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Dear reader,
Crisis or no crisis, every mundane jetsetter still needs his or her luxury stuff to make life bearable. We don't trust bankers anymore, so let's take our money to D&G, Louis Vuitton and Gucci! What do these luxury superpowers do online, where we can’t smell the leather, feel the furs or parade down 5th Avenue with our It-bag?
Read the items on rejuvenating Burberry, the mobile luxury of Ralph Lauren, animated Louis Vuitton, Gucci on Facebook, D&G and Chanel on the iPhone, Rolls 'don't need it' Royce, El Suertudo, of course, and much, much more.
Share the luxury of knowledge with others, mail your colleagues this newsletter. It’s a small effort for which you, undoubtedly, will be well rewarded. The next LaComunidad newsletter is due at the end of October. |
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The new LaComunidad |
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Hola! Meet the new LaComunidad. We have just launched our new brand, our new positioning and our new website. We do hope you like it. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, so please tell us what you think…
Why this re-positioning? To strengthen the fact that we are a digital marketing agency. One that goes beyond banners and campaigns. To show that we can realize your eCommerce and eCRM objectives, and that we can deliver ROI on both brand equity and sales.
 Since most of our clients, partners and friends are international, we have decided to launch our
newsletters and our new website in English too. For us, Dutch is the same effort as English. But in English we reach a much broader audience. It worked at ViralBlog, which is ranked #53 in the AdAge Power150 list of best global marketing blogs. Meet our new LaComunidad site here.
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Burberry: not only for the elderly |
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Burberry ft. social media The fashion brand known for its boring tartan pattern, Burberry, is trying to make new (younger) friends. Burberry wants people to get to know the brand: not through some Photoshopped 'picture perfect' ads, but by showing real people in Burberry.
 The idea: take a picture of yourself wearing your favourite Burberry trench coat and share it with the rest of the world by uploading it to artofthetrench.com. Burberry portrayed in everyday life: it seems to work: Burberry now has 660,000 fans on Facebook.
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Mobile luxury |
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Ralph Lauren makes luxury goods widely available. Whoever thought the added value of expensive luxury goods came in the form of scarcity, brand experience and storytelling, may be proven wrong by Ralph Lauren. By scanning 'Quick Response' codes implemented in ads and store windows with their camera phones, potential shoppers are taken to the mobile world of Ralph Lauren.
Through its mobile site
m.ralphlauren.com the brand offers not only the limited edition 2008 US Open collection and many other merchandise, but also the possibility to watch videos, locate stores and fully experience the brand. “Consumers want flexible and convenient services that are accessible on-demand,” said David Lauren, Polo’s senior vice president of advertising, marketing and corporate communications. “M-commerce is appealing because you can shop anywhere, anytime.”
Worldwide 489 million people browse the mobile web monthly, so by tapping into the mobile technology Ralph Lauren vastly expands its reach.
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Louis Vuitton |
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Fashion meets art. This month the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton launched the book: ‘Art, Fashion and Architecture’. The book describes the interesting projects that Louis Vuitton has done so far in collaboration with several artists, like Takashi Murakami. With 'Art, Fashion and Architecture', Louis Vuitton underlines the merger between brand and art.
To promote the new Monogram Multicolore small leather goods collection earlier this year, Murakami created the animated video ‘Superflat First Love’. The anime is the sequel to the first anime ‘Superflat Monogram’, created six years ago. It tells the story of the 14-year old girl Aya who meets a boy named Gaston Louis Vuitton in the fantasy world of Multicolore. Louis Vuitton apparently loved the story and brought one of the main characters of the anime to life.
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Dolce & Gabbana |
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D&G wants a piece of the iPhone! The luxury brand D&G launched a new website and a brand new D&G Fashion Channel, to make sure consumers stay tuned in to the D&G lifestyle. Buying expensive brands like D&G is not just about the items – luxury is about experience. In their exclusive stores with outstanding service you can boundlessly enjoy the feeling of luxury. But in this digital world, brands have to provide you with that experience online and make it accessible anytime, anyplace.
With the new Fashion Channel consumers can dive into the luxurious and exclusive world of D&G via an iPhone application (application available for other phones as well). The application provides product information, footage of the Winter 2010 shows, wall paper images, a store locator and the possibility to share material with friends.
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Gucci’s online engagement |
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Online luxury. While some may say that online is no place for luxury brands, recent research by Microsoft Advertising tells us differently. Research report ‘Lovers of Luxury’ demonstrates that consumers with just a little more to spend, are looking for more online engagement with their favourite brand. One brand that does understand online engagement is Gucci.
The luxury brand created its own Facebook page and has over 436,000 fans and counting. The page is continuously updated, which triggers fans to participate. Each posting gets over 200 'likes' and comments. Gucci’s Facebook page gives everyone a warm welcome and in doing so the brand has created its own online community, allowing fans to share photos, videos, ideas and content.
Although not all of them are able to afford any Gucci products now, the brand appeals to people’s desire to be part of a luxurious world. Here the brand creates a basis for potential customers.
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The LθVE community |
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Social media or plain advertising? Even luxury brands discover social networks as a marketing tool. Is it the right one for them? Maybe, if they use social media the right way.
In 2008 Cartier was one of the first luxury brands which marketed itself full-sized on a mainstream social network. They introduced a MySpace page around the Lθve by Cartier jewelry collection. The MySpace page contains romantic music, Lθve photos and a link to the official Cartier Lθve website, with even more Lθve music, Lθve films and, of course, the Lθve jewelry collection.
Now, one year later, Cartier has a mere 3580 friends on MySpace, not very impressive. What happened? Cartier took the first step to reach out on a social network, but without using the right features. Being 'social' means more than just sending info, it’s about Interaction and two way Communication.
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New Rolls Royce |
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A popular baby… The newest Rolls Royce was introduced recently at the IAA in Frankfurt. On the Internet you'll find a 'leaked out' video and a rather featureless Rolls Royce website. If the new Rolls is the 'ultimate driver’s car', why doesn’t the website show that?
No car configurator, no 360-degrees overview, no images of in- and exterior: how can I get personal with this car? There is a bit of video though, but the driving experience with its V12 engine is lacking, totally. Let’s compare it with the Ferrari website, where you can even download a virtual racing game. That’s how to create hours of brand engagement!
But does Rolls Royce need this? Apparently not… Before the official introduction 10,000 people showed their interest, whereas Rolls Royce only wanted to sell 1,000 copies. Well, isn’t that what we call a luxury position!
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Fashion’s social media struggle |
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Fashion brands are notoriously secretive. Whilst we think in the 'now' and buy clothes which are in store 'now', creatives in the fashion industry are busy with next year’s trends.
Exclusivity is what fashion brands thrive on – they create a space where their product is scarce and demand is high. Updates from fashion brands are obviously sparse and tightly controlled. At least, it used to be. The Internet has completely interrupted the idea of control.
The LA Times is quoted saying that getting mentioned on a fashion blog is the quickest way to get published in trade magazines. Perhaps that is why we now find several luxury brands, such as DKNY and Louis Vuitton on Twitter. Yuli Ziv and Macala Wright Lee recently discussed this topic at the 140 Characters Conference.
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Luxury to change |
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‘Clients deluxe’ in social media. Outside World Wide Web, we all know the elitist way expensive brands work: they prefer few people that spend a lot, than a lot that spend nothing! But does that do you any good in social media? Is a click from your 'client deluxe' more valuable than a click from an average Joe? Should expensive brands act as 'out of reach' in social media as they do in real life? As it is hard to distinguish them from each other on line, aren't we all 'clients deluxe'?
 Maybe we'll have to redefine luxury clients. We know that there are already a lot of different types of social media users. Big brands like Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci know how to address them perfectly. You understand the metaphor, don’t you? On line you can associate yourself with luxury brands, be a fashion victim among your peers.
We can all be rich!
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El Suertudo |
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El Suertudo, a.k.a. lucky bird. Every month one of the LaComunidad newsletter subscribers wins an incentive. This month’s prize is the book ‘Firebrands, Building Brand Loyalty in the Internet Age’. A bestseller, written by key author and brand specialist Michael Moon.
This month El Suertudo is Dhr. Hans Bruning of McDonald’s. The LaComunidad-team wishes him a lot of inspiring reading pleasure!
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