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The Latest Digital: Bottega Veneta, Vogue & Veuve Clicquot

by

Sophie Doran

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit: This is the featured image credit

New comprehensive online spaces for Veuve Clicquot and Jaeger-LeCoultre, whilst Vogue America takes over 100 years of editorial and advertising online

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

New comprehensive online spaces for Veuve Clicquot and Jaeger-LeCoultre, whilst Vogue America takes over 100 years of editorial and advertising online

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s virtual museum project, currently dedicated to its iconic Reverso, with plans to expand to include its entire collection

Moves by Valentino, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vogue America make me particularly suspicious that 2012 will be the year of the virtual museum. Following the explosion of the App in 2011, and the endless stream of highly successful luxury brand exhibitions, I feel the virtual museum may be the next most relevant step in the evolution of digital in our industry.

The app market is undoubtedly saturated, as brands now release dedicated programs for iconic products, fashion shows, e-Commerce, news, games and catalogues incorporating augmented reality. But surely with all this content, they are somewhat running out of meaningful things to share and say? Enter the virtual museum.

What could be more meaningful – to both the industry and brand advocates – than being able to experience the entire history and collections of an iconic craftsman online? Certainly for products like fashion, timepieces and automobiles, the opportunity to showcase craftsmanship, as well as history, milestones and evolution three-dimensionally, open new online spaces for rich and relevant content. Far beyond that of which a general website is able to achieve.

“ With all this content, are luxury brands somewhat running out of meaningful things to share and say? ”

Forgive me for thinking out loud, but could this potentially grow to form a stream of revenue? So far brands have been expected to give away for free, information that was once fiercely protected. Whilst potentially insignificant when compared to revenues generated by the sale of goods, subscription or membership based archives could go so far as to monetise the history of a brand – just as Vogue have developed an alternate income stream for its digital archive, in the times of declining spend on print.

However brands choose to engage this opportunity, 2011 proved that the interest from the general public is there. One must only consider Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty exhibition at the Met, to realise the scale to which luxury has entered consumer consciousness. Now just imagine that the world could have also experienced that exhibition, wherever they were in the universe…

Veuve Clicquot, Wish You Were Here

Embracing the lifestyle aspect commonly associated with Champagne, Veuve Clicquot has launched a multimedia, crowd-sourced platform – Wish You Were Here – which comes as part of the house’s expanded effort to showcase its 100+ global programs, events and initiatives all in one place.

Featured tastemakers from the worlds of art, design, fashion, travel and food, alongside brand enthusiasts and fans, are invited to share their own “Wish You Were Here” moments via the site. The portal also incorporates a navigable map, which allows visitors to organise content by location or event, including the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, Milan Design Week and Yelloween. 40 cities are featured at launch, with more to come.

Website: clicquotworld.com
Source: PSFK

Jaeger-LeCoultre, Website

Jaeger-LeCoultre is fast becoming one of the most interesting timepiece brands to watch in the digital space. It was first to develop a watchmaking school for the iPhone and iPad, its virtual museum e-Library and conducted a "Treasure Hunt "on Facebook. Most recently it has updated its website, using digital technology to share its history, expertise and enthusiasm with a much wider audience.

Naturally the site features all models from the current collections, alongside older timepieces in a virtual museum, videos and brand news. The site is offered in six-languages and includes a concierge service, where by phone or email a Jaeger-LeCoultre concierge will respond to any global request. “LeClub” allows everyone to create a personalised space, where images of favourite watches, fact sheets or anything else related to the brand can be stored.

If that wasn’t enough, the brand is also active on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, the new Hub iPad application, and has launched its watchmaking school for the Android Market.

Website: jaeger-lecoultre.com
Source: World Tempus

Four Seasons Hotels, Website

The Four Seasons has made a bold move with the launch of its overhauled website, giving it not only a new look and increased social media integration, but a real-time commentary as to what guests on Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor are saying about each individual property. The “Reviews at a Glance” box contains bright red letters that you can click on to go directly to TripAdvisor’s site for a particular hotel, the hotel’s Twitter account page or its Facebook account page.

The initiative was driven by a Four Seasons survey, which identified that 33% of guests rate TripAdvisor “very to extremely influential” in their selection of a luxury hotel. As well as research suggesting that 92% of Internet users read product reviews and 89% say that reviews influence booking decision.

The site itself allows users to set up their own profile, indicating their interests, where Four Seasons will then send through personalised recommendations. The site is also filled with user photos as well as professional shots of destinations, rooms and amenities. Finally, a new feature lets you search for your hotel by interest, such as “beaches,” “family travel” or “sailing, diving and water sports.”

Website: fourseasons.com
Source: USA Today

Bottega Veneta, Website

Bottega Veneta has launched bottegaveneta.cn, a website wholly dedicated to showcasing the Bottega Veneta brand to and for the Chinese customer. Embedded within bottegaveneta.cn are tools designed to enhance the online experience for the Chinese customer.

Viewers will be able to share images, wish lists and video to Sina Mini Blog or via email. The store location function will not only suggest the closest retail location, but also offer users the opportunity to email the store directly. Bottega Veneta international site pictured

Website: bottegaveneta.cn
Source: PR Web

Vogue, Online Archive

Powered by trend forecasting company WGSN, the online Vogue Archive includes every page from every individual issue of American Vogue from 1892 all the way to the present – including the advertisements. Users can browse by decade, designer, photographer, or personality; select a specific issue; sort by articles, images, covers or advertisements.

Users can even go as far as to search by colour, materials or clothing, and then print and share favourite articles and images. Membership begins at $1,575 a year or will be available in the US through ProQuest, a provider of digital-research resources, available in most college libraries.

Website: vogue.com/archive
Source: Fashionista

Neiman Marcus, Facebook Foursquare

US retailer Neiman Marcus has recently hosted a number of digital campaigns in a bid to boost its online presence, which now commands almost 500,000 fans on Facebook and 50,000 followers on Twitter. Most recently it launched a Foursquare scavenger hunt “Clutch me if you can,” where a Nancy Gonzalez clutch bag was hidden in 15 of its 41 stores and customers had to check-in via Foursquare to find out whether that store featured a hidden handbag and receive clues about how to find it.

The retailer also launched a Facebook Stylist contest to celebrate the launch of Rachel Zoe’s collection. The project encouraged fans to assemble virtual outfits from items in the collection, which were then judged by Rachel Zoe and Neiman Marcus’ Fashion Director Ken Downing.

Website: facebook.com/neimanmarcus
Source: PSFK

Hysek, Website

Hysek has unveiled a website dominated by its emblematic colours of orange and black. The portal showcases the Watchmaking and Fine Watchmaking collections as well as the writing instruments and jewellery range. Users can also use a dedicated search engine to quickly locate specific models or boutiques, or use the boutique network to glean information about all points of sale.

The Customer Care service provides existing Hysek watch and jewellery clients, the opportunity to learn more about warranty, repair and manufacture. And for the first time, Hysek has launched a Press Room online, to allow industry professionals to easily find the most recent media kits and press releases.

Website: hysek.com
Source: World Tempus

Bergdorf Goodman, Google+

New York-based department store Bergdorf Goodman, has added Google+ to its social media repertoire for exclusive holiday marketing sneak-peaks and content. Consumers can choose to follow the men’s or women’s store pages, where they are greeted with contend designed to drive traffic to its blog 5th/58th and to bring consumers in-store for holiday-themed events.

“As always, we customize our social content to the platform on which it is published, and our Google+ page allows us to take that one step further with social circles customized to our unique location on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street,” remarked Cannon Hodge, manager of social media, to Luxury Daily. “Following the holidays, our Google+ page will be more editorial while our Facebook page will shift to a lighter, more playful tone.

Website: plus.google.com/bergdorfgoodman
Source: Luxury Daily

Asprey, e-Commerce

Luxury British jewellery Asprey launched its first e-commerce site in late 2011, with its jewellery, silverware, leather goods and china and glass products available to shop online. The site aims to offer both a "beautiful and functional online experience,” complimented with information regarding craftsmanship techniques, heritage and events.

“This is an exciting move for Asprey into the digital area. We wanted to have a fully transactional site running ahead of Christmas to respond to the gifting needs of our customers. Next year will see us fully invest in growing the digital platform further,” remarked managing director, Paddy Byng.

Website: asprey.com
Source: Professional Jeweler

Z Zegna, Facebook, App

Zegna will once again share its Men’s FW2012 fashion show via its Apple application, Zegna LIVE. The stream of the fashion show and behind the scenes content, can then be used to publish favourite looks, access product information and access all FW2012 press releases.

The brand will also use Facebook to share the experience, partnering with Anna Dello Russo in a special “beyond the catwalk” streaming of the show. On January 16th at 15:00 pm (CET), Zegna Facebook Fans can experience the Z Zegna AW 2012 fashion show live through the eyes of Anna Dello Russo – including her moments backstage with new creative director Paul Surridge.

Website: zegna.com
Download: Zenga LIVE
Source: The MO Down

For more in the series of The Latest Digital, please see our most recent editions as follows:

The Latest Digital, Chanel, Valentino & Montblanc
The Latest Digital, Dior, DeBeers & Louis Vuitton
The Latest Digital, Moncler, Marni & Theirry Mugler

Sophie Doran
Sophie Doran

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.

CAMPAIGNS

The Latest Digital: Bottega Veneta, Vogue & Veuve Clicquot

by

Sophie Doran

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit : This is the featured image credit

New comprehensive online spaces for Veuve Clicquot and Jaeger-LeCoultre, whilst Vogue America takes over 100 years of editorial and advertising online

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

New comprehensive online spaces for Veuve Clicquot and Jaeger-LeCoultre, whilst Vogue America takes over 100 years of editorial and advertising online

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s virtual museum project, currently dedicated to its iconic Reverso, with plans to expand to include its entire collection

Moves by Valentino, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vogue America make me particularly suspicious that 2012 will be the year of the virtual museum. Following the explosion of the App in 2011, and the endless stream of highly successful luxury brand exhibitions, I feel the virtual museum may be the next most relevant step in the evolution of digital in our industry.

The app market is undoubtedly saturated, as brands now release dedicated programs for iconic products, fashion shows, e-Commerce, news, games and catalogues incorporating augmented reality. But surely with all this content, they are somewhat running out of meaningful things to share and say? Enter the virtual museum.

What could be more meaningful – to both the industry and brand advocates – than being able to experience the entire history and collections of an iconic craftsman online? Certainly for products like fashion, timepieces and automobiles, the opportunity to showcase craftsmanship, as well as history, milestones and evolution three-dimensionally, open new online spaces for rich and relevant content. Far beyond that of which a general website is able to achieve.

“ With all this content, are luxury brands somewhat running out of meaningful things to share and say? ”

Forgive me for thinking out loud, but could this potentially grow to form a stream of revenue? So far brands have been expected to give away for free, information that was once fiercely protected. Whilst potentially insignificant when compared to revenues generated by the sale of goods, subscription or membership based archives could go so far as to monetise the history of a brand – just as Vogue have developed an alternate income stream for its digital archive, in the times of declining spend on print.

However brands choose to engage this opportunity, 2011 proved that the interest from the general public is there. One must only consider Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty exhibition at the Met, to realise the scale to which luxury has entered consumer consciousness. Now just imagine that the world could have also experienced that exhibition, wherever they were in the universe…

Veuve Clicquot, Wish You Were Here

Embracing the lifestyle aspect commonly associated with Champagne, Veuve Clicquot has launched a multimedia, crowd-sourced platform – Wish You Were Here – which comes as part of the house’s expanded effort to showcase its 100+ global programs, events and initiatives all in one place.

Featured tastemakers from the worlds of art, design, fashion, travel and food, alongside brand enthusiasts and fans, are invited to share their own “Wish You Were Here” moments via the site. The portal also incorporates a navigable map, which allows visitors to organise content by location or event, including the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, Milan Design Week and Yelloween. 40 cities are featured at launch, with more to come.

Website: clicquotworld.com
Source: PSFK

Jaeger-LeCoultre, Website

Jaeger-LeCoultre is fast becoming one of the most interesting timepiece brands to watch in the digital space. It was first to develop a watchmaking school for the iPhone and iPad, its virtual museum e-Library and conducted a "Treasure Hunt "on Facebook. Most recently it has updated its website, using digital technology to share its history, expertise and enthusiasm with a much wider audience.

Naturally the site features all models from the current collections, alongside older timepieces in a virtual museum, videos and brand news. The site is offered in six-languages and includes a concierge service, where by phone or email a Jaeger-LeCoultre concierge will respond to any global request. “LeClub” allows everyone to create a personalised space, where images of favourite watches, fact sheets or anything else related to the brand can be stored.

If that wasn’t enough, the brand is also active on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, the new Hub iPad application, and has launched its watchmaking school for the Android Market.

Website: jaeger-lecoultre.com
Source: World Tempus

Four Seasons Hotels, Website

The Four Seasons has made a bold move with the launch of its overhauled website, giving it not only a new look and increased social media integration, but a real-time commentary as to what guests on Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor are saying about each individual property. The “Reviews at a Glance” box contains bright red letters that you can click on to go directly to TripAdvisor’s site for a particular hotel, the hotel’s Twitter account page or its Facebook account page.

The initiative was driven by a Four Seasons survey, which identified that 33% of guests rate TripAdvisor “very to extremely influential” in their selection of a luxury hotel. As well as research suggesting that 92% of Internet users read product reviews and 89% say that reviews influence booking decision.

The site itself allows users to set up their own profile, indicating their interests, where Four Seasons will then send through personalised recommendations. The site is also filled with user photos as well as professional shots of destinations, rooms and amenities. Finally, a new feature lets you search for your hotel by interest, such as “beaches,” “family travel” or “sailing, diving and water sports.”

Website: fourseasons.com
Source: USA Today

Bottega Veneta, Website

Bottega Veneta has launched bottegaveneta.cn, a website wholly dedicated to showcasing the Bottega Veneta brand to and for the Chinese customer. Embedded within bottegaveneta.cn are tools designed to enhance the online experience for the Chinese customer.

Viewers will be able to share images, wish lists and video to Sina Mini Blog or via email. The store location function will not only suggest the closest retail location, but also offer users the opportunity to email the store directly. Bottega Veneta international site pictured

Website: bottegaveneta.cn
Source: PR Web

Vogue, Online Archive

Powered by trend forecasting company WGSN, the online Vogue Archive includes every page from every individual issue of American Vogue from 1892 all the way to the present – including the advertisements. Users can browse by decade, designer, photographer, or personality; select a specific issue; sort by articles, images, covers or advertisements.

Users can even go as far as to search by colour, materials or clothing, and then print and share favourite articles and images. Membership begins at $1,575 a year or will be available in the US through ProQuest, a provider of digital-research resources, available in most college libraries.

Website: vogue.com/archive
Source: Fashionista

Neiman Marcus, Facebook Foursquare

US retailer Neiman Marcus has recently hosted a number of digital campaigns in a bid to boost its online presence, which now commands almost 500,000 fans on Facebook and 50,000 followers on Twitter. Most recently it launched a Foursquare scavenger hunt “Clutch me if you can,” where a Nancy Gonzalez clutch bag was hidden in 15 of its 41 stores and customers had to check-in via Foursquare to find out whether that store featured a hidden handbag and receive clues about how to find it.

The retailer also launched a Facebook Stylist contest to celebrate the launch of Rachel Zoe’s collection. The project encouraged fans to assemble virtual outfits from items in the collection, which were then judged by Rachel Zoe and Neiman Marcus’ Fashion Director Ken Downing.

Website: facebook.com/neimanmarcus
Source: PSFK

Hysek, Website

Hysek has unveiled a website dominated by its emblematic colours of orange and black. The portal showcases the Watchmaking and Fine Watchmaking collections as well as the writing instruments and jewellery range. Users can also use a dedicated search engine to quickly locate specific models or boutiques, or use the boutique network to glean information about all points of sale.

The Customer Care service provides existing Hysek watch and jewellery clients, the opportunity to learn more about warranty, repair and manufacture. And for the first time, Hysek has launched a Press Room online, to allow industry professionals to easily find the most recent media kits and press releases.

Website: hysek.com
Source: World Tempus

Bergdorf Goodman, Google+

New York-based department store Bergdorf Goodman, has added Google+ to its social media repertoire for exclusive holiday marketing sneak-peaks and content. Consumers can choose to follow the men’s or women’s store pages, where they are greeted with contend designed to drive traffic to its blog 5th/58th and to bring consumers in-store for holiday-themed events.

“As always, we customize our social content to the platform on which it is published, and our Google+ page allows us to take that one step further with social circles customized to our unique location on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street,” remarked Cannon Hodge, manager of social media, to Luxury Daily. “Following the holidays, our Google+ page will be more editorial while our Facebook page will shift to a lighter, more playful tone.

Website: plus.google.com/bergdorfgoodman
Source: Luxury Daily

Asprey, e-Commerce

Luxury British jewellery Asprey launched its first e-commerce site in late 2011, with its jewellery, silverware, leather goods and china and glass products available to shop online. The site aims to offer both a "beautiful and functional online experience,” complimented with information regarding craftsmanship techniques, heritage and events.

“This is an exciting move for Asprey into the digital area. We wanted to have a fully transactional site running ahead of Christmas to respond to the gifting needs of our customers. Next year will see us fully invest in growing the digital platform further,” remarked managing director, Paddy Byng.

Website: asprey.com
Source: Professional Jeweler

Z Zegna, Facebook, App

Zegna will once again share its Men’s FW2012 fashion show via its Apple application, Zegna LIVE. The stream of the fashion show and behind the scenes content, can then be used to publish favourite looks, access product information and access all FW2012 press releases.

The brand will also use Facebook to share the experience, partnering with Anna Dello Russo in a special “beyond the catwalk” streaming of the show. On January 16th at 15:00 pm (CET), Zegna Facebook Fans can experience the Z Zegna AW 2012 fashion show live through the eyes of Anna Dello Russo – including her moments backstage with new creative director Paul Surridge.

Website: zegna.com
Download: Zenga LIVE
Source: The MO Down

For more in the series of The Latest Digital, please see our most recent editions as follows:

The Latest Digital, Chanel, Valentino & Montblanc
The Latest Digital, Dior, DeBeers & Louis Vuitton
The Latest Digital, Moncler, Marni & Theirry Mugler

Sophie Doran
Sophie Doran

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.

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