How Hermès and Stella McCartney are reaching Gen-Y audiences, with the help of amusing viral video marketing campaigns
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Humour: The Next Trend in Digital Luxury Marketing?
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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
How Hermès and Stella McCartney are reaching Gen-Y audiences, with the help of amusing viral video marketing campaigns
How Hermès and Stella McCartney are reaching Gen-Y audiences, with the help of amusing viral marketing campaigns.
Humour and luxury have historically been mutually exclusive concepts.
In an industry where significant amounts of money are involved, the marketing and service strategies for luxury brands have traditionally focused on respect, formality and prestige. No one, thus far, has employed Jim Carrey or Eddie Murphy as a luxury brand ambassador.
Where successful marketing has the ability to connect with a large variety of people, humour has the converse ability to inadvertently offend a similar number of people. The concept of ‘funny’ will differ considerably from consumer to consumer, possibly the reason luxury brands have remained within the realm of glamour and desire, in creating their aspirational campaigns.
Most brands accept that humour has not, and will not be a part of their marketable DNA. Others however, are recognising the increasing importance of Gen X & Y consumers, and adapting their communication platforms and strategies to better serve this segment. Whilst the physical boutique may remain a den of antiquity and old world customer service, brands are realising that their online presence, targeted at a different demographic, can be a little more risqué.
Hermès Take a Ride
One of the oldest luxury houses, Hermès, has created one of the most modern, considered and humorous video offerings in the digital space. The concept is simple but innovative and easy to watch. The nod to skateboarding is unquestionably an attempt to connect with the Gen Y audience, yet the childlike humour is universally appealing. Whilst it may not sell a $30,000 Birkin bag, it allows the brand to transcend its traditional positioning while showcasing the breadth of their product range.
Stella McCartney Kids
As a younger brand, utilising humorous online content, to launch a children’s line, is probably not as far a depart from traditional communications as it is over at Hermès. Nonetheless, this collection of kids enjoying themselves, in a room full of colourful paint without rules, is an engaging, funny and appropriate utilisation of the medium. It will no doubt speak to the next generation luxury consumer parents, who might appreciate the finer things in life but refuse to take themselves too seriously.
Both offerings show an understanding and appreciation of the viral marketing concept, leveraging the human pre-disposition to share anything humorous and ensuring a large amount of coverage from consumers outside their target audience. Both confirm there is a place for humour within the luxury sphere, when it is thoughtfully and appropriately managed.
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.
