NEW YORK--Erin Byrne, global chief digital strategist for Burson-Marsteller, observed during the recent Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit, “Because of the nature of digital communications today, marketers can no longer control their message; they can only hope to influence it. Companies are starting to recognize this as both an issue and a possibility. Today, we recommend integrated communications where you use traditional mass mediums to build awareness and then use digital to drive that awareness through to action.”
Among eyewear suppliers, the theory and power of consumer communications and recommendations via social media and communities is on the rise.
Glen Eisenberg is president of Precision Advertising, the Montreal-based agency of record for Montreal-based Wescan Optical, manufacturer of Fysh UK Eyewear; Precision is the agency responsible for the launch of
FyshNation.com. FyshNation.com is an interactive online community, launched this past May, based on social networking and aimed at driving brand involvement by building a lifestyle culture around the Fysh UK eyewear brand’s core identity--Dream Big, Think Big, Live Big!--through quarterly contests, quizzes and videos.
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(From the top) Costa Del Mar’s
Channel C - CostaChannelC.com;
FyshNation.com, Ray-Ban’s
Confessions - Ray-Ban.com. | “The world of online communication is like the advent of the TV in the ‘50s,” said Eisenberg. “Back then, if you bought a 30-second advertising slot on one of the three channels you had 90 percent saturation in American households. Today, the difference is that the adoption of the Internet has moved at a lightning pace when compared to the adoption of television. Marketing online is not an opportunity, it is a necessity.”
“Part of the overall strategy is to create not just product, but emotional bonds that connect with the consumer,” continued Eisenberg. “Our challenge was to create a cultural aspect for the brand that goes beyond the physical aspects of the frame. The Fysh UK brand is about living life to the fullest, so having an online place that was a community based home gives us a platform to reinforce that. Of course the long-term goal is that when visitors do go into a store that recognition and relationship is there and results in a sale.”
FyshNation.com is just one of the latest manifestations of an online marketing tool built by eyewear brands looking to parlay their brand’s core values into a greater lifestyle movement and sense of community.
In 2007 when Luxottica’s Ray-Ban launched their “Never Hide” campaign, their Web site played a huge part in the kick off. People from around the world were able to upload photographs of themselves in their Ray-Bans to Ray-Ban.com. The pictures were then played on 11 screens in New York City’s Times Square where Ray-Ban had photographers on hand to catch each moment. Visitors to the site were not only able to peruse the photos that had been uploaded but those who contributed pictures where also able to download a picture of themselves being broadcast in Times Square captured by the onsite photographers.
At the recent South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, Ray-Ban took the “Never Hide” campaign a step further by allowing festival goers a chance to record their 30-second “Confessions” in a special photo booth. The confessions were later uploaded on the site where visitors can “rate” each confession on a scale of one to five stars.
The “Never Hide” campaign is based on individuals having the courage to express their true selves, their thoughts and their personality genuinely, and to stay true to the values of authenticity and uniqueness, traits that are integral to the DNA of the Ray-Ban brand. Though the campaign is comprised of traditional marketing tools like print and outdoor advertising, it is the use of the Internet that has really given people the opportunity to make the brand their own.
“The interactive online component of the
Ray-Ban Web site is important because it helps deepen the relationship with our target consumers and also extends the brand’s reach while complementing offline activities,” added Vittorio Verdun, Luxottica’s vice president of marketing. “Our digital plans will continue to include engaging and interactive content that generates buzz and drives awareness among Ray-Ban’s target consumer.”
Another eyewear company that is continuing to use the Internet to help online users make the brand their own and build a lifestyle community based upon the brand’s principles is Ormond Beach, Fla.-based Costa Del Mar. Not only are visitors to
CostaDelMar.com able to share their own journeys and experiences, or offer recommendations on favorite beaches, surfing areas and paddling spots with others, but in July 2007, the brand also launched “Channel C,” an online video network dedicated to water sports and angling adventures that features original programming and user-submitted film footage of extreme water sports and fishing expeditions.
“Our goal is to get people to our Web site so they can get the full Costa brand experience,” said Al Perkinson, vice president of marketing for Costa Del Mar. “Video content is the best way to do that. We create original programming and air it on Channel C and we then use online and offline media to drive people there. We think that this approach will become more and more popular as consumers continue to gain control over what they watch and when.”
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