Shoppable videos from Only Jeans and ASOS awarded at Cannes Lions

As a follow up to the post on learnings from Cannes Lions yesterday, I wanted to highlight a couple of initiatives from the fashion industry based on shoppable videos that did, in fact, walk away with awards.

 

First up is The Liberation, an online interactive film by Danish denim brand Only Jeans. It won a gold Lion in the cyber category. http://onlybecausewecan.com/

Described as a “fashion catalogue, movie, game, music video, and the world’s first on demand, online, video, retail environment”, it allowed users to click and freeze the film, turning it into an interactive catalogue. From there, they could browse, like, pin, tweet and buy.

Created for girls aged 16-25, it also pushed an element of gaming – encouraging consumers to interact with the story by, for instance, “stealing” a pair of virtual jeans. For a lucky few, they were then sent out in reality and for free. The initiative, created by agency Uncle Grey, culminated in a bespoke catalogue listing each of the items the user had browsed so they could revisit their choices, share and shop again.

The video saw 280,000 unique visits within two weeks, and led to a 442% increase on interaction with Only.com

 

Another gold Lion, this time in the design category, went to ASOS for its Urban Tour campaign. As previously reported, this was a “viral, digital and social feat comprised of a series of shoppable films showcasing the online retailer’s autumn/winter 2011/12 collection”. It was also the online retailer’s first initiative aimed at men.

Created by BBH London, it was built on the premise that men are influenced by their peers and people they admire, rather than traditional fashion sources. The focus therefore turned to culture, sports and the street. As a result, the films featured performance artists from around the world – in London it was five of the best street dancers (as shown above), elsewhere it was musicians, skaters and more. Each could be clicked on to enable the e-commerce functionality built in.

The initiative gained 7.36m global views in just 11 weeks, and led to an additional 500,000 men visiting ASOS.com within three months. A total of 14% of viewers purchased within seven minutes of watching the content.

I have to say I actually remain to be convinced by shoppable videos, but these stats and the Cannes Lions awards suggest they might well have a future after all. Watch this space…

Calypso and AG invite Pinterest users to determine new denim print

Luxury label Calypso St Barth and denimwear line AG Adriano Goldschmied have turned to Pinterest to find the most popular print for a limited edition pair of jeans.

The two brands are inviting consumers to vote for their favourite of three designs (as shown above and below) – each hand-created by Calypso’s creative director, Elisa Miller, in partnership with AG’s Samuel Ku – by repining from a shared board on the virtual scrapbooking site.

The pattern that ends up with the most repins by June 15, will be created into an exclusive pair of AG jeans sold at Calypso stores this autumn.

“We are known for our beautiful color and signature prints which naturally resonate with visually inspired Pinterest users,” says Rachel Deutsch, vice president of marketing and PR for Calypso. “This is a great opportunity to empower our consumers and connect with them in a more meaningful way, by involving them in the design process.”

Ku added: “We are especially excited to embark on a new way of reaching out to our customers through Pinterest.  In this age of me-commerce, co-creation and increased personalization, we are excited to be able to communicate and cater to the tastes of social media savvy contemporary women.”

Guess takes to Pinterest to push new denim collection

Guess is celebrating the launch of its new season denim collection with a contest on Pinterest called ‘Color Me Inspired”.

From March 8 – March 15, users are invited to demonstrate how colour inspires them by pinning at least five images to the Guess-branded board. Four winners will then get a pair of the new colour-coated Guess Jeans of their choice.

The judging panel is comprised of four of Guess’ favourite style bloggers – Michelle Koesnadi of Glisters and Blisters, Kristina Bazan of Kayture, Jennifer Rand of Belle de Couture, and Samantha Hutchinson of Could I Have That.

Victoria Beckham and AnOther’s ‘Steps for 2′ denim film short

AnOther magazine has teamed up with fashion designer Victoria Beckham to bring her spring/summer 2012 denim collection to life through a short film called Steps for 2, created by Quentin Jones.

“Inspired by Anna Karina dancing in Jean-Luc Godard’s Bande à part, the film is a kaleidoscopic mash up of unfurling illustrations, interwoven with jiving hands in bowties and a chorus line of multi-coloured denim-clad legs, all set to a finger clicking score by Pete Duffy,” reads the write-up.

Check it out, below: