How Topshop leveraged Twitter during #LFW

Topshop has recently engaged in a number of bold moves during London Fashion Week to leverage social media and deliver new brand engagement and shopping experiences for it’s customers. It’s without a doubt one of the best and most innovative examples we’ve seen of a full social strategy put in to effect for a given campaign – and the results seem to speak for themselves.
In the weeks leading up to London Fashion Week, Aeguana worked with CreateLondon (http://createlondon.co.uk) to create a large form factor Twitter Vending Machine that would dispense mystery silver envelopes, containing a range of products such as make up and cosmetics. The concept was stunningly simple – the machine was modified and branded, and users were incentivised to Tweet about the brand, including a #topshoptreats hashtag. Every unique consumer would then receive a ‘goody envelope’ in exchange.
The reactions were quite amazing, and Twitter rapidly filled with images of people surrounding the machine, and some amazing brand engagement (on every level) – for anyone interested, you can see it here: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23topshoptreats&src=typd
But this was only the tip of the iceberg. Topshop went much further to really explore how social media platforms such as Twitter could be used for amazing engagement opportunities during events such as London Fashion Week. It must be one of the best synergistic examples encompassing retail, social media and out of home. What I personally found quite exciting was how they managed to integrate the live Fashion Week trends with a purchasing experience.
The way it worked was simple: live trends from London Fashion Week were analysed in real time, and this would automatically identify related products from Topshop to show on digital billboards. Every time these trends were aggregated, a hashtag was also shown on the billboards (such as #colourblocking). If a user tweeted the hashtag, they would receive a tweet back with curated recommendations that could be purchased there and then. This is an amazing use of social media, and more specifically Twitter, to complement the purchasing experience, and make it a far more contextual experience.

Sir Philip Green said: “Whether we are giving them a look behind the scenes at the show or partnering with a global platform such as Twitter to allow them to shop the trends in real time, our aim is to create a truly inclusive experience.”[1]

It’s fascinating that Topshop partnered with Twitter directly to undertake this campaign, and it also highlights Twitter’s interest in bridging the gap between the online ‘social’ experience, and real-world purchasing activities. Personally, I think this is a brilliant way of bridging that gap, and if used correctly (and this is only one of many ideas that are sure to follow) could completely transform the purchasing experience, making it more interactive and engaging. Couple that with some other tools like augmented reality, and suddenly the high street could look very different in a few years.
We’re excited to see where this goes, and continue to play our part in creating amazing products that push the limits, and create new opportunities.
References:
[1] http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1334285/topshop-taps-real-time-twitter-so-customers-shop-london-fashion-week-trends