La Salle-URL presents a study on "The ten fashion brands in Spain with more impact on Facebook"

Tuesday was presented in La Salle Breakfast conference cicle a study of presence and visibility of fashion brands in Spain on Facebook, developed in the Master in Social Media Branding & Digital Strategy of La Salle-URL. 2015 has certainly been a year of prosperity for the fashion industry. Sales of fashion chains grew for the first time in seven years to reach a turnover of 16,473 million, up 4% more. Moreover, large companies have improved results and Spanish companies are the fastest growing in its native market.

The analysis, led by the director, Dr. Gemma Vallet, and the Master Professor of social media research, Lluís Cona, focuses on business activity between September and October 2015 and in the following 10 brands: Bershka, Uneven Loewe, Mango, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pepe Jeans, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius and Zara. Through the measuring tool SocialBakers activity, engagement, content and the impact of influencers in visibility and conversion were analyzed quantitatively.

Zara is the brand that has more followers on Facebook -23 million- followed by Mango, Bershka and Desigual. Still, the results showed that instead Zara is growing at a very slow pace; while Massimo Dutti, which has 1.4 million followers and is third from bottom, is the brand which in turn has increased more its audience, followed by Oysho, Stradivarius and Desigual. For fashion companies social networks have become a channel to reach a new audience that until then could not get through the usual channels.

The study also notes that there is no relationship between the number of published posts and the audience growth achieved, as this appears throughout the engagement. Regarding the posts level, the most active brand is Pull & Bear, with 2 daily publications, followed far behind by Mango last position Loewe, although the average is a post a day. On the other hand, Zara is one of the brands that has increased its activity compared to previous periods. At the level of engagement, stands out clearly Desigual (2 of every 1,000 followers interact with the brand), followed by Massimo Dutti but already far behind. Stradivarius and Oysho also generate a level of engagement above the average, while other brands are at very low levels. The study also analyzes the most published type of content and most brands have tested the product as the main protagonist, moreover, it is also what gets more engagement. Of the rest, 20% are content Off, not directly related to the product or brand (music, photography, trends, travel guides, sponsorships, etc.), the majority in the case of Pull & Bear; only 8% are pure brand promotion; and 5% are promotions or contests.

Format of these publications, visual content are paramount for all brands (images, especially by the higher cost of the videos), and will still be so in the future with applications that allow videos of longer duration and presence in other channels. All manufacturers use sometime sponsored post payment, but with very different strategies and not as a priority. The study includes an analysis of the Top 10 post published during the two months studied. Desigual occupies 8 of these 10 places but, curiously, not with clothing products but enhancing their complements; in any case these are promoted, but function organically (contrary to the other two).

Those attending the Breakfast have been worth the paper and the work that Desigual is doing in campaigns with influencers, enabling them to reach new audiences and improve brand positioning also approaching more direct and optimistic post, in a tone more related to its positioning. In counterpoint to Desigual, during the presentation has also been explained the totally different activity of Zara, which continues to focus its business in physical sales outlets selling much more their online store. The future of this brand is unknown, all participants have agreed that we need to wait to see its evolution.

For the future, experts predict further growth in the digital sector, the entry of powerful luxury brands in the digital age and an increase in e-commerce, highlighting brands such as Zalando or Vente-Privée. The Master, pioneer in Spain and Europe, has as prelude Brand Community Management Postgraduate program, valued by Best Masters ranking as one of the best in their field. This Breakfast also attended the Community Manager Xesca Bauzà and the strategist Aurelio Alarcon.