The site that’s all about the Art of the Trench
Posted by Manuela Barreto @ November 10th, 2009 in Social Marketing
UK fashion house Burberry taps social media with the launch of its very own, trench-coat dedicated social network- The Art of the Trench.
The big news is not so much the new website as it is the fact that Burberry is pioneering a new social concept which is that of experimenting with user-generated content. Not necessarily an easy thing to do and definitely quite out-of-the-box.
As we know many brands are shifting from traditional media and traditional mass-markets and moving towards channels which are more social driven and more customer-focused– if done right. The new network is intended to address all of Burberry’s customers and invite them to interact and share their stories in a Burberry-themed social platform. In this case, images speak more than words.
Basically, when you go into the site, you can view photos of all kinds of people wearing Burberry trenches, from all over the world– courtesy of The Sartorialist.
However, the best way to participate is to sign up using Facebook Connect and submit a photo of yourself wearing your favorite Burberry trench. Then you can comment on other people’s submissions and share them on Twitter and Facebook. Mind you, Burberry currently has over 700,000 fans on Facebook to draw from.
Perhaps this could deteriorate the brand’s image and fashion sense? Well, if you think of it, Burberry is Burberry, nothing is going to change that. Plus, the brand’s main objective is to connect to customers, enable them to share their passion for the brand and give them the opportunity to become brand evangelists.
The biggest downside is this opportunity, however, is missing out on the possible brand advances that a real social network can actually offer, as is the case for Facebook’s highly advanced targeting options.
On the other hand, creating a Burberry-powered social media site can have a great potential to create new customers and penetrate new, untapped markets by going beyond old marketing structures.
Last 5 posts in Social Marketing
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Tweets that mention The site that’s all about the Art of the Trench -- Topsy.com
November 10th, 2009
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