La Perla is Italian, one of the most exclusive and well-known lingerie brands. Their products are lovely and for the most part not-so-affordable. 

The online experience starts well, with gorgeous imagery and a clear what-to-do (choose the country), but after the first click all the problems start. 

Three out of four banners in the main page content area aren’t working. Some of the main navigation links also don’t work. The image under the “Essentials” is totally distorted. And how are the products presented? I’ve visited their stores and I don’t know how or why this experience seems and feels totally different.

In the product images at www.laperla.com all of the lingerie is worn by pale models. The site itself is really boring, dark, has no interaction, no surprises at all. Not one single thing to tell someone about, or a way to do it. As you can’t touch the product, you should be able to feel it in some other way. I would suggest them to ditch whatever content management system they use here, start from scratch and build a true online experience. Not a product catalog that isn’t even working. 

In my experience, online marketing is in some companies often seen as a part of the IT or tech department. They buy the platfrom. Then marketing/advertsing people try to make something out of it which they’re not ashamed of. And that’s one lousy goal.

It’s a global company, one of the biggest shoe factories in Europe producing over 10 million pairs of shoes yearly. Birkenstock products are imported into over 100 countries. It’s the household name for comfortable, foot healthy shoes and sandals. 

I’m not going to start about how the shoes and sandals look – everyone knows how they look. If I were about to buy those shoes, I would google it and ran into www.birkenstock.com and that would be it then, cheers.

When checking out www.archive.org, it seems they have had the site since 1996 and after that basically only the list of retailers has been updated. I don’t have too much patience and since the archive is damn slow I truly didn’t check out every version but.. it’s the same. 

Paul Smith sent an email, offering me exclusively a book about Russian Criminal Tattoos. Encyclopaedia Volume III. There was 15 signed copies available. I got the email on 23rd October 2008 and saved it because I thought it was cool.

At the time, I had just watched the movie Eastern Promises. Fashion is kind of an interest (obsession I guess) for me, now also the russian criminal tattoos were – as kinky as it sounds. Tattoos have a significant role in the movie. If you haven’t seen Eastern Promises, watch it. It’s a violent, sad and totally miserable movie. But it’s a good one.

By using this particular book in marketing, Paul Smith added so much attitude into its brand that I can’t think of a better way to do it. With or without the movie. When searching “paul smith russian criminal tattoos” from Google, there’s loads of results.

The product range and the overall service of www.paulsmith.com is quite exceptional, for a global fashion brand. Paul Smith himself started the company and still works there as a designer and a chairman.

First of all it isn’t just clothing. Online it’s also a bookstore, a hilarious giftstore eg. Gorilla Eraser, Lladro Sky Blue Cactus, Skis for Edelwiser, art store with Tara Darby prints, and last but not least even Paul Smith fine china. The only thing not up to date is the the Music co-op that has ended ca. 1 year ago in January 2008.

I immediately knew I didn’t like their shoes. I will never buy and definitely never wear them. But goddamn, they know their marketing. I browse the site every now and then, get their newsletter and everything. I have told several friends of mine how much I like what they do (not with the shoes, with the marketing). Every detail, every tiny thing is thought through. I don’t know if this is even marketing, it’s branded entertainment I’d say. At least for me it is.

There’s always something surprising – there’s actually no logic at all. The quality: all the images are brilliant and the overall design concept is sharp. As it comes to usability, that’s an experience also: you basically know what you get, but there’s always a cherry on top of the cake. Either concept- or content wise, usually both.

The old Camper hit is Casa Camper in Barcelona (always fully booked) and the new hit is a shoe collection by the designer Hella Jongerius. I’m a fan of Jongerius (www.jongeriuslab.com). Alfredo Häberli, who is known also for his designs for Iittala, now also has a shoe collection. Way to go Hella and Alfredo.

Camper is all in all a bit more than you would expect. Positive surprises really create the happy experience, and that will always take me back to the shoes I don’t like. That’s magic.

She is a jewelry and an accessories designer. Her website www.genevieve-jones.com is just magnificent with it’s kaleidoscope-ish movement and atmosphere. The interactive animation and how everything is pulled together really is worth checking. Despite of the totally capturing animation, the products are still strongly in the main role, no doubt about that. “I’m inspired by beauty in all its forms. If it’s not obvious then all the better.” I totally agree.

Quite a fresh way to bring more spirit into advertising. And actually a really nice combo, I thought. But is this it? You can check both prints at www.stellamccartney.com. The Bambi and stuff is nice and you can even change their places.. Since this co-op was for F/W 09.10 I guess this is all I’m going to see.

This Danish brand is an old favorite of mine. I first got interested in the gorgeous designs and especially the accessories – even have managed to get myself quite a collection. The website www.bymalenebirger.com is what I call a masterpiece in its genre: simplicity and style. The core of the experience most definitely is the high-quality images and the show video. Chance to be able to look at every little detail of each item is also very much appreciated. Basically that’s all I want to do and enjoy it every time. If there’s something to add, a webstore would be it.

The damn video, it keeps on haunting me. In a good way, though. The Fine Art of Denim by Nudie Jeans has all the needed bits and pieces in it. And I didn’t know I like this kind of music? Well, I truly do.

Nudiejeans.com makes buying jeans nice and easy: they provide a  Fit Guide that really gives the idea how the jeans fit – so far the best guide I’ve tried. 

This is by far the most beautiful and insightful shop window I’ve seen for a long, long time. I wanted to concentrate on sharing the best online brand executions there are, but,  once you manage to create something great offline, it has a tendency to spread and earn a new life online. This obvious chance to earn media is too often wasted.

A Swedish fashion brand, Elvine, caught my eye some time ago. Especially because of the stylish, affordable clothing line (will get Amelie for sure), but what really makes them unique is the story behind the brand – and how it’s told. Another thing I appreciate and find interesting, is that they actually DO stuff to support other creatives and designers, it’s not solely promotional. The concept of Creator’s Inn by Elvine is just brilliant. Go there.