Lululemon  Athletica  Social  Media  Audit    

 

       

Austin  Foster  Eddie  Paskal  Heather  Case  

           

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 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.            

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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.        

   

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 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.  

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   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.    

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Interactions  per  tweet  

Lululemon  

Lucy  

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   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.    

 

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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.    

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 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.    

Lululemon,  6,067,885  

Lucy,  98,576  

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 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.    

     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.    

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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  

   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.    

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Zella  

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 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.      

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     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  

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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.