Comparative Brand Audit Sample

Disclaimer: It should be noted that social media audits and studies are conducted with custom
parameters defined by the client at the time of the commissioned work.
This particular audit was designed as a Comparative Brand Audit to understand how similar Brands
may be using social media in the Luxury Goods market. Further, the information contained herein is
based on the insight gleaned at the time of the audit and may not reflect current individual Brand
trends or performance.
Variances in depth and scope of audits and studies are completely dependent based upon client
needs and requirements – which may reflect completely different analytical parameters, including the
use of varying data models, methodologies and analysis techniques.
It should be further noted that this 'aging' 2011 audit is posted as an early representation of work for
a social media audit. Metrics, KPIs and analytical views used for studies have all matured since the
original publish date and as part of the natural industry maturation of defining and linking ROI to
Social media.
The audit was commissioned by Swarovski Elements and performed by Daniel McKean for Brian
Solis and FutureWorks.

For more information, or to inquire about conducting a social media audit or study, contact:
Daniel McKean
(949) 338-4762
danielmckean@gmail.com

social media audit
luxury brand comparison
Daniel McKean, FutureWorks, March 2011

5
The Social Web requires the continual reflection of purposeful participation and engagement with intent. Reflection should go
well beyond the ‘what’ a Brand may be doing and should also heavily reflect on the ‘why’. It is only then that a Brand can truly
reflect whether it is executing from a position of strength to reap the key underlying social benefits for cultivating, reinforcing and
engaging with the social media communities it aims to serve.
Savvy Brands understand that social media offers much more than a new simple broadcast and promotion medium for a Brand,
products or services. Successful social media Brands view the medium as an opportunity. An opportunity to become fully
engaged and immersed with consumers to build an open dialogue for mutual benefit – a dialogue that has never before really
been possible via traditional business communications. These social savvy Brands are not afraid to listen and then engage with
their customers. And they welcome the opportunity to continuously experiment and refine how they interact using social media
‘best practices’ for greater community involvement.
This seems like a very simple premise, but all too often Brands are quick to overlook the underpinning real value associated with
social media. The less astute frequently make the mistake of self promotion with little regard to building an open, two-way
dialogue between Brand and consumer. As a result, Brands who do not sincerely have a desire to cultivate a relationship with its
customers typically never realize flourishing communities, where ultimately the Brand loses by not capitalizing on the opportunity
to embrace getting to know its customers at a deeper, more personal level for greater business benefit.
It is with this seemingly simple premise that constant reflection becomes a critical component for practicing social media.
Reflection offers periodic, self imposed reviews that help to avoid common pitfalls of being overly self indulgent. It ensures there
is a mechanism in place to keep Brands on course with viable and sustainable social media roadmaps. At times, it may be
simple or complex. It may be an independent, complementary or comprehensive review process. And it may be done as often
that it may be justified or required – based on individual Brand needs.
But in all cases, reflection needs to be part of the social media mix. Continual reflection is an investment. But a critical
investment in the overall practice of social media that guarantees a Brand operates from a position of strength in the social
media sphere of influence.
introduction

6
Preface…………………………….7
Findings Summary……………...8
Luxury Brands Audit…………… 12
Thomas Sabo…………………..13
Pandora…………………………45
Louis Vuitton……………………81
Tiffany & Co………………….....127
Cartier…………………………...163
Coach……………………………202
H&M……………………………..243
Overall Best Practices…………. 285
table of contents

7
This Social Media Audit has been structured from the guidance provided by
Swarovski AG. It is designed as a first step to understand how social media
marketing is currently being used in the Luxury Goods market. It is the intent of this
audit to identify how social media is being practiced by comparable select Brands --
and to what level of execution and success they may be experiencing. From the
insight and intelligence gathered, it is Swarovski’s goal to deeper reflect on its own
social media efforts, and to review and refine as necessary its current efforts for
enhanced community engagement leading ultimately to greater business success.
The process and methodology used for the Swarovski Audit was custom designed to
meet the project parameters. The audit compared seven comparable Luxury brands
(Louis Vuitton, Coach, Thomas Sabo, Tiffany & Co., Cartier, H&M, Pandora).
Each Brand’s use of social media was reviewed and studied based on identifying
each Brands’ chosen landscape of preferred platforms ; Twitter, Facebook, video
(YouTube), images (Flickr), mobile, blogs, mainstream media. The initial audit was
taken from a researched sampling, where the observations and conclusions have
been made based on all global geographies.
It should be noted: Depending on client objectives, FutureWorks is able to conduct
multi-level General or Deep Analysis studies ,which can scale and can be
implemented via phases based on individual needs. We routinely study brands;
competitive brands; best practices; cause and effect; conversation sentiments;
trends; influencers; and more – in addition to the nuances found within general
community thoughts, opinions, preferences and biases – all on a global basis.
preface

findings summary

9
A snapshot of the comparable Luxury Brands across 12 focus markets.
1. H&M: Deemed the most successful - strong brand focus with
high consistency, focus on community building and growth, high
frequency and responsiveness, risk-taker on emerging
platforms.
2. Louis Vuitton: Strong brand strategy, pure brand focus,
traditional and safe activities and platform choice.
3. Coach: Product focus to drive brand awareness and
commerce online and in-store, chatty language with community,
but low level of interaction.
4. Pandora: Still exploring social media with emphasis on
Facebook, building brand and community with product focus to
drive brand awareness.
5. Thomas Sabo: Unfocused activities and poor execution,
multiple Facebook properties, posts are partially in German or
English, unofficial Facebook pages exist creating confusion,
low level of Twitter activities.
6. Tiffany: Product focus aimed at building awareness and
community using Facebook and Twitter, regularly provided
fresh content, but low level of interaction.
7. Cartier: Rather poor use of social platforms: does not update
on regular basis, no conversations with community.
findings summary

10
Most audited brands have followed a universal approach on global
platforms with evidence of only a few innovators.
 Objectives: build greater brand awareness and preference through user engagement to drive foot traffic and/or
commerce to offline stores or online destinations
 Trends: iPhone apps, onsite optimization and blogger engagement
 Key platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Foursquare, marginal local platform engagements
 Twitter: country-specific profiles are quite common due to absence of language filters
 Facebook: one brand fan page in English is the most common approach – with few exceptions as in the case
for Asia where there is cultural and market uniqueness; only Cartier uses a Facebook language filter (French),
Thomas Sabo sporadically posts in other languages (e.g. German) visible to all Fans
 Campaigns: top audited brands launched high-exposure social media campaigns across relevant platforms to
strengthen online-offline links, not all campaigns coincide with current promotions or have a direct commerce
link but are rather designed for brand-building
 Content: content is key! Each brand is producing unique content specific for social media with a focus on news
about offline events and product information: emphasis on product categories in terms of bigger picture, H&M
and Louis Vuitton provide additional local news
 Bloggers: H&M, Louis Vuitton and Coach have begun to engage with bloggers by inviting them to shows or
calls for action, e.g. through competitions, content generated by bloggers is re-used by brand
 Onsite optimization: H&M and Louis Vuitton integrate website and social media, e.g. through share
functionality or onsite social media rooms
findings summary

11
Spotlight: Best Practice & Use – H&M is an engaged innovator.
 Reinforces every aspect of the brand including news about
upcoming events, new products and collections, store openings,
special sales online and in-store, including photo and video contests
and cross - promotional links to the H&M site on Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter and Foursquare
 Highly engaged with their online communities through daily
conversations re: the brand which creates a thriving and enthusiastic
community, social media presence is growing and expanding into
new landscapes
 Recently launched a Facebook store for fans to stay within their
favorite social network
 Social media room on website: real-time, virtual feed of their social
media assets proofing transparency and confidence in online
conversations around the brand
 Developed multipliers to inspire a young and trendy audience
through blogger contest for driving discussions across blogosphere
using user generated content
 Inspires conversations on a local level by inviting users to provide
news about what is going on in the H&M stores in their locality and
encourages discussions in an open-forum style
 Risk taker: social gaming experiment and one of the first to explore
new platforms
findings summary

the audit

13
Social Presence
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
YouTube
Thomas Sabo

14
Social media marketing for Thomas Sabo appears to have no clear objective
or strategy. Rather, it appears to be an exploratory venture.
overall impression
Objective
Strategy
There is nothing notable about Thomas Sabo‘s execution of its initiatives. The
Brand continues to place a heavy emphasis on an online e-commerce capability,
but lacks sophisticated integration using social platforms. Multiple Facebook
properties fracture the community causing inconsistent experiences.
Execution
Success
The brand continues to miss the mark and gain any traction using Social. One
obvious misstep has been the lack of social promotion surrounding the signing of
Katy Perry as Thomas Sabo’s first Brand Ambassador.

15
Katy is the perfect match made for the Thomas Sabo jewellery
brand such that it is an imagination and no-one other than her
is perfect for this brand.
With this, Thomas Sabo is once more underlining its
international position as leading lifestyle brand for sterling
silver jewellery.
Thomas Sabo Spokesperson, Feb. 2011
in their own words
“
Re: Signing a brand ambassador for the first time in company history

16
Thomas Sabo’s low profile in social media has kept it below the radar
of industry watchers and pundits.
industry impressions

Thomas Sabo maintains three separate Facebook Pages.
Multiple Branded and general purpose properties may
confuse Fans and consumers.
18
Thomas Sabo‘s “official“ Facebook page has posts in both German and English. Two other
Thomas Sabo Facebook pages exist, but have no clear purpose.
social platform review

Strengths
Official Primary Page: The Thomas Sabo “Official” Facebook page is promotional and engages with its fans. It
does respond to consumer comments when appropriate. The Facebook page includes posts and comments in
English, German and French. The Page also allows consumers to post to the Facebook wall and upload photos.
The Page appears to post approximately 2-3 times per week, and 1-3 posts per day with posts mainly consisting
of product photos and links, contests, and some promotional video. There is the use of “tabs” promoting “Shop”,
which links to the Thomas Sabo German e-commerce site; and a “Katy Perry” Tab to announce her celebrity
endorsement.
Weaknesses (Official Fan page, Secondary Corporate Page, Australian Page)
The Facebook brand strategy is confusing -- competing Global Facebook accounts. “Official” Page appears to
have been created in February of this year, presumably to have a more corporate presence on Facebook to
announce the “Katy Perry” partnership, but this simply confuses followers where they may have become Fans
on one of two other Pages. There are no vanity URLs for any of the accounts, representing a missed opportunity
for branding. Thomas Sabo fails to include links to other existing social platforms on any Page such as its Twitter
or YouTube accounts. Both secondary Facebook accounts do not engage and each do not allow consumers to
post to the Facebook wall and upload photos.
19
Secondary Pages: Unofficial accounts post 1-2 times per week mirroring content from the Official Page.
Focus / Content Direction
Overall, the Brand is reinforced through product promotions coupled with F-commerce (dedicated Tab linked to
e-commerce web portal). Official page does encourage Fan conversations and posts.
Online / Offline
There are periodic recommendations to stop into a Thomas Sabo shop and the use of F-commerce.
Customer Loyalty, Rewards, Customer Support
Official Page is interactive to the degree of being reasonably good with timely responses to Fan questions.

Thomas Sabo’s Facebook properties are visually appealing
using a mix of Brand, product and promotional content .
20
F-Commerce “Shop” Tab Katy Perry Promotional Tab

Twitter appears to be in an early stage of exploration by
the Brand with little engagement and few tweets
and as a result reflects low follower counts.
22

23
Strengths
Two Thomas Sabo Twitter accounts exist for both the Netherlands and Australia,
both created in 2010. However, there is no verification that they are official
accounts. The Thomas Sabo Australia account does have a well produced branded
page.
Weaknesses
Both pages have very little engagement with their communities and have only
posted sporadic tweets. The Thomas Sabo Netherlands page appears to be
dormant with no activity since June, 2010. Very low follower/following numbers for
both pages.
Minimal focus centered around Brand and product promotion.
Online / Offline
Very little or no activity.
No emphasis.

A sampling of tweets reveal the promotional aspect of
the platform’s early use and of the Brand’s minimal
attempts to engage followers with @replies.
24

YouTube is representative of Thomas Sabo’s social efforts.
Brand continues to explore without commitment to the
platform or the social landscape.
26

27
Strengths
Content has been produced to represent the brand well, but only 5 corporate
videos uploaded.
Weaknesses
No Thomas Sabo background branding. There is a lack of content with no recent
videos uploaded.
Overall, the channel is product focused (Thomas Sabo collections) for the few
videos uploaded.
Online / Offline
No activity.
No emphasis.

Content’s production uses an appealing art-style filming
technique with an aggressive music track to appeal to
Thomas Sabo’s unique demographic.
28

Blogs and bloggers are not an emphasis for the Brand.
30
There are no visible indications that
Thomas Sabo engages in special
relationships within the blogger
community.
However, what has been discovered
is that Thomas Sabo did experiment
for a short period of time with a
corporate blog to highlight its latest
creations; however, it appears the
Blog has been neglected as the last
post was Sept. 2010.

Social emphasis has primarily been applied to collections and
products to reinforce the Brand.
32
The Pop Now Collection campaign with Katy Perry is shaping up to be a missed social opportunity for
engagement as there are no signs the Brand has placed much of a social emphasis on the campaign.
social engagement
Brand
engagement

Heavy product / collection focus promotion aims to reinforce
the Brand and its unique eclectic fashion place in the industry.
33
brand / product focus
Brand.product
engagement

34
campaign
Brand
engagement

Thomas Sabo has yet to place much social emphasis on the
Katy Perry ambassadorship or the Pop Now campaign.
35
Minimal announcement posts are present on Facebook, but are not sustained for reinforcing the
campaign. Thomas Sabo fails to leverage other social platforms for greater social visibility.
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

social assessment
brand snapshot
36

37
Community building across the social landscape continues to lack
momentum so far for Thomas Sabo.
Thomas Sabo is still
figuring out how to use
Social in its Brand / product
marketing initiatives
overall performance

38
Thomas Sabo’s lack of Social sophistication prevents it from executing
on a local or country basis.
local performance

39
Thomas Sabo has made limited attempts to direct
followers to commerce or other brand enhancing
destinations.
Highlight of note: there is a “Shop” tab on its
Official Facebook fan page property, but to date
overlooks a large market opportunity by excluding
the United States.
Interesting to note: Thomas Sabo has
experimented with email marketing with social
integration using Facebook and Twitter links.
Twitter and Facebook posts may link occasionally
to photos of its latest products, but fails to further
steer the followers to its e-commerce site.
call to actions / commerce

40
Thomas Sabo relies on building a global eclectic fashion image that is
transferrable to and adopted in all regions of the world.
Social is not currently at the forefront of its branding or marketing initiatives,
but it continues to experiment with various platforms.
global spotlight

41
Unique to the other Luxury brands, Thomas
Sabo tweets pictures using a tool such
as TwitPic, which makes it easier (and
more inclined) for followers to follow the
links to view the products and other
promotional content.
brand best practices
Aside from this one practice, the Brand is
not doing anything special. Social is not at
the forefront of Thomas Sabo's
current branding or marketing initiatives,
but it continues to experiment with various
platforms.

42
Thomas Sabo is clearly not an innovator in the Social space.
innovation spotlight

43
Although it has not been played out, if Thomas Sabo fails to execute a
Social Campaign around the popularity of Katy Perry as a Brand
ambassador, the Brand simply loses for lack of foresight and execution.
social missteps

44
Thomas Sabo has yet to build any success stories due to its lack of
initiatives and random continued experimentation using social media
marketing.
achievements

45
Social Presence
Facebook
Twitter
Blog
YouTube
Mobile
iPhone app
Pandora

Pandora’s objective with social media has been to raise awareness and preference for its
Brand and product lines, while driving commerce into retail and authorized online resellers.
46
overall impression
Objective
Strategy Pandora has elected to place most of its social emphasis on the Facebook platform.
The Brand has shown it is committed to building a community of Fans through active
engagement and content.
The Brand is executing well on the Facebook platform using a mix of fresh content
and Applications to personalize the Fan experience. It is growing the Brand’s Fan
base at a rate of roughly 20,000 new fans per month. However, the Brand is not
executing well with other social platforms such as Twitter and YouTube as there is a
lack of commitment to both platforms. Pandora’s Introduction of an iPhone Gift
Finder app appears to be well received and contains a number of features
enthusiasts are appreciating.
Execution
Success Pandora has found most of its success through Facebook. An innovative Facebook
bracelet designer app coupled with web portal link offers a constant flow of fresh
content stimulating Fan engagement elevating Pandora to a higher social presence
and adoption over other comparable Luxury Brands.

47
Pandora’s executives are not discussing its social media efforts in
the public domain.
in their own words

48
It’s a good example [Pandora Jewelry Designer app] of how a
higher-end retailer is using Facebook to create a social buying
experience. The experience seems to be resonating with users,
too...
“

Pandora does a good job engaging Fans while placing
a heavy emphasis on product promotions and commerce.
50

51
Strengths
The Pandora Jewelry Facebook page is promotional and engaged with their fans. The Brand
responds and converses with fans regularly on their wall and within the Notes and Discussions tabs.
Pandora Jewelry also allows consumers to post to the Wall and upload photos which reinforces the
community experience. Overall, Pandora does a good job with posting almost daily, with 1-3 posts
per day—mainly consisting of product photos and links, contests, Pandora website, Pandora club,
and some promotional video. Pandora also uses a “tab” to promote their “bracelet designer app”.
Weaknesses
While Pandora does a good job with posting regularly and talking to their community, it should
consider posting more variety of content. For example, posting more video, photos of celebrities or
notable personalities who wear their jewelry, behind the scenes photos, and links to articles that
mention Pandora would make their wall more interesting. Also, Pandora does not list under “Info”, its
other social platforms, i.e., Pandora Twitter and Pandora YouTube channel missing an opportunity to
build its overall social community.
Brand – product centric: posts mainly consist of product photos and links, commerce designer app,
Pandora Club, contests, information, and some promotional video.
Online / Offline
Random calls to action to drive foot traffic into stores, e.g., 10% discount on charms offer for US
residents if they purchase a select bracelet.
Pandora has created a number of vehicles to reward its Fans (Pandora Club), and frequently offers
helpful tips on caring for the jewelry along with timely responses to Fan customer support concerns.

Pandora has taken a clean and straight forward approach
notes and discussions.
52
to Facebook using Page tabs well - such as

Pandora has not placed a great deal of emphasis on
Twitter to build a community.
54

55
Strengths
Pandora does randomly engage with its followers with @-replies and retweets. Tweets
include links of products, event photos, the Pandora website, Pandora club, links to
fashion articles, and video. Pandora has a branded Twitter background and their profile
uses the opportunity to list the Pandora website.
Weaknesses
Pandora tweets infrequently -- approximately 1-4 times per month. There are no
commerce calls to action or links; no use of “lists”; very little use of #hashtags. With a low
follower and following count, Pandora needs to “up their game” on Twitter and start
tweeting more frequently. It should also start cross promoting the Pandora Facebook
page, website and YouTube channel.
Brand – product centric: links included in tweets are to product/event photos, Pandora
website and video.
Online / Offline
There are some tweets mentioning attendance at various industry events do invite
followers to the events.
Some @replies to address customer support questions, but limited.

56
Pandora’s Twitter account is a social opportunity being
neglected through its infrequent and non-committal use.

58
Strengths
Pandora has a branded YouTube channel with 19 videos uploaded to its channel. Videos
are well-produced, compelling to watch, and consist of re-purposed commercials, some
behind the scenes footage of creating Pandora pieces, interviews, “Grazia” workshop
which discusses trends, and foreign language ambassadors.
Weaknesses
Video content is not current. The last video posted is dated April, 2010. Pandora needs to
update its YouTube channel with current video more frequently. Branding for the channel
could be improved. Videos do not have a call to action at the end, which could easily
direct viewers to “Like” their Facebook page, “follow” on Twitter or “go to website”.
Brand – product centric: Varying content is focused on Brand and product videos, photo
shoots, and a series of foreign language ambassador videos.
Online / Offline
None observed.
Pandora has engaged in conversation with visitors who have asked questions or had
comments on the video content.

Pandora has produced a mix of videos that support the
Brand and its Products, but lacks a vision for the channel.
59

61
Strengths
The Pandora iPhone app offers an extended platform for branding. It also provides an
easy way for a consumer to browse the entire Pandora catalog regardless of physical
presence. The app features interactive catalog images, store locator, social sharing,
wish list and link to Pandora Club online web channel. The app also enables social
integration sharing with Facebook.
Weaknesses
Unfortunately, consumers cannot order/buy Pandora products directly from the app.
Consumers still need to go into a retail location to buy.
Brand – product centric: interactive catalogue reinforcing brand adoption.
Online / Offline
Potential to drive foot traffic into stores with store locator feature.
As a free app, rewards loyal customers and enthusiasts.

App offers new engagement opportunities for Pandora
aimed at driving foot traffic.
62

Pandora misses an opportunity with the blogger community.
64
Discovery has not revealed that Pandora is developing any special
relationships within the blogger community, nor is it blogging.

Pandora has placed greater social emphasis on its Facebook presence
over other platforms where it engages extremely well with its Fans.
66
Social efforts aimed at reinforcing the Brand have mainly centered around product and
design, with community-designed bracelets used throughout to represent personalization.
social engagement
Brand
engagement

67
Engagement includes heavy product focus along with frequent
interaction with Fans and followers via surveys and opinion requests.
Pandora does a good job of building a community spirit with its Fan requests.
Brand.product
engagement

68
campaign
Brand
engagement

Pandora is using Facebook as the preferred delivery platform to
promote its 10th Anniversary as it spotlights the “Pandora Bracelet” as
the cornerstone to the Brand.
69
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

70
campaign
Brand
engagement

71
The Pandora Club uses some of the same functionality of its Jewelry
Designer application packaged into a community sharing environment.
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

social assessment
brand snapshot
72

Pandora places most of its emphasis on Facebook using the platform to
actively promote products and engage with Fans.
73
Pandora continues to explore the valued use of YouTube and Twitter.
overall performance

74
Social outreach across the Brand’s social properties
remain mostly global with a few exceptions.
local performance

75
Pandora does not engage in e-commerce – instead preferring to
drive all sales through retail or online resellers.

Pandora’s use of a Facebook App to give Fans the ability to design their
own bracelet personalizes the Fan’s Brand experience.
76
Facebook App turns engagement into community and commerce.

77
Pandora’s support of local geographies is limited to periodic
encouragement of its Fans and followers to purchase Pandora
products from Local Retailers and Authorized Online Resellers.
global spotlight

78
The Facebook “bracelet designer app” is
considered in many circles as a major
innovation. The interactivity built in engages
the Facebook Fan, while reinforcing the
Brand and its image. Allowing consumers to
build their own bracelets has vast appeal.
The app makes it easy to do so and gives
the consumer the final price based on the
items used in the jewelry design.
iPhone app offers an extended platform
for branding. Provides an easy way for a
consumer to browse the entire Pandora
catalogue where ever they are. Features
interactive catalog images, store locator,
social sharing, wish list and link to Pandora
Club online web channel. Also enables
social integration sharing with Facebook.

79
During the course of this research for the time period reviewed, there
were no Brand-related issues that surfaced across the
social landscape.
social misstep

80
Pandora’s growing presence and success on Facebook symbolizes its
biggest achievement to date for applying social media to its marketing
efforts. The Brand is well engaged and responsive with its Fans, delivering
a fresh dose of content daily and frequently interacts with its followers
asking for opinions and thoughts through informal surveys. Its use of an
innovative, interactive Facebook app to personalize the Brand engagement
experience through the ease and simplicity of designing personalized
bracelets demonstrates the Brand is exploring and developing social best
practices. Although Pandora has not found similar success on Twitter or
YouTube due to its lack of commitment to either platform, it does continue
to experiment with both. Its introduction of a Branded iPhone app shows
the Brand is seeking new ways to engage and interact with customers.
Pandora is definitely a Brand growing more sophisticated socially, but it still
has plenty room for growth in order for it to become a master of applying
social media expertise to its marketing initiatives.
achievements

81
Social Presence
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
YouTube
Flickr
Mobile
Foursquare
iPhone App
Louis Vuitton

82
The objective of the brand’s efforts is to create an experiential global
corporate image tied to culture, life journeys, travel and luxury.
overall impression
Objective
Strategy Currently a re-branding effort is underway using the umbrella
“The Art of Travel by Louis Vuitton”.
All social activities are structured and well planned resulting in a high level
of engagement with content creation that is tightly integrated across all
major social platforms – there is a heavy emphasis on brand image and
brand/product awareness with minimal focus on product and localization.
Execution
 Several notable observations: Social dialogue remains
aloof even though the Brand recognizes that Luxury
brands may appear “arrogant and distant” (the disconnect
may simply be a characteristic of luxury brands to
maintain an image of exclusivity).
 Where efforts have been placed on product or localization,
they have deep tie-ins reinforcing the overall global brand
image.
 The use of social is ever increasing with an obvious
corporate commitment.
Success As a result of its social media efforts, Louis Vuitton is maintaining and
growing its prestige worldwide.

83
Digital is a core, core component of our strategy.
[Social media] emphasizes the emotional aspects
of a luxury industry [that] is sometimes perceived
as arrogant and distant. When you put together
opposites in the landscape like this, it’s a great
source of innovation and emotion.
Kamel Ouadi,
global digital director at Louis Vuitton, Paris
“
in their own words

84
Louis Vuitton has placed video and social media at the heart of a strategy to
become the number one luxury brand online by next year [2011]
In 2010, no one did this better than Louis
Vuitton…[branded generated content]
Louis Vuitton’s social media presence blows most
brands out of the water…
Yesterday’s opening of the new Louis Vuitton London flagship
was a great way to show how a luxury brand can master the art of Social Media…
Industry watchers in general have positive impressions when evaluating Louis
Vuitton’s social media initiatives.

without encouraging community engagement.
86
Louis Vuitton places emphasis on Brand promotions

87
Strengths
Louis Vuitton does a fantastic job loading their Facebook page with an abundance of fresh
content—product photos, celebrity photos, campaign videos, video interviews, product links, live
video broadcast of red carpet events and fashion shows, etc. In addition, they make great use of
custom “tabs” on their Facebook page, e.g., ‘Journeys’ (Journey to the Heart of Africa w/Bono & Ali)
and ‘Mon Monogram’ (allows consumers to personalize their own LV bag, complementing the real-life
Mon Monogram Louis Vuitton service). They post on an almost daily basis, with at least 1-2
posts per day. They also list all of their available sites and social platform URLs on the ‘Info’ tab.
Weaknesses
Louis Vuitton does not encourage engagement. The Brand fails to interact with its community and it
does not allow consumers to post comments or upload photos to their Facebook Page. All
conversations are one-way and Louis Vuitton-initiated. Consumers are only able to “Like” and
comment on Louis Vuitton posts. Furthermore, there is no use of ‘EVENTS’ app to create an invite
for their community to “attend” a special events virtually, e.g., live fashion shows on Facebook; or
as a reminder of a product launch and/or any offsite events. There also is no mention of recently
launched ‘Amble’ mobile app.
Mainly Brand centric - seasonal collections, new products, special events, Core Values ‘Journeys’
campaign.
Online / Offline
All calls to action are focused on a visit to a store location to see a collection/product in person.
Louis Vuitton builds loyalty through exclusive and rich content. No rewards offered, nor is
customer support issues addressed on this platform.

88
The Louis Vuitton Facebook property is produced well,
but the inability of Fans to engage in conversation
throughout the Page remains to be a limitation.

Louis Vuitton chooses not to engage with followers
maintaining a sense of aloofness.
90

91
Strengths
Louis Vuitton has two Twitter accounts - @LouisVuitton_HQ and @LouisVuitton_US. Both
accounts tweet almost daily with links to products, photos, videos, the Facebook page,
website, campaigns/promotions, mobile app, celebrity photos, and fashion articles. There
is some use of #hashtags in tweets. LV/US account may occasionally ask for feedback
from the community in regards to the use of the LV/US Twitter account.
Weaknesses
Both Louis Vuitton Twitter accounts do not engage with their followers (except for one
noted instance cited above). The LV/HQ Twitter account does not retweet followers nor
respond with @-replies. The Brand solely broadcasts information. The LV/US does use
@-replies or retweets, but only of favorable Brand image material from magazine/press
organizations. No LV branded Twitter background for either account. There is no use of
“lists”.
Mainly Brand centric - seasonal collections, new product lines, Core Values and Journeys
campaign, special initiatives, charitable events, holiday campaigns.
Online / Offline
No activity.
No emphasis.

92
Twitter properties tweet good volumes of fresh daily
content, but do not engage with followers.

94
Strengths
The Louis Vuitton YouTube channel has plenty of content with 108 uploaded videos,
more than 1,163,831 views and over 4,000 subscribers. The current highlight video
was recently uploaded on March, 2011. The channel includes a variety of interesting
video content; including runway shows, seasonal collections, behind the scenes
activity at fashion shows, private events, interviews, a mobile app promo, and
campaign videos such as “Journeys” and “Exhibition” that are organized into
playlists. The channel is also well branded.
Weaknesses
There are no call-to-actions within the videos. Not even simplistic opportunities such
as asking viewers to “Like” the LV Facebook page, “Follow” on Twitter or “Go to LV
website”. Of further interest, there is no call to action for the promotion video of the
mobile app. It would have been easy to have a call-to-action to download the app.
Furthermore, the Brand fails even to include the Louis Vuitton website URL in its
channel profile information.
Mainly Brand centric - Seasonal collections, new product lines, Core Values and
Journeys campaign, special initiatives, charitable events, holiday campaigns,
interviews.
Online / Offline
No activity.
No emphasis.

Louis Vuitton’s YouTube channels offer a rich selection of
content to reinforce the brand. Unique is a Japanese
language channel leveraging common material.
95

97
Strengths
Louis Vuitton is one of the few Luxury Brands in this audit which uploads photos to
Flickr. Content includes products, behind-the-scenes shots of photo shoots and
runway shows.
Weaknesses
While Louis Vuitton posts a wealth of photos on Flickr, the Brand appears to have
discontinued the use of the social site as the last photos posted were in May 2010. If
Flickr remains a social strategy, the Brand needs to continue to upload photos and
keep the channel current. From the efforts so far, the Brand could use more tags for
each photo, so that they appear in SEO and SEM searches. Not all images have titles
and descriptions which are also key for search. From an engagement perspective,
there are not many comments from viewers, and there is no encouragement for
viewers to add comments, notes or tags to photos.
Mainly Brand centric - Seasonal collections, new product lines, campaign photos,
special initiatives, charitable events, holiday campaigns.
Online / Offline
No activity.
No emphasis.

The Flickr property appears to be a depository for event
photos with very little activity (if at all) to leverage the
photos further into social engagement.
98

Strengths
Louis Vuitton is one of the few brands who took the initiative to be bold and innovative
to run a campaign with Foursquare to celebrate the opening of their new “Louis Vuitton
Maison” store on Bond Street in London. The Foursquare community has more than
60,000 followers, contains great destination tips for London sights, and encourages
Foursquare users to add their own tips to London sights when they “check in” to
various locations around the city.
Weaknesses
The campaign was limited to the UK and in the London area. Furthermore, there was a
missed opportunity to promote customer/brand loyalty and increase foot traffic by
offering something exclusive, e.g., an advance copy of the new LV collections
magazine to incentivize Foursquare users to check into Louis Vuitton locations.
Brand centric - experimental stage – used for store location check-ins in London, along
with a tie-in to its Amble iPhone app. Louis Vuitton staff provided specific London
sights tips and Foursquare users/tourists were also encouraged and permitted to add
their own London-centric tips.
100
Online / Offline
No promotional use during what appears to be an experimental stage.
Routine Foursquare badge incentive for earning a “Louis Vuitton insider” badge by
visiting a London Louis Vuitton store three times.

United Kingdom Foursquare experimentation continues.
Includes check-ins and offers destination tips
integrated with its Amble iPhone app.
101
Platform reinforces the brand initiative –“The Art of Travel by Louis Vuitton”.

Weaknesses
The app does not have tie-ins to store promotions within this early release version. App seems
complicated to use, and city guides are pricey.
102
Strengths
Louis Vuitton is the first luxury brand to launch an augmented reality app. It is positioned as a
digital travel diary, which enables users to record memories with pictures, video, voice and
notes. The app interacts with the dedicated Amble website, enabling travelers to prepare their
journey on their computer or iPad in advance. The app draws on a wealth of information
provided by Louis Vuitton City Guides - long a loyal companion of seasoned travelers. Limited
site specific addresses are provided free with Amble for various global cities, while the full
Louis Vuitton City Guide content can be purchased from iTunes for select cities. It also offers
users the opportunity to share their favorite “spots” in their journeys with friends via email,
Facebook or Twitter -- as well as to submit them to Louis Vuitton, where they may be
published on the website. The net result is that the App enhances the travel experience of
fellow travelers while creating a global community. To reinforce the Brand and App
experience, the Amble website features profiles of celebrities also using the Amble app, which
users can view. The app is developed well and proves to be a very helpful travel tool.
Brand centric - integration with a dedicated branded website and with the Louis Vuitton City
Guides, Amble enables Louis Vuitton to reinforce its brand in a new physical real-world
dimension.
Online / Offline
App uses a website to allow travelers to plan their journeys in advance.
No emphasis.

Amble iPhone app has been seen by many in the
Luxury market to be an innovative step for
enhancing the Brand’s image.
103

Blogs and their influence are not currently a consideration
as part of the Brand’s social mix for Louis Vuitton.
105
There are no visible indications that Louis Vuitton engages in special
relationships within the blogger community – unlike what can be
documented with some other luxury brands.

106
the brand foundation
Brand
engagement

Louis Vuitton’s new brand strategy uses a collection of branded content
which is complementary and linked to take the consumer on a visual
journey to reinforce brand campaigns and initiatives.
107
social engagement
Brand
engagement

To reinforce the Brand strategy, product inspired activities serve as a
complement to branded content that is shared across all of Louis
108
Each initiative in isolation strengthens the corporate brand over the social landscape with a
higher placed emphasis on driving commerce and foot traffic.
Brand.product
engagement
Vuitton’s social platforms.

109
campaign
Brand
engagement

Campaign reinforces the re-branding effort underway using the travel theme.
110
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

111
campaign
Brand
engagement

Journeys Campaign provides another added dimension to reinforcing
the travel theme re-branding.
112
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

113
campaign
Brand
engagement

Images build an experiential story in all the re-branding campaign efforts.
114
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

social assessment
brand snapshot
115

116
The social brand strategy and the Brand’s commitment has enabled
Louis Vuitton to develop enthusiastic and loyal social communities
across all its platforms – over a short period of time.
Platform experimentation
continues with branded
destinations and the
launch of mobile (iPhone
app & Foursquare), as
well as localized efforts
such as Japan Twitter
and YouTube accounts.
Louis Vuitton has a well integrated marketing effort where
most elements are tied into social media in some form.
overall performance

Social efforts engage the Brand’s customers with experiential marketing
strategies such as using the re-launch of the New Bond Street - Maison store.
117
Facebook Welcome
tab during promotion
Louis Vuitton’s launch of its new London flagship demonstrated how a luxury
brand can harness the power of social media. -- Social Media & Luxury blog
local performance
“
Facebook Virtual Guest Invite
Facebook Personal Photos
Twitter Promotion
Live Video Feed

Louis Vuitton adds to its experiential brand strategy using social
elements to promote local-enabled Branded tools that strengthen the
bond with consumers.
118
A unique and differentiated extension of the Brand into the physical world.
local performance

High Profile Local Events Create an Aura of Exclusivity which can be
socially shared and experienced by all of the Brand’s fans and followers.
119
local performance

120
Local collaborations spawn store Branded promotional events.
local performance

121
Calls to action in the social media efforts are primarily limited to
consuming content – “the Louis Vuitton experience.”
The Brand does not “sell” to consumers with their social initiatives
and does not use mechanisms such as discounts or sales promotions
– nor does it ask for foot traffic.
All content builds upon the experience – enhancing the image and
richness of the Brand.

122
Live video streaming is a key innovation in the social sphere. The
Brand executed its use for a store re-opening extremely well.
Facebook
- Live streaming 360 degree video using multi-camera video /
user controlled camera angles – applied to a series of recent
Fashion Shows
iPad
- Streaming live video of events live via app Amble compatibility
iPhone
- Streaming live video of events live via app
- Amble Augmented Reality app (navigation, travel diary with
photos, videos, audio and notes)

123
Louis Vuitton places little emphasis on local geographies.
Instead, it relies on building a global image that is transferrable
Where it has been discovered that localization has occurred, it has been limited to global
brand enhancement with a local flare:
1. Store openings in the UK, Japan, France, Southeast Asia, Las
Vegas, Beirut (with the exception of the London store re-opening
as its flagship store), social activities wrapped around
these openings have been wrapped around branded content.
2. Mobile experimentation with Foursquare (UK only)
3. Amble (iPhone app) along with City Guides brand Louis Vuitton
global spotlight
on a local level.
to and adopted in all regions of the world.

124
Re-usable Branded content allows a Brand
such as Louis Vuitton to share its branded
story regardless of medium. The Brand does
an excellent job of re-purposing content to be
used across its social properties. At the same
time, the image and experience conveyed is
consistently presented when viewed by brand
enthusiasts -- independent of where they may
encounter it.
The Brand makes its Fans feel part of the
exclusive club. Louis Vuitton's innovative use
of live streaming 360 degree video for a
London store grand re-opening gave Fans an
insider view of the event. Streamed live to
iPhones and then uploaded to Facebook,
Fans were able to watch the action live while
updating their status on the event, share
socially their comments, take pictures for a
personal photo album and post it to their own
Facebook Wall to share with friends.

125
were no discoveries of Brand-related issues that surfaced across the
social landscape.
social misstep

126
Louis Vuitton’s use of branded content, coupled with initiatives such as the “no-commerce”
Nowness Campaign, along with a steady flow of fresh daily brand /
product content introduces consumers to multi-faceted stories with exclusivity –
while branding LV as a luxury expert. This approach allows the Brand to be
everywhere – all the time.
The social elements are well structured and planned using a mix of editorial, video,
and images that are of the highest quality. Site visitors to Louis Vuitton’s social
properties can view videos, slideshows, interviews with fashion icons and
descriptions of arts and events. The Brand encourages its community to share its
site content leading to organic growth.
Consumers (both enthusiasts and loyalists) gravitate to the content showcasing
fashion, art, culture and travel. As a result, engagement with the Louis Vuitton
brand is an experiential one.
Content and execution is presented using highly creative and technologically
advanced approaches such as the Live 360 degree Fashion Show broadcasts on
Facebook and iPhone.
achievements

127
Social Presence
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
YouTube
Mobile
iPhone App
Tiffany & Co.

128
Tiffany & Co. “plays it safe“ with social media marketing, and their objective is
analyzed as exploratory to develop best practices to gain a deeper connection
with its community.
overall impression
Objective
Strategy The Brand does not appear to have a clear and cohesive strategy behind its social
efforts, but they continue to use social platforms. A more visible strategy may be
revealed over a short period of time.
Tiffany & Co. is executing, but not at a high level. It appears that the Brand will
continue to integrate mobile with social, while developing best practices across
other social platforms.
Execution
Success The Brand has been able to marginally reinforce its global image through the use
of social without experiencing any pitfalls through its experimentation.

129
Tiffany is always looking for new and exciting ways to
engage with their customers.
Today more and more people are getting their information
through mobile devices. In creating the new Tiffany
engagement iPhone app, the company has taken another
step to provide customers with vehicles to share their
Tiffany experience with others.
Carson Glover,
director of media relations at Tiffany & Co.,
New York
in their own words
“
[Re: iPhone engagement ring finder app]
“

130
Currently, Tiffany & Co. remains below the radar of industry bloggers /
analysts due to its low profile with social media marketing.

Facebook presence delivers an engaging experience
with its Fans based on a simple and direct approach.
132

Weaknesses
While Tiffany and Co. does a good job of providing content on a regular basis, it needs more content
variety. The use of more video (behind the scenes video), event photos, celebrity photos, and
possibly links to fashion articles or more conversation thought starters, would help the Brand
increase the appeal of the Page. It is also noted that the use of an “Event” app to promote in-store
events or product launches would fit well into the overall use of the Facebook Page.
133
Strengths
The Tiffany Facebook Page is engaged with its fans. The Brand responds to consumers and posts
regularly on their wall. The Brand also engages with their audience within the “Notes” and
“Discussions” tabs, and allows consumers to post comments and upload photos to the Facebook
wall. The Brand appears to post 3-5 times per week with at least one post per day. Posts mainly
consist of links to product photos, event photos, celeb photos, information, and video. The Brand’s
Facebook Page uses a customized tab “Spotlight” to highlight new products.
Mainly Brand - product/event photos and links, information, and some promotional video.
Online / Offline
Some posts do encourage Fans to stop in to a Tiffany store to check out a special collection or
product line -- such as a recent post tied into its Beverly Hills location and the Red Carpet affairs at
the Oscars.
Tiffany does engage with Fans to help answer consumer questions re: store locations, e-shopping
and more. However, there are no initiatives related to loyalty or rewards programs.

Tiffany appears to be executing and engaging well with
its Facebook community.
134

Tiffany & Co. is less engaging with its Twitter followers
with a historic inconsistent commitment to the platform.
136

137
Strengths
Tiffany & Co. is seen to be starting to tweet more consistently and frequently, but
historically it was uncommitted. Current Tweets include good Tiffany-branded background.
Weaknesses
The Tiffany & Co. Twitter account appears to have been created in February 2010, yet
has been used inconsistently with very few tweets. There is very little engagement with its
community through @-replies and retweets. When it does re-tweet, it’s usually to re-broadcast
a mention by the media. There is no use of #hashtags representing a lack of
sophistication.
Mainly Brand - Product centric - links included in tweets are to product/event photos,
website, e-commerce and videos.
Online / Offline
Some emphasis of directing followers offline to store locations.
None discovered.

Tiffany & Co. appears to be making a renewed effort to
leverage Twitter while making strides with better
execution and competency.
138

140
Strengths
The Tiffany & Co. YouTube channel was created in September, 2010 and currently has
132K video views. The channel has well produced video content consisting of repurposed
commercials, behind the scenes story lines, product, and a video featuring their mobile
app. It uses a well produced Tiffany-branded background.
Weaknesses
Lack of freshness and quantity of content. Current main video is from November, 2010.
There are only eight videos on the channel. As with most Luxury Brands, Tiffany & Co.
neglects using a call to action within its videos – even at the most simplistic level such as
“Like” Facebook page, “Follow” on Twitter” or “Go to website”.
Mainly Brand centric – Brand promotion emphasis.
Online / Offline
No call to action in videos.
None identified.

The Brand has expanded its social presence with the
addition of its new YouTube channel – but more frequent
content may be required to grow the community.
141

Strengths
The Tiffany & Co. “Engagement Ring Finder” mobile app merges mobile and
interactive shopping and provides another access point to Tiffany’s expertise and
knowledge. The innovative app leverages the trend for how people are more frequently
getting their information through mobile devices and gives users the opportunity to
share their finds with family and friends via email, Facebook and Twitter. The app does
appear to be easy to use with appealing visual and informational features; including an
Expert Consultation feature featuring stores’ phone numbers. Furthermore, the App
gives consumers the option to schedule a phone consultation via the application.
Consumers can also fill out a short form within the App with their personal information
and send it to a Tiffany’s representative, who will contact them back within 48 hours.
To aid the App’s adoption, Tiffany & Co. has a video tutorial on YouTube as well.
Online / Offline
App allows for the scheduling of appointments at local stores, store locator and expert
consultation via phone.
143
Brand centric - integration with social and online and offline elements.
Weaknesses
Consumers cannot order or buy from the app, but this may be expected due to the
quality and cost of the merchandise.
Expert consultation ensures a level of customer support pre-sale.

Engagement Ring Finder iPhone app engages the
Brand’s community while reinforcing the Luxury image.
144

A trend among the Luxury Brands audited:
Blogs and the blogger community are often overlooked.
146
Discovery has not revealed that Tiffany & Co. is developing any
special relationships within the blogger community.

147
Brand
engagement

Social media marketing is becoming more prominent in
Tiffany & Co.’s Brand marketing initiatives.
148
social engagement
Brand
engagement

149
Tiffany & Co. is currently exploring with a combination of brand and
product social inspirations to reinforce the Brand image.
Execution continues to evolve as sophistication increases
Brand.product
engagement

150
campaign
Brand
engagement

151
Tiffany explores mobile advertising for a Luxury consumer, but falls
short in fully leveraging the social opportunity.
Mobile ad clicks through to web property – social tie-ins appear to be an after thought
campaign visualized
‘For Someone Extraordinary’ Campaign
Mobile Campaign drives YouTube views and is leveraged as content for Facebook and Twitter
Brand
engagement

social assessment
brand snapshot
152

Tiffany’s social brand strategy is evolving with execution using a mix of
branded content produced from other corporate marketing initiatives.
153
Platform exploration continues and efforts are increasing.
overall performance

A Missed Opportunity: Tiffany’s Fashion Night Out excluded social promotion.
154
New York
one tweet post event FB video post post event FB post
New York, Beverly Hills, London, Iguatemi (Brazil), Berlin, Milan, Madrid, Beijing
local performance

155
With a renewed commitment to Twitter, Tiffany used the social platform
well to recently socially promote tie-ins to local store promotions.
New York, California, Milan, London
local performance

The Tiffany Engagement Ring Finder iPhone App is an innovative Applet
and comes in various languages to mirror its consumer demographic
around the World.
156
English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish
languages supported
local performance

157
Calls to action in the Brand’s social media efforts is primarily limited to
consuming content. However, the Brand is experimenting with using
social to drive foot traffic to local stores, but so far has elected not to
experiment with commerce driven activities on its Branded social
platforms.
The Brand does not “sell” to consumers with their social initiatives nor
does it use such mechanisms such as discounts or sales promotions.

158
Innovation thus far has not been Tiffany & Co.’s strong suit. It operates
more from risk aversion than as an innovator.

159
Tiffany & Co. does place some degree of emphasis on local geographies to
support local commerce. Its use of Twitter to call attention to local events --
and the Brand’s new iPhone app available in eight languages represents the
company is engaging on smaller initiatives with local communities.
global spotlight

160
In social circles, engagement is key. Tiffany &
Co. does an excellent job of having
conversations with its Fans on Facebook.
Although the Brand doesn't have the same
level of commitment on Twitter, it is
representing on Facebook how engagement
should be done.
If you are going to do a mobile app, be sure to
include calls to action to drive commerce.
Tiffany does an excellent job of
incorporating commerce with calls to action
and social to drive foot traffic into the stores in
its iPhone Engagement Ring Finder app. Not
only can users get expert advice on the phone,
they can also schedule an appointment through
the app. Although the current App does not
support e-commerce due to the price range of
Tiffany diamonds, an e-commerce feature for
lesser priced products could easily be added
and well received by consumers.

161
were no discoverable Brand-related issues that surfaced across the
social landscape.
social misstep

162
Tiffany & Co. has aligned itself to the core fundamentals of social media
without exploring too far beyond. The Brand’s early efforts have been to build
and engage using the necessary foundation of platforms (Facebook and
Twitter). The company has just acquired its YouTube channel this past
September.
To date, the Brand has placed more emphasis on Facebook over other social
platforms, where it has executed reasonably well based on engagement. The
Brand does avoid risk by using a basic platform design as the company
becomes more comfortable with engagement and outreach. Twitter has taken
a back seat to Facebook, but in recent months more activity and engagement
has emerged. The company’s use of a mobile app demonstrates it is willing to
invest in exploring new channels to reach its consumer demographic.
From a strategic direction, the Brand has not necessarily demonstrated it is
executing from a well planned playbook. It has missed some opportunities to
be more social. But in comparison to other Luxury brands in this analysis,
Tiffany & Co. is maintaining a social presence and is executing at a level
somewhere in the middle of the pack to its peers in this analysis.
achievements

163
Social Presence
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
YouTube
MySpace
Mobile
iPhone App
Cartier

164
Cartier’s social objectives are limited at best. The Brand has experimented
with varying degrees of social without making a full commitment. As a result,
the company is a sideline player lacking creativity, initiative and foresight.
overall impression
Objective
Strategy Cartier does not appear to have a clear overall objective for the use of
social media. The company’s strategic direction is limited to isolated projects.
Cartier made a lot of news when it was one of the first Luxury brands to enter the social
landscape in 2008 with an Ad campaign using branded Pages on MySpace. Execution
failed across eight countries using five languages after the year long campaign never
gained traction with a MySpace community which represented a consumer profile mis-aligned
to the values of the Brand and to the Luxury market.
Since then, Cartier seems to have been treading lightly with social initiatives and has pulled
back from exploring other platforms aggressively.
Execution
Success Of note, Cartier is not as successful in the social space as they could be. While
they have presence on multiple platforms, the level of engagement with their
community is missing.

165
[Luxury] Brands that employ Facebook, Twitter, interactive websites
and mobile devices to connect with their consumers are more likely
to drive sales and reach an expanded customer base.
Luxury Daily, Dec. 2010
“
Cartier’s social commitment has not been discussed in the industry.
in their own words

166
Cartier is an iconic symbol of elegance, rich history and, of
course, extreme luxury with individual items selling for tens of
thousands of dollars…However, this elegance hasn’t transferred
completely smoothly online.
Cartier’s had a false start in social with a MySpace debacle
and since appears to be very conservative in the social space
“
Digital IQ Index
Big brands like [Cartier] have ignored the web world even
though research shows that 78% of internet users spend
significant time on social network sites, while 66% use the
Internet to conduct research before making a major purchase.
-- L2, a New York University Stern organization (Oct 2010)
“

168
Cartier could be more engaging with more content
including non-promotional content published
via a structured editorial schedule.
Fan page is promotional
with NO engagement
with visitors

Strengths
Cartier leverages well the Brand’s digital video assets as hosted on YouTube. They also use
a customized “Welcome” tab to link its “Rouge Cartier” and “Fine Watchmaking” tabs, and
uses a link to “Invite Friends”. The “Rouge Cartier” and “Fine Watchmaking” tabs link back to
the Cartier website and video.
Weaknesses
The Cartier Facebook Page does not allow fans to post comments or upload photos to the
wall. However, consumers can “like” or comment on posts. The Brand also does not post
content regularly – electing to opt for singular posts several times per month. Posts consist
mainly of video, product and event photos, where they may link to various campaigns. Cartier
does not reference its Twitter page under “Info” - nor do they use the “Events” app to promote
product/collection launches, events.
169
Brand / product line centric – promotionally directed.
Online / Offline
None.
None.

170
Produced with good visuals and images, the Cartier
Facebook property provides the Brand with a social
presence with marginal fanfare.

172
Account appears to be inactive
Followers: 1,663
Follow: 0
Tweets: 25
Last tweet: March 2010
twitter.com/cartier
Cartier has abandoned the use of its Twitter account
missing an opportunity to engage with fans and enthusiasts.

173
Strengths
No strengths – an abandoned platform not previously used well or leveraged.
Weaknesses
Missed opportunity with no commitment to build a community. Random promotional
tweets with huge time period gaps between tweets (last tweet Mar. 4, 2010). Only 1,781
followers (a dismal number, considering the brand’s overall power).
Brand centric – promotional.
Online / Offline
None.
None.

Cartier has lost a social opportunity to engage with
consumers by abandoning its Twitter property.
174

176
Strengths
YouTube appears to be where Cartier has placed the majority of its social emphasis as it
maintains an extremely well branded channel with compelling and artistic produced
content. The videos convey the Cartier brand of one of extreme luxury. The channel
branding is excellent. Videos are categorized into three main product lines, which makes it
easy for community members to locate videos of interest.
Weaknesses
Lacks frequency and volume of content. Current highlighted video is dated January, 2011.
There are a total of 12 videos uploaded. Cartier needs to continue to produce and upload
videos to keep the channel current fresh and active. Also, the absence of a call to action
within the videos remains to be a lost opportunity for all the Brands studied.
Brand – product centric highlighting various products and product lines.
Online / Offline
None – no call to action in videos.
None.

Cartier’s YouTube channel is packaged to reinforce
the Brand’s Luxury image.
177

Photo Sharing Sites could be an opportunity for Cartier
as many enthusiasts of the Brand openly share pictures.
179

Cartier takes Online to Offline with Mobile Apps.
181
Cartier’s partnerships with iPhone App developers broadens its reach
and provides entry into the App world without a Branded app.

Cartier is leveraging Mobile Apps for a Luxury consumer.
Cartier’s mobile ad partnership with the New York Times
as part of its Holiday campaign provided a mass audience for its promotion.
182

A Missed Opportunity: New iPad App lacks social.
Cartier’s entry into the Branded App world comes via the Apple iPad
without social integration.
183
Cartier misses an opportunity to incorporate social into the app

Weaknesses
Cartier is one of many Luxury brands participating in a collaborative effort which
shares user attention and engagement time within a select mobile App. However, there
is a missed opportunity to get social with its new Branded iPad Watchmaking app.
184
Strengths
Cartier provided content in collaborative sponsored initiatives (Apps) with both the
Vogue Stylist and New York Times. The Apps extend the Brand across a larger
community for greater potential reach. Both Apps offer many rich features; including
advertising, product catalog, wardrobe builder, wish list, store locator, social sharing
and e-shopping. This appears to be a big win for Cartier as it extends its brand
associated with style and luxury.
Brand / Product centric – Product promotions with a brand reinforcement feature via
advertising and a store locator feature.
Online / Offline
Collaborative Apps’ designs do a good job of facilitating the physical versus the virtual
world based upon user interaction desires; e-shopping, store locator, select product
promo highlights (ads) along with social sharing.
No emphasis.

SMS Texting proves a Luxury audience can be reached.
185
Strengths
The Cartier’s text component in its “Winter Tale” campaign proved that texting can be
used with a refined audience using selection criteria such service carrier and
smartphone type. Luxury consumers can be receptive to uses of technology –
delivering promotions via text opens up a new communication channel that is likely
overlooked by many other Luxury brands.
Weaknesses
There is the potential of poor execution with poorly worded messages which can be
viewed as spam leaving poor impressions on the brand.
Brand / Holiday Product Promotion centric – first time use as part of a larger rich
media mobile initiative drove consumers to online and offline properties – proved
successful.
Online / Offline
Communications were online driving foot traffic back into the stores.
No such programs offered in initial use of platform.
[SMS] does resonate in the eyes of affluent shoppers…Luxury French
jeweler and watchmaker Cartier is a testament to this fact.
-- Certified Text Messaging Mobile Marketing blog.
“

187
Blogs and the blogger community continue to be often
overlooked among Luxury Brands.
There are no visible indications that Cartier engages in any special
relationships within the blogger community – unlike what can be
documented with some other luxury brands.

188
Brand
engagement

Cartier’s brand strategy has yet to be fully realized
across the Social landscape.
189
social engagement
Brand
engagement

Cartier’s experimentation is an ongoing trial of learning experiences
seeking direction and commitment.
190
Cartier’s is practicing social without a clear, focused, structural foundation.
Brand.product
engagement

191
campaign
Brand
engagement

192
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

social assessment
brand snapshot
193

Community building has not been a strength of the Cartier Brand.
194
Lack of commitment has greatly impacted the Brand’s minimum
social efforts.
overall performance

195
Cartier’s social media initiatives since the MySpace experiment have been
focused on a global effort without any emphasis on a local or country basis
even as the Brand has clear objectives of expansion into the Mideast and
Europe.
local performance

Missed Opportunity: Cartier’s lack of social sophistication has not
allowed the Brand to consistently steer consumers to action.
196

Cartier is increasingly exploring the use of mobile
to reach the affluent Luxury consumer.
197
Mobile
Cartier did show some innovation within the 2010 Winter
Tales Ad campaign by integrating social with the older mobile
marketing techniques to extend them into the Luxury retail
market
SMS Text
Filtering who received the text messages by carrier service
and phone type ensured to a level that recipients were pre-groomed
based on social economic factors. Additionally,
asking for text messages to authorize the sending of Tweets
was unique even though the Brand did not execute on this
aspect of the campaign
Mobile Advertising
Interactive ads provided links to video and Facebook
growing the Facebook community by 50,000 fans

198
Cartier is simply not engaging or executing at a level where it can
provide focus on localized markets. MySpace debacle was an attempt.
global spotlight

199
Branding social properties is as important
as the content it hosts. Cartier's efforts on
its YouTube channel is a good case
study on how to convey Luxury to a
sophisticated and fashion conscious
audience.
Mobile advertising is gaining popularity
among Luxury brands. Cartier's use of it
in the Winter Tale Ad campaign added a
nice social twist. Additional social content
was produced to support the campaign
and shared socially on Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube. In addition, from within the
mobile Ads, viewers could friend the Brand
on Facebook, click on a video link to
YouTube or even request Cartier tweets be
sent to them on their mobile phones via a
simple SMS text request.

MySpace was intended to be Cartier’s big push into social,
failure to understand the demographic resulted in a big misstep.
Brand’s first foray into social media failed on
MySpace even though the Love by Cartier ad /
commerce campaign gathered 3,800 fans and
more than 100,000 visits to their sites (as
reported by the NY Times). In less than a year,
Cartier had abandoned their five language sites,
where today they remain on the troubled social
network as ghosted remnants.
Five languages across eight countries, feature
new music from 12 artists, inc: Phoenix,
Grand National, Lou Reed
Objective: Jump into social networking and build a
series of language-country community-oriented
branded pages to attract a legion of new younger
followers worldwide
Strategy: Create a commerce campaign using high
quality images and links to online properties with social
tie ins and content linked to popular music artists
Execution: Cartier failed to understand the MySpace
demographic
Results: Brand never fully engaged with a community
with a profile that was below its targeted consumer
luxury profile
200
social misstep

201
The 2010 Winter Tale Ad campaign is the Brand’s highlight achievement in
social media marketing. The campaign attempted and succeeded at a
level of integrating social elements into the global holiday brand
promotion. Cartier did realize 50,000 new Facebook fans – and when
considering that they had roughly 30,000 before the campaign and 86,000
three months after the campaign, the campaign can deemed a success
(relative to past performance).
The campaign’s use of mobile and text was innovative as a Luxury brand
demonstrated that these communication tools could be applied in the
Luxury market if executed at a high level.
Interesting to note – one campaign element promoted a text message be
sent to Cartier to follow their tweets. The Brand had abandoned its Twitter
effort some 6 months prior, but possibly this was an attempt to re-engage
on this platform and this tactic proved not to be successful.
achievements

202
Social Presence
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
YouTube
Flickr
Contests
Mobile
Foursquare
iPhone App
Coach

Coach’s social presence appears to be aimed at driving foot traffic and e-commerce via
Brand and promotional marketing.
203
overall impression
Objective
Strategy The brand leverages core platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to build
communities of followers to reinforce the Brand on a global basis. Further, these efforts
are enhanced with periodic social campaigns tied to the Brand’s Ad campaigns
promoting new collections and lines.
Coach has executed well at a base level on the core platforms of choice. They are
producing fresh, frequent content, engaging with communities and driving traffic to
e-commerce. It has been innovative from the standpoint of building key relationships
within the Fashion Blogger community and leveraging those relationships into more
frequent posts and visibility to fashion conscious consumers. The Brand’s use of
contests and promotions are well executed and tightly integrated with Brand initiatives.
Execution
Success The Brand has been able to gather momentum across social communities to reinforce
its Brand among consumers. Blogger relations have been executed with creativity with
consumer receptiveness and engagement serving as a successful case study for other
Brands to emulate.

204
Our [primary] objective in the social space is to drive brand
engagements and store traffic as well as maximizing
e-commerce opportunities.
David Duplantis,
Coach Senior Vide President of Global
Web and Digital Media
“
in their own words

205
The company’s social media goals are to increase brand awareness,
drive store traffic and maximize e-commerce opportunities. “
The online [social] emphasis is just one of the
reasons retail experts say Coach is poised
for growth this holiday season.
Coach is a brand that is seen as executing social successfully.
“
Buzz-worthy Poppy Project was the most recent
of many blogger collaborations; from shopping-oriented
social media to top-notch e-commerce, brand delivers
on every platform.
“

Coach has an early engaging Facebook presence with a
structured approach that leaves visitors wanting more.
207

208
Strengths
Coach has a customized “Coach” tab on their Facebook Page with good, linkable
content, email mailing list signup, friends invite, e-commerce, videos, and promo
materials. The wall posts a variety of content with a heavy emphasis on collections and
lines with links to e-commerce, product photos, celebrity photos, contests/sweeps, and
some video. The Brand keeps a tight control on its image by not allowing consumers to
upload photos to the Coach wall, but they do allow consumers to post comments, and
“like” or comment on Coach posts. It appears that the Brand posts nearly daily, with
one post per day. Coach responds and engages more so on the Discussions and Notes
tabs rather than on its wall. Good overall use of customizing tabs, including ”Store
Locator” and “Coach”.
Weaknesses
Coach could be more engaging with more content, particularly video and apps. Contest
and sweeps promotions could be brought to the forefront on the landing page or Wall
for better engagement. Also, they should engage more with their community on their
wall and do more to talk to Fans within Notes and Discussions tabs.
Brand – product centric: posts mainly consist of product/event photos and links,
information, and some promotional video.
Online / Offline
Store locator tab gives Fans an easy-to-use to find their nearest Coach store.
Minimal level of customer support observed.

A streamlined basic functionality with little fanfare
is executed well to reinforce a social presence.
Poppy MYNY Sweepstakes
Mother’s Day Sweepstakes
209

Coach engages and is responsive to followers
delivering a mix of content to inspire consumers.
211

212
Strengths
Coach’s Twitter account is active and engaged with their community. The Brand
tweets nearly daily, with multiple tweets per day and converses regularly with
followers with @replies and retweets. Tweets include links to product/event photos,
celebrity photos, media publications mentioning Coach, the Coach website and
video, and frequently links to ecommerce. They do use “lists, #hashtags and
#followfriday. Nicely branded background.
Weaknesses
Coach needs to retweet followers more often and increase their following count.
Brand – product centric: responsive with tweets using links to product, e-commerce,
event and celebrity photos.
Online / Offline
Periodic tweets encouraging followers to stop by retail locations.
Coach does use Twitter to be responsive to customer support areas.

Coach uses Twitter to deliver a nice balance of
engagement with content and commerce.
213
Twitter content routinely links to other social properties and brand content for greater reach and social adoption.

215
Strengths
The Coach YouTube channel has a total of 112K video views. Coach video
content includes celebrity ambassadors, behind the scenes of Coach campaigns,
Holiday campaign, and product/collections. Nicely branded channel, but with
limited Fan engagement.
Weaknesses
The current highlighted video was uploaded in February, 2011. There are a total
of 25 videos uploaded. Coach needs to continue to produce and upload video to
keep the channel current. Also, video call to actions need to be added at the end
of each video to cross promote other social properties, such as“Like” Facebook
page, “Follow” on Twitter and “Go to our website”.
Brand centric – videos posted are promotional.
Online / Offline
No specific calls to action to take viewers offline.
None observed.

Have a Coach Holiday Campaign renewed the Brand’s
emphasis on the Channel platform with 14 new Videos
collecting 59,049 views.
216

218
Strengths
Coach uploads many photos of products and behind-the-scenes shots of
photo shoots and runway shows. They also do a very good job of including
titles and descriptions with all images.
Weaknesses
While Coach posts a wealth of photos on Flickr, the last photos were posted in
February, 2011. They need to continue to upload photos and keep the channel
current. Using more tags for each photo could be done better, so that photos
show up in search more often. There are not many comments from viewers,
and no encouragement for viewers to add comments, notes and tags to
photos.
Brand – promotional for Coach enthusiasts.
Online / Offline
None observed.
None observed.

Coach and other Luxury brands struggle
with function and use of photo sharing sites.
219

221
Strengths
Coach partnered with Foursquare, early on, to promote and drive foot
traffic for a new store opening.
Weaknesses
As a luxury brand, greater success may be derived if check-ins and
social engagement be tied to a special promotions/offers.
Brand centric – so far tied to driving commerce into the stores.
Online / Offline
Coach has experimented with offering a free gift during special store
promotions to drive foot traffic into the stores.
Free gifts and incentives exploration.

Experimentation using promotions has proven the platform’s
potential value, but has had limited use to date and in US only.
222

223
Strengths
The iPhone Coach app delivers a brand experience that is simple and
straight-forward to use.
Weaknesses
The App could be more compelling if it allowed consumers to order/buy
online.
Brand – product centric: - complete line of Coach products are represented
in an interactive catalog.
Online / Offline
Aimed at driving foot traffic into stores either directly or indirectly via word
of mouth marketing.
None identified.

Coach packages commerce simplicity into an iPhone app
to drive Brand reinforcement and foot traffic.
224
Introduced in June 2010, The Coach Gift Finder App integrates an
interactive catalog, a gift list, and a geo-location store locator with social
sharing via Facebook and Twitter.

Coach’s courting of Fashion bloggers pays dividends in
content, readers, foot traffic, commerce and ultimately
Brand preference and appeal.
226

227
Brand
engagement

Coach embraces social reinforcing the Brand to its consumers
with a steady flow of engaging content.
228
social engagement
Brand
engagement

A steady and orchestrated flow of blended content is produced and
delivered across the Brand’s main social efforts; Facebook and Twitter.
229
Coach is responsive to Fans and Followers with frequent conversations.
Brand.product
engagement

230
campaign
Brand
engagement

An integrated web, video, and in-store advertising campaign
leveraged blogger relationships with its readers.
231
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

232
campaign
Brand
engagement

Coach rewarded bloggers with cash and prizes by running a contest
to promote its First Anniversary for the Poppy Collection.
Coach invited a select group of fashion-passionate,
style-savvy bloggers to be the first to paint the web
Poppy by asking them to register their site and install
a small piece of code, a "Poppy Seed.“
Once installed the seed activated by creating a single
Poppy Blossom on the blogger’s site. With each reader
interaction, view, Like and Tweet, the art project grew
and grew. The small group of trend-spotters from the
fashion blogosphere quickly grew into a network of
Poppy patterns and sites that blazed across the social
web.
233
100 early invitations to bloggers linked 781 sites in
the Poppy Trail which generated 47,000 tweets and
20,000,000 earned impressions in 30 days as fans
hunted for 50 gift cards and blogs raced toward the
$2,500 grand prize.
campaign visualized
Brand
engagement

social assessment
brand snapshot
234

Coach has placed its emphasis on the core platforms
using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
235
Coach has the opportunity to
build on its past success simply
by doing more and expanding
its social presence.
Overall Coach is performing well across the social platforms of choice.
overall performance

The Brand has placed a heavy emphasis on global
with little attention to local initiatives.
236
Store Opening
Shipping Promo
Coach has placed little emphasis on local initiatives, and instead has concentrated its social efforts from a global
basis. The Brand’s biggest local undertaking thus far has been to launch a Facebook Page for Japan. But this
too has been low key with less than 10,000 Fans to date.
local performance

The Brand’s main social focus to date has been to direct
Fans and Followers to e-commerce.
237

Crowdsourced Social Contest engages, brands and drives commerce.
Coach wanted to reach a new and younger market. They wanted the consumer to put their DNA onto the next bag. The
‘Design the next Coach Tote’ campaign contest went completely viral receiving 3,200 entries in less than 6 weeks.
238

239
Coach has placed very little emphasis on localities and has preferred
to manage its social media efforts from a global perspective. There
has been no specific initiatives identified for local global regions. All
initiatives have been designed (with the exception of the recently
created Facebook Japan Page) to reinforce the Brand image with
heavy calls to action to reinforce e-commerce on a worldwide basis.
global spotlight

240
Relationships with influential Fashion
bloggers creating contests, product designs
and social content ensure Coach is continually
visible on the key fashion blogs.
Crowdsourced Product Designs which solicit
community creative generate word of mouth
marketing where consumers have a vested
interest in the product.
Promotional Contests every 3 to 6 months
ensure social communities are continuously
being rewarded for loyal brand adoption.
A clear, direct and consistent approach for
delivering a steady flow of social content
across Facebook and Twitter – along with being
responsive to comments and customer support
concerns.

241
were no discoveries of Brand-related issues that surfaced across the
social landscape.
social misstep

242
Coach has a solid track record for executing at a core level with social
media marketing. Its established presence on Facebook and Twitter has
garnered a community of Fans and followers that are loyal and
engaged. There are signs that there may be a renewed emphasis being
placed on video and the YouTube channel with the recent 2010 Holiday
campaign. The Brand continually steers its followers to e-commerce
from both Facebook and Twitter.
The biggest achievement to date for Coach and is unique from the other
brands in the research is the Brand has forged and leveraged
continuing relationships within the Fashion Blogger community. It is
here that the Brand really stands out. Its collaborations within this
community has ensured it has received top branding and preferential
treatment, which has certainly expanded the Brand’s reach among blog
readers and ultimately fashion conscious consumers.
achievements

243
Social Presence
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
YouTube
Lookbook.nu
Social Gaming
Mobile
H&M

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