5.3 Product awareness on Facebook
5.3.2 A product story strategy
One might say that the product story strategy does not necessarily have to lead to sales, but can be used as a tool to allow the user to explore the luxury brand universe and understand what the luxury brand has to offer. By creating a coherent product story strategy the luxury brand can avoid Kapferer’s (2008) communication glitch ‘fantasised identity’ and Aaker’s (2002) brand image trap and product attribution fixation trap.
Aconis believes that Facebook allows for luxury brands to create product presentations and stories in order to create awareness (Aconis 2012). Moreover, it can allow for luxury brands to claim their iconic and current products, which can be relevant considering the high amount of copying (Aconis 2012). Making an effort to tell the product story can also be an effective tool of educating users in the luxury brand (Aconis 2012), which might make them worthy brand messengers generating WOM as seen in ‘Creating luxurious relationships on Facebook’.
An example of how the luxury brand Bottega Veneta creates product awareness on Facebook89
The above image shows how the Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta uses the functions of Facebook, more specifically the status update, to create a story about the product, which both Aconis (2012) and Thomsen (2012) find useful for luxury brands on Facebook. In the text Bottega Veneta states that it is one of the brand’s most beloved bags, which can be considered as an exclusive stamp from the brand itself. This is followed by the bag’s functional
characteristics, namely size, shape and fit, which Bottega Veneta arguably considers as an advantage considering the wording: ‘the way it fits perfectly in a woman’s hand’. It creates connotations to perfection in shape and functions. The functional attribute arguably becomes an emotional value. The product is described as a ‘small marvel of craftsmanship’ that points towards the detail and exclusivity of the product i.e. craftsmanship as Bøilerehauge (2012) and Skjold (2012) point to be important for luxury products. Bottega Veneta has through the
product story framed the usage value, work value and symbolic value (Kapferer&Bastien 2012).
One might say it serves as a luxury brand value proposition justifying why this product is luxurious. The last sentence in the text to the image encourages the user to click on a link to
‘see some of the most recent designs’. The link redirects the user to another Facebook sub site that requires a ‘like’ of the Facebook brand page to be able to explore further.
89 http://www.facebook.com/bottegaveneta?fref=ts
An example of Bottega Veneta that communicates barriers of participation90
One could say that this is an example of a barrier of participation communicated on the
Facebook brand page, which arguably adds to the exclusive community feeling. This initiative is conflicting with Crandell’s fifth social success factor for general brands on social media ‘remove barriers to participate’ (Crandell 2012). Throughout the research we have seen examples of barriers taking the shape of semiotic barriers, which has been the most frequent barrier seen in our data collection. The image below shows what on Bottega Veneta Facebook brand page awaits the ‘liker’.
90 http://www.facebook.com/bottegaveneta?fref=ts
An example of what awaits the ‘liker’ on Bottega Veneta’s Facebook brand page91
Bottega Veneta has created an integrated Facebook site dedicated to the story of ‘the knot’-‐
bag. In this way the brand has exploited the functions of Facebook. The first function they make use of is a sub site on their Facebook brand page dedicated to ‘The Knot’. The second function is a video that portrays ‘the making of’ i.e. an example of inviting the user backstage. The third function make use of is a photo album showing the varierty and editions of ‘The Knot’. The last function at the bottom of the image is a possibility to sign up for email updates from Bottega Veneta. This use of functions on Facebook is arguably made to convey the product story to a larger audience. As it is not possible to sell directly from Facebook and no links are provided to the webshop, one can argue that Facebook is not devaluating the luxury brand or the purchase of the luxury product. It seems, as the purpose is to communicate the core luxury values, enhance the dream, and create hype.
91 http://www.facebook.com/bottegaveneta?fref=ts
The example of Bottega Veneta shows how the story of the luxury brand is made accessible for the user by inviting them to explore the luxury brand universe. This arguably complies with the user need of information and feeling connected (Porter et al. 2011, Wave 6 2012, Singh et al.
2012), which is a good way of initiating WOM (Sernotvitz 2009) and creating brand
ambassadors. Bottega Veneta maintains the exclusivity by using PSI, i.e. the communication does not set the stage for dialogue between the brand and the users. They arguably manage to create product awareness that balances the luxury brand identity and seeks to spread the dream to the masses.
Below images by the French shoe and bag designer Louboutin provides a different example of using a product story strategy on Facebook.
Two images from Louboutin’s Facebook brand page showing how they use product story strategy to create product awareness92
92 http://www.facebook.com/christianlouboutin
In the image on the left Louboutin creates references to a real person, i.e. ‘The Lady Daf’. The Lady Daf, which is the shoe, is characterised as being 160 mm tall. The product story adds human characteristics. Louboutin shoes are arguably known for the high heels, and in this sense the usage value fortifies the luxury brand identity. The image on the right embraces basic characteristics of the Web 2.0 by encouraging users to co-‐create the story of the shoe: ‘If these little Louboutins could talk, they would say_____’. In four days this post has generated 1,120 replies, which one could say is above average on the Louboutin Facebook brand page. It shows how inviting to participation generates a strong flow of reactions i.e. action equals reaction on social media. One could argue that Louboutin taps into online user needs such as feeling belonging and connected by providing space for self-‐expression. Thus acknowledging the users and make them feel relevant, moving beyond PSI (Colliander&Dahlèn 2011) by using co-‐
creation. One might argue that this empowers the users making them brand ambassadors generating WOM or UGC.
An opportunity for Louboutin could be to investigate if any of these responses where from Louboutin clients or if they are ‘just’ adding to the dream. Either way it allows Louboutin to get useful inside knowledge of how users perceive the luxury brand, and provides understanding of whether the luxury brand identity and image is in alignment. Considering how the brand has received cult status through the mass media series ‘Sex & the City’ arguably makes it prone to speak with the masses as their dream has been conveyed to the many previously. Thus, one could argue that the accessibility of Facebook does not damage the luxury brand identity, as the luxury brand became famous through mass media entertainment. A notion one could take into consideration in an analysis of the brand identity when seeking to create offline and online coherence proposed by Bøilerehauge (2012).
Luxury brands use celebrities to create product awareness on Facebook. Arguably, the celebrity adds to the story of the product like the example mentioned with Marilyn Monroe and Chanel No. 5. However, one of the challenges we found in terms of using celebrities is ‘Seek a balanced and strategical use of celebrities to enhance the luxury brand identity and experience without overshadowing the brands identity or compromising the brand values’. Burberry provides