 |
| (Photo credit: Lululemon) |
“Yoga, running, goal setting & a health dose of inspiration,” (Lululemon Athetica, n.d.). Luluemon is one of the most popular athletic clothing brands right now and like many other flourishing businesses, the brand has created a blog to reach its buyers. The blog delivers content from several different authors and provide a little bit of content for everyone. At a first glance, the blog really appeals to the brand’s consumers. It’s clear they know their audience but the blog also has some weaknesses. So is the blog successful? Here’s a breakdown:
Strengths
- Rather than saying written by staff, the name and photo of the author are seen next to each blog post. While there is no bio associated with the authors, it allows people to see the face behind the post.
- There’s a little bit for everyone! I’m sure all Lululemon customers can find something on the blog that they would find interesting.
- It has the look and feel of a blog- with a twist. Popular and recent posts are archived on the sidebar, along with events, and links to the brand’s social media. However, the blog looks a lot like a business and less personalized with its design.
Weaknesses
- Comments have been disabled on all blog posts. How are readers supposed to engage with the brand? Scott (2015) describes that blogs are great marketing tool since it allows brands to listen to their buyers. This is a huge con in my opinion.
- No About page. I feel every blog should include an About page- it can include information on the company, the writers, the blog’s polices and more.
Lululemon is not the only brand experimenting with the field of blogging but having a team of experienced communicators will help create the best experience for both brands and consumers.
I personally believe that employee run blogs can enhance a company blog. Scott (2015) explains, “Some organizations take a creative approach to blogging by saying that all blogs are personal and that opinions expressed are of the blogger, not the organization (p. 95). I agree with his stance as I think this allows readers to see the face behind the organization. The cons to this are employees may create content that doesn’t align with the values of the organization. Scott (2015) further explains that this can be avoided by implementing corporate policies on how employees should communicate. This should refer to any type of communication with the public when representing an organization.
References
Lululemon Athletica (n.d.). Yoga, Running, Goal Setting & A Healthy Dose of Inspiration. Retrieved from http://blog.lululemon.com/?mnid=mn;blog
Scott, David M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting blog you’ve examined! As a runner who has never visited this site I immediately noticed their popular and recent posts sections and became engulfed! Thanks to 10 songs to get you back in the saddle (Giulia, 2015) I now have my playlist for tomorrow morning at the gym. From a strategic position, having popular and most recent posts easily accessible will assist in capturing first time visitors without them having to sift through content to find material they like. I wonder what that sections click through rate is…
Luluemon has targeted a specific niche with this blog and their content speaks to what interests that audience. Scott points out that “to ensure that your new blog is found by your buyers as they search for what you have to offer, be certain to post on topics of interest and to use the important phrases that people are searching on” (Scott, 2015, pg. 304). This blog certainly fits that criteria.
Some of the weaknesses you spoke to were not enabling readers to leave comments and that there is not an about page. Scott points out how comments can foster great discussion and even debate (Scott, 2015). This calls for speculation but why do you think Luluemon disabled the comments section?
An about page in my opinion is very important to a blog. “Often when people visit a blog for the first time, they want to know about the blogger, so it is important to provide background” (Scott, 2015, pg. 301). This fosters engagement and allows for the readers to relate and connect to the blogger. Do you think this page being absent was intentional or an oversite on Luluemons’ part?
~Nicole
References
Giulia (2015, January 23) 10 songs to get you back in the saddle. Retrieved from http://blog.lululemon.com/spin-playlist/
Luluemon Athletica (n.d.) Yoga, running, goal setting & a healthy dose of inspiration. Retrieved from http://blog.lululemon.com/
Scott, David M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you found the blog of interest to you! I also found myself going through the archives for quite some time trying to get the motivation to hit the gym! This is definitely a blog I am going to be flagging for future tips and inspiration.
I do think he blog is overall successful but just like the Starbucks blog, the comments are once again disabled. I think the major reason is for fear of negative content or uncivil comments. My personal opinion is if you are going to invest in the time to create a blog, it should be an open forum. Lululemon should have a communications team to monitor blog posts and they could always have the option to delete something if it's inappropriate.
Do you think that the decisions to disable blog comments is in the best interest of companies? Or do you think they are missing the point of blogging?
I also think Lululemon intentionally left out the About page. The blog is linked to the website and the About page for Lululemon can be accessed at the top sidebar. They may have felt they are duplicating a page by adding another one on the blog.
Alyssa,
DeleteI literally used their suggested playlist this morning at the gym and plugged some songs into the App I use to steam music and loved it!!! Such a good find!
You’re right about the comments. Scott also discusses the option of “a system where you need to approve each comment before it appears on your blog” (Scott, 2015, pg.300) to help filter content. This might be a good way for organizations (like Luluemon and Starbucks) to get their feet wet with allowing comments. They hold control before anything is posted publicly. Why do you think Luluemon didn’t opt for that middle ground? Many social media platforms are allowing post approval before publishing now, including Facebook.
I think the decision to disable blog comments is a mistake and they are missing the entire point of blogging. Comments allow for interaction and two way communication between the organization and their readers. “The single biggest mistake bloggers make is not engaging with their readers in the comments section” (King, 2011). This relationship building tool that is readily available is not being properly utilized when it is hindered.
Did you check out Luluemon’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/lululemon)? What’s interesting is they allow comments through that medium. Why do you think they leave one social media platform available for comments but not another?
~Nicole
References
King, C. (2011, July 6). 21 Dangerous Blogging Mistakes (And How to Fix Them). Retrieved from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/21-dangerous-blogging-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them/
Scott, David M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Nicole,
DeleteSo glad you found the blog of interest to you! They had some really great posts on there and I already bookmarked it as a favorite. :)
As far as the comments, I think your suggestion to have comments approved before posting is a great idea. I think this is something that can be easily monitored by a communications team and I don't see it taking much time.
It also looks like Lululemon does a wonderful job at engaging with its followers on Facebook. They respond to almost all comments and even sign off with their name. I think they should follow these strategies for the blog. I also didn't know you could disable comments on Facebook so I wasn't sure that was even an option!
Alyssa,
DeleteAllowing to comments to be filtered will be a good start for them. As I’ve said before, even if a blog allowed for negative comments to be shown, it could exhibit the organizations conflict resolution timing and strategies ultimately turning it into an opportunity rather than a threat.
I commend Lululemon on the level of engagement on their Facebook Page (Lululemon athletica, 2016). While being interviewed by Entrepreneur, DJ Waldow, Founder & CEO of Waldow Social shared his thoughts on how often organization should be responding to posts:
“Respond as much and as often as you can. Years ago, I heard the analogy that social media is like the new telephone. If someone calls your office, you answer the phone. My advice: Do the same when it comes to social media. Do your best to respond to everything. You never know where your next client, partner or friend may come from” (Debaise, 2013).
Perhaps Lululemon does not have enough resources in place to maintain their level of engagement on Facebook and carry it over to their blogging platform? If they were able to transfer that type of response and free flow of communication to their blog I think that would be it much more effective for sure!
~Nicole
References
Dabaise, C. (2013, July 29). The Art of the Response on Social Media. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227580
Lululemon Athletica (2016). Lululemon athletica. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/lululemon
Hi Nicole,
DeleteThat's a great analogy! You never know who can be following your company's social media sites. Working in PR, I've had the media reach out on a number of occasions responding to something they saw on social media.
Hi Alyssa,
DeleteI like that the blog you chose was a good example for both of our questions this week. I agree with yours and Nicole’s comments about enabling comments. As I said on Nicole’s blog, disabling comments from a public blog really makes you wonder why- what are your apprehensions. If you are confident in your brand, why not allow the public to interact on your forums?
Starbucks is definitely on the higher end of the scale in the coffee world, and same goes for Lululemon in the athletic apparel world- both in terms of quality, and more so price. I wonder if this has anything to do with it? What are your thoughts?
Danielle
Hi Danielle,
DeleteWhats interesting is that Lululemon does a really good job at engaging with its followers on social media. I noticed the brand replies to a good percentage of comments on Facebook, even when they are not a question. Here's a link to their site: https://www.facebook.com/lululemon/
The reasons for disabling comments on their blog may have to do with limited staff or they might not understand the importance of using the platform as a way to communicate with customers and investors. It's still a new field and I am sure brands will continue to change the way they operate their blogs.. we are truly in an experimental phase.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteIBM is a really great example of how policies can be set to not only encourage blogging but also regulate content and views. I also found it very interesting to learn that the guidelines were actually written by employees, "In 2008 and again in 2010 IBM turned to employees to re-examine our guidelines in light of ever-evolving technologies and online social tools to ensure they remain current to the needs of employees and the company" (IBM, n.d.). I think the blogging policy is realistic and very encouraging.
I think IBM's method of monitoring employee blogs may be different than a company that actually allows employees to become authors on the company blog. IBM employees actually have their own blogs, which are linked to the IBM website- this really restricts the monitoring and gives employees a lot of freedom since the blogs are on different platforms. For companies that allow employees to be authors on a corporate blog, I think having a communications team edit the blogs would be realistic. The blog editor could review content but then also make any edits to the content- it always helps to have a second set of eyes reviewing any work before it's published.
IBM Inc. (n.d.). IBM Social Computing Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html