When the models at Alexander McQueen came down the catwalk wearing plexiglass visors in a vision of the brand’s “beautiful future” theme, it was instantly a shoe-in for one of our favourite campaigns of the season.
Lo and behold, a film by David Sims has been released to accompany the print ads from earlier this month (shown below). Featuring Finnish model Suvi Koponen on loop removing the metallic visor, it’s a psychedelic, surreal and dramatic two-minute spot.
As phrased by Fashionologie: “Surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colour, dressed in overblown shapes, and stood on a set that looks like it was borrowed from Superman, Suvi embodies an extra-terrestrial beauty that is befitting of the visuals and the collection’s design.”
London 2012 has been dubbed the “social media Olympics”, and rightly so given the overwhelming growth seen all things digital even since Beijing in 2008.
And then of course there are the brands. Official sponsor or not, the online space is awash with those tapping in as closely as they can to sporting fever.
It all kicks off officially from tonight, but until then here are a couple of the best campaigns we’ve seen across the digital space so far:
adidas and David Beckham surprise fans: This one might be a real-world activation, but there’s nothing quite like a viral video to get everyone talking about it: 2.3m views and counting of adidas surprising shoppers having their pictures taken in its #takethestage photo booth with a guest appearance by David Beckham (as below) [YouTube]
Coca Cola’s Move to the Beat campaign: In the aim of connecting younger people to the action, Coca Cola teamed up with Mark Ronson and turned to music. The Grammy Award-winning producer recorded the sounds of five different Olympic sports and used the resulting beats to create a track, as shown below. The brand is also inviting fans to have a go at remixing themselves via a dedicated app [Coca Cola]
EDF uses Twitter to dictate colour of London Eye: London’s infamous Ferris wheel is set to become a giant mood ring as EDF Energy teams up with Sosolimited to display different colours based on the sentiment of tweets around the Games [Mashable]
Nike’s Find Your Greatness spot pushes Olympic advertising rules: The first non-sponsor to mention is of course Nike. An expert at ambush marketing (Write the Future a case in point), the brand has launched an ad that references other places around the world also called London (as below). “Greatness is not in one special place, it is not in one special person; greatness is wherever somebody is trying to find it,” says the narrator. It is also backed by a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #findgreatness [Fast Co]
Visa invites consumers to send in cheers: Part of Visa’s Go World campaign for the Olympics invites fans to submit a cheer to the participating athletes in the form of a click, post or video via Facebook. A lucky few will go on to feature in special-edition spots celebrating the achievements of Team Visa athletes in real-time [TheInspirationRoom]
Nastia Liukin pushes Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll and app: The latest doll from Dora the Explorer is a London 2012 gymnast special being promoted by Team USA five-time Olympic medallist Nastia Liukin. It also comes with an augmented reality app for kid’s to watch her come to life [BrandChannel]
Harrods welcomes everyone to London: A very simple one here, but nonetheless noteworthy. Harrods posted a collaged picture featuring multiple icons of London associated with its own store as well as the Olympics on Facebook. The accompanying text read: “Over the coming weeks, London will play host to many visitors. We would simply like to say… Welcome to our wonderful city. #LoveLondon” [Harrods]
Another great stop motion film from London-based illustrator Quentin Jones, this time for Kenzo’s pre-fall 2012 collection.
Frenetic but fantastic, the spot is a mish mash of collage work playing with the letters that spell out Kenzo, as well as a number of sporty props and accessories including hoops, ribbons and scaffolding to climb on.
It was shot in a warehouse in East London, and then digitally layered with handmade moving elements and frames of the models, Jones explained in an interview on the brand’s blog.
“It is kind of like sewing together different visual ingredients over a timeline,” she added.
On the role film plays in fashion, she said: “I think film allows a brand to create a moment of escapism into a world of their vision and personality. If they are successful, the audience gets to experience what it means to ‘live’ that label from their desk or bed. They need to be entertaining to capture new audiences, and not just pretty moving images.”
She referred to Stephanie Di Giusto’s Le bel été for Vanessa Bruno, and Barnaby Roper’s Iris for Nowness as two of her personal favourites.
Stylist magazine launched its first augmented reality issue today with an interactive cover featuring Great Britain’s synchronised swimming team.
Enabled through a partnership between the UK free weekly title and image recognition app Blippar, the cover can be scanned to trigger a video of the Olympic hopefuls performing an exclusive routine.
“We knew we wanted to do something really special to mark the Olympics, and when we spoke to the Blippar team it became apparent they could help us create something innovative that would totally engage our readers and celebrate this incredible event,” said editor Lisa Smosarski.
The issue has various additional scannable pages throughout (recognisable by the Blippar logo), giving readers access to more videos as well as social media content and a “Style List” you can shop directly from. There’s also an Olympic medal leader board due to be updated daily throughout the Games.
“There’s so much to see, do and play with in this issue,” Smosarski adds in a video explaining how to use the app, here.
Stylist follows in the footsteps of Tatler and Asos who have previously made their magazines come to life using augmented reality.
Carine Roitfeld has unveiled an animated GIF to promote her new magazine, CR Fashion Book, which is due to launch during New York Fashion Week on September 13.
The image is the first revealed from the actual publication. It features model Juliet Ingleby (photographed by Sebastian Faena and styled by Roitfeld) walking through a graveyard covered only by a floating sheer purple scarf. It is this that blows in the wind in the animated version of the shot.
This is a very cute video teasing the release of the Shu Uemura by Karl Lagerfeld collection (launching November 2012).
Called “Mon Shu Girl Birth Story”, it’s an animated tale of the collection’s mascot coming to life, and a play on Lagerfeld’s admission that he has used the brand’s eyeshadows for sketching. Check it out below:
You’re opening a new store in London. What do you do… A) send out a press release, B) announce it via social media, or C) make a video that explains the fact there’s no need for A anymore by demonstrating it happening via B in a faux scenario, and by proxy achieving it via B in real life in anycase.
Still with me?
Check out this new video from DKNY (starring “socialmedialites” including @psimadethis, @cocorocha, @bagsnob and more) that plays on each of the above themes to promote the opening of the brand’s new Bond Street store in London this weekend. Fake hashtag: #UK20112, but given the fact we’re now all talking about it that’d be a real hashtag too.
As put by DKNY PR Girl herself: “#Socialmedia really is the new press release!”
