Burberry’s Art of the Trench

The demise of Facebook

Recently YouGov has published an interesting study for online business owners.

‘’Facebook has been quietly growing as a news portal in its own right.’’ More and more people have started to utilise Facebook to read about what’s happening around them.

Apparently, 27% of 2000 people being interviewed have responded that Facebook was their primary source of local news, making it a 5% increase from the previous year.

At the same time, the same study has revealed that ‘’one in ten of the same respondents also doubted whether they would still use Facebook in two years’ time.’’

Like we have already said, kids are fleeing to other platforms. While the Ofcom found out that 96% of those between 12 and 16 years old still use Facebook, fewer people are using it as the ‘main’ social platform.

Where are the generation Z hanging out?

Instagram is undoubtedly gaining popularity.

Another platform that is steadily growing – yet under-explored by brands – is Tumblr. And Burberry knows how to capitalise it VERY WELL. As you can see from their Art of the Trench. 

Although Burberry never explicitly marketed their Tumblr blog, their ‘words of mouth’ tactics have successfully boosted the visibility of Art of the Trench.

Deconstructing the Burberry’s Tumblr success

• User-generated content – All the images on the page are high-quality and original, meaning they were created by the passionate Burberry fans. Burberry invites photographers and fans to submit shots, and will then choose the best ones.

• Easy sharing – The fans then can comment on and share their favourite photos easily as the blog is already linked to Facebook.

• The right tone – Luxury consumers love something that is not only exclusive but also has an ‘in-the-know’ feel.

• Focusing on the emerging markets – Burberry’s success is not built in a day. Rather, the brand has long been engaged with the audience from the ‘emerging markets’. Their Tumblr blog reflects the sales growth of Burberry’s iconic trench coat in such countries as Turkey and the Mainland China.

• Targeting the next generation – perhaps what differentiates Burberry’s Tumblr from others the most is the combination of crowdsourcing and the curation of high-quality content, making the platform more attractive for the younger generation.

Burberry’s online sales experienced substantial increases over the years, a success partly attributed to the traffic from their Tumblr page as well as other sites.

However, the ‘conversion rates from the Art of the Trench click-throughs to the Burberry website were significantly higher than those from other sources’, says the Business Today.

Another reason you should invest on Tumblr

So Tumblr will likely to be the future playground for tech-savvy kids. But that’s not convincing enough for you?

Many researchers say that people are leaving Facebook because of the flood of ads that are constantly bothering the users.

Yes, Tumblr does ads too. But they claim to use a different approach from the traditional way of advertising (see more here).

• Their sponsored ads won’t disturb the user experience.
• The ads will be displayed in a similar way as the normal posts.
• Advertisement using pictures, videos, text, animation, GIFs, etc.
• The time span for the ads is indefinite. 

What do you think?

Appnova is a digital agency specializing in web design, UX, eCommerce, branding, digital marketing and social media.

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