Veer NYC: Social Media Analysis

Veer NYC A Social Media Analysis Jordan Dinwiddie jordannnreneee@gmail.com• jordandinwiddiesocialmediastrategies.wordpress.com • March 19, 2013

Jordan Dinwiddie • email: jordannnreneee@gmail.co • Social Media and PR Strategies

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Client Narrative

Veer NYC is a brand and online boutique curated for the androgynous female. The fashion world has a different understanding of androgyny as opposed to people who choose identify as a gender neutral. Allowing people to purchase clothing free of men’s and women’s intentions.

The overall mission of the company is to offer clothing and accessories to women who identify with an androgynous style. Price points and misconceptions of androgyny create hurdles for women who really do fall in between masculine and feminine. There are a lot of designers out there making clothing for men, for example, and they aren't even realizing how transferable the shape and style would be for a female body. Basically, we are ignoring intended gender specifications, and offering personal understanding to our market.

Their goal with social media is to communicate their news and our voice. They would like to have a dialogue with the market. The overall goal of the brand is to create a community and to help a community that is misrepresented in the fashion world. They believe that social is a powerful tool in connecting with our market. In addition, they have been able to essentially drive their our own press. They have kicked off our Indiegogo campaign without any press. Tumblr has been particularly successful for them as it allows for the

tagging of more in depth posts. People can pick it up and share way more easily and directly.

Veer NYC offers pieces of mainstream clothing and accessories for people who fall in the middle of the physical gender spectrum. These items will not only allow people to dress comfortably within their own identity (or gender presentation), but it will create a conversation.

The current audience consists of women who identify as gender neutral, between the ages of 18-25. These women would be called “tomboys” on first glance. Veer’s audience are active users of popular social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Veer NYC is the leader in androgyny clothing, there aren’t nearly as many clothing brands that cater to the androgynous/ tomboy lifestyle, as far as my research goes there is only one other brand, Wildfang based out of Portland, that is also curating clothing for gender neutral brands. VEER however is the only brand that is aligning themselves with the LGBT community.

VEER is currently engaged via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Facebook and Tumblr are their most active With 770 likes on their Facebook, posting samples of merchandise as well as articles about androgynous models making noise in the fashion industry. Tumblr usage has increased peoples awareness (500+ followers) of the brand through tagging and engaging with the LGBT community on Tumblr. Twitter, which is operated by VEER co-founder Jenny is their direct communication with followers who have questions about the brand, instant communication with the brand. Instagram (529 followers) is appropriate for the visual aspects that social media and fashion require. It’s more personal than the other social platforms that are used.

Proposal & Recommendations

The VEER target audience consists of women who identify as androgynous (or fall in the middle of the gender specific spectrum), usually between the ages of 18-25 are in college or recent graduates. They audience spends 2-4 hours online for recreational purposes if not more.Culturally, the women are mostly white, with a small portion of the demographic being a minority. Social Media saavy, they are well versed in Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinterest.

On the social technographics ladder the majority of these women are collectors, with a small portion of the women straddling the critics/creators line (due to the androgynous community on platforms such as Tumblr). Veer should take the position of creator. Creating the conversation of androgyny and fashion has the potential to allow Veer to be a pundit in the community.

Veer’s current challenges in regards to social media is developing the conversation that allows others to engage along with them. They are in the proper position, it’s simply about what is being produced. The founders are adamant about representing those who identify as gender neutral, and it would be great to see them inform. The desired goal of implementing this plan is to put them on the proper path that will allow their overall business goals of creating a community and conversation to flourish. I propose, that by developing relationships with other women who are gender neutral, those willing to advocate for Veer will inform the proper feel about not only the wonderful clothing, but the message that goes along with them as well. Once the original content is there, Veer will have an overall message that will be consistent in everything that they produce, this is similar to what Evian water did in 2012. Through their youtube channel, they developed a pervasive campaign, by creating the world’s longest user generated video. They allowed users to create short videos that tie into a common theme. It allowed fans to create content on their behalf. Another example of allowing your people to advocate for your brand is to be as personal and open as possible. People love being able to identify with the brand. Veer could tell their personal stories of coming to terms with sexuality and the struggles that come with fashion and androgyny. This can easily be done and translate across different platforms, similar to the “It Gets Better” campaign. Which started with just one testimony of bullying among the LGBT community. Using different methods such as this, growth of online presence would be measured through the use of key words (tagging on tumblr for example) and the growth of followers and likes on all the platforms used. All of this building up to the launch of online store this summer (July 2013).

Summary Veer’s overall goal of wanting to create a community and conversation around androgyny and fashion aligns with the opportunity for original content that will not only develop a conversation, but build a buzz around the launch of Veernyc.com. Starting now, the release of original content, previews of clothing, and video content will last 4 months. Growth being monitored every month

from the current benchmark (reference social media audit. As someone who believes strongly in the inclusion of all into fashion. I’m a self proclaimed that identified instantly with the message of the brand. I’m familiar with the communities that Veer is currently using, and I’m confident in my abilities to help the brand grow.