LV names Pharrell Williams new Men's creative director: Why the move is marketing genius

We often see brands using celebrity endorsement or ambassadorships to promote their companies, but not many hire celebrities as full time directors of their products. Probably that is why the recent appointment of Pharrell Williams as Louis Vuitton’s new Men’s creative director has created so much buzz across social platforms. According to media intelligence firm CARMA , there were close to 20K mentions related to his appointment globally and 32.2% of these mentions are positive. Many on the online sphere believed Williams deserved this appointment and expressed their eagerness to embrace the changes he is about to bring to the company.

“We also saw a small amount of negative mentions (0.8%) related to his appointment announced on 14 February as some netizens shared that while they believed the 13-time Grammy winner is a good singer/ producer and they like some of the Neptunes songs, they don’t believe he is a fashion expert,” said CARMA’s HK GM Charles Cheung. According to the release, Williams’ appointment will be effective immediately. His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed this June during the Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.

Williams’ creative universes expand from music, to art, and to fashion, which establish himself as a cultural, global icon over the past twenty years. The way in which he breaks boundaries across the various worlds he explores aligns with Louis Vuitton’s status as a cultural maison, reinforcing its values of innovation, pioneer spirit and entrepreneurship, according to the release.

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“I am glad to welcome Williams back home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton, as our new Men’s creative director. His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter,”  said Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton’s chairman and CEO.  MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Louis Vuitton for additional information. 

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, creative director and fashion enthusiast VJ Anand who is now VaynerMedia's EMEA executive creative director said celebrities are the movers and shakers of culture and either know trends well, or are trend setters themselves.

“From a marketing perspective, their connections and influencer with other celebrities can help brands stand out and sell more products. So I get the reason why LV would want to work with the likes of Pharell Williams,” he said. But not always do these relationships work out, warned Anand referencing to Ivy Park. However, Anand said Pharrell Williams is a man of style and his limited Chanel line created in 2019 was also received positively. He added that stars such as Rihanna and Kanye West, controversial or not, also know how to market their brands well.

Adding to his view was Ken Cheung, digital director at KREW Digital who said that usually brand creative directors are those with a solid design base, but not necessarily the same influencer power base.

“Its a good move to open a new trend of celebrity or KOLs taking on the creative lead role in brands or even ad agencies,” he said. He added that in markets like Hong Kong, sometimes celebrities are the bosses of their own PR or ad firms.

However, Cheung added that the move could also just be a gimmick by brand with the real duty being that of just an ambassador. “The news can create a quite long tail discussion after the announcement, resulting in a stronger effect than just a one day life-span press release,” he added.

Industry players also believe that Williams was appointed not only because of his famous and successful career, but also his impeccable style and fashion sense. In fact, this is not the first time for a celebrity-brand tie-up, according to Chris Kyme, co-founder & creative director, Kymechow.

Kyme took will.i.am, founder and lead member of Black Eyed Peas as an example, "In 2011, Intel named will.i.am as director of creative innovation. And again, he’s an amazingly creative and innovative person. Before he was in Black Eyed Peas he attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, and has been very involved in promoting technology throughout his career. He was also named as brand ambassador for Mercedes Benz in 2021," he added. 

So there is more to these kind of appointments than just about someone being a famous face. Which is what most celebrity-brand marketing usually amounts to, especially in Hong Kong.

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By hiring Williams, does the brand get to bypass marketing dollars?

Whether or not it is more beneficial than spending marketing dollars, is a question up in the air, said KREW's Cheung. This is because bringing on board a celebrity as a creative director would come with a hefty price tag and the brand would still need to pay for executions with other celebrities.

Echoing his view was Vin Ng, director of Spread-it, who said despite being able to reach a broader audience without investing heavily in marketing campaigns, it is imperative to acknowledge that engaging a celebrity such as Williams necessitates a substantial financial commitment, such as incurring significant expenses in terms of compensation for his services as the Men's creative director.

"Furthermore, Louis Vuitton may still need to allocate funds for marketing initiatives to promote the collaboration and execute joint campaigns with other celebrities. Therefore, while this approach can provide cost-effective marketing benefits, it’s still not a complete bypass of marketing dollars," he added.

This is not the first example that a brand looks to spend less marketing money to create buzz by involving a celebrity within the organisation. Most recently, Rihanna’s attempt to hijack her Super Bowl performance to plug in a moment for Fenty Beauty did not go unnoticed as the world celebrated the singer’s comeback to live performance after nearly seven years. The video snippet lasts from 8.19 to 8.22 seconds.

According to data from Meltwater, since the performance, tweets detailing that searches for "Fenty Beauty" increased by 883% after her performance, with more positive sentiments airing than negative ones (29% positive vs 5% negative). Data also indicated that given the star wasn’t paid for the show, she was praised for making the most out of it.

According to Nielsen, the 2023 Super Bowl brought in an average of 113 million viewers. The snappy act by the star allowed her to meander around the multi-million-dollar commercial fees other brands pay for Super Bowl ad break features. WSJ reports that thirty seconds of ad time during Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs sold for as much as US$7 million. Of course, rates also vary depending on when the ad time was bought and the number of spots bought – along with of course relationship with the brand.

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