French clothing company, Lacoste, which specializes in high-end sportswear, has harnessed the power of Instagram to shape a remarkable marketing strategy. Founded in France in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, who was nicknamed ‘the crocodile’, the company’s products can be recognized by its distinctive green crocodile logo. The brand’s premium product line includes – apart from apparel – adjacent categories like fragrances, sunglasses, watches and bedding.
The brand has successfully harnessed the power of Instagram to craft an effective marketing strategy for its products, by dissecting key elements, and gaining valuable consumer insights.
THE GOAL: Lacoste wanted to beta-test the new carousel ad format in Instagram Stories and ultimately increase online sales.
THE SOLUTION: Showcasing more products
Lacoste is famous for its iconic Classic Fit Polo shirt and other casual-wear clothing, but perhaps less well-known for its other high-quality lifestyle items, such as its bath and bedding products. To turn that around, the brand decided to run a bold new digital ad campaign to get those items in the spotlight.
More shoppers than ever before are discovering products on Instagram, so Lacoste’s creative agency Ogilvy recommended the new carousel format for ads in Instagram Stories. This eye-catching vertical format provides more ad space than other formats, allowing companies to effortlessly showcase more products and take their campaigns to a new level.
Lacoste and Ogilvy built bright and vivid 3-card carousels that highlighted the elegance of the Lacoste bath towel and bedding collections. The full-screen cards underscored the variety of vibrant colors that the collections come in, which are designed to appeal to any décor preference. The messaging emphasized the bold nature of the Lacoste brand. Each card featured a “Shop Now” call-to-action button that linked through to the relevant product pages on the Lacoste website to purchase.
Lacoste served the ads to men and women aged 25–54 who lived within 25 miles of 6 major US cities, as well as to people with an interest in Lacoste or who shop in department stores, and excluded those who had purchased Lacoste products within the last 30 days. The results of the April 20–May 4, 2018 campaign were based on reporting data from Facebook Ads Manager, and were determined using a Facebook split test, which revealed:
THE COMPANY EARNED:
2X higher online return on ad spend (versus another digital ad format)
61% higher click-through rate (versus another digital ad format)
32% lower cost per link click (versus another digital ad format)
“We wanted to test the additional space offered by the 3-card carousel ads in Instagram Stories. The ad format’s interactivity encouraged people to tap through each card to view our modern bath and bedding collections, swipe back and forth between the cards, or even pause for longer viewing. We’re thrilled with this ad format—it adds depth to product storytelling,” Susan Wojewoda, Senior Vice President of Licensing & Brands, Lacoste, was quoted as saying in the case study on Instagram for Business.
As per predis.ai, by showcasing its products in visually appealing settings and through creative compositions, the brand is able to draw attention to its products and generate interest among followers. This has helped them to build trust and credibility with followers. It also demonstrates the brand’s commitment to quality and attention to detail.
predis.ai also says that Lacoste’s Instagram feed primarily focuses on lifestyle content, including their latest collections, brand collaborations, and brand ambassadors. They also post a lot of sports-related content, especially tennis. The brand has also partnered with several top tennis players, including Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten, and Dominic Thiem, to name a few.
Lacoste – whose Instagram account has over 6 million followers and which posts everyday on its handle during peak hours when users are most active – used the following ways to increase its brand awareness and customer engagement:
1. Influencer Partnerships
- Lacoste’s partnerships with influencers who align with the brand boost brand awareness, trust, and engagement.
- Collaborations align with brand values, leverage influencer following, and increase content visibility.
- High engagement, increased visibility, and trust-building are some outcomes.
2. Shoppable Posts
Lacoste’s use of shoppable posts is an effective strategy that has helped the brand to drive sales, enhance the user experience, build customer loyalty and drive sales on Instagram. Shoppable posts are a feature on Instagram that allows users to purchase products directly from the platform, as per predis.ai.
3. User – Generated Content
Lacoste encourages its followers to create and share content featuring its products, using branded hashtags such as #LacosteStyle or #LacosteLive. The brand then reposts this content on its own Instagram feed, explains predis.ai.
4. Use of Hashtags
In addition to using generic hashtags like #fashion or #style, Lacoste also uses branded hashtags in their posts. Lacoste’s branded hashtag is #Lacoste, which is used in many of their posts. Branded hashtags are a great way to build brand awareness and encourage user-generated content.
