Lilly Pulitzer, by Rachel R.

Lilly Pulitzer is a timeless brand that specializes in women’s clothes and accessories in array of signature, colorful prints. Lilly Pulitzer was founded in 1960s’ Florida, as is evident in the way that some of their products even display the state’s silhouette in their designs. Lilly Pulitzer expressed their sympathies on their various social media platforms when news of the Orlando shooting initially broke on June 12, 2016, but it was not until June 26^th, 2016, that they posted what I would considered to be a successful social media post for the Florida-based company. On June 26^th, Lilly Pulitzer posted that, on that day only, 10% of proceeds from any one of their Florida corporate stores would go to the OneOrlando Fund. In the 2016 book Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach, authors Melissa S. Barker, Donald I. Barker, Nicolas F. Bormann, Mary Lou Roberts and Debra Zahay cover the characteristics of a successful social media marketer, the first of which was to “stay on top of social media trends” (Barker et al., 18) which is one of the reasons that I believe this post was so successful. In the weeks following the Orlando shooting, it was still trending on most social media sites, especially the hashtag #OrlandoUnited, which Lilly Pulitzer used in their post. Another characteristic of a successful social media marketer was to “be prepared to think and act quickly,” (Barker et al., 18) and I think Lilly’s response, two weeks to the day after the shooting was fairly swift and soon, before social media started to focus on the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

Barker, M.S., Barker, D.I., Bormann, N.F., Roberts, M.L., & Zahay, D. (2016). Social media

            marketing: a strategic approach (2^nd ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

https://www.facebook.com/lillypulitzer/posts/10154207934144361