The apparel retailer is pulling out all the stops on social media to promote its Disney’s Descendants line. Putting social media at the forefront of its campaign allows Kohl’s to greater connect with consumers while driving digital sales.

“Involving the cast in the Twitter Q&A is a great way for Kohl’s to expand its visibility to Descendants fans who are likely to be excited about the new D-Signed Descendants line,” said Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile. “Collaborations with celebrities on any social media platform is valuable because it extends a brand’s visibility to the celebrity’s following as well.

“Furthermore, a Twitter Q&A makes the branded content show up on participants profiles too, giving the content even more eyeballs,” she said. “Whenever brands are creating a live social engagement it is important that there be promotions in the lead up that inform consumers about the upcoming event.

“The best social event ever will do little to help a brand if nobody shows up to it. There is always the hope that the conversation will go viral or vacuum in participation as it unfolds, but brands should work on getting the word out there first. Kohl and Dove Cameron did a great job at informing followers about the upcoming Twitter party and ensuring people would show up.”

Twitter leverage
Kohl’s is known for its partnerships with various celebrities and entertainment brands for many collections. The retailer is appealing to a younger audience with its latest partnership with the Descendants film, and has taken to social media knowing the space is a significant platform in reaching the demographic.

The retailer launched a sweepstakes through Twitter, in which users can win a Kohl’s gift card of $100 along with the Descendants book. To enter fans answered trivia questions via Kohl’s Twitter account based off the TV film.

The sweepstakes consists of five periods, in which Kohl’s will share various Descendants questions on Twitter. To be considered for entry, participants must reply with a correct answer along with the hashtag #DescendantsAtKohlsSweepstakes.

The contest started on August 3 and will end on August 7. The trivia prompts are in the format of an image, including photos of Descendant characters.

One post cued fans to answer which classic Disney movie the character Evie’s mother originated along with images of Evie and main protagonist Mal. After allowing time for participants to answer, Kohl’s shared that the answer to the question is Snow White.

The retailer also held a question and answer with actress Dove Cameron, who plays Mal. The digital hub Mom Central partnered with Kohl’s to host the Q&A.

Fans tweeted questions to Ms. Cameron and her responses were shared through Kohl’s and Mom Central’s Twitter pages.

Kohl’s and mobile
Kohl’s is cognizant of the advantages of driving sales through mobile. For instance, its application enables users to view items in the shopping cart that were previously added from desktop or a tablet, potentially diminishing the shopping cart abandonment rate during the upcoming holiday season when mcommerce is expected to spike (see more).

The retailer also ramped up efforts to bridge the gap between the retail world and the fitness sector by partnering with popular bloggers and instructors to provide workout tips on the retailer’s social media channels, in a bid to drive sales of its expanded active wear offerings (see more).

“The sweepstakes prize is somewhat disappointing,” Ms. Lowy said. “Kohl’s was using this Twitter feed to engage an audience that is clearly enthusiastic about the Descendants.

“We would have hoped that the brand would have come up with a prize that is somewhat more personal in taste to the group,” she said. “Instead they chose a bland $100 gift card.

“Generally sweepstakes that perform best are those with prizes that really speak to something the target audience would be excited about.”

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Commerce Daily