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Top 10 luxury brand social videos of Q1

April 9, 2012

Fendi behind-the-scenes

Marketers took the first quarter of this year by storm in terms of social media, sharpening their strategy to include social video that allowed consumers to buy, share and live the luxury lifestyle.

Some brands used videos that focused on specific product lines, while others celebrated with season-specific campaigns. It seems that luxury marketers are looking to capture the attention of consumers with video placements on social media and their Web site to showcase the lifestyle of the brand and keep up with the digital age.

Here are the top 10 social videos by luxury marketers in the first quarter, in alphabetical order.

Bentley’s In Search of Snow – British automaker Bentley Motors premiered a short film called “In Search of Snow” at Aspen Fashion Week to add a sense of high-class adventure to the brand.

The five-minute YouTube video follows professional big-mountain skier, mountaineer and adventurer Chris Davenport and his photographer in two 2012 Bentley Continental GTC W12 convertibles.

Mr. Davenport took to the snowy San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado while his voiceover explains his draw to an adventurous lifestyle and the Bentley vehicle.

Cartier’s L’Odyssée de Cartier – French jeweler Cartier’s branding venture in the first quarter involved the sharing of its new short film “L’Odyssée de Cartier” via the brand’s Web site, television advertisements and multiple digital channels to give luxury consumers a look at the history behind its products.

The L’Odyssée de Cartier was the subject of the March 2012 issue of the brand’s online magazine Rouge Cartier and was promoted on the main Cartier Web site, YouTube and a Facebook page dedicated to the campaign.

The film centers on the journey of a panther while showing some of Cartier’s timeless jewelry and watches in settings such as India, Russia and France that serve as inspiration to the brand.

Chanel’s My New Friend Boy - French fashion label Chanel used a mini-film shot by Karl Lagerfeld to build hype for its upcoming campaign for the Boy Chanel handbag collection.

The film, My New Friend Boy, was shot using model and musician Alice Dellal to debut the collection in the multichannel ad campaign. It was released on Chanel-News and on the brand’s YouTube channel.

The Boy Chanel video is silent except for piano music. Half in color and half in black-and-white, the video shows Ms. Dellal as she walks around an apartment, holding bags from the collection.

Gaia Repossi for the Little Black Jacket campaign

Chanel’s Little Black Jacket - Chanel was on a roll last quarter, creating a behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoots for its book, “The Little Black Jacket: Chanels classic revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld.”

The book will contain 113 black-and-white photos of the black jacket.

Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld photographed a selection of actors, artists, singers and other personalities dressed in their respective interpretations of Chanel’s iconic jacket, which will be presented in the book due for release this fall.

The campaign also included a physical exhibit in Tokyo, an e-exhibition and promotion via social media.

Gucci's cruise spring/summer 2012 shoppable video

Gucci’s spring/summer 2012 collection - Italian fashion empire Gucci released a shoppable video in quarter one that focuses on accessories from its cruise spring/summer 2012 collection.

Consumers were shown two iconic G’s bouncing around models and products that could be clicked on and bought.

Gucci was one of the first marketers to use shoppable video, a tactic that many are beginning to emulate.

Gucci’s Made to Measure - Italian fashion label Gucci pulled a double-whammy last quarter with two unique and inspiring videos.

One video featured actor, writer and director James Franco in a multichannel ad campaign for its new “Made to Measure,” an in-store tailoring service, boasting behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the ad campaign on its YouTube page.

The actor wore tailor-made garments from the new line on a movie set and was photographed for the black-and-white ad campaign.

Fendi’s X-Rated series - Italian label Fendi kept Facebook fans interested by releasing an official video daily pertaining to the fall 2012-13 collection runway shows.

Fendi’s X-Rated series showed behind-the-scenes footage of makeup, hair, models and clothing from the brand.

All videos were presented on Fendi’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/fendi and available on its YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/fendi.

Louis Vuitton’s New, Now - French apparel and accessories brand Louis Vuitton posted five videos on its Facebook page since the beginning of the year.

The brand used the videos to engage fans and drive them to its online magazine called “New, Now” by inviting consumers to discover the full story behind the video.

Real- and doll-sized Louis Vuitton shoes have a life of their own in the film, moving in-sync in as if they were performing a choreographed dance.

Animated Barbie dolls make an entrance in the film and slip into a few of the miniature shoes and continue to dance to the electro-funk soundtrack.

Valentine's Day video

Moët & Chandon’s Tag Your Love - LVMH-owned Champagne brand Moët & Chandon ventured into social video to promote its new customizable St. Valentine’s Day rosé bottles.

The video is called Tag Your Love and was posted to the brand’s Facebook page.

Moët & Chandon’s video is done almost entirely in pink and features a dark pink stick figure as the main character.

The outline of the words “tag your love” are spray-painted across the bottles, which burst and explode soon after the last letter of “love” appears.

Moët & Chandon then shows how it spray paints the messages onto the bottle and goes through a variety of different Valentine’s day-themed notes that a consumer could write.

Starwood’s Here – Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Luxury Collection drew eyes to its properties through an original film called “Here” starring actress Agyness Deyn that debuted through a private screening and was pushed via digital networks.

The film follows Ms. Deyn on a journey that takes her to three of the Luxury Collection properties in the United States.

Luxury Collection drew loyalists by allowing Starwood Preferred Guests to bid on a chance to attend the exclusive film premiere and stay at The Chatwal, a Luxury Collection hotel in New York.

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

Tricia Carr is an editorial assistant 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 tricia@napean.com.