BrandData measures Australian social media engagement in the activewear sector.
Water cooler conversations all over the country are debating the when’s and where's of ‘activewear’.
The final word was delivered by Lorna Jane herself in a segment on 60 Minutes last Sunday - activewear is anytime wear (apart from funerals or weddings, of course).
BrandData statistics indicate that Instagram is delivering the highest average engagement percentages and highest average engaged audience numbers for activewear.
However, for Lorna Jane, the number one brand in the category in social web effectiveness, Facebook delivers the largest audiences.
With relatively low engagement for a category at .21%, activewear is about as engaging as baby and kids department stores, cereals and credit cards.
This may be function of the fact that active wear tends to generate very large audience sizes across social media, therefore bringing engagement percentages down as a function of that base.
Looking at two consistent performers, Stylerunner and Lululemon, there are some interesting comparisons statistics that we can draw useful insights from.
Lululemon wins the overall engagement race between the two driven out of compelling website and Facebook promotions and visuals.
However, it is Instagram which delivers a different story.
Styletrunner has a massive 400,000 followers which is about 85% bigger than Lululemon’s.
It regularly clocks good engagement levels for posts of between 2.7% - .8%, outranking the category averages by 10 times in Instagram.
Retail stores drive the Lululemon exposure, however, Stylerunner has really developed a unique business through Instagram as a defining shop window.
Lorna Jane puts them both to shame here in Australia though, with a healthy engagement percentage three times the industry average.
This is on a fan and follower base three times the size of the nearest rival.
Active wear or anytime wear, it seems the popularity of this clothing segment is not going to wear out any time soon.