I am fortunate enough to be an owner of a Cartier piece. Wisely knowing that I’d want to choose the ring myself and also not wanting to take any chances, my husband used a Cartier Tank watch to propose with (sensible man!). As I needed to get the watch bracelet adjusted, we inadvertently found ourselves trying on engagement rings in Cartier on Bond Street, later that same day. Whilst the price tags were way beyond our budget, the service and brand experience were magical.
So as Cartier celebrates its 165th anniversary with a show stopping new advert, I thought it would be apt to make them our Brand of the Month.
Cartier was launched in 1847 by Louis Francois Cartier when he took over his master’s jewellery shop in Paris. Within a few years, Princess Mathilde, a cousin of Napolean III, became the first of many royal patrons.
It was Louis’s grandson’s Pierre, Jacques and Louis who developed Cartier as a worldwide brand at the start of the 20th century. They travelled internationally to countries such as Russia, the Persian Gulf and India to find gemstones, inspiration and patronage.
It is this rich history that is celebrated so successfully in their new cinematic advert, “L’Odyssée de Cartier”. The film features the journey of a panther which has long been a symbol of Cartier. It was the nickname of their legendary designer Jeanne Toussaint, who created the first ever piece of panther jewellery — a bracelet for the Duchess of Windsor.
The film was commissioned by their marketing director, Corinne Delattre, two years ago. She gave Publicis Worldwide a clear brief to bring communication from Cartier to a new level.
As the behind the scenes video below discusses, Cartier is an organisation of creators who make things well. Using cutting edge cinematography and featuring locations that have a real point of reference in Cartier’s history, Publicis have captured the imagination and skill of the brand.
The advert will be shown in-cinema and on TV in 12 countries worldwide and take the Cartier brand to new audiences.
More about Cartier and the making of the video can be found on their Facebook page and
the campaign’s microsite.
[Picture: The Beauty Agenteurs]
This month, I’ve decided to feature two very different adverts that have caught my attention. The first, is a new campaign by Gucci featuring Charlotte Casiraghi and the second, VisitScotland’s Year of Creative Scotland campaign which has done what a good advert should do and stuck in my head.
Gucci’s “Forever Now” Campaign
The decision of Gucci to use Princess Caroline of Monaco’s daughter and Grace Kelly’s granddaughter, Charlotte Casiraghi, as their latest star model is genius.
The advertising campaign series was conceived by Gucci’s Creative Director Frida Giannini in collaboration with Charlotte herself. Their partnership will spread over the next two years, with Charlotte being captured by four leading fashion and portrait photographers in a series of sittings celebrating Gucci’s renowned icons.
In the first set of portraits by the photographer Peter Lindbergh tells the story of Gucci’s signature green and red stripe. Shot against the backdrop of a stable, the pictures evokes founder Guccio Gucci’s fascination with the art of riding. In the 1950s, Gucci first applied the red and green colours from a saddle strap to the trim and detailing of luggage and travel trunks, since then the two colour stripe has become a trademark of the House of Gucci.
This isn’t Charlotte’s first involvement with the brand as Gucci has previously created the uniforms for her equestrian team
Visit Scotland’s Year of Creative Scotland Campaign
The second advertising campaign which has caught my imagination this month is the TV advertising campaign by VisitScotland to promote Year of Creative Scotland 2012.
The campaign aims to celebrate Scotland’s creative assets and contribution to the world and showcase the range and breadth of their cultural output each year.
I’m a big fan of Scotland so I don’t need a lot of tempting to visit the country or appreciate its assets but there something very engaging about this advert. They’ve managed to capture the charm of Scotland and the breadth of the nation’s cultural events succinctly and in doing so have, for me, managed to produce something of a John Lewis Christmas ad-esque advert that stays with you. Job done!
[Pictures: RduJour and Pursuitist]
Social media can be very valuable for small businesses but it can also be daunting and inadequately used.
At Technology for Marketing & Advertising last week, Dan Martin, editor of Businesszone.co.uk gave an engaging talk full of case studies to inspire small business owners about how they can use social media imaginatively.
Here is a copy of Dan’s slides which are easy to follow without his energetic commentary.
[Social media icons by Bay Area Mastermind]
Amongst the keynotes and seminars I attended at Technology for Marketing & Advertising 2012 last week, there were some common themes.
Google+ was poo-pooed by more than one presenter and they were unanimously nonplussed about it. The same people were also cynical about the value of Pinterest for mainstream businesses. Read More
Pinterest is the new best thing. With new statistics proclaiming its incredible growth featured in the press almost everyday, Pinterest is the word on everone’s lips at the moment.
Not wanting to simply provide a How To Pinterest post in a sea of same, same blog posts, we decided to look at the advantages and disadvantages of this new pretender in social media.
Advertising on a bus can give businesses a great platform and plenty of space to make an impact.
But so often organisations don’t make the most of their opportunity. That’s why I literally stopped my tracks and smiled broadly when I saw this very effective campaign by Compassion in World Farming covering a bus a few days ago.
Designed by Elvis Communications, the campaign was the winning entry in the latest Big Bus Challenge. Beating off competition from the likes of B&Q, McDonalds and Clarks Shoes, the campaign uses familiar travel terms to highlight just how different and harrowing the animals’ experience of transport is to that of humans.
The strong graphic images create a real insight into an inhumane practice that people both on and off the bus wouldn’t normally see – one that continues to happen every day around the world.
The campaign was launched by Joanna Lumley who talks here about the importance of stopping live animal exports.
I often think that companies have a blind spot when it comes to marketing to their own staff. Even those that look after their staff well can fail to see the importance of actually “marketing” to them.
It’s one thing to provide a nice working environment for your staff, ensure they have a reasonable amount of holiday and throw them a memorable Christmas party. It’s another to actually discuss with your staff what your business strategy is, to get their input in how to improve the way the business runs and to get your staff’s support to changes you want to implement.
Tyrrell Marketing has been delighted to be part of a creative team which has been working with the charity, Back Up on their new promotional campaign, The Karen Darke Story.
Back Up is one of the UK’s leading charities for people with a spinal cord injury. Their goal is to inspire people to transform their lives and their fantastic services include mentoring, wheelchair skills sessions and rehabilitative activity courses. They also support people to overcome the challenges of returning to work or school.
The Karen Darke Story is a two-year campaign that Back Up is launching to raise their profile and attract new donors so they can meet the growing demand for their services from people affected by spinal cord injury.
Paralysed from the chest down in a rock climbing accident at the age of 21, Karen Darke is being tipped to win gold for Great Britain in the London 2012 Paralympics.
In 2013 she plans to become the first person to sit-ski 1000km across Antarctica (www.poleofpossibility.com) and wants to raise £1m for Back Up, who inspired her to transform her life following her devastating spinal cord injury and played an integral part in her recovery.
Karen is living proof that, with the right support, people with a spinal cord injury can achieve anything they set out to do. Having worked on the development of this campaign, our project team can all vouch for the fact she is a role model to everyone, whether disabled or not, and a great ambassador for Back-Up.
If you, or anyone you know would like to participate in the Karen Darke Story campaign by making a donation or becoming a corporate sponsor, please share this video and contact Micah on 020 8875 1805 or email micah@backuptrust.org.uk.
As we wind down the year and enjoy some festive down time, it’s always a good time to reflect on what happened during the year, what you’ve achieved, what hasn’t gone so well and what your big plans are for 2012.
December’s Blog of the Month is a perfect tool to help keep you on track during the coming year. WorkAwesome.com is full of tips and suggestions about how to live and work better. Whether you are looking to change jobs, grow your business, work from home, get fitter or live healthier in 2012, there are posts to guide and motivate you.
The tone of the blog is friendly and practical. The writing is ernest enough to be worth reading but not evangelical or throwaway.
Their twice a month updates are perfect for receiving regular bite sized updates that don’t overwhelm your Inbox. You can also follow @workawesome on Twitter.
I recommend that you check out WorkAwesome and take on board some of their advice so this time next year when you reflect on 2012, you’ll be feeling more positive and successful than you are now.
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
I love London at Christmastime. After living in Australia for 5 years and having had the novelty of a summer holiday style festive season, I appreciate a cold Christmas so much more.
London really turns it on at this time of year with all the stores decorated and the street lights. There’s one place that for me typifies what makes London so quintessentially fabulous in December. And that place is my brand of the month for December – Fortnum & Mason.
A true English institution, Fortnum & Mason is the perfect place to visit when you are Christmas shopping in London, even just to soak up the atmosphere. I like visiting their ‘The Parlour’ cafe when I’m in the West End for a spot of people spotting or perhaps to sit and brainstorm some new ideas.
For me, what makes Fortnum & Mason such a great brand is its consistency. They base their reputation on over 200 years of heritage together with quality products and consistently good polite service.
A testament to the fact that doing the simple things right is a winning formula.
I hope a Fortnum & Mason hamper is amongst your Christmas presents this year so you can enjoy a little of their brand magic.
[Pictures: Glam UK & Global Village Encyclopedia]
