On 20th May, Dior launched online the film "The Lady Noire Affair" for which the brand has been keeping up a buzz on the Internet for several months. It concerns the first in a series of 4 movies of around 6 minutes, created exclusively for the Web, made by reputed directors and which will be broadcasted by the end of 2010 … the whole forming a film noir in the manner of the 50s … strongly inspired by Alfred Hitchcock.
The timing of this operation is worth noting:
- It all started in November 2008 with a "print" campaign by Peter Lindbergh featuring Marion Cotillard at the top of the Eiffel Tower - at first glance we think that this is just a "typical" campaign where Dior's current muse presents the Lady Dior bag.
- A teaser campaign on the Internet started on 24th April with the opening of the site dedicated to this purpose, www.ladydior.com
- A widget showing 8 seconds of the film, asking, "What's in her bag?" "What is she looking at?" was distributed to selected bloggers by the brand.
- A Lady Dior thread is launched on Twitter: each day a twit helps to keeps up the suspense and progressively add more goodies. One consequently finds exclusive scenes from the film, questions that guide web surfers through this film noir, information on the connection that exists between Christian Dior and Alfred Hitchcock, etc.
- A contest, allowing people to discover clues on partner sites.
- An e-mail campaign sent to Dior clients in Europe.
- Distribution of the trailer through the Net and blog sites
- Avant première projection of the film to journalists and bloggers
- The launching of the film May 20, which will be available on the Web and iPhone
The results are impressive and show how successful this advertising has been:
- The widget can be found on more than 1200 sites;
- There are 1300 "followers" of the Twitter thread;
- The film was referenced on 1 million sites;
- The Lady Dior site has been viewed 2 million times since its launch; and
- ... Worldwide Dior sites saw in a month as many visits as they usually see in 6 months.
In keeping with the lines of the previous BMW's "The Hire" that I spoke of last week, this is exemplary for more than one reason:
- This is a brand communication - consistent with the brand and its roots: the 50s, the cinema, Christian Dior as film costume maker ...;
- It is constructed like a narrative where the brand tells a story;
- Its distribution uses the real levers of modern communication: the Web and social networks;
- It also relies on a multiplicity of channels, each playing an important and different role: the "print" / the Web 2.0 / e-mails, etc.
- Finally, it is not a launch of a product: the Lady Dior bag exists since 1995 and this campaign is perceived primarily as one to feature the brand ... Of course sales of the Lady Dior will benefit greatly!
As a bonus, of course, here is the film:
