Schiaparelli creates behind-the-scenes videos
In the second quarter of 2014 luxury marketers continued to increase consumer retention through participatory touch points in the digital space.
From holiday-themed scavenger hunts to planning a safari, marketers that pushed interaction likely saw an uptick in awareness. By allowing the consumer to be an active part of a campaign, brands can educate on products or services while seamlessly entertaining.
Here are the top 10 luxury brand digital campaigns in the second quarter of 2014, in alphabetical order:
A 1950′s Omega Reference 2618 sold by Christie’s Watch Shop
Christie’s Watch Shop
Auction house and art seller Christie’s capitalized on the interest of fine horology with the launch of its online Watch Shop.
Christie’s Watch Shop will have rare, vintage and luxury timepieces available for immediate purchase, year round via ecommerce. As more third party retailers begin to set up ecommerce options for luxury watches, timepiece manufacturers will likely be forced to follow suit to keep up with the competition.
The addition of Christie’s Watch Shop to its online platform is part of the auctioneer’s $20 million digital and technological investment. Christie’s also sees the Watch Shop as a major step in its ecommerce strategy (see story).
Dior’s latest fragrance range, Dior Addict
Dior’s wonDiorland campaign
French atelier Christian Dior expanded its wonDiorland initiative’s digital touchpoints with exclusive mobile content that enhanced the desktop experience.
By entering a device-specific four-digit code found on Dior’s mobile site for wonDiorland, the consumer could discover additional content developed from the brand’s latest fragrance, Dior Addict. The addition of this mobile-to-desktop tactic aligned with Dior’s approach for the fragrance launch that included a dedicated Facebook account to attract brand enthusiasts.
To access the Dior Addict experience on the wonDiorland hub, consumers had to follow the link provided for the brand’s Web site, as well as navigate to en.dioraddict.mobi on a mobile device. Once successfully connected, the consumer could use the mobile device to navigate the wonDiorland Web page (see story).
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue limited edition
Dolce & Gabbana limited-edition Light Blue microsite
Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana launched a limited-edition of its scent Light Blue and created a microsite to solely promote the fragrance.
The microsite allowed consumers to learn product’s ingredients, the concept behind the scent and information about the video campaign. Dolce & Gabbana’s separate microsite allowed the brand to promote a fragrance through narrowing in on the specific product, which can more readily spark the consumer’s interest.
Also on the microsite, consumers are encouraged to download the Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Google Chrome theme (see story).
Fortnum & Mason Ultimate Egg
Fortnum & Mason’s Easter bunny hunt
British department store Fortnum & Mason hosted a contest that asked consumers to search for a cartoon bunny on its ecommerce site.
The picture of the rabbit was located on individual product pages, so consumers had to browse through merchandise to enter. This contest likely enticed Fortnum’s loyal consumers to spend more time with the retailer’s ecommerce site, and may have led to a bump in sales around the holiday as shoppers stumbled across items they like.
Fortnum asked consumers to search through its Easter product pages to find 12 different instances of a cartoon bunny. The image appeared on the pages featuring individual items, rather than general pages featuring a list of Easter merchandise (see story).
Four Seasons Safari’s Elephants
Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti – “Into the Heart of Africa”
Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzania, encouraged fans to explore the Serengeti through a new interactive online safari experience.
The “Into the Heart of Africa” online immersive tour permitted guests to learn about Serengeti National Park via videos and photos. Prior to arriving at the resort it is now possible to have both a personal virtual tour of the safari, the lodge and the wildlife and gain valuable knowledge about the region.
Into the Heart of Africa offers videos of the hot air balloon ride, the elephant watering hole that is feet from the swimming pool and the view from the lodge’s decks.
Guests are able to gain prior knowledge of the wild through the facts and numbers throughout the online immersive safari. For example, each year 200,000 zebras migrate 620 miles across the plains of the Serengeti (see story).
Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire cartoon
Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire digital effort
French perfumer Guerlain built exposure for its La Petite Robe Noire fragrance with a digital effort that combined consumer interaction and personalization.
Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire “Glamourometer” initiative was similar to a reward-based campaign where the consumer is rewarded as she interacts with the Web site. Interaction allows the consumer to feel that they are part of the brand’s lifestyle and will likely result in repeat visits, especially if a prize is offered.
After watching the campaign video, consumers could explore the Web site’s sections. The first section explained what the Glamourometer as being a type of point system that increases as the consumer plays and shares La Petite Robe Noire surprises.
A high Glamourometer increased the consumer’s chance to uncover where the La Petite Robe Noire bottles are hidden. A pink bar at the top of Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire Web site keeps track on an individual consumer’s Glamourometer levels once they sign in (see story).
Hublot Loves Football campaign
Hublot World Cup hub
Swiss watchmaker Hublot rounded out its international football campaign with a microsite that housed branded content and live updates from the FIFA World Cup June 12 through July 16.
As the official timekeeper of the World Cup matches in Brazil, Hublot placed enormous emphasis on its role by organizing the “Hublot Loves Football” world tour that brought the watchmaker to different countries to celebrate the sport. The microsite allowed Hublot enthusiasts to enjoy the games with the brand and finds ways to include consumers who may have not had a Hublot Loves Football event in their region.
Fans can also use the Hublot microsite to be kept up to date on the weather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and know what matches are coming up. This section also includes an area dedicated to legendary Brazilian footballer Pelé, who is also a Hublot ambassador and the inspiration for the Classic Fusion Chronograph Pelé (see story).
Mercedes-Benz in Mario Kart Japan
Mercedes-Benz and Nintendo’s Mario Kart 8
German automaker Mercedes-Benz enlisted Nintendo’s Mario and friends to help raise awareness for its GLA model.
The new GLA was released in Japan, about the same time as Nintendo’s Mario Kart 8, and the two companies joined to promote the new compact sport-utility vehicle by providing it as an option for characters to race. Mario’s upgrade from a go-kart to a Mercedes-Benz indicated the increasing importance of gaming alignment for auto brands.
Nintendo upgraded its characters’ vehicles with a temporary free download of the Mercedes-Benz GLA. The option to download the “GLA Kart” is available this summer on Mario Kart 8 for Wii U in Japan (see story).
Screenshot of Prada’s Pradasphere microsite
Prada’s Pradasphere microsite
Italian fashion label Prada expanded the audience of its London exhibit at Harrods in May with a microsite dedicated to past campaigns.
Prada’s Pradasphere microsite provided both multimedia from the exhibit itself and also gave a look at runway shows and advertising images dating back to the 1980s. Creating this hub for consumers to view the house’s past boosted awareness of Prada’s heritage and served as an extension of the physical exhibit.
When the microsite loads, the promotional image from the exhibit was the sole content displayed. This showed a model on a runway in Prada surrounded by images of shoes and handbags by the brand and landmarks in the house’s past.
From there, consumers could click through a slideshow of information and images of the physical in-store takeover (see story).
Schiaparelli creates behind-the-scenes videos
Schiaparelli spring/summer 2014 scrapbook
French fashion label Schiaparelli presented consumers with a new method to engage in the behind-the-scenes process of a collection.
The digital cut-and-paste format of the spring/summer 2014 collection formed an online scrapbook to showcase videos and images highlighting the making of the line. The interactive collage presented consumers with an unusual look at the creation process of a collection and likely helped the recently relaunched brand gain consumer loyalty.
Schiaparelli presented a Haute Couture show in 2013 for the first time in 60 years. The fashion house last marched down a runway in hand-crafted garments in 1954, the year the brand became dormant.
To celebrate the new couture collection, the brand launched a virtual scrapbook. The page looked as if someone clipped images of models, dresses, jewelry and shoes from a fashion magazine and pasted them on a white sheet of paper (see story).
Final Take
Jen King, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York