Nordstrom Instalog image
As luxury brands continue to establish their ecommerce presence, many are changing up the ways consumers interact with their digital stores, crafting experiences that go beyond purchasing.
From virtual galleries to views of the world, luxury brands used digital to recreate physical experiences in the third quarter of 2014, taking consumers on journeys through their screens. This approach to digital helps brands forge deeper bonds with consumers, educating them on inspiration or their outreach initiatives.
Here are the top 10 digital efforts of the third quarter of 2014, in alphabetical order:
Hermes silk microsite
French leather goods maker Hermès is maintaining its dedication to whimsy with a digital microsite “housing” silk products.
The site explores Hermès’ equestrian roots and displays a different silk item, primarily scarves, throughout the hand drawn house.
On the microsite, consumers are welcomed through the sketched doors into the La Maison des Carrés, roughly translated as House Squares, referring to the silk scarves within the virtual house.
Room by room a new scarf is seen mixed in with different sized rooms featuring videos, demonstrations and themes of the scarves.
“The separate section of Hermès.com helps free the merchandising from the constraints of the ecommerce template,” said Lauren Owen, account director at Blue Moon Works, Denver, CO (see story).
Promotional image for Jimmy Choo autumn/winter 2014 collection preorder
Footwear and accessories label Jimmy Choo allowed consumers to experience its autumn/winter 2014 collection in a virtual showroom.
Jimmy Choo’s digital feature was modeled after the space used to show the line to press in February, letting consumers play fashion editor and preorder items from the collection from the microsite, created by virtual retail startup Avenue Imperial. This innovative display elevated the online shopping experience beyond just a product page.
The user can also use a plus or minus sign button in the window to zoom in or out, and track around the room with their mouse, allowing for a full 360-degree panorama view (see story).
Screenshot of Kenzo’s digital gallery
French apparel and accessories label Kenzo is taking consumers inside the atmosphere of its fall 2014 collection with a 3D digital museum.
Kenzo’s “Grace to the Nth Power” lets consumers use their phone or mouse to navigate the virtual space, which is complete with videos and a gift shop. Taking consumers on a physical journey through a video series leads to a more immersive experience than simply collecting films on a flat microsite.
An “exit and shop” option takes consumers to a page where they can browse a selection from the fall 2014 collection. Clicking on an item sends the user to the ecommerce page on the main Kenzo Web site (see story).
La Mer explores the world’s “blue heart”
Estée Lauder Cos.’ Crème de la Mer is exploring the beauty of the world’s oceans with an interactive map function to generate conversation about conservation efforts, part of its Blue Heart campaign.
Powered by Google Oceans View, consumers can explore the oceans where La Mer sources much of its skincare ingredients. While other beauty brands may take enthusiasts to a private garden or a secluded mountain region, La Mer’s connection to the sea may relate to many consumers.
Overall, Blue Heart’s goal is to raise awareness for the need for healthy oceans worldwide as the “oceans play an essential role in our lives.”
A description page on the microsite featured a map with green circles representing La Mer stories about the ocean and blue for user-generated submissions. Consumers are invited to share their ocean memories to be plotted on the map within 24 hours (see story).
Instagram image for Lancôme’s Grandiôse mascara
Beauty marketer Lancôme hyped its new Grandiôse mascara with a social and digital campaign that highlighted the “revolutionary” technical details of the first angled wand.
Lancôme began teasing Grandiôse on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the beginning of July, which poked fun at the various maneuvers women do to coat their lashes with a typical mascara brush. After using humor to get consumer attention, Lancôme launched Grandiôse with content to back up the product differentiation.
When Grandiôse officially launched, Lancôme explained the product through content on the product page, including three videos.
“We tried something completely different with our Instagram campaign #startbending by creating 12 cheeky images teasing women with typical beauty hacks women do to achieve perfect lashes and how, with Grandiôse, they aren’t needed any longer,” said Jessica Dudley, director of marketing at Lancôme, New York.
“The goal was to start a conversation and we definitely did,” she said (see story).
Lexus LS sedan
Toyota Corp.’s Lexus is experimenting with a new form of television advertising that enhances the channel’s relevance in the digital world.
The automaker introduced skippable ads on Smart TVs and received surprisingly strong interaction rates. As the nature of TV viewership changes, brands have to find ways to ensure that their spots are actually watched.
Lexus tapped adRise to convert two spots for its LX model into skippable units, or “ClearSpots,” to be featured on Smart TVs such as Roku, XBox 360, and Amazon Fire TV.
Team One augmented these spots with an interactive unit that allowed viewers to enter a two-minute behind-the-scenes video with the artist who envisioned the spots, Giles Revell.
Lexus’ spots achieved a 73 percent completion rate (see story).
Promotional image for Nordstrom’s Instalog
Department store chain Nordstrom gathered a group of Instagram aficionados to photograph its fall accessories to add a personal touch to its ecommerce pages.
The “Instalog” features shots of handbags, jewelry, boots and hosiery composed by 11 New York-based magazine editors, social media marketers, stylists and bloggers. Including these varied voices on the product pages will help consumers see how items fit into their lifestyles.
Nordstrom brought the social media “mavens” to its studio filled with accessories and gave them free reign to capture them as they wished. Those chosen include Lucky magazine style editor Laurel Pantin, Laundry Service executive director Liz Eswein and editorial manicurist Madeline Poole (see story).
“Your Memories” section on The Ritz-Carlton Web site
The Ritz-Carlton is giving consumers a central location to share brand memories that will likely spur more social media interaction.
The recently minted “Your Memories” section on the brand’s Web site aggregates social posts with the #RCMemories hashtag and invites manual uploads from consumers. As consumers see the images of other engaged Ritz-Carlton travelers, it may foster a sense of community.
For fans that want to earn a spot on the wall, they can post images to social media with the appropriate hashtag or upload directly to the page, expanding it beyond its earlier presence as solely a social media campaign. The brand will then vet all images to ensure that they do not depict anything averse to the brand’s values (see story).
Sotheby’s New York headquarters
International auction house Sotheby’s has joined forces with online auctioneer eBay to develop a digital platform that enables consumers to easily browse artwork, antiques and collectibles.
The partnership will likely raise eBay’s stature in the auctioneer sector, as its work with Sotheby’s will introduce the online shopping platform to the international art business. For Sotheby’s, partnering with eBay will have a similar effect by making the auctioneer more accessible to global consumers.
Through the partnership, eBay will grant its 145 million active buyers access to Sotheby’s expertise, auction experience and artwork and collectibles. For Sotheby’s consumers, seamless access to eBay’s platform and payment solutions will make the auction process easier (see story).
Swarovski Tangara Necklace
Precision cut-crystal maker Swarovski is using a microsite to celebrate the 150 collaborations it has enacted in the 15 years of Swarovski Collective, a collaboration the brand has created with designers it sees as talented and holding potential.
A microsite has been created to highlight the current and past Swarovski Collective designers. This year’s program involved a social video and the new microsite that creates a central location for consumers to visit.
The microsite’s home page celebrates the 15 years of Swarovski Creative with a video. It also offers information about the collective and past collaborations.
Consumers have the ability to look into the past of the collaborative efforts through an alphabetical list of each previous designer or through the year and season (see story).
Final Take
Sarah Jones, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York