Levi’s

Retailers have led the way in social media innovation in recent years with some of the most innovative campaigns and long term initiatives coming straight out the shopping malls and high streets. In reality its not a surprise that an inherently social activity is being transported onto a more socialised web but that doesn’t mean that the innovation is any less compelling.

Below is a list of what I believe are 5 of the best retail led social initiatives and where possible video case studies;

Ikea Malmo Store Opening:
The very best marketing can change things, and in this case Ikea’s ingenious Facebook campaign actually caused the platform to re-evaluate its advertising policies. A wonderful guerrilla style initiative that exploited the standard photo tagging feature. The idea was brought to life by Gordon Gustavsson a fake Malmo store manager that had his own Facebook profile. Over the course of the campaign Gordon uploaded photo’s of his new store showrooms, all of which were naturally full of Ikea furniture. Then the first person to tag their name on a particular piece of furniture won it! So tag a lamp and get that lamp! The wonderful thing about the campaign, and the ingenious Facebook exploitation is that as soon a person tags themselves in a picture, that picture is added to their activity feed! So almost immediately the campaign became a Facebook viral sensation. As word spread about the free furniture, Gordon Gustavsson’s profile was inundated by eager Swedes begging for the next showroom picture to be uploaded, new pictures beget new exposure beget new interest and so the cycle continued. Unfortunately a brand can no longer create a fake profile so we won’t see any further innovation in this space but that doesn’t stop this being the best social retail initiative I have seen.