Weekly Round-up: January 30, 2012

McDonalds big fail; Jean Paul Gaultier's tribute through Couture; five skills for mastering the web; China's happy New Year and a luxurious read.  Here are some of the past week's top news stories concering PR, social media, and the luxury market.


Not all publicity is good publicity
McDonalds made headlines on Twitter for what is now being referred to as the "McFail." Originally intended as a positive marketing move, the company purchased #McDstories as the promoted trending topic on the twitter homepage. Unfortunately, twitter users had more negative stories to share than positive ones. I guess these people were not lovin' it.

A surprise ending in Paris
The 2012 Paris Couture fashion show debuted last week, and ended with a Jean Paul Gaultier collection inspired by Amy Winehouse, who died just 6 months prior.  Models rocked the late singer's signature 'bee-hive' hairstyle while walking to a live a capella version of Amy's very popular 'rehab' song.

Mastering PR
If you want to become "technologically savvy" dominating these 5 skills will guarantee to make you a more effective and efficient in public relations.

Year of the Dragon
The WLA - World Luxury Association - announced the top 100 most luxurious brands for 2012.  With this also came news of 2012's largest luxury market -- China. Quite the way to ring in the Chinese New Year.

The Pursuit of happiness
Magazine readers, look out for the newest addition to the Bloomberg family. It was announced that the company is launching a magazine dedicated to the luxury market.  A spin-off of Bloomberg market, Bloomberg Pursuits will focus on the best of the best in luxury -- everything from shoes to home decor. Editor for new magazine, Vince Bielski, commented on the magazines loyal readers and the enjoyment of life's finer things:

“Our readers don’t just own and appreciate luxury. They have a command and mastery of their toys”

The Wine Industry and the Digital Grapevine

Perhaps it was all the libations we enjoyed over the holiday stretch, or maybe even this beautiful 55-degree weather we’re experiencing in New England that’s made us take a quick mental vacation, but either way, we’ve got wine on the mind (Is it Friday yet?). This was the segue to our discussion of Rhode Island’s bountiful variety of vineyards… but why is it that we so rarely hear from them during the winter months? So we got to drinking, thinking… “How has the wine industry approached the realm of social media?”

For many wine enthusiasts, there is no greater pleasure than enjoying a vintage selection that has been aged to perfection. However, unlike the wine itself, there is no faux pas greater than a winery having a digital presence lay untouched over a long period of time.

If your internet curiosity has brought you this far, you need no explanation as to the potential power and reach of social media. A simple “if we build it, they will come” attitude toward your online presence does not a successful business make in the world of wine or any lifestyle category. A strategic balance of presence, participation & promotion has proven to be a successful business model for many wineries and vineyards, who, despite turbulent economic conditions, have remained on top of the industry.

Nationally, Duckhorn Vineyards and J. Lohr are a couple great examples, but you need not be a major brand to successfully utilize social media and digital marketing. Among our local wineries here in New England, we love Greenvale Vineyards. This small, family-owned winery in Rhode Island has a vibrant blog and engaging social media presence.

The true benefit of social media is its potential to create awareness of your brand, and do so in a way that enables prospective or existing consumers to engage and interact with it. Social media is about being social and—from wine enthusiasts sharing great finds to novices seeking out advice—the subject of wine is inherently social. We’ve seen this first-hand in working with French Wine Explorers—a boutique travel firm that specializes in luxury wine tours to France. Check out their Facebook page and blog to witness how the company uses social media to engage potential customers not only on their specific tours, but on the subject of wine in general.

A recent survey by winebusiness.com showed that the majority (59%) of visitors to wineries relied on word of mouth in planning their itinerary.

“Tapping into the “word of mouth” aspect of social media can be beneficial.”
- wine business

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow savvy wine industry businesses to not only promote their wines, vineyards or tours, but also to illustrate and share their expertise, thereby tapping into and forming relationships with a new, more extensive world of potential clients.


How do you interact with your current and potential? If you knew then what you know now, how would you restructure your digital presence?

Luxury market and sales strong for savvy high-end brands

Today, like every day after New Years for the past decade, I started the work year by researching luxury holiday sales. After a 2011 that overflowed with mind-numbing negativity in the media and among many high-end companies, I’m thrilled to report to the luxury industry: the sky may be a different shade of blue than you’ve seen before, but it most certainly is not falling.

As you’ve probably already heard, retail sales for the 2011 holiday season increased more than analysts anticipated. While the final numbers aren’t yet in, the increase is expected to be around 3.5% over the 2010 holiday season.

One of the strongest categories cited again and again in media reports? Luxury goods. Indeed, affluent American consumers (those with the top 10% of household incomes), who represent 35 percent of overall retail sales, are spending.

• According to ABC News, luxury is on fire. They quote Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates: "When we look at luxury sales on a national level, we see they're doing just fantastic. Saks and Neiman's, they're terrific. Coach is fine, Nordstrom is fine. Bulgari and Tiffany, tremendous." 
• MSN, meanwhile reports: "'Twas the season when wealthy people unscrewed the vice clamps that had been on their wallets and decided to stimulate the economy. Tiffany and Coach were among the winners this holiday season, according to Jason Asaeda, retail analyst at S&P Capital IQ. He rates both as "strong buys" and points out that wealthy consumers are attracted to the exclusive merchandise being sold by department stores.”
• NBC reports that luxury retailers like Chanel and Gucci reported better than brisk business this holiday season; Neiman Marcus sold out of the ten 2012 Ferrari sports cars it offered in its Christmas book of fantasy gifts for a whopping $395,000 each; and Saks Fifth Avenue reported a resurgence in full-priced selling. 
• In a post holiday report, National Jeweler says that, for some independent fine jewelers, the end of the holiday season was strong enough to draw comparisons with post-recession seasons, while others reported that they saw fewer customers but that those who did come in made bigger purchases. 
• In November, high-end department store sales rose 6.5 percent over the same period in 2010, compared to a 0.3 percent loss for mid-tier department stores, according to Bloomberg data.
• According to Reuters, Wall Street analysts expect higher-end chains like Saks and Nordstrom to report strong seasonal sales, helped by the continued recovery of high end spending and a stock market that rebounded after swooning earlier in the fall.

So, while luxury shoppers are clearly not in hibernation, they are shopping differently than they traditionally have. For starters, online shopping hit a record a record $35.27 billion this holiday season, up 15 percent versus the corresponding period last year, according to comScore. This season also saw 10 days in which online sales surpassed $1 billion in one day. And, according to USA Today successful luxury goods firms are utilizing social media and digital marketing techniques to drive traffic and, ultimately, sales. 

The Business of Blogging

While I’m not big on traditional New Year's Resolutions, like many business owners, the start of a new year is a time for planning and, well, resolving to make my business more efficient and prosperous during the 366 days ahead. At Miamore Communications, we often get so focused on our clients’ marketing plans that we let our own flounder. One way I intend to maintain our own marketing is with a 2012 Miamore formal blogging calendar. I encourage you to do the same with your business blog—whether you operate B2B or B2C.

B2C companies that blog get 88% more leads/month than those that don't.
 

B2B companies that blog get 76% more leads/month than those that don't.*

Not surprisingly, from 2009 - 2011, the percentage rate of businesses that have a blog increased from 48% to 65%. A total of 85% of businesses consider their company blogs as useful and important to their business, and 27% of those who blog rated their blogs as critical to their business, according to WebSwagger.

Why are blogs so critical? For starters, they drive sales:

57% of companies using blogs reported that they acquired leads directly from their blogs.

72% of companies that blogged on a weekly basis found that they had received new business directly from their blog.*

Potential leads that convert into sales are the key incentive to blog, which leads us to our next point: An up-to-date blog also plays a key role in boosting that ever-elusive yet much sought SEO for companies.

Companies that blog have 55% more website visitors.*

This is because websites with blogs:

• Show up in more search results for a wider range of queries/keyword searches
• Attract more links: Inbound links raise the "SEO value" of your website
• Attract social signals: "Share signals," such as Facebook Likes, Tweets, and Google pluses, indicate the popularity of a document to search engines, and they can boost rankings. 

Keeping all this in mind, now is the time to not just make a vague resolution to keep your blog fresh throughout 2012, but to create concrete plan to ensure its success, (even if your other resolutions fall into the 88% failure rate for New Years Resolutions!). That plan should include:

• A proper place and format for your blog
• Build your blog into your website to maximize SEO.
• Incorporate your social media profiles into the blog
• Provide readers tools to follow your blog, and to share your posts via email and social media
• Create a format that illustrates your business: for example, if you are a designer, your blog should be highly visual
• A schedule of blog days
• Make blogging part of your weekly calendar to ensure that posts aren’t missed and content remains fresh
• A calendar of blog post themes to include a variety of content that:
• explains what you do
• humanizes your work
• avoids repetition
• incorporates everything within your 2012 marketing plan
• includes photos, graphs, or other visuals
• The allocation of resources
• Do you (or a key person on your staff) write well, understand how to write effective posts and—most importantly—have the time every week to write posts, maintain the blog, and respond in a timely way to comments?
• Do you need a consultant/ghostwriter to create, execute and promote effective posts regularly, and to monitor the blog for comments and feedback?
• A strategy to market your blog
• Every blog post should be promoted via your other social media profiles (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Incorporate your blog into your email marketing
• Include your blog url in your email signature

Have your own experiences with business blogging? Please share them here. If you need more help with your 2012 blogging plan, contact me directly.


*research by Hubspot

Jewelry Trends for the Holiday Season

Tis’ the season to think glitz and glamour. While holiday fashions vary from season to season, one thing remains the same: people still want to stand out with statement pieces or accessories. And while it may be true that diamonds are a girl’s best friend; gold, silver, platinum, precious gems, and semi-precious stones are also high on the wish list for this holiday season. The jewelry business has been strong all year with sales up more than 11% from last year according to the Jewelry Industry Research Institute. Regardless of the recession uncertainties, which may put a curb on other retail sectors, purchasing jewelry and accessories is often seen as a way to spruce up one's style without having to buy a whole new wardrobe. According to the Jewelers Board of Trade, the total sales in 2010 reached $63.4 billion, with consumer confidence slowly increasing, this number is expected to be passed by the end of 2011.

In addition to the traditional jewelry styles, oversized cocktail rings, diamond studs of all styles, long earrings, blinged out bracelets, and long pendent necklaces are the grand fashion trends this holiday season. Gold is appropriately the metal of choice for fashion jewelry as, according to MetroWNY, this season is about dressing to impress. Faux fur, for example, is a hot trend for this typically cold season. InStyle magazine lists stacked rings and shoulder sweeping earrings as festive trends. Elle magazine cites electro neons, Disco fringe, and punked-out patent leather as the seasons best accessories.

Gold might be the go to fashion metal, but when it comes to fine jewelry, thanks in part to volatile gold prices, sterling silver is hot this season according to JCK. And, yes, even with high unemployment rates and as the housing market remains a mess, consumers with large amounts of disposable income are buying expensive items such as jewelry this season. Ken Gassman, market researcher, found data from the Commerce Department, which shows the jewelry sales were up 14.6% in September. Neiman Marcus and Tiffany & Co. have benefitted from vigorous sales, according to MSN Money. Wall Street analysts figure Tiffany’s revenue will rise 17.7% to $802.14 million in the chain’s latest quarter. Zales reported a 5.8% sales increase and Signet Jewelers, parent of the Kay Jewelers chain, posted a 14% gain in sales at its flagship business.

More resources:

• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/17/investopedia65157.DTL 5 Holiday gift ideas for the ladies
• http://www.sj-r.com/springfieldsown_features/x1624080822/The-holidays-are-your-time-to-sparkle Tis the season to sparkle
• http://www.jckonline.com/2011/09/29/holiday-survival-guide-diamond-studs-shoulder-dusters-bangles-oh-my Holiday survival guide
• http://money.msn.com/investment-advice/article.aspx?post=94199334-48a0-4ab3-a186-cf81c865bbfb Luxury jewelry sales on the rise
• http://www.metrowny.com/news/515-Red_and_gold_are_this_holiday_seasons_trend_.html Faux fur and gold are this seasons go to items

Holiday Season Kicks Off With Record Breaking Sales

Fighting the tryptophan from Thanksgiving turkey, an estimated 226 million Americans headed out to line sidewalks, parking lots, and stores entrances (or visited websites) in anticipation of a Black Friday deal. According to the National Retail Federation, that represented a 7% increase from the 212 million Black Friday shoppers last year.

Total spending on Black Friday reached an estimated $52.4 billion. According to the NRF, one quarter of Black Friday shoppers were at the stores by midnight Thursday, either waiting for the store to open or visiting those stores that opened at midnight.

Cyber Monday deals, meanwhile, also drew in a record number of online shoppers, up 33% from the Monday after Thanksgiving last year. According to IBM reports Consumers spent an average of 2.6% more this year than last on Cyber Monday. As expected a record number—10.8%--of shoppers used their smartphones or apps to shop, up 176% from last year.

"Consumers flocked online, with shopping momentum hitting its highest peak at 11:05am PST/2:05pm EST," IBM said in a statement. This showcases Americans’ growing comfort for online shopping. The top deals on Cyber Monday included a Samsung laptop from Amazon, 32” TV from Walmart, and Giada programmable coffee maker from Target. Even high-end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue followed suit offering 40% off its online inventory. IBM found that Cyber Monday brought in 29.3% more online sales than Black Friday did (although more shoppers were in the physical stores rather than online on Black Friday).

Most people who did their purchasing online did so using an Apple device. And Apple was the 5^th most visited online retailer this Black Friday behind Amazon, Wal-mart, Best Buy, and Target. And to no surprise, considering Apple broke all records this Black Friday. Their goal was four times more than normal and, according to Apple 9to5Mac’s source, they beat that forecast by 7 p.m.

While some analysts claim that this is the season of practical living, Karen Katz, Neiman Marcus president and Chief Executive Officer says their target consumers—affluent buyers—are confident and, therefore, spending this season. She notes how attuned upscale consumers are to the stock market and the broader economy, but that Neiman’s is “well positioned with luxury fashion and the latest trends.” Although business has been “good”, they declined to comment on the Christmas forecast or beyond. According to Bloomburg however, luxury goods are making a comeback. And the International Council of Shopping Center reports that sales at luxury stores open at least a year will climb 7.5 percent in November and December, faster than the 6.7 percent increase a year earlier.

For more information, check out these resources:

• National Retail Federation weighs in on Cyber Monday results
• Midnight openings proved to be well worth it this year
• Sales of Black Friday and Cyber Monday
• Apple breaks all records on Black Friday
• What recession? Black Friday sales are UP from last year
• Forbes, on the year of practical living
• Black Friday results are in! Breaking records
• Cyber Monday sets new records
• Luxury brand stocks jump

Holiday Retail Trends to Watch

With only 16 days before Black Friday and 39 days until Christmas, retailers are scrambling to capture what is expected to be modest consumer spending. As such, we’re seeing mobile marketing, extended hours for convenience, and the need for added value from retailers shape up as among the top holiday retailing trends.

The hype over Black Friday, November 25th, is already reaching a fever pitch. Within the last few days big retailers such as Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Target have announced they will open for the first time at midnight of Thanksgiving. While many retailers extend their hours on Black Friday, many will be open 24 hours on November 25th. And it is most likely additional retailers will follow along in the next few weeks. Retailers are also offering online deals on Thanksgiving Day even if their store locations are closed for the holiday. It is all due to several reports that holiday spending will be less than grand. The NRF, for example, expects total spending during the holiday period to rise 2.8%, down from 5.2% increase last year.

According to Mashable Business, the busy holiday season has more shoppers buying online than ever before. They calculated that about 66% of shoppers are shopping online. National Jeweler, meanwhile, projects at least 50% of people will use their mobile phones in some capacity for holiday shopping, even if it is just to check store hours.

Whether online or in store, a key to consumer sales this season will be adding value. About 93% of online retailers plan to offer free shipping during the holidays, and brands like Amazon and Walmart are offering price matching.

More:

• Competition intensifies as stores open earlier. Also Doorbuster myths
• A rundown of the top 10 trends for 2011 holiday, from NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay and Vice President Ellen Davis
• CNN Money explores predictions regarding Black Friday
• Everything you need to know about consumers shopping habits this holiday season