Fashion leader Lord & Taylor recently introduced their clever new social strategy that uses Instagram power influencers to not only help drive sales of a specific dress, but also their entire new line of “fashion-forward finds” called the Design Lab collection.
L&T reached out to 50 highly regarded Instagram fashionistas (based on aesthetics and reach) and had them each pose in the exact same dress, posting each via L&T’s Instagram over a two-day span. The dress naturally sold out within a few days, but this wasn’t about the dress—it was about subliminally promoting Design Lab. According to Lord & Taylor CMO Michael Crotty, “The goal was to make her stop in her feed and ask why all her favorite bloggers are wearing this dress and what is Design Lab? Using Instagram as that vehicle is a logical choice, especially when it comes to fashion.” He also adds that they are likely going to roll out similar social strategies over the next few months. Using consumers’ fashionista heroes and the borderline “Who wore it best?” approach as a form of distraction, fans will continue to naturally gravitate toward the Design Lab out of sheer curiosity, just as Crotty had hoped for.
Given the overwhelming amount of Likes received on each of these posts, The Design Lab likely paralleled that multitude of fan engagement. This innovative, yet uncomplicated social media tactic could feasibly be applied to many industries that have a diversified breadth of power influencers (i.e. sports, art, music). Learn more about Lord & Taylor’s Instagram endeavor.