Yves Saint Laurent Scores With The Met's Partnership

Last night I had the tremendous opportunity to attend the New York Metropolitan Opera's premiere of Rossini's Armida. Starring Renee Fleming and directed by Mary Zimmerman, this was not only a stupendous opera, a chance to see the stars on the red carpet, and a delicious evening of food, music, and talent - it was an opportunity to see how a team of true professionals execute a brand-driven partnership with bottom-line results.

For those who know nothing of the opera, don't worry. I can send you some links from the professionals of tone and oration. For those of you who are tired of seeing photos of celebrities like Chloe Sevigny and Maggie Gyllenhaal flood the social blogs, well, that's just part of the realities behind building brand's awareness and securing its position in the hearts, minds, and souls of its clients.

For you branding and marketing wonks, you may want to know that the premier last night was the latest in a multi-year partnership that Yves Saint Laurent created with the Metropolitan Opera. It started years ago when YSL was looking for ways to connect with their clients in an authentic and compelling manner. After looking at its own historic affiliation to the opera, and the passion both its employees and its clients have for the arts, it settled on an unprecedented collaboration to the opera art form via New York's Metropolitan Opera.

The result? Just Google "YSL Armida" - there's 15,700 website links that come up. Google "Yves Saint Laurent Armida" - there's another 16,200 website links. Google "Yves Saint Laurent opera 2010" - 12,800,000 links, and an additional 641,000 links for "Yves Saint Laurent Opera." If you want to see what these 13 million links look like - just click on some of the shortcuts I have added below and ask yourself, how would your brand enjoy this kind of reach and frequency...

So net/net - what's the media value of this? I can't even begin to guess. But this alone is in excess of thirteen million links; and we're not even googling the past operas like Filles Du Regiment that YSL collaborated on in 2009. When you combine the online coverage with the added value of being associated with celebrities like Bette Midler, Christine Baranski, Julianna Margulies, Parker Posey, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson, Chloë Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola, Camilla Belle, Sid and Mercedes Bass, or Ann Ziff - the result is, well, it's unbelievable.

As important YSL's own internal celebrities - Valérie Hermann (CEO, Yves Saint Laurent), Stefano Pilati (Creative Director), and Laura Lendrum (President - Americas) - were able to reach out and touch the people that truly matter most to the company - their high-end and beautiful clients. Again, what would your company do if it had the chance to actually touch some of your most valuable customers in the flesh?

So to all you marketing wonks out there - take heed when someone tells you it's impossible to reach the high-end, high-value clients in a meaningful way. Take heed when people tell you it's impossible to put a value to event, online, and non-traditional marketing. A partnership like this one, that is created with a brand's true nature in mind, is nurtured through a passionate belief in the core values a brand represents, and extends through direct contact with customer, clients, and prospects can have a real and lasting value to both the brand and the clients.

YSL - well done...

Oh, and for just four of those links ...


http://www.tiny9.com/u/WWD
http://www.tiny9.com/u/sevigny
http://www.tiny9.com/u/camilla
http://www.tiny9.com/u/broadway_world







Jeff Cannon
www.thinkcannon.com