Retailtainment, the New Marketing Frontier

To talk about Retailtainment, we can take a cue from two color codes: Pantone 219C and Pantone 187C. The first refers to that spot of shocking pink, also known as "Barbie Pink," that this summer, in the wake of the success of the movie about the world’s most famous plastic doll, has spared nothing, making ultra pop and everyday use of a color that certainly does not go unnoticed. In the world of Barbara Milicent Roberts - a.k.a. Barbie - retailtainment has come into play in selected movie theaters, where Mattel has created dress rooms in which to try on the most eccentric outfits in her wardrobe, allowing moviegoers of all ages, before, during and after the viewing, to brush up on the not-so-childish desire to dress up as an icon, aimed, of course, at selling a doll or one of the thousands of items in Barbie style merchandising. Pantone 187C, on the other hand, is the access code to the more rarefied and upscale world of Cartier. This red, also called “Cardinal Red”, immediately recalls the idea of absolute haute joaillerie and exclusivity.

Again, the playful, consumer entertainment component tantalized marketing creatives, taking the historic French brand to a decidedly higher level of retailtainment. The “Love is All” campaign launched between Christmas 2021 and April 2022, set up a whole sequence of pro-sale technologies never experienced before by a luxury fashion house, opening up new scenarios and new synergies in the elusive phygital sphere. This is how it happened: Christmas 2022. While the short movie “Love is All”, directed by young fashion photographer Charlotte Wales and starring "friends" of the brand such as Monica Bellucci, Mélanie Laurent and Willow Smith, was making its appearance around the world, in Macau, Cartier’s first omnichannel experience with unique gifts and interactive features, was making its debut in the City of Dreams shopping mall. The common thread that literally drove the entire operation was the red ribbon wrapped around the virtual boutique – something which has always featured in the brand's most celebrated stores during the Christmas season, see for example the building on Fifth Avenue in New York - that customers simultaneously access by entering the physical boutique. In an instant, they find themselves in a so-called immersive environment, where everything is a reminder of the company’s founding values. By interacting with augmented reality, as soon as you unwrap your digital gift, watches, jewelry, leather goods and perfumes, all pre-selected by the "Cartier Profile" app, start to parade, offering personalized suggestions based on your preferences. But that's still not enough. With the aim of attracting the Millennials of the Far East, you can try your hand at the Cartier Karaoke Box by singing the soundtrack to the short movie “Love is All” - a pop song originally performed by Roger Glover and Ronnie James Dio - and then share the performance on social media. WeChat first and foremost, which, with the Cartier Mini Program, allows people to spread content and access the brand’s pop-up store created specifically to support the communication campaign. This is no small link, considering that WeChat is a messaging and social media app on which more than 1 billion people converse, communicate and, most importantly, buy all kinds of products every day. In short, as in a game of Chinese boxes, you enter a loop where one step triggers the next. The aim is to sell, but more than that, it creates the memory of a unique and therefore loyalty-building experience. «We created this unique concept with the desire to surprise and entertain our customers and immerse guests in the thrill of unwrapping the iconic red Cartier box,» Virginie Martignac, Cartier Global Travel Retail Manager, explains, a figure that speaks volumes about the importance that this kind of operation has acquired since it stimulates the Ego of social addicts, overpowered by the desire to show off luxury shopping and travel. So, if Cartier's maxi operation at the City of Dreams in Macau is the destination, the starting point is the “Barocko” app launched by Bulgari in spring 2020 to promote the Barocko high jewelry collection. Each individual piece was presented by a 360-degree image reel and content on the cultural connection between the Roman company and the Baroque style, allowing the user to virtually wear the creations thanks to the augmented reality called Try On. Indeed, it really seems that marketing 4.0, in a range that goes from plastic dolls to one-of-a-kind jewelry, aims to paraphrase the Latin motto "I think, therefore I am," into a more prosaic "I enjoy, therefore I buy."