Emily Smith Nov. 5, 2012 PR Media Analysis

Lilly Pulitzer: Social Media Content and Presence

The company for whose social media content and presence I chose to evaluate for this paper is Lilly Pulitzer. Lilly Pulitzer is an iconic clothing company renowned for its bright colors, signature patterns, and high quality products. It is a fairly old company, as it was founded in the 1960s, but nonetheless has done well in joining the digital and social media age for its public relations and marketing purposes. Much of Lilly Pulitzer’s marketing strategy is based upon its story – Lilly Pulitzer, a young Florida socialite, founded a juice stand in her native Palm Beach and found that she regularly soiled her clothing with juice. The colors inspired her to make colorful shift dresses in which she could make and sell juice without worry, and thus the classic Lilly shift was born. Lilly Pulitzer’s website, blog and social media pages each reflect the Lilly story and tradition – In fact, one recurring tagline in addition to their current campaign “Live Colorfully,” is, “It all started with a juice stand.” Lilly shot to fame when Jacqueline (Bouvier) Kennedy, an old schoolmate, was spotted wearing one of her creations.

Lilly Pulitzer’s online presence involves several outlets including social media mainstays like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, in addition to their own blog, called the Juice Stand – aptly named for the sight and inspiration for the company’s founding. Lilly Pulitzer also utilizes newer resources such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Plus. Each of its pages totes Lilly Pulitzer’s signature colors and patterns, as well as a fun, care free online atmosphere that conjures images of vacations and relaxation for its publics. Email

The company sends daily emails to customers who choose to subscribe to its online mailing list. The emails include announcements of sales and new products, as well as promotions and events that Lilly Pulitzer is hosting across the country. Each email contains small, subtle links to the company’s social media pages as well as the options to request a catalog or forward the email to a friend. Email is an easy-to-use, inexpensive medium through which Lilly Pulitzer can contact its current and prospective customers. Social media may not be a relevant entity through which Lilly Pulitzer may reach its client base, as older women (who may not yet regularly access social media) comprise much of the company’s vast client base. Email provides a compromise between standard mail promotions and newer social media marketing techniques for this demographic, although the company does still publish a paper catalog and mailers, as is evident by the “Request a Catalog” option provided in each email. Facebook In terms of newer social media outlets, however, Lilly Pulitzer has certainly made a name for itself. Lilly Pulitzer has a significant presence on Facebook, having garnered almost 450,000 “likes,” as well as several hundred “check-ins” at its locations. On its Facebook page, Lilly Pulitzer posts enthusiastic announcements in addition to photos of its products and events. There

are tabs to sign up for emails and to enter contests. In line with its primary marketing strategy, the Lilly Pulitzer Facebook page boasts bright colors and plenty of enthusiastic language.

Twitter Lilly Pulitzer has almost 60,000 followers on its Twitter page, which, like its Facebook counterpart, also provides Lilly customers with product and sale announcements, event information, and promotions. The Lilly Pulitzer Twitter account posts an average of 6-10 tweets per day. One thing that sets Lilly Pulitzer apart from similar companies on Twitter, however, is that its Twitter representative does not tweet back to customers. Sometimes, tweeting at customers can help a company establish rapport and personability with its client base.

Pinterest The next social media outlet Lilly Pulitzer uses to market itself is Pinterest, which is a fairly new medium. Pinterest allows users to subscribe to other users’ “boards” and like or “repin,” or repost, the “pins” that appeal to them. The Lilly Pulitzer Pinterest page boasts 1,400 pins, and about 35,000 followers, which is a lot for such a new page. Its 26 boards include “Live Colorfully” and “It all started with a juice stand,” both taglines mentioned earlier that are woven throughout Lilly Pulitzer’s promotional materials.

YouTube The company also uses YouTube as a resource through which it can reach its publics online. Lilly Pulitzer’s YouTube page has videos of store openings, behind-the-scenes footage of photoshoots, and even instructional videos on creating your very own Lilly-like print. Lilly Pulitzer has been on YouTube for about 4 years, but only has 315 subscribers and a little more than 100,000 video views. To put this into perspective, pop singer Justin Bieber has been a member of the video site for about 3 months longer than the Lilly brand, but has 1.7 million subscribers and more than 446 million views. Lilly Pulitzer definitely has room for improvement in the world of YouTube, considering how present YouTube is in our online lives.

Instagram Finally, Lilly Pulitzer uses an Instagram account to interact with its publics. Lilly Pulitzer uses more of a creative marketing approach on Instagram, as they post fewer promotional materials here than they do on their Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts. The Lilly Pulitzer Instagram page aims to post fun images that relate to its products and target image and audiences. Some of its “Instagrammed” images include cruise ships, Florida beaches, and starfish. Each of these things ties into the “Palm Beach lifestyle” Lilly Pulitzer seeks to promote.

Website crash crisis The Lilly Pulitzer brand received some positive public relations coverage in August of 2012, when its website crashed amidst a major end-of-summer sale that brought record traffic to the brand’s website. The site was down for several hours, and the brand fully acknowledged the problem by maintaining its signature presence on Facebook and Twitter throughout the crisis. The error message below was posted on the website:

The brand received much positive acclaim from customers and news outlets alike on the Internet in the days following the website crash. Lilly Pulitzer publicly apologized for the snafu, extended the sale by a few days, and even included free gifts in customers’ sale packages, like key chains and jewelry.

Lilly Pulitzer definitely did a great job of maintaining its great customer service reputation and positive attitude throughout its website crash crisis in order to preserve its image and further impress its publics/customers. Conclusion

Lilly Pulitzer public relations and marketing pros have done a great job of seamlessly integrating and synthesizing its social media outlets and strategies. Recurring images and taglines appear several times throughout its different pages, which gives the customer a sense that Lilly has it together and is marketing the same things on each of its pages. On its blog, Lilly Pulitzer essentially pulls together each of its social networks into one and posts each of its social media entries there. The blog provides the Lilly publics with a holistic integration of each of the messages Lilly Pulitzer releases daily. As with most social networks, users on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram may hashtag “lillypulitzer” so that their posts are filed with all others relating to the brand. This helps Lilly Pulitzer aid its publics in coming together and also in interacting with the brand itself. Each element Lilly Pulitzer’s social media presence definitely sends the same messages to its publics and uses the same tone and enthusiasm in each of its posts. All in all, Lilly Pulitzer does a great job of integrating each of its outlets into one seamless social media presence.