By Rachel Lamb
Luxury Daily
March 2, 2012
French fashion label Christian Dior announced the launch of DiorMag, an online magazine that positions the brand as an innovative storyteller, entertainer and purveyor of the height of luxury products.
DiorMag is available as a section on the Dior Web site and includes articles, images, current news and product galleries. DiorMag has the potential to secure brand loyalists and drive transactions, per experts.
“I think what the magazine does is that it tries to create a lot of relevant and interesting content about the brand and the people behind it,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, New York. “Therefore, it’s a great vehicle for storytelling that educates and entertains consumers and that enhances the opportunity to have consumers be loyal to the brand because they know the story behind it.
“It meets the criteria for great content, it’s not purely infomercial,” he said. “In this case, it’s well-optimized because it’s telling its own stories with objectivity and decorum, not just a hard-sell.”
Mr. Pedraza is not affiliated with Dior, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
Dior did not respond before press deadline.
Dear Dior
DiorMag is split up into a few sections including report, monsieur Dior, Dior over the world and all about Dior.
In those sections are topics including woman, Dior Homme, baby Dior, fragrance, makeup, skincare, jewelry, timepieces and Dior phone. These are the sections of the Dior Web site.
Clicking on a topic or section pulls together all of the relevant articles.
One article currently on-site is “in real time,” a live-stream of the fall/winter 2012-2013 ready-to-wear collection today at 9:30 Eastern Time.
Another piece is “Miss au Pluriel,” a video and image gallery of brand ambassador Mila Kunis and the Miss Dior handbag campaign (see story).
The story “2012-1947: Now, then and back again” fully relays the history and depth of the Dior brand, which is a very important part of the magazine.
“Most media is undergoing rapid transformation today as digital convergence keeps lending to new ways for storytelling. interaction and innovation,” said Paul Farkas, president/CEO of Social.TV, New York.
“Luxury brands are now all high-powered media houses and digital magazines are one key way to attract consumers with enhanced and extended content,” he said.
Storied telling
DiorMag is one in a few brands that are upping connectivity through online publications.
For example, French fashion brand Chanel’s Chanel News site has a presence as its own site as well as on the brand’s mobile application.
Consumers can learn about the brand history, catch up on current news and see exclusive content.
In fact, Chanel’s new video for its Boy handbag collection, “My New Friend Boy” was released on the Chanel News site (see story).
In addition, Christian Louboutin has its own “Louboutin Times” newspaper that it uses to relay information and exclusive content.
“This is the next generation of digital marketing,” said Chris Ramey, president of Affluent Insights, Miami.
“Ease of shopping, along with speed and pleasure, add value to luxury brand magazine,” he said.
However, there are some drawbacks to a digital magazine.
“There are some clunky areas that will be fixed, and their contents page will become more attractive,” Mr. Ramey said. “A couple times I found myself back on the site rather than the magazine – and it wasn’t always natural where to explore next.”
However, Dior, Chanel and Louboutin have something that other brands do not – their history.
Legacy and heritage are two of the main weapons that old luxury brands have in their arsenal, per Luxury Institute’s Mr. Pedraza.
“This isn’t for every brand,” Mr. Pedraza said. “If you’re not well historically-endowed, you’ll have a hard time getting this across.
“However, Dior is fortunate that it has this legacy that it can draw on and contemporize,” he said.
http://www.luxurydaily.com/what-diormag-says-about-the-brand/