1.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

2.
PREMIUM INSIGHT
PREMIUM INSIGHT
SAME SAME but different
Premium Insight is a study made by SAME SAME but different in order to
explore the digital activity of premium brands and luxurious “Maisons”.
This new edition will focus on the most innovative strategies in terms of
display, emailing, e-commerce, social media and mobile.
Founded in 2009, SAME SAME but different is the strategic and creative digital
agency of luxury and major brands: Digital operations and website design
/ e-influence campaigns / Mobile solutions / Digital In store / Consulting &
training for leaders.
Thus, the study will be composed of:
SAME SAME but different works world-widely with offices in Paris, Shanghai
and Hong Kong.
• A ranking of different brands based on precise criteria
• A focus on a specific subject
• A presentation of the most impacting digital trends
• A review of the main news this month
• A decoding of innovatives operation or approach
• A case around a trend topic
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

3.
AGENDA
I. DIGITAL NEWS
II. DECODING
III. CASE: ONLINE CUSTOMIZATION
BEYOND THE GREAT WALL: WECHAT, THE PURSUIT OF A SOCIAL QUEST
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

4.
DIGITAL NEWS

5.
NEWS
DECODING
KARL LAGERFELD
The “I want Karl’s glasses”
application in partnership with Optic 2000
Who hasn’t dreamt of seeing Karl Lagerfeld without his
famous glasses on? Well, the “I want Karl’s glasses”
application will make your dreams come true. This game
available on mobile and computer will have you go through
different levels in which you’ll have to aim and catch his
glasses. In the end, you will be given the opportunity to
win a pair from Karl Lagerfeld’s collection and/or a statue
of himself. Thus, a purely narcissistic game that suits
perfectly the image that this talented creator gives of
himself.
Our opinion: one could wonder why Karl Lagerfeld, a
fashion icon that possesses an eponymous brand, won’t
stop partnering with mass consumption brands as H&M,
Coca-Cola or, in this case, Optic 2000.
Karl Lagerfeld embodies fashion and breaks the rules by
offering himself “the luxury” of partnering with whatever
brand he likes, as long as it corresponds to his values and
he can control his communication.
And, the fact that his brand does not belong to the luxury
sector, actually makes his collaborations coherent.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
> The website
October 2013
CASE

6.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
L’ORÉAL
The Color Genius 2,
L’Oréal’s ingenious application
The brand new version of L’Oreal Paris’ application, the
Color Genius 2, offers you the possibility to match your
beauty care with your daily outfit. Just download this free
application on either Google Play or the App store, take a
picture of yourself via the “match my outfit” button and you
are good to go! Choose one of your outfit’s colors that you
want to match with your beauty care and the application
will give you some make-up and nail-polish suggestions.
Click on the “match it” button to coordinate the colors,
the “blend it” button to mix them and the “clash it” button
to create a contrast. You can also pick between morning
or evening depending on the time of day you use the
application. And, at the end of the process, you’ll be able
to share your final make-up suggestion on Facebook.
A less personalized option is offered. You can discover the
“season looks” which will most certainly help you create
your own styles.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
> The application
> The website
Our opinion: the application is not very efficient but it resulted in a nice publicity stunt for L’Oréal Paris
who is currently seeking modernity throughout mobile applications. It is also a clever way of doing
product promotion by introducing the users to a few products of the brand like lipsticks, nail-polish
and eye-shadow. The most important female ambassadors of the brand share their thoughts about the
application and ask users to come back on Twitter, thus, a good way to generate some buzz.
October 2013

7.
NEWS
DECODING
HARRODS
Where is Richard? The operation launched
by Harrods during sales
In order to give a nice start to the sales that begun on June
15th in London, Harrod’s, the famous department store,
launched an operation connected to social media. The idea
was to try to find Richard, all dressed in green, dancing in
the streets of London in order to win £1,000 to spend in the
store during sales. Once you recognized him, you just had
to take a picture and send it to the official Twitter account
@Harrods with the dedicated hashtag #HarrodsSale.
In order to help Londoners find “the green man”, the
company’s community manager published many posts
and tweets giving hints about Richard’s time and location.
On D-day, Harrod’s organized the “green man flash
dance” in front of the store, some sort of a flash mob with
professional dancers. A video was also posted on social
media platforms.
> The teaser
Our opinion: we like the simplicity of this offbeat and
“so British” operation, and its viral potential. Thanks to
Richard #thegreenman, it is the whole company that came
out of the store to meet potential clients in real life. The
connection to social media was at the heart of the process
thanks to the brand’s community manager’s posts and the
contest modalities.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
CASE

8.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
SWAROVSKI
Same player shoot again
This operation was created for the CFDA (Council of Fashion
Designers of America) Fashion Awards, a ceremony that
rewards America’s best fashion and accessory designers
with a CFDA. The famous Canadian model Coco Rocha
and the American model Reid Prebenda take the lead in
a black and white short movie and act missed romantic
encounters that reveal the pieces of the nominees to the
different Swarovski rewards.
Our opinion: a video well spread on social media and on
Coco Rocha’s blog. Directed playfully, this short-story
succeeds in highlighting Swarovski’s crystal pieces and
fashion pieces worn by the two actors, in an original and
light-toned way.
> The video
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

9.
NEWS
DECODING
CARTIER
The european launch of Cartier’s
new retail website
Cartier has now offered the opportunity to its clients
to purchase its collections on a new retail website.
Richemont’s flaghship brand presents its collections with
meticulously prepared product sheets. The users are
provided with the help of an online adviser that will answer
to all of their questions. But the Cartier website offers
more than just the opportunity to purchase products, it
also offers many services and allows users that will open
an online account, to receive exclusive information about
the brand’s new collections.
The Maison put together a delivery system that allows
each user to receive his product at any address with a
custom-made message and wrapping.
Our opinion: after Piaget and Van Cleef & Arpels, would
Richemont be the initiator of an e-commerce revolution in
the jewelry and watch-craft world?
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
CASE

10.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
LOUIS VUITTON
Live Fashion Week by Louis Vuitton
During the Fashion Week, the Maison Louis Vuitton invited
people to discover, via a live stream, the men’s ready-towear Spring-Summer 2014 collection on their website
www.louisvuitton.fr. In order to keep the fans waiting, Louis
Vuitton posted a picture on Facebook, 20 hours before the
beginning of the show on June 27th, that showed the time
left until the live broadcast. The picture obtained about
20 000 likes. Many users were connected to the website
on D-day and were invited to publish, live comments
about the collection and their own pictures followed by
the hashtag #Lvlive and the name of the brand’s official
account @LouisVuitton_FR on Twitter. Some of the tweets
were selected to appear on a dedicated platform called
the “Social Room” inspired by social TV.
The platform was accessible through a link located
underneath the video and could also be viewed on mobile,
making the experience an even more interactive and
complete one.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
> The video
Our opinion: internet was smartly used by the brand that pushed its social functions. However,
we would have liked to be able to take pictures via a screenshot tool integrated to the video.
It would have allowed us to constitute an online book that we could have shared on the platform
and on social media, making the experience a more customized one.
October 2013

11.
DECODING

12.
NEWS
DECODING
BURBERRY
Burberry: what a phenomenon!
Apart from its reputation in the luxury sector, Burberry is also known for its
ambitious digital strategy, surprising operations and its fabulous connected
store on Regent Street in London.
The Maison Burberry always surprises us in a very positive way and has
managed to impose itself as a precursor in terms of digital innovations.
Its first digital weapon was “Art of the Trench”, a social media platform
dedicated to the trench coat (the brand’s emblematic product) where
users could post pictures of themselves wearing the famous coat. When
the social media came out, the product’s sales exploded which proved the
importance of digital use for a young and connected clientele, old enough
to buy luxury goods.
On its fanpage, Burberry suggest many contents and has reached the 15
million fans; that’s the reason why the brand choose to announce the launch
of its new fraguance “The Body” on Facebook in 2011.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
Constantly embodied by Christopher Bailey, the artistic director of the
brand, Burberry has always been a forerunner in terms of digital marketing
while for most of luxury brands, the integration of a digital plan to their
own strategy, has been a long time coming.
The brand pursues its digital conquest and keeps its leading position in the
digital world via its presence on almost every existing social media and its
recent operations that we have decided to study.
October 2013
CASE

13.
NEWS
DECODING
BURBERRY
CASE
@Burberry : the official account
@Burberry_France : the French official account
@BurberryService : offers a customer service on
Burberry: what a phenomenon!
Twitter. This service is available 24/7.
Burberry imposes itself as one of the most invested
luxury brands on the internet.
Burberry : official account dedicated to fashion
Burberry Body : official account dedicated to the
brand’s cosmetic products
Here is a mapping of Burberry’s digital presence
Artofthetrench.com – Platform dedicated to photos
of trenches.
Burberry.com
“You have to be totally connected with everyone who
touches your brand.” — Angela Ahrendts, Burberry CEO
Photos and 15-second-short video
6-second-short video
Presence on China’s most famous social media
Burberry possesses a Pinterest account
Burberry possesses its own channel on Youtube
Burberry possesses a Google + account
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

14.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
BURBERRY
Burberry: what a phenomenon!
Burberry foreruns video
Burberry share the spirit of the brand thanks to Instagram.
The boutiques or the fashion shows backstages, the
clients have to be connected to the brand all the time.
More than a web of images, Burberry didn’t wait long
before using the new Instagram application (recently
bought by Facebook) that allows the creation of short
videos, as a communication tool in order to reveal to the
public, behind the scenes images of the Spring/Summer
2014 men’s collection Fashion show.
Burberry is, once again, on the dot of a new trend, initiated
by Vine (Twitter): short videos.
> Instagram
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

15.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
BURBERRY
Burberry: what a phenomenon!
Burberry Vine: operation
In order to complete its introduction to the menswear
Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show, the Maison Burberry
also created a video on Vine. After 10 years of organizing
fashion shows in Milan for its men’s collections, the brand
decided to present them in London from now on.
The 6-second loop video presents, in full speed, the clothes
worn by the male models. It is quite complicated to visualize
all of the outfits very well, because of the low quality of
the application that we have underlined in our case study
dedicated to Vine, in the Premium Insight of the month of
June. However we find the brand’s initiative noteworthy
because once again, it consists in experimenting new
digital tools within its communication strategy.
> Vine
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

16.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
BURBERRY
Burberry: what a phenomenon!
The Burberry Kisses application:
an enchanting collaboration with Google
The new application created by Burberry in collaboration
with Google, allows you to create a custom-made message
by sending your “kiss” and writing a note on a virtual letter.
The application captures an image of your mouth and has
you choose the color of your “kiss”.
The platform invites you to discover the fabulous “world of
kisses”, that shows, on a map, shining dots that represent
all of the “kisses” received and all of the “live kisses” sent
live around the world. At the end of the sending process,
you will be offered the possibility to import the e-mail
address of your contacts directly through Gmail.
With its connected stores, its Instagram video and such
amazing applications, Burberry has become a reference.
Thus, more and more modern operations lead by a brand
that rejuvenates throughout its collections. What next?
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
> The website
October 2013

17.
CASE: online customization

18.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
ONLINE CUSTOMIZATION
OF LUXURY BRANDS
What if the Maisons were actually
coming back to what they were initially?
Luxury brands return to basics and offer one-ofa-kind and high-end products: many actors of the
luxury world are trying to differentiate themselves
from mass offers by adding the option to customize
some of their pieces on their e-commerce website.
Thus, permanent or punctual initiatives that are
always welcomed by their clientele.
Let’s have a look…
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

19.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
CHOPARD
Happy Sport
The famous high jewelry Maison Chopard, allows its users
to customize the watch from the Happy Sport collection.
Chopard offers a quite complete customization option
with the choices of the watch’s dial, of the type of bracelet
and the integration of small jewels onto the piece. Once
the unique watch is done, you will be able to share your
“happy sport” via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +
and Weibo. You will also be offered the possibility to finalize
the customization of a suggested piece with matching
colors.
If you wish to take some time to think about your creation,
you will always be able to go back to it via a personal code
that will be sent to you by e-mail.
> The website
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

20.
NEWS
DECODING
CASE
PUNCTUAL OPERATIONS OF ONLINE CUSTOMIZATION
Boucheron offered the possibility to its
clients to customize, online, their future
jewel from the collection “a collection of
animals”. The selection of precious stones
depends on the client’s creativity. The
customized pieces have been renewed in
order to propose a more and more unique
offer.
Prada also proposed to customize a
selection of its products. A customization
platform was launched for its collection
of sunglasses “Prada Private”, allowing
the inscription of letters or symbols on
the branches. It is also the case for the
operation “Made to order” where clients
could customize shoes from the spring/
summer 2011 collection with their name,
materials and colors.
A clever customization operation was lead
by Burberry that suggests the integration
of RFID chips into its trenches. The idea
is to add a plate with the inscription of the
name of its buyer onto the trench. After
having been in contact with a touch-screen
device, the chip will unveil a unique video
telling the story of the creation of the trench
(Smartphone or mirrors from the flagship
in London that turn into screens.)
These punctual and renewed online customization operations could give ideas to other major luxury brands. Offer, for a time
given and for a particular collection, the possibility to customize a product and then reiterate the operation later with new pieces.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

21.
NEWS
DECODING
SAME SAME but different’s look
After having taken a look on this specific field, we must say that we are currently witnessing a trend of online
customization. Product customization, even though it requires a bigger load of work, constitutes a business
stake for brands. Online purchases become more emotional, carried by the brand experience engraved in the
client’s memory. And we are aware of the importance of emotion in this sector…
However, The Maisons will have to push this experience further, in order to stand out from mass consumption
brands: customization has become quite inspiring (Coca-Cola, Nutella, etc.)…
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
CASE

22.
BEYOND THE GREAT WALL: WeChat, the pursuit of a social quest

23.
BEYOND THE GREAT WALL
WECHAT 5.0
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
A step forward in the social quest
We had evoked this application in our Premium
Insight of the month of November 2012 under its
Chinese name, Weixe. Well, we are not done talking
about WeChat that has hit, once more, the headlines
with its new version filled with surprises. Whether
it was a leak and/or a publicity stunt, some of its
new functionalities have been unveiled before the
release (unspecified date) of WeChat 5.0.
Tencent’s application has come a long way since its
creation and has managed to answer to the Chinese
tendency of mobile communication.
It holds within itself 300 million Chinese users and
70 million users overseas – numbers that will most
certainly increase following the release of the new
version. But before we reveal the new characteristics
let us make a quick recap of the current features…
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013

24.
BEYOND THE GREAT WALL
WECHAT 5.0
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
WeChat’s 10 commandments
Among the current features available on WeChat,
10 have caught our eye.
With WeChat,
1 – You shall make “Video Calls”
2 – You shall share “Moments” of your life with
your friends
3 – You shall use the “Voice Chat”
4 – You shall connect your Smartphone to your
computer with “Web WeChat”
5 – You shall customize your Emoticons
6 – You shall talk in groups via “Group Chat”
or even in live via the “Live Chat”
7 – Your shall “Shake” your phone, discover
who is doing it at the same time, and perhaps
you shall make new friends
8 – You shall search for possible friends near your
location with the option “Look Around”
9 – You shall send a message in a bottle with the
feature “Drift bottle”
10 – You shall connect to Facebook via
“Facebook Connect”

25.
BEYOND THE GREAT WALL
WECHAT 5.0
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
The creation of a herd of gadgets
Scan!
Previously, the WeChat application allowed users to
scan QR codes. With the 5.0 version, they will also
be able to scan barcodes, book covers, streets and
words. Thus, the user will obtain information regarding
the products corresponding to the barcode that he
scanned, regarding the books whose cover he scanned
and regarding the location that he is near of. Finally,
this functionality will also be a wa to translate words
scanned thanks to the app.
October 2013
Purchase!
The upcoming version of the application will give the
possibility, for users, to pay via their Smartphones, a
feature that should make more than one Chinese happy
– not to mention brands.
Shake!
The functionality “Shake” that consisted in shaking your
phone in order to communicate in text with someone
that was doing the same thing at the same moment,
will allow users, with the new version,
to receive videos.
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
Business!
In the new version of the application, what
used to be official accounts will now be
divided into subscription accounts and
enterprise accounts. This choice is just a
way for WeChat to distinguish the services
it can offer to brands, the first type of
account being free and corresponding to
a more branding strategy and the second
one having to be paid for, but enabling a
custom-made and quality service.

26.
BEYOND THE GREAT WALL
WECHAT 5.0
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
PREMIUM
INSIGHT
October 2013
WeChat 5.0 is winking
As you noticed, the upcoming version of Tencent’s
application seems to be winking at brands.
WeChat 5.0 invites them to benefit from all of its new
features’ advantages that answer to the market’s
latest trends by offering to its users a more and
more social and customized service and creating a
platform linking online to offline.
Thus, the new features seem to correspond to luxury
brands’ current stakes, that is to say, get closer to
their core target, offer a custom-made service and
develop an online presence complementary to the
one in store.

27.
samesameparis.com I samesamechina.com
© SAME SAME but different
mcampan@samesameparis.com
I
frederic@samesameparis.com I
victor@samesamechina.com