Assignment #3: Converse (Alicia Fong)

Converse, a clothing and shoe company, has a Facebook page that showcases their merchandise and events the company is involved in. Converse utilizes many advertising strategies we discussed in class, such as premiums, or free merchandise. One such premium was the “In Case of Emergency” campaign the company advertised, in which they had put red shoe boxes in hidden locations throughout the UK. The boxes contained a pair of Converse’s winter boots that can be taken and worn- essentially a free pair of shoes. Converse is also really active participation wise, specifically by combining the Converse brand with music. Converse has many free concerts advertised on their Facebook page that anybody can attend all throughout the United States. They also held photography contests for users to post pictures of their Converse on the page and rewarded the winner with free downloads of new music by bands associated with the company. Converse also has high user-generated content, and Converse-wearers can post pictures of their customized Converse under posts titled “101 things to write on your Converse” and if they take pictures of themselves simply wearing the shoes. As for customer service “portal”, Converse often poses questions about their products to the public in order to receive feedback on the page. The content flow of the page is high, and many of the users post comments of the product, post pictures of themselves wearing Converse, or simply leave posts about the shoes.

I believe that the company is doing a highly effective job of social media marketing because they are very active in terms of interaction with the consumers. All of the advertising they do with free concerts and giveaways ensures that users will continuously return to the page to check for new content. The same can be said for the photos on the page; by allowing the users to post pictures of themselves with the merchandise, they are using the consumers to advertise their own products and spread the word through users’ own social media outlets as well as the company’s. Overall, Converse has a very positive feedback from many users. Converse social media marketing is very effective because they ultimately reach out to consumers and keep them wanting more.