Microsites and Luxury Brands
Luxury brands have quickly caught on to the rapidly growing trend of creating specialized microsites for specific initiatives. Ultra-luxury brands like Hermes, Ferrari and Cartier are at the forefront of this movement and are utilizing these tactics for a variety of initiatives.
Their audience of current and potential customers see it as an exclusive place to interact with unique content that cannot be found anywhere on the brand’s website.
A microsite is not to be confused with a website as it does not serve the same purpose. Its primary goal is to highlight specified content; subsequently the audience realizes this and effortlessly distinguishes between the two.
The following microsites are well integrated with specific campaigns and all serve the purpose of encouraging users to get further involved with the brand, share the content and their information. In some cases, email gates have been established while in others, the simple social action becomes the trackable element. Needless to say, user information is being collected through microsites and used for future marketing purposes.
BMW
* User created video contest to drive fans to microsite which gives them a seamless browsing experience dedicated to a promotion that gives away a 3 Series BMW
* Promoting microsite primarily on YouTube and Facebook
* In this example BMW takes users to a microsite where they are given the option to “build your own”, in order to do this users must enter their email address
Michael Kors
* All Access Kors Campaign- Goal is to increase time that fans spend with fall/winter fashion show using microsite and Pinterest
* In this example users can capture images from the runway show, if they want to send them using Facebook they must download the ALL ACCESS KORS Facebook app- capturing email addresses in the process
Hermes
* Microsite called Hearts and Crafts showcasing the detailed craftsmanship that goes into making Hermes products
* Features a film of workers making Hermes products demonstrating the attention to detail
* Hermes is promoting the microsite heavily on their Facebook page
* This microsite encourages users to connect via social media and offers the newsletter signup.
Ralph Lauren
* Microsite featuring two shoppable catalogs for holiday season
* Totally interactive allowing users to scroll through pages like a magazine
* The microsite encouraged social and email interaction (site no longer available.
Cartier
* Cartier uses email and microsite to market Love Collection
* “Microsites are a pretty standard approach and, as an aggregation point for content, not a bad idea when it’s done well” – Art Zeidman President of Unruly Media
* “[Additionally], consumers respond really well to behind-the-scenes content” –Art Zeidman
* While specific information is not required, users can sign up for their newsletter at the bottom of the page.
Ferrari
* Ferrari Microsite promoting F12 Berlinetta
* This promotion is being heavily pushed on Ferrari’s various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google +
* “The separate site allows for a clean way to measure traffic and consumer behavior, which can help the marketing team learn more about the audience and create new strategies based upon how the consumer reacts to the different aspects of the sitelet versus the [braded] Web site” –Nick Drabicky client services manager at iProspect
* Microsite is perfect for highlighting specific content
* “[Microsite] has done a great job of leveraging its 7.7 million followers on Facebook to instantly grow awareness of the new F12Berlinette by driving fans to Microsite” –Drabicky
* In this example users can contact a dealer by entering their email address
Microsite Summary
* Microsites are used in a variety of ways for a variety of campaigns
* A microsite is not something to replace a website; it simply supplements the content that is housed there.
* In most cases, a microsite encourages users to share or get involved to a deeper level with a brand. All of these actions are trackable and are used to capture and engage an audience either through email capture, social engagement or direct contact
(Images: BMW, Ferrari, Michael Kors and Hermes)