The coming of spring marks the start of festival season, which peaks interest in bohemian styles. Forever 21 is capitalizing on this by showcasing various looks on Instagram and Twitter while also creating a board on Pinterest and an online shop to products that fit within the festival look.

“Forever 21’s cultivated brand image is about providing current fashion trends at an affordable prices for a demographic segment ranging from teens to early 30’s,” said Thomas Mathew, chief product officer at Zoomph. “Today this translates to a target market that spans from Gen Z to millenials, both of whom are digital natives.

“The best way to message to these consumers are talking to them on their comfort channels such as Instagram and Snapchat,” he said.

“Forever 21 encourages consumers to share content with #F21xMe hashtag. This is a great way for F21 to access authentic word-of-mouth consumer content which can be positioned for marketing campaigns to gain attention.”

Jamming out on mobile
Instagram is an effective platform to showcase images of unique and interesting style looks. Forever 21 is using it to share photos from other social media influencers as well as its own to promote its festival shop.

For instance, one image from the blog Alexiistheres showcases the social media personality in a field modeling Forever 21 apparel to embody the idea of festival fashion. The image appears on both Forever 21’s and the Alexiistheres social media outlets.

These images also appear on Forever 21’s Twitter and Facebook, which also feature retweets from brand ambassadors such as a post from popular publication Who What Wear that reads “You can now get everything you need for Coachella at Forever 21,” along with a link to the festival shop.

Forever 21’s Pinterest page features a variety of themed style boards, including one devoted to festival wear. The Pinterest board, titled Festival, showcases a range of products from Forever 21 including fringe vests, charmed and feathered headpieces and crocheted tops.

The Pinterest posts link back to the shop for consumers to purchase the items, and features a pin for every product available. Pairing promotion on social media with a style-specific site can drive awareness for the products, and offers festival attendees a streamlined method of outfit shopping.

Social media strategies
Similarly, Urban Outfitters Inc.’s bohemian apparel brand Free People showcased its knowledge of how to effectively time push notifications to drive sales for current collections available on its application for last year’s festival season (see more).

Also, Macy’s, H&M and Anthropologie burrowed through social media to celebrate the Punxsutawney groundhog not seeing his shadow and get an early start on warmer seasonal sales through eye-popping imagery (see more).

“Festivals is a great marketing choice for fashion and apparel brands, festival audiences skew towards a demographic that mirrors F21’s target consumers,” Mr. Mathew said. “Festivals generate significant organic activity on social channels.

“F21 can ride on that wave of activity to reach a wider audience,” he said. “With the onset of March, festival season is ‘in.’

“Tapping into this is an example of F21 being in touch with what is current this reinforces their brand image of being current”