Page 58 - SM Aug-Sep-2014

Trends, markets, happenings and musings Weird World of marketing – in the spotlight and under scrutiny The luxury fashion house and the ice-cream brand Marketing history is full of weird and wonderful brand collaborations, with one of the more uncommon of late being the exclusive Italian fashion house of Dolce & Gabbana’s decision to team up with Magnum, Google takes a bite out of Apple the international ice-cream brand owned by FMCG giant Unilever. hey’re an odd couple, To say the island off the Italian mainland best But if you think the above are strange the least. dolce & Gabbana is known for its connections to the Mafa, bedfellows, an even ‘odder couple’ Tcutting edge and happening, with is the birthplace of stefano Gabbana, moment came in 2004, when the founders that take delight in faunting co-founder of the fashion house. sexy lingerie brand Victoria’s secret their wealth and success, happily posing “Want to invest in one of the hottest used singer Bob dylan in a 30-second for smouldering, artistic, barefoot summer trends from dolce & Gabbana TV commercial. dylan was a 1960s photographs. It’s hard to imagine the without ponying up thousands of counter-culture musician well-known ceo of unilever – the anglo-dutch dollars?” the slightly perplexed New for his surly, downbeat lyrics that multinational with a staff of more than York Post newspaper asked its readers lamented the spread of consumerism 170 000 and some of the world’s leading when it announced the unusual brand and commercialism, as well as being consumer brands in its stable – posing collaboration recently. a leading fgure in the Vietnam War without a jacket, let alone his shoes. However, this isn’t the frst time protest movement. nevertheless, the odd couple of the that Magnum has made headlines he therefore seemed an unlikely corporate giant and the fashionista are, by teaming up with strange partners collaborator for a highly commercial fguratively at least, in bed together. for marketing purposes. last year and upmarket female brand. “While The occasion is the 25th anniversary it collaborated with Zac posen, the dylan’s presence in the commercial of unilever’s Magnum ice-cream brand, american fashion designer and reality could be explained by a desire for which started out in denmark before TV star, to create a us$1,5-million money or exposure – it’s hard work for going global. The collaboration with the 24-carat gold dress for the launch of old-timers to get noticed – it remains Milan-based fashion brand involved the the Magnum Gold ice cream range. a mystery as to why Victoria’s secret launch of a limited edition (northern asked dylan for an appearance in the hemisphere) summer ice-cream bar Magnum and Karl Lagerfeld frst place,” observed the South African- called the pistachio White dolce & prior to that, it partnered with paris- based creative publication One Small Gabbana Magnum. based fashion designer Karl lagerfeld, Seed. “Marketing is a complex niche It is made with vanilla ice cream, who directed a TV commercial for the of the entertainment industry, but the pistachio bits, chocolate chips and a brand starring american TV actress and idea of Bob dylan-endorsed lingerie white chocolate shell. The bar comes in model rachel Bilson. “It’s a toss-up doesn’t quite seem to ring the bell of PHOTOS: supplIed a colourful decorative box inspired by what’s more bizarre – lagerfeld doing profting bliss.” you said it. or maybe in marketing, ice-cream commercials or seeing a the images of sicily, with Zagara orange as in life, there’s also room for blossoms, prickly pear plants and bright model having dessert,” observed the opposites to attract? coral fruits to evoke summer. sicily, marketing industry publication Adweek. strategicmarketing August–September 2014 strategicmarketing August–September 2014 strategicmarketing August–September 2014 6 6 56 IMM_GSM_A4_MARCH2014 C.indd 1 3/20/14 8:28 AM