Social Media’s role
in fashion can no longer be ignored as it has become According to a good, targeted social and
digital media strategy can build and drive brand loyalty. Being visible on
digital platforms allows brands to react faster and target their campaign
more precisely to the right audience.
Online retailer, Asos, has always placed an importance on social
engagement, particularly via Instagram. FashionUnited recently interviewed
by email Titi Finlay, the Social Media Content Creator at Asos (her sneaker
tutorial is the most viewed on the company’s IGTV) on how she went from a
struggling art student living in London to being flown on a luxury brand
trip to Dubai for her dream job.
As the Social Media Content Creator at Asos, what does a workday look
like?
Usually in the mornings I’m on emails and then our team starts the day
with a meeting on current events, so we can create timely content and
bounce ideas off each other. In the afternoons I’ll usually be shooting
content (mainly shots of sneakers), or briefing influencers/designers to
create stuff for our socials. There’s a lot of admin involved too, so it’s
not all creative. Evenings I try to be off my phone unless I’m at a brand
event, as working in social media can be really full-on mental health-wise,
but sometimes I do have to post Instagram stories or content outside of
work hours – comes with the job!
You recently created a sneaker tutorial which generated over 1.2million
engagements in 24 hours, making it the most viewed IGTV video on Asos’s
Instagram. How did you come up with that?
I actually didn’t make this piece of content for Asos originally, I just
made it one weekend for fun as it’s something I had been thinking about
doing for a while. When my boss saw how well it performed on my own channel
we decided to repost on Asos and the views went crazy! I think it shows
that really organic, thoughtful, satisfying content always does best. When
you’re passionate about what you’ve created rather than just make content
for volume, then it will always do well.
When
you’re passionate about what you’ve created rather than just make content
for volume, then it will always do well.
What do you love most about your job?
I love that I can be creative and that I get so many amazing
opportunities. Memorable highlights have been meeting some of my heroes
like Pharrell, Jeff Staple and Mike Cherman and also being taken to Dubai
with Puma for Sole DXB festival. It’s great that no day is ever the same
and as a creative person that really stimulates my mind! I also love that
any idea I have can very quickly be actualised, and that there is budget
and resource to make it happen.
You have interned for Harper’s Bazaar, the Sunday Times, influencer and
fashion journalist Katherine Ormerod as well as rebranded The Braid Bar for
creative director Willa Burton. How did all these amazing opportunities
come about?
A couple of years ago I was working in restaurants and feeling really
directionless about my future. I’d always wanted to work in fashion, but I
had zero experience. One day I hit rock bottom and decided that I was just
gonna go for it, I had nothing to lose. I actually just outright emailed
Katherine and Willa asked them both if I could intern for free to learn
from them.
It was really hard as I had no money and had to work a lot of jobs to be
able to pay my rent and intern at the same time, but it paid off as I was
then recommended for both the magazine internships by Katherine and then it
all just sort of snowballed from there. I wasn’t born with any money or
connections, so I went out and got them for myself – which a lot of people
don’t have the guts to do!
Did you always want to work in the fashion industry and what did you
study?
As soon as I left university I knew I wanted to work in some kind of
fashion or creative role, but prior to that I just wanted to be a famous
artist. I studied Fine Art and I paint, and I wanted to do that for a
living but the reality is that’s super difficult. Now that my career is
more established, I’ve gone back to painting in my spare time and it feels
amazing!
What advice would you give to your college-self?
The advice I would give to my younger self is: Don’t listen to
anyone except your own intuition. When I was struggling during my
internships, going to the job centre and trying to survive life in London
so many people told me my goals weren’t realistic and to maybe ‘try and
become a teacher’ instead – and these were people close to me who loved me
and wanted the best for me. The problem is a lot of people are conditioned
with the idea that big dreams are ‘unrealistic’ and unachievable, so they
don’t understand that you actually can go for them and if you don’t give
up, you WILL get there!
What is your must-have fashion item?
A pair of chunky white sneakers – probably my Acne Manhattans or a
classic Nike Air Force 1!
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Photos: courtesy of Titi Finlay