Increased Fan Base In Italian Fashion: The Benefits of Engagement

Italy and fashion go together like a horse and carriage. Many big-hitter fashion brands have emerged from Italy and onto social media platforms. The fashion industry has been successful in utilizing social media for various events, such as Fashion Week, but let’s see how individual brands perform. We have chosen to analyze the Italian brands, Gucci, Fendi, Versace, Liu Jo and D&G from August 1st to October 31st 2012 via Analytics PRO.

Liu Jo Leads in Rise in Fan Base Thanks To Supermodel Kate Moss

Liu Jo wins for most increased fan base. With an exceptional 29% increase, the fashion brand grew its fan count by 86,260. Liu Jo saw the biggest increase on September 19th & 20th, when the brand announced that supermodel, Kate Moss, would appear at a store opening in Milan. Still, in actual numbers, Gucci overshined Liu Jo with over 714 thousand new fans, which still only represents an 8% increase in their fan base.

Gucci Blows Versace Out Of The Water When It Comes To Total Interactions

It´s inspiring to see that Gucci, the brand with the biggest Facebook community (over 9 million fans), can also reach the most interactions. It has engaged its fans so effectively that it has received an impressive 1,292,440 interactions (almost 94% Likes, 5.01% Shares, and 1.18% Comments). Versace gained “only” 244,483 total interactions, which is more than Liu Jo generated (57,000 interactions) but less than Dolce & Gabbana (617,319) or Fendi (366, 550). In all cases, Likes dominated, followed by Shares, and Comments landed in last place. It seems that fashion isn’t triggering much discussion even if it´s asking for it. It might be helpful for these brands to learn to stimulate conversation with their community.

Everyone Seems To Love Gucci´s Spring/Summer 2013 Collection

It probably comes as no surprise that photos were the most engaging content type for all the mentioned fashion brands. Gucci´s most engaging photo (0.46%) was posted on September 19th as part of their Spring/Summer 2013 Collection and it was the most Liked post overall. Posting photos of celebrities dressed in their clothing seems to work for fashion blogs. It payed off for Fendi, who generated the highest Engagement Rate because of its album.

Liu Jo and Fendi: The Only Brands To Open Their Walls

Some brands, such as Versace, Gucci, and D&G, may seem too posh to open their Facebook walls publically. Only Liu Jo and Fendi have been responding to their fans. Liu Jo hasn´t reached the 65% minimum to qualify as a Socially Devoted brand but it has exceeded the fashion industry´s benchmark for Q3 (46.2%) by responding to almost 60% of the user posts. Even though Fendi has performed below average, its interaction proves much better than closing its wall. The brand reached a 12.24% Response Rate.

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