When Christian Dior introduced his B27 shoes to the world in the fall, the company decided that not just any old sneaker would do. To spark awareness and excitement, the fashion house turned to Snap Inc. as part of a technology partnership that would provide an accelerator for the occasion.
One of the first brands to adopt Snap’s business profiles when it debuted last year as a closed beta test, the house worked with the developer to create augmented reality experiences, so consumers could practically try out. the shoes.
Christian Dior Couture posted a realistic Snapchat lens that allowed people to try on six pairs of B27 sneakers via AR. It then promoted the experience through the Snapchat lens carousel and Snap Ads to AR Lens format, with videos showing runway models and users playing with the lens and encouraging users to try it out. Interested users can purchase the shoes directly from there.
The strategy worked: According to Dior, Ads from Lens and Snapchat alone nearly quadrupled the brand’s return on ad spend to 3.8x, and the experience promotion in the platform’s Lenses carousel. has seen the return skyrocket to 6.2x.
He also leveraged his business profile, effectively turning his home on Snapchat into a digital showroom, with virtual trials, when the product launched. This move alone generated over 2.3 million views of its AR lens.
Dior has created an AR lens so that users can try out the B27 and promote it in advertisements and on its company profile. Courtesy Image
“The campaign was very unique, as it was the first time that a brand had used its business profile to generate excitement upon the release of its new sneakers,” said Geoffrey Perez, head of luxury at Snapchat, to WWD. “On top of that, Christian Dior Couture made this activation a one-of-a-kind activity by bringing the exclusive Snap trial feature to a diverse mix of touchpoints, such as their websites and social media channels. “
The brand considers its Snapchat campaign to be one of its most successful activations to date.
“Dior’s creative DNA is transposed into the digital space,” said a spokesperson for Dior. “After revolutionizing fashion, the house is today a pioneer in the digital customer experience in the face of the growing need, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to stay connected with our public.
Dior has always been interested in AR, the person added, given Gen Z’s preference for mobile shopping and the ease of shopping on those platforms. Indeed, he’s been dabbling in AR for quite some time, including initiatives for his Rimowa luggage capsule collection in 2019 and holiday wrappers in the past holiday season, which have been broadcast on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. .
But in an age when people can’t physically check items before purchasing them, interactive technology has proven to be even more useful. With AR, “customers get to know the products while respecting health rules,” added Dior.
This is probably why more and more luxury brands are pursuing the technology.
Historically, traditional brands and luxury houses have been as skeptical of emerging technology as fashion fashions, unwilling to gamble their prestige on nighttime trends that can zoom in and out. But now, many more – including Gucci, Chanel, Burberry, Yoox Net-a-porter, Michael Kors, Ba & sh and others – have crossed the virtual mirror, in large part because of the pandemic.
More and more people are using technology, and most are using it often, according to a new report from Thrive Analytics and ARtillery Intelligence. Twenty-nine percent of consumers report using AR on their mobile devices, and 59 percent of them use it at least once a week. Seventy-eight percent use it at least once a month.
On Snapchat, over 200 million daily active users interacted with AR every day on average in the fourth quarter of last year.
In other words, augmented reality can hardly be considered a fringe or emerging technology and luxury seems to have gotten the memo.
“We have noticed a growing interest in AR and, more specifically, AR purchases across all luxury brands, and the pandemic has only accelerated that trend,” Perez said.
Snap’s AR partnerships span houses like Dior and Gucci, beauty brands like Maybelline and NYX Professional Makeup, and other fashion brands like Ralph Lauren. The tech company has worked with the Polo brand on a variety of projects, from a Bitmoji digital wardrobe and virtual pony to a hybrid physical and virtual store experience that allows shoppers to visit and shop in locations. Ralph Lauren stores from New York to Hong Kong.
The challenge for luxury brands is to understand augmented reality as a creative canvas, as well as a business tool to reach a younger audience.
“Luxury brands build and extend a legacy. To do that, they have to be where their audience is, and if they don’t speak to them right away, they run the risk of losing them permanently, ”Perez warned. These are the all-important Millennial and Generation Z buyers, whom he called their “current and future consumers,” respectively.
Naturally, Perez sees his platform as the essential place to reach them, “and since visual communication is at the heart of ‘Snapchat’s Generation’, they need to talk to them now.
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