European fashion brands such as Céline, Eres and Brioni are falling to the wayside of U.S. brands when it comes to the digital frontier and consumer engagement, according to findings from a study by L2 Think Tank. Not a single European brand received a “genius” ranking in this year’s European Niche Fashion Digital IQ Index by L2 Think Tank. The study found that while many brands are entirely missing on the social media front, a majority are also disregarding basic digital techniques such as paid search and email. “A subset of European brands have made competent yet still undifferentiated forays on digital platforms, while many have largely ignored the digital phenomenon,” said Veronique Valcu, New York-based research lead at L2 Think Tank. “The jump to digital requires a large shift in organizational thinking, structure and process. “However, taking this risk is becoming an inescapable reality as the majority of their consumers, not to mention their own competitors, are shifting their time, wallets and media consumption towards digital,” she said. “If brands continue to hesitate developing their digital presence, they run the risk of becoming irrelevant.” The L2 Think Tank year’s European Niche Fashion Digital IQ Index took into account factors such as Web site, digital marketing, social media and mobile marketing to rank 49 prestigious European fashion brands. Based on a points system, the ranking titles included genius, gifted, average, challenged and feeble in descending order. Making moves Luxury brands such as Agent Provocateur, Stella McCartney, Moncler, Moschino, Lanvin, Emilio Pucci, Jean Paul Gaultier and La Perla fared far better than some of their European counterparts and were ranked in the top 10. Lingerie brand Agent Provocateur was lauded for its strong, consistently-racy voice across channels and had the strongest mobile presence of any brand examined. Indeed, video helped boost the brand to the top. Agent Provocateur’s YouTube channel has approximately 1.3 million upload views, which is more than 10 times the average for European niche fashion brands, according to L2 Think Tank. Coming in third, British label Stella McCartney has the fastest growing Twitter community and was considered to be setting the bar for social media in Europe. Following close behind was French outerwear brand Moncler. Its recent site relaunch and social media push were the winning factors. A fashionable Web site and iPad optimization (see story) brought Italian marketer Moschino up to No. 4, while French brand Lanvin’s viral video of models, bloggers and customers dancing helped the label obtain fifth place.
