Most people woke up on Monday morning to find that House of Fraser’s Twitter feed had possibly been hacked and someone was messing around with emojis… or was this just a risky social media campaign/ PR stunt? Either way, it’s fair to say that House of Fraser had been mocked over the campaign throughout the day. Definitely a brave move, one should think.
House of Fraser had launched the Social Media campaign to boost seasonal sales, especially with Valentine’s Day around the corner.
The main issue with the campaign is that it did not reflect the brand’s rich heritage which was founded in 1849 – nor represent the premium brands it retails. Is this a sign of a possible re-brand? Throwing away its heritage to become a more upbeat brand? Or was it simply a rather avid desire – but clever way to grab everyone’s attention to boost sales?
At 9:32pm, on the day they tweeted with a quiz and a Valentine’s Day treat which can be found on www.emojinal.co.uk. Was this planned or a crisis mitigation strategy?
Whether you felt the love today or not, we hope you enjoy our #emojinal movie quiz and the treat if you complete it. https://t.co/CNk98xQ5FR
— House of Fraser (@houseoffraser) February 1, 2016
If there is anything that has come good from the campaign, it would be the tremendous publicity it has received, in addition to opening itself to a new potential and lucrative market. After all… PR is still PR.
Below are some tweets from users:
Wow. #Emojinal is a masterclass on how to ruin a century-old upscale brand with one terrible social media campaign.
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) February 1, 2016
No matter how bad your Monday is, remember this, you’re not in charge of @houseoffraser‘s Twitter feed😂#Emojinal
— Chloe Salisbury (@chloesway) February 1, 2016
The ironic use of @houseoffraser‘s own campaign imagery to describe everyone’s reaction to their #emojinal PR stunt pic.twitter.com/hMkhA75APE
— Roxanne Parker (@MissRoxyParker) February 1, 2016
Not sure if @houseoffraser did all this stuff on purpose or have dramatically rethought their strategy…
— FashionFumblings (@FashionFumbling) February 1, 2016
The brand has hijacked high profile trending topics and edited the images:
You have to truly admire the boldness of the marketing and social media team though – whatever the outcome.