{"id":122200,"date":"2019-04-15T11:06:36","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T10:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=122200"},"modified":"2019-04-15T11:06:36","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T10:06:36","slug":"is-lush-building-its-own-social-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/is-lush-building-its-own-social-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Lush building its own social network?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lush hit the headlines last week when it announced the closure of its main UK social media accounts. The announcement claimed social media is \u2018making it harder and harder for us to talk to each other directly\u2019, the company is \u2018tired of fighting with algorithms\u2019 and Lush doesn\u2019t want to \u2018pay to appear in your newsfeed\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Its plan is to highlight more voices, and some have read this as more influencer marketing, but that still requires a reliance on existing social media channels whether the company is using them directly or not. On the announcement to quit social media, Lush encouraged people to engage directly via live website chat, email or phone.<\/p>\n

Within 24 hours, most major news sites, both mainstream and trade, had picked up the story in what\u2019s undeniably a publicity win for a company that doesn\u2019t spend money on traditional advertising. Unfortunately many of the stories focused on how confused Lush customers were by the news \u2013 like this story<\/a> from the Mirror \u2013 with many suggesting that Lush\u2019s target audience are unlikely to call, chat or email the company.<\/p>\n

While there is likely to be a bigger plan to come (more on that in a moment), this is half an announcement. Without explaining the \u2018What\u2019s next\u2019 part of \u2018we\u2019re quitting social media\u2019, many have been left in the dark. To some, this tease may be exciting and the intrigued superfans will be on tenterhooks. But in the age of social media, where attention spans are measured in seconds, this tactic is also likely to lose members of its audience who lack the patience for a protracted stunt.<\/p>\n

Not everyone is against the move though, Lush has a fan in David Parkinson, managing director of Brave & Heart who, writing for The Drum<\/a> claims to have considered this type of move for many of his clients. He says: \u2018For several global clients, my agency has looked at similar strategies [\u2026] we have started to think beyond the platform and back to the purpose and the people. Asking \u201cwho?\u201d, \u201cwhy?\u201d and \u201cwhere?\u201d, not just \u201cwhat?\u201d and \u201cwhen?\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is why a brand the size of Lush gets my thumbs up; its big enough for people to take notice, small enough to have the chops to do it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Signs of a new network
\n<\/strong><\/span>On the surface it may seem like a baffling move for a company such as Lush, for whom social media engagement seems to come easily for both its products and ethical campaigns. And it\u2019s that level of content engagement that Lush won\u2019t want to lose, which is why the final line of the announcement points at more to come: \u2018This isn\u2019t the end, it\u2019s just the start of something new. #LushCommunity \u2013 see you there.\u2019<\/p>\n

The accompanying image says Lush is ‘switching up social’ – not abandoning it. Clarity can perhaps be found in the company\u2019s annual report, which was published the week before this announcement. The report highlights a growth in online sales and the claim that it is \u2018optimistic that our new global website launch will help generate further growth\u2019.<\/p>\n

The company is investing heavily in its \u2018digital estate\u2019, which is being created to ensure a \u2018safe haven for our Lush communities online\u2019. It is continuing to focus on \u2018developing features in beta, an evolving brand led commerce experience online\u2019. Beta.lush.com<\/a>, or #LUSHLABS, is already open to UK customers with plans for it to roll out globally by the end of June.<\/p>\n

At the moment the site is \u2018by invitation only\u2019 and encourages registered users to \u2018invite collaborators\u2019. Users \u2013 who have to create an account \u2013 will \u2018hear it here first\u2019 with \u2018early-bird content reveals and news\u2019.<\/p>\n

The homepage finishes with the line \u2018Want to know a secret? By joining you\u2019re helping us build a new Lush platform. Lush has always been a community-led company. Lush Labs is the next step in putting your feedback at the front and centre\u2019.<\/p>\n

An online community with free-flowing engagement for registered users? Sounds like a social network to me.<\/p>\n

What do you think of Lush\u2019s move? Tempted to quit the Gram or leave Facebook? We\u2019re still on social media so let us know your thoughts on Twitter @Vuelio<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lush has announced it is leaving social media, which many have called a baffling stunt. Is this publicity or part of a plan to create its own social network? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":122201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,3734,7238],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122200"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122204,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122200\/revisions\/122204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}