From leveraging technology to utilising social initiatives, several luxury brands raised the bar this month. Here, global luxury marketing agency Cocoon gives a snapshot of some of the best.
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6 Latest Luxury Brand Experiences: Michael Kors, Givenchy, Burberry
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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
From leveraging technology to utilising social initiatives, several luxury brands raised the bar this month. Here, global luxury marketing agency Cocoon gives a snapshot of some of the best.
From leveraging technology to utilising social initiatives, how are brands successfully connecting with consumers? And in a world where luxury is more accessible than ever, how do brands straddle approachability, whilst remaining exclusive?
These are some of the big questions that brands should be asking if they want to succeed in the ever changing luxury space.
Here, global luxury marketing agency Cocoon gives a snapshot of luxury brands leading the way with innovation this month.
“ Increasingly brands are collaborating with tech in meaningful ways ”
Technology Is In Fashion
Tech is steadily making its mark on luxury. Increasingly brands are collaborating with tech in meaningful ways, resulting in enhanced customer experiences and exciting new products.
The recent collaboration of Hermès and Apple Watch is a true testament to this, blending the world of luxury fashion and high-tech to create the most luxurious smartwatch yet.
Henry Holland
House of Holland’s NFC payment ring
Another such brand is Henry Holland, who has teamed up with Visa to combine fashion, wearable technology and payments for the first time. During last month’s London Fashion Show, he demonstrated how an NFC chip embedded in a ring could be used to purchase items directly from the catwalk. The rings, which were pre-loaded with £500 credit, were given to VIPs at the show, including Daisy Lowe and Alexa Chung.
Grey Goose
Vodka brand Grey Goose has fused its luxury lifestyle offering with NFC technology to create an exclusive membership club, Le Club Goose.
Launched earlier this year on the slopes of the Courchevel, Grey Goose ambassadors gifted VIPs a digitally connected silver goose trinket. The NFC technology inside the Geese was used to record their name and preferred drink, so the next time they arrived at a high-end bar, their favourite drink was waiting along with a personal greeting.
Le Club Goose has continued at Coachella and, most recently, Ibiza’s most prestigious venues, providing tailored experiences for its most influential consumers.
Eco-Friendly Initiatives
From Stella McCartney to Tiffany, luxury brands are placing increasing importance on sustainability. People – particularly millennials – are looking for brands to offer much more to society than the physical goods themselves.
Michael Kors
Michael Kors is doing just that. The US fashion label is honoring World Food Day on the 16th October through a series of initiatives surrounding its ongoing Watch Hunger Stop campaign. Philanthropy is nothing new to Michael Kors, which launched its Watch Hunger Stop campaign in 2013.
Since then, the luxury brand has delivered more than 10 million meals to children worldwide through the United Nations World Food Program, proving that brands can truly make a difference. The initiatives include encouraging fans to post “selfless selfies” in the brand’s Watch Hunger Stop t-shirts, to partnering with actress Kate Hudson. For every t-shirt photo uploaded, Michael Kors will donate 50 meals to the World Food Programme.
Sergio Rossi
Footwear and accessories brand Sergio Rossi has partnered up with Livia Firth’s Eco-Age to offer a ‘Green Carpet Collection’. The partnership ensures Sergio Rossi attracts the environmentally conscious consumer, whilst demonstrating eco-friendly clothing need not be a niche market.
Connecting With Millennials
The social networking habits of millennials are making luxury brands reconsider the way they inspire the next generation of big spenders. As a result, we’re seeing brands experimenting with new ways to reach consumers, whether it’s through playful social videos or innovative platforms.
Audi
Take the automotive brand Audi for example. The German automaker posted a humorous video on Facebook which gives tips to aspirational consumers on how to save for an Audi R8. The £119k price tag of the R8 model makes it unattainable for many, however the comical approach is likely to connect with younger, aspirational consumers.
Givenchy
The French fashion house Givenchy recently launched a microsite providing its fans with the opportunity to attend its Spring/Summer 2016 runway show in New York. The microsite, which launched on 2nd September, gave away tickets to the first 820 fans that registered, allowing enthusiasts to be involved via the online platform.
Burberry
Meanwhile, Burberry has become the first brand to launch a dedicated channel on Apple Music. The Burberry Channel will showcase collaborations with up-and-coming and well-known British recording artists, and will feature performances celebrating British musical talent. The curated content plays right into the millennial sweet spot, offering consumers a new and innovative experience to connect with the brand.
And that’s what brands should be striving for; providing innovative and exciting ways to connect with consumers, fully immersing them in the brand. Whether that’s through collaborating with new technology, eco-friendly initiatives or innovative social campaigns, the opportunities are huge.
To further investigate luxury brand innovation on Luxury Society, we invite your to explore the related materials as follows:
– 4 Latest Luxury Brand Experiences: Chanel, Burberry, YSL
– 6 Innovative Luxury Porto Cervo Pop-Ups
– 8 Latest Luxury Brand Experiences: Hermès, Chanel, Rolls-Royce
Marketing Manager, Microsoft
Charlotte is Marketing Manager at Cocoon, which is a global marketing offering that facilitates connections between luxury brands and their consumers. Cocoon understands the unique relationships, networks and cultures in the luxury space – and how to navigate them. So as well as providing tailored, high-quality marketing activity, it is uniquely placed to forge potential partnerships between high-net-worth individuals and brands working within the sector.
