Black Milk Clothing - Something A Little Different
Interview with Cameron Parker - Marketing and Operations Manager
Black Milk Clothing was founded in mid 2009 by James Lillius starting off as a blog and little more. James attempted to sell his product via a market stall in Queensland with manual success however during this time the blog began to flourish as a business, by the end of 2009 James took the risky move of moving the business 100% online. As the store began to build online so did the social media.
The techniques used with their social media are very unconventional and go against most of the theories and strategies that are promoted surrounding social media marketing. James as the designer is in charge of the Facebook page himself, speaking directly to the fans making it a very personal experience. Cameron Parker, the marketing and operations manager takes care of the other platforms including Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram. Parker is adamant that hiring an external company to manage the social media is not a good strategy; he firmly believes it needs to be someone who knows the brand, the employees and the customers inside out. Black Milk follows a strategy which Parker describes as being “authentic…not about being corporatised”. Black Milk have a strong focus on the concept of “real time” making a point not to post between midnight and 7am, with a “good morning/goodnight” personable attitude. During the day they put no cap on the number of posts: when following conventional strategies this is often considered to be spamming and strongly advised against. At Black Milk they are very open in saying if you don’t like it then unsubscribe; ultimately they are left with fans who feel unique and apart of the brand.
The techniques used with their social media are very unconventional and go against most of the theories and strategies that are promoted surrounding social media marketing. James as the designer is in charge of the Facebook page himself, speaking directly to the fans making it a very personal experience. Cameron Parker, the marketing and operations manager takes care of the other platforms including Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram. Parker is adamant that hiring an external company to manage the social media is not a good strategy; he firmly believes it needs to be someone who knows the brand, the employees and the customers inside out. Black Milk follows a strategy which Parker describes as being “authentic…not about being corporatised”. Black Milk have a strong focus on the concept of “real time” making a point not to post between midnight and 7am, with a “good morning/goodnight” personable attitude. During the day they put no cap on the number of posts: when following conventional strategies this is often considered to be spamming and strongly advised against. At Black Milk they are very open in saying if you don’t like it then unsubscribe; ultimately they are left with fans who feel unique and apart of the brand.
In 2012 Black Milk has over 150,000 Facebook fans, growing approximately 1000 a day, 5000-7000 a week. Any promotions or events are advertised via their social media, which can impact on number growth. Twitter doesn’t have quite the popularity as Facebook however the number of followers still grows by over 100 a week. The Instagram account has reached over 50,000 followers in less than six months, which Parker explains, is a fast growing and significant number for the platform as it has only really taken off in the past 12 months. These statistics seem somewhat remarkable when Parker shares that the marketing budget he has to work with is $0 therefore the fan growth and promotion is 100% organic; making Black Milk a unique case.
The Facebook fan page is the businesses main social media platform, the Twitter and Instagram accounts are linked to it. As mentioned the unique nature of the Facebook stems from the knowledge that it is run by company founder and product designer James Lillius himself. James is the voice of the page and responds directly to the fans. According to Parker the two-way conversation that Facebook allows, in a manner the blog never could, is exactly why Black Milk branched out from being purely blog based and fully embraced the emerging social media trend. Several times during the interview Parker stressed, “if it wasn’t for social media, specifically Facebook, we wouldn’t be here today, we wouldn’t have a business”. With the high amount of capital required to successfully market a product, create advertorial content and put together successful photo shoots to be used for the campaigns the $0 budget Black Milk has for marketing makes this impossible; without the cult like Facebook following Parker strongly affirms Black Milk would have “never been able to gain attention on the traditional market”.
The Facebook fan page is the businesses main social media platform, the Twitter and Instagram accounts are linked to it. As mentioned the unique nature of the Facebook stems from the knowledge that it is run by company founder and product designer James Lillius himself. James is the voice of the page and responds directly to the fans. According to Parker the two-way conversation that Facebook allows, in a manner the blog never could, is exactly why Black Milk branched out from being purely blog based and fully embraced the emerging social media trend. Several times during the interview Parker stressed, “if it wasn’t for social media, specifically Facebook, we wouldn’t be here today, we wouldn’t have a business”. With the high amount of capital required to successfully market a product, create advertorial content and put together successful photo shoots to be used for the campaigns the $0 budget Black Milk has for marketing makes this impossible; without the cult like Facebook following Parker strongly affirms Black Milk would have “never been able to gain attention on the traditional market”.
“Its not about telling people about Black Milk, its about discovering Black Milk.”
Black Milk has taken on a number of international brand ambassadors on the basis of their online presence rather than a celebrity status as an element of marketing and promotion. Street style webpages such as lookbook.nu allow anyone to upload images of their outfits with facilities to describe their outfits and anyone to comment (following a very similar format to Facebook they resonate the principles of social media platforms). Parker describes Black Milk’s brand ambassadors as “key girls on look book”; these girls have large followings and are well known to users of the site. The products are given to the girls with no instructions, it is entirely left in their hands how they style and use the garments. This may seem like a risky move however it echoes the way in which the Facebook page is used. Upon purchasing a product Black Milk directs customers to their Facebook page for styling ideas as they encourage all customers to post images of their garments; all posts from Facebook are linked to the webpage. It is through theses posts that the fan base has been able to grow organically. Parker discussed how numbers have allowed for the growth, with the popularity being infections; whether it be a photo from a happy customer or from James himself can easily receive several hundred likes and over 100 comments. Friends of friends will see this movement happening on the profiles of others and catch onto the trend quite quickly. Parker maintains they never have photo shoots with models for the products, all product imagery has come from the fans posting their own photos on Facebook and Instagram and in the case of Tumblr and Instagram using the hashtags to connect their personal image with the wider Black Milk community.
Black Milk aims to adapt to any new social media platforms early, work out how they can best be applied to their business and get the ball rolling for the hashtags they have developed unanimously over all platforms to start trending. It also allows for the company to establish the official accounts and set the standards of them before fans do it unofficially. Looking forward Parker envisions that within the next 12 months they will have to form a new strategy as the day-today task of monitoring and maintaining the social media is becoming too large. As the overseas market grows this may also mean irradiating the “sleep period” and having the social media running 24/7.
Black Milk Clothing doesn’t have a traditional marketing strategy. Their marketing exists more or less purely online and relies on others do to the work for them so to speak. The social media is run by the team themselves, James as the designer and the voice of the company takes the criticism amongst the praise when exposing himself through Facebook. One of the major differences Parker highlighted was that they have approached the social media with no real knowledge of what they are doing making it more about emotion which is why the community has responded in such large numbers. They want to avoid using push marketing or a cold and corporate type of vibe; Black Milk are “proud of their customers” and are thrilled to have them, of all shapes and sizes, as the models of their products. They remain unique in the carefree attitude they have to their social media, however it encourages the global community of followers and further projects the brand forward.
Black Milk Clothing doesn’t have a traditional marketing strategy. Their marketing exists more or less purely online and relies on others do to the work for them so to speak. The social media is run by the team themselves, James as the designer and the voice of the company takes the criticism amongst the praise when exposing himself through Facebook. One of the major differences Parker highlighted was that they have approached the social media with no real knowledge of what they are doing making it more about emotion which is why the community has responded in such large numbers. They want to avoid using push marketing or a cold and corporate type of vibe; Black Milk are “proud of their customers” and are thrilled to have them, of all shapes and sizes, as the models of their products. They remain unique in the carefree attitude they have to their social media, however it encourages the global community of followers and further projects the brand forward.