Vivy Yusof: Pure Genius Or Purely Strategy?

Vivy Sofinas Yusof has taken her fashion e-commerce empire by storm in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and recently London. At the age of 30, she is a successful fashion mogul adored by many women all around the world. I have to honestly admit that I am among those who fangirl over her. What makes me intrigued and amazed by her is how she brilliantly planned and executed marketing strategies for both Fashion Valet and dUCk.

It is crystal clear to me that Vivy’s marketing strategies can be explained through Cialdini’s principles of persuasion. Through extensive psychological research, Cialdini concluded that the principles of reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, social proof and liking can positively influence consumers and win sales. Here is an attempt to dissect her marketing strategy using 3 of Cialdini’s principles which are scarcity, authority and social proof.

Scarcity: Lesser supply equals more demand

The principle of scarcity states that if people think that a product is limited in quantity, people will rush to buy it quickly. Marketers often use the phrases “For a limited time only’’ and “While stocks lasts’’ to increase conversions and sales.

In Vivy’s marketing strategy, this principle is applied to her dUCk’s scarves. Vivy’s hijabi business can be easily divided into two lines, basic and limited edition. Her basic line is made up of single coloured scarves with ridiculously cute names such as Periwinkle, Melon, Moonlight, Aurora etc. On the other hand, her limited edition line consists of digitally printed and customized scarves such as the London dUCK, the Yummy dUCk, the eid dUCk etc. Her basic line are constantly available and can be purchased easily while her limited edition line as the name suggests are limited in stock. These scarves are usually sold out within a week it was launched online. Personal shoppers also flock dUCk’s official Instagram page with comments to help fans buy Vivy’s scarf for a small service fee.

Authority: Just follow my lead

The principle of authority states that people want to be told what to do so they are willing to listen to anyone. Renowned psychologists, Zimbardo and Milgram also established that authority indeed influences obedience.

Vivy Yusof is an authority figure with an outstanding and steadily growing 1.4 million followers on Instagram. She uses her Instagram page to disseminate information about Fashion Valet and dUCk. For example, last year, she executed the #IAMHOMEGROWN campaign as part of Fashion Valet’s basic line. Over 60 celebrity status, authority figures and influencers participated in her campaign. Among them include Nurul Izzah (politician), Harith Iskandar (world class comedian), Nedim Nazri (entrepreneur) and wife Nora Danish (actress), Chef Wan (chef) and Aireen Omar (CEO of AirAsia). I remember vividly reading on her Instagram that the line sold out online within a few days after the launch. Personally, the clothes were really basic but Vivy managed to make them highly attractive and desirable due to the 60 personalities endorsing the brand, as well as the timing of the launch which is close to National Day. Just the right time to instill patriotism and pride among Malaysians!

Social Proof: Everyone’s doing it, I should too

The principle of social proof states that people will buy, see and do what others are doing. As opposed to the principle of authority, social proof looks into the power of the masses instead of celebrity status figures.

In the case of Vivy’s marketing strategy, hashtags are often used by Vivy and her followers. Among the popular hashtags are #fvootd and #ducktravels. The #fvootd is a hashtag where fans post their outfit of the day using Fashion Valet’s clothing while the #ducktravels hashtag are used by fans when they travel with their dUCks and post Instagram worthy photos on their accounts. Currently, the former hashtag has 31,965 posts while the latter has 16, 007 posts. Occasionally, fans’ posts also get featured on dUCk and Fashion’s Valet official Instagram page. Consequently, this marketing strategy not only leveraged fans as advocates for Vivy’s brands but also normalizes this type of behaviour among fans.

Pure genius or simply well-thought out marketing strategy? Which principle do you works the most for Vivy’s brands? Which principle will you implement in your model?