M5: Research and Post

 The first brand I researched was Zara; their approach towards using Facebook is to treat it as a high-end digital editorial. Zara is described as having a focus on using high-quality video lookbooks and minimalist style photography to effectively maintain brand prestige. Because they do not push sales in every single post, they have been able to develop and maintain this luxurious aura about their brand. Zara posts an average of 3 to 5 times each week while emphasizing quality over quantity; their cover photo currently has a cinematic look to it because of how they utilized high fashion from their most recent collections. The cover photo generally features a "Shop Now" button, however, there are some aspects related to making improvements on their Facebook feed, it may be perceived as being too perfect for Facebook.

My second selected company is Patagonia who use their social media platforms. They have a very different approach than other companies who will regularly post for people to ‘buy this jacket’ etc. Patagonia prefer instead to post about environmental policies, documentary films and grassroots activism. This type of approach leads to a high level of customer loyalty, however I believe that Patagonia do not have ‘customers’ but instead have ‘fans’ of their brand and both groups share similar values Patagonia consistently updates their social media accounts on average from two to four times (2 to 4) weekly and typically have longer, educational posts. Their cover photo usually displays either a landscape picture or a protest sign, with either the words ‘Learn More’ or ‘Take Action’ being displayed (no display of purchasing product as with regular retailers). I think Patagonia could make the ‘clothing’ section easier to find on their social media sites, because there is such an emphasis placed on their company’s mission.

the 3rd one I researched was Gym Shark, and what they are doing there is using a variety of things, such as failed workout videos for humour, you know, influencers showing you what their training is like, and community challenges that they have created such as: #gymshark 66. It has been very effective on the content side of things because they are producing organic-like content that you would see from an influencer and they post often (1-2 times) per day to keep the momentum going on their page and keep the energy high and bringing their followers along. Another way you could increase your exposure through social media is to start using Facebook Live with more Q&A sessions with your fitness trainer(s).

Levi's is the fourth company I have selected based on its use of heritage and sustainability to promote long-lasting products. Examples of this strategy are numerous uses of vintage pair of Levi's 501s in advertising, which has created trust within the Levi's brand due to the prevalence of lower-quality, fast fashion produced using disposable materials. Levi's uses Facebook to help grow this trust by supporting their community and efforts at showing that the jeans produced by Levi's are an investment, not a throwaway item. Levi's posts an average of seven times per week on Facebook, and they continue to utilize effective marketing techniques by combining static photos with moving fashion video content. The company's cover photo on Facebook frequently reflects social causes or large-scale campaigns such as The Greatest Story Ever Worn. Additionally, creating a collector circle on Facebook for vintage denim fans would further help grow Levi's brand.

Another brand I considered using was Lululemon via the company's Facebook page, which is a hub for global well-being in their community and ecosystem. They have successfully evolved from a simple legging manufacturer to being a lifestyle partner since then. The company posts daily, with a strong emphasis placed on continually providing valuable, consistent content rather than frequent/low-value. The cover image for Lululemon's Facebook page is typically a high-energy picture of an event in the community or a calming meditation image. I would like to see them improve their response time when it comes to answering questions about their products that are technical in nature via comments because they sometimes utilize AI-generated responses.