The Social Media Issue

Dear LS Members,

Over the past year, the luxury industry has stepped out from behind the veneer of carefully crafted, aspirational images to reveal some of its inner machinations. At first tentatively, and then more forcefully, it has adopted those two hot words now on everyone’s lips: Social Media.

Fashion houses have been streaming their shows live from the catwalk, giving consumers and fans unprecedented access to what had for years been strictly insider-only events and enabling them to comment on the wares going down the runway in real-time. Luxury watch brands have bypassed traditional marketing channels and set up Facebook pages to communicate about their brands and products. And many CEOs, designers and public relations professionals have taken to Twitter to express their points of view and share their daily experiences of working in the luxury industry.

As the definitive professional social network for luxury professionals, we at Luxury Society have been watching these events with great interest, of course. And, judging by the results of our first annual member survey, as well as one-on-one interviews we conducted with a small but diverse subset of our members, so have all of you.

Why do you come to Luxury Society?

An overwhelming 66 percent of you come to Luxury Society for the latest news. And so, come April, we are transforming our editorial strategy to bring you original daily content that will complement our Newswire and help make sense of the rapidly shifting luxury marketplace. Stay tuned for that.

What do you value most about Luxury Society?

More than 60 percent of you said that what you value most is our trusted community of luxury professionals. That’s not surprising. The Luxury Society community represents a veritable who’s who of the global industry. Now numbering almost 8,000, the community continues to attract top level executives, media and entrepreneurs every single day. Indeed, for many of our members, Luxury Society is the only social media tool for which they have signed up. It’s a great testament to the values of privacy and trust that Luxury Society abides by.

What do you think of the luxury industry’s newfound love for Social Media?

This month’s diaries from some of our most active members give us an indication of the wide variety of opinions that exist about the use of social media. While everyone seems to see its potential, exactly how social media can be best employed to achieve business objectives—ranging from CRM to brand-building to driving e-commerce—is still very much up for debate.

As we move into a phase of editorial transition, we hope you will enjoy reading the views of your fellow Luxury Society members. For me, it was most fascinating to witness first-hand the diversity, strength and richness of our community, and how members around the world are using Luxury Society to keep themselves informed, connect with each other, form partnerships and even fill job vacancies.

We look forward to unveiling our new editorial strategy in the coming months. In the meantime, please continue to share your experiences with us. It is always wonderful and helpful to hear from you.

Imran Amed
Editor-in-Chief