What’s It Called When The Reality You’re Augmenting is Social Media - Marketing’s New Frontier?

What does the Harry Potter Balenciaga video portend for S/S24?

Obviously, Jacquemus “AR” bags zooming through Paris was a super cool marketing stunt, on first blush, when I thought it was merely giant versions of the bag zipping around. And then when I learned it was digital. Wow.

Why Do We Have Runway Shows

Because we live so much of our consumption-driven online life via Instagram and TikTok, creating events and activations solely for these platforms seems natural. That’s what runway shows have become, right? A way to get Eva Chen the content for her Instagram account and thus harness her millions of millennial mom followers. (not a dig! I love Eva Chen, I AM a millennial mom, and even if I wasn’t, millennial moms drive big dollars for retailers and brands. Don’t F w Us!)

But Jacquemus hacked the game. Why spend so much on the runway show, hoping for the ideal coverage from influencers and even, gasp, publications? Control the narrative, release the video. Technology, particularly Generative AI, has driven and will continue to drive many of these iterations. Take the Balenciaga/Harry Potter Video (widely assumed to be made by the brand). This is an event, an activation, a THING. But it (sadly? thankfully?) never actually happened.

Taking it further, who needs models and photoshoots? I’ve discussed Farfetch’s test of real influencers shooting virtual garments for SponCon. I can’t imagine we are not going to see more of that.

Platforms Define Their Advertising

If the platforms define the advertising, it’s surprising it’s taken us this long to see these fantastical mash-ups and explorations of reality that exist purely on and purely for the Insta/TikTok/Lemon8 (ha!). The tiny screen of Instagram and TikTok on mobile lends itself so well to these ideas. Virality is still hard to come and requires a magic combo of timing and creativity, but the cost of these activations drops precipitously. Not to mention the opportunities for community-created versions, memes, etc.., either with or without sign-off from the brand. 

There are a lot of questions to be asked about this evolution, what is real? What should be real? Who owns digital lookalikes,e.g., Daniel Radcliff’s face? Does it matter? Ultimately, I love the innovation, and I think we’ll become more accustomed to accepting a reality that exists only on our phones, as kids playing Roblox, etc., already have.

I look forward to the next leaps ahead in marketing creativity. My money’s on a runway show that only exists in augmented reality.