Body Shop VS Lush: FIGHT. An age-old battle, it’s something beauty mongers everywhere have been asked about – at least once, Body Shop or Lush? The two brands always seem to be head-to-head in competition. But then again, they would be – they are pretty similar in terms of …well, everything. Their products are alike, with creams, soaps and cosmetics. Their values are too, with both aiming to provide ethical, animal-friendly al-natural products. And the battle doesn’t end there, like all good things, it continues online, in the digital and social sphere.
So which brand has taken to social media like a duck to water?
This week we put on our ‘detective hats’ and we’ve done some digging to find out which account takes home the social media cup.
DESIGN
With the new profile layout Twitter have made it so easy for brands to visually showcase their personality through images and text color. So how do Body Shop and Lush fair up in the design world. Each brand uses a range of quality of images and videos, all the multimedia they use is executed creatively and in interesting ways to keep their customers engaged.
Both are very true to their ‘own’ style. The Body Shop use ‘natural’ colours to represent their brand and they use these consistently on all their social accounts, with plenty of neutrals, shades of browns, pinks, nudes, taupe, whites and creams. However, HUGE failing point; since the introduction of the ‘new’ layout they haven’t taken the time to update their avatar with a higher resolution image. *Tisk tisk
On the other hand, you have the bright, loud, luscious colours of Lush Cosmetics. The colours are fun, funky and definitely call out to their customers. They’ve taken the time to develop a super cool header photo using all their colours.
Tip: Psssst, Did you know that Twitter allows you to tailor the color of the text on your page to suit your brand! Use this feature to make your page stand out.
TONE OF VOICE
Your activity on social media has to be consistent with the overall brand positioning and messaging. Social channels allow brands to develop a personality and enhance their appeal among customers.
Although The Body Shop and Lush are two very similar brands, their approach towards social communication is very different. The Body Shop takes on a professional tone, not really encouraging interaction from their social communities. They focus on more informative posts/tweets for their customers, about new products, how-to videos and brand news.
@xsophiehoughton Yes x ^KP
— The Body Shop UK (@TheBodyShopUK) June 3, 2014
How to use and care for all your make-up brushes http://t.co/Vg9cij9O3H - new tutorial with @charlottegmap
— The Body Shop UK (@TheBodyShopUK) May 19, 2014
Most of their customer interaction seems to be dealing with customer enquiries and issues… but at least the tone of voice is consistent and they know their house style!
Lush, however, take on a ‘let-me-be-your-friend’ approach, sharing more about the team and how their weekend went, as well as showcasing their different products.
Morning! The sky's blue and our baths are purple :) . We're making the gorgeous Bathos bubble bar today. #lushkitchen pic.twitter.com/z22gzCETDP
— Lush Kitchen (@LushKitchen) May 7, 2014
The brand has developed a real personality with their style of communication and tone of voice and they generate loads of customer interaction and user-generated content (UGC) across all social channels.
MAY FAVOURITES <3 https://t.co/L5zx5m7Tdo
— Fleur (@FleurDeForce) May 27, 2014
How cute is the @lushltd May Day bath bomb? Amazing cause too! #teambadger http://t.co/ztk8o7TnMD pic.twitter.com/5l8UeJQbyt
— Emma (@milkteef) May 13, 2014
Tip: If you have the opportunity to give a brand a social media ‘tone of voice’, ensure it’s in line with the key messaging points in the advertising. Brainstorm ‘if the brand were a person - who would it be’, create a document with the ‘personality’ that all employees can refer to, this will ensure that everyone understands the positioning and the style.
ENGAGEMENT AND INTERACTION
Engagement and interactivity are key on social media - is there really any point in blasting out updates about your brand or industry if no one is ever listening? The answer is no. Social media provides brands an excellent opportunity to build stronger relationships with their audience and although they tend to interact less, it’s not to say that The Body Shop don’t try. They recently held their first Twitter ‘slumber party’ in honour of their overnight serum launch. They’re working on improving how they use social media.
Jennifer Barckley, Director of Brand Communications and Values at the Body Shop, said:
"A current focus is to make sure that when we're talking about social, we're not just doing it in isolation, but that we really have an integrated content marketing approach; creating more of a process around it.”
After monitoring the accounts on Twitter for a few days we’ve discovered that The Body Shop are attracting an average of forty-five new followers, but losing three of those a day. In comparison, Lush gain ninety-six new followers but tend to lose about two followers per day.
On Instagram, it’s the same story. The Body Shop uses the platform to highlight their products and tutorials. Lush are using the platform to encourage interaction and socialise with their followers via regrams, customer shots and hashtag selfie requests.
Tip: The Body Shop are merging their social media streams into one big media river – using each channel to promote the other channels and creating a synergy between all the social accounts, whereas Lush don’t tend to promote the different channels (although they have them). Think of your social accounts as different cogs in a machine and they all need to communicate or link to each other for the system to work.
So, who’s blitzing social?
All in all, both brands are doing well with their social media accounts. They’re interacting, they’re informing and they’re selling too *Tip: Make sure your social accounts link to your website!! Both brands do this and it’s likely their posts/tweets/uploads are driving traffic and money to the site.
In terms of engagement, both brands approach it differently and it may work for them. However, The Body Shop need to develop more of a personality, showcasing their brand for the fun, loving person it would be and encourage customer interaction. At the moment their social accounts seem monotone and lacking life.
#Win a complete ‘no make-up’ look collection in our latest #competition http://t.co/Q9d5JsUtyt #MeReTouchFree
— The Body Shop UK (@TheBodyShopUK) May 23, 2014
New All-in-One Instablur hits the stores and online today http://t.co/n83s4m7HI1
— The Body Shop UK (@TheBodyShopUK) May 20, 2014
Lush on the other hand, post a range of different media to keep their audience engaged and add a personal touch to their tweets/posts. This leads to more interaction between the brand and their audience and oodles of UGC.
AND the winner is… Lush.
Do you disagree? Maybe you think The Body Shop’s communication style works for them? Let us know in the comments! Also feel free to tell us which online battle you’dlike to see next? We’re always open to suggestions!
