Clubhouse: Everything we know →

Hello friends, have you seen the buzz surrounding another social media platform, Clubhouse? Have you been wondering what the hype is about? At Design Land NYC, we have raised similar questions, and have eventually enjoyed using Clubhouse. We are here to reveal everything we know about this app! 

Image via Gary Vee - Gary Vaynerchuk approved!

What is Clubhouse? 

Clubhouse is an audio-based social media app, where users can listen into other users’ (moderators) phone conversations. Users can jump from one room to another, choose conversations by topic, and can even ask to participate in the moderator’s audio chat. The app allows people everywhere to talk about ideas, meet different people from around the world and listen into interesting conversations, and each room has a current limit of 5,000 users per Clubhouse room. In many ways, Clubhouse resembles an audio forum, as opposed to a podcast. You can listen into conversations, participate, follow other users and topics and receive suggestions for rooms that may suit your preferences. Once the conversations end, you cannot access them at a later time as the app does not keep record of the content. 

Clubhouse Action Buttons

Clubhouse was first launched in March 2020, created by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth. Only two months after its launch, the app was valued at $100 million while having only 1,500 users. In 2020, the app was comprised of a small circle of users, yet reached 2 million users in January 2021 to exponentially increase into the current high number of 6 million users. The app is now worth $1 billion. Clubhouse is currently only available to iOS users, with an Android version on its way and a website that links to the iOS app. 

Clubhouse Topics

How can you get a Clubhouse Invitation? 

To sign up for the app and begin checking out Clubhouse rooms, you will need to receive an invitation from an existing Clubhouse user. As a new user you will get two invites to send as you like, and you will earn more as you use the app. The only way to join the app so far is through an invitation! When you receive an invitation you can choose to sign up with your name and phone number, create a username, or through Twitter to transfer over your profile. The reason for this invite-only system is that Clubhouse is building a reputation and desirability based on exclusivity and limited access. However, the app does plan to extend to the general public with no current update as to when that will happen. 

Who is on Clubhouse? 

Many celebrities and influencers such as Kevin Hart, Oprah, Chris Rock, Drake, and Tiffany Haddish are known to have been periodically using the app, among whom, Tiffany Haddish was the first user to reach 1 million followers on Clubhouse. It seems that people are really interested in what celebrities and influencers have to say and enjoy being a temporary wallflower on these seemingly exclusive conversations. 

Elon Musk Clubhouse Room

The most recent celebrity that brought Clubhouse at the forefront of public attention and broke the Clubhouse 5,000 user limit, was the Tesla and SpaceX founder, Elon Musk. In January 31, Musk created a room and utilized the platform to talk about space travel, colonies on Mars, crypto, artificial intelligence and Covd-19 vaccines to his audience. Later in the conversation, Musk was joined by Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood and they analyzed the recent events on the Wall Street bets.

While the app does not record or store any of the audio content, users listening into the conversation are free to do whatever they like with the audio. Elon Musk’s conversation on Clubhouse was recorded and streamed online soon enough, which makes us think that while the app intends to keep these conversations exclusive and semi-private, there will always be the chance of users storing the audio somewhere else on the internet. 

Clubhouse App - Image via The Guardian

If you have ever wanted to listen into people’s conversations, and conduct this in an ethical and acceptable way, then Clubhouse may be just the right app for you! Otherwise, tell us why you would use this app and what are your thoughts on Clubhouse? Will this platform be the next big social media phenomena?

Image Via PCMag

As for Design Land NYC, we are finding topics such as Shopify integration, ecommerce and social media marketing to be of high interest and we are loving the access to founders that have built billion dollar brands and ecommerce and we are very inspired to hear them speak directly on the chat rooms at Clubhouse!

XOXO Lori / Design Land NYC

Bottega Veneta Deletes All Social Media Platforms

Hi everyone and happy Second Week of 2021! 

Our latest discussion at Design Land NYC has been about Bottega Veneta

Only last week, Bottega Veneta decided to close down its Instagram, Facebook and Twitter account unexpectedly, offering no announcement for future plans to follow.

What could have caused such an abrupt change? 

According to GQ Magazine, some speculation reveals that this may fit into a larger scheme of the brand’s marketing strategy, before the release of Bottega Veneta’s 2021 Spring-Summer Collection. In the recent weeks before the sudden Social Media “cleanse”, Bottega already debuted the brand’s Spring 2021 collection to a private socially distanced audience in London, the creative director’s Daniel Lee home base. According to Vogue, Daniel Lee does not believe in fashion shows, something that only makes sense for the brand and became the reason why he opted for a salon performance instead. The most exclusive luxury brands show very little online, creating a veil of mystique around their products and offer unique experiences through their stores. As Alber Elbaz has best said: “When you see too much of a designer, it means that it’s not too much of a good piece and they need to do too much publicity to push it forward.”

Photo: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta

Why would this sudden shift in Bottega’s social media presence make a difference in the brand’s overall performance?

Now, more than ever brands have become more reliant on social media to promote their products, marketing campaigns, offer new channels of distribution and connection to their customers. Most luxury brands, if not all, have some social media presence in various scales, and have been increasing their digital activities throughout different platforms. 2019 and 2020 marked a significant shift of consumer attention to TikTok, a popular social media platform among the teenagers. As a result, many brands actively expanded on the new trending platform as a measure of staying on trend and being seen. As the 2020 pandemic precautions prevented social gatherings, many luxury houses have shown their collections creatively through online streaming mediums, completely changing the way how a fashion show can be organized, presented and consumed. 

Eliminating these social media outlets also means minimizing reach, specifically towards the younger consumer, when other luxury brands are actively trying to grab attention throughout trending platforms to create everlasting relationships with potential customers. 

Photo: Courtesy of Purseblog

Stealth Luxury Marketing Approach

However, Bottega Veneta is known as a stealth luxury brand, one to use anti-marketing marketing strategies of staying away from overexposed logos and design trends. We all know the previously used tagline “When your own initials are enough”, demonstrating a sense of discreteness, and amplifying the quality and craftsmanship character of the brand. Perhaps the decision to stay off social media for a while can be an extended tactic on their overall discreet marketing strategy, turning away from the overexposed heavily consumed mediums, and relying on word-of-mouth recognition. Bottega Veneta is a brand that few forget, and is often tagged or mentioned in celebrity wardrobe tours and handbag collections. While Bottega will not have their own hub on any social media platform, others will continue to talk about it out of sheer preference, and construct more genuine unintentional promotions. 

Photo: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta

How long before we see Bottega on Social Media again?

We wonder how long Bottega will be off these platforms before debuting their next collection and returning to digital advertising. We all have that friend that swears to give up social media as their New Year resolution, in hope for spending more quality time, yet end up activating their account just days later. On a side note, we hear from Vogue that only over a month ago, the brand posted a listing for a global social media manager, so the real answer may be that the brand is preparing for a complete strategic transformation, and only time will tell when we will see it unfold online. 

While we were initially shocked at Design Land NYC to learn about Bottega Veneta’s social media cleanse, we now understand how that fits in the picture of stealth luxury marketing, and it is not radically new or unexpected for Bottega after all. If you are interested to read more on this story, check out these articles we read!

• GQ

• Vogue

• Harpers Bazaar

Photo: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta

As always, we hope you are safe and healthy!

Sending joy,

 XOXO Lori / Design Land NYC