He led Loewe's TikTok strategy
I talked to Lucas Yiu, content creative consultant, about the state of social media in luxury fashion.
Good morning! I am going to keep today’s intro short because the interview is too good. I have long admired the work of content creative consultant Lucas Yiu. Before going independent earlier this year, he spent two and a half years leading the very online TikTok strategy for the fashion brand Loewe. I looked back and counted over 30 Link in Bio newsletters that mention posts from the brand. I’m clearly a fan.
I called up Lucas in Paris to talk about what most luxury brands get wrong about social media, why he’s grateful for the auto-scroll feature on TikTok, and the importance of gaining internal trust. I hope you enjoy our chat.
Sponsored by Oatly
What I learned about social media at Oatly’s big beverage summit
Last week, I spoke at Aftertaste, a summit from Oatly that explored the intersection of beverage and culture. There was a matcha water fountain! Would you expect anything less from the oat milk brand that calls their internal creative team “The Department of Mind Control”? The best part was that I got to interview The Nitro Bar star (and co-founder) Audrey Finocchiaro. Here are a few of my favorite takeaways from our conversation:
Creating recurring formats like asking their baristas “What’s the weirdest drink someone has ever ordered?” or “What was the most popular order this weekend?” has allowed the coffee shop to not only build viewership but also retain a dedicated audience. “My show is on” mentality.
One of Audrey’s biggest social media tips? Multitask while talking to make a video more interesting. That might mean pouring ice in a shaker or walking around. Those actions hook viewers.
Trends don’t dictate their menu. It has to taste great, first and foremost. The most popular latte they’ve ever sold (and still sell!) is their caramelized banana latte.
I loved getting to chat with Audrey and hear from other speakers about the state of beverage. Thanks to the Oatly team for having me!
Lucas Yiu on advocating for big ideas, marketing that feels real, and having a daily average screen time of 12 hours
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Rachel Karten: How did you get your start in fashion social?
Lucas Yiu: I’m from Hong Kong and moved to Paris seven years ago. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in fashion but I knew the brands that I liked: Jean Paul Gaultier or Thierry Mugler. I went on LinkedIn and looked up every single person who worked at those places. Eventually the Communications Director at Thierry Mugler said to come to the office to chat. I was later offered a job working in social media and influencer.
Rachel: And this was right around the time that TikTok was becoming mainstream?
Lucas: Five years ago TikTok was quite new for the industry, most of the brands were not on the platform. But it was my job to get to know the different platforms and I found myself really using it. It felt super unique in terms of the style of content and sense of community. I started working on a strategy for it.
At that time, I couldn’t really benchmark other fashion brands since they weren’t on it, so I looked to Duolingo and accounts outside of fashion. I know it sounds common now, but it really was taboo for the luxury industry to be sharing iPhone videos at that time. The brand spent millions of dollars on a shoot for these polished assets, why would you post something filmed on an iPhone? When I suggested that everyone looked at me like I was crazy. But I found that audiences were just so tired and saturated with polished marketing content. That edit that I eventually got approved had something like 40M organic views. The company was like, “Maybe there’s something to this.”
Rachel: That’s always the challenge of working in social media.
Lucas: The most challenging thing about my work is never the idea or execution. It’s always the internal conversations and convincing people to approve something. Sometimes a post is just a vibe and not about a specific strategy. It’s about culture, it’s about feeling, it’s about sense.
Rachel: And after Mugler you started working at Loewe?
Lucas: Yes, I think they were wanting to invest more in their social media. A similar thing happened early on with needing to fight for the content. When we received one of the first posts that I had worked on from a creator, the feedback was essentially like “We love this, it’s funny, but it’s too much. We are not putting it on our page.” I felt so close. I knew it would go viral. I needed them to trust me. So late at night in the office, I talked to my boss and eventually convinced him. I think it got something like 30M views.
In the beginning there were a lot of sign offs and approvals, but eventually I was able to gain their trust.
Rachel: I always say that being good at social media is also learning how to explain low-stakes ideas with high intelligence. Learning to have that confidence is a skill.
Lucas: Exactly.
Rachel: I’d describe Loewe’s social media strategy as extremely online. Are you extremely online?
Lucas: My daily average screen time is around 12 hours. I am so thankful for the auto-scroll function on TikTok. My phone is just basically scrolling all the time, no matter if I’m showering or doing laundry.
Rachel: How were you deciding the creators to work with?
Lucas: It really is just a vibe. There are many creators where we’ll be like “Yeah, this is funny, but it’s not exactly the sense of humor we are targeting.” We often have a lot of discussion in the office whether certain ideas feel right. The truth is, during this process there is a lot of content being killed.
Rachel: You recently started your own consultancy. I’m curious, when brands approach you, what are they usually looking for on social media?
Lucas: Most of them are looking for social content that essentially makes the brand feel more alive. Not just traditional marketing content. They are usually familiar with my previous work and sort of understand what I bring to the table.
I would also say I have to be quite selective with my clients, because sometimes it costs you a lot more to work with a client that doesn’t get it. Most of the people who find me, they actually get it. If they didn’t get it, they probably wouldn’t notice my work in the first place.
Rachel: What do you think luxury brands get wrong about social media?
Lucas: I think a lot of brands are struggling between heritage and social. They want to preserve their image but also understand they need to be on social media, which is a bit more organic and relatable. I’m not saying that they need to do all of their campaigns on an iPhone, but I think when you’re spending that much budget and storytelling on a campaign message, you need to help the audience get there. Use social like a stepping stone.
Something I’ve noticed is that social posts from fashion press and media often perform better than the fashion brand posts. That’s because press and media understand how to capture attention online. Meanwhile the brand is putting their logo in the first three seconds of a video.
What’s the point of having a great beautiful campaign but no one is even seeing it?
Rachel: Look in your crystal ball, what do you think the future of social media looks like?
Lucas: Audiences want marketing to feel real. They don’t want it to be staged or polished. Craft is still super important, but finding ways to show it in a more organic way. More brands will include fun in their social strategies.
What I’m scrolling
GQ’s clip of A$AP Rocky saying “I ain’t no Knicks fan, I am a Knick” has 5M views. I asked Sasha Mutchnik, GQ’s Senior Director of Social Media, about the on-the-ground reporting she’s been doing. She shared, “For me, personally, the best work happens outside. When there’s something big and amorphous and chaotic, my instinct is always to just hone in on individual stories. They’ll help get to the granular details, they’ll make things personal. No one knows how to process a mob. But a mob is made up of people, and some of those people are great on camera.”
Harris Alterman and Dave Ross put up fake tech ads in the subway. 2.3M views!
Internal LinkedIn docs reveal the new features it’s cooking up. Business Insider viewed internal strategy documents and shared, “[LinkedIn] plans to roll out a dealmaking marketplace to connect creators with brands for sponsored posts. It’s also working on a new system that lets users make one-time purchases to buy ‘experiences’ from creators, like a paid advice session.”
I spoke with Ed Elson about the influencer economy. My take is that line culture has always existed. I waited an hour for Cronuts in 2013! Time is a circle!
I feel like we’re going to see brands hire sketch artists to document their events. Adam Faze shared his post here, then a NY Tech Week party did it here.
J.Crew hosting a camp-themed brand trip immediately after rolling out their camp-themed campaign is very smart. It’s a good example of Matthew Stasoff’s point about building multiple on-ramps to bring people into a campaign’s world.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced they are bringing the Your Algorithm feature to the main feed. Users can essentially tweak the topics they want recommended. The feature is marketed as a way to bring back more “agency” to your scroll, but I’m not sure if users really appreciate a “solution” to a problem that they perceive Instagram as the creator of. He also said modifying topics is just the start and they are “actively working on supporting requests for people, different moods or vibes, content types, and more.”
Brands are participating in the viral food jutsu trend. Figma here and Costco here. Want to try it? Here’s a tutorial.
YouTube has surpassed Netflix in viewership. Lucas Shaw recently reported this in his newsletter Screentime. YouTube’s most active users are between the ages of 18 and 24.
Your brand should hire Mrs Waffle to make a jingle for you. I am partial to this “aru-gala” video.
There are new roles added every day to the Link in Bio Job Board. Check out the latest from Sephora, Google, and Air here.
Thanks so much for reading. If you enjoy free interviews like this one, you can upgrade to a paid Link in Bio subscription. You’ll get weekly strategy newsletters and quarterly trend reports, along with access to the Discord community.
If you’re already a paid subscriber, thank you for making this newsletter possible!
Totally agree on the live art! I represent a similar creator (Kevin Zych) and we’ve been doing a good amount of similar brand collabs recently
So interesting to hear about what fashion brands see as a challenge and barrier in the social marketing age! Really insightful read