Marc Jacobs pairs with M2M series for integrated video effort

Peyton Knight for Marc Jacobs x M2M’s Off Book

U.S. fashion label Marc Jacobs is hitting the books to tout its commitment to unique storytelling.

To do so, Marc Jacobs is collaborating with fashion television channel Made to Measure and its “Off Book” series, now in its second season. Developed by entertainment conglomerate WME-IMG, M2M is a video network, covering the past, present and future of the fashion industry though multiple storytelling efforts (see story).

“Fashion is owning the conversion once more. Or should I say taking the conversation back from bloggers,” said Lauren Bates, storyteller at Blue Moon Digital, Denver, CO. “Not that bloggers are bad necessarily, but brands are deciding for themselves what they want their story to be.

“Fashion is embracing video and internally created content. I think that there is (and will be more of) a shift towards fashion brands creating more of their own content and storytelling through video,” she said. “These brands know that their best ally is video, it is the closest thing to being at the shows.

“With video, you can create whatever story you want. You can shoot the garments in motion and capitalize on that sense of wonder, that alternate reality, that is felt at the runway shows. The hard part will be the how and figuring out what channel or outlet speaks best to their narrative and audience.”

Ms. Bates is not affiliated with M2M or Marc Jacobs, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

M2M and Marc Jacobs were unable to comment directly before press deadline.

Taking a page from…
M2M’s Off Book series features models reading passages from works of literature, film and music. In its first season, models such as Hailey Baldwin, Hanne Gaby Odiele and Camille Rowe were featured reading from classics such as “The Little Prince,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “On the Road,” among others.

Debuting July 12, the second season of Off Book sees Marc Jacobs partnering with M2M for a full-brand integration effort. Off Book’s second season will feature eight models exclusively wearing Marc Jacobs’ pre-fall 2016 ready-to-wear and accessories.

Participating models include Peyton Knight, Ajak Deng, Issa Lish, Alek Wek, Molly Blair, Marian Jonkman, Cat McNeil and Angel Rutledge.

Molly Blair for Marc Jacobs x M2M’s Off Book 

Set over 10 episodes, the models will read passages from “The Fran Lebowitz Reader,” a 1994 collection of comedic essays written by Fran Lebowitz. The volume combines two of Ms. Lebowitz’s bestsellers, “Metropolitan Life” and “Social Studies,” published in 1978 and 1981, respectively.

Marc Jacobs’ sells The Fran Lebowitz Reader at its bookstore Bookmarc, which has outposts in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo, as well as on its Web site.

In a social teaser created for Off Book’s second season, the models are shown in a dressing room in front of a large vanity mirror strewn with floral arrangements and Marc Jacobs Beauty cosmetics. In the 30-second trailer, viewers see a handful of models reading humorous and thought-provoking passages from The Fran Lebowitz Reader.

For example, one such passage says, “Think before you speak, and read before you think. This will give you something to think about that you didn’t make up yourself.”

Teaser for Marc Jacobs x M2M’s Off Book

“This initiative will be mutually beneficial for both Marc Jacobs and M2M,” Ms. Bates said. “Obviously, that is why the collaboration happened in the first place.

“However, I think that it will support M2M more than Marc Jacobs,” she said. “Using Marc Jacobs’ name and audience will draw people to the channel that may not currently know about it, which is beneficial for M2M because the audiences are the same. Both audiences speak to ‘fashion people.'”

The first season of Off Book can be viewed here.

M2M was originally launched as an Apple TV exclusive. Consumers can now view M2M’s mix of original content, fashion films, runway presentations and documentaries on iPhone, iPads, Roku, Amazon’s Fire TV, Android TV and Microsoft XBox.

Calls for creativity
Marc Jacobs consistently places an emphasis on creative expression to activate its campaigns.

For example, Marc Jacobs encouraged consumers to graffiti the wild postings of its spring 2016 ads throughout New York with their own art, speaking to the co-creation trend.

A social contest for New York Fashion Week told consumers to treat the brand’s creative as their canvas, using it as the backdrop for their own art. Once they had tagged the art, they were told to post and hashtag a photo for the chance to attend the brand’s show on Feb. 18 (see story).

Also, Marc Jacobs showcased consumers’ expressions for its spring 2016 eyewear collection.

Marc Jacobs extended consumer participation with a Web application that put brand enthusiasts as the face of its latest eyewear effort. Launched April 7, the “Print Me Marc” effort allowed consumers to embed their own face into the Screaming Queens print designed by label’s namesake designer and Instagram artist @Bessnyc4 for spring/summer 2016 (see story).

“Marc Jacobs has a huge social following (4.7 million on Instagram and 1.7 million on Facebook) and capitalizing on speaking to that audience by promoting this collaboration has a huge potential of fostering cross-channel engagement,” Ms. Bates said.

“So yes, featuring the models in the latest collection and having the book they read from available on the Marc Jacobs site will strengthen omnichannel efforts,” she said. “Typically, because the strategy involved to promote a campaign like this will most likely have social posts sending signals (and clickers) to the M2M Web site and the Marc Jacobs site.

“Plus, we are curious, and fashion is fun! Which, in turn, makes it highly clickable and shareable. Fashion has a way of perpetuating itself because models are glamorous, we are a consumer driven society, and having a large social following puts all your content right where your audience is.”

from Apparel and accessories – Luxury Daily https://www.luxurydaily.com/marc-jacobs-pairs-with-m2m-series-for-integrated-video-effort/
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