L
ululemon is a study
in contrasts. On the
one hand, B.C.'s best-
known global export
is very much a product
of the hippy-dippy city that
gave birth to it, with prod-
ucts that are easy on the eyes,
and to the touch, and corpo-
rate lingo laden with equally
soothing words like "guest"
(customer) and "storytelling"
(communications). Yet while
the Vancouver-based retailer
projects an aura of approach-
ability, it's also expert at con-
trolling the message—and
nowhere is that more appar-
ent than in social media.
A l l ison Forsy t h,
director of global commu-
nity engagement, and Caro-
lyn Coles-Devine, director of
digital strategy, laid out the
company's social strategy in
a recent conference call. "At
Lululemon, we're grounded
in giving our local communi-
ties really powerful voices,"
explains Coles-Devine, a nine-
year veteran of the company.
"We're in the process of build-
ing a strategy that positions
our local communities at the
centre of all of our storytelling
and empowers our stores, our
cities and our regions to play a
much bigger role."
Forsyth, who's been with
the company almost seven
years, manages a team of
11: seven people in "digital
engagement" (responding,
via Twitter and other social
media platforms, to customer
concerns or questions) and
four people on a "global social
media" team, whose efforts
are more proactive: getting
the word out about the latest
products or promoting the
annual SeaWheeze marathon,
for instance.
"Here at head office, we're
known as the 'store support
centre,'" says Forsyth. "When
we talk about building com-
44 BCBusiness MaY 2015 carson ting
T h e
B C B u s i n e s s
G u i D e T O
s O C i A L M e D i A
Controlling
the Message
everYbodY's Favourite
Yogawear coMPanY
knows how to both knit
and sPin a good Yarn
b y m at t o ' g r a dy
ululemon is a study
in contrasts. On the
one hand, B.C.'s best-
A l l ison Forsy t h,
director of global commu-
nity engagement, and Caro-
Forsyth, who's been with
the company almost seven
years, manages a team of
A
Controlling
the Message
Controlling
the Message
Controlling
avourite
MPan MPan MP Y
ows how to both knit
ood Yar Yar Y n
