Touch in luxury communication
Senses and aesthetics
Look but don’t touch: since we are children they teach us that the touch is as a charming sense as it is dangerous, to be used carefully and with moderation. We are daily subjected to a zillion optical and sound inputs, slightly less to the taste and olfactory ones and almost not at all to the tactile ones. However, the touch is a very important sense, also for the experts of marketing, since it is needed only few instants before the purchase but it has the power to confirm whether a product should be bought or not.
Over the past few years, technology has made many steps forward toward the discover of “touch”, but it is right also to find out how the advertising industry is going to give back centrality to the touch. It is obvious that the main classic media (TV, radio and press) can only do little to communicate the experience of touch, but it is interesting to see the creative efforts in order to convey a tactile sensation.
A recent example comes from Louis Vuitton that over the Christmas time made a refined multi-subject campaign wisely focused on the concept of craftsmanship. They are shots by Desirée Dolron, where the focus is not on the models’ body aesthetics anymore but on the act of creating.
They are pictures where the dominant black and a light on the face and on the hands allow to match the beauty of the models with creativity. The moves of the craftsman, if on the one hand amplify the qualitative and exclusive aspects, on the other hand can be interpreted as an invitation to the reader to search with his own hand the touch hidden behind the products of the best maisons. The visual shift from the cliché of the dressed models to the models “who do” is an evolution of the communicative style that we can’t rule out will inspire other brands too.
The hands of the craftsman are hidden in the Rolex campaign too for the woman model Oyster Perpetual Datejust Black, where the visual is dominated in first place by the gemmolog’s pliers who selects the best diamonds to set. The headline “every watch is a canvas to paint” suggests the theme of arts and crafts that come back to suggest that it is the uniqueness of the forger the distinctive element of high quality products. Tactile elements are present also in the last Trinity by Cartier campaign, to underline the uniqueness of who wear the jewel, through digital prints represented by a golden and diamond powder. The hands confer exclusivity and charm to it.
Often even the emphasize on details is an unvoiced invitation to touch. Many campaigns have a photographic approach so to underline the material characteristics of the products, or of some of their parts. The aim is to emphasize those textures that more than others invite to touch. Think of the Tudor Grantour Chrono caompaign, where the lights linger not only on the watch dial but also on the details of the watch band, the hot part, and the mechanical/technological area of the case. To sum up, luxury, craftsmanship and touch are more and more intertwined words also for the communication industry. A thematic area that does not have anything to share with the concept of ostentation, but far from real luxury.
Marco De Angeli, ABC
Accessories, Brand Campaigns, Cult Products, Fashion, Jewellery, Luxury Representatives, People And Brand, Shoes And Bags,
Tags: advertising industry, Desirée Dolron, Louis Vuitton, multi-subject campaign, Oyster Perpetual Datejust Black, Rolex, touch, Trinity by Cartier, Tudor Grantour Chrono
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