Hot Topic: Flopping on Social Media?

Hot Topic is an incredibly popular apparel store that specializes in pop culture based clothing and products. I chose this brand as my topic because of its significance in a world I'm all too familiar with; fandom. Fandom is an ever-growing market including all sorts of people but still provides enough of a niche to be popular among fans. I chose this brand primarily for this reason and because I am also very familiar with the aesthetic that Hot Topic goes for. With all this talk of Hot Topic as a brand familiar with pop culture and "the youth", it would be reasonable to assume that Hot Topic is extremely successful in social media. To my surprise, Hot Topic might have one of the worst social media presences from a brand of its size. Allow me to explain.

To boil it down to simple terms, Hot Topic is a brand that focuses on alternate styles for the under-served youth. First established in the 80's, Hot Topic was the first of its kind to offer a wide selection of alternate apparel that allows teens and young adults to embrace more "edgy" styles. Especially in the earlier decades of Hot Topic, the store was a paradise for misunderstood kids looking to thoroughly express themselves and be unique with their clothing. The stores had quite a bit of Gothic image to coincide with the products sold within. 

This dark aesthetic is almost unheard of in larger apparel chains in competition with Hot Topic and especially in modern times, this sort of content would be extremely popular on social media since more and more people embrace who they are everyday. This, however, is where the problems begin.

While the Gothic style Hot Topic would do extremely well with current trends and social media, the actual modern style that Hot Topic has begun marketing is not Gothic in the slightest. In fact, this is where the biggest lack of social media presence resides. It only took a little bit of digging on Hot Topic's Instagram and Facebook accounts to see dozens of comments on posts that say they "Miss the old Hot Topic". This is because of the new pop culture related products that Hot Topic have been pushing in their marketing. Instead of embracing the alternate, more dark aesthetic that founded the company, they've been catering to a more generalized pop culture scene by supplying their stores with items involved with companies like Disney and Studio Ghibli. While these brands still serve the pop culture appeal of Hot Topic, the original audience who long for the alternate style that they can rarely find elsewhere are being completely ignored. This has forever altered the image and popularity of Hot Topic.

After looking through Hot Topic's Facebook and Instagram pages, I was shocked to see minuscule numbers on such a big brand's output. Most posts and reels only gain 1,000 likes at most and less than 10 comments per post. This is incredibly shocking and even Hot Topic's online shopping site has very few reviews and purchases. To be specific, the main problem comes from the content of Hot Topic's posts and what "audience" the product is trying to be marketed towards. For example, Hot Topic's posts about currently popular alternate bands do fairly well on social media in comparison to other posts. The screenshot below shows the comments from their most recent Facebook post that advertises apparel for the band Sleep Token.

I also commented on this string of comments agreeing with what they were saying. This is because I genuinely believe that this under-representation is the reason for Hot Topic's decrease in popularity. These are comments that I find EVERYWHERE on their social media pages. Everyone always talks about how Hot Topic doesn't sell what they used to and no longer caters to their original audiences in the alternate clothing market. These comments are especially prevalent on products expressly trying to break out of the alternative market Hot Topic has been based in for years. Currently, Winnie the Pooh is a popular franchise for Hot Topic's products. And many people, are not impressed.

They are saying exactly what I'm seeing and I'm in a marketing class! People recognize that Hot Topic is trying to be more mainstream and ignore the niche markets they originally designed products for. Now, they sell all sorts of products that you can find anywhere. This is being noticed by followers of their Instagram account as well.

I'm even confused by Hot Topic selling Lorcana cards. It just feels like a blatant sellout to attract a more broad customer base. And this is where Hot Topic has gone wrong. Early on, Hot Topic had a clear goal and value proposition for allowing the unseen youth who were considered weird or bizarre to be heard and have a voice. It was a place for teens who were different from everyone else to embrace that style and wear clothes that nobody else would. To wear clothes that made them feel seen and allowed them to express themselves how they wanted. Things that were more alternative that no other place was bold enough to sell. This is what Hot Topic had founded itself in. And instead, they've thrown away their loyal fan base out of their desire to suddenly turn mainstream. They sell cutesy items for pop culture franchises that nearly every other clothing store is already selling. And Hot Topic fans know this. They're pointing it out on social media daily! Complaints about the "new" Hot Topic and missing the band tees and darker style that made Hot Topic so popular in the first place.

Even if Hot Topic's new inventory made better numbers than they were before, they've become every other clothing brand. They no longer stand out as brightly as the one place to buy alternative products. This is exactly what I've been taught in Marketing to not do. To uphold a niche market and sell what people are going to love. Now, Hot Topic rarely produces products that their niche market truly enjoys and keeps producing apparel that gets lost in a sea of similar items. 

On top of all this, Hot Topic rarely connects with their customers. Practically every post is selling a product or a "new" shirt that all comments say is outdated. They even have obvious bots controlling customer service. Below are screenshots from two different posts of the exact same comment interaction between an obvious spam account and Hot Topic. The responses are exactly the same, showing every other fan that Hot Topic doesn't have a real person manning customer service on these social media accounts. 

Hot Topic no longer has a personal connection with their customers, something that their long-time fans recognize clearly. Hot Topic no longer feels like a light in the dark for people who feel unheard. And everyone knows it. They should have a real person behind every response and better customer service on their shopping site, too. When such a large amount of their customer base is on social media, they should have a large amount of employees working on every online presence they have. And that's just one thing I would change.

Hot Topic should obviously go back to focusing on their niche market but for the purposes of this, we'll only focus on changes for their social media accounts. To begin, more interactive posts should be made. Once in a blue moon, Hot Topic will post something that ISN'T selling a product or advertising merchandise. These posts actually do fairly well with participation and viewers seem genuinely entertained by this. Below is an example where dozens of comments actually responded to the bingo board and said what they had done and were planning to do with the coming years.

This is exactly the kind of thing Hot Topic should be doing. Creating that sense of care and personal attention between the brand and their fans. Since the things on this Bingo board are less mainstream, people love the opportunity to talk about them and love the idea that the brand is interested in what they've been doing. Another thing I think would be good to post more would be videos involving actual people. Employees showing off merch or videos asking people about their favorite bands and dark aesthetics. This kind of personal connection with real people would make the accounts feel a lot brighter. Out of all the diving I've done, I don't think I've seen a single person's face in any of Hot Topic's posts. Something that showcased the fans of Hot Topic and the employees that work there because they WERE fans would be something extremely beneficial for Hot Topic's image. It would show that their initial quest to help alternative teens feel seen is still alive in modern Hot Topic. This is exactly what Hot Topic should go back to. Not the products necessarily but the PEOPLE that those products are made for. 

I learned a lot about Hot Topic's history and jaded fans while researching this. It also gave me a really good insight on how even a brand with a dedicated fan base can lower their popularity with a few misguided motivations. I think this should remind Hot Topic of why they originally became a company. And to remember the small but mighty fan base that is the true heart and soul of Hot Topic.