Organisation Name: Frank & Oak
Industry: Online retail
Web references: https://ca.frankandoak.com/about, http://www.lesaffaires.com/secteurs-d-activite/commerce-de-detail/frank-et-oak-se-lance-aux-etats-unis/577390, http://blog.hashtagpaid.com/how-frank-oak-used-influencer-marketing-to-crowdfund-pop-up-shops/, http://collectiveimpact.frankandoak.com/
Have you already heard about Frank & Oak? If not, the only possible reason is that you are not a man between 20 and 35.
This Montreal-based menswear brand is one of Canada’s fastest growing retailers and one of the most successful and innovative brands over the past few years. Frank and Oak is offering unique online clothing collections to men between 20 and 35 and in three years, they have built a community of 1.6 million members. (source)
Why are they so successful? Because they have brilliantly engaged their customers in a comprehensive experience that goes beyond the screen.
“We make sure to involve the online community in every step of our process. We ask them questions, we get their opinions on our product design, and we listen to and implement their feedback. Our members appreciate playing such a big role in what we do, and so they stay involved in the process – be it posting online, giving us suggestions, or shopping.”, said Ethan Song, co-founder
Understanding the importance of social media for their customers
During the last year, the co-founders decided they wanted to expand their activities in the United States to bring the customer experience further. As almost 70% of their online purchases are from American, they wanted to offer them a physical experience to complement the online community.
Following their approach of involving the customer in every step of their process, they wanted to let them decide where the 6 stores would be established across the U.S. Therefore, they launched a crowdfunding campaign – when buying a gift-card or special package, the customers were allowed to vote for the city where they would like to have a Frank and Oak store. The first 6 cities to reach the target would get a pop-up shop. They were encouraged to share the news with their social network, using #FandOinMyCity so that their city could win.
The campaign has reached over 500,000 viewers, brings over 2,200 new followers with a total engagement of over 15,000. (source) It’s been a huge success and now Frank and Oak have a community of customers looking forward to the opening of their store.
Frank and Oak clearly understood how to be creative and reinvent the online and physical experience for their customer leveraging social media to bring their success further.
Submitted By: Jessica Landry
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Programme Director, Social Media for Business Performance.