The power
of social media has been felt across the consumer industries and luxury brands
are no exception. Online platforms like Facebook have increasingly helped buoy sales of luxury brands as users can become an online ‘fan’, promoting the brand and influencing buyers all over the world.

The
ultimate goal of having Facebook fans is to spark higher online revenues. Almost half
(47 per cent) of active social media users are more inclined than other
customers to be heavy spenders on shoes, clothing and accessories, according to
Nielsen. Further, consumers who engage with companies via social media spend
between 20 per cent and 40 per cent more than the average consumer, according to consultant Bain
& Co.

Ledbury, the wealth intelligence provider, has compiled a ranking
of the numbers of Facebook fans for a number of luxury
brands. In its November edition of High Net Worth Ledbury examined the incremental effect of Facebook fans, comparing the growth in fans
with the growth in brands’ sales. This analysis is deliberately simplified in
that it does not account for the various sectors’ growth within the luxury
category, nor location of sales and fans.

This year Burberry
is still in the lead by absolute numbers, followed by Gucci, Dior and Chanel.
Burberry also fares well in terms of year-on-year growth, which is up 290 per
cent, reflecting its continued pioneering in the field of social media and
marketing in general, said Ledbury.

Hilfiger
and Louis Vuitton also feature amongst those with the highest growth rates, at
272 per cent and 182 per cent for the year respectively. Hilfiger’s growth can
be attributed to the 60 per cent increase in the advertising budget in the
latter half of last year and, higher interaction by members of the ‘Hilfiger
family’ with fans on their Facebook page, said Ledbury.

The biggest
increase is at Christian Dior, which has dramatically grown its fan base, from
just under 0.4 million to more than 5.5 million this year. This represents a
jump of more than 1,000 per cent and takes it from 13th place in 2010 to 3rd
place.

Dior
introduced a number of new perfumes and cosmetics over the course of the year
and also announced Natalie Portman as the new face for the brand, all of which
helped to raise its profile.