Guerlain interactive illustration takes users on immersive adventure
French beauty marketer Guerlain is bringing its illustrations to life with a 360-degree video that shows off its adventurous yet playful and feminine side for its La Petite Robe Noire fragrance.
Powered by Google Spotlight Stories, Guerlain has launched a 360-video on YouTube that animates a Little Black Dress through an adventure. Viewers afraid of heights should be wary, as the video travels with the character through various costume changes up towards the sky of a city.
"The Guelain's 360 degree video is an artistic expression of the brand, its presence and sentiment," said Michael Becker, managing partner at mCordis. "We know that images, rich media and traditional video have increased viewership and engagement over simple text-only content and we can thus presume that 360 degree video may also have positive engagement potential.
"It is import for marketers to remember though, that impact comes from the the aggregated reactions created by the body of their work, both positive and negative," he said.
Mr. Becker is not affiliated with Guerlain but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
360 marketing
Guerlain is encouraging those to go after their dreams and adventures with its new interactive video. The narrative follows Little Black Dress as she first animates within a showroom, after a pair of black arms without a body brings her to life.
Once animated, the Little Black Dress bounces around the room and chooses a place on the globe, after spinning it. The illustrated video then takes viewers to a cityscape for more adventure.
Guerlain's 360-degree video
As the video goes on, the setting keeps climbing upwards towards the sky, following the little back dress has she is lifted by a balloon and other mediums. The video ends when she meets her love, an astronaut high above the earth?s atmosphere.
Throughout the video, viewers can travel around the space with the Little Black Dress and view the animated setting all around them. While the experience is much easier on a mobile device, desktop users can view the space as well by simply clicking around.
Recent months have seen a proliferation of 360-degree videos, but how much does the technology actually do for consumers?
The videos, which allow the viewer to click-and-drag the mouse to see all-around the ?camera,? are especially popular in the automotive industry but have also seen use among other brands, including luxury conglomerate LVMH and U.S. apparel label Michael Kors. At this point in time, however, the technology often feels like a gimmick rather than a fully integrated marketing tool (see more).
Inanimate animation
Guerlain?s video is meant to celebrate the idea of celebrating femininity and adventurousness for its Le Petite Robe Noire fragrance. Each of the fragrance?s bottles features the Little Black Dress illustration in different manners.
La Petite Robe Noire fragrance
The French beauty marketer also touted the capabilities of its Super Tips skincare line through a power-packed social campaign.
Through content posted across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the brand depicts the tubes of product as superheroes fighting to right skin-suffering crimes such as late nights and chocolate overloads. Personifying beauty products enables brands to showcase their properties in an amusing manner (see more).
"Individual pieces are episodic, one's impact comes from the systematic delivery of the brand's promise over time; they must balance quality, quantity, reach, frequency," Mr. Becker said. "Brand marketers should also remember that 360 degree video is a new medium.
"People will not immediately understand it, understand how to watch and navigate through it, nor will marketers have the tools or understanding how to measure it. All of this will take time, trial and error and successes," he said.