Digital snippets: Nike, Burberry, Selfridges, DKNY, John Lewis, Burt’s Bees

It was perhaps Nike that was the buzziest of brands over the past couple of weeks, if you take into consideration both the successful launch of its unofficial World Cup campaign, Winner Stays (as above), and the rumoured shift in strategy for its FuelBand wearable device. That latter news reported the brand is laying off 70-80% of the fitness tracker’s hardware team in a bid to focus on software and the NikeFuel metric instead. A further interview with Nike President Mark Parker added fuel to the fire on a big partnership with Apple.

Burberry meanwhile was another brand with various stories to follow. It opened its new Shanghai store to much theatrical, multimedia fanfare; pushed yet another social tie-in via WeChat; launched an online store on Alibaba’s Tmall; and was announced as one of the first brands to advertise using Instagram video. And if that wasn’t enough, Angela Ahrendts just made that move officially over to Apple. “Did you notice?” asked the FT.

Safe to say, some other companies were up to things too. Here are the best of the fashion and tech stories not to be missed…

• Selfridges launches biggest ever beauty campaign with Google+ partnership [Campaign]

• DKNY shoppers go product hunting with Awear Solutions chips [FierceRetailIT]

• John Lewis looks back on British history in TV spot to mark 150 years [Campaign]

• Burt’s Bees creates promotional messages via appointments in digital calendars [NY Times]

• What can fashion-tech companies learn from Instagram’s success? Co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom shares his start-up secrets [BoF]

• Instagram is brands’ best bet for consumer engagement… but not for long [Fashionista]

• ‘Brand tagging’ mobile apps: China’s next selfie sensation [Jing Daily]

• Fashion retailers eye up image-recognition apps for smartphones [The Guardian]

• Microsoft to push into fashion space “like never before” as it boosts commitment to UK start-up community and unveils ASOS as partner [The Drum]

• Why online retailers like Bonobos, Boden, Athleta mail so many catalogs [WSJ]

• Crowdemand is like Kickstarter for fashion designers [Mashable]

• Like a dating site for fashion, PopInShop plays matchmaker for brands and boutiques [Fashionista]

• The golden era of ‘fashion blogging’ is over [The Cut]

Digital snippets: H&M, Instagram, Uniqlo, Ferragamo, Urban Outfitters, Nike

Happy new year all and welcome to 2014!

It’s straight to Vegas for me and headfirst into CES for what’s looking set to be a week heavy on the wearables front. More of that to follow, but for now, here’s a highlight of some of the fashion and tech stories you may have missed over the past couple of weeks…

• H&M and Beckham return to The Super Bowl with ground-breaking shoppable TV ad campaign [WGSN]

• Instagram reveals ‘promising’ results of Levi’s and Ben & Jerry’s ad trial [Marketing Magazine]

• Uniqlo matches clothing to recipes in new app [DigitalBuzzBlog]

• Ferragamo weaves founder’s history into fairy tale film [Luxury Daily]

• Urban Outfitters, H&M lead teen retailers in leveraging mobile for engagement [Mobile Commerce Daily]

• Nike, MTV are top global brands on Instagram in 2013 [BrandChannel]

• How in-store analytics is changing the way you shop [Fashionista]

• Beacons: What they are, how they work, and why Apple’s iBeacon technology is ahead of the pack [Business Insider]

• What fashion adds to the tech world: Vanessa Friedman on wearables [FT]

• Smart eyelashes and fingernails: the next wave of wearable tech [Mashable]

• Can Apple’s Angela Agrendts spark a retail revolution? [Fast Company]

All the interactive elements accompanying John Lewis’ #bearandhare Christmas ad

Hopefully by now you will have all seen, or at least heard about, John Lewis’ epic £7 million Christmas ad: The Bear and The Hare, created by adam&eve DDB.

The hand-animated tale has received an enormous 8.7 million views on YouTube since launch on November 8, and according to reports, helped drive sales of £101.45 million in the British department store in the week that followed, up 10.7% on 2012.

Despite the fact the spot premiered on TV in the UK during The X-Factor (played as an entire two-minute ad break), this campaign lives well beyond its traditional format. Here’s a breakdown of some of the more interactive ways how: 

• An accompanying e-book called ‘The Bear who had never seen Christmas’ has been introduced for iPad, iPhone and Android. It features a series of touch-to-activate features, including a treasure hunt throughout the pages of the story in order to decorate a Christmas tree at the end, and a musical component for kids to tap their screens along to  

• As with last year’s snowmen, the two main characters, Bear and Hare, each have their own Twitter profiles. Following them reveals all sorts of insights into their friendship: Hare planning to tickle Bear in his sleep, and Bear snoozing through the majority of it only waking briefly now and again to tweet out a line of Zzzzzzzzz’s

• John Lewis has also just announced its “ReWorked” initiative for the ad – calling all unsigned singers or bands in the UK to re-record Lily Allen’s cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know. Keane is helping to judge the winner, who will then be featured on the soundtrack for the ad on TV on Christmas Day. A page on the brand’s YouTube channel plays hosts to a note of good luck from Lily Allen as well as all the entries so far

• A Christmas card maker allows consumers to create their own personalised e-cards too. A selection of templates featuring the different woodland animals can be selected from first, then a personal picture uploaded or chosen by connecting with Facebook. Lastly, a message can be added before sharing it over social, downloading it to send via email or print out, and/or adding it to the online gallery

• In the physical space meanwhile, 11 John Lewis stores around the UK have special ‘caves’ for children to visit and have their photo taken with the Bear and the Hare. The Oxford Street and Peter Jones London stores are particularly worth visiting for the windows too, where a total of 188 animal sculptures have been made from over 7,000 everyday products, like a reindeer from Dyson vacuums, a polar bear from Nintendo Wiis and a turkey from a series of rolled up towels. Creative consultancy Chameleon Visual and production company Setsquare Staging spent a year developing them, as the below making-of video demonstrates. 

 

Dior focuses on savoir faire with documentary look at J’adore fragrance

Dior has released a 20-minute online film showcasing the creation of its J’adore perfume.

“Le Parfum – The Film”, as it’s called, documents everything from the sourcing of the scent’s raw materials to the blowing of its glass bottle. To do so it travels from Paris to Murano via Provence and India.

All the while, the Parfumeur Créateur of the Maison Dior, François Demachy, carries the story – albeit in French (a three-minute subtitled version lives on jadore.com).

The write-up reads: “This wayfaring film demonstrates that the birth of a perfume is due as much to the talent of its creator, as to the quality of its raw materials.”

It continues: “Timeless images show the expert techniques of those who cultivate and harvest. Astonishing moments reveal the know-how of those who obtain essences and absolutes from the rarest flowers. This beautiful escapade takes us into the splendour of regal, generous and respected nature.”

Claude Martinez, president and CEO of Parfums Christian Dior, told WWD: “For us, the wish was to [have people] really rediscover the art of perfume and creative passion that animates all the creators working around a fragrance. In a world where fragrances seem to be more and more marketed, more and more ephemeral, I think it’s important to have generations and future generations rediscover that perfume is a true savoir faire. It is a métier of art, a métier of artisans and it’s not recipes from a computer. But it’s voyages, it’s people who grow flowers, it’s people who mix them after, glassmakers.”

The documentary is complemented by a 60-second spot narrated by J’adore face, Charlize Theron. Released on TV in the US on Saturday, it has already received nearly five million views on YouTube.

According to WWD, it is slated to roll out on TV globally through December, as well as in cinemas in France and China. The Jadore.com microsite also hosts more information about the flowers, the creators and the bottle.

Watch both the 60-second and 20-minute version of the film, below:

 

Louis Vuitton invites viewers on a journey through the Louvre in debut TV ad

 

Louis Vuitton headed to the Louvre in Paris to film its first ever television ad, L’Invitation au Voyage.

Directed by photography duo, Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the cinematic spot sees model Arizona Muse discreetly working her way through different rooms in the museum, surrounded by its famous paintings including the Mona Lisa. With a key spotted around her neck from the beginning, her quest is to unlock a secret that’s been hidden inside a legendary LV travel trunk for more than 150 years.

“For centuries, the most wonderful intrigues have been woven in the Louvre, a haven of culture and history. An intrepid young woman enters this universal temple and unwinds the skein of time,” reads the write-up.

A hot-air balloon whisks her away above the Cour Carrée (the courtyard of the museum) with the letter containing the secret in her hand, all the while the man that’s been following her throughout looks on from the ground.

The film launched exclusively on Facebook yesterday, before appearing on TV screens worldwide last night. The multimedia campaign will also comprise print and digital ads, and appear in cinemas from next week. A longer two-and-a-half-minute director’s cut of the film is shown on the Louis Vuitton website.

H&M releases Lana Del Rey campaign film

In case you haven’t yet seen it, here’s Lana Del Rey’s music video for H&M’s autumn/winter 2012/13 fashion campaign. Directed by Johan Renck, it features the US popstar covering Bobby Vinton’s 1963 hit, Blue Velvet.

It appears in a full two-minute version online, as well as in 30-second spots for television.

 

There’s also a behind-the-scenes video, here.

Digital snippets: Diane von Furstenberg, Kate Moss, Kenneth Cole, Burberry Body, Harrods, Google

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

 

• Diane von Furstenberg releases autumn/winter 2011/12 campaign video, Journey of the Dress (as above) [The Cut]

• See behind-the-scenes on Kate Moss and Terry Richardson’s forthcoming TV campaign for Mango [YouTube]

• Kenneth Cole courts controversy with new website calling for consumer opinion on abortion, gun control and gay rights [Mashable]

• Burberry Body fragrance launches with sampling drive via Facebook [Telegraph.co.uk]

• Harrods to launch online magazine and new mobile site [Retail Week]

• Google unveils catalogue iPad app with initial 50 brands [Refinery29]

 

New Matalan ad orbits perfect spring day

This is a lovely video from UK discount retailer Matalan for spring/summer 2011.

Part of the store’s new ‘Feel Good Fashion’ brand campaign, it sees a series of models interacting with each other as well as their future selves as the camera continuously rotates on the same picnic scene.

With the title Forever Spring, the aim of the 60-second TV spot was to encapsulate the perfect everlasting spring day.

It was created by BBH and directed by Scott Lyon. Richard McGrann of BBH said: “We set out to make a fashion film that not only stands out, but gives the audience something new to spot each time they view it.”

The campaign is also running in print, while a second TV ad is due in the summer.

The soundtrack Plage by Crystal Fighters can be downloaded for free at Matalan.co.uk.