Burberry, ranked number one and named a digital Genius in our Digital IQ Index®: Fashion report, Burberry, scaled back its Facebook presence this year. Burberry grew its Facebook fans by a mere 17% from the year before to 16,646,421, still maintaining its position as the top fashion brand in fans. Runner up in Facebook fans Louis Vuitton grew its fans by 42% year-over-year.
Burberry’s Facebook likes are decreasing at a steady pace. In the first quarter of 2011, Burberry had almost 1.5 a million new likes. In the second quarter of 2013, it had less than half a million.
Burberry’s lack of investment in Facebook engagement is surprising because it is a digitally forward-looking brand. This week, it launched a concept store in London that runs completely on iPads and iPhones. It is one of the few fashion brands that offer in-store pickup for online purchases. Former CEO Angela Ahrendts was one of the first to invest in a Facebook presence with the idea that social media engagement was a way to foster future buyers.
Burberry’s shift resource reflects a shift in attitude about social media. Now that fans for top fashion brands growing past eight digits, brands are asking what’s next. As traditional ROI metrics are proven ineffective in measuring, the next step for brands is to look at other potential gains from social investments.
