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Are you Pinterested? A Fashion Brand Evolves Research Communities

Posted by on 21 May 2014
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@JaclynDecell from Rachel Zoe Inc presented on, 'The Insightful
Consumer: Using Social Signals to Drive Business Decisions.' And this company
is doing something very cool.

The company is launching a pilot of a new kind of online
insights community: it's a Pinterest community. People are being recruited to
the 'Zoe Insiders' shared boards. In exchange, they get exclusive access, such
as sneak peeks to new fashion collections, exclusive content and they may even
have the chance to be on the Rachel Zoe site (their 5 minutes fame?). No monetary
incentives.

Pinterest is a fascinating choice, since it's all about images. Which certainly makes
sense for a fashion brand. And if you haven't yet checked it out, Pinterest is HUGE.
And addictive. Check out this Mashable infographic
on why it is so addictive.

The shared Pinterest boards will be moderated, though the speaker
felt this wasn't too big a challenge'as the participants are being heavily
curated to make sure they are on point with the brand and goals.

But where is the market research? While the Pinterest project
is new (it's in pilot), the company has been leveraging social media insights
from other channels for some time'and the Pinterest project is just the next
generation of it. Jaclyn says that when people share content from or about the brand on
any social media channel, it's an indication of the customer journey. Seeing
what they share can reveal what types of editorial and imagery Rachel Zoe should
be creating. Nail-related items are hot? Black and white images hot? This information
can inform editorial choices, content creation choices'allowing the company to really
be responsive.


Will this replace a deep analysis of brand perceptions or customer
satisfaction measurements? Of course not. But it is a fast, continuous way to
respond to customer wants and passions. And that is pretty cool.
This post was written by Kathryn Korostoff. Kathryn is the President of Research Rockstar, the only independent company dedicated to market research training (online and in-person). Many of Research Rockstar's classes are MRA-certified, and Research Rockstar offers class bundles leading to MRA Certification. She also currently serves as President for the MRA's New England chapter. KKorostoff@ResearchRockstar.com, 508.691.6004 ext 705, @ResearchRocks
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