Some of the Year's Most Innovative Digital Campaigns, So Far

The first part of 2018 has seen luxury brands taking their digital campaigns to the next level. From enhanced technology to embracing diversity, top fashion and jewelry houses are making waves in the way that they reach out to their client-base. 

In the digital age, brands are learning that in order to stay relevant, they need make use of innovative and nontraditional digital platforms to create impactful campaigns.

While the year is still far from over, we’ve hand-selected some of most imaginative and impactful digital campaigns of 2018, to date: 

Tiffany & Co. “Believe In Dreams”

Photo credit: Tiffany & Co./YouTube

For Spring 2018, Tiffany & Co. painted the city blue with its “Believe in Dreams” campaign. With the help of actress Elle Fanning, the luxury jewelry brand pulled off the ultimate Breakfast at Tiffany’s sequence, of course with its own millennial twist. The 20-year-old actress, who is the face of Tiffany’s Paper Flowers collection, starts off in a black-and-white world, but is quickly transported into an eccentric Tiffany blue universe on the streets of New York. The campaign was headed by “Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence and has managed to rack up more than 13 million views since its debut in May 2018. 

“We wanted to take a fresh approach to the campaign, juxtaposing something visually extraordinary with a song that is a nostalgic nod to the past combined with something wholly unexpected and of the moment,” said Reed Krakoff, chief artistic officer, Tiffany & Co. 

Gucci Hallucination

Photo credit: Gucci/YouTube

For its Spring 2018 campaign, Gucci took augmented reality to the next level by teaming up with Spanish artist Ignasi Monreal to transport customers into the luxurious and art-filled world of Gucci. A promotional video for the campaign features Monreal stepping into the world beyond his paintings in the Gucci lab.

“Sometimes a painting is as much as what it doesn’t show as you as what it does,” he says as he showcases animated digital paintings. Gucci featured in-store AR and VR installations that enabled consumers to interact with the art work and become part of the campaign themselves.  

Burberry's Highsnobiety Collaboration 

Photo credit: Burberry/Instagram

Under Burberry Creative Director Riccardo Tisci, the British luxury fashion house has taken some unconventional approaches to digital marketing this year.  Burberry infiltrated Highsnobiety's digital hub while showcasing the brand's new orange and white logo print. Upon visiting the website, users were greeted with the brand's new print, followed by an adverstisement for its London Fashion Week show.

The move signals a more inventive and dynamic approach to digital campaigning, using out-of-house tactics to grab the attention of consumers. Highsnobeity also featured Burberry as a top story and highlighted the brand's first product drop. Additionally, the entire site will sporadically transform into the new Burberry print, and while it may seem like a glitch the campaign is anything but unintentional. 

Balmain’s Virtual Army

Photo credit: Balmain/Instagram

Luxury French fashion house Balmain is capitalising on the virtual influencer movement by launching their “Virtual Army” campaign, featuring three custom-designed digital models Margot, Shudu and Zhi. Creative Director Olivier Rousteng is the brain behind the campaign and each model boasts their own Instagram account with thousands of followers. Shudu, the brand’s most popular ambassador, has more than 144,000 followers on Instagram.

Shudu, a black female model, was created by visual artist Cameron-James Wilson and initially wasn’t revealed as a digital model due to her realistic nature. After she gained mainstream media attention, including a repost from Fenty Beauty, the public was made aware that she is actually an artistic CGI representation. Balmain collaborated with software company CLO Virtual fashion to tailor dresses and accessories to each model’s unique design and measurements. While the campaign has received mixed reviews, many are commending the brain for its artistic vision and creative approach.

Cover image credit: Tiffany/YouTube