Brazil’s Reserva turns CCTV footage of burglary into creative YouTube sales promo

 

How’s this for inspired… Brazilian menswear brand Reserva has launched a video of the robbers breaking into its São Paulo store, to help promote its seasonal sale.

The spot, hosted on YouTube and being pushed across social networks, shows real CCTV footage of a gang of thieves raiding the boutique in December. Placed over the top is bold red copy reading: “It’s not necessary to break the window. Just come in! Inventory clearance: up to 40% off.”

It shows the robbers smashing the window, knocking over mannequins and making off with armfuls of merchandise worth $20,000. “Hurry!” reads the next caption. “Why are people doing such crazy stuff for Reserva?”

The Guardian refers to it as “creative revenge”. Or as Reserva owner Rony Mesiler told Brazil’s O Globo newspaper: ”They stole my clothes and we stole their image.”

The YouTube write-up outlines that the store until that point had been beautifully prepared for Christmas. The team had to do a quick turnaround to clean it up ready for shoppers the same morning. They opened without a glass window and hit sales target for the day by 4pm. “DO instead of COMPLAIN,” is the message.

Mesiler adds: “Complaining gets you nowhere, business is about doing things. Rather than suck lemons, it is better to make lemonade with them.” The video, aptly, is called Limonada Reserva.

Prada’s A/W 12/13 film: a fantastical game of chess

The gaming aesthetic referred to in Prada’s autumn/winter 2012/13 print ads makes a true appearance in a new campaign film from the brand released this week.

Set across a “fantastical chess game”, the spot sees movements on the board then carried out in an alternate reality by the avatar-like models.

An original release for the Steven Meisel-shot campaign called them “virtual princesses poised for combat”, which now of course, makes total sense.

Dior’s new ‘Secret Garden – Versailles’ film fulfills mag potential

 

I wrote quite a tough review of Dior’s new online magazine when it launched in February, disappointed by the lack of real editorial interest in any of the pieces being published.

While there remain a couple of misses here and there, in general the aim to “both entertain and inform” now seems to be being met. Evidence lies in a couple of great recent pieces, including this Q&A with Hongbo Li, a stylist in the flou atelier at Dior Haute Couture; and this insight on the Dior Homme pop-up shop in New York.

Even better, the brand used the platform to reveal its new autumn/winter 2012/13 campaign film, ”Secret Garden – Versailles”, last week. Pushing it out through a number of teasers, it finally revealed both a 60-second short and a full three-minute version, as above, a day apart.

Created by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the film features model Daria Strokous alongside Melissa Stasiuk and Xiao Wen Ju in a deserted Versailles.

“A wondrous path that winds through the Galerie des Glaces, through the palace’s endless interconnecting salons, as far as the grand tree-lined walks that sweep through the classic parkland à la française… a dreamlike fashion show where Versailles is transformed into Christian Dior’s secret garden, his emblematic château,” reads the copy.

Good job.

Digital snippets: Burberry, Nike, ShoeDazzle, Macy’s, Elle, Trendabl

Some more great stories from around the web surrounding all things fashion and digital over the past week:

 

• Burberry releases sneak preview of its forthcoming eyewear campaign (as above) [YouTube]

• Nike continues tech offensive, launches e-commerce football app [The Next Web]

• ShoeDazzle scraps monthly subscription model, adds lingerie and dress lines [Fast Company]

• Macy’s looks to capitalise on tech-savvy generation [Brand Channel]

• Elle UK boosts magazine subscriptions following live stream of Kristen Stewart cover shoot on Twitter [Media Week]

• The 10 most mesmerizing fashion gifs [Fashionista]

• My-Wardrobe co-founder launches LoveHats.com, incorporates virtual try-on service [WGSN Tumblr]

• Trendabl launches; a lot like Instagram for fashion [Business Insider]

More SS12 videos: Giorgio Armani, Nina Ricci, Dolce & Gabbana

A handful of brands in Milan and Paris have been using their fashion week shows as an opportunity to release campaign videos for their current collections.

First up is Giorgio Armani with a three-minute spot based on its spring/summer 2012 campaign called “One Plus One”. Directed by Luca Guadagnino in Italy, the narrative follows the “story of a suspenseful and unsettling love triangle”, reported WWD.

“Today, fashion needs to open itself to new languages,” said the designer. “Cinema is the form of expression I have always felt the closest to. Working with Luca Guadagnino, I have had the opportunity to transform the atmosphere of my collection into a story, and it has been a stimulating experience.”

Nina Ricci has similarly unveiled a new film based on its latest campaign. Directed by photographers Inez & Vinoodh, and shot in Old Westbury in Long Island, New York, it stars model Raquel Zimmermann.

The spot will be showcased during the designer’s autumn/winter 2012/13 show at Paris Fashion Week tomorrow. It is also being broadcast in Nina Ricci stores.

And finally, Dolce & Gabbana has released a video that depicts its spring campaign “in motion”. Monica Bellucci and Bianca Balti alongside their pseudo Italian family are seen dancing, playing, talking and laughing as they pose for Giampaolo Sgura’s camera.

Digital snippets: NYFW, F-commerce, Christian Louboutin, Louis Vuitton, Marni, Nike

Some more great stories from around the web surrounding all things fashion and digital over the past week:

• Jason Wu, Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors prove most “talked” about in online space during NYFW [WWD]

• Retailers shut their Facebook stores; is this the end of F-commerce? [Mashable]

• Neiman Marcus launches social media challenge for Christian Louboutin’s 20th anniversary [Luxury Daily]

• Louis Vuitton sets short film series on major cities, starting with Hong Kong (as pictured) [WWD]

• H&M celebrates Marni launch with Instagram competition [FashionablyMarketing.me]

• Nike introduces Nike+ basketball sneaker with high-tech sensors [AllThingsD]

• Sølve Sundsbø’s The Ever Changing Face of Beauty installation becomes interactive iPad App [The Business of Fashion]

• Google to start selling glasses that will project information, entertainment and ads onto the lenses [NYTimes]

Clarks partners with Aurasma for augmented reality SS12 ads

British footwear retailer Clarks is experimenting with augmented reality for the first time in a bid to close the gap for consumers between its print ads and e-commerce.

Following in the footsteps of Dunhill, Net-a-Porter and the British Fashion Council before it, the brand has partnered with image-recognition technology company Aurasma to make its spring/summer 2012 campaign come alive.

Using the Aurasma app (available for free from iTunes and for the Android), consumers will be able to point their cameras any any Clarks advert to see one of four different videos that accompany it. They will also be able to click through to the Clarks website to continue browsing.

Roy Gardner, head of category at Clarks, said: ‘We’re proud to be the first footwear brand to offer this experience to our consumers in the UK. Aurasma technology enables us to provide fantastic insight into the Clarks brand at a time when we are embracing new and innovative ways of inspiring and
engaging our consumers.’

UPDATE: M&S has also teamed up with Aurasma for a special Valentine’s Day campaign – read more here.

Lanvin turns to stop motion to animate decadent models in SS12 campaign film

Despite a lot to live up to following the success of its Pitbull-backed dancing short last season, Lanvin has managed to outdo itself in the video stakes for spring/summer 2012, this time with a stop motion spot shot once again by Steven Meisel.

It stars models Aaron Vernon, Angus Low, Aymeline Valade, Johannes Schulze, Marte Mei van Haaster, and Othilia Simon.

Set around a somewhat debauched dinner table complete with snakes, it ties together images of the group by animating them to the tune of Maxine Ashley’s ‘Cookieman’, produced by Pharrell Williams.

Watch it below:

The Super Bowl’s stylish digital spin, featuring H&M, Madonna and Vogue [PICS]

No surprise to hear that last night’s Super Bowl XLVI hit an all-time record on Twitter in the sports event category. The ‘Social Super Bowl’, as it was readily dubbed, hit an average of 10,000 tweets per second during the last three minutes of the game.

But there were two other digital aspects to the game that I loved, no less because they’re related to the fashion industry…

First up, is all about H&M. As we already know, the Swedish retailer aired its new David Beckham Bodywear ad during the second quarter, which inevitably proved a key conversation point in the social space (it’d be interesting to break those Twitter stats up minute by minute not to mention demographically).

But, the company also very cleverly paid attention to what else might hit a high in terms of chatter, and of course came up with Madonna’s halftime show. Consequently the trending topic for #Madonna was sponsored by H&M. Genius:

(Image via @AmyJoMartin)

The second great thing, of course, was the digital stage set accompanying Givenchy-clad Madonna, and its subsequent shout out to Vogue.

The interactive installation was designed by Canadian multimedia studio, Moment Factory. Here’s a closer look:

Two more beautiful campaign films: Vanessa Bruno, Marni for H&M

Following on from the Prada, Victoria, Victoria Beckham and T by Alexander Wang post below, here’s a quick look at two further SS12 campaign releases this week.

First up is Marni’s H&M spot, shot by none other than Hollywood director Sofia Coppola. The ad stars actress Imogen Poots, and was filmed in Marrakesh, Morocco, at a house that Coppola once went to with friends. It is set to the soundtrack, Avalon, by Bryan Ferry:

 

There’s a great behind-the-scenes video here, too, in which Coppola says she wanted to do something artful that would represent Marni.

And Kate Bosworth returns to Vanessa Bruno again this season, in a beautiful film called Moonlight.

Directed by Stephanie Di Giusto, it comes accompanied with a conceptual passage describing it to be about “a stellar girl, a radiant girl who clutches onto the moon and arrives in an unknown land, on unmarred ground, as immaculate as her white ensemble”: