Burberry’s sample launch on Facebook marred by problems

To promote the fragrance, Burberry announced the giveaway on social media website Facebook, inviting consumers to order one via its page ahead of its September release, over a period of three days.

The company posted, “Christopher Bailey invites you to sample Burberry Body, the new fragrance for women exclusively on our Facebook Page. Click this link from a desktop/laptop to request your sample: ​http://on.fb.me/BodySample​​”.

Technical difficulties​

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Despite an initial positive response to the sample launch, the majority of consumers had a problem when ordering a sample with a few consistently repeated complaints.

However, Burberry set about to resolve these issues which was undermining the campaign, as seen by a few comments left on Facebook along the lines of, “another big company that promises free samples but doesn’t deliver”.

According to Wave, a company that tracks trends and social media, on August 19th, the first day of the giveaway, more than 60 per cent of consumers could not process their order.

This was quickly turned around by the luxury goods house, as by the third day, over 60 per cent of consumers were successful in processing their orders.

By August 20th, many consumers’ responses on Facebook were positive and thanking Burberry as it “finally worked”.

Social media​

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According to The Telegraph, the distribution of preview samples to promote the new fragrance was a forward thinking and time befitting idea, as the company utilised social media.

In many ways, the launch campaign via Facebook was “a first for a scent debut and [as a] strategy which, in making the offering instantly accessible to everyone, both curbs embargo-breaking bloggers - whose previews can ruin a brand's launch strategy in one post - and makes conventional launch marketing via PR seem suddenly very outmoded”.