“The Arab Spring has pushed Social Media to the forefront of brand communication due to a proof of concept, so to speak, and the fact that it requires less investment than traditional advertising channels” Tarek Nasr, Founder and Managing Director of Planet360, an Independent, Creative, Digital, Social Media agency with clientele including Azza Fahmy.

Azza Fahmy is an international brand that grew out of Khan Al Khalili, a traditional market place and tourist attraction in Old Cairo, to attract fashion icons from across the world. Azza Fahmy, Chairwomen and Chief Designer, still leads the design team closely and maintains the vision and standard of her jewellery.

How can you build an engaged community around a designer brand while maintaining the exclusivity and luxury of the authentic Egyptian influe­­nce. 

Planet 360 set out to build the online presence of Azza Fahmy on popular social media platforms where their target audience was present; facebook, twitter, youtube and a blog called “Inspiration Box”. When asked about the strategy used for these different platforms, Tarek Nasr said: “I wouldn't say each vehicle has a strategy on its own as there should be a concrete strategy across all platforms that is easily understood and entrenched... However the strategy in itself is implemented differently across platforms.” He also stressed the importance of avoiding the ruffles of the usual giveaway campaigns that rarely gain any valuable customers nor fit the brand image.

Planet360 are working on growing the community of Azza Fahmy organically to make sure that they are attracting and engaging those that are not only interested in the brand but are also potential customers; Tarek estimates that 92% of their fans and followers are able to buy while 82% are influencers. These loyal fans proved to be an important factor when Azza Fahmy was crowned the #4 Most Authentic Arab Brand of 2011.

Having a clear communication plan for the upcoming year is a great way to organize and maintain an online presence, in addition to planning ahead for special operations in co-ordination with the physical brand.

The Inspiration Box was created for the purpose of providing content and engaging the audience with behind the scenes sneak peeks of the work, exclusive looks at new collections, daily inspirations and much more, explained Tarek, something that proved very popular with over 9000 readers globally.

Keeping the community engaged requires continuously monitoring and reacting to the online environment and audience. For this purpose, Planet360 utilizes, Hootsuite, Facebook and Google analytics, combined with an experienced team that analyzes the quality of followers and fans.

According to Tarek, it is always important to keep an eye out for your competition, especially if you’re aiming to compete internationally. Value the quality of your followers not the numbers and always remember that Social media is all about experimentation, so an occasional “leap of faith” with a strong plan is never a bad idea.

When asked about social media in the region, Tarek thinks that the vast majority doesn’t know how to manage a brand and therefore “most of the work in the region lacks a clear and concise strategy, and relegates itself to a plethora of giveaways and contests”