Lancôme engages fans via Betty Boop Facebook app

Lancôme has turned to Facebook in France to push its new Hynôse star mascara with a fun application starring cartoon character Betty Boop.

The initiative offers fans the opportunity to create their own cover picture alongside Betty (as shown above), as well as a game to participate in that provides them with the opportunity to win the new product.

Featuring a board of sparkling spots hiding one of the mascaras, the game cleverly encourages users to provide more personal information about themselves to the company.

To enter, they have to first provide basic details including name and email. They then get three chances a day to try and uncover the product. They can, however, request Betty’s help, which results in having to reveal their address for another three goes. Next they have to provide their telephone number and date of birth, which reduces the canvas size substantially, hinting at where the mascara might lie. If all fails, the game encourages users to return the next day.

There is also a series of tutorials about how to apply 24 different shades of eyeshadow to get one of three Betty looks.

The mascara is additionally being promoted with a short film starring Betty Boop alongside model Daria Werbowy. In it, the two are seen behind-the-scenes on a movie set having a conversation about their lines and how best to look the part – by applying the new mascara naturally. “Just say it with the eyes,” says Betty.

 

[via Web&Luxe]

Video: Louis Vuitton’s All Aboard Games animation

Very cute animated video just released from Louis Vuitton, providing a “fantastic and surrealist voyage” inside a game case:

 

It was created by III Studio and said to be about “the universe of games, how they pass the time, evolve from one move to the next in different systems of transition”.

Look out for everything from chess, dominoes and backgammon to cards, dice and roulette, each featuring iconic Louis Vuitton prints and logos.

[New,Now]

New Roger Vivier line inspires digital puzzle

Roger Vivier has created an online puzzle as part of the launch surrounding its new Prismick accessories line.

Based on the late designer’s love for assembling collages, the simple game invites users to reconstruct an image of one of the collecion’s handbags by dragging surrounding tangram-like shapes into its shell.

It is housed on the brand’s website, which is also designed to reflect similar geometric patterns, tying in with the overall theme of the collection, as conceived by current creative  director, Bruno Frisoni (and as pictured below).

“Pumps and bags which play with fluctuating geometry,” reads an update on the Roger Vivier Facebook page. “A jigsaw puzzle in three dimensions.”

Chanel offers activity area for kids on exhibition microsite

Hidden alongside the more sophisticated pages of the Culture Chanel microsite – an online accompaniment to the Parisian brand’s current Beijing exhibition – is an interactive area called Kids’ Corner.

Within it sit two classic offline activities for children, translated for the web.

First up is a virual colouring book, which provides users with drawings of seven iconic Chanel items including a tweed jacket, brooch and clutch, and a choice of 36 different shades with which to fill them in with. Each picture is also available to download for printing.

And then there’s a memory game based on flipping over and matching up pairs of cards. Unsurprisingly, the face of each one features another series of classic Chanel symbols such as buttons and a bottle of Chanel No.5 fragrance. The back of each card is stamped with the interlocking Chanel C’s.

As Fashionista said, “we guess [it] is technically for children, but we like it too”, and that’s the interesting part. As gaming has opened up to a far wider audience (71% of females aged 20-49 now play games, according to IGN Entertainment), there’s been an increasing move towards the idea of game mechanics within campaigns, and I believe there’s enormous potential for further application within the fashion industry.

More thoughts to follow, but this piece from a few months back is worth re-reading in the meantime: Gaming as fashion’s jackpot.

Gaming as fashion’s jackpot

H&M on Goldrun

There was a nice piece from The New York Times last week about how gaming can be applied to the fashion industry. It suggests e-commerce sites take inspiration from the likes of Angry Birds and Farmville, which welcome a total of three billion hours a week in play time.

It highlights initiatives from brands including Dunhill, Marc Jacobs and Jimmy Choo, and suggests point-scoring, scavenger-hunting, clock-countdowning ideas to engage with consumers and ultimately encourage loyalty.

This notion of brand gaming is something I’ve been reporting on for quite a while, not least because it’s been one of the most mentioned subjects alongside “mobile” and “location” at conferences around the world over the past year.

So here are some additional thoughts:

• 200m of Facebook’s 500m+ users now log on to play games

• Despite what might initially spring to mind, it’s not just for teenage boys – 71% of females aged 20-49 now play games, according to IGN Entertainment

• The nature of gaming has changed. Where it was once a solitary bedroom activity for children, it’s now a shared experience – either with others online, or with the family in the living room space

• Technology is allowing gaming to be more immersive – traditional controls are on the out, while social media and television are integrating too, said Jack Wallington, head of industry programmes at the IAB

• Consumers are attracted by generating stats, gaining points and flattering their own egos, according to Joel Lunenfeld, CEO of ad agency Moxie Interactive – accordingly, by nature, gaming encourages greater loyalty

• Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley said the theory behind his location-based social service is framed around incentivising via a game overlay. By “checking in” to different venues, users can gain various badges, which Crowley referred to as “digital candy”

• Goldrun is another app worth looking at in this space. H&M ran a campaign designed to drive traffic and increase sales last November, where users in NY could hunt for virtual items, take a picture of them and in so doing, receive a 10% discount off their next purchase

• Nike Grid is another example of brand gaming – athletes won points for running between phoneboxes and calling in to prove their achievements. Over 15 days last October, 12,500 miles were run across London, 62,000 phonecalls were made to the freephone hotline and 4,705 people liked the Grid on Facebook

• Even Burberry’s Art of the Trench site could be considered to have somewhat of a gaming underlay. You go out, take a picture of yourself in your trench coat and wait to see if it’s deemed good enough to be posted online. If it’s not, what’s the betting numerous consumers go and try again – competition at its finest.