»Form follows Function« – these three words do not only describe the principle of Bauhaus architecture, but also the rule behind any design created by the German porcelain manufacturer Dibbern. This case study presents how Dibbern has managed to authentically set traditional craftsmanship in scene through working with User Generated Content.
The Situation
»Form follows function.«
These three words do not only describe the principle of Bauhaus architecture, but also the rule behind any design created by the German porcelain manufacturer Dibbern. The brand stands for traditional craftsmanship combined with aesthetic simplicity. In addition to the classic Fine Bone China collection, which is manufactured in Germany’s oldest private manufactory for porcelain, the Solid Color series marks another line of product that Dibbern is well known for.
After being founded in the 1960s, the family business Dibbern had it’s breakthrough as a renowned lifestyle brand in the 80’s, with the introduction of the Solid Color series. Today, the hamburg-based manufacturer of tableware is one of the leading in its industry. Glass and porcelain from Dibbern are used in various luxury hotels and star-restaurants, the Lufthansa First Class and in the German Bundeskanzleramt.
The Challenge
Dibbern’s corporate philosophy defines tableware as »the stage for the performance of dishes«. An empty stage, however, is hardly ever impressive. In the same way, pictures of shiny, white porcelain in front of an equally white background offer little Inspiration or potential for identification to customers.
In addition to selling products in the Hamburg flagship store and through selected retailers, online sales are a key aspect for the Dibbern brand. The big challenge when it comes to selling tableware online is to deliver authentic and aesthetic impressions of the products in use or the ways to combine different products of a series. Professional photo shoots where the products are staged might be the most obvious option, but are often expensive and limited in terms of variation and diversity.
For this reason, Dibbern decided in late 2019 to start working with User Generated Content and place inspirational galleries filled with images created by customers on the brand website.
The Solution
In order to show potential customers browsing through the online-shop where and how products from Dibbern are already being used and thereby present a wide range of product-impressions, the porcelain manufacturer decided to integrate a UGC teaser gallery on the landing page of the brand website in November 2019. While hovering over individual posts shows the name of the user who uploaded the original image to Instagram, clicking on it opens a pop-up window. In this pop-up, the picture can be seen enlarged alongside the user’s profile picture and the original instagram caption. In addition, the products shown in the picture are listed below. A simple click leads to the respective product detail page.
In addition – if available – all images of a product shown in the UGC gallery appear on the respective product detail page as well. This way, one and the same cup, for example, can be presented in several different settings or combinations. Such product-specific galleries often have a particularly large impact on customers’ purchasing decisions and frequently lead to an increase in order-value.
The Result
With the professional integration of User Generated Content, Dibbern has succeeded in presenting the functionality of their tableware, while at the same time providing authentic and inspirational visual content. Especially product-specific galleries placed on the detail pages offer a wide variety of impressions and show how versatile porcelain from Dibbern is in terms of combination and utility.
The branded hashtag #dibbern by now counts over 6.000 Posts on Instagram. Through implementing this very content effectively, Dibbern has been able to raise the online onversion rate by 1.5x in only a few months.
Q&A
Why did you decide to work with User Generated Content?
We want to show consumers where and how our products are already being used and utilize our references, such as hotels and restaurants, for authentic advertising. Besides that, we like the idea of using already existing content of great diversity.
What is your main use for User Generated Content?
We mainly implement UGC on our homepage and specific product detail pages.
What is the biggest benefit of User Generated Content for you?
The biggest advantage for us is that UGC offers multi-facetted and authentic impressions. This helps us to attract new customers more successfully.
Which tasks is squarelovin taking care of for you?
squarelovin curates content related to our brand for us, which relieves us of the burden to constantly create great new content ourselves.
Ben Dibbern | CEO | Dibbern GmbH
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