How Refinery29 Built a Digital Empire

Trend-setting media and entertainment company Refinery29 was founded by Christene Barberich, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi and Justin Stefano in 2004 as a fashion outlet and has since evolved into the mouthpiece of a generation. On a mission to be a catalyst for women to ‘feel, see and claim their power’ - Refinery29 is a true thought-leader in the publishing industry; with a winning combination of style and substance that has spawned a global footprint of 550 million. With a business-wide emphasis on storytelling, Refinery29 makes compelling content the lifeblood of its unique brand identity - the beating heart that fuels engagement and value for its reader. Refinery29 uses social media as not simply an extension of its business, but as a vehicle for its distinctive brand image.

So just how has Refinery29 managed to build such a successful digital empire?

In this post, Fashion & Beauty Monitor peels back the curtain and reveals key lessons to be learned from Refinery29 USA’s social media strategy…

Segmentation , Segmentation, Segmentation

Refinery29 cultivate an entirely relevant and personal experience for its audience, embracing content segmentation in three tiers: by platform, by sector and by territory. First, Refinery29 employs separate specialist teams and mini-departments responsible for specific social platforms. The brand quickly recognized some types of content work better on certain channels than others and used this intel to its advantage. Secondly, Refinery29 utilizes further segmentation to drive dedicated engagement in a particular topic or sector. Users can seek out specific content that they are most interested in via dedicated channels, such as @r29style for fashion lovers. Curating content by genre in this way reduces scrolling and delivers users material they are personally interested or invested in, whilst highlighting the breadth of content the brand offers (such as money and health). Finally, Refinery29 segments its content geographically. Though content is often shared across territories such as US and UK, editorial teams create exclusive content with local interest in order to put material in front of people that is likely to resonate most with them. Instead of trying to pull users towards it, Refinery 29 works on reaching people where they already are in a sensible way that has the most organic impact and potential for influence.

Segmentation ensures content authentically represents the brand, but in a way that relates directly with that particular audience and encourages interaction in that particular space.

Diversity with Cohesion

If we look at Refinery29’s aesthetic, the brand has chosen to present a rich mixture of both created and curated content. Reposting relevant user-generated content alongside original assets provides an instantly recognisable narrative on the grid. It’s easy for eclectic content to become messy-looking – running the risk of a diluted visual identity. Refinery29 sidesteps this by using rigorous due diligence to ensure each piece of content ties back to its main values and principles and aligns with the message its trying to convey. The @refinery29 Instagram account is a healthy combination of illustration, meme, gif, video and photography, accompanied by both long and short-form captions. But the glue that holds it all together is that each post speaks to the publisher’s underpinning values of inclusivity, body-positivity, modern feminism and optimism.

This inherent assortment of ‘organised chaos’ is a visual personification of the modern woman – a multi-dimensional individual with diversity of thought, interest and opinion – making Refinery29’s social footprint reflective of the comprehensive spectrum of its readers.

The Plural of Niche

Due to the Facebook algorithm favouring a certain type of content, brands and publications are no longer able to put their finger on exactly what people are seeing overall. Refinery29 takes the power back by curating multiple news feeds that appeal to micro-communities of niche followers. Many businesses embrace general or popular conversation topics to piggyback on trends and increase likelihood of appearing on discover feeds. Refinery29 is quite the opposite – drilling down into specific topics and sub-cultures allows them to step closer to niche communities and engage in grassroots marketing activity. Appealing to mobilised, devoted communities enables Refinery29 to forge connections and foster relationships with highly-engaged consumers – rendering the brand a voice of influence within multiple fields of interest.

Niche engagement fosters mini pools of loyalty amongst dedicated fans that quickly convert to brand advocates and helps bolster overall engagement.

Everyone’s Welcome

Refinery29 is a great example of a company that harnesses the persuasion power of personalisation and inclusivity – a strategy which extends across social and into its email marketing campaigns. Its use of inclusivity applies across all consumer communication, to make sure content is targeted to allow users to navigate a clear path to the information they want. For example, instead of writing an article concerning ’10 swimsuits to wear this Summer’, Refinery29 will write multiple versions of the same piece, catering to all demographics. Recognising in this case that everyone has a different body type and fashion taste, Refinery29 will put out a series of streams such as ’10 swimsuits to wear if you’re short’ or ‘10 swimsuits to suit bigger busts’. This inclusivity extends to vocabulary choices and copywriting. For instance, Refinery29 don’t assume the reader’s skin colour or sexuality, so they wouldn’t author a piece about how to get the best bronze tan or things to buy your boyfriend for Valentines’ Day.

When creating an editorial strategy, ensure no reader feels excluded or cannot relate to any piece of content created.

With the Best Intentions

Refinery 29 put their extensive influence to good use by aligning themselves with and launching proactive drives and initiatives that speak to the concerns of its primary audience. On conducting some research, the brand discovered 67% of women in the US are above a size 14 but have less than 2% of media representation. To address this problem and balance the scales, Refinery29 worked with Getty Images to launch The 67 Project – an initiative to break the plus size woman out of the niche and insert her into the mainstream, increasing accurate representation of the population. Refinery29 spent months shooting new stock photography and redesigning illustrations to more accurately reflect this statistic. In the week of the launch, 67% of the bodies appearing on its site, in its newsletter and across social media were plus size. The Getty partnership ensured this new collection of images is available to other outlets who also want to close the representation gap. Similarly, Refinery29 created the Shatterbox Anthology; a series of short films spotlighting female directors and increasing opportunities for women in the film industry and applauding their achievements.

Feeding back into its core principles of body positivity, modern feminism and inclusivity; Refinery 29 seek to consistently assure its community that it cares about them and the wider issues that matter to them, whilst contributing to the overall consistency of its own brand ethos.

From URL to IRL

Finally, Refinery29 uses all the digital channels at its disposal to champion its full business offering. Refinery29’s content and products transcend the boundaries of online and social, so it is only fitting that it advertises and promotes its direct-to-consumer proposals as much as any other part of its operation. 29Rooms is a ground-breaking art experience that brings the brand’s imaginative spirit to life, through an interactive funhouse of style, culture and technology. A celebration of expression, the 29Rooms IRL exhibition allows 29 talented artists, creatives and visionaries to translate their inspiration into physical rooms – each acting as a mini sensory museum for visitors to engage with. Reimagining live events for the digital age, Refinery29 makes a three-dimensional connection with its audience. For those who can’t attend the event in person, the brand ensures coverage across social media to allow fans a visual connection to the experience and to shout about its creative achievements.

It’s all about injecting added value for your community through presentation of engaging and dynamic content that characterises your brand, whether it be in person or online.

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