What is it?
FP Me is a bespoke visual social network created by Free People, a US fashion brand.
It is structured around a masonry grid layout, similar to Pinterest but more minimalist. Users upload images, which can then be "hearted" or commented, but not reblogged. There are no captions or hashtags either (although users are still attempting to use hashtags in the comments).
Images are categorized as "style pics" and "inspiration pics." While any kind of photo can be an inspiration pic, style pics must include users posing as models, wearing at least one item by the brand.
Since this is a bespoke network with promotional purposes, it is hosted on the Free People website and does not have its own domain. Users login to FP me using general Free People accounts, which can also be used for shopping on the website.
FP me is also integrated with Instagram. Users can upload and view images through it.
Audience
FP me's audience is very specific, as the network is the "child" of an already developed and targeted brand. Its users are the core target group of Free People.
Therefore, the audience is 100% women, the majority of which are aged 18-35 and reside in the US.
Marketing
FP Me is a brilliant marketing campaign in itself. Being bespoke and already part of a brand, it cannot be used by other brands for marketing purposes.
Free People is a brand that has always had an interest for content marketing, social marketing and especially humanization of the brand. They have a presence on every social network and run their own daily blog, which provides valuable content, lets users get to know employees and office space personally, and integrates all that with sales.
FP me is the next step in the humanization of the brand and brings about a number of benefits:
- It swaps models in studios for user-generated content (UGC). Users are able to see the products on non-model bodies, in rel environments. Moreover, UGC costs much less than models.
- The account used for FP me is the actual Free People shopping account. Each photo contains links to the featured items, so users can instantly buy an item they like. This increases conversion rate, especially same-session conversion rate.
- It allows the brand to track trends, which is valuable in the fashion industry. By monitoring which items are the most hearted, the brand gets insights to what their customers want.
FP me itself, as a social network, has a strong social presence on Pinterest, with over 150,000 followers. The "fpme" tag is quite popular (and growing) on Tumblr and Instagram.