Media Logic Retail Marketing Report May 2011 Update: Kirkland’s buys Likers; finds they come cheap!
Kirkland’s adds 200,000 Likers at 12.5¢ per. Build-a-Bear Workshop and Pottery Barn Kids draw big fan participation. Office Max works the co-op. And Walmart adds 1.6mm, while six other retailers grow on Facebook at a 40 percent or better clip since March.
Facebook has been the story of the Media Logic Retail Marketing Report since our research began last July. Brand after brand has ticked past a million Likers, with a full one-third of our tracked retailers now north of that magic mark. New members of this no-longer-exclusive club include Tommy Hilfinger, Foot Locker, Build-a-Bear Workshop, Walgreens and Bass Pro Shops (with Party City and Cabela’s crossing the line after this survey’s close).
And for many brands, the pace of growth is only accelerating.
Twelve retailers saw better than 40 percent growth from mid-March to mid-May, led by Kirklands and its ³Cha-Ching² sweepstakes, which drove an incredible 280% liker spike. Kirklands attracted 200,000 likers with a $25,000 prize. That¹s only 12.5¢ per! Yet, while Kirklands proved likers can be bought cheap, Build-a-Bear Workshop (up 137 percent) and Pottery Barn Kids (up 98 percent) confirmed Media Logic’s claim that recreation brands and certain specialty hardlines brands can grow simply by inviting fans to share stories and handiwork via an open Wall. And Office Max (up 124 percent) proved discounters could add fans by leveraging that classic retail funding source – co-op.
Media Logic’s May 2011 Update confirms the value of the recommendations made in our original report and its subsequent updates (Jan-11, Mar-11 and May-11). Recreation brands and specialty hardlines brands can open their Walls to customers and turn Facebook into a powerful platform for brand goodwill. Department/discount brands can build Facebook into a solid DM device by engaging Likers though a steady stream of interactive social promotions and games. Specialty apparel retailers (see Lane Bryant and Fashion bug) can create a self-reinforcing cadre of brand advocates through a steady stream of insider info targeted to a discrete demographic.
However, not all retailers get it. The three “Js” – Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Jones New York and J. Jill – just can’t seem to get anything going. All three still languish below the 10K liker line. If they hope to gain any real power on the platform, they are going to have to do … something. If they believe in their products and feel they’ve got a natural audience in their sights, they should just bite the bullet and buy themselves some Likers!
Better than a year into the Facebook retail phenomenon, retailers are still discovering big opportunities, and that’s not likely to slow for a while. Media Logic will continue to track the use of Facebook as a retail communications channel to identify and recommend new promotional ideas to our growing retail client base (Welcome, Cabela’s!).
Meanwhile, we’ve also got our eye on Twitter.
Twitter, we think, will prove itself to be an even better tool than Facebook for customer service, small-scale sweepstakes and simple daily contact. When actively (regularly, intelligently and sensitively) managed, Twitter builds brand goodwill like crazy.
H&M is setting the pace on Twitter, with 205K followers and 104 percent growth over the last two months, though even they aren’t maximizing the channel – no tweets on weekends or during non-business hours and very few goodwill promotions. Media Logic also monitors Staples, Sephora, CVS, Target, Nordstrom and Toys ‘R’ Us, and we expect to report more extensively on Twitter for these brands and others in the coming months.
Be sure to look for Media Logic’s new Retail 101 Social Brand Index, coming to this site and its streams soon. Subscribe today for updates.
And remember, we’re here to talk about your brand, your promotional opportunities, our unique services and marketing for a social world at any time. Contact us today.
[table id=13 /]
