Are you aware of the clothing brand Reformation?
If not, let me give you a brief background.
Reformation is a high-end, sustainable clothing brand based in Los Angeles. They got their start in 2009 when they sold vintage clothing out of a small storefront, and eventually, they began creating their own products, always with a focus on sustainability. All Reformation products are made from low-impact materials, rescued deadstock fabrics, and repurposed vintage clothing, with their tagline being "Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We're #2."The price point is higher than your average clothing store but there is a reason for that. Reformation values creating high-quality pieces that "celebrate the feminine figure and pioneer sustainable practices, focussing on people and progress every step of the way".
Now that we know a little bit about the brand and its values, let's dive deeper and take a look at their social media presence.
Reformation has a presence of some sort across many social media platforms, with Instagram leading their follower count at 2 million.
Something that Reformation does very well is maintaining consistent messaging patterns across all platforms, while still having their own personality. Some brands connect all social media channels so that the exact same posts and content get shared on each platform, however, this takes away the personal feel and connection to the brand. Reformation has a very witty sense of humor that is very apparent across all of the platforms, however, they show it in different ways.
This is an example of Reformations personality on Twitter, simply replying "hey" when a user tweets that they don't know where to shop. Another user posted a video about how they had to go to the emergency room due to an injury and their biggest worry was whether or not the doctors were going to have to rip her Reformation jeans. To this, Reformation replied "Priorities." They maintain these short witty captions and responses across all social media platforms, however, as we can see in the tweet above, they don't have a ton of engagement on Twitter.
When it comes to engagement, listening, and talking to the groundswell, Instagram is where it's at for them. It is clear how much they prioritize consumer feedback as they involve them in their creative process. After following Reformation for a while, something they consistently do is post polls on their story, giving consumers the opportunity to pick which pattern, style, etc. they like the most, and Reformation uses this feedback to decide what should be included in their following collections. Instead of releasing products and then looking for feedback, they ask for feedback before products are even released. Along with this, when they release new collections, they start with small quantities and only make more if consumers want more, based on direct data and feedback. This not only is great for the environment, but it is also a perfect example of how Reformation listens and responds to the groundswell.
When thinking about word-of-mouth marketing and energizing the base, Reformation has a unique way of marketing their products. A large percentage of the content they are posting is actually produced by consumers, and Reformation simply shares pictures and videos that they are tagged in complimenting these individuals in the captions. This not only shows how much Reformation values their customers, but it also shows real people wearing these products, not just models on a website.
Below you will see an Instagram story segment that Reformation frequently shares called "You look good in Ref." where they share even more photos of their customers wearing their products.
Before looking at some reviews and data, let's look at a specific social media campaign surrounding the launch of Reformation bags. The brand has stuck to strictly clothing, until 2021 with their release of shoes, and now in 2023, they have released bags. Going along with the witty and relaxed language they always use, they made these bags almost sound like human beings.
Saying things like "Meet Vittoria, and Meet Rosetta" and then following with a short description gives these bags their own personality. It is one thing to produce high-quality products, but Reformation has mastered using social media and their sense of humor to give their products a whole new meaning.
Okay, now that we've seen and heard what Reformation has to say, let's look at what their customers have to say...
Looking at the website thingtesting.com where consumers share their honest reviews of different brands, here are some reviews I found.
These reviews run consistent with most of the reviews and feedback I have seen; overall consumers can agree the products are beautiful however, the quality and prices are debatable. Some consumers are willing to spend the money as they believe it is worth it, whereas, for some, their pieces are just too expensive. But, no one can deny how good their marketing is.
As we can see here, a customer commented on one of Reformation's Instagram posts stating their want for certain dresses in bigger sizes. While it is never great to see brands that aren't producing plus-sized clothing from the get-go, we see that Reformation does care enough to reply to this comment and let them know that their feedback is appreciated while also stating that they have let their team know that there is an interest. As this comment is recent, it will now be interesting to see if Reformation actually does listen and release these specific styles in extended sizing.
Lastly, let's take a look at Google Trends to get an overall sense of the online conversation surrounding this brand.
When searching "Reformation clothing":
When searching "Reformation dress (blue) vs Meshki dress (red):
As we can see, the search for Reformation clothing in general led to consistent up-and-down results. There aren't major spikes or major dips, though we can see the results get pretty low around January of 2023. For this, I thought it would be more helpful to look at Reformation compared to another brand. So, as Reformation is known for their dresses, I searched for a brand that was also known for nice dresses and found Meshki. Looking at these two searches compared to each other, we can see that Reformation is discussed much more frequently.
Hypothesis surrounding these results really come down to the sustainability aspect. That is what truly sets Reformation apart from the rest of the brands out there. At the end of the day, any brand can make a nice-looking dress, but the brand values and feedback are what give them a leg up. I also think that people who like Reformation, love Reformation. Meaning that Reformation fans are loyal and will continue to talk about the products that they love. We can see that the talk of Reformation dresses decreases around this time of year, and my hypothesis for this is unrelated to the brand or their engagement with the groundswell, as Reformation is very consistent with their posting and interaction, but simply because conversations surrounding dresses are more likely to occur in the warmer months, especially when special occasions (weddings, vacations, etc.) are happening.
There is so much more to be discussed about this brand, so stay tuned and we will dig even deeper.
Now, hopefully when asked, you can say that you are aware of the brand Reformation :)
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