Father’s Day: engagement with the holidays. (Social War #27)

This week in our weekly returning Social War research, something extra could be measured and celebrated. In this edition we’ll look at different ways brands celebrate father’s day with their followers. What went well and which brand should choose a different approach next year?

For brands there is a lot to gain online with the right positioning during the holidays and special occasions. Father’s day is the perfect holiday for last minute shopping. And where can you do this better than in your favorite online store? Which opportunities for engagement has a brand during the holidays? How do you trigger your fans to interaction and hopefully a sale?

Koninklijke Gazelle goes back to the base. Heritage has become an increasingly larger marketing theme these past few years. Gazelle uses this very cleverly this Father’s day. The 2206 likes, 77 shares and engagement increase of 172% shows that their followers are very glad with this approach. There is a big chance for sales.Why wouldn’t you integrate this commercially with a temporary father’s day store? If you can reach the emotions, the transactions becomes easier.

WE fashion is going into a humoristic direction this year and for many households in  a striking way. That it is very recognizable for their followers show the 48 likes, 1 share and a Facebook engagement increase of 220%.

We see the same opportunities as for Gazelle. If you are driving to your dad anyway, many will stop at the Shell for a hideous bouquet. While it is so easy to give something more exciting that costs even less effort that a few flowers in plastic packaging from the gas station.

De Bijenkorf also chooses a playful approach this year. With 232 likes and 13 shares this post is doing great, in their opinion. For a social butterfly like the Bijenkorf we however think this is only average.

Burberry translates their well known visual style to a father’s day post and succeeds in doing so online. With 4487 likes and 130 shares their followers react positively. However, their commercial cleverness isn’t completely perfect.

Dolce & Gabbana claims a few hashtags and makes a direct link to their webshop. Their followers react with 1431 likes and 41 shares. Happily this brand understands that father’s day is commerce. To bad that it with this, the nostalgia becomes less as well. It is mainly about the product here and less about the dads. If they’d mix this better, this would be an even greater success.

UGG claims the hashtag #UGGformen and shows their special UGG father’s day collection. The not very inspiring post online gets 54 likes. A little more emotion in their post wouldn’t hurt! There is no explanation of the bottles in the box. Is UGG into skincare now? The link in the post leads to the slipper store online. The idea itself is strong, but it doesn’t really work in this post.

Rapha continues with their authentic profiling. They interview the most famous father-son couple of the American cyclesport. With 1130 likes and 64 shares this is again a great success olnline.

A lot of credit for Rapha, as their story is the most believable and open. The only thing missing is a shop link with father’s day ideas. The story itself however is the very best we’ve found this year.

Ralph Lauren shares a photo and life lesson on father’s day.The face of Ralph Lauren shares an intimate moment with his father. This scores 5022 likes and 152 shares. Very believable, as the brand is a father itself. Why again no shoplink, and in this case one with the things Ralph Lauren himself would like to receive on his birthday?

Levi’s celebrates this special day with a slightly more superficial and less expressive post and is punished for this accordingly. Despite their huge online followers, Levi’s post only gets 42 likes. It is too bad that Levi’s falls behind. They deserve better. For a tough cowboy page, the sky is the limit.

Lacoste aims to create the ‘from father to son’ feeling this year. Very original and successful with 2283 likes and 67 shares. Very cleverly done, with a relevant link to Lacoste’s own father’s day page at their website.

Harrods shows the best presents in their #harrods post. The warehouses are going through a tough time this year, even though the Bijenkorf post works better than Harrods’. A very dry post where the father’s day feeling is nowhere to be found. A shame!

McGregor Fashion also tries to play in on the ‘from father to son’ feeling and connects a prize to this successfully. 115 likes and 14 shares. Their attempt feels a bit homemade, and not in a very good way, but with 60 applications it really isn’t bad. It looks original, calls for interaction and shares the feeling with their followers.

Mitsubishi Motors Netherlands uses father’s day to make a suble comment on the current car park. The look of the post is very clinical and misses a human aspect. We are very curious how a father (and son) would look in their Mitsubishu.

ALLSAINTS brings out the well known celebrity concepts again with Justin Timberlake. Even though they turn down a great opportunity with it. Mister Timberlake has over 39 million Facebook followers alone. A score of 409 likes and 2 shares is very low interaction. Good idea, bad execution.

The father’s day conclusionOnline different parties show that they get how the holidays are the ideal moment to interact with your followers. The execution of it is very divers, however. From very clinical and uninspired pots to visual and emotional posts with a link to the webshops.

The message is and remains that the perfect combination is to express the feeling of the brand and to touch your followers with this. A day as father’s day is the perfect one to play into the father-child feeling. Touch the emotion and the transaction is made even faster. Besides this, the day is a ‘gift-moment’ and very well suited to tempt your followers to visit your webshop via the Facebook post. Only a small amount of companies really get this. There are so many great opportunities to create campaigns that color just outside the lines.

How about the father’s day  opportunities for a brand such as Victoria’s Secret?

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IIZT regularly posts findings from our Social War research. Stay posted and send your email address to social@iizt.com or call us at +3120 693 31 31

Social War is an ongoing research by IIZT on over 70 worldwide fashion brands. It signals the do’s and don’ts for brands on Social Media. Everyone in the communication business talks and blogs about social media. We provide you with the facts, so we can learn from each other. Pass the hype, it is the new mainstream.

IIZT Amsterdam has been the market leader for 13 years regarding communities, branding and interactive communication.  We have worked with Adidas, KLM, H&M, Mitsubishi, Miss Etam, T-Mobile, UGG, G-Star, Livera, Hart.volgers, Respectance, adidas Defensie, Men at Work, Cliniclowns and many more.

IIZT was founded by Richard Derks who earlier set up KaZaA and made it the most downloaded software worldwide at that time.

Would you like to know more about your opportunities and how you can put your brand in a surprising new daylight? Or would you like to know how to generate even more attention from your target group? Call Richard Derks +3120 693 3131 or mail to richard@iizt.com.

De hype voorbij, het is de nieuwe mainstream
IIZT publiceert regelmatig findings uit het Social War onderzoek. Blijf op de hoogte en stuur je e-mail naar richard@iizt.com or svetlana@iizt.com of bel ons op 020 – 693 31 31.

Social War
Social war is het ongoing onderzoek dat IIZT doet onder meer dan 70 modemerken wereldwijd. Het signaleert de do’s en de dont’s voor merken op social media. Iedereen in de communicatiewereld roept en blogt over social media. Wij staven alles met feiten, zodat je ook echt kan leren van elkaar. De hype voorbij, het is de nieuwe mainstream.

IIZT Amsterdam is al 13 jaar leider op het gebied van communities, branding en interactieve communicatie. Wij hebben werk gedaan voor adidas, KLM, H&M, Mitsubishi, Miss Etam, UGG, G-Star, Livera, hart.volgers, Respectance, adidas, Defensie, Men at Work, Cliniclowns en meer. Bel ons voor een kennismaking 020 – 693 31 31.