Black Milk Clothing: A Company Analysis

Company Analysis By: Alaina Stern Social Media Marketing MKTG 4580 – Summer 2013 Professor Tyra Burton

“Black Milk Clothing manufactures awesome printed leggings, swims, tops and skirts from Brisbane, Australia. Black Milk was established in 2009, originally with the motive of world domination via printed nylon. The brand has since moved toward a more humanitarian business model of creating a worldwide community of unbelievably fierce, stylish ladies.�

Table of Contents • I. Introduction of company – background information, branding • II. Target Markets • III. Analysis of Company website • IV. Current Social Media Platforms • V. Social Sites not Being Utilized • VI. Company in the news VII. Crowdsourcing and customer created content • VIII. Spring social media campaigns • IX. Campaign Analysis • X. Social Media Strengths • XI. Social Media Weaknesses • XII. Suggestions • XIII. Conclusion

About the Emperor Himself I. Introduction of Company – Background Information

• Hello, My Name Is: The Story: Paying bills by doing odd jobs.

Wanted to work u/ his hands.

From boredom, Lillis sold his CD player to buy a sewing machine.

Next Step Fabric:

Only $6 in his pocket, there was only one fabric: NYLON!

First project was a (small) “shirt” He was intrigued and so it began…

Saving spare change , a few classes later & African tribal print nylon…

His 1st pair of leggings were born, and the rest is Black Milk today…

“Give me nylon or give me death.”

If I had to describe BM’s brand image with one word it would be FUNKY… I. Introduction of Company – Branding Humorous, Quirky, & Eccentric

VOICE

The voice of the company would be described as humorous, quirky, and eccentric. These adjectives could also be used to describe the majority of their customers. A major advantage that BM hold over it’s competitors, lies within what embodies their brand image. The designs and prints that BM utilizes are a reflection of its overall image; unconventional but at the same time still very innovative and modernistic. BM’s brand image and voice go ‘hand and hand’ with one another offering a consistent message that will directly relate and impress their target market.

Black Milk’s target market is aimed at ladies 17-25, with wealthy parents and are in-the-know of all latest trends.

II. Target Markets

Psychological: - strong opinions - non-conformists - self expressionist - creative - artistic Demographic: -Females -middle/upper class -younger (17-25) -occupations: students, designers, artists, & band members

Behavioral: Interested in artistic expression through: music, arts, & fashion

A secondary market of BM that should be considered are Men. Although most of the products BM offers are designed and aimed toward their primary target; a lot of their clothing is intended to be considered unisex. There are several categories that can appeal to men such as some of the printed tops and even a select few of the leggings. Also BM has a potentially strong presence is the teen girls demographic. Specifically, girls who are under 17, living with their parents , enrolled in school with no job and are fully dependent on their parents to provide for them.

Girls

Ages 17-25 Upper/Middle Class Fashionably Conscious /Trendy

The clean, minimal website design will focuses full attention on the products III. Analysis of Company website The overall design of BM’s company website is very basic and plain. The layout is very simplistic giving the site a tidy overall feel that will be universally transparent to their consumers everywhere. This minimalistic approach to design also helps navigating content by not overcrowding and distracting the user. Both the simple design and effortless navigation are extremely important to BM’s website; being that they only sell their products virtually.

On the home page, there are a few details worth mentioning. The first aspect of the home page worth elaborating on is the concept and utilization of social media integration. Currently above the fold there are only two links to their social media outlets; Facebook and Instagram.

The other five social platform links are not only below the fold, but they are located at the very bottom of the page, within the same vicinity as the FAQ’s and Privacy Terms. This placement is not only poor planned but because of the associated terms grouped with them; they will be overlooked and disregarded. Another detail worth exploring is how BM uses certain features to communicate with their target market. The Home page content consists of one big block column and nothing else. This allows BM to display and express the most important and relevant messages. Also, when there are new releases, the tabs menu will add another column beneath the main bar. This feature allows BM to catch the eye of the consumer to communicate and establish new featured items.

Black Milk Clothing; A Company or Cult?

IV. Current Social Media Platforms Black Milk Clothing social media marketing technique is somewhat unconventional and goes against what many marketers have strategized and theorized about social media marketing. BM’s is solely online and its marketing strategy relies on their fans, which they call ‘sharkies’, to do the work for them. The majority of their posts across their social platforms are shots of and from ‘sharkies’ wearing BM products; these photos have become the foundation of the BM culture. This culture gives BM a consistent voice of a unique and carefree attitude across all social media outlets that will resonate with a rapidly growing audience.

“We’ve never paid for fans or likes or followers, we don’t do giveaways, we don’t post the same content across all channels and we very rarely do promotions or sales. All we do is try to get back to everyone as quickly as possible, give everyone a bit of love for interacting with us and make our social media platforms fun places to be”

BM’s Blog BM drives it’s subscriptions to the blog by offering exclusive deals like “really amazing legware for a hell of a lot cheaper than you normally could.”

It is made clear that some discounts are This blog originally was started by JL himself TOO only available back in November of ‘08. Since then, MANY TIGHTS! & announced members of the BM team blogs as well and to their blog it all shows up in one feed. The blog posts For those for whom subscriare mostly formatted consistently; one too many tights is not enough… bers. large post at a time. The posts are numbered, and the content is rarely related. Content differs from time to time, one day it might be a ‘behind the scenes look’ at a photo shoot and the next a 2. Regular podcast or funny meme. updates & special deals 3.

The Reviews of title of what's hot this blog post was “Friends don’t let friends have boring legs” This is an example of a random blog post, but it was part of a longer one. This is the kind of post that is more for kicks and giggles rather than giving updates or promotional information.

Facebook Black Milk’s amount of Facebook fans and followers, as mentioned previously they call ‘Sharkies’, is a huge number tallying in at an astonishing 505,813. With such a large fan base it is a hard task to keep up and respond to all of the posts and comments, but BM has a response rate of 64% with an average response time of 48 minutes. BM does a great job with balancing the sales type posts and the fun care-free posts. The company consistently posts multiple times throughout the day. Every post and comment by BM specifies who is writing, whether it be the one of marketing team members or JL (the owner), by including their name at the end.

A positive and unique aspect of BM’s Facebook is they have set up a discussion forum for their ‘sharkie’ community to connect. The groups are categorized mostly by location and similar interests. All the groups are privatized and require a request or invitation to join.

An Important feature that other companies BM posts an image every 100,00 likes, which they call with a large following ‘Noms’. This picture is featured on their cover photo should take note of is and have every profile photo of everyone who has BM’s set of in house ‘Om nom nom nomed them’ (liked them). This would guidelines and policies be an example of a good post tradition. It shows which they call the followers that the brand is more than just a company ‘Commandments’ that wants their money. It shows that BM is like a friend governing proper post and a culture where girls everywhere can come mannerism for together and feel someone is listening and wants to consumer created hear what they have to say. content.

Twitter

Black Milk Clothing’s has tweeted 11,582 times, is following 1,338 other tweeters, and has 27,2748 followers.

This yields a ratio of 20:1, for every one person they actually follow; they have 20 people who are following them. BM on average tweets the most on Mondays @ 1 p.m.

Some of the words and topics that was tweeted the most during the month of July include; blackmilktweets, It3, lo :), black, lana, july, :p, blackmilk, shanna, 9am, and sneak. They use twitter in a variety of ways; for engagement, communication, presence, and building a reputable image.

The establishment, infiltration, and persistent usage of hashtags (especially on twitter) is an important detail. Having a hashtags that both its followers and the company uses, allows the BM brand to build market influence. It also has the power to win new customers, simply by having a dominant presences through being the same place as their target market; social media.

Tumblr Black Milk’s Tumblr has almost no branding in the title or even above the fold. The title is simple text, their logo is nowhere to be found, and the color of the background is white.

The simplistic design is consistent with their website but the plain text of the title confused me at first, so I had to double check and make sure it was really their actual tumblr.

5,432 The first tab “ask me anything” pulls up a page that has a simple box.

Once you’ve type Profile of BM’s Tumblr your question and hit submit; nothing happens. There are no further instructions or any Reblogs on tumblr are the ‘likes’ information on how or when your on Facebook. More reblogs question will be answered, it just means a bigger reach. says “Thank you.” The second tab, Most of the content comes the most important, is a feature from sharkies posting ‘selfies’ that lets BM’s customers submit and photos in BM’s clothing. pictures of themselves in BM clothing. By featuring pictures of BM’s tumblr is not theirs; the ‘sharkies’ have taken over! But for REAL consumers wearing their product, they communicate their real just try to find 1 BM post... brand image through their customers to their customers; BM can both receive ideas smart! Lastly, there is a tab from users and inspire them “archive”, this page has a filter through their consumers pics. and lets users search every picture Giving enthusiastic consumers a that was ever posted, month by platform to spread their sweet month. This shows they care by honey: gets the bees buzzing. keeping a ongoing portfolio.

YouTube Black Milk’s YouTube channel has a total of 76 videos and 6,457 subscribers.

The video with the most amount of views is titled “In a galaxy actually kinda close…” has racked up 149,380 views in the past 9 months.

Through YouTube BM hosts and records podcasts. Once recorded and edited they are available to viewers through YouTube but are also incorporated and used in the companies blog: “too many tights!” Worth mentioning, during the fad, BM made 6 Harlem Shake videos, each featuring a different department of the BM team.

12X

more than Videos have the ability to arouse more senses VIDEOS than do text and are shared pictures therefore causing emotions and effecting our thought process. BM does not Text & Links have any traditional/ COMBINED mainstream commercials, aiming to drive sales, but rather informational updates through JL’s podcasts and other random fun videos that elicits responses from the viewers.

Pintrest Statistics show that more then one-third of pintrest users are female Because BM’s target market are women between the ages of 1725; pintrest is the place to be. Although, pintrest is not very engaging and interactive directly; BM would be foolish not to market on pintrest.

Black Milk has a significant presence and good size following. Although they are only following 323 users, they have a decent amount of followers; 11,114. Their account has 1,392 pins in total distributed in 24 different boards. The board, in my opinion, are very well organized and have great themes. Some of the topics include; Star Wars (x2), Lord of the rings, confessions of a nylon addict (humorous), Nom Fest (x6), glitterpuke, Sesame Street, 500K noms, Boards divided gym gear, 3 into subjects by boards just for events/ themes ‘sharkies’. BM Boards only posts pictures of BM clothing. I would advise 6 nom fest Newest them have a boards boards few boards at the other than BM bottom products, this 500K way the can Noms/ repin followers likes and become on FB Followers more active, board and more engaged.

Google + Black Milk, along with all the other companies in the world, has a small amount of following and interaction in comparison to the other platforms.

The currently have 1,101 +1’s and only 655 G+ users have them in their circles. They have 368 G+ users in their circles.

Briefly glancing at BM G+ profile, one would think they have a somewhat of a substantial profile. However as you scroll down, it doesn’t take long to hit the bottom. BM has only posted 16 times in their whole G+ life. Posting four times when they started their account on Nov 8, 2011. After that the next time they posted was more than six months later. This random posting is consistent even today.

Comparing the number of total photos and the many different photo albums on BM’s Facebook to their G+, their G+ falls short and couldn’t reach their Facebook even if it had a rocket. Four measly albums and 38 photos could never add up to the 64 albums and countless number of Facebook photos accumulated.

Even if BM was consistent in their posts and had a presence on G+ the statistics show that this is not where their target market is. However, I would advise them to at least once a week post in G+. Not that they have any trouble, because they don’t, but G+ can only help broaden the reach and increase SEO.

Saving the last slot, for the best spot!

WOAH

Instagram is where BM thrives with over half a million followers. BM has posted 1,365 pictures and follow 6,681 Instagram users.

Apart from twitter and tumblr, Instagram is the most important platform for infiltrating internal and external usage of hashtags. Just the hashtag #blackmilk raked in a whopping 148,529 photo results. If you combine the first five results together it totals at 301,040; more than a quarter of a million photos; talk about consumer created content!

The photographs that are officially from BM, on the regular, get thousands of likes. If I had to take a shot in the dark I would shoot at an average of 16,000 likes (which really hearts) on each photograph they post. On Instagram all the user has to do to like a photo is double tap the picture, making it simple enough to be mindless.

Social Sites not Being Utilized

In the news

Crowd-Sourced Content

Through Facebook and Instagram, James Lillis planted a seed. This seed grew and grew until one day it be flowered into what BM call their ‘sharkies’.

Lillis used both of these platforms to make sure his audience was included, recognized and appreciated. Now, with the right targeting and the acquired trust of top influencers James Lillis has over over a million social media user following across platforms.

While both Instagram and Facebook are the main hubs they are not the only ingredient in making this dedicated and enthusiastic brand image created

by BM’s crowdsourced content, the application of hashtags across all BM’s social media I. has heightened and YOU SHALL BE matured his EXCELLENT TO ONE marketing strategy.

V. ANOTHER His strategy consists YOU SHALL NOT II. of uploading pics of MAKE CRITICAL YOU SHALL NOT fans in BM leggings COMMENTS ON UNNECESSARILY FREAK and not only letting OTHER WOMEN'S BODIES. OUT them add content VI. III. but encouraging BE PATIENT YOU SHALL NOT POST them as well.

VII. CUSTOMER SERVICE Because of this YOU SHALL NOT BE A QUESTIONS AND ISSUES people paid PERVY MAN ON FACEBOOK! attention to his VIII. IV. offerings and trusted YOU SHALL GET OVER YOU SHALL NOT his products. And YOURSELF EXPLOIT OTHER that is what creates SHARKIES lifetime customers.

Consumer-Created Content When doing various Google searches for finding information about Black Milk there were many blogs created by consumers, but most frequently I ran across two in particular. Both blogs have in common the fact that they are created and maintained on a regular basis through tumblr.

However, they have very different messages about the brand. It is important for the company to research and grasp consumer blogs related to their brand because, not only can they learn and get feedback from them, the ones who have a substantial amount of followers can have impact on their target market and overall brand image.

The blog titled “WeLoveBlackMilk” is a blog created by an avid BM fan and Victorian ‘sharkie’ who mainly reblogs pictures and stories from other ‘sharkies’ that put BM in a positive light.

Both blogs have featured pages that allow others to submit pictures and stories of their BM experiences as well as page to ask the blogger questions.

The blog titled “The Truth About Black Milk Clothing” is a consumer that experienced and witnessed multiple negative situations with BM. When the blogger tried to voice their concern she felt “silenced” in her states ‘sharkie’ local group (the community feature on BM’s site).

Turning to other media sources, such as tumblr, she realized she was not alone and others like herself had experienced problems with BM and also had nowhere to turn. She claims to have started the blog to create an environment where people could express their views freely.

Consumer Created Content

The image above was one of BM’s Facebook cover photos they had previously featured on their profile. A simple detail such as a cover photo can mean big things.

BM designed this for their content creators and beloved ‘sharkies’. Just an small token of apperception and recognition.

These are four of the memes, I thought were the best, that ;sharkies’ created and submitted to BM. These are not only examples of quality viral Facebook content but could also be used by the company as marketing or promotional materials.

Photo-A-Day VIII. Spring social media campaigns Black Milk launched a campaign during the month of April that kept their ‘sharkies’ busy and involved all month long. The “photoa-day” challenge was launched using Instagram.

This challenge might have been launched and run primarily through Instagram, but you bet your bottom dollar that BM infiltrated the campaign across all major social media platforms. On Facebook, BM created a photo album for each day of the challenge and posted their favorite and the most liked photos, which are still there for the purpose of content curation.

This is another example of how BM comes out on top with massive amounts of followers on Facebook and Instagram. Also, shows how hashtags can be used as point of reference and marketing tool across all social media platforms. The rules were vague and the response was overwhelmingly big.

Fourth O’ July VIII. Spring social media campaigns Black Milk is based in Australia, and James Lillis (the owner) is a native. Giving these to facts I find it both interesting and intriguing that they participated in the American Holiday.

Black Milk’s participation in the July 4th festivities is mostly contributed to their market intelligence of their consumers and realize that the U.S. is their largest geographical target market. Not only did they make a Facebook album and fill it with related pictures but they ran an add on many platforms.

Campaign Analysis

In my personal opinion, the success of the photo-a-day campaign was a success. Not only did it serve as a way to engage and interact with their fan base, but because of the large response they probably gained more followers and new customers. The hashtag #bmcpicadayapril was used by followers in 8,370 photographs on Instagram alone. Promoting the challenge through the other platforms besides only Instagram was a great strategy to gain more awareness and encourage participation. I would not be the least bit surprised if the BM made this an annual promotion. The posts were fun and fresh ideas that gave the campaign an A+

Social Media Strengths & Weaknesses

Now that Black Milk has a standing on the other social media sites, they should consider putting more effort into pintrest and Google +.

Their Pintrest consists of only photos of their products and has not interactive or engaging aspects to it. Black Milk’s Google + is also a sight for sore eyes, with a sorry number of only 16 inconsistent post over the past three years.

It isn’t hard to tell by solely look at and comparing the amount of followers and influence that Black Milk social media strengths lies with both Facebook and Instagram.

Combining these two platforms alone, BM has a total reach of more than one million pairs of eyes and ears and are growing at a rapid pace each and every single day.

Suggestions The suggestion I would make to BM regarding their company blog would be to make shorter more frequent blog posting instead of longer less occurring posts.

The suggestion I would make to BM regarding their tumblr page is a simple one. Adding the BM logo at the top of their tumblr page instead of the text would provide clarity, The page would still give users the minimalistic look they are going for but, users could identify it as authentic at first glance.

The suggestion I would make to BM regarding their usage of Pintrest is for them have a few boards other than BM products, this way the can repin followers and become more active, and more engaged.

The suggestion I would make to BM regarding Google + profile is to post at least once a week . G+ can only help broaden the reach and increase SEO. Lastly, based solely on my personal opinion, my advice to BM is to make this picture there new logo and brand it across every online platform they’ve got! I really love it, it is an eye catcher and would influence and persuade followers of many different demographics to buy and engage in the Black Milk culture.

Conclusion Before doing a whole company analysis on Black Milk Clothing, I really had no idea what they were all about! It is as much about the community and culture that coexists between the Black Milk team, general consumers, and beloved ‘sharkies’. Black Milk is a company that thrives on its consumers and makes sure they are well established on their social media sites. On all platforms across the board, with exception to Google +, Black Milk makes sure to be present by posting multiple times a day with differing messages on each. They also have a great response timing and methodology. Engaging and interacting through social media is Black Milk’s way of communicating to and provides a path to be a part of their consumer’s daily lives. Black Milk does has many techniques of clarifying concerns, answering random questions, and just commenting for fun through social media. By being so involved Black Milk has gained tons of followers and even customers which is inspiring for a brand that does not even have a physical store. Black Milk’s competitors should take some notes because this is a company who know how to play the social media game

Resources and URL’s Target market countries http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-pages/129617417057349black-milk-clothing Response rate and time stats http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/33826.asp News article #1 http://www.beneveringham.com/how-did-black-milk-clothing-aquire412000-fans-on-facebook-and-320000-followers-on-instagram-withoutpaying-a-cent/ News article #2 http://www.beneveringham.com/how-did-black-milk-clothing-aquire412000-fans-on-facebook-and-320000-followers-on-instagram-withoutpaying-a-cent/ •

Consumer Created Content Blogs – http://weloveblackmilk.tumblr.com/ – http://bmcthetruth.tumblr.com/

**photos and other general information are from various Black Milk social media platforms, I do not own the images used in this report.