LuLuLemon Athletica Inc.
Social Media Audit
Introduction
'elevating the world from mediocrity to greatness' (www.lululemon.com) This single, yet powerful sentence was used by the Canadian founded company, LuLuLemon Athletic Inc. as its original vision and is said to be one of the main reasons for the company's incredible success over the recent years. LuLuLemon was created and founded by CEO Chip Wilson in Vancouver, B.C. in 1998 but did not go public as an incorporated company until 2007 which is when it's success really took off. In 2004, the company expanded outside of Canada to the U.S and Australia. The U.S has become a huge part of LuLuLemons market, holding 65.6% of the store distribution. Canada holds 43.4% and 5.4% internationally (mostly in Australia).
LuLuLemon Athletica Inc. is often described as a "sports apparel" store. This is a very vague and limited description of only one component of the company. LuLuLemon is firstly an innovative apparel store. Constantly developing new products that contribute to healthy lifestyles, keeps them ahead of competitors and keeps clients satisfied and likely to continue shopping there. They also offer free yoga lessons, to their employees (educators) as well as to their clients. Their employees are educated in healthy lifestyles and able to give appropriate advice for their clients who shop at LuLuLemon. They also profit from the selling of accessories. Anything from yoga mats and water bottles, to headbands and socks, every accessory is branded with the LuLuLemon logo which spreads it anywhere its clients go. LuLuLemon's target market is generally active women but are working on creating a better attraction towards active men. In recent years, the company has also been sure to take advantage of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and more. This develops more of a personal relationship with the community and is a smart business strategy on their behalf.
Methodology
In conducting research for this company, the first research channel I explored was the company's official website. I was impressed to find links to major social media sites clearly laid out on their main page. With the simple click on an icon, users are able to access LuLuLemons Facebook page, Twitter account, Youtube channel, Tumblr and Flickr pages. They also have blogs on their home page and allow users to read and express opinions and thoughts about both the company, and read about what the company endorses (practicing yoga, healthy living etc.). I also accessed LuLuLemons pages straight from various social media sources. I generally conducted my searches by just using "LuLuLemon" but in some cases was able to be more specific and search "LuLuLemon Athletica Inc,", "LuLuLemon Company", "LuLuLemon Athletic Wear", and"Chip Wilson".
Although the company has done an acceptable job by creating links to five of the most popular social media sites directly on their official site, it was a little harder to find the company from the social media sites themselves. Comparing LuLuLemon to a company like Coca-Cola, you can see that it is lacking slightly in terms of exposure on these sites. For example, when I searched "LuLuLemon" on Facebook, it showed two pages for the company and a list of different "places" to find stores. Whereas, when I search "Coca-Cola" there were three pages, an app, a group and shared links. Coca-Cola is a larger company, but it is arguable that they have made better use of social media outlets.
Results
Being a Canadian company, I was impressed to see the latitude to which LuLuLemon has spread when utilizing various social media sites. From Facebook to Blogs to Twitter, the company is able to reach a vast majority of markets by promoting itself through these sites. Many of these sites allowed the company to create a positive image and endorse its values and beliefs as a company. From conducting this research, I have a new found respect for what this company stands for and how immersed in the core values they are. LuLuLemon has done a great job of creating a reputation as healthy living ambassador. It almost seems that this is their first priority, and being a "athletic sportswear store" comes second. The reason that they have been able to create this image is greatly due to the fact that they utilize social media sites which allows them to spread word of their mission.
Facebook-
LuLuLemons official fan page on Facebook is a mix of two worlds. It promotes new styles of clothing and is a great way to introduce what is new in the store. But, it also provides a collection of blogs and videos that help clients with anything from personal fitness goals, to vegan meal plans. It currently has 556,952 "Likes" from fans (11 of which are friends from my own personal Facebook account) with 11,561 users "talking about this" by mentioning LuLuLemon in their status or page (Facebook). Their Facebook page is filled with interesting facts and ideas and is a great use of social media as a way to connect to its cliental.
Twitter-
When it comes to staying connected, LuLuLemons Twitter account is doing just this. Whether it be informing clients about special events or promotions, or just sending out simple quotes to make the day more positive, the company has used this account to communicate more effectively and instantaneously than ever before. With 197,632 followers, and 28,072 tweets (Twitter), Twitter has been an important aspect of the company's communication to not only its clients, but other yoga enthusiasts. I originally thought that because of the freedom of Twitter to express thoughts, that the company may be confronted with negative comments. But after looking through pages of tweets, I could not find any adverse comments.
YouTube-
Joining YouTube on February 13, 2006, LuLuLemon has had 3,423,731 uploaded views and 3,978 subscribers (YouTube). LuLuLemon has actually used YouTube in an incredibly smart way. People (even people who are not current clients) can view videos to see and learn yoga moves and different exercise techniques. The smart part about it is that every video shows strong and powerful people teaching these moves while wearing LuLuLemon clothing. Its as if they are using YouTube as a way to utilize "product placement". This social media outlet also allows people to express their opinions about the company, both positive and negative. The company can then see what their clients needs are and if they are not satisfying their clients they can see how to adapt or change.
Tumblr-
LuLuLemon has 22 pages on Tumblr. They are similar to its Facebook page but seen to be even more event based. There are pictures and schedules of upcoming marathons and events. The pages seem to be more pictorial with inspirational quotes scattered on them dispersed through many short form blogs. Again, it gives users the ability to express thoughts and allows the company to see what is on the minds of their clients.
Flickr-
One of the first things I saw when I accessed LuLuLemons Flickr page were photos from the New York City Marathon. It allowed people to comment on the experience and also share their own personal photos. This is a great way of sharing and a wonderful way for the company to create a good reputation for itself by supporting events like the marathon. It was also very easy to access this page, as there was a direct link from the LuLuLemon official site.
Delicious-
This social media site was the first site I researched that had more of an objective view of LuLuLemon. There were videos about Chip Wilson the founder, but also reports by The Globe and Mail that brought up controversy about the quotes that have been printed on the company's very popular re-usable bags. I found that this site gave readers more of an unbiased look at the company, showing both the good and the bad but also allowed users to leave there own comments, whether for or against the article.
Wikipedia-
Wikipedia shares information anywhere from the founder of LuLuLemon, to its 2010 revenues. This site gives a summary of the company's history, current success and core values. This allows clients to easily research the company and answer many questions that they may have. This site is the most fact driven site out of all that I researched. It had no underlining positive or negative tone to the article which allows clients to read with confidence. It is a great way to have users receive information about the company.
Recommendations
LuLuLemons success has been building at a more than steady rate. Seeing their highest revenues last year, the prospects for this year are more ambitious than ever. It can be said that their success is due partially to the use of social media outlets. It is clear that the company has made it a priority to stay connected with their clients, making use of such sites as Facebook, Twitter etc. Although the company has done and is currently doing an exceptional job at building its reputation through these social media sites, there are a few suggestions that I came across in doing my research.
Yes, LuLuLemon does have an amazing section of blogs on its home site. But, I did find it difficult to create and post your own blog, in fact I could not find a way to do so. It was easy to post comments to other blogs, but when it came down to creating your own, it did post a challenge for users who may not be necessarily familiar with the site and how it works.
Another recommendation that I think may be beneficial to LuLuLemon would be to cross-promote with other companies. For example, LuLuLemon shares blogs and photos about clients participation in such events as the New York Marathon. If they were to cross-promote with the creators of the New York Marathon (and other like events), they could have dual social media access by having LuLuLemon being advertised and talked about on the web sites and Facebook accounts of the New York Marathon.
The "app" world is a quickly growing industry. LuLuLemon should take advantage of creating some sort of app for iPhones, iPads, androids etc. that will keep their clients informed of new products, events and special promotions all at their fingertips. They could have clients create workout plans, shopping days at the store, schedule in marathons and they could even create some sort of game. The possibilities are endless and this is definitely something that I could see in the near future for this company.
Overall, in doing this social media audit for LuLuLemon Athletica Inc., I can say that I was genuinely surprised with the information that I was able to access so readily. Although a fairly new company, LuLuLemon seems to be a veteran in the use of social media. I was impressed with the easy access to some of the most popular social media sites straight from the company's official page. They have been able to open the lines of communication not only locally, but worldwide. LuLuLemon has granted power to its clients allowing and respecting individual thoughts and opinions through the use of social media. I believe that this company, though already extremely successful, will see even greater success in the future, largely due to their embrace of social media.
References
1."Who Is Lululemon Athletics?" Learn About Us. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.lululemon.com>.
2."Lululemon Athletica." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 July 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lululemon_Athletica>
3.Berum, David. "Dare to Be against LuLuLemon." Delicious. Fri. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://delicious.com/stacks/view/SY2lVU>.
4."5 Tricks for Making a Run Routine Stick." Blog| Yoga, Running, Goal Setting & a Healthy Dose of Inspiration| Lululemon Athletica. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://www.lululemon.com/community/blog/>.
5."Stay in Touch with LuLuLemon Athletica." Twitter. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://twitter.com/>.
6."Lululemon Athletica | Facebook." Facebook. Fri. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://www.facebook.com/lululemon>.
7."Lululemon Athletica." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/user/lululemon>.
