for creating value come in
the form of Social Influencers, and in the interest of this dissertation, specifically fashion-
focused Social Influencers. These Social Influencers are exemplified not just through the
Influencers themselves, but also the platform in which they choose to connect with their
followers. The level of competition and diversity on social platforms is so vast and
continuous it is important for these Influencers who are reflecting signs of disruption
continue to disrupt in a relevant way so as not to be drowned out by a similar account
months later. The second stage talks about solidifying and developing the new initiatives
of the company. Companies must make a mark in this new sphere while at the same time
making sure the new ideas are autonomous from the core business, since there are strong
short-term financial incentives to protect that core at the cost of the periphery (ibid.). In
turn, this can relate to how Brands decide which Influencer to partner with, do they fit
their Brand? Are they going to communicate the strategy and image of the Brand to the
right public? There is little evidence written academically surrounding this stage for
luxury fashion brands, however this dissertation will hope to dive deeper and come up

17. 12
with more concrete answers through primary research in the form of interviews with
industry professionals.
The third stage is to determine whether the new model has proven to have worked
(ibid.). However, the authors state that this is the hardest stage for a business to achieve,
mostly due to the fact that those who sit on the Boards of each company are hesitant to
change their view of baseline performance (ibid.). If the Board is willing and able to give
the new model the “go ahead” the next step in this stage is to reallocate the resources
(ibid.). The concept of Social Influencers is new and therefore most likely difficult for
Brands and investors to wrap their heads around. The name of the game has changed
from seeing instant monetary result to tracking the number of impressions a campaign or
post makes for a Brand with a particular influencer. Results are not as instant as investors
whose main focus is revenue would like, but the concept of digital advertising has
changed the way consumers react to and buy products. The final stage is when the
company has nothing left to do but embrace the change of the industry, “profit pools”
may not be as great and the challenge will be to alter and realign cost bases to the new
reality of profit pools and accept the “new normal” (ibid.). In today’s world a Brand is
not relevant or digitally significant if they are not on social media and if they do not use
Social Influencers. This article will be a useful source in terms of analysing which Brands
follow these four stages, and evaluate which are successful and which are not. There are
not very many resources that write specifically about fashion and digital disruption,
however the industry professionals provide valid and subjective incite into this new way
of business. It will be interesting to analyse and explore which Brands use Brand fashion-
focused Social Influencers and uncover if they do, why they do and if they don’t, why

18. 13
they choose to stay away from this new strategy. According to Hague there is a need for
information providers on global fashion trends, stating that fashion companies need
“pipelines” where information of certain trends, looks and developments in major fashion
cities can be disseminated to the public (Hague, 2006, p.8). Fashion is getting what
Hague is stating. Social media and its Influencers are the “pipelines” for Brands; they are
publicizing their taste, opinions and style to mass audiences through social platforms on a
more relatable level as opposed to celebrity endorsement.
2.3 Evolving Social Media into a Business
The second topic of this dissertation will discuss the how social media has
evolved into a business in and of itself and specifically towards luxury fashion brands. A
history of social media will need to be explored before diving deeper into the
complexities of its relation to the fashion industry. CompServe and America Online were
effectively the precursors of today’s social networks; the idea behind the two companies
was that being able to reach large number of different segments of people was
theoretically more beneficial than reaching a homogeneous mass audience, and through
technology it was a possibility (Evans, 2008, p. 4). The ability to reach a multitude of
different segments of people did not come about until the early 90s when the National
Science Foundation advocated for an “open” Internet, which allowed for any body to use
the Internet for any purpose, including commerce (ibid.). The concept of an “open”
Internet allowed for a plethora of social communities to develop and freely discuss
opinions regarding all the products companies were trying to sell them. The Internet not
only provided businesses with a voice but also provided this same voice to the
consumers, therefore it became important for businesses to understand how to “influence

19. 14
the crowd.” By influencing the crowd businesses are able to create a substantial and
secure market position based on social acceptance (ibid., p. 36). When consumers believe
and trust Brands they will show their loyalty with their wallets, which in turn benefits
both the consumer and the Brand. Social media has been a double-edged sword in this
way. If a Brand is honest and trustworthy, their consumer will advocate for them through
social media, however, if the consumer feels as though they were lied to they can turn
that positive review or comment into a negative one. Social media is an extension of all
other types of marketing efforts, it is measurable in that Brands can track it, listen to it
over time and then use what is observed to shape the Brand’s consumer experience and
repair what needs to be fixed, this in turn influences the online conversation between
consumer and Brand (ibid.). Reviews, comments and likes are all attributes of social
media, and provide Brands and businesses with a measurable “pulse”, which they can use
as a guide in real time (ibid.). These same attributes that help Brands decipher what is
working and how people are feeling is also the consumer’s new word of mouth. The open
conversation provides insight into a product or service without the consumers having to
buy or try it for themselves.
Evans states that there are there are three basic laws that apply which explain why
social media is such an important phenomenon. These laws are network-value-
governance laws and touch on the value of a network from the perspective of those
connected to it as well as attribute possible value to any network on the foundation of
how individuals are connected (ibid., p. 50). The first two are not as relevant to social
networks as the third, Reed’s Law, also known as “The Law of Pack” which proposes
that the value of a network grows with the development of groups and the

20. 15
interconnections between them (ibid., p. 53). Reed’s law is easily related to social media
and their networks. Communities emerge from new social platforms and continue to
grow through smaller communities depending on what individuals are interested in
whether it be fashion, food, beauty, etc. Communities also grow and new networks begin
to emerge in the world of social media. “Social media: is not a technique that is applied in
isolation, however, unlike traditional media, social connects with and involves the
consumer from awareness all the way through considerations” (ibid., p. 83). These
interconnections are beneficial to the consumer as well as the Brand trying to measure
and improve their product as well as their relationship with consumers.
Kaplan and Hanenlein describe social media as a group of “Internet-based
applications that build on ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 that all
the creation and exchange of user generated content” (2009, p.61). They discuss how
decision makers within a business and consultants try to pinpoint ways in which firms
can make profitable use of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter (ibid., p.59). In January of
2009, it is reported that every minute, 10 hours of content that was being uploaded to
YouTube, and a year before that in 2008, 75% of the Internet users used “social media”
(ibid.). In 2016, one can only deduce by looking at the media environment that these
numbers have increased exponentially. The trend in social media can be seen as a
regression back to the Internet’s origins, since social media is re-transforming the Internet
into what it was initially created for: “a platform to facilitate information between users”
(ibid., p.60). The ability and emergence of high-speed Internet allowed users to have
further access to these newly established networks and “blogs,” eventually leading to the

21. 16
creation of social networking sites MySpace in 2003 and Facebook in 2004 (ibid.).
According to Kaplan and Hanenlein, this is what coined the term “social media” (ibid.).
Since the emergence of the Internet and then social media the way of traditional
advertising has taken a back seat to a luxury form of advertising in the name of digital.
Digital platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and even Snapchat allow for advertisers
to understand what happens to their advertising costs (McStay, 2010, p. 1). Now that
consumers have the ability to talk back it is important for advertisers to pay attention to
what they want in order to properly target their desired audience. Control over the flow of
media and methods of consumption are now in the hands of the consumer (ibid.). A
report conducted in 2009 by the UK’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising states a
similar reflection:
If social media does take the lead in the future of brand
communications then permission-based advertising could
become the norm and understanding this is vital for success,
requiring a fundamental shift in mindset. Brands will have to
earn the right to be in this space (McStay, 2010, p. 1).
Social media has had an impact on advertising as well as Public Relations. The existing
social networks were original only filled with the content of the network, but now they
have become infiltrated with advertisements. Ads show up in the news feed of a user on
Instagram, in between stories on Snapchat, they line the boarders and are embedded in
the news feed of Facebook, Twitter, and well-known blogs. All aspects of consumer life
have had to adjust to the emergence of social media including Brands partnering with
Social Influencers for a seamless integration on the platforms. A Brand shown via a
popular Instagram account is going to garner more attention then just an ad that appears
when a user is scrolling down to find that Influencer that they love and see what he or she

22. 17
posted. This is not only advertising but also a new form of Public Relations. Social
Influencers promoting brands and products in the digital landscape is also a new element
within the Public Relations industry. Brands are having to finding to ways to manage
their reputation as well as promote their products through these Social Influencers, and
finding the right Influencers to promote a Brand can make or break how the audience
responds to what the Brand is ultimately trying to sell.
Hague discusses the production and distribution of knowledge and how it is
channeled through different patterns or networks (2006, p.1). He discussed one type of
knowledge diffusion called “global pipelines,” which frequently takes the form of
relationships between agents and are characterised by duration and stability (ibid., p.2).
Hague says that to lead opinion and persuade the public to follow is up to a larger group
of “early adopters,” which in this case are the fashion-focused Social Influencers (ibid.,
p.17). A reason as to why one Blogger may be more “known” then the next is solely
because that they have become somebody to follow, usually through being in the group
of first people to adopt a trend or wear a certain look. The “early adopters” are followed
by two groups of adopters, “early majority” and “late majority,” this is a model that has
been used to empirically to monitor fashion behaviours (ibid, p.18). The concept of “early
adopters” and those who subsequently follow them will be a key feature of this paper and
this article will help by providing examples of how Brands successfully use certain
Influencers to create hype surrounding their products. Peer-to-peer marketing is seen to
be very effective in the fashion industry, when clothes are seen on the “right people,” in
the right settings it creates a social buzz that many companies sought after (ibid.). Blogs
are increasingly becoming an integral part of the digital media in everyday life, the more

23. 18
well known fashion blogs are influential enough that “to ignore them is to run the risk of
seeming out of touch” (ibid.).
Mangold and Faulds discuss tools and strategies for communication with
customers and how they have changed drastically with the rise of social media, which
they also refer to as “consumer generated media” (2009, p.357-358). The authors mention
that the 21st
Century is witnessing an eruption of Internet-based messages that are being
conveyed through social media and that they have come to be one of the top Influencers
when it comes to consumer behaviour, which include purchase and post purchase
behaviour, opinions and attitudes (ibid., p.358). Mangold and Faulds’ article is backed
up by another article that will be helpful throughout this dissertation, written by Hsu, et
al., the authors conducted a study that examined whether blog reader’s trust in the
Blogger is noteworthy when it comes to the usefulness of the Bloggers recommendations
and how the blog reader’s perceptions of said Blogger influences the reader’s attitude and
purchase behaviour online (Hsu, et al., 2012, p.69). The authors surveyed 327 blog
readers and analysed their responses empirically in order to investigate if the Bloggers
recommendations and trustworthiness had any impact on the consumers influence to
purchase online (ibid.). The results of the survey indicated that the usefulness of the
Bloggers recommendations had a substantial influential effect on the users purchase
behaviours online, mentioning that the Bloggers electronic word-of-mouth can be seen as
a favourable market to increase sales (ibid.). This study helps support what this
dissertation is attempting to look at, that is that “luxury fashion brands being digitally
disrupted by Social Influencers via digital communication platforms.” As evidenced

24. 19
above, this study proves that Social Influencers by way of social media are positively
disrupting luxury fashion brands.
An article by Kim and Ko looks more broadly at luxury brands that are using
social media as a whole as opposed to specifically analysing Influencer roles in luxury
brands (Kim & Ko, 2012, p.1480). In the past, luxury fashion brands relied on strong
brand assets. However, due to the emergence of numerous Brands in the luxury market,
the heated competition and the changes in the global market, business had to change
(ibid.). Luxury brands no longer solely depend on the brand symbol but have to now
focus on the brand’s legacy, quality and trustworthy consumer relationships (ibid.). Kim
and Ko go further to explain the impact of Social Media Marketing (SMM) and describe
it as a two way communication system seeking empathy with young users (ibid., p.1481).
There is a great deal of competition within the luxury sector of fashion as new Brands
continue to launch. The iconic luxury brands that are well known globally are going to
have to continue to compete with the new Brands hitting the market. Although these
established Brands may have been around longer than social media has, they are not
exempt from having to give into the new “social way.” The authors conducted a study to
identify the effects of social media marketing activities of luxury brands on customer
equity and purchase intention (ibid., p.1484). SMM activities perceived by consumers
were significantly effective regarding luxury fashion brands’ future profits, which is
proven by example when Kim and Ko illustrate that Dolce and Gabbana and other luxury
fashion brands now invite fashion Bloggers to the front row of fashion shows so that
Bloggers will instantly upload feedback from the show to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
etc. (ibid.). Customers get to see their favourite Brand modeled directly without the

25. 20
involvement of editors or merchandisers, while the company builds purchase intention
right away (ibid., p.1481). Despite the fact that there is no current scholarship of how
luxury fashion brands are using Social Influencer’s in their communication strategies,
examples in the luxury and online fashion communities allow for some insight regarding
the impact Social Influencers have within the fashion industry and its consumers.
The evolution of digital is still in its early stages but there are a handful of Brands
that have successfully gone digital. Charles Worth, is considered the “Father of Haute
Couture,” and how he applied two principles to his brand which made it incredible
successful (Okonkwo, 2007, p.56). The first was the use of influential people in society
as a publicity tool (ibid.). Worth realised early on the importance of attaching his name to
celebrities that could influence fashion (ibid.). The same principle is still true today; it has
just expanded in the digital age to also include those who have garnered “fame” through
social media. The second principle was to use consumer behaviour as a guide to creating
clothes (ibid.). In today’s day and age those consumers have become some of the most
impactful Influencers, so much so that some Brands have collaborated on clothing lines
with fashion-focused Social Influencers. Worth understood the important role that
societal development played in fashion. Today, Burberry has exceeded every other luxury
brand in the digital space (Milnes, 2015). In his article, Milnes talks her way through
Burberry’s digital achievements. In 2009 they launched the user-generated platform,
“The Art of the Trench,” which allowed consumers from all over the world to upload
images of themselves in the iconic trench coat (ibid.). Burberry has been the first of the
luxury fashion brands to experiment with new social channels such as; Snapchat,
Periscope, Instagram video and Twitter’s buy button (ibid.). According to the L2 Digital

26. 21
IQ Index’s Digital Fashion Report (2015), which measures the successes and failures in
digital commerce and marketing, Burberry beat out 82 other fashion brands. Kate Spade,
Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Tory Burch, Coach, Gucci, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein and
Hugo Boss all followed respectively (L2, 2015). As noted throughout this literature
review, there is a lack of insight surrounding how luxury brands are faring in the new
digital space. However, hopefully, through more extensive research, this dissertation will
provide a more detailed perspective into that area of fashion as well as insight into
whether or not digital disruption is occurring within luxury fashion brands.

27. 22
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Philosophy
For the purpose of this study it is important to look at the research philosophies,
strategies and methods in order to understand the data collected, the findings and analysis
that will be drawn from said data at a later time. There are two paradigms that dictate
most research on managed communications: interpretive and realist (Daymon &
Holloway, 2002, pg. 3). Interpretivism incorporates the opinions of scholars who have
been impacted by different intellectual traditions as well as connects the scientific model
to the study of the social world. They hold the belief that the subject matter of the social
sciences is profoundly different then that of the natural sciences (Bryman, 2012, p. 28).
Due to the fact that these scholars believe there is a fundamental difference between the
two sciences, there must therefore be differences in the logic of procedure, one that
indicates the uniqueness of human against natural order (ibid.). Von Wright (1971)
illustrated the epistemological argument as being between positivism and hermeneutics,
which is concerned with the theory and method of the interpretation of human action
(ibid.). The difference resides in the explanation of human behaviour, which is seen in
the positivist approach and the understanding of human behaviour, which is seen in the
social sciences (ibid.). For the purpose of the research conducted in this study the
understanding of human behaviour was more important. The aim was to understand if the
social and digital behaviour of Social Influencers via platforms such as Instagram,
YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat was disrupting the communication strategies of luxury
fashion brands. The social science approach of understanding human behaviour considers
empathetic understanding of human behaviour rather than with the “forces that are

28. 23
deemed to act on it” (ibid.). The difference between the two approaches highlights the
ever-lasting dispute that precedes the development of social sciences, however find their
expression in Max Weber’s approach referred to as Verstehen, meaning understanding
(ibid., p. 28-29). One particular philosophy, which has been chosen as the main
philosophical approach for this paper, is one that has garnered attention for its anti-
positivist position has been phenomenology (ibid., p. 30).
3.1.1 Phenomenology
Phenomenology was first theorized by philosopher Edmund Husserl, and later
applied my Alfred Schutz (Daymon & Holloway, 2002, p. 147). Husserl theorized that
each person lives in a unique life world that consists of people, objects actions and
institutions and this ‘life world’ is each individual’s subjective point of view of their
everyday life, which Husserl calls their social reality. He offers that people’s social
reality establishes the meanings that they apply to their behaviour as well as the
behaviour of others (ibid.). Alfred Schutz (1899-1959) is noted as the philosopher who
first applied the ideas of Husserl and phenomenology to the social sciences, although his
work was not noticed by English speaking society until his writing were translated from
German in the 1960s (Bryman, 2012, pg. 30). Schutz stated,
The world of nature as explored by the natural scientist does not ‘mean’
anything to molecules, atoms and electrons. But the observational field
of the social scientist – social reality – has a specific meaning and
relevance structure for the beings living, acting and thinking within it.
By a series of common-sense constructs they have pre-selected and pre-
interpreted this world which they experience as the reality of their daily
lives. It is these thought objects of theirs, which determine their
behaviour by motivating it. The thought objects constructed by social
scientists, in order to grasp this social reality, have to be founded upon
the thought objects constructed by the common-sense thinking of men
[and women!], living their daily life within the social world. (Schutz
1962: 59)

29. 24
He is saying that there is a vital difference between natural science and social science,
that difference is social reality has a meaning for individuals and therefore human action
is meaningful (ibid.). People behave in particular ways as a result of the meanings they
associate their behaviour with; they associate the same type of meaning to how others act
(ibid.). Schutz says that in any instance individuals apply “stock knowledge” that allows
us to understand of the phenomena we confront (Daymon & Holloway, 2002, p. 147).
“Stock knowledge” is the facts, beliefs, biases, desires and rules individuals have
absorbed through personal experience (ibid.). Phenomenological methods concentrate on
examining how human beings make sense of experience and mold that experience into
consciousness as individuals as well as shared meaning (Patton, 2002, p. 104). At the
essence of phenomenology is the assumption of the ‘life world’. The understanding that
the actuality of the individual is different from individual to individual and the behaviour
of each individual can only be accepted through understanding the ‘life world’ of that
individual as well as their shared perspectives (Daymon & Holloway, 2002, p. 148).
Social scientists systematically and comprehensively examine and explain how people
experience a particular phenomenon, in terms of “how they perceive it, describe it, feel
about it, judge it, remember it, make sense of it and talk about it with others” (Patton,
2002, p. 104). In phenomenology research it is important to observe two things; the first,
what people experience and how they interpret the world and the second, which is
methodological, is for the researcher to experience the phenomenon themselves in order
to understand how others experience it. This method is commonly achieved through
participant observation and interviews (ibid. p. 106). Phenomenology assumes that there
are aspects of shared experience between participants, who, when interviewed and

30. 25
observed are bracketed, analyzed and compared in order to isolate the aspects of the
phenomenon (ibid.).
3.1.2 Interpretivism and Social Constructionism
Qualitative research is commonly associated with the interpretive paradigm
(Daymon & Holloway, 2002, p. 3). This paradigm looks at the way people ‘make sense
of their social worlds and how they express these understandings through language,
sounds, imagery, personal style and social rituals’ (ibid., p.4). Social media platforms and
Influencers that have garnered notoriety on such platforms is an example of how people
make sense of the social world around them and express themselves through various
mediums such as; sound, imagery, language and personal style on these new found
networks. Researchers investigate people’s intentions, motivations and subjective
experiences and look at how and why people act and do certain things based on the
meanings they hold and want to understand the social reality from the perspective of
those people in it (ibid.). This was the aim of the research for this study, which was
conducted through semi-structured interviews with various people who have unique
perspectives within the social, Public Relations and fashion industries. Interpretivist
researchers and scholars have mainly looked at qualitative methods because it permits
researchers to get close to those they are studying and get involved with them, they know
that what is discovered in the field is not determined by a particular model or theory
(ibid., p. 5). Sampling from an interpretivist worldview is purposeful or hypothetical as
opposed to being based on a statistically representative sample (ibid., p.91). In order to
prove that a study has external validity through ‘theory-based generalisations,’ the
researcher must relate correlate their findings to what has been said in previous literature,

31. 26
this allows for readers of a study to make connections and comparisons to their
experiences when they read the findings of the study (ibid., 92).
The idea of social constructionism came out of works from Berger and
Luekmann’s (1967) The Social Construction of Relaity and Lincoln and Guba’s (1985)
Naturalistic Inquiry, it carries the belief that individuals look to understand the world in
which they live and establish subjective meanings of their experiences (Creswell, 2009,
p. 8). Constructionism is an ontological perspective that claims the meaning develops out
of who we are as individuals and the communication and interactions that we have (ibid.).
This is in contrast to seeing culture as an external reality that acts on and inhibits people,
it can be seen as an evolving reality in a repeated state of construction and reconstruction
(Bryman, 2012, p. 34). Becker, has said that ‘people create culture continuously…No set
of cultural understandings…provides a perfectly applicable solution to any problem
people have to solve in the course of their day, and they therefore must remake those
solutions, adapt their understandings to the new situation in the light of what is different
about it’ (ibid.). What Becker has illustrated relates directly to the emergence of social
media, its Influencers and how society, in this case luxury fashion brands, have had to
adapt their understandings to the new situation of social media in light of technology
consistently changing. There are scholars that implement the constructionist, such as
Walsh, who are not willing to recognize the existence or importance of an objective
reality (ibid.). Walsh has said, “we cannot take for granted, as the natural scientist does,
the availability of a preconstituted world of phenomena for investigation and must instead
examine the process by which the social world is constructed “ (ibid.). Constructionism
allows the researcher to think about ways in which social reality is an ongoing feat of

32. 27
people in society as opposed to being something external that holds them back (ibid.).
The aim of research from a social constructionist’s point of view is to focus on the
participant’s perspectives regarding the subject being studied (Creswell, 2009, p. 8). The
questions throughout the research process are broad and general so that participants can
create the meaning of a situation through one-on-one or group discussions (ibid.). The
goal of the researcher is to interpret the meanings of those who are being interviewed and
develop themes and patterns of meaning as opposed to beginning with a theory, as post-
postivist researchers do (ibid.). The research for this particular study was thus conducted
in that way, through Skype and FaceTime semi-structured interviews that lasted
anywhere between 15-30 minutes of discussion from industry professionals.
3.2 Research Strategy
There are a number of factors that goes into creating a sample in a
phenomenological approach; people, setting, events, processes, activities and time,
although the most essential factor are the people (Daymon & Holloway, 2002, p. 158).
Participants are chosen based on their experience regarding the phenomenon being
studied and context of the sample is based on the circumstances and settings that
participants are found (ibid.). There are many different kind of sample types, however
homogeneous and heterogeneous samples are the most common (ibid., p. 160-161).
Homogeneous samples are made up of people who are in the same subculture and share
similar characteristics; heterogeneous samples are made up of people who vary from one
another in a considerable way (ibid., p. 161).
When using a phenomenological approach, it is important for interviews to be
adaptable so that the interviewer is able comprehend the perspectives of the interviewees

33. 28
(ibid., p. 167). It is also important for the interviews to stem from growing conversation
so that the interviewee is able to explain and examine their thoughts and perspectives on
the subject matter (ibid.). This allows the interviewee a certain level of control over the
interview so that they can discuss the topic openly and honestly so that the researcher is
able to gather as much information surrounding their experience about the phenomenon
(ibid.). The advantage of being able to conduct interviews in this fashion is that the data
that is collected is from the social context of the interviewee and therefore the responses
that are taken from the interview are the subjective views of the participant (ibid.).
Interviews are often semi-structured so that there is a basic outline for where the
questions will go but allows for the interview and interviewee to speak freely and not be
bound to specific sets of question, there are however limitations and potential concerns
when interviewing as the interviewer is never certain that what the interviewee is
claiming is what they actually do or feel about the phenomenon.
3.3 Research Methods
3.3.1 Qualitative Data
The chosen research method for this study is qualitative research, which looks at
understanding the meaning that people, as individuals or in groups connect to a social or
human problem (Creswell, 2002, p.4). In this case it is looking at Social Media
Influencers and how or if they have digitally disturbed the communication strategies of
luxury fashion brands. The data is commonly analysed inductively, thus that is where the
explanation and justification for the following philosophies and strategies will begin.
Qualitative research often begins with inductive reasoning and turns to deductive
reasoning once the observations are collected and analysed through the data (Daymon &

34. 29
Holloway, 2002, p. 6). The data is then tried and/or verified by the literature in order to
validate and theorize the findings as opposed to initially generating a theory from
literature (ibid.).
In qualitative research the main tool used is the researcher themselves, as they
closely engage with the participants being studied (ibid., p.5). The goal of the qualitative
researcher, says Fill (1999) is to put themselves into other people shoes, they want to
understand the world of lived experiences from the perspective of those living and
working in it, in terms of a subject reality (ibid., p.12). That is precisely the goal of the
research conducted throughout this study. In looking at the main research question ‘how/
are Social Influencers digitally disrupting the communication strategies of luxury fashion
brands,’ three segments of people were interviewed. First was the Influencers
themselves, next came the brands that were potentially being digitally disrupted by these
Influencers and lastly is a group which was labeled “Middle Men,” which pertain to the
people and agencies that work with Influencers and Brands in creating partnerships
through social media postings, campaigns, etc.
Small samples are often used in qualitative research as the researcher is
particularly interested in extensive investigation so they can provide strong, detailed
explanation on the topic that is being looked at (ibid., p.6). There is a strong holistic focus
in qualitative research, in which researchers look at a broad scale of interconnected
activities, experiences, beliefs and values of people, however statistic representations of
phenomena are not often looked at (ibid.). Qualitative research looks to study processes
that happen over time, and can be adapted to change, sequences of events and behaviours
as well as the transformation of cultures (ibid.). Social media and its rise of the Influencer

35. 30
is a perfect example of change in the digital world, in which behaviours and the
transformation of culture have changed and that qualitative research has adapted to suit
these changes.
Qualitative research has its criticisms, Alan Bryman has identified the four most
common: too subjective, difficult to replicate, problems of generalisations and lack of
transparency (ibid., p.7). Bryman says qualitative data is “too impressionistic and
subjective,” nevertheless the objective of qualitative research is subjectivity, in terms of
‘participants viewpoints’ (ibid.). Qualitative research is difficult to replicate since the
researcher is the main tool used throughout the research, however, the reliability of the
researchers findings is more important to then how replicable the study is (ibid.). Often,
the small samples of qualitative research limits the conclusions of the research in
qualitative research, but being able to provide rich, deep accounts of a topic in order to
highlight important issues of a specific case or segment of people is more valuable to a
qualitative researcher (ibid.). Lastly, Bryman mentions the lack of transparency in
qualitative data, in which researchers have been inconsistent in explaining the procedures
they followed to select their samples, and collect and analyse their data (ibid.).
3.4 Data Collection
3.4.1 Primary and Secondary Data
Primary data are sources that are founded on the research conducted throughout the
research project (Bell, 2005, p. 125). The primary research in this study was in the form
of recorded semi-structured qualitative Skype and FaceTime interviews with industry
professionals and Social Influencers. Secondary data, which is described as

36. 31
interpretations of existing primary data, was collected through academic literature in the
form on books and online journal articles (Bell, 2005, p. 125).
3.4.2 Sampling and Recruitment of Respondents
In order to gather the appropriate sample regarding the topic at hand it was important to
separate the research question into three different sample groups. The first, the
Influencers themselves, the second the luxury brands that work with Social Influencers
and finally the agencies, or as they will be called in this study the ‘middle men’, these are
the practitioners that work with both ends of the equation and facilitate the partnership
between Influencer and Brand. Non-probability sampling was used in the form of
purposive sampling (Blaxter, et al., 2006, p. 163) The prospective interviewees were
chosen and subsequently sent emails, not many of the well-known brands or ‘high-
followed’ Social Influencers responded, however those that did were scheduled for Skype
or FaceTime interviews.
3.4.3 Interviews
Interviews can be unstructured, semi-structured or structured; unstructured interviews,
which are also known as informal interviews (Blaxter, et al., 2006, p. 172). Structured
interviews are more formal with a set of questions that involve specific answers (ibid., p.
173). Semi structured interviews fall in between the two and was the chosen form for the
purpose of this study. All of the interviews were conducted through Skype or FaceTime,
whichever suited the interviewee best, they were recorded through the ‘voice memo’
application on an iPhone and later transcribed in order for them to be analysed through
thematic analysis, in which the interviews were compared and contrasted within their

37. 32
category (i.e. Influencer, Brand, ‘middle men’) as well as cross examined across all three
categories.
3.4.4 Data Analysis
The data was analysed through thematic analysis. There are six steps that thematic
analysis entails which all of the data collected went through. The first is understanding
and familiarizing yourself with the data, which is done through reading, re-reading and
transcribing the interviews (Blaxter, et al., 2010, p. 233). The second is producing the
first codes, which means coding interesting points in the data in a systematic way
throughout the entire data set and collecting the data that is applicable to each code
(ibid.). The third and fourth steps are searching for themes and reviewing the themes of
the data (ibid.). These steps entail collecting the codes and placing them in themes and
thus making sure that each data set fits into the specific theme it was placed in, thus
creating a thematic ‘map’ of analysis (ibid.). The fifth step in thematic analysis is
defining names and themes; in this step there is a continuing analysis to hone in on each
theme and the overall subject under research, at this stage names are given to each theme
(ibid.) Finally, the sixth step is producing the report, this is the last time to analyse the
data collected and relate it back to the research question and academic literature (ibid.).
3.5 Credibility of Research
3.5.1 Validity
Validity is defined as “the design of research to provide credible conclusions; whether the
evidence which the research offers can bear the weight of the interpretation that is put on
it” (Bell, 2005, p. 117-118). The primary research was conducted with well-established
Social Influencers and industry professionals in the form of in depth semi-structured

38. 33
interviews where they spoke to their professional experience in the field of fashion and
digital communication. Validity relies on the methods, approaches and techniques and
whether or not they relate to the topic under investigation (Blaxter, et al., 2010, p. 245).
The research was executed through a phenomenological approach where the researcher
bracketed all preconceived notions surrounding the topic so that the participants’
perspectives were able to be open and subjective (Daymon & Holloway, 2002, p. 148).
The data collected throughout the interviews relates back and connects to the literature
referenced throughout the study, which provides further validity through theory-based
generalisations (ibid., p. 92).
3.5.2 Reliability
Reliability in qualitative research is often viewed in the middle of what is recorded as
data and what actually happens in the area under study (Burns, 2000, p. 417). Reliability
is founded on two assumptions, the first is that the study can be repeated, the second is
that two or more people are able to have comparable understandings of the information
using the same procedures and categories (ibid.) Although, those that provide the
information, because every participant is able to access unique information, limit
reliability and therefore no sole interviewee can provide universal information (ibid., p.
148). However, the reliability in this study sits between the information provided by the
interviewee’s and the data that was collected, and if the study were to be repeated with
the same people and the same questions the information would be reliable.
3.5.3 Use of Generalisations
Generalisability is used for small-scale research and speaks to whether your findings have
any larger applicability that go beyond the study at hand (Blaxter, et al., 2010, p. 245).

39. 34
There is generalizability throughout this study. Since as the advent of Social Influencers
and their partnerships with luxury fashion brands are relatively new the primary research
conducted for this study will provide insight into three different areas regarding this
topic. The Social Influencer’s data will provide insight not only for other Social
Influencers but also Brands that have to inevitably work with them as well as the ‘middle
men’ or agencies that facilitate the partnerships. The data collected regarding Brand’s
attitudes towards the topic will also be helpful for Influencers that have or will work with
them, again for the agencies that facilitate the partnerships, and lastly to other Brands
who are either active participants in the use of Influencers or to those that are more
hesitant. There will be more discussion surrounding the latter in a later chapter. Finally,
the data collected will be applicable for the ‘middle men’ who must understand both ends
of the equation in order to facilitate the partnerships between Influencers and Brands
appropriately.
3.5.4 Limitations
There were a few limitations throughout this research process, most of which were
expected. When reaching out via email to well-known Social Influencers, luxury brands
and established agencies there were little to no responses. This was expected as those
Social Influencers who were reached out to have multi-million follower Instagram
accounts. Well known luxury brands were also difficult to connect with as either their
contact information was not listed, or there was a pre-structured email template that
would be emailed off from their website. Agencies were more responsive although
mostly from New York and Toronto. There were also limitations regarding the
scheduling of interviews, although most who responded were happy to participate, prior

40. 35
and surprise commitments get in the way leading a few participants to cancel their
scheduled interviews. Regardless of these challenges, in the end, the sample consisted of
a rich, diverse group of women from three separate segments in social media and fashion
all relevant to the topic under discussion.

41. 36
4. Findings
This chapter contains the findings of in-depth semi-structured interviews with Social
Influencers and industry professionals that work within the luxury fashion brands, as well
as those that work in agencies that facilitate the relationships and partnerships between
Social Influencer’s and the Brand’s. The interviews were conducted over Skype and
FaceTime with respondents from Toronto, Canada and the United States.
4.1 The Influencer
With the emergence of social media new careers have arisen in the form of Social
Influencer’s who are typically o no notoriety prior to launching these careers. The
participants interviewed for this study began their social careers via Blogs and Instagram
and work with brands in a variety of ways:
(…) Typically they come to me with an idea or a project or an
initiative, for example like a holiday campaign or something and
they want me to use the fashion object or the look in the context of
art because that’s kind of what I have established myself for doing. It
really ranges, and its interesting to see how certain Brands are
because some Brands that I would envision would be very free-
spirited and open-minded and let me do whatever I want are the
opposite, and then some that are more corporate surprise me in that
they’re like do your thing, but I find the most successful
collaborations are the latter of course (Pari Ehsan, Social Influencer,
@paridust).
(…) Through my blog and Instagram, so they’ll reach out to me or
my agent to do basically what is essentially digital advertising for
them, so they’ll pay me basically per post depending on the scope of
work that they want either to create my own story for them or to post
something that has kind of been structured out for me but still in my
own words so that its natural. I’ve already told my agent and most of
the brands that I work with that if its super structured out already I
don’t want to do it unless its something that I really really love, just
because I mean its so easy to work with a bunch of Brands who
message you who you have no interest in and it’s obvious you’re

42. 37
doing it for money so I try to stay away from that…(Ruby Benson,
Social Influencer, @ragsxruby)
Through the interviews it became clear that traditional celebrities have made an impact
beyond their traditional role of being the face of a campaign and both Brands and
agencies regard them as Social Influencers.
(…) Someone like Kylie Jenner single handedly determines the
trends; to me she’s the ultimate fashion Influencer, and that’s
because of her reach and she is her own media outlet. Obviously she
has the Kardashian power… And I know it seems ridiculous, but I
look at a store like Artizia [a popular Canadian clothing store] and
what they’re carrying and I think it’s no coincidence that what they
are carrying is what Kylie Jenner was wearing on Instagram.
(Rebeca Kogan, Manager, Business Development and Strategic
Partnerships, NKPR).
4.1.1 Are Social Influencer’s just a Phase?
An interesting theme emerged throughout these qualitative, which highlighted the
possibility that Social Influencers as they currently exist could be a phase. There were
varying opinions when it came to this topic, some believed they were here to stay, some
believed if they are here to stay they have to bring something other then being a Social
Influencer to the table, while others were convinced it was just a phase.
You look at Leandra Medine (The Man Repeller) she’s always had a
POV, but now so many girls with their same basic pose; I think that
will get exhausted because I think people can wade through it. I
think the result is that people are just looking for numbers; they want
to be able to say that we had so many impressions and it’s more
powerful to use Social Influencers to do that… I think there will be
an expiration date, because I think everybody is becoming their own
Blogger, everyone’s posting those shots (Rebecca Kogan, Manager,
Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, NKPR).
I think it’s going to die. I think it’s going to burst like the stock
market…I think what’s going to happen is that people are going to
have to transform into content creators where they have a proprietary
skill set. I’m a copyrighter, I’m a photographer, I’m a creative

43. 38
director, I am a strategist to do advertising campaigns, as opposed to
being a pretty face.(Stacie Brockman, Co-Founder, Métier Creative).
(…) Personally, I think that the Influences of celebrity won’t go
away anytime soon, but I think that at a point it’s like okay anyone
can start doing this and it’ll just get so diluted of people posting,
tagging, and I think people will just get bored of it. (Jayme Kosher,
Graphic Designer, Milly).
4.2 Detecting Digital Disruption
Interviewees state that Social Influencers are definitely digitally disrupting something
within luxury fashion brands and they way they communicate. Whether they are
disrupting the communication strategies of these Brands and whether it is considered
positive or negative disruption that is where opinions on the topic differ.
4.2.1 The Influencer
Yeah, definitely. I mean this wasn’t around five years ago, if someone
back then said I’m going to give x amount of dollars to this random
girl who has this picture app to go advertise for us, I think huge brands
would have been like what why? I’ve talked to a lot of people, I don’t
know how long this is going to last, but if you’re doing things like
writing things for Brands… producing digital content for them as
opposed to just posing with a product it can be a legitimate form of
advertising (Ruby Benson, Digital Content Producer/Blogger,
@ragsxruby)
(…) Way that people are disrupting the fashion industry is that it’s
completely opened up now, where before everything was so private
and fashion seemed really impenetrable and it was really only certain
sector of people, like if you worked in a magazine you were privy to
be involved, but now, it’s not like that anymore…I think it also lets
people participate with Brands, even if they can’t afford it. So maybe
you cant afford Gucci but you’re following them on Instagram you’re
tweeting with them, you’re regramming them, you’re participating in
a way that wasn’t available before…it’s really funny because we
didn’t start out to disrupt anything. (Stephanie Mark, Co-Founder, The
Coveteur)

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4.2.2 The Brand
(…) In terms of Brands overall I think they’re definitely disruptive. I
would say there are a few ways; brands I think really need to align
with Influencers, one for content… content has always been important
but more from an editorial perspective… Now it’s content in terms of
imagery… Then in terms of advertising, so from a brand perspective,
traditionally if you did digital advertising and you went to an online
publication you would go to a Vogue.com or New York Mag or
WhoWhatWear and you would buy display ads that sit on the side of
the page and that would be your buy and that’s where people were
going. Before Instagram got big and Influencers grew it was the way
of reaching people and that’s where people went to get their fashion
content. Those sites still exist and Brands still do that, but I think
there’s definitely a move away from it…People are looking at these
Influencers every single day and they’re on it for hours looking at
multiple ones, while they just go on the site for 3 minutes…I think it’s
definitely disruptive, I don’t think those publications really want to
admit that yet, but from a Brand perspective I think we’re moving
away from working with publishers like that and traditional media
partners and going out and doing things more on their own to build the
content and work with influencers and advertise on Instagram and
Facebook. (Gabrielle Giacalone, Digital Marketing Manager, Milly).
4.2.3 “The Middle Men”
(…) Where we’ve seen the biggest change was it used to be that for
any of the PR strategies that we had it was always focused on using
the different media outlets and all of the different magazines…Why
does a Brand need to place an ad when they can just pay someone way
less money to wear their clothes and act as a billboard, and their social
media reaches are bigger then any of the publications, they are there
own media outlets. So I think for us we’ve had to evolve our strategies
to find who are the right people to connect with the Brand, and you
can be so focused. (Rebecca Kogan, Manager, Business Development
and Strategic Partnerships).
4.2.4 Good v. Evil
(…) Yes there is definitely something disruptive happening, however
disruptive in a good way and disruptive in a bad way are two different
things… the micro-influencer…has a really good ability to be
disruptive in a small scale for good because you’re able to move
product amongst the new age word of mouth and then you have at the
top end of the totem pole, which are like the big multi-million

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follower people like the Blonde Salad’s of the world…who have
turned their relatability into profitability on a scale that doesn’t
actually correspond necessarily to anything, so even though someone
may have 10 million followers that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily
going to make 10 million sales… and the disruptive part get really
convoluted in a bad way because what happens is…Brands paying to
put their product on people ends up looking the same and nothing is
disruptive… it wasn’t innovative anymore to watch a girl get ready for
the Met Gala by Chanel and then the next day it was getting ready for
this party by Dior featuring X girl. It’s the same plug and play model,
so that’s not disruptive. What’s disruptive I think is when Brands
partner with unexpected people that don’t necessarily fit their Brand
or they do things that are very much rooted in surprise and delight. It’s
like a level of ‘bespokeness’ to it as opposed to just how do we get as
many people to see the same thing at one time by doing something
that everyone else has already seen before, and when you look at the
gamete of what’s happening every single day on Instagram 99% of it
all look the same, it’s the bag spill for the beauty product, it’s the girl
getting ready for X event for the fashion line…if anything bad
disruptive because they’re just adding to the clutter of the bad noise…
I think unfortunately for the most part the disruptive good gets
drowned out by the disruptive bad noise. (Stacie Brockman, Co-
Founder, Métier Creative).
4.3 The Brand and Influencer Relationship
The relationship between the Brand and the Influencer is as important as any client
relationship. The key for Brands now is to accept that traditional promotion has changed
and it is vital to be part of the social conversation. Once that strategic shift is realised it
becomes clear that social influencer is a vital component. Some Brands are actively
participating while others are extremely hesitant, especially in the luxury sector where the
idea of ‘luxury’ has always been important to the Brand’s identity. The lines have blurred
between PR, marketing and advertising with the emergence of social media and social
platforms.
4.3.1 The Influencer
I think they’re looking for a different form of advertising and
marketing that is more relatable to, I think they choose Influencers

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obviously for a Millennial target market and the easiest way to reach a
Millennial is through another Millennial because …if we see someone
who is our age or kind of like us with something else we want it too.
(Ruby Benson, Digital Content Producer/Blogger, @ragsxruby)
4.3.2 The Brand
We should have been doing this earlier and it’s just fighting that more
traditional media. PR works this way, marketing works this way and
this whole rise of all these social platforms and Bloggers are kind of
stirring everything up and PR is not so separated and marketing is not
so separated, it’s not so traditional. (Gabrielle Giacalone, Digital
Marketing Manager, Milly).
It kind of varies. I think Influencers have kind of taken on a whole
new role in the fashion world, and I’ve seen that change just from over
the past 5 years…we work with Influencers for our shows, Instagram
takeovers, we’ll use them for different campaigns …right now were
looking to use Influencers for an active wear campaign …we’re
looking into hosting a fitness class with these Influencers and have it
be kind of a photo shoot at the same time and get the word out there
through multiple facets. So there is a lot of space to work with
influencers in a new capacity and its definitely changing a
lot.(Madelynn Matichak, PR Manager, Cushnie Et Ochs).
(…) They actually have a huge reach, sometimes more of a reach then
a publication might like a HarperBazaar.com might. Our Director of
E-commerce, we just launched E-Commerce last week and she was
just saying that we got more pick up on the site through, I think it was
The Coveteur [an Influencer] … and we were getting more pick up
from being involved with an Influencer type Brand then we were with
Shop Bazaar. (Madelynn Matichak, PR Manager, Cushnie Et Ochs).
4.3.3 “The Middle Men”
It’s interesting, you know even Chanel, they have this crazy
relationship with the Beckerman’s and they fly them all over and they
go to all of the shows… I do think more and more even those
established luxury brands are really seeing it as a huge priority for
them. I had an event with Mui Mui a few weeks ago and they were
really interested on Influencers as well, not just traditional press. (Jen
Daubney, Public Relations Manager, Holt Renferew).
I think that what these Brands are doing are like why not, let’s try and
work with these Influencers, almost like a test and they’re seeing their
engagement and the kind of people that are interested and it’s

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probably changing their minds on the people that they should market
and I think that it’s such a good case study to work with Influencers as
well. If you work with the right ones there are conversations in those
comments that are so valuable to all those brands that won’t happen
on their on feeds. (Jenna Burke, Director of Brand Experience, The
Gramlist).
(…) Where we do see that is with YouTubers. So anything that a
YouTuber promotes that where we see the direct correlation. (Rebecca
Kogan, Manager, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships,
NKPR).
4.4 Are Brand’s Communication Strategies being influenced?
A big question regarding the new relationship between Brands and Influencers is whether
or not the Influencers are affecting the communication strategies of luxury fashion
brands. For some, the core communication strategies of the Brands have not changed.
What has changed is the vehicle in which they export their strategies to their audiences.
However, for others there has been a shift, especially within the luxury sector, of
retreating back from the exclusivity of luxury and using influencers as part of their
communication strategy to appeal to a wider consumer.
4.4.1 The Brand
I think it just affects you on a daily basis. If an Influencer wears
something of yours and post it and tag it the response you get on
social media, or the additional following you definitely see a
difference there. (Madelynn Matichak, PR Manager, Cushnie Et
Ochs).
4.4.2 “The Middle Men”
I think these big luxury Brands used to feature models and just very
high fashion and not relatable marketing whatsoever … but I see
luxury brands in their marketing are tending to go more of that
lifestyle feel and want to work with real people, so everyone can
connect because these luxury brands don’t want to limit themselves
they want everyone buying their clothes so I think that what I have
seen based on their marketing and even partnering with the real person
I think that they kind of, I feel like luxury is kind of slowly

48. 43
disappearing because of the whole Influencer phase, and I don’t think
it’s a phase. (Jenna Burke, Director of Brand Experience, The
Gramlist).
4.5 Monitoring the Influencer
Monitoring the trends, content and ideas of Influencers is an essential component for
Brands and agencies when deciding whom to choose to represent the Brand. It is
important to make an authentic and relatable choice so that the Influencer stays in line
with the brand as they continue to communicate with their audience.
4.5.1 The Brand
(…) When we’re looking at Influencers for example to invite to our
show we have a long list of Bloggers, Influencers, we look at all of
them and obviously there will be the top tier with the most following
or at least the most well-known like an Aimee Song or Leandra
Medine, and I think now because that list is becoming longer and
longer you have to be a little more selective brand wise…(Madelynn
Matichak, PR Manager, Cushnie Et Ochs).
4.5.2 “The Middle Men”
We call this our ‘Genius Lab’, we don’t just use some kind of tech
and pull and this is your list, there needs to be a human behind it and
a lot of us have that editorial, publisher background so we get what
brands are looking for and we have to monitor the feed to and see if
it makes sense but how we find those right people and then vet those
lists. (Jenna Burke, Director of Brand Experience, The Gramlist).
We do a lot of research before we engage any different partners. So
we’ll look at someone and all their different platforms, all of their
numbers, the quality of content, and we also have to evaluate how
we can weave in our clients. Some people will just post images and
they’ll tag the Brand and that’s what is authentic to them, but some
of them we want the messaging to be included…A lot of what we do
is manual, I mean there are certainly Influencer software that you
can use where they’ll make the recommendations but we tend to do
it manually because I think you just get a better sense if something
fits or not… (Rebecca Kogan, Manager, Business Development and
Strategic Partnerships, NKPR).

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5. Analysis
This chapter compares and contrasts the literature discussed in Chapter 2 to the primary
research discussed in Chapter 4. The analysis allows for connections to be established
between what was referenced academically and what was revealed to be occurring in the
luxury sector of the fashion industry and its relationships with Social Influencers.
5.1 The Growing Relationship between Brands and Social
Influencers
Since the emergence of social media and in turn the establishment of Social Influencers the
way businesses connects with their consumers has changed. Social media has made it
feasible for a Brand as well as Influencers, to connect through a social platform and reach
an exponential number of people in order to promote a single product while at the same
time amplifying the consumer-to-consumer communication within the marketplace
(Mangold & Fauld, 2009, p.357). Brands are recognising the advantages of using blogs as
a communication tool to affect consumer behaviour (Halvorsen et al., 2013, p.214). With
ever growing social platforms, blogs are not the only social media outlet that impacts and
influences consumer beahviour. Jenna Burke, Director of Brand Experience at The
Gramlist in New York City says:
(…) Influencers are kind of like the new king of content and a lot of
brands can’t get that personal connection with the consumers … the
whole interaction and engagement is not going to be as intense as is
it with an Influencer because you have a person who is actually real
you see that, you actually see them as a consumer… Brands just
can’t get that personal connection with the consumer and they almost
use their feed as kind of like social marketing to kind of see how
well this does …you can kind of test it on Influencers and based on
their following you can kind of see the reaction towards that.

50. 45
While discussing social media, Mangold and Fauld state that it is thought to be a “hybrid
component” of the promotional mix and can therefore be incorporated and regarded as an
important part of an organisation’s communication strategy (2009, p. 358). Belew is
another scholar that regards social media as a “best-in-class” practice and states that
companies are three times more likely to use Social Influencers to support their sales and
processes (n.d., p. 10). What is ultimately obtained through these Social Influencer’s via
reviews, comments and likes allow Brands and business to have a measurable “pulse”
that they can use to further execute their strategies in real time (Evans, 2008, p. 36). The
literature is supported again by what Jenna Burke claims to see in her everyday area of
work:
I think that what these Brands are doing are like why not, let’s try and
work with these Influencers…it’s probably changing their minds on
the people that they should market and I think that it’s such a good
case study to work with Influencers as well. If you work with the right
ones there are conversations in those comments that are so valuable to
all those Brands that won’t happen on their on feeds. (Jenna Burke,
Director of Brand Experience, The Gramlist).
An interesting point arose when discussing the impact that Influencers have on consumer
purchasing power. A study conducted that looked at whether or not the “trust” blog
readers have in Bloggers is significant when it comes to Blogger recommendations and
the reader’s online purchase behaviour (Hsu et al., 2012, p.69). The result of the survey
showed that the Blogger’s recommendations had a significant impact on the users
purchase behaviour online due to the Bloggers electronic endorsement (ibid.) However,
Madelynn Matichak highlights that although the impression that influencers make are
noticed by Brands, in the luxury sector it is difficult to influence and realise instant

51. 46
purchases. Utilising Influencers also impacts the Brand’s bottom line in that Influencers
now come at a price and these prices can be extremely high.
If an Influencer wears something of yours and post it and tag it the
response you get on social media, or the additional following you
definitely see a difference there, but I think even more so now with
influencers being able to charge people to do a post it’s changed that
sense of an organic relationship… with designer brands, we’re not
going to pay…to post a dress and then all of a sudden we’re going to
get a ton of sales because no one makes designer purchases that way.
(Madelynn Matichak, PR Manager, Cushnie Et Ochs).
5.1.1 The Impact of Influencers
Social Influencers are the modern day gatekeepers who have important roles in
disseminating information and influencing what information travels through the pipelines
and how that information is circulated (Hague, 2006, p. 1, 8). Hague also references
Tushman and Katz in their definition of gatekeepers as those who are connected
internally and externally with colleagues and domains consecutively (Hague, 2006, p. 3).
Stephanie Mark, co-founder of the online publication and popular Social Influencer, The
Coveteur, which boasts 992k followers on Instagram. She speaks directly to this concept
of being connected internally and externally:
I think we really are in the middle and it really is almost how a
magazine works they have the people they feature and have stories on
and then also have clients that we work with…it’s just the new way of
combining editorial and advertising. I think that’s how the new way is
working, I think with dot coms and magazines, and I think with digital
first platforms you do have one foot in each bucket and I think it’s
really about being true to both of them…one thing we do, I think
really well is make fashion feel relatable. We really stay in the luxury
space … I think we have contributed that you’re almost talking to
your best friend or someone’s retelling you something they’ve
experienced…we’ve made an impact where a digital first publication
can be considered as important or necessary to attend shows ad events
just as much as a Vogue or a Harper’s Bazaar has.

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5.2 Digital Disruption in the Luxury Space
Digital disruption within luxury fashion brands has been revealed and explained by the
interview participants as well as thoroughly explained through a McKinsley & Company
report, which outlines four stages of disruption. Bradley and O’Toole outline the first
stage of the signs of digital disruption as those which incorporate customer preference,
the role of technology, regulation, cost drivers, competition and differentiation (2016).
The second stage of disruption, according to the report discusses developing and putting
in place these new initiatives within the company to find its place in the new sphere.
Further, the company must accomplish this while simultaneously acknowledge that these
new ideas act independent of the core business due to strict short-term finance incentives
to protect the core at the cost of the periphery (ibid.). Gabrielle Giacalone, Digital
Marketing Maanger at fashion brand Milly, discusses the ways in which fashion brands
are being digitally disrupted and disagrees with Bradley and O’Toole in that she believes
that the new digital initiatives are not short-term for Brands, they are going to replace the
core business strategies that have been adhered to historically:
(…) Brands I think really need to align with Influencers, one for
content. I think content has always been important but more from an
editorial perspective… Now it’s content in terms of imagery…people
are looking for that lifestyle content and they want to see Influencers
they know, or at least someone who projects this cooler lifestyle
Blogger vibe… in terms of advertising, so from a Brand perspective,
traditionally if you did digital advertising and you went to an online
publication… you would buy display ads that sit on the side of the
page and that would be your buy and that’s where people were going.
Before Instagram got big and Influencers grew it was the way of
reaching people and that’s where people went to get their fashion
content. Those sites still exist and Brands still do that, but I think
there’s definitely a move away from it…There’s no reason why,
minimum buys for these sites are $30-40k smallest and that’s nothing
to advertise with them, you can see many more eyeballs on
Instagram...I don’t think those publications really want to admit that

53. 48
yet, but from a Brand perspective I think we’re moving away from
working with publishers like that and traditional media partners and
going out and doing things more on their own to build the content and
work with Influencers and advertise on Instagram and Facebook.
The third stage of digital disruption is when the model has proven to have been
successful. However, this is the hardest stage to accomplish for a business as those who
sit on the Board’s of each company are resistant to change (Bradley & O’Toole, 2016):
The problem with Influencers, it’s not dollar for dollar…that the old
ad exec whose been running an agency for a long time, … they
understand ROI, return on investment based on spend. If I’m going to
spend $100 I want to make back $100… New media buying is talent
buying, so that’s what we do, so we do talent buying… And a lot of
those agencies have a hard time because a lot of companies are repped
by agencies or even just the Brands themselves have a really hard time
swallowing… they’re going to have to spend 100k on this girl to post
two Instagram’s and show up to your event, am I going to get back
100k in sales, no you’re not. You’re going to get a lot of eyeballs,
you’re going to get a lot of likes, but nothing in this world is promised
and I think the fear of that is debilitating for a lot of Brands because
it’s an incremental spend that’s only getting higher every day as
someone sets their precedent higher and the Brands can’t keep up nor
can they wrap their heads around it and they’re resistant to it. (Stacie
Brockman, Co-Founder, Métier Creative).
Just as Brockman explains, this new era of Brand’s use Influencers in their
communication strategies differ from the old way of doing business in that companies do
not automatically see a return on their investment. Despite the desire to see an immediate
financial impact, promoting in the digital space does not work that way. However, the
fourth step outlined in the report speaks to what Brockman has just illustrated. The final
stage of disruption occurs when the company accepts the shift within the industry.
Further, understanding that while “profit pools” may not be as abundant, the challenge
becomes realigning and shifting cost bases to the new reality of “profit pools” and
complying with the “new normal” (Bradley & O’Toole, 2016). The Internet has provided

54. 49
businesses and consumer with a voice, but it is now vital for the businesses to understand
how to “influence the crowd.” By doing that, businesses are able to establish a strong and
important market position based on social acceptance (Evans, 2008, p. 36). 23):
There are a lot of technology coming out right now like liketoknowit
and Reward Style to monetize Influencer marketing in a real tangible
way…to actually saw okay we paid this much and sold this much…
you always have to be transparent with someone up front that you’re
going to spend, you might not win in a traditional sense, but you won
in a moral sense, and you can’t quantify moral. (Stacie Brockman, Co-
Founder, Métier Crerative).
A great example of digital disruption within luxury fashion brands, which supports the
literature, came to the forefront during the interview with PR Manager Madelynn
Matichak, of Cushnie Et Ochs, who stated:
Our Director of E-commerce…was just saying that we got more pick
up on the site through, I think it was the Coveteur … whereas we had
just sent out an email with Shop Bazaar… and we were getting more
pick up from being involved with an Influencer type Brand then we
were with Shop Bazaar.
5.3 Monitoring the Influencer
Throughout the interview process it became clear how important monitoring Influencers
are to Brands. Social media is measurable, therefore Brands are able to track progress and
listen to consumers in real time (Evans, 2008, p. 36). They can use what is discovered to
make the consumer experience more effective and pleasurable (ibid.). There are now
agencies that work closely with Brands and Influencers who monitor Influencer’s social
media on a daily basis.
(…) The following count is not the most important number. What
matters is the engagement rate, your follower growth, everything that
you can’t see visually that we can pool and analyse…a lot of Brands
are like were spending x, y, z on this one Influencers what’s our ROI,
and it’s like why not work with ten Influencers that have half the

55. 50
following but much better engagement for a fraction of the
price…(Jenna Burke, Director of Brand Experience, The Gramlist).
The objective of those that monitor Influencers and the existing social platforms is to
pinpoint ways that businesses can make commercial use of YouTube, Facebook and
Twitter (Kaplan & Hanenlein, 2009, p. 59).
(…) we’ll look at someone and all their different platforms, all of
their numbers, the quality of content, and we also have to evaluate
how we can weave in our clients. …we look at which market they’re
in and how they promote. What their engagement level is at. A lot of
what we do is manual, I mean there are certainly influencer software
that you can use where they’ll make the recommendations but we
tend to do it manually because I think you just get a better sense if
something fits or not…(Rebecca Kogan, Manager, Business
Development and Strategic Partnerships, NKPR).

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6. Conclusion
This study set out to determine whether or not Social Influencers were digitally disrupting
the communication strategies of luxury fashion brands. The main objectives of this study
were:
• To determine what Digital Disruption looks like:
• To establish if and/or how the fashion industry is being disrupted and identify
evidence to support the claims and questions stated via semi-structured
interviews with Social Influencers and industry professionals.
• To assess the implications of Digital Disruption has on the communication
strategies of luxury fashion brands.
• To conclude if said strategies are being interrupted, and if the evidence found in
the primary research determines if luxury fashion brands are impacting other
types of fashion brands.
This Chapter will review the evidence found in the primary and secondary research as it
correlates to the research objectives culminating in strategic recommendations.
6.1 Social Influencers and their Affect on Public Relations
Web 2.0 and social media are changing the media landscape in that the influence is
shifting and landing in the laps of Social Influencer who are able to share their opinions
and passion with the public (Solis & Breakenridge, 2009, p. 1). User-Generated Content
and peer-to-peer sharing is transforming traditional Public Relations allowing them to
reach wider than they were able to in the past, moving past the “A-List” media when
telling their story (ibid.). This study concludes that social media has played an integral
role in the evolution of the Public Relations industry. The evolution has added to taken