Final Product:

Weekly Blog

Week #1

For this assignment, I decided to follow Prada’s Facebook account as opposed to its more popular accounts such as Instagram or Twitter. My initial thoughts about their image were disappointing; the company had no voice in its captioning, content variety, or customer interactions. The company wrote every post in the same format: “Celebrity name, wore a #Prada, description of Prada clothing, While attending, place/event.” Besides a few advertisements, all the most recent posts use the same language with professional photographs of celebrities. I was hoping to find a little more character in the comments of each post; instead, I found a lot more of nothing. The comments appear moderated (no post having more than 20 comments even with almost 800 likes), and the comments that did occur were short, positive, and had no responses. After digging, I found one comment a customer made after having a negative experience with Prada. I hoped maybe I would find some type of outreach from Prada, a small response, but there was nothing. Even more astounding, some comments were about small businesses posting links to their own clothing websites. I cannot understand why this company would not be removing and blocking the people using their comments for marketing. In some ways, I expected such a large brand to be out-of-touch, but I still find myself disappointed in the complete lack of personality they call a Facebook account.

Week #2:

During this project’s second week, Prada released a new line featuring “an interrelationship between the raw and the sensual, an emulsification of contrasts.” Similarly to what I found last week, there was no public outreach in the comment section. After some more exploring, I found a “community” section of their account that highlights the most active people on Prada’s page. I thought this was an interesting idea, as it creates a competition-like atmosphere, convincing followers to comment, like, and re-post content. Moving on from the community page, I clicked on the about section of the company’s account. This small page contained Prada’s other official accounts and a short blurb with a mission statement and the company’s history. Although there isn’t any direct outreach on this account, the community and about page create a connection for their consumers.

Week #3:

As the third week of this project comes to a close, I wanted to talk about how frequently Prada has been posting content. In fact, it seems like almost every day Prada posts a new editorial/magazine, clothing line, or advertisement. With such an active account, it doesn’t surprise me that many (if not all) of the posts lack originality. It worries me, as I am nervous I won’t have very much to say by the end of this project (especially if the idea of the project is to discuss how a company communicates). However, in some ways, I think that the generic nature of their account says a lot. To me, it says that Prada doesn’t care about connecting one-on-one with its customers. This preserves the high-maintenance, professional image of the company which may be beneficial for them. Admittedly, it would be odd to see Prada’s accounts using a casual tone with customers. It would seem almost inappropriate for such a high-end company to take on a voice. To what extent does voice help or harm a business? Would Prada’s “elite” image be compromised by creating a more personal connection with customers?

Week #4:

This week Prada debuted their winter clothing line, which has “high-tech capabilities” and is defined as “skiwear, translated and recalibrated for city living.” The carefully curated language used to describe the line is what piqued my interest. What was so crucial in including both “translated” and “recalibrated” in the description? The two words together seem redundant, and in such a short description, ensuring the language is concise should be prioritized. Perhaps this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but in such high-end marketing, Prada’s posts aren’t just written on a whim; you’d think more thought would have gone into the description of their line. How does the language they use tell a story to their customers? Is there a strategy behind the repetition? Maybe the words have subtle connotations that influence readers differently.  It may be possible that readers interpret the two words differently, or it may be possible that I am caught up in something unimportant. Yet, if I noticed this, someone else must have as well. The language a company uses greatly impacts how its products and services are viewed. Maybe Prada doesn’t need to include casual conversation in its marketing, but if it is going to represent itself so highly, then the company needs to use language more carefully.

Week # 5

I am so excited because this week, Prada finally lost some of its conventions. For the first time since I started this project, Prada referenced their audience. While introducing the 2022 Fall Campaign, Prada writes “ In Prada22Fall campaign, images are a door into its protagonists’ stories, pushing the audience to experience the recounted memories and emotions, to enter a conversation with each character.” Although it is a mouthful, that one sentence has more personality than any other posts Prada has put up. I assume this is just the communications team attempting to market their products with emotions and human appeal, but I am still happy. This post creates a connection between everyday Facebook users and the high-end celebrities shown wearing Prada. The appeal to emotions and “memories” creates an alluring perspective for viewers, showcasing a product that is more than its material. In contrast to their normally stoic approach to marketing, this is a call for emotional action and contemplative consideration. There is so much to unpack about this post, however with limited words, I will simply write this: Finally, Prada has shown dimension. 

Week #6:

It is officially week #6 of this project. As it is essentially the halfway point, I want to use this post to summarize my perspective of Prada, along with some comments on their new posts. When this project began, I was worried. Prada is not a small company, and as such, the way they communicate with their customers isn’t blatant. The communications team focuses on emotional appeals in their language as a way to reach their ideal audience, which is something I didn’t initially grasp. Around weeks 3 and 4, I began to understand that this “lack of communication” is in and of itself a type of communication. I now understand why it benefits Prada to do this; it maintains the ‘untouchable’ image. This week, Prada introduced content that balances the high-end persona with some personality. They posted pictures of a parda boat as well as a link to a short film. Which is definitely a change from what they have been doing!

Week #7

This week, Prada returned to its boring posts, similar to the ones mentioned at the beginning of this assignment. The posts are perfectly posed celebrities at various festivals and award shows wearing Prada. The captions of these posts are simply “(name) wore a Prada (article of clothing) to (event).” I guess it makes sense for the media team to have a template, that way, they can always post something without worrying about negative repercussions. That leads me to wonder if this template was created because of an incident regarding the wording of a past post (or something of that nature). The way this company interacts with people is so professional, but at what point is something so professional that it becomes removed? Do people view Prada’s Facebook account and see the company being professional or the company being impersonal? To what extent does it matter? 

Week #8:

This week, Prada began to showcase more of their winter collection. Instead of creating a single way to describe their collection, they released new slogans and design information with each post. I though that from a business perspective this made a lot of sense, as it draws the reader in and creates a sense of excitement with every new update. Although this is more-so a marketing strategy than a form of communication, there is communication within the marketing. Followers are able to learn about different products, in conjunction with the company selling them. The separate release of posts, especially in relation to Christmas and winter, almost create an ‘unwrapping’ effect to the line, which is more appealing than the entire line being released all at once. This is just another example of the ways that a high-end company interacts with customers, without blatantly interacting with customers; it is all in the experience.

Week #9:

This week, Prada featured #PradaMode, “a private traveling social club that provides members with a unique experience with a focus on contemporary culture.” There were various images of members posed at workshops, museums, and other various events. Although there were no products shown during these days, Prada was still promoting itself. By affiliating Prada with high society events and activities, the brand automatically gains a high society image. Some of the topics discussed by events this week were in relations to pills and pharmacies. Although it is not explicitly stated, there seems to be an underlying commentary on drug abuse. With consideration of the ways in which drugs affect the modeling world, as well as the way that drugs are abused by many high standing people, this statement further involving the brand in the world of high-society.

Week #10:

This week Prada posted two advertisements for the Prada Symbole bag. The captions gave some information about the style and creation of the bag. Normally their posts only include a short description (like the one mentioned above), however this week they added some other components. Both posts had #Prada and #PradaSymbole along with a URL to help followers “discover more.” I think adding another layer to their posts is a smart business decision, as it engages viewers, giving them a follow up action. These features add a secondary level of communication, as it signals to followers that they are trying to sell them something as opposed to show them something.