When it comes to social media, authenticity is key. So said Anne Muhlethaler, senior vice president of global communications at Christian Louboutin, during her speech, aptly titled #LouboutinWorld. “A focus on fun remains at the core of our company,” she said. “In terms of the world’s biggest brands, we are still a little luxury company. Yet — we still sell over a million pairs of shoes a year.”
The brand boasts 5.4 million followers on Instagram, 1.67 million on Twitter, and just fewer than 3 million on Facebook. According to Muhlethaler, the company did so “not by breaking rules, but by making our own.”
“We have built our online presence by spending almost nothing,” she said. “We have never advertised. At the beginning, it was because the company couldn’t even afford to consider it. We had to think of fun and often free ways to do things — which serves us very well online.”
Related Articles
Muhlethaler shared an anecdote of social media’s power when plans for an online celebration of the best-selling Pigalle style’s anniversary. “We were planning a digital activation driven by all sorts of fantastic technology — until our tech team said, ‘Sorry, we won’t be ready,’” she said. “What did we do? We spun it on our heels. In 10 days, the Web team created a new and simple homepage. The p.r. and social team sent out a call to action to our followers to say, ‘Do something fun.’ We told our followers that Christian would pick the best image and feature it on the homepage — and it worked.”
You May Also Like
The initiative also allowed for another important characteristic of social media to come into play: inclusivity. To that point, Louboutin only posts images of current merchandise, which customers can buy now. “What’s being shared is this season, not next,” Muhlethaler said. “We think you can share on the social media app too early, and that people get frustrated that they can’t get it yet, or get bored by the time the product gets to the stores.”
While Instagram remains “the golden child,” Muhlethaler notes that Twitter and Facebook should not be completely cast off. “The downside of Twitter is that it doesn’t bring us as much conversion,” she said. “It’s not growing as much as a platform, yet it remains an amazing place to share brand stories.”
Facebook, she added, is a great way to personally connect with customers. “Don’t ignore it just because its been along for such a long time,” she said of the social networking site. “When Christian started his first little shop, there was a customization service — and their still is. For me, Facebook’s ongoing attraction lies in being particular. The wish for something more personal is growing, and I want to make it a priority for our future.”