For the product I will be following during this project is clothing. Specifically, I’ll be following the brand of clothing called Lonely Ghost by Indy Blue and Bronson Christensen. I’m choosing to follow them because they caught my eye, they’re not like every other pop up fast fashion shop we see come and go. IM excited ti be learning more about them and their goals with this brand. The platform I’ll be following them on is Instagram because they seem to be most active there.
Week 4 (started a little late)
My company I chose to follow was Lonely Ghost and I’ll be tracking them on Instagram. This is a clothing brand created by influencers Indy Blue and Bronson Christensen. A small business, known for being ethical and sustainable, the clothing brand focuses on the idea of being able to give us a place to be lonely, with other people. In this first picture above, it’s eye-catching with the big letters “MANIFEST MONDAY” and then gives people inspiring advice and quotes. I think the voice of this company is genuine, their message and social media prove that by not only posting products or promotions but by also posting inspirational messages and day to day questions for the followers. The followers seem to have the same voice back which is engaged.
Another thing that I noticed this week was that they don’t just focus on their clothing and they try to engage followers. As seen here, they posted that there is a party they are hosting in Utah. I think this is really cool because a lot of brands don’t really try to interact with their customers, and at the most it’s over social media. Here, they’re getting a chance to meet new people, the creators of this and have more of that personal connection that is vital when communicating to a large audience. I think this was a super good idea because it makes them stand out as a smaller business and the other small clothing companies are trying to take off now as well. In the comments, there were many people talking about just how excited they were to attend this party.
Week 5
This week, lonely ghost posted a video in midst of their new collection dropping; “it’s never too late to have a happy childhood”. This post and idea is moving to me as the idea behind this drop is absolutely beautiful. In the video it shows elementary school children and adults walking in a line holding hands wearing the lonely ghost products. In their caption they talk about bringing it back to elementary school where this time we won’t only learn about fractions and grammar, but how to heal your inner child. This post expresses the importance of social-emotional wellness learning and the severity of childhood trauma. I’m sure this made people feel included, seen and maybe try to start and heal. They got a lot of positive feedback in the comments like “this makes me so happy to see” and “the fact that you’re helping me heal my childhood trauma rn”.
Another post this week that stood out to me was this one about their elementary school drop. Something I liked about this brand that I mentioned before and a good reason why I chose this is that it truly cares about its customers and shows that while still promoting clothing and advertising. In this post they give study tips like eating snacks while studying to fuel yourself and taught me about the pomodoro method which is time-blocking. Not only did they give study tips and such but the brand also made a playlist for studying that they put to their spotify for anyone to listen which is something that can involve their whole audience. Again in the comments this was a huge hit and I also love this idea and will be listening to the playlist myself.
Week 6
I know my last couple posts have been on this drop but what I love about this and what I think was a really good marketing move was including the different ranges of age. Here, you see an older woman wearing one of their famous shirts that says “I LOVE YOU, SAY IT BACK” with the caption that says “It’s never too late to have a childhood, I promise”. Most clothing brands like these usually are oriented towards younger audiences, this really broadens that. I’m sure there have been older people who have seen clothing like this and wanted to wear it but maybe thought it would’ve been weird, this makes people feel included. It also helps get their message across about childhoods and it being never too late to heal from it.
Something that they did this week that was smart was, now that it’s near halloween they took one of their most famous sweatshirts that reads on the back “TEXT ME WHEN YOU GET HOME” and advertised it in this orange color. This way it stands out to their audience and it’s relevant to the seasons which I would imagine makes people want to buy it. Another thing I really like about this was in their pictures they don’t use this picture perfect models to model their clothing for them, they have people like you and I which I think adds that personal connection touch that is vital for connecting with your audience. These pictures like this also help show people how they would wear the clothing in outfits.
Week 7
This week Lonely Ghost announced a huge clothing drop this month. In their caption they described this drop being the most “them” , the staple, the next level up etc.. They also called it a present for halloween versus christmas because we are little “ghosties”. I really liked this post, it caught my attention with the little video and caption hyping up the drop to be amazing. Again, they’re dropping for halloween saying it’s a present for their followers making them eager.
Later this week one of the creators Indy Blue posted the drop and she called it “OUT OF THE WOODS”. In the caption she explains the struggle of pulling herself out of a deep depression. I don’t remember what chapter but in the beginning of our school year we read about how in order to have an influence on someone you need to try and make personal connections. Depression is a super common yet misunderstood and stigmatized topic that many people can be scared to talk about or get help for. Indy Blue, being a famous influencer, being this open about battling depression makes it easy to relate and feel like you’re not the only one going through this and even people with what you think are perfect lives are still human and struggle. I like that she adds at the end that there’s still lessons to be learned and we’re doing it together.
Week 8
This week, Lonely Ghost announced that their Halloween 2021 collection had dropped. It was a pretty cool video of people in special effects makeup walking around and modeling it which was good to catch viewers attention. All the comments are pretty much people talking about how it sold out pretty much immediately which I think is what they were planning on because they also posted a picture saying “encore for the whole family”.
This is the picture’s caption I was referring to from the first picture. Their drops usually sell out pretty fast from what I’ve seen. This picture kind of leaves people wondering, it’s not super clear what they mean but encore insinuates something more is coming.
I was right in thinking that as she later posted a “KIDS FOR ENCORE” dropping that same week which I think was really cool. Her opening drops to children I think is really cool because it reaches more people, a lot of the comments were excited moms getting this for their kids.
Week 9
This week, I picked a post similar to my first one which wasn’t really about clothing, they called it “manifest mondays”. In this week’s caption the opening line is “what if rejection is just a redirection away from what won’t work and towards what will?” that’s a super positive message that I think people need to see sometimes randomly even if its from an instagram caption. The comments are of people sharing their stories and what they want for themselves. I like that they do this because it really helps people not feel so alone and see in the comments that people could have the same struggles.
Something that I’ve noticed over these weeks of following Lonely Ghost is that a lot of the time they will post pictures of people modeling their clothes but in an everyday setting, non-professional photos that I personally love. I think this is a nice way to recognize your customers for buying your products and advertising them. The comments were sweet with uplifting and positive things to say about the people in the photo which I’m sure was nice for them to read. They also posted more than just these from these people; the pictures were awesome.
Week 10
Back from one of my first weeks starting to follow this page I wrote about their announcement about their halloween party, and this week it happened! The pictures look amazing and so fun. It seems to have been something not super crazy, like a bonfire/haunted house type of feel with activities to do which I think is super smart when hosting this kind of party. Anyone who bought a ticket could attend, which I thought was really cool. Indy Blue, the creator and owner was there meeting people and you don’t see many things like this. The comments are flooded with people saying how amazing the experience was and honestly I wish I was there. Overall this communication between company and audience seems super important to Lonely Ghost.
The next day or so they posted this banner that was at the party that reads “TEXT ME IF YOU SURVIVE” jokingly referring to the party. Under that is a message to everyone in attendance to the party/overall of gratitude and even revealing that they are doing a halloween restock. I think this post is a good way to put an overall message out to the public thanking them and in that giving them a surprise.
Week 11
This week, they posted a pretty big announcement. In their lengthy caption they go into depth about how they started with clothing but that’s not their end goal, as they don’t have one. I think this business/company is unique in how raw it is, they go on to say “the truth is we’re not a clothing brand. We’re a brand undefined by limits and boundaries because we refuse to place them on ourselves. We will be connecting in every way that feels right – through music, through events, through product, through learning…”. The caption explains that they’re only getting started and we are going on every step of the way with them. I absolutely love the idea that they’re not limiting themselves at all for what’s to come because why would you, today things change so fast it’s hard for us to keep up. I have grown to feel like a friend of this company through following them like this.
Something I like about them that I’ve noticed over the weeks is that their announcements are subtle but still hyped up. Like in this post, they didn’t really say they were restocking but people in the comments were going crazy over this restock. Along with that the caption asked the audience to fill in the blank in which people had a plethora of answers from lonely, to happy to numb.
Week 12
Here in this picture, this is one of the founders, Indy Blue making a suspenseful announcement while wearing what seems to look like possibly a new clothing launch. This keeps customers guessing and builds excitement. In the comments everyone is gushing about how cool the picture is and now they can’t wait for this new drop that she’s announcing yet not announcing.
For the last picture of my blog proj I chose this post that gives some helpful advice because I think their goal overall is helping people and connecting us through this brand. A common trend I see in these posts are the comments underneath and I love reading them. Most if not all of the comments are people manifesting what they want, being positive, and in this also giving hope to other people. As customers of a brand we often can feel like just a number giving up our money. But Lonley Ghost promotes individuality while at the same time trying to bring all those people together at a common ground. This common ground is Lonely Ghost, where you can be lonely with other loners.
