Louis Vuitton pays tribute to "The Greatest," boxer Muhammad Ali, with the digital experience The Greatest Words.  In two short films, "Float" and "Life," spoken word artist Yasiin Bey and calligrapher Niels Shoe Meulman revisit the words of Mohammad Ali, with a helping hand from rapper/actor Mos Def.Continue reading...

Sephora, the high-end beauty retailer owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, operates more than 1,600 stores worldwide where customers can try and apply make-up before they buy. Under digital head Julie Bornstein, Sephora is in the midst of its own “social and mobile makeover,” bridging the worlds of offline and online — stylishly, of course.

Case in point: today Sephora announced a partnership with Pantone, the global color authority, for a digital app. Dubbed SEPHORA + PANTONE COLOR IQ, it's described as "the most advanced foundation matching solution available in North American beauty retail. Using Pantone’s color capture and measuring technology, SEPHORA + PANTONE COLOR IQ is the first and only beauty system to scan the surface of the skin, assign an official PANTONE® SkinTone™ number, and match a scientifically precise foundation shade from Sephora’s 1,000 foundations, brands and formulas." The service launches today at Sephora's Times Square flagship in New York, and on August 2nd in San Francisco.

Social business, as Brian Solis calls it, is de rigueur for brands today, iterating from social to digital and experiential. That's why Sephora is taking its digital operations to the next level in a redesigned website with amped up search, an iOS mobile app and a new mobile website, Sephora is installing iPads in more than 100 of its stores in an integration with Pinterest replete with “Pin It” buttons for all its product pages.Continue reading...

Paris to Shanghai, by train. The concept alone dredges up an atmosphere of yesteryear, when Orient Express-style train travel was the luxury way to travel. And what two cities summon that fabulous yesteryear better than Paris and Shanghai, a city once hailed as "Paris of the East?"

That nostalgic sentiment is what Louis Vuitton is tapping into for its new campaign, "Louis Vuitton Express" — which kicked off this week with a teaser video, "Paris to Shanghai by Train by The Selby," — as the digital extension of an event marketing campaign that's rolling online, on YouTube and on Facebook from the brand's French HQ to its new China HQ.

But who or what, you might ask, is "The Selby?" And will "The Selby" be enough to get Vuitton back in the good graces of Chinese luxury buyers who have recently come to treat the the brand kind of like locomotive travel — a relic of the past?Continue reading...

Maybe we haven't seen the return of the roaring global recovery everyone has hoped for. The U.S. economy is sputtering, and the European continent isn't looking very bullish at the moment. But none of this seems to be terribly concerning to the luxury hotel market. There has been a spate of recent openings — hotel extensions of luxury brands — to prove it.

Bulgari, which operates a luxury hotel in Milan, a luxury resort in Bali, and restaurants in Tokyo, has just opened the doors of its fourth Bulgari Hotel, with its latest five-star property opening in a chi-chi pocket of London.

Located in the city's prestigious Knightsbridge section, its well appointed rooms (such as the one above) are opening just in time to take bookings for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Bulgari gushes about the property: "It is a perfect expression of the Bulgari aesthetic of timeless glamour. Innovative artistry and a lavish use of precious marble and silver blend harmoniously, exuding an understated elegance. The quality of the service, magnificent elements such as the spa, pool and private screening room, and the distinguished location beside Harrods and Hyde Park all contribute to an uncompromising sense of excellence."Continue reading...

Nokia plans to cut 10,000 more jobs, or one in three staff, and sheds CMO as it loses market share to Apple and Samsung and threatens mobile aspirations of Microsoft.

Disney spends $1.1 billion to spruce up its Disney California Adventure theme park, including a brand-new 12-acre Cars Land and Avengers plan.

Microsoft takes a page from Gmail in email revamp as Gmail gets a facelift, too.

AOL wins proxy fight over its content strategy.

Abercrombie & Fitch takes credit for Carly Rae Jepsen's Justin Bieber-fueled viral smash.

Apple expands "emoji" with LGBT consumers.Continue reading...

Apple strikes pre-paid iPhone deal with Cricket as Foxconn woes continue.

BMW creates department-store feel at concept showroom in Paris.

BP reveals internal discord over oil spill estimates, and plans to sell stake in Russian venture.

Chrysler misses May sales target despite U.S. sales bump.

Corona invests in major outdoor and digital campaign for summer.

Disney names new film studio chairman.

Exxon Mobil plans major U.S. chemical plant.

Facebook sells "likes" in promoted posts move, and adds admin functions and post scheduling.

Formula One IPO may be delayed.Continue reading...

The insatiable Chinese consumer is one of the big reasons luxury brand marketers like the French conglomerate LVMH took the recent economic downturn in stride. 

LVMH, owner of iconic brand names including De Beers, Fendi, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, recognized years ago that China represented a burgeoning luxury market. Along with European competitors like Hermes and Burberry, LVMH aggressively sought out Chinese retail channels for its products.

Even though luxury products continue to enjoy popularity, there are signs that store sales may be leveling off in China. That's why LVMH is looking to the Internet as a new way of engaging upscale Chinese consumers, as evidenced by the launch of a Chinese-language version of its Nowness.com portal.Continue reading...

Socialbakers claims it's #1 source for global Facebook data (other than Facebook, of course) with more than 10 million Facebook pages and places indexed.

The social media analytics company just launched its AnalyticsPRO product designed to enhance social media performance through competitive insights, engagement and influencer identification.

The proprietary technology tracks Facebook and Twitter campaigns for any company, enterprise to small business, while monitoring industry competitors. It’s currently the most utilized social media analytics platform in Europe, with 250,000 users across 75 countries.Continue reading...