Kate Spade's Social Media Marketing Strategy

Kate Spade is a brand that I have loved ever since high school. The brand was founded in 1993 by Kate Brosnahan Spade when she had designed her first “perfect handbag”. Kate Spade then debuted six silhouettes of handbags which were sleek yet utilitarian and featured a range of color palettes unlike any other brand had done before. “Women and fashion editors fell for the fresh, modern sensibility, and our first shop in new york city swiftly opened in 1996. As the company grew, our graphic approach and trademark wit created a visual shorthand for a brand recognizable the world over” (Katespade.com). Kate Spade is now known as a global lifestyle brand that features handbags, clothing, accessories, stationary, fragrance, and home decor.

Designer and Founder Kate Spade

Kate Spade’s social media marketing objectives are similar to many other fashion brands. They want to provide up-to-date brand and product information to their customers, display their products in a fun and intriguing way, and to promote general brand awareness to existing and new consumers. Kate Spade always strives to show that they are a trustworthy company that produces the highest quality handbags, clothing, and accessories, etc., and promote that their products are designed to be trendy, yet simplistic and casual for a day to day look.

Live Colorfully Ad Campaign for New Fragrance

Their social media brand persona is “Live Colorfully”. Kate Spade has a wide target audience, ranging from women ages 15-70. Since it is such a wide range, they consistently want to show their customers that their brand supports women of all ages and wants them to know that they are all unique and should live a life full of color and happiness.

Within the past few years, Kate Spade has grown their online social media presence with the use of video content. They see social media “as the key to success, creating an entertainment-driven strategy to drive engagement and increase sales across the globe” (Econsultancy.com). Kate Spade recognizes that each social media platform is unique and different. This is key in social media marketing, as providing what the consumers are looking for within each platform or app will help to increase sales and promote brand awareness. Youtube is a video platform that Kate Spade's brand uses to promote products, display the Kate Spade lifestyle, and to post video campaigns and advertisements.

Kate Spade's Youtube Homepage

"Make Yourself A Home" Youtube Series

A successful video series that Kate Spade had done on Youtube is called, “Make Yourself a Home”. The series features short 1-2 minute videos that show tips and tricks for interior design and home decor while using their Kate Spade products. Home decor is very trendy right now and consumers go to Youtube and Instagram for inspiration and ideas. Kate Spade not only provides great video content but they engage their subscribers and consumers by adding interactive components to their campaigns. Many of their videos include links to the products shown on their main website. “This increases the chances of viewers further engaging with the brand, and theoretically going on to purchase” (Econsultancy.com).

Switching over to Kate Spade’s Facebook page, they also have an interactive component on this platform as well. The brand utilizes the Facebook Live capability where they can communicate through a live video to their consumers on Facebook in real time. Their live videos are called “Shop It Live Experience”, where they reveal their new collections for the season and viewers have the ability to shop the collections and products right then and there. This gives a sense of exclusivity to their brand and allows consumers to feel special because they have a product that no one else has yet.

Kate Spade "In Full Bloom" Campaign Poster

A key part of Kate Spade’s social media marketing strategy is to convey the brand’s uniqueness and to make sure their brand values are displayed within their social media platforms always. Another recent video campaign that was very successful is called “In Full Bloom”. This campaign was for a new fragrance they were trying to promote. The company featured actresses from three generations, 21-year-old Tavi Gevinson, 31-year-old Sasheer Zamata, and 51-year-old Laura Dern. Each star created a video in which they read a love letter, to themselves, all of which are just as inspiring as you'd imagine. "Girl, just let it go. It's fine. You're doing the best you can," Dern says in hers. "I think if I really could write this love letter to myself it'd be very cut and dry: You got this, Dern”” (Allure.com). This was a campaign unlike any other because it focused on the psychographic part of the consumer's life such as their lifestyle, values, and attitudes, not just the demographic part of their life. This gives Kate Spade a sense of vulnerability to their brand which allows their customers and viewers to connect with them on a deeper, emotional level. This helps to gain brand awareness for Kate Spade and displays what they stand for as a company.

Overall, I feel as though Kate Spade has an amazing strategy that works for them. They understand that social media should not be treated as one-size-fits-all, and that there are specific ways to display and campaign products for different platforms. Other fashion brands should evaluate how Kate Spade uses social media marketing strategies because they clearly understand how and what to do to gain an audience and more customers. Video content can be a great source for marketing and Kate Spade has clearly shown that it has worked for them!