Live Colorfully

In 1993, Kate Brosnahan Spade delved into the handbag industry and designed just six silhouettes, combining sleeks designs with colorful palettes. The designs caught on quickly, and the company's first storefront opened in 1996. Kate Spade New York has since then grown into a globally-recognized brand, offering anything from handbags to stationery to clothing. According to the Kate Spade website, the company's hallmarks include crisp color, graphic prints and playful sophistication. The company's slogan is Live Colorfully. Kate Spade is consistent across all platforms, making it one of the most successful brands in e-commerce at utilizing multimedia communications. 

Here is how Kate Spade does it: 

Product: You can't have a successful brand without a successful product. One of Kate Spade's biggest strengths is its constant introduction of new products for different occasions. For 2014, Kate Spade is capitalizing on the idea of traveling, and of course, traveling colorfully. Not only is the company giving away a trip to Rio, it is also introducing new arrivals that are reminiscent of a tropical paradise. The campaign has been extremely consistent with the overall brand. 

Character, Tone and Language: Going off of this chart in the Social Media Examiner, Kate Spade's character is extremely warm and inspiring. The typical Kate Spade woman is smart and sophisticated, and their brand often reflects this. The language is also very personable and insider-like. They speak to their customers as equals, and they hard ever "sell" their products. (At least to me it never feels like selling.) Instead, they sell their brand. A lot of their posts could pass as posts that my own friends write and share, as demonstrated by the Facebook post below. Kate Spade is notorious for writing in all lower caps, including on their website, as that is how their logo is designed and written. 

Imagery: The typical Kate Spade imagery is colorful and true to their brand. They create custom graphics for just about everything, and it's clear that their graphic designers work closely with the e-commerce and social media teams. Everything is very cohesive, and you can usually spot a Kate Spade graphic from a mile away. 

Blog: Kate Spade's blog is a written collection of all the brand's interests: lifestyle, travel, behind-the-scenes and fashion. A majority of their posts are holiday-based such as a Mother's Day themed blog post where staff members divulged the best advice they ever received from mom and what to gift her. Once again, the posts are extremely personable.

E-mail updates: I get a Kate Spade e-newsletter twice a week, always recognizable by their signature lower caps  and teaser subject line. Below is an example I received on April 21 with the subject line "april showers bring..." One again, very Kate Spade and nothing like "You have to shop!" or "Must buy!" It's simple, catching and sealed with Kate Spade's signature imagery/text. I especially love their 75 percent off sales because newsletter subscribers are notified first. 

Facebook: A majority of Kate Spade's Facebook posts link back to their website, encouraging users to read their blog or browse their products. The theme is usually colorfully and obviously marked. All blog posts have a "read more" graphic on them, and promotions are colorful and usually consist of a custom graphic. 

Twitter: Kate Spade's Twitter threw me off when I first followed because it is just so casual and personable compared to most brands. A lot of it is just seems like someone on the team's thoughts, which is extremely consistent with the Kate Spade brand. Some of it is very subtle promotions of their products, such as the Memorial Day day post below.

Pinterest: Kate Spade's Pinterest is a collection of Kate Spade inspirations from around the web. Boards names include "Dress Colorfully," "Travel Colorfully," "Celebrate Colorfully," and more. I love that they keep a board of inspirations each year since they've joined Pinterest, according to specific marketing campaigns. For example, 2012 was the year of the pattern and 2014 is about places to go and people to see. Pins have the same consistent voice as the rest of their posts and are usually colorful (surprise!). 

Instagram/Tumblr: Kate Spade's Instagram is very similar to its Twitter. Most of the images are generated by the social media team, using the company's products in some creative manner or snapshots of the brand's travel log. I love they include personal team items, demonstrated by the Instagram below. Kate Spade's Tumblr is basically an album of their Instagram photos. 

YouTube: Kate Spade posts to YouTube to promote special collections or new locations. The videos are very clean, well-edited and bright. Below is the last video they posted to YouTube to promote their theme for 2014: travel colorfully. 

Kate Spade is a multimedia powerhouse, and the company's sales growth is projected to reach $1.2 billion by 2016. The brand is growing due to its consistency and understanding of how to engage with its audience. But most of all, you know what you're getting with Kate Spade: a quality product, great customer service and a friendly voice. The way Kate Spade presents itself is undeniably genuine, which encourages loyalty. This transparency translates into customer trust and recognition.