The Brand has Already Amassed Over 60K Followers on the Direct Messaging Channel
Saint Laurent has launched an Instagram broadcast channel, seemingly the first major brand to do so. Within hours of its launch, the channel had already amassed over 60 thousand followers.
A broadcast channel invites an account’s followers into a space similar to a typical direct message chat. But while anyone can react to messages, only the account itself (and members selected by the account) can send them, thus creating a more direct way for an account to communicate with followers.
The brand’s first message to the channel described its purpose as being “for exclusive content on new collections and everything creative and cultural at Saint Laurent.” It remains to be seen what this content will entail, but the approach forms a clever way for the brand to connect directly with its fans and customers. Reflecting the way social media has upended the traditional landscape of fashion media and communications, this direct digital network further exemplifies and responds to the way in which fashion houses have had to become their own content creators and media outlets.