John S. Wolfe

This is another in a series of reports about the Social Media Marketing 2010 conference, held June 17 in London.

What’s an advantage of an in-store experience over one online?

The knowledge of a salesperson, a chance to quickly see a variety of products, conversations and serendipity.

T.M. Lewin, a major UK clothing chain, saw an opportunity to become a “thought leader” on men’s fashion in London through the Internet.

“We wanted to see ourselves as the authority on business dress and give insight to customers on products and fashion,” head of director marketing Naomi Paget told the audience at the June 17 Social Media Marketing conference in London. “We also wanted to educate them and excite them, and introduce them to our other products.”

Over six months the company created an online community for men’s business clothing, OfftheCuff.com. It also has a Facebook page for the feature.

The plan was to leverage its expertise through sharing information and producing informative videos. A popular one is “How to fold a shirt.”

“We wanted to replicate the level of service in the store to the customer in the living room and around the world,” she said.

One element was securing knowledgeable bloggers.

T.M. Lewin asked 16 individuals across several areas of men’s fashions – i.e. suits, ties, shoes – to become company bloggers for the website.

These experts would offer sartorial advice and invite questions from readers.

The responses were written by the expert, creating “conversations,” Paget said.

“We have four new blogs each week and one poll a week,” she said. “We try to keep it topical.”

The key was to have the content lined up well in advance, she added.