Yoox brings its off-season offering to China with localised features, whilst Chopard debuts eCommerce in the U.S. and Ralph Lauren launches in Japanese
DIGITAL
The Latest Digital: Balmain, Yoox & Mandarin Oriental
This is the featured image caption
Credit: This is the featured image credit
Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
Yoox brings its off-season offering to China with localised features, whilst Chopard debuts eCommerce in the U.S. and Ralph Lauren launches in Japanese
Chopard has launched an eCommerce website in the United States
Digital initiatives are becoming decidedly more service-centric in the luxury industry. In recent years brands have used digital tools to tell stories, showcase products, educate consumers and – in some sectors – fill the first of many eCommerce orders. But increasingly there seems to be a shift towards leveraging these tools to better serve and engage the audience.
With the re-launch of Mandarin Oriental’s global website, users can create their own preference profile, to ensure that their stay in any of the group’s hotels around the globe is consistent.
At Hublot, each individual boutique has been awarded its own microsite, where consumers can directly interact with store managers using the Internet, before visiting the store. Many multibrand eCommerce sites have introduced ‘Live Chat’ with sales assistants or dedicated Twitter profiles for customer service and general enquiries.
“ 47% of people are looking for ‘active customer service’ & are turning to Facebook and Twitter to get it ”
Indeed, the Internet has brought about an age of impatience, forever changing our expectations about the delivery of information and the pace at which it should be delivered. A recent study by NM Incite and McKinsey, found that 47% of people are looking for ‘active customer service’ and turning to social networks like Facebook and Twitter to get it.
Their research also suggested that one in three turn to social media rather than the phone for a brand’s assistance, and that 71% of those who have ‘positive customer service’ through social media end up recommending the brand. “Today’s customers choose when and where they voice their questions, issues and complaints,” explained Gadi BenMark, SVP of NM Incite’s Advisory division, to BrandChannel.
“They don’t care if a company is set up to answer customer questions on Facebook, or if it has an actual Twitter handle for customer service. The implications are enormous for brands that are not implementing effective social care. There is also great upside for those that understand that the lines between marketing and customer service are blurring, and take action to organize, operate, and manage performance in this new merged world.”
Chopard, Website
Creative studio RO New York has partnered with Chopard to launch a new U.S. website and first-ever E-boutique. A thematic story captures the brand’s historic roots, with 360-degree views of imagery to highlight the ingenuity behind each product. Optimised for all devices, the website also incorporates shareability for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, and YouTube.
Website: us.chopard.com
Source: RO New York
Fairmont Hotels, Digital Re-Launch
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has unveiled the first phase in a multi-stage digital platform redesign with the redesign of Fairmont.com, EveryonesAnOriginal.com, a new tablet and mobile optimized platform and multi-lingual micro-sites. The initial redesign focuses on optimisation for e-Commerce to deliver the richest hotel content online in environments that are user-friendly, seamless and efficient.
Website: fairmont.com
Source: BNA
Mandarin Oriental, Website
Mandarin Oriental has launched a new experiential website, with a focus on photography, and rich, descriptive, informative content, available in seven languages across all devices. The site also offers guests the chance to personalise their stay, by creating an integrated guest profile. This allows guest preferences to be shared across all hotels in the Group, offering a seamless experience with every Mandarin Oriental stay.
Website & Source: mandarinoriental.com
Pierre Balmain, eCommerce
Pierre Balmain, the contemporary line by Balmain, has launched its first e-commerce venture, conceived and designed by the brand’s licensee, Ittierre SpA. Launched in Italian and English, the store is available in 35 countries in Europe and will soon launch in German and French.
Website; pierrebalmain.com
Source: WWD
Ralph Lauren, Website
Ralph Lauren has launched a dedicated site for the Japanese market, featuring a style guide devoted to trends and signature items and a Japanese version of RL Magazine, its quarterly lifestyle publication. David Lauren told WWD that elements of the high-tech site will be incorporated into the brand’s other e-commerce properties in the U.S. and Europe over the next few months.
Website: ralphlauren.co.jp
Source: WWD
Sergio Rossi, Website
Marking the first result of the strategic partnership between PPR and Yoox Group, Sergio Rossi has unveiled its online boutique, which will service 100 countries in English, Italian, French, German, Russian and Japanese. The online boutique carries a range of women and men’s footwear styles and a selection of accessories, with a Chinese version to launch in 2013/
Website: sergiorossi.com
Source: WWD
Yoox, Website
Yoox has launched a dedicated designer discount e-commerce for the Chinese market, consistent with globally branded Yoox sites but with localised featured. Chinese shoppers benefit from transactions in RMB, FedEx shipping to 400 cities in China, a liberal return policy, cash-on-delivery or Alipay payment options, and RFID anti-counterfeit seals to assuage consumer fears of fakes.
Website: yoox.cn
Source: Jing Daily
For more in the series of The Latest Digital, please see our most recent editions as follows:
– The Latest Digital: Versace, Balenciaga & Ritz-Carlton
– The Latest Digital: BMW, Maserati & Salvatore Ferragamo
– The Latest Digital: Lanvin, Graff & Marc Jacobs
Creative Strategist, Digital
Sophie Doran is currently Senior Creative Strategist, Digital at Karla Otto. Prior to this role, she was the Paris-based editor-in-chief of Luxury Society. Prior to joining Luxury Society, Sophie completed her MBA in Melbourne, Australia, with a focus on luxury brand dynamics and leadership, whilst simultaneously working in management roles for several luxury retailers.
