When it comes to social media there are always those fine lines about what is going over board or not. It is no surprise that many brands (that are not news sources anyway) tend to steer clear of anything political or news related in their social media sites. However, Kenneth Cole is quite the opposite. He is one for raising awareness, support and including the news in his advertisement campaigns and his social media sites.
In the past this has been a bit of a problem for Cole and his brand. In 2011, he used the political up rise in Cairo to promote his new spring collection through Twitter. It created an automatic backlash from his followers, and led to a public apology from Cole. His crisis management team was in full swing after this mistake!
Besides that one instance, I must admit I do usually like Cole’s play on words in his advertisements to raise awareness for certain issues. Cole even has his own website to raise awareness (awearness.com) which “promotes, encourages and inspires meaningful change, and supports like-minded individuals and organizations to make a difference.”
Still to this day Cole is using social media to support his cause. On February 6th, @KennethColePrd sent out a tweet that said, for every person to re-tweet or use the hash tag, #KCRUNWAY, they will donate $1 to amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research).
I really like how Cole has stuck true to his cause and is still finding innovative ways to raise awareness. It was a great use of Twitter on his part in efforts to engage his audience. I also personally think it is great to see that the Kenneth Cole brand is being socially responsible and taking part in philanthropy.
So for me anyway, Kenneth Cole is the perfect example of a brand that used social media the wrong way (as seen through the Cairo tweet), but has then been able to turn it around to bring good attention to their brand. Besides that one tweet, Cole does a great job of linking his brand to charity. In the end, even after the mistake in 2011, I really like what Cole has done here with his advertisements and his tweets. He has won me over!
Making Fashion Communicate 