Social Media Monitoring Project: Lime Crime II

In my earlier post, we went through the goods and the bads of Lime Crime’s social media and business practices. This week, we’re diving in deeper! But first, let’s go over the basics: Lime Crime is a makeup brand that specializes in innovative products with bright, bold colors. While they often rock their social media game (especially Instagram), their shady business practices can definitely lead to them receiving a large amount of flack. We specifically wanted to look at one of their most innovative new products, the Diamond Crusher, because it seems that their unique aesthetic is what gives them a competitive advantage even after all of the negativity that has surrounded them. This week, we’re going to be taking a closer look at how all of it comes together, and what it really means for the company.

First of all, Lime Crime is definitely succeeding with their target market of unique young women. They make this clear by the constant array of artificially colored haired models on their Instagram. Their success can be attributed to the fact that pretty much all of these models are actually fans posting pictures that Lime Crime then re-posts on their own site (Again, sponsorships mean that we don't really know who is just posting a pic, and who was paid to support Lime Crime on their site in the first place, but the fake groundswell seems to work just as well as the real one for this company).

Strengths

Regardless, utilizing groundswell is absolutely one of Lime Crime’s biggest strengths. They know that their customers will be more inclined to post photos in their products if it might land them on their site. It also shows that Lime Crime is watching and listening to their customers when they chose to post certain people’s pictures, a vital aspect of groundswell. Also, it gives a “word of mouth” vibe. All of their promotions feel very grassroots oriented, which is fantastic for an indie makeup brand.

3/19

Lime Crime's innovative products like Diamond Crushers are certainly a strength. While the product came out in November 13th, it is still the two most dominant words associated with Lime Crime on Social Mention. It is clear that Lime Crime’s innovative products are one of its biggest strengths. If the products sold by the company were of poor quality, I am sure that more of the negative claims that surround them would be taken more seriously, but it is hard for people to pull themselves away from a company that is giving them products no one else can, like their brand new Black Unicorn Diamond Crusher. That being said, i have become skeptical of the data found on Social Mention. The two pictures below were taken at the same time, but with drastic differences. The only difference was a slight change in the search frome "Lime Crime" to "lime crime"......

 "lime crime" Tuesday, 21

"Lime Crime" Tuesday, 21            

This was, well, a little bit surprising, and I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. However, I still believe that Diamond Crushers and product quality are what are getting the company through. Here is one Youtuber's take on why she will continue to support Lime Crime. 

When it comes to their competitors, they’re pretty average. They’re not bad, but they’re not great. Jeffree Star and Sugarpill are considered two of Lime Crime’s main competitors because of their use of wild bold colors as well. In fact, they’ve been accused of copying Sugarpill in the past.

On the right: Sugarpill Heart Breaker palette. Left is Lime Crime's 

Based on Instagram, Lime Crime is smack dab in the middle of both companies when it comes to social interactions. While they average 365.5 interactions per 1000 followers, Jeffree Star does 464.4, while Sugarpill only has 332.9. Ultimately, I still think that this shows Lime Crime interacts well. Although they’re behind Jeffree Star, Jeffree Star’s whole brand is about interaction. He is one of the only makeup brands that regularly makes personal Youtube content. I think this puts him in a unique position, that honestly might hurt Lime Crime to do the same.

Lime Crime Instagram Interaction

Jeffree Star Instagram Interaction

Sugarpill Instagram Interaction

Weaknesses

That brings us to Lime Crime’s biggest weakness: They do not know how to handle a scandal. Especially Doe Deere, their founder. Deere has really been the main creator of most of Lime Crime’s scandals. Even things that didn’t have to do with Lime Crime at all have followed Deere to the brand. For example, she once threatened to sue a 13 year old for not properly citing her photos. That was in 2005. This article from Racked? 2015. That is not a good. Oh, and she also once dressed up like Hitler for Halloween…

While she provided a heartfelt apology for this choice, many makeup enthusiasts have not forgiven her. Because of these instances, if Deere was putting out video content like Jeffree Star is, it might not work so well in her favor. It seems that the best thing for Lime Crime to do is distance themselves from Doe Deere's name. Although she will likely stay as head of the company, it is ideal that her name become less and less attached to Lime Crime's brand.

The negative image around Lime Crime's scandals does not end with their founder, however. The company has a history in general of not handling issues in transparent ways. For example, one of their most recent products, the Super Foils, was meant to be one of their new unique inventions. However, when brown spots began to show up on people's eye shadow "Super Foils", customers feared that it was a rust or mold. Lime Crime was able to prove that it was just a weird reaction that was not dangerous in any way to the customer through rigorous testing, which is fantastic. However, they were documented deleting people's comments of concern during the process. From a groundswell point of view, it makes customers feel that the company has something to hide, and that their concerns were being silenced. Groundswell members hate being silenced.

A message from Lime Crime about the incident 

Opportunities 

Lime Crime absolutely has the opportunity to thrive. First of all, they need to continue promoting their most innovative and new products. Their strength rides on continuing to make creative new items for the makeup world that suite their bold young explorers. They have an opportunity to grow their social media as well. While they do a fantastic job posting, they could be even better on the side of responding. While they are at a good mid range for their style of company, they should work to be the best. Finally, they have an opportunity to be more honest with their constituency, who are very much part of the groundswell world. The quicker they provide information on a scandal, the more their customers will feel that their relationship is more mutual than one sided.

Threats

The further away that Lime Crime gets from a controversy, the better chance they have as being seen as a maturing company, and their products will be able to say more to a customer than their negative brand name. The biggest threat to Lime Crime seems to lay in their biggest weakness: Their founder Doe Deere. So long as she does not run off of the handles, and say or do something out of line, they are likely to have a slow and steady improvement. After a while, customers will likely look at most scandals and say "Well, that was a long time ago, I'm sure they've grown". That statement becomes mute with the next problem the next problem arises, especially if they continue to handle scandals by trying to cover them up.

Utilizing Twitter by posting a follower's picture.

There are a few things that I would suggest to the company:

1. As I've said before, they need to distance themselves from their scandal ridden founder. This doesn't mean she needs to step down necessarily, but having her presence limited would certainly help.

2. One thing that many makeup companies are currently doing are expressly seeking diversity in their models. Especially for a "unique bold female" brand like Lime Crime, they need to show their uniqueness. For example, many companies are embracing male models for their brand. Men are being more and more welcomed into the makeup work, and they are likely to get positive recognition for doing the same.

3. Lime Crime needs to learn the word sorry. An apology can go a long way, especially for an understandable mistake. It is harder to forgive when someone has not admitted guilt, and this is no different with a brand. When something goes wrong, the more transparent they can be about solving the problem, and the quicker they can say sorry, the better. Hiding things has proven time and time again to land them in Streisand effect.

Ultimately, many of Lime Crime's scandals are in the past. Their fantastic branding, interesting new products, and groundswell inspired Instagram are happening now. If they continue to push out products like Diamond Crushers, they are likely to keep growing and maturing in the right direction. There may be some bumps along the way, but if they handle problems responsibly they are likely to become a wildly successful company.