Diesel, the Italian purveyor of $200 jeans and other fashion-forward clothing, has taken the concept of the viral video one step further than most – the entire site homepage has been "taken over" by the Heidies, two attractive young women who appear to be holding an equally attractive young man captive, and recording the whole event by webcam.
The cam site itself has a live, uncensored chat room that lets viewers comment on the proceedings. Be warned, this is definitely mature content. As Adam Kahn writes, "It’s
not something I want to share, forward, or perpetuate, but can’t help but feel
like there was once a good idea in there somewhere?"
What’s fascinating about the execution is that the Heidies really have taken over- you have to wade through the marketing campaign in order to get a look at the clothing. Even without a homepage campaign, the Diesel site is heavy on experience on light on merchandising, but this is exceptional in its aggressiveness. Judging from all the comments, their customers seem to like it.
Misha Cornes
Comments
Connections
They’re wearing the merchandise!!! This is superb. Very in touch.
Piers, I guess my point is that some users actually come to the site to educate themselves about Diesel’s clothing – to shop – rather than to be entertained. Ultimately these are the most valuable visitors to the site, and their needs should be met immediately. I’m all for entertainment, but the site still needs to sell.
An interesting counterpoint comes from Martin Lindstrom in today’s ClickZ- he wants to see more brands being willing to provoke, even offend.
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3624598
I think that those are actual models. They might have done better to hire marketers or actors. That video has no Viral value from a youth standpoint.