Oliver Peoples Online

Oliver Peoples is one of those brands that I’ve always been familiar with, but never paid much attention to. This changed when I came across their online presence.

I follow them on Twitter and came across a link to one of their videos explaining how to select the right frames for different face shapes.

I think it is important to note this video. It provides viewers with a personable, interactive experience, while showcasing the product. This is quite different from a more direct sales driven approach of just displaying the items along with their prices. It’s inviting, not pushy.

Another video features Elijah Wood and Shirley Manson in an artsy vignette which highlights Oliver People’s eye wear in ways that are subtle and charming.

In addition to their videos, Oliver Peoples has a lifestyle blog which engages the viewer much like a glossy magazine.

Blogs and videos are very simple solutions available to everyone. One of the take away lessons we can learn from Oliver Peoples is that the difference is in how well they are executed. The end result should make people want to stick around.

Threadless, A Social Campaign to Learn From

When people first start to consider social media as part of their marketing efforts, the first thing they think of is “money.” This is natural tendency of course. But thinking of dollars every minute throughout the duration of your campaign will only stifle it instead of moving you towards increasing returns.

A healthier perspective is to ask yourself, “how can I interact with my market and build a stronger relationship with my customers?” A name and a logo don’t give people a strong enough reason to choose one company over another. A personalized engagement is. Aren’t you more likely to choose a company whom you’ve had a positive personal interaction with. Or would go with one because you liked their name, logo and tagline?

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.” I used this quote in another post by Maya Angelou. But since it is an important lesson to keep in mind, I thought to include it again.

Threadless is an example of a company who executes social media successfully by prioritizing quality interactions above everything else. In case you are not familiar with the name, they are a youth culture T-shirt company that lets their target market participate in designing and voting for shirts. Here is a video with Bob Nanna of Threadless.

As you can tell, their social campaign is quite thoughtfully done. It’s a great example that illustrates how returns will follow with consistent quality engagement.