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Ralph Lauren steals attention with founder-narrated collection video

September 29, 2011

Ralph Lauren ads on the New York Times site

Lifestyle brand Ralph Lauren Corp. stands out from typical New York Times Web site ads with a click-through video leading to its founder talking about his inspiration, process and styling techniques for the Fall 2011 collection.

Ralph Lauren has the top two panels on either side of the masthead and a pushdown ad underneath the masthead. The brand has been flaunting its new apparel and accessories for the Ralph Lauren Collection line with a solo sponsorship of the New York Times iPad application and a magazine supplement in October’s Vanity Fair print edition.

“The New York Times homepage is one of the most coveted – and most expensive – pieces of online real estate available,” said Michael Miraflor, associate director of integrated planning at Zenith Media, New York. “Consumers are likely to be qualified fashion and luxury consumers, and they visit on a daily basis.

“The homepage receives an enormous amount of traffic every day and Ralph Lauren did a great job at developing video-based rich media creative that is compelling and arresting to maximize time spent with the brand,” he said.

The New York Times Web site has 45 million unique visitors worldwide each month.

Mr. Miraflor is not affiliated with Ralph Lauren, but agreed to comment as an industry expert on digital marketing.

Ralph Lauren did not respond before press deadline.

Perfect timing
The large ad underneath the masthead plays a short video in a loop that involves fabric being cut, preliminary drawings of garments from the collection and ends with a model posing in Ralph Lauren apparel.

Up-close view of the Ralph Lauren ads

Clicking through any of the advertisements will take consumers to the Ralph Lauren Collection page at http://www.ralphlauren.com.

Visitors are able to watch the entire Spring/Summer 2012 runway show, highlights and behind-the-scenes, four-minute video by founder/CEO Ralph Lauren.

Please click here to see the video.

On the site, consumers can shop for the collection or browse through the runway looks by clicking on an arrow that rotates through the line.

The two Ralph Lauren placements on either side of the masthead are static images of the Ralph Lauren Collection logo with a dark background and two females modeling the collection on the left and right sides, respectively.

There is also text that introduces the Ralph Lauren Collection. The static image at the end invites consumers to shop from the branded ecommerce site.

ralph-lauren-nytimes

Ralph Lauren ads on the New York Times site

The Ralph Lauren Collection line for Fall 2011 comprises statement accessories, jackets, pants, shirts, skirts, hats and dresses that channel a 1930s art-deco vibe.

“My estimate is they wanted to show how relevant they are to this audience, as well as showing the inspiration and drama of a runway collection via a beautiful and rich digital video format like the large pushdown banner they purchased along with the tiles,” said Andrea Wilson, Fort Worth, TX-based director of digital strategy and luxury practice lead at iProspect.

“The landing page features the magic and luxury of the runway, and allows interaction with various products within the collection to buy direct off the runway,” she said. “It also allows easy navigation to other collections at different price points to ensure the entire Ralph Lauren assortment is shared with the New York Times visitor.”

Bases loaded
Ralph Lauren has been marketing this collection quite vigorously over the past month or so.

For instance, it bought a solo sponsorship of the New York Times iPad application in September with content including streaming and embedded video and commerce from Ralph Lauren Magazine (see story).

Ralph Lauren banner ad in the New York Times app

The sponsorship included a preview of the runway show and an exclusive live-streaming feature when the event occured.

Furthermore, Ralph Lauren paired the mobile initiative with an exclusive Ralph Lauren magazine print supplement accompanying the October issue of Conde Nast’s Vanity Fair magazine (see story).

The brand seems to be covering all of its bases – mobile, online and print – to ensure that as many affluent individuals as possible are aware of the collection.

“Gaining awareness is all about being where your appropriate audience is,” Ms. Wilson said. “Ralph Lauren likely knows their affluent audience is on NYTimes.com via their desktop computers as well as their iPads, in addition to the actual New York Times newspaper.

“This broad New York Times buy ensures this relevant audience is aware of their campaign and will keep Ralph Lauren’s new collection top-of-mind,” she said. “It makes sense to diversify a media mix across different mediums because it ensures your targeted audience is reached in the multiple formats they commonly interact with.”

Final Take
Rachel Lamb, associate reporter on Luxury Daily, New York

Rachel Lamb is an associate reporter on Luxury Daily. Her beats are apparel and accessories, arts and entertainment, education, food and beverage, fragrance and personal care, government, healthcare, home furnishings, jewelry, legal/privacy and nonprofits. Reach her at rachel@napean.com.