• Givenchy wants to reach out to ABC1 25-44 females
• It teams up with Sky to associate its brand with the glamour of the Oscars
• The partnership ran for three years with sales up 30% in year one

The challenge

Givenchy wanted to raise awareness among its core target audience of ABC1 25-54 females and encourage them to purchase.

In a crowded market for perfumes it wanted to get its message on multiple platforms. The brand identified the Oscars as the epitome of glamour and created an association with the biggest night of the year for the movie business. The partnership ran for three years.

The TV solution

The perfume house teamed up with Sky and its exclusive coverage of the Oscars to create a multi-media association with the most glamorous night of the year.

Sky Media worked closely with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to enable the brand to utilise clearly identifiable assets from the Oscars such as the official artwork and sponsorship references across all media advertising.

Credits showed the traditional movie countdown together with a Hepburn-esque female in black and white to give a taste of old-school glamour.

The association ran from 2006 to 2008. Initially, it was used to promote Very Irresistible Givenchy and in the final year it was for Ange Au Demon, with the message running across all Sky properties.

In 2006, for example, messages appeared as sponsorship credits on the big night, a series of Oscar-winning movies including the network premiere of Million Dollar Baby on Sky Movies, a series of profiles on Biography Channel, extended highlights on Sky 1 and Oscars news bulletins on Sky News.

Sky Creative Agency created the credits and in total more than 4,000 Academy Award trailers were aired.

The message was extended to other Sky platforms and its sister companies with mobile TV reports, interactive competitions linked to Givenchy product information, a branded online site, Sky Text branding and activity in Sky Magazine.

Press advertising also carried accreditation of the Oscars sponsorship and Sky Movies and The Times created an exclusive Oscars night party with co-branded invites and concessions at the event.

In-store Givenchy gave its concession counters a touch of movie glamour as well.

Results

Results from 2006 showed that the integrated message really hit home. Research conducted a week after the Oscars among the target audience found spontaneous awareness of Givenchy Advertising was three times higher among Oscar watchers.

Ninety-two per cent of viewers perceived the sponsorship to be appropriate. Among those who watched Sky’s coverage, 70% named Givenchy as a brand they would buy compared to just 55% among non-viewers.

Brand values such as “Givenchy makes you irresistible, young, fun and is an elegant perfume” all performed well.

Sales went up 30% during and immediately after the sponsorship period.

“Our collaboration with Sky has been excellent. They really understood the brand values and we have particularly appreciated their in-house production service. We had very positive feedback from across the fragrance and cosmetics industry. Very Irrésistible Givenchy was the first fragrance brand to do a sponsorship on television and we have noticed that a few competitor brands are now beginning to follow our steps.”

Kareen Lafon-Levacher,
Marketing Director,
Parfums Givenchy