The two-minute video called A Desert Mirage shows two men decked out in pieces from the latest menswear collection while wondering through a desert against a clear blue sky. Marc Jacobs is jumping on the social video trend by showing a collection in action, but is trying something new in the fact that few luxury brands are using video to appeal exclusively to men.

“Given the explosion in growth of men’s accessories, the underlying goal is to highlight the brand’s carrying bags for men and to do so in a rugged, exotic environment, making the bags look chic yet manly,” said John Casey, founder of Freshfluff ^[2], New York.

“Presenting the look-book via video is far more effective than posting simple glamour snapshots of the products,” he said. “Video adds a coolness factor for the brand and allows it to tell a story.

“It does a good job of placing the brand, particularly the carrying bags, in a unique setting, one that is more rural and outdoors versus the obvious venues of a gym, night club or retail environment.”

Mr. Casey is not affiliated with Marc Jacobs, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

Marc Jacobs ^[3] did not respond before press deadline.

The wonderers
A Desert Mirage begins by showing a male model walking alone in the desert. The man is wearing sunglasses, a black leather jacket, a hot-pink T shirt, khaki capris and tan oxford shoes and is carrying the men’s Pebbled Leather Medicine Bag.

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In addition to sand, rocks, vegetation and palm trees, there are dilapidated structures in the background while the man is walking.

Next, viewers are shown a silver tote bag begin carried by a man. They soon see that this man is wearing sunglasses, a white polo shirt, tan pants rolled up to his ankles and brown flip flops.

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The only sound effects in the video are guitar strums suggestive of American Western music and the occasional animal noise.

Both men wander the desert alone, stepping on rocks to go over a stream, balancing on a wobbly bridge, riding a camel or walking against a herd of sheep.

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After a while, both men meet and, without speaking, stand next to each other and put their bags on the ground.

The men cross arms and take hold of one another’s bags.

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At this time, the camera zooms in to the sides of the men’s faces to show the Marc Jacobs label on their sunglasses.

Then, both men turn and walk in opposite directions.

The video fades out to an image of a white mannequin head wearing the Black Tie Sunglasses from the video. The product name and price in dollars, euros and pounds are shown.

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The screen continues down the mannequin, which is dressed identically to one of the characters, and shows the product name and price for each item.

This process repeats with the second man’s wardrobe.

The video ends by referring viewers to MarcJacobs.com.

A Desert Mirage video 

“Social video is indeed a great way for Marc Jacobs or any luxury brand to reach consumers,” Mr. Casey said.

“For instance, Marc Jacobs has a built-in click factor for this YouTube video with nearly 700,000 Facebook fans who will likely take a peek and may pass it on to their friends,” he said. “They will probably generate impressive numbers.”

Nature’s beauty
Many high-end fashion labels such as Christian Dior, Gucci and Louis Vuitton are using social video to appeal to female consumers, but it is rare that a video focuses solely on menswear.

Marc Jacobs is most likely catering to its male social media fans by showing its clothing in a rugged setting.

The brand posted about the video on its Facebook ^[9], Twitter ^[10] and YouTube ^[11] accounts.

Instead of relying on ecommerce sites and in-store displays, brands can leverage certain items through social video by showing them in a creative setting.

Meanwhile, Marc Jacobs’ use of pricing at the end of the video could leave consumers feeling that they are being directly sold to, which could entice buys.

Other luxury marketers are taking a more artful approach to social video.

For example, Dolce & Gabbana is appealing to its consumers’ love for vintage fashion in a silent short film that presents the Italian fashion label’s new eyewear collection (see story ^[12]).

To appeal to men, videos should be short, punchy and stress practicality, according to Mr. Casey.

“Men have short attention spans, so they are not going to watch something that is over a couple minutes long,” Mr. Casey said.

“Also, keep the video masculine with an element of sport perhaps and do not oversell with men,” he said. “Present the products or brand in a way that is useful to men.”

Final Take
Tricia Carr, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York