A presentation looking at the impact of the social web on luxury brands.

1. Luxury and The Social Web
One Alfred Place, 23rd September 2009
Presented by
Gavin Williams
Co-Founder, Video Ventures
Kellie McSorley
Managing Director, Silksearch

2. Exhibit 1

8. Retail
Head
Office
sales & marketing channel
= a conversation
25.”Companies need to come
down from their Ivory Towers
and talk to the people with
whom they hope to create
relationships.”

9. The Social Web affect
customers are free to have their
own conversations in
online communities
Retail
Head
Office
Sales &
Marketing
Channels?

10. The Social Web For Business
• It’s always about the customer..
– They want to talk to you
– They want to talk to their friends about you
– They want to talk to people they’ve never met
before about you
• Oh and…
– They want to write about you
– They want to publish videos about you
– They want to write reviews about you

12. 2 Challenges for Luxury Brands
and Social Media?
Luxury implies a sense of exclusivity; that
it isn’t for everyone. Online is an open
environment
A luxury brand needs to maintain the
appropriate aesthetics and social media
platforms do not allow for this

13. The Real Challenge
• The Readiness of our Management teams
to firstly endorse and then engage
• Hierarchical cultures
• Our marketing agencies
• Our current skill set
• (Whisper it..) Our Creative Directors!

14. Challenge 1
Do I know how to talk?

16. Who is Speaking For You?

17. LibertyDaniel: DON'T get your legs out
for the lads...http://bit.ly/iS4Wn

18. LibertyDaniel @montyknits Guess what I'm holding in my
hand, I'll give you a clue...it's just come back in and has
bows
Montyknits @LibertyDaniel yayyyy! :) now, when can i get
down? running a knitting class in covent garden on sunday....
LibertyDaniel @montyknits I'm about to sort out the stock
on the website, so you can do it online if that's any easier?? I
can just send you the new link
Montyknits @libertydaniel @libertylondon o pretty, pretty
bows... http://www.montyknits.blogs... now off to show
them off...!
LibertyDaniel @montyknits Yes! you got them, well done!
Montyknits @LibertyDaniel argh! all black
bows gone! managed to slip in last night
before going out to dinner. bare legs or
boring black it is then...
LibertyDaniel @montyknits gutted! the black
ones with the gold bows, yeah? if you can
wait til Tues - i'll see if we can find you a
pair??
Montyknits @LibertyDaniel yea! too late for
the party, but will just give me an excuse
to throw one myself! :) ta muchly
LibertyDaniel @montyknits Good weekend?
I've just had a word with the buyer - we
are out of stock, but they've been re-
ordered - should be 7-10 days...
Montyknits @LibertyDaniel thank you so
much for that, am in france this weekend,
so no need for tights anyway! will be at
the front of the q nxt wk...
LibertyDaniel @montyknits no worries, I'll
tweet you when they're in
Turning a Conversation into a Transaction

20. Challenge 2
If we build it, will they come?
(Burberry, Gucci and Mercedes)

21. Burberry

23. Gucci

25. Mercedes Benz Social Network
A Controlled Environment

26. Challenge 3
Am I ready to lose control?

31. Challenge 4
Do I have the time to go
looking for my customers…

32. Vs

33. Challenge 5
Do I understand the
technology?

36. Understanding the Social Web
A Structured Approach

37. We
are here
This is an internet map
showing user activity

38. COLLECTORS CRITICS
CREATORS
CAMPAIGN
JOINERS
SPECTATORS
1 - Who is my Community?

39. Here’s your (creators)
• Bloggers
• Video makers
• Podcast creators

40. These are your (critics)
• Answers Yahoo
• Reviews - Trip advisor
• Changes to Wikis
• Advice on products

41. The (Collectors)
• Adding tags to posts
• Categorising content
• Voting on content
• Sharing content

42. The (Joiners)
• Updates on facebook
• Retweets in Twitter
• Pokes in facebook
• MSN messages

43. The (spectators)
• Consumers
• RSS readers
• Blog lovers
• Tripadvisor visitors
• Podcast subscribers

44. The (inactives)
Yawn …

45. This is what is called
the social eco system
• Creators
• Critics
• Collectors
• Spectators
• Joiners
• Inactive’s

46. 2 - Listen…for Free

47. Listening = Research (2)
• Feedback on brand and products
• On brand associations
• On representations of the brands at
retailers
• On whether your brand messages are
getting across
• On the bad stuff as well as the good

48. 3 - Learn
• What are their expectations of you?
• If you own retail stores, what are they
saying about your staff
• If they trade online what are they saying
about the efficacy of your site?
• What are they saying about the quality of
your product?

49. 4 - Before you Respond
- Identifying the Talent
• Talking isn’t easy
• Do you have a Liberty Dan?
• Will using an agency help you learn?
• Will using an agency eventually expose
you as a fraud?
• YOU NEED SOMEONE WHO GETS IT!

50. 5 - Responding
• If someone has a gripe do you respond?
– Yes if it’s reasonable
– Yes if it could impact on how people see you
– No if it’s sounding off (the curse of the web!)
– Yes if you’re prepared to converse
• Your brand needs to set the level it’s
comfortable with
• Your brand need people who know how to
respond

51. 6 - I can’t measure the ROI can I?
YES YOU CAN!!!

52. Your Business is Our Business!!

53. What’s Next?
•VRM?
•WAVES?
•TABLETS?

54. • @video-ventures
• gavin@video-ventures.co.uk
• www.video-ventures.co.uk
• Linkedin.com/Gavin07williams
• @silksearch
• kmcsorley@silksearch.com
• http://www.silksearch.com/
• linkedin.com/in/kelliemcsorley1