Lululemon Athletica Social Media Audit Austin Foster Eddie Paskal Heather Case
1 Purpose Lululemon Athletica was founded in, 1998, by Dennis Chip Wilson. The first store opened in 2000 in Kitsilano, a neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. The store targets females, which coincides with Wilson s belief that yoga is the optimal way to maintain athletic excellence into advanced age. Lululemon strives to build relationships with people who exercise. As of October 2012, Lululemon runs approximately 165 stores throughout Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Lululemon s other competitors include Lucy and Zella. These companies are similar in size; however, Lululemon is still at forefront of athletic clothing targeting women. It is beginning to be viewed as a powerhouse company, much like Nike. Lucy is located only in the United States, where it has most of its stores in California. Zella is a branch of Nordstrom located inside the stores. As the world moves towards a different generation where social media is a crucial part of connecting with people; a social media audit and conversation analysis will be useful for Lululemon to strategically stay in contact with its publics; and create new opportunities to spread its brand. This analysis will show Lululemon where its strengths and weaknesses are in different social media channels. Method The channels analyzed for this audit include the following: Facebook Twitter Instagram Flickr YouTube Lululemon website While researching these channels, we used Ice Rocket, Social Mention and Alexa to analyze Lululemon s online interaction. The following key terms were helpful for us to find information on Lululemon: Lululemon athletica, Lulu, and Lululemon. To conduct this audit and analysis, we collected data from January 1-7, 2013. Results: Social Media Audit Across all its social media platforms, Lululemon is able to effectively relate to and interact with its customers. Its fun, energetic voice remains consistent throughout the channels, reflecting the lifestyle with, which the company has branded itself with.
2 Facebook Lululemon is active on Facebook, consistently posting one to two times per day. Lucy s official fan page, posts every two to seven days. Zella does not have a Facebook fan page. Lululemon, while posting content maintains a human voice. Lululemon not only promotes its new products and events on Facebook, but it also sustains a friendly, fun and positive attitude towards its fans. Lululemon s pictures are a mixture of products, event logos, fan pictures and pictures relating to exercising. Lululemon gives out a personal feel on its fan page, responding to posts or questions within hours, if not minutes, and building a personal connection with fans. Competitor Lucy, on the other hand, does not post much photography from fans; most of its images were of products or employees of Lucy. Lucy does an adequate job of having a human voice, and there is some interaction with fans. Zella does not have a fan page. The interaction and updates posted on Lululemon s fan page are continuous. Lululemon responds approximately one time to every update posted. There are not any recent posts from Lululemon, however, fans, post often. Lucy s interaction is about the same as Lululemon s, one post per update. Lucy is also responsive when fans ask questions or leave comments regarding products or events. Pictures posted by Lululemon received the most interaction on Facebook. One photo of a sports bra by Lululemon received more than 1,200 likes; another photo of a running jacket received 2,176 likes and 117 comments. Lucy s most popular posts are also pictures, and it does receive a number of posts from fans on the page. A picture of a 25 percent off discount received 48 likes, 19 shares, and one comment.
3 Photos of the Lululemon logo receive the least amount of interaction. The photo of the simple black logo received only five likes and one share. Lululemon rarely posts pictures of just its logo; most posts include photos of people or events. Lululemon s competitor, Lucy, received the least amount of likes and comments on events through Facebook. Its Portland Marathon event only had one guest attending. Lululemon does a good job of responding to people who are interacting with them on Facebook. When a person posts a comment on the fan page or comments on a photo, Lululemon typically likes the comment or comments back. Lucy also maintains good interaction with people on its fan page and is responsive to questions and comments. Twitter Lululemon is active on Twitter and tweets approximately once or twice a day. Its photos remain consistent throughout all of its social media platforms. Lucy, on the other hand is not consistent in its tweets. Lucy tweets once a day, then goes for a week without tweeting at all. Zella does not have a Twitter feed; all tweets are through Nordstrom. Compared to Facebook, Lululemon s Twitter account does not have as strong of a human voice. It promotes products and events, as much as it does on Facebook, but it seems to be more formal and lacks the personality of Lululemon. Lucy does a better job of having personality and maintaining conversations rather then just posting about products. Lululemon receives an above average number of mentions in people s tweets. For every tweet, it receives approximately 200 to 300 tweets. Its competitor, Lucy, receives approximately 30 tweets per update.
4 350 300 250 200 150 Lululemon Lucy 100 50 0 Interactions per tweet Lululemon receives the most interaction on the photos it tweets. There are numerous pictures of products that have more than 10 responding tweets. Lucy has the most interaction per tweet about a new product; there are five responses. Lululemon receives the least amount of interaction per tweet about a workout playlist, with only three responses. Its competitor, Lucy, received the least amount of interaction per tweet about its contest. There were no responses, and only two people added it as a favorite. Lululemon is actively involved in Twitter and very responsive to its publics. When someone tweets a question or comment, Lululemon does a great job of continuing that conversation or answering a question. Lucy also does a good job of responding to its publics; they use language that establishes a friendly environment. Instagram Instagram is a useful platform to use for people to share their interests in the Lululemon brand. It helps to strengthen the Lululemon community as a whole. Lululemon is active on Instagram, which we accessed through Webstagram. Most photos are posted under the hashtag #lululemon or #lululemonathletica. The logo is in some photos but not all. Lucy has photos posted of products under the hashtag #lucyactivewear. Zella does not have a Webstagram. Lululemon is tagged approximately 30 times per hour. Lucy is tagged approximately once a day. Most pictures tagged with hashtag #lululemon are of people wearing or using their products.
Flickr Lululemon joined Flickr in August 2008 and has 10,683 subscribers. Typically the company posts to the site frequently every month. In the week- long period Lululemon did not upload any photos. However, in the three months previous the company uploaded pictures on two separate dates, totaling 52 photos. Most of the pictures posted by Lululemon are motivational or team events that the company has hosted. Most pictures range from around 1,000-4,000 views respectively. Flickr is not incredibly interactive, so it is hard to build a connection with customers, but the company has created a voice with the type of photos it posts. The mood is lighthearted and encouraging and typically focuses on athletic ambitions. 5
6 Neither Lucy nor Zella have Flickr accounts associated with their brands; however, upon entering their website s name, in Flickr s search bar, sponsored links to the company websites arise. YouTube Lululemon created its YouTube channel on Feb. 13, 2006 and to date has posted 185 videos with 6,013,233 total views. The channel has 7,634 subscribers, which is more than the 95 Lucy boasts. Zella does not have a channel associated with its brand. The company typically posts videos about once a week on a variety of subjects. Some videos focus on highlighting new products; whereas others are short motivational clips. During the week- long period, the company posted a total of 2 videos to YouTube, totaling 16,398 views. Lululemon maintains a fun, casual voice with its videos and helps to connect with its audience by producing videos highlighting its ambassadors and their journey to become employees at the company. Lululemon s most popular video, Shit Yogis Say, is a little less than two minutes and has 2,181,097 views. Once again, Lululemon effectively utilizes this social media platform more than its competitors do. Since Lucy created its YouTube channel on October 17, 2008, it has posted 31 videos and garnered a total view count of 98, 275. Lucy has 95 subscribers, and Zella does not currently operate a YouTube channel.
7 Lucy, 98,576 Lululemon, 6,067,885 Total YouTube Views Lululemon Website Lululemon s website reflects the fun, active lifestyle that the company continuously endorses. The color scheme is bright and airy, and the main area features a young woman running in Lululemon apparel. The website is easy to navigate and is clearly set up by separating women s and men s departments. The newest campaigns the company is currently working on are highlighted on the home page of the website. There is also an area to sign up to receive the Luluemon newsletter. The people portrayed on the website are all youthful and appear to be energetic, active and enjoyable. The individuals that the website features all embody the active, healthy way of life the company has branded itself with. The website is incredibly engaging, and along with contact information for the company and the ability to track shipments, there are also links to Lululemon s respective presences on other social media platforms. In addition to links to websites such as Twitter and Facebook, the website also has a specified area where costumers can read the company blog. The blog, which posts several times a week; posted four times in the week- long period; focused on the inner workings of the company; and highlights employees and events. In addition to highlighting products and sales on their website, Lululemon also has a specified section dedicated strictly to its work in the community. The company has a sizable presence in the world of giving back, which includes a- yoga- for- cycling team and discussions on the importance of yoga. In comparison to Lucy, the Lululemon website is much more interactive and engaging. Lucy s site mainly displays products available for purchase.
8 The Lululemon site is also much more impressive than Zella s website. Zella is sold exclusively at Nordstrom, so its website is just included under the umbrella of the Nordstrom website and just features its products. Results: Conversation Analysis Facebook Other than their own account, we were unable to find any other pages discussing Lululemon on Facebook. The company is, however, mentioned many other times by private users. Neither Lucy nor Zella had other pages discussing their company. Twitter Using Ice Rocket, we discovered Lululemon was mentioned 270 times in a two- hour period, with an average of four mentions per minute, and an average of 70.4 mentions per hour. After reading through the tweets, most posts were positive, neutral or questions about the product. There were no negative tweets. Lucy was only mentioned 9.7 per hour and 30 times in a six- day period. Most posts were positive or neutral in sentiment. Zella, however, only had two mentions. Number of Mentions Zella Lucy Number of Mentions Lululemon 0 20 40 60 80 Instagram After doing research on Webstagram, we discovered a consistent positive sentiment towards Lululemon on Instagram. Most posts were relating to products or quotes that related to what the brand represented. On Instagram, fans posted 89,370 photos were posted using the hashtag #lululemon, and 1,186 photos were posted using the hashtag #lululemonathletica. Lucy had 91 photos posted using the hashtag #lucyactivewear, which displayed new products or women working out in their clothing.
9 Zella had only two photos of their products using the hashtag #zellaactivewear. The same private user posted both of the photos. Lululemon Website According to the three- month Alexa traffic rankings, Lululemon is ranked 10,290 globally and 2,634 nationally. Within the past three months, traffic to the Lululemon website increased by 34 percent. Visitors time on the website increased by 5 percent within the past three months, resulting in the average time per visit being five minutes and eight seconds. In comparison to Lululemon, Lucy has a global rank of 105, 790 and 19,805 in the United States. Within the past three months, traffic to Lucy s website increased by 31 percent, with the average time on the site increasing by 20 percent resulting in the average time of four minutes and eight seconds per visit. Zella active wear, being a product sold in Nordstrom, could not be compared because the brand does not have a website of its own. Global and National Rank of Websites 120,000 105,790 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 Global 19,805 United States Lululemon Lucy Zella For this graph, the lower the column, the better the company is ranked. This excludes Zella due to the fact the company does not have a website that is separate from Nordstrom.
10 YouTube After doing a search using Social Mention, we found, within the past three months, several YouTube channels were discussing Lululemon. Most of these channels were from private accounts, mostly women, discussing new products purchased or discussing the positive aspects of Lululemon apparel. According to Social Mention, no channels had been discussing Lucy or Zella, and neither brand has a channel of its own. Flickr Outside of Lululemon s own account, lululemon addict was the only other account that posted frequent photos relating to the product. Lucy had a few photos from private user accounts. Zella s presence on Flickr was nonexistent.
11 Discussion Lululemon is an internationally recognized and successful company. The logo and brand are both widely recognizable, and customers overall seem pleased with the products. As such a well- rounded company, it should come as no surprise that its use of social media, for the most part, is top notch in comparison to its competitors. The main strength we identified was, that across all platforms, Lululemon remained consistent in its voice and the way in which they portrayed the brand. As a company producing activewear for women and men, the voice and content that Lululemon produces with its social media coincides with its brand identity of promoting healthy active lifestyles. Another strength that Lululemon has with its usage of social media is the transparency of the company and its ability to make the customer feel as though he or she knows the brand on a personal level. Its weekly YouTube clips, often times, highlight the inner workings of the company and feature discussions with employees on a variety of subjects. The frequency of its posts is also a strong area for Lululemon. In particular with the company blog and YouTube, the company is able to engage with their customers on a level not seen amongst top tier international businesses. Although its use of social media is impressive, there is always room for improvement, and we have several recommendations to make the company s exceptional use even better. For one, we believe the company s use of Flickr could be more consistent and in line with Lululemon s other social media platforms. Its use of Flickr is very sporadic, and
12 we believe the company could benefit from making their posts more of the actual Lululemon product and not just motivational or funny sayings. Lululemon s Instagram could benefit from frequently posting pictures. It is intermittent with its pictures, and most of the company s pictures are people who are tagging Lululemon in their own personal photos, which can misrepresent the brand. If Lululemon used this channel more frequently to post pictures of products it would increase its social networking with publics, as well as decrease confusion about the brand. Although Lululemon's website is ranked significantly higher than those of its competitors, we believe there is room for improvement. The average time per visit to the website is only five minutes and eight seconds. We recommend Lululemon add more interactive features to increase the amount of time spent per visit. A few additions could include an interactive game, video tutorials for new workout exercises and a comment section for Lululemon users to share their experiences using the products. We believe additions that allow the consumer to become more involved with the website would accomplish the goal of increasing time spent per visit. That being said, Lululemon appears to have a strong grasp on what it takes to successfully use social media to help grow your brand and build customer relationships.