Subscribe
Become a fan
The Palace of Versailles – Daria Strokus and the Inez & Vinoodh crew.
- Secret Garden – Versailles
- Christian Dior
- Filmed by Inez & Vinoodh
- La Galeries Des Glaces – Château de Versailles
- Music by Depeche Mode: Enjoy the Silence
Words Are Very Unnecessary
In Late Spring of 2012, Christian Dior produced an iconic Fall Collection campaign shoot in the Hall of Mirrors (one of the most famous rooms in the world) at the Palace of Versailles; the exterior was utilized, as well. The captured content, video and print, was advertised throughout the Fall of 2012. The moving images were edited into two published cuts, a 1:00 min TV version and a 3:36 min long-form version. The work garnered a large amount of earned media coverage. And, as you can see, the production is captivating.
The Hall of Mirrors with Melissa Stasiuk, Xiao Wen Ju and Daria Strokus.
The 2012 Fall Collection shoot was produced and filmed by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, longtime fashion photographers and filmmakers from Amsterdam. Portraying the Palace of Versailles as Dior’s secret garden, well, let’s just say that using the world’s grandest palace brings a certain mythical splendor and French-specific opulence to the brand. The soundtrack–a brilliant use of Depeche Mode’s most popular song, Enjoy the Silence… a world wide chart breaker.
Secret Garden turned out to be one of the best pieces of branded content in 2012, skyrocketing in viral impressions to the 23.5 million mark. The combined impressions of both video edits totaled approx. 39.2 million minutes of global brand engagement on YouTube. The work also captured the imagination of the fashion industry and garnered thousands of media impressions as the work was covered/mentioned/discussed across the industry landscape. Secret Garden was even picked up by the Rolling Stone.
To think of this success another way, with Secret Garden, Christian Dior has generated 653,000 hours of brand-building, non-paid exposure on YouTube, alone. If looped nonstop in a single-viewer setting, that means that Secret Garden would rotate continuously for about 75 years. Furthermore, since the video now lives in the digital and social ecosystem, Secret Garden will continue provide fantastic brand-building exposure for years to come… a gift that will keep giving back to consumers and Dior.
While this was not The House of Dior’s first use of Versailles, it certainly has become one of its most popular. As for the Palace of Versailles itself, Secret Garden turned into a fabulous travel promotion. Hats off to Dior for having a great vision and for taking a risk by investing in well-produced long-form content. Risk and reward usually go hand-in-hand.
// Christopher Jones
Copyright © 2012 Christian Dior