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What luxury brands can do to prepare for the Academy Awards

February 14, 2012

Dolce & Gabbana

In the height of awards season, all eyes are on actors, musicians, directors and writers as they appear at various events. To take advantage of all the attention, luxury brands can use various channels including social media and television to amplify the chatter leading up to and during the 84th annual Academy Awards.

Luxury brands have already taken advantage of appearances at the Emmys, Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Grammys and the British Academy of Film and Television Awards. However, since the Academy Awards are arguably the most glamorous, brands would greatly benefit from advertising or associating themselves with popular stars.

“As more people have increased interaction on various social media platforms while watching special events including the exclusive Academy Awards, engagement has increased exponentially from what a particular actress is wearing to will that color or style become a trend, especially in real time,” said Dalia Strum, president of Dalia Inc., New York.

“Television advertising is only effective when it provides something memorable for the viewer to want to go back and replay for their friends,” he said. “Usually humor is the key to increasing traffic virality on that form of media.”

Chit chat
One way to advertise association with the Academy Awards is through social media.

The medium allows brands to build relationships with affluent consumers in real time and allows a casual place to ask questions or share news.

For example, brands such as Valentino, Giorgio Armani and Tiffany & Co. posted celebrities wearing their designs on their Facebook pages last year.

Furthermore, Gucci, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta and other luxury brands posted pictures from past awards shows this year such as the Grammys or Emmys.

Oscar de la Renta BAFTA Facebook post

“Social media will play a huge role,” said Emmaclare Huntriss, marketing director at Siegel+Gale, New York. “It was key to reporting the real-time news from the Academy Awards last year and it will be just as insightful this year.

“It wouldn’t work as a channel on its own, but it certainly adds a deeper level of engagement to the event,” she said. “Social media adds a new modern layer to events, giving more conversational appeal.”

Gucci’s tweets for various awards shows

Reaping the awards
Another key channel will be TV, the channel where the awards show will actually take place.

Luxury automakers are traditionally the brands that use TV advertising most often.

In fact, competitors Mercedes-Benz and BMW were among the top 10 most effective advertising spots during the 83rd annual Academy Awards (see story).

A study from Ace Metrix found that automotive advertisements held four of the top 10 most-effective ads, with BMW and Mercedes-Benz leading the way. The luxury automakers took advantage and succeeded at promoting their 2011 models during their 30-second Oscar spots.

BMW’s spot during the Oscars last year

“TV will of course be there to capture the action as it happens and report the facts, but the channel that surely will be most interesting will be Twitter as it reports in real time what people are thinking about the events,” Ms. Huntriss said.

That said, brands should think about their Oscars strategy ahead of time.

“Luxury brands can take some lessons from the brands that advertised during the Super Bowl,” said Chris Ramey, president of Affluent Insights, Miami. “Don’t wait to until the night of the Academy Awards to strut your products.

“Push before the event, and find ways to leverage immediately afterwards, too,” he said.

For example, London-based Harrods department store promoted its luxury products via an Oscar-inspired email newsletter last year.

The email newsletter featured two looks from Academy Award-nominated films “The Black Swan” and “The Social Network” (see story).

The preemptive strike could have coerced consumers to buy from Harrods before-hand.

Perhaps the best strategy is to flaunt a lifestyle rather than just products. After all, the fantasy from viewers at home comes from stars’ accomplishments and the reasons why they are actually at the awards.

“When you buy a luxury brand, yes, you are buying a beautiful product, but more than that you are buying into an aspirational lifestyle and a set of values that ownership of the product either confirms, or gives you access to,” Siegel+Gale’s Ms. Huntriss said.

“The red carpet has proved a fabulous stage for product placement over the years, but if brands want to truly engage deeper with their target audiences, they need to align themselves deeper and tell their story in unexpected and fresh ways,” she said.

“[Such as] partnerships with charitable causes and more creative promotions that extend beyond the mainstream media and tabloid coverage.”

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.